Join us in a thought-provoking journey through Hebrews 11, as Dr. J. Vernon McGee eloquently illustrates the power of steadfast faith amidst suffering. In this episode, we examine biblical examples and personal stories that highlight the contrast between triumphant victories and quiet endurance. Discover how faith not only helps in winning life’s greatest battles but also in enduring its most challenging moments. Through personal reflections and historical anecdotes, Dr. McGee invites us to witness the enduring power of faith that has survived centuries.
The firm of foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith.
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Welcome to Through the Bible. I’m Steve Schwetz, welcoming you aboard the Bible bus for another great study in God’s Word. Now with this message, our teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, concludes our study of Hebrews chapter 11. But first, here’s a special introduction that Dr. McGee recorded for this message.
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We’re coming to a section now that with all these how-to books, how to overcome tension and how to overcome worry and how to meet the problems of the day and how to handle the situations that arise in this life. Well, here’s the section that there are no how-to books been written. How do you really handle suffering? Oh, I know there are those that play along with it, but this is something that you cannot play along with at all. And we are receiving today more letters than we’ve ever received of people, God’s people, who are suffering. And many of them are really questioning. They’re questioning God’s dealings. They question their own relationship with God. I would like to just read one. And then read a poem that may be helpful to you. It’s a hymn, actually. But this letter comes from one who knows what it is to suffer. It says, “‘I spent one entire night kneeling and praying beside the bed of my ill young daughter who was suffering from an incurable cancer.'” When my prayers didn’t seem to alleviate her suffering, my faith was beginning to weaken. I was beginning to think that God is a figment of our imagination. May I say to you, he felt that if he continued in that line, he’d lose all. He’d lose contact with God altogether. Well, God took that daughter of his that had cancer. And this man has really been through the fires, but he’s come out with a real living faith. And since I do know something about cancer, it always touches me when I hear about cases like this My heart does go out to this man and to his wife and the loss of their daughter by this dreaded monster today. But may I say to you, I don’t think the how-to books can help you when you’re lying on a bed. knowing that you have terminal cancer, or at least think you have. And I had that experience. But here is something that someone sent me. And it’s from Annie Johnson Flint, one of her best love poems. And it meant a great deal to me. Maybe it’ll mean a great deal to some of you out yonder that are suffering today, especially before we take up today this section on suffering. God hath not promised skies always blue, flower-strewn pathways all our lives through. God hath not promised sun without rain, joy without sorrow, peace without pain. But God hath promised strength for the day, rest for the labor. light for the way, grace for the trials, help from above, unfailing sympathy, undying love. This is what God has to offer you, my suffering friend, today. And none of these present-day gimmicks that are being passed around are are going to help. They’re merely psychological. Only God, by his marvelous grace, can comfort your heart and comfort your life and comfort you at a time like this. Shall we look to God in prayer? Heavenly Father, as we bring our thinking today to this section, where we see that some of the great saints of old suffered a great deal. And how can we expect down here to escape all the suffering of this world? We pray, Heavenly Father, that wherever we are and whoever we are today and whatever you’ve called us to endure, May we look to you in this hour knowing that you will see us through. We pray these things in Jesus’ name and for his sake and for his glory. Amen.
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That was a great introduction, both very personal and practical. Now let’s get started with our study. Open to Hebrews 11, verse 35, as we go through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.
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Now, frankly, I feel like we’ve come to the high point in this 11th chapter because we have seen faith that has been exercised in the lives of men and women in all ages, under all circumstances, all conditions. And the wonderful victories that were won, the wars that were fought, And we read in verse 35 now, and we are seeing here the wideness of faith. My, it has moved into every area of life. It says here, “…women received their dead, raised to life again.” And you remember the widow of Zarephath, where Elijah stayed. “…and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.” In other words, we’re talking now about martyrs. And listen how he begins, verse 36, and others. Now we’re going to talk about others. Others that are in contrast to these that we have been talking about. And these others, will you listen to them? They had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn asunder. They were tempted or tested. They were slain with the soward. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. Now, here’s another group of people. They didn’t gain great victories out on the battlefield. They didn’t move onto the wide deck of life triumphant. They didn’t enter the arena of life before a great audience and perform great feats for God. These were the ones that are others. And they had trials and mockings and scourgings, and bonds, and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn asunder. It is said that that was the fate of Isaiah. And of course, all we have is tradition for that. But Jerome is very insistent that it was Isaiah that was sawn asunder. And that’s a cruel, horrible death. And they were tested, tempted. And they were slain by the soward. Now, I want you to notice a contrast here. Back up in 34, when we were talking about the victories that were won, of how they subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the soward. They escaped the edge of the soward. But here, the others, they were slain with the soward. Now, how do you explain this? One group, by faith, they