Hebrews 11:38

SAINTS OF GOD

‘Of whom the world was not worthy.’

Hebrews 11:38

This chapter contains the roll of ‘the sacramental host of God’s elect,’ who suffered many things for Him, but they glorified Him in and through all they suffered.

I. They were the favourites of the Lord.—Called by His sovereign love, redeemed by the precious blood of His Son, enlightened and sanctified by His holy Spirit, they were made His children, adopted into His family, exalted to be His heirs. So He fulfilled His pledge to them (2 Corinthians 6:17).

II. They were lights of the world.—Their Father was called ‘the Father of Lights,’ and having such intimate fellowship with Him, they ‘walked in the light, even as He is in the light.’

III. They were the blessings of the world.—Such emphatically were Enoch, and Abraham, and Job, and Joseph, and Moses, and Daniel, and the Apostles; and such, indeed, were all the saints with and after Him. They were ‘steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.’

(SECOND OUTLINE)

SAINTS IN THE WORLD

The saints of old trusted in Jehovah, and possessed his mind, and hence were fearless and patient. They developed their superior virtues when made to pass through the fire.

I. They were slighted by the world.—Though they endeavoured to benefit the world, the world cared neither for their motives and efforts, nor for their persons; nay, they were reckoned ‘the off-scouring of all things,’ and left destitute to wander in deserts and on mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.

II. They were persecuted by the world.—This was inevitable, for they who slight and despise those who are better than themselves are sure to annoy and ill-treat them. Such verily is the testimony of this chapter (Hebrews 11:35; Hebrews 11:37). But all this practical hatred, all this evil usage, though very hard to bear, was charged with blessedness to them (St. Matthew 5:10; Matthew 5:12). When earth was shut against them, heaven opened to them.

III. They were martyred by the world.—Martyrdom came into the world when the world was young. ‘The first man that died,’ says Bishop Hall, ‘died for religion’; and then he asks, ‘Who dare measure God’s love by outward events when he sees wicked Cain stand over bleeding Abel, whose sacrifice was first accepted, and then himself was sacrificed?’ Ever since then the saints have suffered in battalions; yet, ‘they counted not their lives dear unto them’; and though they died in torments they always died in triumph.

(THIRD OUTLINE)

THE STRENGTH OF THE SAINTS

These saints of whom the world was not worthy, and who suffered persecution and death, were sustained by invisible means.

I. They were strengthened by Divine faith.—By this they saw the precious things of God in the light of His own Word and by the illumination of His own Spirit.

II. They were animated by Divine grace.—When this first entered their soul, it did not lie dormant there, as it is not a sleepy habit, but an active principle. Less grace was discovered to them than to us. They knew a portion only, but accomplished much by the little they knew.

III. They were cheered by the Divine presence.—The ark of the covenant of the Lord cheered the desponding Israelites. If the mere symbol of the Divine presence gladdened the Hebrew warriors, how much more must the Divine presence Itself have inspired those saintly ones ‘of whom the world was not worthy’!