A Better Victory

We love stories where faith wins. We love David

standing over Goliath. We love Daniel walking

out of the lion's den. We love Shadrach, Meshach,

and Abednego stepping out of the furnace without

even smelling like smoke. We love Joshua watching

the walls of Jericho come tumbling. And the reason

why we love those stories is because for most

of us those stories look exactly like what we

would expect faith to look like. You trust God

and God comes through. The giants fall, the fire

doesn't burn you, the lion doesn't kill you,

the walls come down, you win. And if Hebrews

11 stopped midway through verse 35 then that

is basically the story that faith would tell.

Look at the language. They conquered kingdoms,

enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped

the mouths of lions, 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. And then it reaches this unbelievable

conclusion in verse 35 where it says women received

back. They're dead. I mean, where do you go from

there? Kingdoms conquered, lions silenced, fires

extinguished, swords escaped, armies defeated,

even death itself reversed. That is faith winning.

But here's what's strange. Verse 35 doesn't end

there. In fact, there's not even a period. The

writer just keeps going and says some were tortured.

And suddenly everything Changes. Same verse.

Same chapter. Same subject. Same faith. But now

nobody's escaping. They're tortured. They're

mocked. They're flogged. They're chained. They're

in prison. They're stoned. They're sawn in two.

They're killed. They're homeless. They're destitute.

They're afflicted. They're mistreated. And Hebrews

looks at those people and says, that is faith

too. There's one contrast in particular that

I can't get past. If you look at verse 34, It

says they escape the sword. Then look at verse

37. They're killed by the sword. Think about

that. By faith, one person escapes the sword.

By faith, another person dies by the sword. So

what are we supposed to do with that? Because

if the person, if I'm the one who escaped by

the sword, then I've got a testimony. Let me

tell you what God did. I prayed, I trusted Him,

and He delivered me. And we ought to praise the

Lord for that. But what about the other person?

What about the one who prayed and the sword fell?

What about the one whose circumstances didn't

change? Where they didn't get the answer they

wanted to? Where they trusted God and they lost

something? What about the Christian who did everything

Hebrews 11 says to do, and from where they're

standing, it looks like they lost? That's the

tension Hebrews 11 wants us to feel. And I think

we have to be very careful here because if we

only read half of the passage, we can develop

a completely distorted view of faith. We can

start thinking that faith is proven by the outcomes.

It's easy to think that. If I really believe,

God will fix it. If I really believe, I'll get

through it. If I really believe, the door will

open. If I really believe, everything will work

out the way that I hope. Hebrews 11 will not

let us say that. People who died by the sword

had faith. People who escaped by the sword had

faith. So apparently there is a kind of faith

that conquers and there is a kind of faith that

keeps believing when it looks like you've been

conquered. Both of them are here in Hebrews 11.

So what I want us to do this morning is I want

us to basically take three passes through this

scripture. First time we're gonna ask a question,

second time we're gonna ask a question, third

time we're gonna ask a question. And I think

when we're finished, we're going to discover

something about faith that will completely change

what we mean when we say or use the word win

or victory. I've entitled the message today,

A Better Victory. So first pass through. Here's

the first question. What does faith do? What

does faith do? And at first, it seems like the

answer is, well, faith wins. Look at verse 32.

of Hebrews chapter 11. And what more shall I

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon,

Barak, Samson, Jephthah and David and Samuel

and the prophets. I love the way the writer is

changing gears here a little bit. For most of

Hebrews 11, he has been taking his time, has

he not? He's been kind of naming a name and then

talking about what happens. Here though, he basically

looks at the clock and says, I don't have time.

to name all the names of people of faith. We're

going to be here all day if I keep doing this.

What more should I say? Time is going to fail

me. In other words, I haven't run out of examples.

I've run out of time. The history of God's people

is overflowing with stories of faith. So now

instead of telling the story, He just begins

listing the names, calling the names. Gideon,

Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets.

And I want you to notice something, before we

ever get to what they accomplish, I think there's

something incredibly encouraging here. And we've

said this as we've worked through, but I want

you to look at this list of names again. Gideon,

Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the

prophets. These are not superheroes. These are

not people without weaknesses. Gideon was hiding

when God found him. And then he tested God multiple

times to be like, are you sure? Are you sure?

Are you sure? Barak wouldn't even go into battle

unless Deborah went with him. Samson's life,

terrible mess. Jeb the story, terribly dark moments.

