A Greater Reward

Let's get into this book of Hebrews. The book of Hebrews. We're in chapter 11. We began this journey two years ago in 2023, and we've been working on it in the Fall. We got all the way up through chapter 11 last Fall.

And now we are working through chapter 11 and we'll finish it up today, actually. And the title of this series, we've entitled it “Jesus is Greater.” “Jesus is Greater. ” We find the theme early on in chapter one, Hebrews 1:4 (NLT) “This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave him is greater than their names.”

Jesus is greater. He's greater than anything you're facing today. And that's the theme of this book, the book of Hebrews. And we've entitled today's message, “A Greater Reward.” “ A Greater Reward”

because Jesus Christ is our surpassing great reward. And we'll be looking at that today. Now, speaking of rewards, have you ever gotten one? You've got a reward for something you probably have. I still have somewhere in a shoebox somewhere upstairs a little trophy I got in Little League.

I've still got stuff, certificates and things like that that my mama kept. And whenever she passed away we found them and I kept some of them. I don't know where they are. They're somewhere collecting dust upstairs, somewhere in the attic or something. And then I got the 12 years I worked in the corporate world before I said yes to the calling to preach.

And I have a box of stuff that was so important during my corporate years hanging on my office wall at work. And, you know, letters from the president of the company for something I had done. And maybe pins that went on my jacket, you know, five year pin, ten year pin, those kinds of things. I don't wear those anymore. In fact, I don't hang those on the wall anymore.

They're all in a shoebox. Here's the thing I've noticed. They all lose their new car smell. They all kind of fade in meaning, and they don't even hang on the wall anymore. And I wonder how many things that you've thought of as your reward will be like that.

They'll just fade away. They won't really matter. And in a world that constantly invites us with offers of immediate gratification, fleeting pleasures, temporary treasures, here's what we want to see from God's word today. Christ is our great reward. He's greater than any reward that you can hang on your wall or put in your wallet.

And that's the tension we're going to see in the scripture today. Because in the Old Testament, people of God never got to see everything that they were hoping for. There were promises that they were hoping for that in their lifetimes they never got to see. But by faith, they kept looking beyond this world for that reward that was to come. You see this book of Hebrews, it's called Hebrews because it was written to really, I think, explain to people who grew up Jewish, who came to Christ how to read the Old Testament, how to read their Bible, how to read the Hebrew Bible.

In fact, you could say the book of Hebrews was written so you'd know how to read the Old Testament through the lens of Jesus. Looking for Jesus on every page. Because maybe you didn't realize this, but Hebrews reveals to us that that's really the ultimate reward they were always looking for. They were looking for the Messiah, for Christ.

And as we look at the text today, I think that we can see three ways that we can faithfully look to this greater reward that we have in Christ Jesus. So let's look at it. Let's dig into the text, then we'll unpack it together. Hebrews 11:23-40 (ESV) 23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king's edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.

26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them. 29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land,

but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. 31By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. 32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 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. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.

36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted,mistreated— 38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. This is God's word.

We're looking for three ways we can faithfully look to our great reward in Christ Jesus. Here's the first way.

Friend, do you treasure your relationship with Jesus above all things? This is what we see in Moses here. The writer of Hebrews now moves from the patriarchs to the time of the law and the prophets. Some have observed that Hebrews chapter 11 is like the Reader's Digest version of the whole Old Testament. If so, if that's what it is, it's like driving 75 miles an hour down the interstate looking out the window at the Old Testament.

It's going by really fast. He began with creation, and then he worked through Abel, Enoch and Noah. Then he moved on through Abraham and Sarah and Isaac and Jacob and Joseph. And now we're to Moses. We've come upon Moses and the prophets.

And notice in verse 26 what it says, 26 “He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.” He considered, who Moses? Moses considered. He did an accounting. That word considered could be translated.

He esteemed, he treasured. What did he treasure? The reproach of Christ has greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.

So you remember who Moses is. He lived 40 years as a prince of Egypt. He knew all the wealth of Egypt. He wasn't just theoretically talking about the wealth. He had it.

