The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and hid in caves and holes in the ground.of whom the world was not worthy—wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and the holes of the earth.(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.(of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves, and the holes of the earth.
4 sermons cite this verse
… destitute, afflicted, mistreated, of whom the world was not worthy, wandering about in deserts and mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. This is the legacy of those who have gone before us, brothers and sisters in Christ, who when faced with the challenge chose to obey God rather than men. So God, may the same thing be said of us in our day, that we obeyed our government unless our government was compelling us to disobey our God. May it be said of us that we did not put our hope ultimately in our government and the safety and security we find in it. May it be said of us that we put our hope ultimately in our God and the safety and security we find in him. May it be said of us that we staked our lives on obedience to him in anticipation of the day when we will stand before the true supreme court of the universe and we want to be found faithful on that day. …
… goat skins, destitute, persecuted, and mistreated. The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith. Yet none of them received what had been promised. Since God had something better, since God had planned something better for us, so that only together with us would they be made perfect. yeah he's in the victories but he's also in I can't pay my bills he's definitely in the mountaintops but there's faith also available and we can put our weight on him when we're not sure which way he's up this is what we're a part of here, family. We're not ones who shrink back and are destroyed. No, we're the ones that have faith and are saved. So after all this is being written, the writer keeps on going. And this is chapter 12, verse number one. Maybe if you've been in church for a little while, you've heard this verse. …
… wondered like destitute, homeless, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They died prematurely. Anytime somebody dies prematurely in the will of God, it's God's statement of saying the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in the deserts, pitiful, having obtained a good report through faith, not received the promise. Finish it. But God having provided some better things for us that they without us should not be made perfect. It takes both seasons in your life is what that is saying. And one didn't have more faith than the other. They all had faith. And some of them had faith to follow him through the suffering, through the loss, through the heartache, through the tears, through the valley. And others had faith in that season for God to be glorified. And those stories that they were in to build our faith generations later, he let them win victories. But in all cases, the deal is right there. You just keep following him. And you don't look over at other people and say, but what about them? …
… 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. Well, you say, what did they do wrong? Well, let's continue to read. And these all having obtained a good report through faith. A good report. They hadn't done anything wrong. Not one thing wrong. We think of all of those who escaped, and we say, how did they escape? Well, they were given faith to escape. We think of the others who endured. How did they endure? They were given faith to endure. Some have faith to escape. Some have faith to endure. others were delivered and some died do you have faith to be delivered I'm happy for you do you have faith to die I wonder what I'm trying to say that you can have faith and calamity all at the same time faith does not mean that you are going to escape always faith is not receiving from God what you want. Faith is accepting from God what He gives. Now the question, the question again is this, can you trust God when you are submerged in suffering? Can you say with Job today, though he slay me, yet will I trust him? If you can, if you can, you will shut the devil's mouth. You see, the devil just thinks, let those Christians have a little …