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Hebrews: Unshakeable | Hebrews 11:1-40

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In this powerful sermon on Hebrews 11:1–40, Associate Pastor Benjamin Kandt walks us through the “Hall of Faith,” highlighting how the entire chapter points to a life marked by trust in the unseen promises of God. From Abel to Abraham, Moses to Rahab, the author of Hebrews paints a picture of faith that is forward-looking, resilient, and rooted in God’s character — not in immediate outcomes. Pastor Benjamin unpacks the nature of biblical faith: a confidence in what we hope for and a conviction of things not seen.

He reminds the church that faith isn't reserved for the extraordinary, but is the daily posture of those who take God at His word. Even those who suffered and never received the promises in their lifetime are held up as heroes because they lived with eyes fixed on a better country — a heavenly one. This sermon challenges and encourages us to live faithfully in the present as we await the fullness of what God has promised in Christ.

Damein Schitter:

Hello everyone. This is Pastor Damein. You're listening to Sermon Audio from New City, Orlando. At New City, we believe all of us need all of Jesus for all of life. For more resources, visit our website at newcityorlandocom. Thanks for listening. Good morning.

Joshua Esquivel:

Please join me, God of mercy. The covenant promises in your eternal word do not change. Holy Spirit, enable us to respond to your gracious promises with faithful and obedient hearts Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Our scripture today comes from Hebrews 11, 1 through 3, 32 to the 40.

Joshua Esquivel:

Now, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen, for by it the people of old received their commendation.

Joshua Esquivel:

By faith, we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

Joshua Esquivel:

And what more shall I say For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah and David and Samuel and the prophets who, through faith, conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of a weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging and even chains and imprisonment. 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, of whom the world was not worthy, wandering about in deserts and mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though, come in through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us that, apart from us, they should not be made perfect. This is God's word.

Benjamin Kandt:

Thanks be to God, you may be seated. General Charles Gordon was a legendary British commander in the 19th century. Winston Churchill described him like this said he is a man careless alike of the frowns of men or the smiles of women, of life or comfort, wealth or fame. How was he so free from the fear of man? Well, there's this story actually Once he was on a peacemaking mission and General Gordon was held prisoner by the King of Abyssinia and the King said to him like this do you know, gordon, that I could kill you on the spot if I liked? To which Gordon replied I'm perfectly well aware of it. Your majesty, do so at once. If it is your royal pleasure, I am ready. The king said wait, ready to be killed? He said certainly, I'm always ready to die. Then my power has no terrors for you. Gordon replied none whatsoever. And the king left the room amazed how did he have freedom from the fear of death?

Benjamin Kandt:

After Gordon's death during the siege of Khartoum, his friend John Bonar wrote about him and said this what always struck me was the way in which Gordon's oneness with God ruled all his actions. I love that language. Gordon's oneness with God ruled all his actions and his mode of seeing things. I never knew one who seemed so much to endure as seeing him who is invisible. That's how. That's how he did it and that's a direct quote, actually, from Hebrews 11, 27, our text. This morning and last week we saw that the object of our faith is far more important than the strength of our faith. But this week I want to see that the strength of our faith does matter. I quoted DL Moody last week saying that a little faith will bring your soul to heaven, but a lot of faith will bring heaven to your soul. So how do we do that? How do we get heaven in our soul? How do we strengthen our faith? That's the question I'm really asking, and I've got one point which is the answer, which is that faith feeds on the knowledge of God. Faith that faith feeds on the knowledge of God. Faith feeds on the knowledge of God If you walk away with one thing. That's what I want you to have. Faith feeds on the knowledge of God.

Benjamin Kandt:

If you have a Bible or a device, go ahead and open to Hebrews 11. You have the worship guide. It's here as well, but I'm gonna go back a little bit into the text so we can look at the whole scope of this chapter. In Hebrews 11, verse 32, it says this and what more shall I say? I'm gonna pause there.