And we certainly know what David did. These are

complicated people, weak people, and yet here

they are in Hebrews 11. That ought to encourage

somebody here today. This ought to encourage

you here this morning because Hebrew 11 is not

a hall of fame of people who did everything right.

It is the testimony of imperfect people who put

their faith in a perfect God. And if you have

spent time in this chapter thinking, I could

never be like these people, don't turn them into

something the Bible doesn't turn them into. They

knew fear, they knew weakness, they knew failure,

they knew what it was like to need God desperately.

And then look what happened because of who they

put their faith in. So let's talk about this

faith that conquers. Verse 33. Who through faith

conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained

promises, and stopped the mouths of lions? Conquered

kingdoms. We can think of the judges here. We

can think of David. We can think of those moments

when God's people faced something much larger

and stronger than they were and God gave them

victory. We think about Israel going into the

land of promise. They enforced justice. They

became instruments from whom God would push back

wickedness and establish what is right. They

obtained promises. Now, we know from verse 39

that they're not going to obtain all the promises,

but apparently there were things that God promised

along the way that God did in fact say yes to

in their lifetime. They got little installments

of what God had promised. God said He would do

things and then God came through. Stop the mouths

of lions. We know that story, don't we? Daniel.

Thrown in the den of hungry lions because he

refused to stop praying to Yahweh. The king comes

running in the next morning and Daniel is still

there. The lions are still there. The lions don't

eat Daniel because God had shut their mouths.

That's victory. Quench the power of fire. Now

it doesn't say quench the fire. Quench the power.

of the fire. The fire was still there for Shadrach,

Meshach, and Abednego. They were in the fire.

But the power of the fire to destroy them? God

said, no, it's not going to happen. Nebuchadnezzar

looks inside and not only are they alive, they're

walking around. And Nebuchadnezzar says, did

we throw four men or three men in there? Because

I see a fourth man and that one looks like a

son of God. That's victory. Escaped the edge

of the sword. Remember that one we just talked

about? Escaped the sword. The point is obvious.

The sword was coming and God got them out. They

were made strong out of weakness. Stop there

for a minute because this whole incredible list,

that may be a phrase that some of you need more

than others. It doesn't say God made strong people

strong. It's usually how we think about who God

uses. God's gonna pick those that are pretty

already strong and he's just gonna make them

stronger. So that rules me out. What comes first?

The weakness. comes first. He made the strength

out of the weakness. These weren't people who

possessed some reservoir of spiritual strength

that I don't have or that you don't have. They

needed strength from outside of themselves and

God met them in their weakness. These people

were as weak as the weakest of us and yet they

laid hold of heavenly strength. Maybe you feel

really weak right now. Maybe you look at something

happening in your life and you say I don't know

if I'm strong enough for this. I don't know if

I can handle another month of this. I don't know

if I can keep doing this. I don't know what's

gonna happen to me if this keeps happening. And

maybe the answer is you're not strong enough.

But faith does not require for you to have strength

for tomorrow already. God is going to make you

strong when you get to the place that you need

that strength. You may not have the strength

for what comes tomorrow. But when you get there,

God is gonna grace you with that strength if

your faith is in Him. So maybe the question is

not, am I strong enough for everything that might

happen to me? Maybe the question should be, is

God strong enough to give me what I need when

I need it? And Hebrews 11 says, yes. Ryder keeps

going. They became mighty in war and put foreign

armies to flight. You feel the momentum building

here? Kingdoms conquered, justice established,

promises obtained, lions silenced, fears power

quenched, sword escaped, weakness turned to strength,

now armies are running away, and then you get

to the verse 35, and women receive back their

dead. Death itself getting reversed by faith.

And if we stop right there and we just answer

the question, what does faith do? The answer's

gonna be faith conquers. Faith conquers. Faith

wins. Faith overcomes. Faith gets the miracle,

but verse 35 isn't finished. Then it says some

were tortured. Or some translations say others

were tortured. Others. Who is the others? These

are the other people of faith. This isn't a different

group of people, church. Listen, this isn't a

different group of people. It's not the people

of faith are over here conquering and then over

here are a different set of people. No, these

are other people of faith that get tortured.

Same faith, different story. And suddenly all

of those victories that we were celebrating in

the previous verses disappear. And it says others

suffered mocking and flogging. No power of fire

being quenched there. Verse 37 gets even worse.

