Victory & Valor in the Christian Life

Since we’re coming to the conclusion of Hebrews 11, and since we’ve had some breaks long the way, I think it’s important to step back for a moment and remember what’s going on in this chapter. This passage is not intended as a simple review of Jewish history or Jewish heroes. This chapter is focused on the need to persevere in true faith.

As many of you will remember, the message of Hebrews was originally delivered to a congregation under growing persecution, and people were walking away from Jesus Christ. Some had already walked away publicly, no longer identifying with the church, while others were beginning to walk away in their hearts.

The specific attacks on our faith aren’t exactly the same, but we face the same temptation to drift away from Christ. We drift away from loving Him, from relying on Him, from obeying Him, and from identifying with His people. We get tired. We get impatient. We lose hope. We grow frustrated. Sin creeps into our lives, and sometimes, we even let it take over. So, we need this same kind of encouragement.

For a moment, I’d like you to go back with me to the ending of chapter 10. Hebrews 10:24-25 is a very well-known passage which comes with an encouragement and a warning. Hebrews 10:24 says—And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, [25] not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

The consequences of drifting away from Christ extend into verse 26, and they are serious. For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, [27] but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.

The author isn’t mad at his audience. But he’s trying to warn them. And God is warning us as well. Apart from devotion to Jesus Christ, there is no salvation. There are serious and eternal consequences if we wander away from Him.

Hoping to restore and strengthen his audience, in verse 32 the author points the people back to when they first heard about Christ. It’s a reminder and an encouragement to go back to what they were doing at the beginning. Don’t throw away your commitment. It says: 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.

“Don’t throw away your confidence.” Don’t forget what you committed yourself to, and don’t forget the reward that is to come. Verse 39 says: But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

That’s the statement that leads into Hebrews 11. We need to live by faith, just like God’s people have always done. It’s going to be difficult. It’s going to be painful. But we must endure. We must fight to walk in faith.

As we come to the end of chapter 11, we get two final motivations. We have the examples of victory, and the examples of valor. Victory and valor.

The examples of victory remind us that we are on the winning side. Every smaller victory is a preview of a greater and eternal victory that will be ours if we remain faithful.

We love to hear stories of odds being overcome and enemies being defeated. We have stories like that related to war, and we have stories like that related to sports—nations and people who endured and persevered despite the pain, and they won a victory.

The Bible has those stories too. And they are great reminders and encouragements to us. This list of victories begins in Hebrews 11:29 with the victory over Egypt. It says: By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.

You can read the story for yourself in Exodus 14. Pharaoh lets the enslaved Israelites leave, but then he changes his mind, like he had done before. He thinks the Israelites are wandering in the desert and assumes they will be easy to overtake. So, he send out his chariots and his armies.

The Israelites look back and see them coming, and they are terrified. To them, death is now a certainty. They are pinned against the Red Sea with no where else to go. How can women and children and untrained men outrun the greatest army in the world at that time?

The people cry out to Moses, and he responds, “Do not be afraid! Watch and see the salvation of God! You will never see these Egyptians again! The Lord will fight for you!” And, let me tell you, his record is better than Larry Parker’s.

The special angel that had been guiding the Israelites moves behind them. And so, the pillar of cloud and fire moves too, and it creates a barrier between them and Egypt’s armies.

And as Moses stretches out his hands over the sea, God divides the waters, and the people cross on dry land. “Dry land”—that phrase is used four times in the story. It wasn’t even muddy.

About 2 million Israelites cross the sea under God’s protection, and then, once they’ve all cross, God lets the Egyptians chase after them. But he throws them into confusion and jams up their chariot wheels. And then, as Moses extends his hand once again, the waters return, and all of Pharaoh’s army is drowned.

Imagine what that must have felt like—a mixture of relief and wonder and fear and confidence. Fathers and mothers were clinging to their children, scared about what might happen to their families. But God fought for His people and gave them the victory.

The people’s greatest fear, and the people’s greatest enemy, was dead. The Israelites watched as the dead bodies of the Egyptians washed up on the shore. It was a stunning victory.

These temporal victories point to a greater victory that Jesus will bring when all His enemies are eternally judged and His people are eternally saved. Our victory is coming. God will fight for us.

Verse 30 gives us a second victory, and that is the victory over Jericho. Verse 30 says: By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.

Remember, the Israelites had been enslaved for over 400 years. They had no army. They had no trained military. They had no established city. They had not accumulated an arsenal of weapons.

After Moses dies, Joshua became the nation’s leader. With Joshua as the new leader, and with God’s help, the people crossed the Jordan River, and Jericho was the first city they came up against in the Promised Land. God had promised them the land, but they were also going to have to fight for it.

The battle against Jericho is found in Joshua 6. God tells the people to march around the city for six days. Then, on the seventh day, they march around the city seven times. It’s good that Israel obeyed God, but you can imagine what some of them were thinking.

As far as combat strategies go, you have to admit, this is pretty lousy. You have a smaller army. You have less weapons. You have less training and experience. And there is zero element of surprise, from a human perspective.