Benjamin Kandt:

Hebrews was likely a sermon that was written down. That's what I think it was. And so this is a preacher and he's like, hey, what more shall I say? And he's about to go on and recap everything he's been saying. But up to this point the author has spent verses three through 31 proving his point that faith is this conviction, this insurance of the things hoped for and the conviction of things not yet seen. So he spent the whole chapter trying to prove that, to show that, and in order to do that, he shows it from the lives of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and Rahab, and how they were all commended for this faith.

Benjamin Kandt:

Faith shows up in this chapter 24 times in the Greek text, and so faith is clearly this significant piece, and I want to just kind of backtrack a little bit in the passage and do a flyover of this, what's been called the hall of faith. Look with me at verse 11. I'm sorry, hebrews 11, verse eight. It says this by faith, abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance and he went out not knowing where he was going. You see, faith requires risk. Abraham left everything behind at the call of God. That's what happens in this text here. And so listen, if you want adventure, faith will invite you to live on the redemptive edge. If what you're after is excitement and adventure in life, live by faith, you'll get it. I promise you that.

Benjamin Kandt:

Andy Crouch says that what happens is that people have to risk a lot to be successful in business, but once they get successful, they're tempted to de-risk. But once they get successful, they're tempted to de-risk. And he actually says that that makes sense. But really, if you wanna sacrificially bless others, you actually have to re-risk. You've gotta sign up again to risk in a new way. Why would you do that? Why would anybody re-risk? Because by faith we know that God brings creative restoration through sacrifice. You see, in this situation, abraham was about 75 years old. He's about to sail off into his sunset years. He's probably going to retire and get a place on the coast of the Gulf of America and as he's doing that, rather than de-risk, he risks everything at the call of God, everything at the call of God, everything. At the call of God, he went out not knowing where he was going and he became the father of faith.

Benjamin Kandt:

The text goes on. I'm sorry, paul the apostle, in another passage in Romans 4, he talks about Abraham and this is what he says about him. He says no unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God. To which I reply, paul, have you read about Ishmael? You know that guy Hagar Seems like there was some wavering here. We'll get to that in a moment.

Benjamin Kandt:

No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. You see, faith feeds on the knowledge of God. So how do we grow strong in our faith? According to this passage, we give glory to God. That's how we do it. Now I want to break that down a little bit.

Benjamin Kandt:

If faith feeds on the knowledge of God, praise and thanks, acknowledge God for who he is and what he's done. That's what I think this is so. Said differently to acknowledge something is to show one's knowledge of it. That's what I think this is so. Said differently to acknowledge something is to show one's knowledge of it. That's what that means, and I wanna just submit to you that we believe little because we praise little. Our trust is low because our thanks is low. But what Abraham's life shows us is that as we receive the knowledge of God who he is and what he does and as we respond to that knowledge by giving praise to God for who he is and thanks to God for what he does, faith grows, it's strengthened. That's what just happened here in the first half of this worship service. I love sitting in the front because I can hear you all. I can hear your voices. This is the voice, this is the sound of those who love you. Right, and I can hear that. And faith grows, it strengthens that way. And so as we give glory to God, fully convinced that he's able to do what he said he can do, our faith is strengthened, it grows in that regard.

Benjamin Kandt:

But it's not always a success story. Look at Hebrews 11, 13. It says this Look at Hebrews 11, 13. It says this these all now this is referring to Abraham, sarah, isaac, jacob these all died in faith. Not having received the things promised, these all died. Is this a tragedy? No, but it is biblical realism, and that matters, because, no matter how good your life gets, you will not receive the full benefits of your faith here and now.

Benjamin Kandt:

There was a book that was on the New York Times bestselling list for a couple years, called your Best Life Now, and here's the thing if you have your best life now, that implies you're going to hell. That's a big deal, okay, and so what that means, though, is that, if you belong to Jesus, the best is yet to come. You haven't fully realized all that God has in store for you yet, and that's how they act In verse 13,. It says they were strangers and exiles on the earth. Listen, when you become a Christian, when you become a believer in Jesus and you put your faith in him, you become a stranger and an exile on earth. The world doesn't know you anymore. It doesn't think like you, act like you value the things that you value anymore, so you become a stranger and an exile here. This is why, listen, faith often feels like homesickness, like you know. You're doing it right if you feel homesick from time to time.

