The Vindication of God in the Promise of Redemption
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The Vindication of God in the Promise of Redemption
Hebrews 11:39-40
October 26, 2008
Series 3 Sermon 60
39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
Introduction
One of the most talked about subjects in the church over the past ten years has been the promises of God. We have been told that we need to pray the promises and claim the promises of God in Scripture over our own lives. Typically this is so we can have or do something or avoid something. I remember at a job I worked, the trainer told me that her husband had not been sick for over two years with a cold or anything because anytime he felt like he might be getting sick he would get his promises book out and claim healing for himself.
The truth is that most people while claiming the promises of good are doing so over very temporal issues and not eternal ones. One of the biblical truths that I have tried to drive home in this study is the problem that we all have with a mere temporal view of reality and our lack of an eternal view. We need to do what we are incapable of and see things the way God sees them and that requires real faith.
An upper respiratory infection is just as much a part of God’s sovereign plan as the time you had a flat tire on the way to an important meeting. Let me say this a little better. In the providence of God who rules the universe sovereignly, the faith of His people will often be refined in the trials and adversities that He allows us to walk through. Part of that adversity may be that all the promises you have been claiming and hoping for may not be fulfilled in your lifetime.
The problem is that many think that God is somehow obligated to fulfill these promises either in a hurry for us or in a tangible way that we can see.
Friday night is typically movie and pizza night at our house. And trust me I am not trying to pick on anyone when I say this but we watched the movie “Flywheel” this Friday night. It was I believe the first movie the folks made who just released “Fireproof” and made “Facing the Giants” released. There is a scene in “Flywheel” where the preacher is on TV and the lead character is watching. His life is in shambles and he is about to lose his business. The pastor says something to this effect. The reason everything is going wrong is because you have not done things according to the Word of God. If you want a good marriage and good kids and a good job and a good life then you must do things the way God’s Word says to do them and you will receive the blessings of God.
And as I was sitting there listening to this preacher say this I realized just how much this works centered, prosperity message is ingrained into our thinking as Christians. And I admit that at the beginning of this excerpt from his sermon I was thinking that this was really good. After all, we have been hearing it our whole lives. We hear it preached over and over again. And then we watched as the plot and storyline unfolded as God put this man’s life back together on the movie quickly fixing all of his past mistakes. I looked at Dani while we were watching and I said, “That sure isn’t the message of Hebrews 11 is it?” She said, “Nope. It isn’t.” “Wouldn’t it be great if God really was like a genie and would just make all of our problems go away.”
I told you I am not trying to pick on anyone here or ruin anyone’s movie watching but just so you know, that is bad theology in that movie. It is well intentioned and I do rejoice that they somewhat preach Christ but they present a very American, pie in the sky view of what Christianity is but that message doesn’t work in Muslim countries where you may lose everything including your head because you do things the way the Bible says. After all there have been many faithful saints of God who did things the way the Bible says and they were ill treated, destitute, people of no reputation, homeless, and of course tortured and killed for their faith.
I want you to look back at Hebrews 11 with me and see a couple of passages that can quickly put that ingrained, bad theology to rest. Look at verse 4.
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.
The promises of God have always been obedience equals blessing. But obedience got Abel killed. And we see his blood finally avenged in the pronouncement of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70ad in Matthew 23 and 24 when the Lord Jesus says to the Pharisees that all the blood that has been spilled from righteous Abel to Zachariah would come down upon unbelieving Israel in that massive demonstration of the judgment of God that is still visible to this day as the stones of the Temple lay in the Kidron valley.
Look at Hebrews 11:13.
These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
Just so we are clear on this I want you to understand that God will honor His Word and obedience to God will always mean blessing. That blessing may indeed mean at times a wonderful family, a wonderful job, wonderful children, and a wonderful life. But I want you to remember that many of those promises that people claim today were made to
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
You see God still promises blessing for obedience but we need to understand that we may be blessed by God in suffering persecution and trial. I want you to listen to Philippians 1:27-30.
27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. 29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.
Somehow in our culture Christianity has been twisted into this set of guidelines that the Apostles would never recognize. One reason is because we live in such an affluent nation that it is easy to press on the Bible our culture and values while ignoring what Scripture actually teaches. That is why when you go into the Christian bookstore the top sellers are all about prosperity and biographies of Christian sports heroes who have been wildly successful. Or the book is about how to have your best life now or find purpose for your days on earth and those always equal some sort of success that would be success in the eyes of the world. The whole mega church movement and the do anything to get people to come to your church culture springs from this bad theology. There is a set standard in our society about what blessings look like but what our society says is not what the Word of God says.
