(A) Introduction.

The writer to the Hebrews was not short of material on faith. He could have kept on and on. As he says: And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell you about .....Heb11v32. Nor do I have time to comment on all the references he gives to the triumphs of faith in this passage. Like the writer I will be selective.

(B) Faith's achievements

All the phrases in verses 33 to 35 would have reminded his Jewish readers of some hero of faith. Let me just select one of those phrases for illustration: quenched the fury of the flames. v34. Children given a good Sunday School education will recognise this as a reference to Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego. I can never read those words without remembering a childhood incident that occurred at Pioneer Camp. We were lying in our tent waiting for the leader to crawl in to give what was called a tent chat. Eventually Stanley squirmed his way into our bell tent, not without some huffing and puffing, to announce that he was going to tell us the story of Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego. Colin Chandler from the East End of London said in his distinctive cockney accent, "Shadrack, Meshack and a bed we go!" He wriggled down into his sleeping bag and that was the last we heard of him until morning. It made us Suffolk boys laugh! Well there we are. These asides are a bit self-indulgent but I expect you will forgive me. We can read the story of Shadrack Meshack and Abednego in Daniel Ch3. They were expected to prostrate themselves before and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had erected to his own glory. It was a magnificent sight - nearly 30 metres tall and glowing in the sunlight.

Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego had so much to lose by not bowing down to this edifice. They would lose the favour of the king, their position, their very lives. They would only have to bow down once. It would be an empty gesture. They had no belief in this piece of vanity of Nebuchadnezzar's. God would understand. But Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego did not bow down. Others were watching them! So they were bought to the king who was incandescent with rage. However he was prepared to give them a second chance. If on this occasion they did not fall down and worship his idol then they would be thrown in the fiery furnace. Nebuchadnezzar concludes: "Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?" The reply of the three Jewish heroes still has the power to stir the blood: O Nebuchadnezzar we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not we want you to know O king that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." Dan3v16to18.

Faith made heroes of Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego and faith saved them from the fire. There was a fourth man with them in the fire. It is surprising how often that fourth man has been experienced by men and women in extremity. Ernest Shackleton was conscious of a fourth presence in his epic journey across the wastes of South Georgia. God delivered the three Jewish administrators. Not a hair was singed, their robes were not scorched and there was no smell of fire upon them. Their witness had a profound affect on king Nebuchadnezzar. He praised the God of Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego; he prohibited any criticism of the one true God for he concluded: "no other god can save in this way".Ch3v29.

Faith makes heroes of unlikely people. I love the testimony of Alexander Solzenhitsen to the life and witness of the religious believers in Stalin's labour camps. There was an old illiterate peasant woman Dusya Chmil who used to answer the taunts of her guards with such unfailing cheerful, sweet, simplicity that even they could not forbear smiling with her. The Christians in the Gulag were not overcome by evil but overcame evil with good.

There are sacrifices that we find hard to make. When I started my course at University College, London, I had during the first week an introductory meeting with Professor Darby. I think he saw all the 'freshers' to give them a welcome and check that everything was all right. During the brief interview Professor Darby informed me that there would be a field excursion to Leatherhead in Surrey on the following Sunday. Then he paused, for he knew that I was a committed Christian, and said, "That's not going to cause a problem is it, that's not going to offend your Christian principles?" He knew about nonconformists - because he was a Welshman - and brought up in an era when most Welshman of the valleys were practising nonconformists. I was just beginning my university education. I did not want to miss the first field trip. I thought I might miss something important and get behind. So I replied, "No I don't mind doing a bit of work on a Sunday. I will be there." It remains the only Sunday during the last 40 years that I have not worshipped with God's people. It was a mistake. I did not witness as I should to my professor. I did not by faith make the sacrifice. I regret it to this day.

(C) Faith's endurance.

The heroes of faith the writer to the Hebrews ponders as he slowly composes his letter experienced great adversity. Not all were delivered like Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego. No, by faith the ill-treated and persecuted endured, they endured even unto death so that they might gain a better resurrection.v35.

The achievements of some Christians do not seem commensurate with their suffering. They suffer much for the truth and accomplish little. In such circumstance they need to endure by faith. It is easiest to illustrate what I mean by use of an example.