He had it all. He was a prince of Egypt and yet he considered. He considered. He did an accounting. And he valued, counted, treasured the Messiah, the Anointed One, the Christ.

And even to be identified with his reproach, which is his shame, his scorn, the scorn that he would receive because from a distance, across the centuries into the future for Moses, there was a revelation to him of the Christ, the Messiah. Now, he didn't see him as clearly as we do. He didn't have Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. He didn't have the New Testament. He saw him as from afar, but he saw him enough to where he compared him to the riches and pleasures of Egypt and said, I treasure him more.

Do you see it? The author of Hebrews, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is teaching us to look for Jesus on every page. He's teaching us how to read the Old Testament through the lens of Christ. If you've ever wondered about your pastor's approach, you see it here now that my approach to look for Jesus on every page is also the approach of the New Testament writers. By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is the star of the Bible. He's the great reward. You might be thinking, oh, well, the great reward for the believer is heaven, right? Well, only because Jesus is there. It's not the place.

Oh, yeah, it's a wonderful place. It's an amazing place. It's not even the people that I'm looking forward to seeing. My mama and my daddy and my grandparents and I could go on and on. My baby brother who got there ahead of me, and that's not right.

But Jesus, he's my great reward. Is he yours? Do you treasure him above all? Moses treasured Christ without the revelation that we have. He treasured him from a distance.

Well, let's back up the bus here a little bit. See what we have by faith. Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents. Well, the faith we have here is the faith of his mom and dad. They had the faith to go against the edict of Pharaoh, who was concerned about the increasing population of the Hebrews.

And he put out the word to the midwives. Whenever those Hebrews have a baby boy, kill him, abort him. Get rid of those baby boys. Well, Moses, here comes Moses. And his mom and dad hid him.

For three months they hid him. And then it got to where he was making noise. I guess he was getting older and he was starting to cry. And they were afraid the neighbors would report them. So they made a little boat.

The King James says they made an ark, a little basket, filled in the gaps with tar and put it on the River Nile. Now that's a crazy faith right there. What if an alligator would have got it?

Crocodile. They put him on the river and big sister Miriam, she ran down and through the reeds and she watched it float downstream. And guess where it washed up?

It washed up at the feet of the princess of Egypt, Pharaoh's daughter. And she said, oh, look, it's a Little Hebrew baby. And then little sister, you know, she comes running up. She goes, if you want to keep him, I know someone who could be the nurse maid. And she goes, well, I'll pay for it.

I'll pay for her to do it. That was her mama she was talking about, who got to raise up her own son and got paid for it by the Egyptian princess. And that's how God works sometimes, isn't it? But verse 24 says, “By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,” By faith, Moses, when he grew up, refused to be identified as Pharaoh's daughter or the son of Pharaoh's daughter, I should say.

He was 40 years old. For 40 years, he was a prince of Egypt. Then one day he killed an Egyptian that was beating a Hebrew and he got in trouble. And so he left. But we see the thinking he had.

He would rather be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He compared his life as a prince of Egypt to the people of God that were enslaved and said, I'd rather be counted amongst them. Friend, let me ask you something. As a follower of Jesus, are you still pursuing the fleeting pleasures of sin? Choosing to be identified with your old crowd, that is not following Jesus?

You're still trying to keep one foot in that group and one foot in this group? Maybe. Or have you decided? You know what? I'm going to go ahead and I'm going to identify myself with the people of God.

I'm going to identify myself with the Son of God. I'm going to treasure Jesus above my former life. And I'm going to treasure him as greater than the treasures of this world.

That's a decision Moses made. Now, you might be saying, now, how did Moses know to look to the Messiah? How did he know anything about it? Well, here's what Jesus said about it. If you're questioning what we're talking about here, here's what Jesus said.

John 5:46 (ESV) “For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.” Jesus said, Moses wrote of me. Now, I can think of several places like that. But here's one place in particular.

Deuteronomy 18:15 (ESV) “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen.” Now, certainly that was fulfilled right after Moses' death. We know who fulfilled that promise.