You may ask this morning, “Joe, what’s the big deal? If people want to believe this way then what does it matter? Everyone has the right to be wrong, right?”
Let me tell you what is at stake here. The Gospel is at stake. If you win people with promises of temporal blessing because they believe the Gospel then you better be able to deliver that because when trials come and they will come these will quickly depart the faith. Its like back in the 70’s and 80’s when you had all those scary endtime movies being shown to youth groups all over the country trying to scare kids into some decision for Christ. How many of those kids who were scared into a decision are still living for Christ? Probably a handful, maybe. But people boasted of hundreds and even thousands of salvations.
You see the Gospel isn’t believed unto salvation in order to escape tribulation or to receive riches. The Gospel is believed unto salvation when the Holy Spirit of God so convicts a person of sin and their utter unworthiness that they have seen the end of themselves and see Christ as their only hope and after that they would walk willingly through the valley of the shadow of death because Christ has become the pearl of great price to them and God is the object of their affections and to be with Him is their ultimate goal in life and the desire of their heart is to be enraptured with Him because they know that all the world has to offer is decaying and dying but the Lord is eternal and beautiful and greatly to be praised. You see that is what is at stake in this understanding of the promises of God.
The people in Hebrews 11 exemplify this kind of faith. And this is the kind of faith that shakes the foundations of the world and turns false Christianity on its head and makes the unbelieving world stand up and take notice. And that is the kind of Christians that I want to pastor. What we need to be is Hebrews 11 Christians who understand the promises of God and have them held in proper perspective in the midst of our culture which is decaying.
You see Hebrews 11 Christians understand like Abel that true biblical worship can get you killed. They understand that walking with God like Enoch means that you can’t walk like the world. Hebrews 11 Christians understand like Noah that God’s call may mean decades of labor and struggle and reviling and proclaiming righteousness to people who mock you and laugh at you. Hebrews 11 Christians understand like Abraham that even though the Lord has promised something to you, it is possible that you may have to live like an immigrant in a foreign land your whole life. Hebrews 11 Christians have looked out on all the wealth and comfort and pleasure of the world like Moses and have seen the utter emptiness of it all in the face of Christ and have chosen to bear the reproach of Christ rather than the praise and adoration of man. Hebrews 11 Christians as we saw last week would rather suffer a martyr’s death than forsake the name of Christ and deny the Lord who purchased them. This is real faith. This is the faith that the Holy Spirit of God births into the soul of the person who has been regenerated to life and now follows after Christ. It is only then that we can truly appreciate the promises of God.
All of God’s people have lived and now live under some promises from God. Abel lived under the promise of Genesis 3:15. This is the first promise of a Savior that would come from the seed of the woman that would crush Satan, put an end to sin, and bring mankind back into right relationship with God.
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
This is the overarching promise that all of God’s people lived under until the time of the Lord Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection. You can go through the list of faithful people in the Old Testament and see this. In Hebrews 4:1-3 we are reminded of the Israelites who did receive the Promised Land as an inheritance that Abraham lived in as a sojourner but this was not the ultimate promise. Listen to Hebrews 4:1-3.
Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. 2 For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. 3 For we who have believed enter that rest.
The proof of this is in Hebrews 4:8-10.
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.
So all of the Old Testament saints lived with a view toward temporal promises such as blessing for obedience, going into the Promised Land, surviving the flood on an ark, etc.
But THE PROMISE was still to be grasped. In the days of the Old Testament this promise had not been fulfilled. I want you to look at Hebrews 11:39 to see the writer’s summation of this truth.
39 And all these (Who are all these? All those mentioned in Hebrews 11 and you could say all of the faithful up until the death of Christ.), though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised,
I want you to think about this just for a moment. Here is God’s roll call of faith. Abel, faithful. Enoch, faithful. Noah, faithful. Abraham, faithful. And you continue down the list. All are counted faithful by God. But then notice the last part of verse 39.
39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised,
Sure they received some temporal promises but they did not receive the big Promise. So what is this big promise? The promise is the fulfillment of Genesis 3:15 and we see this in Hebrews 9:15. Listen as I read.
Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
For us as believers this morning, and for those who were first reading this letter in the first century this is a very important truth that we need to let sink in this morning.
