“...and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: 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. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.” (Heb.11:36-40)
TWO TYPES OF FAITH IN SCRIPTURES
In Hebrew eleven you find two types of faith: the kind that received (verses 32-35a), and the kind that received not (verses 35b-40). Many years ago, in devotions, God impressed me with those two little words, found twice in our text, “And Others.” Thus was born a sermon God has mightily used throughout these many years, “What About the Others?”
TWO TYPES OF BELIEVERS IN CHURCH HISTORY
We have such saints as George Muller and Hudson Taylor, who received mighty things from God. Then again we have Christian martyrs, such as Bishops Ridley and Latimer, burned at the stake for their faith. The latter of the two never saw the fruition of their faith, in this life. But did from glory! It could be said of this kind, “Having not seen...yet believing.”
A FAITH THAT DOESN’T FLINCH
There is a faith that doesn’t “draw back,” in adversity. I call it by such names as: faith without frills, raw faith, naked faith, unpretentious faith, a faith without cosmetics. It is a faith that limps along through life, always with an eye set on the goal, in spite of any and all hardships. It is a faith that cries out in the blackness of night, with all its pain and suffering, “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.”
Jesus saith...because thou hast seen...thou hast believed...blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)
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