That prophecy that Moses gave. His name was Yeshua, Joshua, whose name means God's salvation. And in English, as we transliterate that, Jesus. So it was the present day, fulfilled in the days of Moses.

But then ultimately fulfilled in Christ Jesus. But he saw him from afar. I think when he got up on the mountain, he got the Ten Commandments and spent those 40 days with God. He saw a lot that was just too amazing for him even to put into words. But he decided, I'm going to set that as my goal, as my great reward.

Verse 27, “By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.” Now he was afraid the first time, so this must be talking about the second time, because the first time, when he killed that Egyptian soldier, in chapter two of Exodus, it says he was afraid. So that's what the scripture says. He was afraid and left and went to the promised land and became a shepherd. So at age 40 he ran away.

He tried to answer God's call in his own strength, and he was a complete and utter failure. So he ran away. Now he's living over in that land and he goes to work for his father in law, Jethro.

And he's a shepherd. He went from being the prince of Egypt to a shepherd taking care of old dirty sheep living in the wilderness. How long? 40 years. He's 80 years old now.

When he sees a bush burning but not consumed. And from that bush God spoke to him. By faith he left Egypt, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. Say what now? What are you trying to say here, Hebrews?

He saw the invisible God. How do you see something that's invisible by its very nature? You can't see it. How did he see it? He saw it with eyes of faith.

Do you remember what scripture teaches us is the definition of faith? Hebrews 11:1 (ESV) “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” He saw the living God with the eyes of faith. And by that he was not afraid.

The second time, not the first time. The first time he was afraid, he ran away. Second time he shows up back in Egypt after experiencing the burning bush call. And then it says, 28 “By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.” Well, that was the last thing he did of the 10 plagues, right?

The last thing he did was he was obedient to God. And when he left there, he left without fear. He left boldly. The second time, when he left Egypt, by faith he treasured the Christ as greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt. When he was treasuring Christ, even the Passover points to the fulfillment in Christ as they spread the blood over the doorway over the mantle over the outer part of the doorway.

When the angel of death came through Egypt, he passed over those homes that had the shedding of the blood and the Lamb itself. The instruction of the Passover was to kill the lamb, but not to break any of its bones. And so that we see the fulfillment of the Lamb of God in Christ Jesus. But every aspect of that was something that pointed forward to its fulfillment in Jesus.

He did that by faith. Moses did that by faith, believing that Christ was his great reward. You remember how God spoke to Abram in Genesis chapter 15? It reads like this, Genesis 15:1 (NKJV) “After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram.

I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” He didn't say, over there is your reward. He didn't say, Isaac, your son that I'm giving you is your reward. He didn't say, this promised land is your reward. He said, I'm your reward.

Friends, you haven't understood what it means to be a Christ follower until you've understood that Christ is your reward. He is the one that we treasure above all things. So the apostle Paul writes this to the church at Philippi. He says, Philippians 3:8-9 (ESV) 8 “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ,

the righteousness from God that depends on faith.” He said, I'd rather know Jesus. I'd rather be known by him. He is the one I treasure, and I count everything else as loss. It reminds me of the missionary Jim Elliot, who wrote in his diary before he and his wife Elizabeth and four other families moved to Ecuador to try to reach the

unreached people group, the Auca Indians there in the Amazon. He wrote in his diary, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”And after he'd been there for a season, they decided to do a risky thing. He and four other men were part of his group, and they tried to make first contact with the Aucas. And they were killed.

They were martyred. And not long after that, Elizabeth, his wife, moved in with the Auca Indians in their village and actually experienced seeing one of the men who killed her husband come to Christ in faith in Christ. This is the overwhelming instance here where you see someone treasuring Christ above their life, above all things. Now, may I ask you something? Can you identify an area in your life today,

believer, I'm speaking to those of you that say, I'm a follower of Jesus. Can you identify an area in your life today where you treasure someone or something else above Jesus? That you treasure someone or something else above Christ? Maybe you're chasing the fleeting pleasures of sin.