They were stoned. They were sawn in two. They

were killed by the sword. There it is again,

the sword. Verse 34, they escaped the edge of

the sword. Verse 37, they were killed by the

sword. Both in the same list. Both commended

for their faith. Both trusted God. Same faith,

different stories. Completely destroying the

idea that faith is measured by the outcomes.

What if the person who escaped the sword had

great faith? But what if the person who got killed

by the sword had just as much faith? And what

matters, because we are tempted to judge God's

faithfulness by the story we get, what matters

is not the outcome. It is the God whom you are

putting your faith in. And we celebrate the testimony

when the doctors come in and says, we can't explain

it, cancer's gone. We celebrate that. And we

should. Praise God for it. We celebrate when

the marriage gets restored, when the child comes

home, when the job comes through, when the door

opens, when the circumstance changes. Those are

Hebrews 11 stories. But they're not all of Hebrews

11 stories. Sometimes the Christian prays and

puts their faith in God and the cancer doesn't

go away. The marriage isn't restored. The door

stays closed. The suffering continues and the

person who trusted God doesn't escape the sword.

And Hebrews 11 will not allow us to say, well,

they must not have had enough faith. Hebrews

11 gets rid of all that because God put the people

who died by the sword in the exact same chapter

as those who escaped it. Same faith, different

stories by the sovereign hand of God. The list

continues, they went about in skins of sheep

and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated.

wandering in the desert and mountains and the

dens of caves of the earth. Some of them looked

like winners. Some of them lost everything. And

right in the middle of this list of everything

that these people look like they are losing,

God puts this phrase, of whom the world was not

worthy. I love that because the world looks at

these people who went about in skins of sheep

and goats and are destitute and afflicted and

mistreated wandering in the deserts and mountains

and dens and caves. The world looks at them and

says, those are the nobodies. And God says, this

world is not worthy of them. Not worthy of them.

Complete opposite conclusion. God says, no, you

don't understand. You are not worthy to have

these people among you. Complete reversal. The

world looked at them and pushed them to the margins

and God looked at them and said those are my

possessions Those are my beautiful people and

this fallen sinful world is not worthy to have

them So be careful about determining whether

somebody is winning by looking where they are

in the moment by looking at what they don't have

Be careful about determining whether God is faithful

by looking at someone's circumstances, and especially

be careful about looking at your own difficult

circumstances and concluding that you maybe just

don't have enough faith. Hebrews 11 gives us

two kinds of stories. There's a faith that conquers,

and there's a faith that endures while not conquering.

A faith that endures through suffering. So what

does faith do? Faith conquers and faith endures.

Same faith, different stories. But now we got

a problem. And I think it's a problem the writer

wants us to feel. If one person escapes the sword

and the other person dies by the sword, how can

we call both victory? How can we call both of

these things victory? How can the person who

conquers the kingdom and the person who is hiding

in a cave both be winning? How can the person

who gets the miracle and the person who doesn't

both have a better victory? We're gonna find

the answer as we pass through the text the second

time. Alright, so now the question becomes, what

does faith see? What does faith see? I want to

show you something sitting right here in the

middle of the text. It's incredibly easy to miss

if you just read right through it, okay? Before

verse 35, faith is conquering, right? Middle

of verse 35, and you back up, faith is conquering.

Then the second part, of verse 35 and following,

faith is suffering. But there's something, verse

35 is the hinge of this entire text. Please catch

this. Verse 35 is the hinge of the entire text.

It is the place that the text shifts gears and

there's a turning point. This is on purpose.

Look at verse 35. What two words, what one word

is repeated twice. Look at it, verse 35. What

word is repeated twice? Resurrection. Not repeated

necessarily in the ESV. The idea of a resurrection.

Women receive back their dead and then a promise

of a better resurrection. Here's the hinge of

this entire section. Women receive back their

dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing

to escape release so that they might rise again

to a better life. You see what the writer's done?

He has put the focal point on resurrection. Two

resurrections in one verse. They sit on opposite

sides of the turn. Okay, catch this grammatically.

All of these great things God is doing, women

receive back their dead. Some were tortured.

There's the turn. What's right after the turn?

Better resurrection. So you got resurrection

on this side of the turn. resurrection on this

side of the turn. The hinge of this entire thing

is resurrection. This passage turns that they

may obtain a better resurrection. This isn't

accidental. In fact, scholars have noticed that

this verse seems to be deliberately constructed

to straddle the two halves of the passage. In

fact, Gareth Cockrell has even argued that the

better resurrection is the key to understanding

all of Hebrews 11. So resurrection is the hinge.