Benjamin Kandt:

This is the way CS Lewis said it the settled happiness and security which we all desire, god withholds from us, by the very nature of the world, but joy and pleasure and merriment he has scattered abroad. You see, the security we crave would teach our hearts to rest in this world and it would pose an obstacle to our return to God. Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant ends, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home. Verse 14 says for people who speak thus, like CS Lewis just spoke, people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, then they would have opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country. That is a heavenly one. You see, many of us here desire a better country. Don't you Like? In your peak moments, you're aware of how fleeting that moment really is? Don't you desire a better country? In your valley moments, you're aware of how fleeting that moment really is? Don't you desire a better country In your valley moments? You're aware of how painful those moments really are? Don't you desire a better country?

Benjamin Kandt:

This is what it says in verse 16. Therefore, god is not ashamed. He's not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. You see, faith feels like homesickness, but it's also a coming home. Faith feels like homesickness, but it's also a coming home. Faith feels like homesickness, but it's a faith that feeds on the knowledge that God is not ashamed to be called our God. Another way to say that is is that faith is coming home to a father who loves you even when he's not impressed with you. That's what faith feels like. It's this coming home, and home is this place where we don't deserve it or earn it. It's just a place of safety and joy. It's a place where, while faith is a risk, it's also a refuge. It's coming into a safe harbor. It's experiencing the rest that we all deeply desire. That's what faith is. Faith is a coming home because it seeks a homeland, a place where we'll finally be at rest.

Benjamin Kandt:

The text says that faith desires a better country that is a heavenly one. Now here, listen, there's an accusation that flies around this topic, and it's usually something like this you are so heavenly minded that you're of no earthly good. You know, it's a fine saying, but the only problem with it is reality. This is the way CS Lewis puts it. If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. All who left their mark on earth did so precisely because their minds were occupied with heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. One Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you will get neither. Wilberforce fought slavery, corrie, ten Boom forgave Nazis. Nelson Mandela led post-apartheid South Africa beyond vengeance. Mlk dreamed of justice rooted in heaven. All of them, they aimed at heaven and they brought change to earth. So, yes, we are seeking a better country, we desire a new homeland, that's true. But that doesn't mean we don't get to work here and now to see our father answer the Lord's prayer on earth as it is in heaven.

Benjamin Kandt:

Now to our actual sermon text. Look with me at verse 32. And what more shall I say for this, for time would fail me to tell of Gideon, barak, samson, jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets. Now listen. Hebrews 11 is about to do this thing, where the preacher speeds up and goes rapid fire on this kind of tour to faith, and in the process. I wanna do a quick sidebar here, Because if you slow down, you'll notice something interesting. Just look at the first four men listed here Gideon, barak, samson, jephthah.

Benjamin Kandt:

If you read the book of Judges you'll realize those men all have significant flaws and many of them, just straight up, don't believe God at certain points that really matter. Like I use the story of Samson when I'm sitting down with like a 20 something year old guy and he's digging the chili of some woman who doesn't believe in Jesus and I'm like, listen, I'll listen to you as you talk about how you're missionary dating or you're gonna flirt to convert or all this stuff. But after I patiently listened for a little bit, I turned to Judges 14. I'm like, bro, it doesn't end well for you. Samson gets his eyes plucked out and like a building falls on him. Is that what you want? I know she's a honey named Delilah, but it doesn't go well. I use Samson as an example of how not to live. What is he doing in the hall of faith? Like you got to ask that question. Sure, all believers sin. But these are some significant disqualifying character flaws in this text, in these people's lives. But faith feeds on the knowledge that God is a better storyteller.