There's some addiction, there's some sin area that still has you in its grip. Perhaps it's a financial idol, perhaps it's an unhealthy entertainment habit. Maybe it's someone, maybe it's status. I don't know what it is. Pastor John Piper says, "Every sin flows from the failure to treasure the glory of God above all things."

I think this is true. Anything that we put anything that we treasure above Jesus tempts us into sin.

Holy Spirit, examine our hearts. Now start with me. Work through all that are here present in my hearing. What have you put ahead of Jesus? Is it your spouse?

Is it your house? Is it your children, your family, some possession or some person? Maybe it's a relationship. Maybe it's a sin area that you know is not from God. You've treasured it.

You indeed worship it with your time, your talent, your treasure above Jesus. I ask all of us, Holy Spirit, help us to confess it as sin and say, forgive me Lord, for treasuring anything above you. I considered it. And I consider you more valuable to me than all the pleasures and treasures of this world. Oh, we could stop right there.

But the author of Hebrews is not finished with the Faith hall of fame. We got to finish chapter 11 today. That leads us to number two. The first is to treasure Christ. The second is:

We're down to verse 29 now and we're still in that time period of Moses. But we've moved now past Moses to the people of God. And verse 29 says, “By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.” Well, that's an overwhelming obstacle. How do you walk on water?

How do you cross a sea? They had their backs up against the sea on one side and Pharaoh and his chariots on the other side ready to kill them. This is a well known refrain that many of them said, we could have stayed in Egypt. Why are we here now?

You've led us out here to get us killed. But those of faith believed and those of faith crossed the Red Sea as on dry land. But the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. This is a miracle. This was an overwhelming obstacle.

It's the entry point into the time of the wilderness. Right? He's talking about that. And then the next verse is the exit point. When they finished the 40 years in the wilderness and Joshua was the new man.

I've got a couple red rocks, by the way, in my office that sometimes I have little kids come in and they want to see some of the things I've collected on mission trips and visits around the world. Some years ago, I was visiting missionaries in the Middle East, and we went down to Aqaba. If you ever look at a map of the Red Sea, the Red Sea has a peace sign. If you look at it, it's like that. The index finger

Is where Aqaba is. And I was down there in the land of Jordan at the time, and I got knee deep in the Red Sea. I looked down and I saw these red rocks. And I went, wow, Red Sea, red rocks. I reached down there and grabbed a couple.

I got them in my office. I believe that the people of God crossed on dry land, just like the Bible says. I believe it. By faith. I believe, but I wasn't there.

I didn't see it. It's invisible to me. But by faith, I believe it. I wasn't there. I didn't see it.

But they saw it and they wrote of it. And I believe it. And by faith, they crossed on dry land. And then we have the next story.

It's their exit of the forty years in the wilderness. Verse 30, “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.” Now that was a city that was, you know, there was no way they were going to overthrow. They would have had to build ramps and all kinds of stuff. Most of the people of Israel probably would have died trying to break into Jericho.

It was one of those cities that if you were going to come into the Promised Land, cross the River Jordan, you had to get past Jericho. It was an overwhelming obstacle. But they trusted the Lord. It says, “By faith

the walls of Jericho fell down after they encircled…” In other words, they marched around for seven days. Now, the first day, there was probably a lot of enthusiasm. On the first day, God said, walk around Jericho, right? And they walked around.

Okay, now what? We'll go back to the camp and have something to eat. We'll do it again tomorrow. Okay? God told you this, right, Joshua?

Yes, he did. Okay, well, Moses said you were the man, so we're going to follow you. And so then, day two, they marched around and did what they were supposed to do. We are doing the same thing again tomorrow.

Yeah. Seven days. Seven days. And on the seventh day, they marched around it. Seven times seven is the number of completion.

And they shouted and blew the trumpets. And the walls came tumbling down, except for one house. And that was the house of Rahab the prostitute, verse 31, “By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.” Do you remember that story?

Joshua had sent two spies in to spy out Jericho to see what its strengths and weaknesses were. And while they were there, some of the city people spotted them and turned and got the officials looking for them. And Rahab the prostitute took them boys in and hid them from the other Jerichoites. And she says, I know the Lord God is with you. And all the kings in the lands here are trembling with fright because we heard about you crossing the Red Sea.

