Bible Studies

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Overcoming Faith Part 13

Hebrews 11:39-40 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. KJV

We have been reminded of some extra ordinary acts of victory in war, resurrections of human life from death, extreme bravery shown  even when outnumbered by the Satanic enemy, ability to endure extreme sufferings, ability to kill their enemies with extreme prejudice, the multiplying of resources from nothing, and many other acts that were too numerous to list that occured during the Old Testament days of the Elders/Patriarchs all done with the Power of the Lord God/Elohim/Adonai/Jehovah/Jesus Christ working in them and through them by faith. However, the writer of Hebrews reminds us of still one more fact that make these acts of faith much more remarkable to we Christians who are followers of our Lord Jesus Christ in this time and era and that is they never received or saw the Promise of the Messiah/the Christ come in the flesh to the earth in any of their lifetimes, not even did Moses or Abraham, even though Abraham did see the Angel of the Lord appear to him on one occassion and speak to him in human form, as it is written for us with these words, "And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said." (Genesis 18:1-5) (KJV).  Yet despite this one time appearance none of them ever saw Jesus Christ come in the flesh to the earth to die for the sins of the world, as the writer of Hebrews declares it with these words, "And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:" (Hebrews 11:39) (KJV). Here is what the Expositor's Bible Commentary had to say of Hebrews 11:39, "All these sturdy men of faith have had witness borne to them in Scripture. This honour they won from time to time, as the Spirit of Christ, which was in the Prophets, saw fit to encourage the people of God on earth by their example. Are we forbidden to suppose that this witness to their faith gladdened their own glorified spirits, and calmed their eager expectation of the day when the promise would be fulfilled? For, after all, their reward was not the testimony of Scripture, but their own perfection. Now this perfection is described through out the Epistle as a priestly consecration. It expresses fitness for entering into immediate communion with God. This was the final fulfilment of the promise. This was the blessing which the saints under the Old Covenant had not obtained. The way of the holiest had not yet been opened. Consequently their faith consisted essentially in endurance. None of these received the promise, but patiently waited. This is inferred concerning them from the testimony of Scripture that they believed. Their faith must have manifested itself in this form,--endurance."

As for those of us who have been born after the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we have seen the Promise of God the Father fulfilled upon the earth through the Cross of Christ and He is speaking to us only through and by Him, as it is written by this same writer of Hebrews at the very beginning of this book, "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the Prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds; Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the Word of His Power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on High; Being made so much better than the angels, as He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they." (Hebrews 11:1-4) (KJV). The writer of Hebrews reminds us of this reality with these last words in Chapter 11, "God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." (Hebrews 11:40) (KJV). The fact that it is we Christians who have borne witness to the Cross of Christ does not mean that Samson, or Gideon, or Barak or Jephthah, or any of the Old Testament saints were less worthy than we are, but only that it is the will of God who is born when, where, and why concerning the time in human history because it is His Story, that is, God's that is being written throughout time. These words from Robertson's Word Pictures best detailed this truth for us, "But this glorious and gracious purpose (foresight) of God is not due to any special merit in us. It is simply the fulness of the time in God’s dispensation of grace of which we are the beneficiaries. But all the same and all the more (noblesse oblige), we should prove worthy of our heritage and of God’s goodness to us and be loyal to Christ." Here also is what Adam Clarke had to say of Hebrews 11:40, "This is the dispensation of the Gospel, with all the privileges and advantages it confers. Believers before the flood, after the flood, under the law, and since the law, make but one Church. The Gospel dispensation is the last, and the Church cannot be considered as complete till the believers under all dispensations are gathered together. As the Gospel is the last dispensation, the preceding believers cannot be consummated even in glory till the Gospel Church arrive in the heaven of heavens. There are a great variety of meanings put on this place, but the above seems the most simple and consistent. See Revelation 6:11. 'White robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also, and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.' This time, and its blessings, are now upon the wing.

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…

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