Benjamin Kandt:

There's a psychologist named Dan McAdams who created something called narrative identity theory. This is it in a nutshell who you are. Your identity is wrapped up in the stories you tell about yourself. And listen, there's only two stories really. He sums it up. He says really only two stories you can tell about yourself. He calls them redemption stories and contamination stories. He's not a Christian, as far as I know. Redemption stories go from bad to good. Contamination stories go from good to bad Two stories you can tell about yourself. That defines who you are, maybe more than anything else, is that story.

Benjamin Kandt:

So when we get to some of these people in Hebrews 11, who've done some messed up things like deception and cowardice and sexual sin and murder and polygamy, even unbelief, what do we do with this? Well, listen, that's not the story that God tells about their life, nor is it the story he tells about your life. There's some lies that you can believe in about your identity, but two of them are this I am nothing more than my worst moment. Another one would be I'm nothing better than my. I'm nothing more than my worst moment. Another one would be I'm nothing better than my. I'm nothing worse than my best moment. These lies about our identity can be actually upended if we, by faith, let God tell a different story about our life.

Benjamin Kandt:

Verse two says it like this by faith, the people of old received their commendation, not condemnation, commendation. God speaks well of them. Why? Because they earned it, because they did enough to offset the scales kind of in their favor, because they finally kind of outweighed their bad with their good. No, because they trusted God. They trusted God, and faith feeds on the knowledge of a God who can justify the ungodly. That's why they're in this story. And God justifies the ungodly, not by ignoring sin, but by writing your life into the story of his son. You see, jesus's story went from good to bad, so that yours could go from bad to good. Jesus's life has enough redemption in it to swallow up the contamination of your life. That's why God can speak about these people. That's how grace works. And then faith just simply lays hold on that grace. Matthew Henry said it like this the grace of God fixes upon the undeserving to do great things for them and by them. What a difference between God's judgment and man's judgment Sidebar over, believe it or not. That was all just a little excursus. Look at verse 33 with me. Verse 33 says this, and I want you to feel this.

Benjamin Kandt:

There's something rhetorical happening in this text who, through faith, conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 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. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release so they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging and even chains and imprisonment. Do you feel this? Do you feel this shift? Verse 37 says they were stoned. Some of you are like that doesn't sound so bad. It's not what you think. It means 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, of whom the world was not worthy, wandering about in deserts and mountains and in dens and caves of the earth.

Benjamin Kandt:

Do you see those halves? Do you see those halves? Do you see what happened there? You see the first part of this. There's nine verbs of victorious faith where all they do is win. But then there's a transition in verse 35 where it says some, and in verse 36 where it says others. You see the first half, verses 32 through 34,. It's about faith for death to life. But the second half verses 34 through 38, is about faith for life to death. You need faith for both, and so here's the question I ask when I read this text what do I do when I'm not sure which testimony I'm gonna have? What do I do when? Will I be the one who escapes the sword verse 34, or is killed by the sword verse 37? Which story of faith is gonna be recorded on my life? How do we handle this? You see, faith feeds on the faithfulness of God. That's how we handle it, and we get a hint from one of these stories in particular, where it says that faith quenched the power of fire in verse 34.

Benjamin Kandt:

And many of you kids know this story. This is the story of in Daniel three, where Nebuchadnezzar, the most mighty emperor in the world at the time, demands worship at the point of death and Shadrach, meshach and Abednego who, by the way, were likely teenagers, probably 14 to 17 years old. That's actually really important. They look at Nebuchadnezzar and they say no, that's it. So Nebuchadnezzar orders that the furnace be as hot as his fury and then to have these three teenagers thrown into it, and they don't flinch for a moment. In fact, there's this moment where they look at him and they say okay, Nebby, listen, that's not what it says, that's my version of it. Okay, nebby, listen, we don't need to defend ourselves to you If you throw us in. Our God, we serve, is able to deliver us, and he will deliver us from your hand, oh king. Then these next three words but if not, but if not, let it be known to you, o King we still won't serve your gods or worship the image you set up. Do you hear that confidence in the faithfulness of God, our God, will deliver us from this fiery furnace. But if not, we still have confidence in who he is. We're not gonna worship some idol, some man, some emperor. There's a clue there for us. Don't you want your teenagers to be able to stand up to tyrants like that?