We heard about manna from heaven. We've heard about your God. And would you remember me because I hid you by faith. And they said, look, when we come back, we won't know where you're at if you don't stay in this very house. You better stay in this very house.

And you better put a scarlet rope outside so we can identify it. I like the fact that the Bible says, “Though your sins are like scarlet, I'll make them white as snow.” You got to put that out there. And if you're not in that house and whoever you love wants to live, you had better get them in the house. So she got her whole family in that house.

It was like the Ark of Jericho. So that when the wrath of God was poured out on Jericho, only those that were in the house of Rahab the prostitute. Wait a minute. She's a sinner, isn't she? Well, so is Moses, and so is all the people of God, and so are you, and so am I, except by grace.

It's by faith that righteousness is accounted unto me and unto those who believe. What righteousness? The righteousness of the anointed one, Christ. And so this Rahab the prostitute becomes Rahab, one of the mothers in the lineage of Jesus. And so when you flip over here to Matthew, chapter one, there she is.

Rahab the prostitute. Rahab in the house of the Messiah. Rahab made the big leagues. She's in the family of God.

Why? Because she believed and she trusted. She was saved in her whole household.

How's this possible? Are you facing something today that's overwhelming? Is it a financial situation? Is it a personal relationship with someone in your family or co-worker or fellow student? It's like it's impossible for us to get right.

Is it a brokenness in your marriage? What overwhelming obstacle is it a calling that God's put on your life but you ran away from it for 40 years and now you're 80. I don't know if that was Moses. It's never too late to follow God and to trust Jesus. What overwhelming obstacle are you facing today?

Here's what Paul said. He said in Philippians 4:13 (NKJV) “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” I can do all things through Christ. He didn't say I can do most things, so I can do all things through Christ. He's my great reward, he's my great treasure.

I can trust him with all things. He's greater than anything. Any overwhelming obstacle that you're facing today. Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mission, said this of the calling that was on his life. And he said this.

He said, “There are three stages in any great work of God: first it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done.” There are three stages in any great work of God. The first stage is it's impossible. That's the first stage, he said. The second stage is it's the difficult. And here's the third stage, he said it's done.

It's done in Jesus' name. It's done because when we answer the call of God on our life, he always supplies our every need. He's the one who empowers us to overcome. And these three stories are overcoming obstacles, overwhelming obstacles. But by faith in the Lord they were overcomers.

This leads us to the third way that we can view Christ as our great reward.

And that's by testifying of Christ. We can treasure him, we can trust him. We can testify of Christ in times of triumph and trial. We're down to verse 32 now, aren't we? And now he's going to speed up. He slowed down for some of these fellows, especially Abraham and Moses. He slowed the car down. He's driving past the Old Testament. He slowed down.

He goes, now if you look out to your right, there's Abraham. Then he slowed down. He said, if you look over to your left, there's Moses. But then he says this in verse 32, “And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—”

He just hit the accelerator and I got to get through it. He could have slowed down on any one of them. And he begins to testify of how, whether it was in triumph or trial. Because there's two categories of stuff happening to these people here. He's worked chronologically, at least in the way the Bible is laid out.

So his Old Testament must have been laid out the same as ours is. He started back there in Genesis with Abel and Enoch and Noah. And then he moved on up through Genesis with Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph. And then he moves up into the Exodus and he gets Moses.

And then he keeps on moving. He gets up into the book of Judges, and so he hits Gideon, Barak and Samson and Jephthah. Then he moves up to 1 Samuel, and all the way through the prophets. He gets David and Samuel and the prophets. He's cruising fast.

Verse 33, “who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,” Well, that's those Judges guys. They conquered several kingdoms. They overthrew the kingdoms of the promised land to take the promised land, enforced justice. That's people like Samuel and David who carried out justice in the land.

They obtained promises. They stopped the mouths of lions. Well, that's one of those prophets. He wrote 12 chapters in your Bible. His name was Daniel.