escaped the edge of the sword. What about the other group? They didn’t escape the edge of the sword. They were slain with the sword. So here we have a different group altogether. And how are you going to explain this group? Well, here we come to something that I want to say to you is still to me a very difficult subject. And it is, why do the righteous suffer? Well, I know it’s easy if you’re enjoying good health today to toss it off and says, well, God is testing them. We’re going to see that in the next chapter. But here, these people went through all of this by faith. And they didn’t look at it that they were being tested and that type of thing. They endured it because they did it by faith. They could trust God when the day was dark and when the nights were long and when the suffering was great, when there was no deliverance for them at all. And others, others were tortured. Others were slain with the sword. We’re talking about others today. Now, It’s wonderful to be able to get up and quote a verse of scripture like Psalm 34. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him and delivereth them. And then in verse 19 of Psalm 34, many are the afflictions of the righteous, but Jehovah delivereth him out of them all. That’s wonderful. That’s wonderful, friends. And God does that. But what about the others that didn’t escape the edge of the sword? What about those that suffered? And Stephen could look at the religious rulers of his day and say, which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? Prophets never had it easy, friends. And Stephen himself was the first martyr to the Christian faith. And you have here, they have slain them, which showed before of the coming of the just one of whom you have been now the betrayers and murderers. That’s what Stephen told him before they stoned him to death. And when the Lord called Saul of Tarsus, that brilliant young Pharisee, he says, I’ll show him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake. And the Lord Jesus made it very clear. He said in John 16, 33, in the world, ye shall have trouble, but be a good cheer. I’ve overcome the world. And Paul and Barnabas, when they went out, they went out confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith and that we must, through much trouble, enter into the kingdom of God. May I say to you, a great many people demonstrate their faith by winning battles, by being delivered. And then there are others, multitudes of them, and they’ve suffered for the faith. Down through the long history of the church, there have been the Waldensians, the Albigensians, and the Huguenots, and the Scotch Covenanters. And there have been others. I had the privilege of baptizing Martha Snell Nicholson, the poetess. She was a member of my church in downtown Los Angeles that I served. And she suffered. She suffered so that I baptized her in a bathtub. You couldn’t touch her without her screaming it hurt so. That woman went through untold suffering before she passed on into the presence of the Lord. And today they’re lying on beds of pain right now, listening to me. Literally thousands of people. And it’s nice to read this about walking out on this stage of life and getting a great victory. And it’s wonderful to be able to report that you’ve been healed. Well, what about those that are suffering on beds of pain? What about that unknown missionary out yonder on the field today? And many of them are suffering for Jesus’ sake. And there’s many a minister today that’s suffering for Jesus’ sake. And there’s many a person today that’s suffering for Jesus’ sake. What about them, friend? May I pass on to you just some little something that I’ve learned recently. It illustrates this, beloved. Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened unto you, but rejoice inasmuch as you’re partakers of Christ’s suffering, that when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy. And you remember Paul made the statement to the Colossians. He says, it’s necessary for me to fill up. the sufferings of Christ. And you begin to ask yourself the question, what do you mean, Philip, the sufferings of Christ? Didn’t Christ’s death, wasn’t that redemption for us, complete, perfect? And it certainly was. But my friend, there are certain sufferings even of the Lord Jesus that that were not redemptive sufferings, the sufferings he had in this life down here. His redemptive sufferings took place on the cross and none of us can add anything to that. But you and I, if we’re going to stand for him, I’m of the opinion that we may have to pay a price for it and some of us may have to suffer just a little. I want to pass this then on to you and will you forgive me for being personal again? Many of you know that I had a bout with cancer. We hope it’s over. We don’t know that it’s over. The doctor gives me no assurance that it might not reoccur again, but so far it hasn’t. And I thank God for that. I rejoice in his goodness and grace and mercy to me. And I’ve gone around and I have gloried in that. I promised him that I would give him all the glory if he’d heal me. And he did. And I guess I talked pretty loud. And I had a great deal to say on this radio. And then I began to get letters. And I have received literally hundreds of letters from people that write. And somebody says, I have terminal cancer. Pray for me. I have no hope. And I’ve tried to remember all them in prayer. And then I get a letter from a loved one and says they passed on. And then I hear from another party and she says, my husband, he had cancer also. And he died with cancer. He suffered a great deal. And so I began to look at this thing again, that God doesn’t always raise you up. And just because a few people can even go to a faith healer, very few people there even respond that they’ve been healed. Just think of the thousands today that are in hospitals. Think of the thousands lying on beds of pain. My friend, I’m thinking of the others right now, the others. And I have been humbled by many of these letters as I’ve read of some wonderful saint tucked away, way off yonder in an out-of-the-way place, that you have to get to them by horseback, and then you’d have to get off and walk to get to where they are. But they are there for God today, and they’re suffering. I say to you, here’s a company, and they’re just called Others. Others, I don’t want you to forget the others today. And that they are living by faith and dying by faith too, by the way. And their suffering has ended for many of them. And they’ve gone already into the presence of the Lord, never to have to die