And once you see it, you can't unsee it. And

here's what makes it even more beautiful. These

two resurrections in verse 35 are not the same.

The first one says, women receive back their

dead. The writer is almost certainly taking us

to Elisha and Elijah, where the widow of Zarephath

and the Shumanite woman receive back their children.

Their sons had died. Dead children in the arms

of mothers. And the prophets pray for them. the

dead begin to breathe again. That's victory.

That's the climax of the conquering. By faith,

the dead came back. You can't get a bigger earthly

victory than that. Here's a problem with that

though. Those boys died again, didn't they? Yes,

they were raised back to life, but their bodies

were going to age again. Sickness was still going

to exist. Suffering was still going to happen.

Death was going to come again. The resurrection

was glorious, but it wasn't the better resurrection.

It wasn't the final resurrection. And that's

why I love the phrase, a better resurrection.

There's that word again, better. We've been hearing

it through the entire book, better hope, better

covenant, better promises, better sacrifices,

better possession, better high priest, better

country now, better resurrection. That's Hebrews,

better, better, better. Jesus is better. Everything

he brings is better. So the first resurrection

of verse 35, somebody gets their life back. But

the better resurrection of 35, you get the life

to come. The first says you can have your old

life back, the second says you can have a life

that never ends. Now, all of a sudden, if 35

is the hinge, if resurrection is the point, which

I think it is, textually speaking, that resurrection

is the point, the better resurrection is the

hinge, then all of a sudden, it makes sense why

they could do what they did. They saw something

better. Some were tortured. It says refusing

to accept release so they might rise again to

a better life. Don't miss that. They could have

been released. Apparently there was an exit.

They could have made their suffering stop. They

could have got their lives back, but in order

to do that they would have to compromise their

allegiance to God and they said we're not going

to do that. Why? Why would they say we're not

going to do that? Not because they like suffering.

Not because the pain didn't hurt. Not because

they were naturally tougher than most people.

Or they weren't afraid to die. It's because they

saw something. Oh, go back to Hebrews 11, what

is faith? Faith is the assurance of things hoped

for, the conviction of things not seen. Okay,

now we're getting, what is the ultimate thing

not seen? Resurrection. So I can go through these

people can go through what they what they went

through Because they had not ordinary sight they

had a faith seeing that saw something beyond

the physical Beyond the the the physical release

beyond prison beyond struck the torture beyond

swords beyond the grave They saw past all of

that to a better resurrection and that changed

the calculation for them They were being offered

their lives back And in effect, they said, why

would we trade the better life for more years

of this old one? Why would we give up the best

thing for something lesser? Now we're beginning

to understand the second half of this passage.

We read all of this, and if you're like me, you

ask, how could they do that? How could somebody

be told, you either abandon your God or we're

going to saw you in half? And they say, saw me

in half. And we read that and we go, how? How

does somebody do that? It's because their faith

saw something that their physical eyes couldn't

see. A better resurrection. Let's read this again

with better resurrection after every line. Some

were tortured. Why didn't they give up? Better

resurrection. Others suffered mocking. Why do

they keep going? Better resurrection. Flogging,

better resurrection. Chains, imprisonment, better

resurrection. Stoned, better resurrection. Sawed

in two, better resurrection. Killed by the sword,

better resurrection. They went about in skins

of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated.

How can all of those lose everything and still

believe better resurrection? Wandering in the

desert and in mountains and dens and caves. How

do you lose your home and still believe better

resurrection? Now we know what faith sees. Faith

sees beyond what can be taken away. Listen to

that. Faith sees beyond what can be taken away

to something that cannot be taken away. And that's

why I think one of the most important lessons

from this passage is the resurrection changes

what you're willing to lose. It changes what

you're willing to lose. If this life is all there

is, then hang on to it at all cost. If this body

is all you get, then preserve it at all cost.

If this world is all you have, then get everything

you can from it while it lasts. But if resurrection

is coming, then math changes, doesn't it? The

calculation changes. You can lose something now

without losing everything. You can surrender

something now because something permanent is

coming. You can endure something now because

ultimately you're not going to lose your life.

It's interesting. Resurrection actually doesn't

just show up first in verse 35. You know that?