Jeremiah had a very unpopular message. He had to tell the besieged people of Jerusalem that their city would certainly fall to the Babylonians. This was very bad for morale and it aroused the antagonism of the king and his officials. It was defeatist talk. Jeremiah was imprisoned and eventually thrown into a water cistern that was empty of water but full of mud. If the black eunuch Ebed-Melech had not taken mercy on him and rescued Jeremiah things would have gone ill with him. Eventually Jerusalem fell to Nebuchadnezzar's army. Many Israelites were taken into captivity - exiled to Babylon. A remnant was left in Judah including Jeremiah. Nebuchadnezzar made Gedaliah Governor over the land. Peace did not last long. Ishmael led a revolt and Gedaliah was assassinated. The army officers were very frightened of reprisals and planned to flee to Egypt. However before doing so they consulted Jeremiah. In view of Jeremiah's past form they no doubt expected him to concur with their decision. Jeremiah told them to stay: "Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon... declares the Lord, for I am with you and will save you and deliver you from his hands. I will show you compassion so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land." Jer42v11. Jeremiah continues: "If you are determined to go to Egypt and you do go to settle there then the sword you fear will overtake you there and the famine you dread will follow you into Egypt and there you will die."

One again Jeremiah spoke the word of God and what was the result. The army chiefs said, "You are lying.... So they all went to Egypt and they took Jeremiah with them. In Egypt the people worshipped the Queen of Heaven. Once again Jeremiah had to confront his people with their wickedness. Their reaction was predictable: "We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord" Jer44v16.

Jeremiah endured year after year of rejection, opposition and hatred. He did not just survive - he endured. I read recently an article about Jin Hengkaii the last surviving prince of the old Chinese Empire. He has not endured as a prince but survived by complying with the re-education process forced upon him by his communist masters. He has adopted communist ideology. He works as a caretaker, lives humbly and keeps his thoughts to himself. Jin Hengkaii is a cautious, colourless individual - he has survived. Jeremiah was not like that. He retained a belief in his calling as a prophet of the one true God. He spoke fearlessly on behalf of the LORD to the end of his days. He had faith in the God of Israel. Jeremiah says near the end of his life, This is what the LORD Almighty says:
"The people of Israel are oppressed and the people of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast, refusing to let them go. Yet their Redeemer is strong; the LORD Almighty is his name. He will vigorously defend their cause so that he may bring rest to their land."

Jeremiah may have seemed to fail. He died in Egypt after a lifetime of telling his people what to do and being invariably disregarded. But just consider how his words must have consoled the Israelites in Babylon during their long captivity. Jeremiah prophesied the downfall of Babylon and the future restoration of Israel. The exiles would return to the land of promise. How unlikely it must have seemed, as unlikely as the revival of Christianity in secular Britain. But the proclamations of Jeremiah gave the exiles hope.

God vindicated Jeremiah; he validated his ministry. We read in 2Chron36v22to23: In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfil the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing:
"This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:
'The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Anyone of his people among you - may the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.'"

I still find it amazing that Cyrus king of Persia was God's instrument. We have seen in our lifetimes something similar with the collapse of communism in the old USSR. In the space of a few years the map of Europe changed. Countries were liberated peaceful. The Berlin wall was dismantled virtually overnight. It was incredible. The prayers of God's people played a part. God's hand was in it. Thanks be to God!

We may have experienced failure in our Christian ministry. I have. There are few pulpits from which I preach because my messages are deemed controversial! We need to endure by faith. A day will come when, if we have been in the will of God, we will be vindicated. Our Redeemer is strong - he will vigorously defend our cause.

(D) Faith's dependence

So many of the Old Testament heroes were commended for their faith yet none of them received what had been promised. Heb11v39. None of them received into their hearts the Lord Jesus Christ as saviour and king. The writer says to his Jewish readers and to all Christians: God had planned something better for us. We have been gifted salvation through the finished work of Jesus, God's Son.

However we still wait and we wait with the old heroes of faith for what God has planned for us. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. Heb11v40. Our faith is dependent upon our Father in heaven for that one last, great, blessing that is the object of all true religious faith: to be made perfect. At Christ's second coming we shall be made perfect and so too will Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Rahab and all the others. Faith a waits that day. It is what we hope for and it is what we are certain of. Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

The epistle to the Hebrews is hard hitting. I believe it indicates that there should be no priests and that the Calvinistic doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints is wrong. I belong to an Association of churches that holds to the latter doctrine. So I have learned to be tolerant of Christians who differ from me! The eleventh chapter of Hebrews bears witness to the existence of faith in a wide variety of individuals not all of whom would have believed exactly the same. Faith existed in as diverse a group as you are likely to find and faith was exhibited supremely in ACTION. I don't want anyone reading these expositions to think that because I disagree with some of their beliefs I question their faith in Jesus. Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, and David were imperfect men with some foolish beliefs but they were united in their devotion to God's cause. Roman Catholicism and Grace Baptist Associations both contain heroes of the faith. I don't believe error is unimportant otherwise I would not be bothering to write these expositions - but what saves is belief in Jesus, faith in HIS NAME. It is possible to be correct about everything, to give mental assent to all the right doctrines and to have no faith at all. Faith without works is dead. As Jesus himself said, "By their fruits you will recognise them." Mt7v20. He is the one to listen too. He knows.