again. Others, I love that. This means something new to me. I hope it might mean something new to you. Now, let me move on. I’m reading now at verse 39. Well, let me read verse 38. “…of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens, and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise.” Now, what promise is it that they did not receive? God made many promises, and many of them received the promises that he made to them. But the promise is that God has promised he’d raise them and there’d be a kingdom established here on this earth. They have not received that promise because God today is calling out a people to his name, as he says here in Hebrews, of bringing many sons home to glory. And we’re told here the reason for that. They’ve all obtained a good witness, a good report through faith, They received not the promise, God having provided some better thing for us. And he had us in mind. Wasn’t that gracious of him? That they without us should not be made perfect. And God today is very patiently calling a people out of this world to his name. That’s the church. And until that church is completed, he’s just going to keep calling them out. Because I think he’s calling many out of this world in which we live. And that’s what we have here. Now, you have the world and the worth of faith. Now, let me say this, and I hope I’ll not be misunderstood. It’s been my privilege in my ministry up to the present hour to have spoken to a great many young people. When I was a young preacher, I was known as a young people’s speaker. And I have been to young people’s conferences and been with them. And as I got older, I found out I was a little impatient with them. But they still invite me. Just recently, I’ve spoken to over a thousand of them in one session, and I’ve had several sessions with the group, and I have invitations to go and speak to many groups that I’m not able to accept the invitation. Now, I say all of this that I may make this statement, and the statement is this, and I don’t want to be misunderstood, and you listen very carefully to it. I do not want to hear the testimony of of a young person who’s been saved a week or three months. Somebody says, wait a minute, you read letters from folk like that. Yes, I do. I rejoice in it. Don’t misunderstand. I got a letter from a party that told me about a man that accepted the Lord Jesus under my ministry in about 1943, right here in Pasadena, California, where I live now. He died, and he had a marvelous testimony given to him at the funeral of what a wonderful man of faith that he was. You see, what I’d like to say to the young person, and I said to a group the other day, they went out to witness, and they told about how many accepted Christ, and they said, isn’t that wonderful, Dr. McGee? I said, well, it’ll be wonderful. If three years from today or 30 years from today, you could come back to me and say that they all lived and these all died by faith. You see, I’ve come to this place now, and I’d like to finish this chapter on this note here because it’s a very important note. Some people think faith is something that’s untried. Faith is something that you can’t really be sure of. that it doesn’t really rest upon a foundation. Friends, here are a company of witnesses. Many of them live long lives. They live by faith. And they found out that it worked. Now, today, and again, let me be personal here in closing. I do not give apologetic messages. I was asked to speak to a group of young people not too long ago. This was another group. And they suggested that I bring a message or two on proving the Bible is the Word of God. And I said to that party, I said, I don’t think I’ll bring messages like that. I don’t bring apologetic messages anymore. I just bring messages from the Bible. I let the Holy Spirit do that. And so I went and spoke to this group. And I didn’t attempt to prove to them the Bible is the Word of God. I just preached the Word of God to them. And I have from that group now half a dozen letters from members of that group telling how their faith was strengthened. Now, my friend, may I say this to you today? And I want to say it to you very candidly. I don’t need to have the Bible proved to me right now. You don’t have to tell me about how wonderful faith is. You don’t have to tell me whether this thing works. I don’t believe it works. I know it works. You know how I know it? I’m an old man now. I’ve been at this a long time. And I want to say to you, it works. And I know it works. You see, even when they made the airplane and the thing flew off, there were those that said they didn’t believe it. Couldn’t believe their eye. Well, there are a lot of folk today They’re just as blind as a bat spiritually. They say, well, you know, I want it proven to me. My friend, if you are honest and were willing to put away the sin in your life and turn to Jesus Christ and trust him as Savior, I’d like to talk to you three years from today. I think then that nobody need to prove to you anything. You know it works. And there are multitudes around us right now, and many of you that are listening in can say amen to what we have said. You already know faith work. It’s operated. It’s real. It’s something that’s genuine. My friend, why don’t you get with it? Why don’t you get out of the realm of make-believe today and come into the realm of reality and find out what Jesus Christ can really do for your life. Until next time, may God richly bless you, my beloved.
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When we’re willing to trust God, we discover He always honors His Word. And when you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior, as Dr. McGee said, you’ll find that faith really works. Did this message resonate with you? Do you feel as though God is calling you out? If so, contact us at 1-865-BIBLE or BibleBus at ttb.org to receive a few free resources by mail. Or better yet, view them immediately by clicking on How Can I Know God in our app or at ttb.org. Now as we break for the weekend, I hope that you’ll join me for more great teaching by Dr. McGee on the Sunday Sermon. His message, Is It Possible for a Saved Person Ever to be Lost, is available on our app, online at ttb.org, or call us at 1-800-65-BIBLE if we can help you find a station that airs it. I’m Steve Schwetz, praying that God guides your every step and His mercy renews your spirit each day. Until we meet again.
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Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow.
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