He slept with the lions, slept like a baby. I got a picture of him in my mind when I think about Daniel in the lion's den, that he used one of them big old furry dudes as his pillow and propped his feet up on another. That's how I view it. I don't know, but there they are. They stopped the mouths of lions.

Quenched the power of fire. Well, that's the three Hebrew children, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that Nebuchadnezzar threw into the fire and looked in there and saw a fourth man who appeared to look like the son of God. Here they are. He's cruising fast. He's going through them.

Escaped the edge of the sword. Well, that's Elijah running away from Jezebel. That's David hiding in a cave from Saul.

I could go on. They were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, and put foreign armies to flight. That could be any one of them. Women received back their dead by resurrection. I can think of two women like that who got their sons back after they died.

One was the widow of Zarephath, who the prophet Elijah was staying with. And she was taking care of him. And her son died. And Elijah went upstairs where his body was laid out and raised him back to life.

And then the prophet, who handed the baton off to Elisha, he was staying someplace, and he had predicted by the word of God that she would have a son in her old age, and she did. She was the Shunammite woman. And then her son got sick. It's like he had a heat stroke and died. And so she sent for Elisha.

And Elisha shows up and raises him to life. Well, we're going fast. We can't slow down. I keep slowing down, but he's rushing through these. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release so that they might rise again.

What they believed in the resurrection. They're not just talking about the women who had their sons raised, but because they had to die again. And so did Lazarus. But Jesus didn't. He's speaking of a better resurrection.

You see this? They were already believing in the resurrection so that they might rise again to a better resurrection, literally a better life. Do you see the word better? It's like the word greater up there. In verse 26, “He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.”

So we got greater in verse 26. We got better in verse 35. We have better again in verse 40. Something better. There's something better, people.

There's something greater. And it's Jesus. He's greater. They saw something.

There's a greater resurrection. Greater than my sons because they still had to die because of sin. But there's something greater. There's a greater, better life in Christ.

Some were mocked and flogged, even in chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, like Zechariah, in the book of second Chronicles, Prophet Zechariah. Not the one of post-exilic times, but previous to that, the prophet Zechariah. Zechariah was stoned in the temple courts. He was a man of God, stoned by his own people.

Isaiah. According to ancient Jewish writings, extra biblical writings, Isaiah, the Isaiah of the Bible was sawn in two by King Manasseh because he didn't like his prophecies. I'm talking about the Isaiah who wrote all those great messianic prophecies. He was sawn in two. They were killed with the sword.

They went about in the skins of sheep and goats. Destitute, afflicted, mistreated. This verse, this is God's appraisal of whom the world was not worthy, wandering about in deserts and mountains and caves of the earth. And then he gets to verse 39, “And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised,”

Yeah, all these I just read to you. But not just them, but all of these. All the way back to creation, all the way back to Abel, who offered by faith a superior sacrifice, a superior offering, all the way back to Abel, and then all the way down to the last of the prophets. All of this, these, all of the saints of the Old Testament, all of these, though they were commended through faith, commended what? Unto God.

So that God accounted their faith as righteousness to them because of the one that would come and pay for it and offer his righteousness and take their sin. His name is Jesus. They were all commended, but they did not receive what was promised. They kept believing, even until their death.

We're still looking past this world to one that is to come. And now we as believers today can look with more clarity to the one who has come. Do you see the two categories? You see the triumphs in verses 32, all the way up to 37, but then starting at verse 35 down to 30. Hey, we see the tragedies.

Doesn't matter. You know, you can't put your eyes off of Jesus in your testimony. You can't start taking credit for the triumphs. Like, look at what I did. No, Jesus, it's Jesus.

It's because I follow him that he's allowed this success to come my way. I give glory to Jesus. And when you're suffering and people ask you, how is it that you still have a smile on your face? How is it you still believe? Like Job's wife said to him, curse God and die, you old man.

Why do you still believe in Him?

“Even though he slay me, yet will I serve him,”Job said, “blessed is the Lord. He gives and he takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” He said, by faith. And so whether it's in success or suffering, whether it's in triumph or tragedy, if you esteem him above all things, then you know that all things will work together for the good, as Paul says in Romans.