Many are predicting tougher economic times on the horizon. We have been feeling the sting of higher energy prices and higher food prices already. The prognosticators say it’s going to get worse. The day may come when our freedoms are traded for more restrictions and laws. Only the Lord knows what is waiting for us 1, 5, 10, or even 50 years from now. But the times as bad as they can get may not reach the level of what the first readers of this epistle were enduring. After all they were being persecuted to the point of death. They had their property plundered and lost their jobs and friends and family were being imprisoned for their faith.
Just last week we saw in verses 35-38 those whom the world was not worthy of being ill treated and killed commended through their faith and endurance. And through those stories we can see the need for us to endure no matter the times that we live in or how our Lord allows us to live in this world.
PNP
Here is what we need to sink our teeth into this morning. God will vindicate all of the promises that He has made in Scripture in the redemption of His people. And that is done in His time and not ours.
And what I want you to see this morning from verses 39-40 are the two ways that God vindicated His promises in the ultimate act of redemption.
All of these faithful people who lived in the Old Testament days did not receive the promised reward for a very important reason. And that reason is in verse 40. Look at verses 39 and 40 with me.
39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
Those of you who have been here for the entire or even most of the series on Hebrews should quickly recognize two very important words to the writer of Hebrews. Those words are better and perfect. Before we get to these two words I want you to notice a word that is repeated twice in verse 40. It is the word “us.” Look at verse 40.
40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
So let’s get this straight in our minds. The Old Testament saints did not receive what was promised to them in their lifetime because of us. Let me drive this home for a moment. If we get this straight in our minds then we have to come to the conclusion that everything that happened to them and what was withheld from them was not only for them and their sanctification and benefit but was also for our benefit and sanctification as well.
So if that is true for them then it is probably true for us as well. So everything that happens to us or is withheld from us is not only for our benefit but could be for the benefit of future generations of Christians. Every trial or victory or persecution or miracle could be secondary to us but primary to the next generation.
So what are these two ways that God vindicated His promises in the ultimate act of redemption?
1. God vindicated His promises in the ultimate act of redemption by providing something better for us.
2. God vindicated His promises in the ultimate act of redemption by perfecting His people as one people.
Purpose
My purpose this morning in preaching is to show you that God has ultimately vindicated all of His promises in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ in redeeming His people.
RPNP
So look with me at these two ways that God vindicated His promises in the ultimate act of redemption.
1. God vindicated His promises in the ultimate act of redemption by providing something better for us.
Look at verse 39 and 40 again.
39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us…
Notice the last phrase that I read. “God had provided something better for us…” Notice that it is in the past tense. God has already provided something better for us than He provided for His faithful people in the Old Testament. I told you just a moment ago that I wanted you to pay particular attention to two words, better and perfect. So let’s look at the word “better.”
The Epistle to the Hebrews has a long running theme concerning this word “better.” It means all around more superior whether in use or in rank. Better has to be proven doesn’t it? The World Series is being played right now to determine which baseball team is better and can rightfully be called the world champions.
So what is it that God has provided for us that is better than what He formerly provided His Old Testament saints? I told you earlier that all of the Old Testament saints lived under the promise of a redeemer found in Genesis 3:15. And so the prophets foretold of the Savior to come and now the writer of Hebrews points the original readers back to this truth by using the word “better.”
Besides verse 40 the writer uses this word better 12 other times in this epistle. By comparison it is used seven other times in the entire New Testament. So the writer here has made it a theme. So how does the writer use it. Take a tour of the epistle with me. Look at chapter 1 starting in verse 1.
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
So we have the “better” prophet presented to us and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Old Covenant was mediated through angels and now the New Covenant is mediated through the Son of God who is much better or superior to angels.
Look at chapter 7 starting in verse 18. Here we have the better Prophet introduced to us as the better priest who mediates the better covenant.
18 For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness 19 (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. 20 And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, 21 but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him: “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever.’” 22 This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.
So in Christ we have a better Word, a better Priest, and a better covenant. Now look at Hebrews 8 starting in verse 1.
Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. 4 Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. 5 They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” 6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.
Now we are getting the picture. Christ is better as a prophet than Moses, He is a better High Priest than Aaron, He mediates a better covenant than the Old precisely because this New Covenant is enacted on better promises. What are these promises? Look at verse 10 and following.
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts,
and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 11 And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”
This better prophet and better priest who mediates this better covenant with better promises also is the guarantor of the covenant promises because of His sacrificial atoning death on the cross which is the better sacrifice. In Hebrews 9 the writer deals with the inadequacies of the Old Covenant sacrifices and then gives us this marvelous summary statement in verses 23-26. Look at those verses.
