In our church, we elders have just finished preaching through the book of Hebrews over the course of many months. One thing that has struck me is the inevitability of suffering, which is why enduring faith is so necessary. But I am fearful that most Christians today are not prepared for the inevitable suffering to come. Instead, many Christians today expect that if they are living for Christ faithfully, they should expect victory and comfort.
Our experience of suffering has not yet reached the level that the early Christians were experiencing, but we all know it is coming. Are we ready for it? Are we prepared to endure when being a faithful Christian increasingly becomes scorned in our society? Are we ready to endure to the end?
Are we prepared to endure when being a faithful Christian increasingly becomes scorned in our society? Are we ready to endure to the end?
Hebrews 11 emphasizes the need for this kind of enduring faith, and the final verses of the chapter encapsulate well why this is so important. The author starts in verse 33 with a list of victories of faith:
- “who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, and obtained promises”—conquest of nations
- “stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword”—escaped death
- “were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight”—military victories
And then there is one final sentence at the beginning of verse 35 that stands as the climax of this section that describes the victories of faith:
Through faith, “women received back their dead by resurrection.”
This is the climax of the list. What could be more noteworthy than this? A widow who hosted Elijah receives her son back from the dead. The Shunammite woman receives her son back from the dead. Even in the New Testament, the widow of Nain gets her son back, Mary and Martha get their brother back, and Peter raises Tabitha from the dead.
What could be more notable a victory of faith than the dead rising to life?
And so, in this first from 33 to the beginning of verse 35, the author describes the victories of faith: conquest of nations, escape from death, military victories, and resurrection, all obtained through faith.
Is Victory Guaranteed?
Now the natural question is this: does the author intend us to conclude from this list that true faith will always inevitably lead to victory? I mean, the original audience probably read this list and were like, “Yes! This is what we have been promised. This is what we expect to be happening, but it is not happening. Why aren’t we experiencing these miraculous victories like the people of old?”
And today, the whole Word of Faith movement is based on the conviction that if we just have enough faith, then we will be healed, we will be healthy and prosperous, we will conquer all things. And so, the teaching goes, if we are suffering, then that just means we don’t have enough faith.
There are even other movements today that believe that we ought to expect national conquest. We ought to expect the world to get better and better. Physical victories ought to be the normal experience of faithful Christians. You just have to claim it by faith.
Sufferings of Faith
But no, this paragraph includes a second list that tells an entirely different story. This list is still under the umbrella of “through faith,” but instead of describing the victories of faith, this set portrays a stark contrast. And the author actually contrasts them in reverse.
- some “went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth” (v37b)—instead of the conquest of nations, some were alienated from nations.
- some “were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword” (v37a)—instead of escaping death, some died.
- some “suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment” (v36)—instead of military victories, some experienced military defeat.
And the striking thing about all of these contrasts is that they are all still through faith. Through faith some conquered nations, and through faith others were alienated from nations. Through faith some escaped death, and through faith others died. Through faith some won military victories, and through faith others suffered military defeat.
You see, there is not always a one-to-one correspondence between faith and victory. Sometimes faith corresponds with suffering. Probably the most vivid example of this in Scripture is Job. Here was a righteous man of faith, and yet he suffered greatly. His friends tried to claim that his suffering was evidence of his lack of faith, but that was not the case. Through faith, Job suffered.
There is not always a one-to-one correspondence between faith and victory. Sometimes faith corresponds with suffering.
So the author is saying, you may need to readjust your expectation of what life is going to be like as a Christian. God may choose to give you conquest and military victories and even escape from death, but even then, those are temporal victories and they are not guaranteed.
And actually, the whole chapter is set up to show us that our expectation ought to be that we will suffer for our faith. We don’t want to suffer, we certainly shouldn’t suffer because we have done wrong, but we must be prepared to suffer.
Jesus himself said, “In the world, you will have tribulation” (Jn 16:33).
Peter says, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12).
Paul says, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Tim 3:12–13).
This is what the author of Hebrews wants to stress as he has organized his hall of faith in Hebrews 11. Here were people of God who suffered. Sometimes they experience temporal victories, but most of them experienced alienation, military defeat, and even death.
And yet they endured. They did not give up. They did not capitulate. They did not compromise.
How? Through Faith. That is the whole point of the chapter. Enduring faith is what will carry us through the suffering to persevere to the end.
Faith in a Better Resurrection
But faith in what? Again the author has structured these final verses to draw us unmistakingly to the correct answer. Right between the list of victories and sufferings is the central point in verse 35.
We have already seen that the first part of verse 35 is the climax of the focus on the victories of faith: “Women received back their dead by resurrection.” The second half of verse 35 is the climax of the focus on the sufferings of faith, and it is the central point of the whole thing:
“Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.”—Instead of temporary resurrection, this is eternal resurrection.
The key to endurance in the midst of suffering is faith in a future resurrection, a resurrection to a better life.
You see, the key to an enduring faith is recognition that this life is not all that there is. The key to an enduring faith, especially in the midst of suffering, is to get our eyes off of our present earthly trials and fix our eyes firmly on the life to come. The key to endurance in the midst of suffering is faith in a future resurrection, a resurrection to a better life.
All through Hebrews 11, the author has been preparing his audience for this climax: You will likely suffer, but if you endure by faith, you will rise again to a better life.
And it is that endurance that is the key. “Some were tortured,” verse 35, “refusing to accept release”—they endured the suffering. How? Because they were confident that they would rise again to a better life. Again, the author is bringing to completion what he had said just before chapter 11. You have need of endurance so that you may receive what is promised when the coming one comes—what has been promised? What will we all receive when he comes? A better resurrection to a better life.
This is how we endure. This is the nature of enduring faith. When the suffering comes, when the persecution comes, when we face defeat and alienation and even threat of death, we endure by removing our eyes from our present life and fixing our eyes on the life to come.
A better life that will be characterized, as Hebrews 4:1 states, by eternal rest. Eternal inheritance, Hebrews 9:15 says.
This is what people of faith set their hope on. This is what causes all of God’s people to endure through the sufferings and pain and even death of this life—enduring faith comes from setting our eyes upon a better life, an eternal rest, the promised eternal inheritance. Paul says to Timothy, “If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him” (2 Tim 2:11–12).
But the temptation is to expect that eternal inheritance now. We want rest now. We want a better life now. We want earthly victory now. We want to reign now.
All of those things have been promised, but not now. We are called to wait patiently. We are called to endure. We are called to faith—assurance of things hoped for and conviction of things we do not see now.
An eternal inheritance has been promised to us, but suffering comes first. Just like our Lord, suffering comes before glory; death comes before life.
An eternal inheritance has been promised to us, but suffering comes first. Just like our Lord, suffering comes before glory; death comes before life.
But the promise is certain: we will rise again to a better life. Peter says, “But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed” (1 Pet 4:13).
Conclusion
You may be suffering today. You have physical ailments that just won’t go away. You can’t find a job. You have wayward children. You’re depressed. You’re tired.
What hope do you have? Don’t set your ultimate hope on the things of this world. If you do, you’re bound to be discouraged.
Instead, set your hope on the certain promise of a future resurrection to a better life.