Romans 8:28-30 (NLT) “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” How can we do that? By treasuring, trusting and testifying of the greatest reward of all. And it's Christ Jesus, by putting him ahead of all things.

Where is Christ calling you to testify today? Are you ashamed of his name? Or are you willing to talk about him at school and at work and at the Walmart and at the gas pump and at the upcoming holidays that are fast approaching? Thanksgiving and Christmas, when you'll see your brother in law and your mother in law and that other person, the only time you see him is during the holidays. And will you tell them about Jesus?

When we look at the cross, we see both the trial and the triumph, both the tragedy and the triumph. We see him crucified there. He who knew no sin became sin for us. He cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

He took our sin. He took our separation from the Father. He took our death. But then at the end, he says, tetelestai, which in Greek means paid in full. It is finished.

I did it. Touchdown. I accomplished the mission that you sent me here for. We see both at the cross.

Have you believed in this one? The one who is the greatest treasure of all? The saints of Hebrews 11 remind us that faith always looks beyond this life to the greater reward we have in Christ.

Even though they didn't receive the promises, they were waiting. For what? For Jesus to come and fulfill it. And they were also waiting for something else. They waited for us.

God put them in a holding pattern for me and you so that they would be made perfect as we are. Made perfect. Made perfect has the idea. It's the Greek word teleos. It could be translated as complete, whole, having hit the finish line.

And so God wasn't finished writing the story. And so they're part of the story. And now we are. And so both Jew and Gentile are now one in Christ Jesus, in his bride, which is called the church.

They had to wait for the promises. And yet we wait too. We're still waiting. For the next one who's not yet believed, is it you?

The preacher Billy Sunday, back some years ago, used to say, “I could be seeing Jesus come today because he's waiting for his church to be finished. He's waiting for that last one to believe.” And so he would preach, praying that maybe the next one would come. Well, maybe it's you.

Maybe you're the holdout. Maybe you're the one that Christ is waiting for so that we should be made perfect in Him. Whole, complete, together. This whole story of treasuring Jesus above all things as our great reward reminds me of a song I used to hear when I was growing up. We used to get these television shows of Billy Graham, Crusades. My mom every night,

we'd have to watch every one. I was a little boy. I would enjoy it too. And they had this great baritone singer, who had a powerful voice. His name was George Beverly Shea.

I still remember one of the songs I would hear him sing. He was known for this song, “I'd rather have Jesus, than silver or gold I'd rather be his than have riches untold. I'd rather have Jesus than houses or lands. I'd rather be led by his nail scarred hand. Than to be the king of a vast domain or be held in sin's dread sway. I'd rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today.

Let's pray.

Lord, forgive us when we treasure something else or someone else more than you. You are our great reward.

We want to trust you and testify of you above all things.

Lord, fill us afresh with your Holy Spirit to do that very thing as a church, as a people. Lord, help us treasure you.

And Lord, for that one that's in my hearing right now that you're stirring their heart. I pray for you right now that you would say yes to Jesus right where you're at, that you decide. I'm praying that the Holy Spirit will call to you. That you would sense his presence calling you. That you would have the faith from him to believe.

Would you pray with me if that's you right now, right where you're at in this moment? Dear Lord Jesus, I'm a sinner, but I pray you'd forgive me of my sins. I believe you died on the cross and that you were raised from the grave. I believe that. Come and live in me.

Forgive me of my sin. Adopt me into your family. I want to be a child of God. I want to follow you all the days of my life. I surrender my life to you.

Come, come, Lord Jesus, if you're praying that prayer of faith, believing he'll save you and believer, if you're confessing to him today, he'll fill you afresh. I pray for revival in our church. Revival in our city and in our land. Lord, help us to put Jesus above all things and all others. For it's in his name we pray.

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1. By treasuring Christ over worldly pleasures.

2. By trusting Christ in the face of overwhelming obstacles.

3. By testifying of Christ in times of triumph and trial.

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