Benjamin Kandt:

Student community meets tonight at 6 pm at the New City offices. Six-week series called Teens vs Tyrants how to have Punk Rock Faith, something like that. None of that's true, but I wish it was. They do meet tonight at 6 pm. Listen, shadrach, meshach and Abednego were 14 years old. They're thrown into the fire, and the fire was so hot that it killed the men who threw them in.

Benjamin Kandt:

And suddenly Nebuchadnezzar jumps to his feet. He looks and he's astonished at what he sees and he says wait a minute. Didn't we throw three young men that are bound up? Didn't we throw three men into the fire? They say, of course, king. He says but I see four men, unbound, walking around in the fire, unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.

Benjamin Kandt:

You see, what happened in this moment is they didn't have a specific promise of rescue. God didn't promise to deliver them from this fire, but God promised to be God to them, to be faithful to them, to meet them where they are, to be with them in the fire. And they had confidence, because faith feeds on the faithfulness of God. Verse 38 says says this and all of these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that, apart from us, they should not be made perfect. You see Hebrews 11, it is a hall of faith, but it's also a character reference for God. The whole story, the pattern of Hebrews 11, is that God gives a promise, people hold fast to that promise and then God delivers on that promise.

Benjamin Kandt:

But sometimes you don't have a promise, like there's no promise that you won't remain single your whole life. There's no promise that your kids won't suffer. There's no promise that you won't get an unexpected diagnosis this week. So what do we do? Well, faith has to learn to feed on the faithfulness of God. We trust, like verse 40, that God has provided something better for us. We, like Sarah, consider him faithful.

Benjamin Kandt:

Who promised verse 11. Like Abraham, we believe God could even raise the dead verse 19. Like Moses, we endure as seeing him who is invisible. I had a friend who texted me this week and asked to pray for him because he was going in for a biopsy that was potentially cancerous. And after he went in, he texted me and he said my father knows what they're going to find and he is good and trustworthy and is working out a plan about which I am on a need to know basis. That's faith. That's faith that feeds on the faithfulness of God.

Benjamin Kandt:

Even when you don't have a promise for your circumstance, faith looks to God to come through somehow some way, because we know who God is. We know this God some way. Because we know who God is, we know this God. We have an awareness that God hasn't promised safety and security or pleasure and peace. But God has promised himself, and when we cannot trace his hand, we can trust his heart. And so we believe, even when it hurts like hell.

Benjamin Kandt:

Verse 40, god has provided something better for us. What is that something better? Well, that's something better. Throughout the entire book of Hebrews up to this point is Jesus, it's Jesus, and it's everything that's found in Jesus. It's his faithful life, it's his victorious resurrection, it's his willing death on our behalf. It's his joyful presence for eternity. This something better is a sinless, painless existence, forever in the presence of our king, not some disembodied spiritual existence where we float around, but one where we dance and we march and we hug and we embrace and we eat and we drink in the kingdom of God and all of our deepest longings are fulfilled and all of our greatest sorrows are swallowed up. What could be better than that? And that's what we're in for, and nothing less, because God has provided something better for us.

Benjamin Kandt:

Let's pray, jesus, we pause before you. Now, here we are, your people, those who have laid hold of you by faith. Be the one you've promised to be. We trust you, we look to you. Holy Spirit, I'm asking that you would grow faith, strengthen faith, create faith, even in some of our hearts. Give us eyes to see, not our surroundings or our circumstances, but to see you. By faith, we wanna endure as seeing him who is invisible. Help us, lord. We can't do this on our own. It's for your beautiful name we pray amen.