Go back to Abraham's story, verses 17 through

19. And while you're doing that, I'm going to

time my share real quick. Everybody take a deep

breath. This is a moment for a deep breath. This

passage needs that at times. God tells Abraham

to offer Isaac. Hebrews tells us that Abraham

believed that he considered that God was even

able to raise Isaac from the dead. In other words,

if I gotta go up here and I gotta sacrifice my

son, I believe God will raise him from the dead.

There it is, resurrection. And actually, if you

look at Hebrews 11 all the way through, you're

gonna see God rescuing people from death in almost

everybody that's mentioned. Enoch doesn't experience

death. He walked with the Lord and he was no

more. Noah survives a worldly flood. Isaac is

figuratively received back from death. Moses

survives Pharaoh's death sentence. Israel survives

Passover. Israel passes through the sea. Rahab

survives Jericho. Daniel survives the lions.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego survive the furnace.

Others escape the sword. Women receive back their

dead. Again and again and again, we've already

seen deliverance from death, deliverance from

death, deliverance from death, deliverance from

death, deliverance from death. And then, see

the building here. They're escaping death. They're

being delivered from death. Then we get all the

way to verse 35. They actually die. And then

after they die, they're given their life back.

And then we get to the better resurrection. You

see what he's been doing all along? It's it's

like subtle almost because you read through it

the first time and you're like you're just reading

the stories And then you go back and you're like

wait a minute. He's been delivering from death

with all of these people Delivering from death

delivering from death delivering from death die

delivered from death tortured killed sawed into

beheaded delivered from death so this whole thing

is pointing to our Resurrection hope has a name

now doesn't it Yeshua of Nazareth? In English,

we call Him Jesus. And because He lives, the

Christian can say, this hurts, but it isn't gonna

be forever. I'm weak, but this isn't gonna be

forever. I may lose something, but it isn't forever.

My body may fail, but it isn't forever. I may

eventually go to the grave, but even that is

not forever. Maybe that's the kind of faith some

of us need this morning. Not the kind of faith

that is just gonna be like, I'm gonna have this

faith and I'm gonna conquer, I'm gonna conquer,

and I'm gonna conquer. Maybe you just need the

kind of faith that doesn't make the problem disappear.

Does it pretend like you're not losing something

or you're not hurting? But the kind of faith

that says whatever happens to me can never cancel

out what God has promised to me. So we've walked

the passage twice. This third one is going to

be a little shorter, but it's really important

and you got to see this. What does faith do?

Same faith, different stories. What does faith

see? Same hope, different resurrection. Now,

where does faith take us? Same promise, but one

people. Look at verse 39. All these, though commended

through their faith, did not receive what was

promised. All these. Who's the all these here?

Now it's everything, everybody that's been listed.

Starting all the way back with Abraham, working

all the way back with Noah, and then we're going

to work all the way forward to all the Christian

martyrs who are being killed for their faith.

All of these Everybody we've met in this chapter,

Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob,

Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson,

Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets, the people

who conquered kingdoms, those who died by the

sword, all of these, Hebrews said, died without

receiving the promise. You're like, wait a minute,

wait a minute, they're in heaven. They're in

heaven. How have they not received the promise?

If you don't have a good eschatology, if you

don't have a good theology of the end times,

And many Westerners don't because we think we

win when we die and we go to the present heaven.

This text says all of these people who are already

dead and with Jesus right now in the present

heaven have not obtained the promise. Now, is

it better than being sawn in two? I mean, then

they're in the glory of God. But you know what

they have not experienced? The resurrection.

They haven't experienced a better resurrection

yet. That hasn't happened. They're actually waiting

for something. Did you know that? Did you know

that people in the present heaven are waiting

for something? You say, Neil, you better have

some Bible for that because I don't know about...

Well, the martyrs in Revelation, the martyrs

are looking at God going, how long? How long,

oh Lord, before you make this all right? They're

with God right now saying, how much longer? How

much longer? How much longer? The people of God

who have died for it by faith and are with Jesus

right now in the present heaven have not obtained

the promises and they are still waiting for something.

What are they waiting for? Us. They're waiting

for us. Look at verse 40. Since God has provided

something better for us, now all of a sudden

we're included in this. We haven't been included.

It's just been by faith these people, by faith

these. Now the sudden in verse 40, we're included.

God has provided something better for us that

apart from us, they should not be made perfect.