23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
So we have a better Prophet, a better High Priest, a better covenant enacted on better promises and secured by a better sacrifice. This results in something far better for us. Look at Hebrews 10:32-36.
32 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 33 sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. 34 For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. 35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.
So what is this better possession? Look at Hebrews 11:13-16.
13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
Our better possession is in a better country where God has prepared for us a city. And we will get to that city through something better as well. Look at verse 35.
35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.
What was prophesied in the Old Testament has become a reality in the New Testament and this is all about Christ who is far better than anything we can imagine. What we have to look forward to as believers in Christ is far better than anything we could have had if Adam had not sinned. The redemption of Christ is far better than our brothers and sisters in the Old Testament could have ever imagined and our second point tells us why.
2. God vindicated His promises in the ultimate act of redemption by perfecting His people as one people.
Look at verses 39 and 40 again.
39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
Patient endurance is a common theme in the New Testament. We wait patiently for the Lord to fulfill His promises and He has promised a Savior and that is Christ Jesus our Lord. We now know that Christ is far better than anything that we could have had either in the Garden of Eden or under the Old Covenant. The New Covenant is vastly superior to the Old Covenant in many ways but I want you to see what the writer wanted you to see with his other word that runs through this epistle and that is the word “perfect.”
Look at the last part of verse 40 with me again.
that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
Who is the “they” in verse 40? It is the people mentioned in Hebrews 11 and you could include all of the faithful from the entire Old Testament and New Testament until the death and resurrection of Christ. This chapter filled with faithful people has very often been held up like some kind of hall of fame that none of us regular folks will ever attain to. It has been illustrated something like the pro football hall of fame where the few are enshrined as the great ones while the rest of us sit in the stands in awe of their ability.
But verse 40 puts this all to rest. The writer of this epistle is unnamed. The people whom he is writing to are unnamed. The place that he is writing to is unnamed. This should speak volumes to us theologically. Look at the end of verse 40 again.
that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
So now matter how famous the names are these faithful people had to wait on us to be made perfect. Why?
Because it is only in Christ that anyone can be made perfect and in His sacrificial atoning death He has with one sacrifice made perfect for all time those who draw near to God through Him. I want you to turn over to Hebrews 10. The Old Covenant was incapable of making anyone perfect which is the requirement to come before God. Look at Hebrews 10:1-4.
For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? 3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
So those who looked from a distance at the New Covenant to come had to wait. What did they have to wait for? Look at verses 11-18.
11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” 17 then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” 18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
Where does the writer get this from? How does he prove such a bold statement that says in Christ the Old Covenant sacrifices are done away with? How can he say with such confidence that in Christ all the people of God from the beginning to the end are brought together and perfected together by this one single eternal sacrifice? He gets it from the Old Testament and from the New. Listen to Isaiah 53:4-6.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
Surely the Old Covenant people didn’t really need to be saved did they? After all they had the sacrifices and the law. But in the very words of the angel who announced the coming of Christ to Joseph the bethrothed of Mary we see then under the Old Covenant and the Law the need for a Savior. Listen to Matthew 1:21.
She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Look at Hebrews 11:39-40 once again.
39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
The people of God from the past, the present, and the future are all brought into Christ by that single act of redemption on the cross by which every person who is in Christ has been made perfect for all time. Christ did not hang on a cross to make men savable or to show man his ultimate worth like we hear so often today. Christ hung on the cross and endured the wrath and judgment of almighty God to save His people from their sins and to present them perfect before God once and for all.
How can we say this with supreme confidence this morning? We can do so because this is what our great prophet, priest, and King said on the cross as He was making that great transaction of His righteousness for our sinfulness. It comes from John 19:30 and in the original language of the New Testament it says “Tetelesti.” It is translated this way in your Bible, “It is finished.” I don’t believe there is one other word in the whole New Testament that is as pregnant with meaning as this word. Its root word is “teleo” which means to complete or perfect. Do you know what the word is in Hebrews 11:40? It is “telei-o-thosin.” Which comes from the same root word which means to complete or perfect.
So let this sink in this morning. The great ones of the faith are those of us who are looking to Christ alone for our salvation and like the roll call of the faithful in Hebrews 11 we have been perfected by the sacrifice of Christ. And that happened for all of us as the Lord Jesus proclaimed from the cross, “It is finished.”
Let me close with one last use of the word perfect in Hebrews. It is Hebrews 7:25
25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Let’s pray.
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