After marching around the city seven times, the people shout and the priests blow their horns, and those seemingly impenetrable walls fell down flat. Nobody in Jericho was expecting that to happen. They are completely caught by surprise, and the Israelites run into the city killing almost every single person and animal. The city is burned, and the people take the gold and the silver and the bronze and the iron.

The only family in Jericho that survives the destruction is the family of Rahab the prostitute. Hebrews 11:31 reminds us—By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

Rahab was spared because she had faith in the power of God. In Joshua 2, she says that she heard about Israel’s victory over Egypt and the parting of the Red Sea. She had also heard about other victories that came later under Moses. And so, when the Israelite spies first arrived in Jericho, Rahab says to them, “Our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.” So, she hides the spies to protect them, and they promise to spare her family’s life.

Because of Rahab’s faith in God, her life is spared, and she gets to join in the victory over Jericho.

What an amazing picture of what happens to everyone who come to faith in Jesus Christ and who perseveres in that faith. We take part in God’s victory.

And as the message of Hebrews continues we get more examples of victory, though they are just briefly alluded to. Hebrews 11:32—And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets.

Just like with everyone else in this chapter, no one on this list is perfect. But they walked by faith, and they saw God do amazing things. Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah were judges whom God used to deliver them from foreign armies in miraculous ways.

David killed Goliath the giant and was a successful king. Samuel was used by God to give Israel a victory over the Philistines. Both men were powerfully used by God to bring amazing victories.

In verse 33, we get even more examples, though we don’t get the names associated with them. These are amazing examples of what God did through His people.

Verse 33—who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, [34] quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. [35] Women received back their dead by resurrection.

Faith in God leads to amazing victory!

First John 5:4 says it like this—For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. [5] Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

There is a special joy or satisfaction that comes when God’s people are victorious, isn’t there? If one coach is an atheist, and he’s cursing God, and the coach on the other team professes faith openly, something inside us wants to see the Christian win. And sometimes that happens.

Some of you have even witnessed your own kind of victory in life. Maybe it was a legal issue. Maybe it was a moral issue or a political one. Maybe it was a medical diagnosis or an especially challenging season of life, and God brought you through it. Praise God for that!

But we need to remember, number one, that those victories are just glimpses of a final victory that is to come. One day, we will have a perfect and final victory over sin, over Satan, over death, and over this world. One day, God and His truth and His people will be vindicated. We will be proven right before the whole world. That is the victory to come in Jesus Christ. Every earthly victory is a glimpse of that future victory.

And, number two, those earthly victories are not guaranteed. Those earthly victories are not guaranteed. In my time here, we’ve had numerous people in our church be freed from cancer. My mom is one of them. And we praise God for that victory. But we also remember that it’s not guaranteed.

Neither is any political or legal victory. Sometimes, from a human perspective, and in a temporary sense, it seems like death, Satan, and the world win. Guilty people go free. Innocent people get punished.

And we’ve seen plenty of examples of that in this world as well. This is how Hebrews 11 ends. But we shouldn’t see them as examples of defeat. We should see them as examples of valor. Examples of bravery and heroism. Examples of men and women who courageously kept the faith despite the pain and suffering.

Let’s continue in the middle of verse 35—Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. [36] Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. [37] They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— [38] of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

These are some of the most horrible things imaginable, and yet it is what God’s people have gone through because of their faith. And there are still Christians today in this world who go through things like that because of their faith.

From an earthly perspective, these were wasted lives. These were lives that ended in humiliation and scorn and mocking. These were pitiful lives, meaningless lives.

But what does God say about them? Verse 38. They were people of whom the world was not worthy. These people were the true champions. These people were examples of valiant faith.

That’s the kind of faith we need to have. Having faith might mean you get to see some kind of earthly victory. But even if it doesn’t, even if it means you’ll face unspeakable pain, your faith will be an example of courage and valor.

Why would anyone willingly go through all of that? Verses 39 and 40 tell us—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.

They didn’t do it because of an earthly reward. They didn’t do it because of something in this life. They went through with it because of something that was yet to come. Something that is in store for us as well.

These brave men and women will be made perfect one day, but, as verse 40 says, it won’t happen “apart from us.” We will be there with them. All of God’s people—past, present, and future—will be united in a glorious new earth, with glorious resurrection bodies. Sin and death will be defeated forever!

No more pain. No more sickness. No more doctors. No more medicine. No more conflict. No more wars. No more diseases. No more bitterness. No more tears. No more unmet expectations. No more fatigue. Just pure joy and love and peace forever with Christ our Lord and with one another.

If you don’t cling to Christ by faith, if you walk away from Christ, this world is as good as it going to get. And then comes judgment forever.

But if you turn to Christ, if you’re trusting in His death and Resurrection on your behalf, if you’re depending on Him through the Holy Spirit, calling out for mercy and grace, then the pains of this world, no matter how powerful they might be right now, will one day be totally wiped away forever.

We will have the victory that Christ has won for us! And if we keep our eyes on Christ and on His victory, we can walk in valor and in courage, the way Jesus did.

Whether this week is a good one or a bad one, from an earthly perspective, you can walk in victory if you walk by faith.