Do you remember what Paul said when Paul was

like, listen, to be absent from the body is to

be present with the Lord. It is better for me

to not be here and to be present with God. So

all of your loved ones that have passed in faith,

they're better off. No question about it. But

you know what Paul says, but Paul says, I don't

want to be naked." They're like, what? Because

the people that have died who are present in

heaven right now do not have a physical body.

Their spirit is there. And I'm under the assumption,

just from some clues in the text, I'm under the

assumption that their spirits look like them.

Okay? Here's why. Do you remember at the Mount

of Transfiguration? You remember this? Who were

the three disciples that were with Jesus? Peter,

James, and John, right? The inner three. They

went with Jesus to the Mount of Transfiguration.

And Jesus transforms. Right? And all of a sudden

they see Him in a glory they have not seen Him

before. And standing next to Him is who? Moses

and Elijah. Elijah, right? Moses and Elijah.

Standing on either side. How do the disciples

know it was Moses and Elijah? Because they look

like human beings. They didn't have a physical

body yet. The resurrection hadn't happened. So

I'm... I can, I mean I dine for this, but I'm

under the conclusion from scripture that our

spirits look like us. I don't think that when

you die your spirit goes to heaven and you're

not going to recognize anybody else that is in

heaven. I think when you see your parents or

you see your loved ones you're going to recognize

them because their spirit is going to look like

them. But they're not in a physical body yet.

And that's why Paul says I don't want to be naked.

I want my body resurrected. I want my spirit

with my body again. So these people are in the

present heaven waiting for a physical body and

what they're waiting for is us because they cannot

be made perfect until we are made perfect with

them. Ultimately God has promised everything

coming together in Christ and we're still waiting

and they're still waiting. Christ has come, Christ

has died, Christ has risen, Christ has accomplished

redemption, but the better resurrection has not

happened yet. So we're waiting. Not merely for

God to save individuals, because he's redeeming

not simply individuals, he's redeeming a people.

Charles Spurgeon said this, it never was God's

intention that any part of his church should

be able to do without the rest of it. I love

that. Hebrews 11 is not a museum with statues

of spiritual superheroes. It is a family album.

These aren't just stories. These are our stories.

These are our people. This is our family. Our

family gave their lives by faith. Our family

were sawn into. Our family conquered kingdoms.

This is our family. Old Testament saints, New

Testament saints, together the people of God

before and after Christ, together conquering

kingdoms. The people who lived in caves, the

people whose names everybody knows, and the millions

upon millions upon millions of people that nobody

remembers. One Christ, one people, one resurrection,

one world to come, and nobody misses out. Now

that's a better victory, church. Amen? That's

a better victory. This isn't merely, I got what

I wanted. It isn't merely that I survived. It

isn't merely that I went to heaven when I died.

The victory is that Christ is going to finish

what he started, and the dead will rise. God's

people will be made complete, and together we

will inherit everything that God promised. Together.

Some people aren't going to be resurrected before

other people. So the question Hebrews 11 leaves

us with isn't, will my faith get the outcome

I want? The question is, what kind of victory

am I looking for? Some escaped the sword and

some died by the sword. Some walked out of the

fire. Others walked into suffering and never

came back out. Some got back their dead. Others

chose a better resurrection. And Hebrews looks

at every one of them and says they're commended

through their faith. So maybe we need to make

sure we're not defining victory too small. When

a Christian missionary gets killed, it's easy

for us to say, what a tragedy. No, no, what a

victory, right? The bigger view is, what a victory.

A victory so great that suffering can't take

it away. A victory so great the sword can't take

it away. The grave can't take it away because

our victory is never ultimately found in escaping

death. It is found in the one who went through

death and came out the other side. Jesus didn't

avoid the cross. He defeated it. He didn't escape

the grave. He emptied it. And because He did,

the worst thing the world can do to you is not

the last thing that will happen to you. That's

why the resurrection changes what you're willing

to lose. You can lose all your comfort, still

have Christ. You can lose all your possessions

and still have Christ. You can lose the approval

of the world and still have Christ. One day you

can lose your life and still have Christ because

there is a better country and there is a better

resurrection. God has prepared something better.

So church, when God shuts the lion's mouth, trust

Him. When He doesn't, trust Him. When the fire

loses its power, trust Him. When the fire destroys

everything you love, trust Him. When you escape

the sword, trust Him. When the sword falls, trust

Him. Because for the Christian, death doesn't

get the final word. Resurrection does. And that

is a better victory.