Obtaining a Good Report

Certain hymns I think I could sing every week, and that was one of them. Tremendous truth. The great victory of the Christian—what we have in Christ and not envying the wicked and seeing these things that we can’t see physically; the presence of God around the habitation and the life of the people of God, and the treasures that we have, that we taste of through the work of Jesus Christ.

“Hebrews 11, please turn in the Word of God to Hebrews 11.” We continue in our series in Hebrews. I had intended my initial outline and study was going to take in the final two verses, and so that’s what I sent in to the bulletin, but I wanted to pause over what we find in verse 39, and so it’ll take at least one more sermon to finish the chapter.

Hebrews 11—we’ll read again from verse 32. We have here what we believe to be a sermon by the Apostle Paul. I know others are gonna debate that; it’s always debated. But I believe it to be a sermon by Paul, and probably recorded by Luke. Again, some of the arguments against Hebrews in terms of the type of Greek and the grammar and the construction of it—certainly things that don’t fit the normal form of Paul’s epistles—but there are other aspects, language used, that certainly are in keeping with his emphasis. And so maybe it’s Paul, but look, was the one taking note of the sermon. But whatever the case, the Holy Spirit certainly is the voice that we are to hear, and God has given it to us.

Hebrews 11—let’s read from verse 32: “And what shall I more say, for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah, of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again, and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yet moreover of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with a 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.” Amen.

This, beloved, is the word of the eternal triune God that you are to receive, believe, and you are to obey. And the people of God said, “Amen.” Let’s pray.

“Lord, help us, help us around thy precious word. Oh, that we would have more than a sermon today, but a word from the living God. That thou would illuminate each one here, illuminate my heart even yet, oh God, guiding me in the power of thy Spirit for this great task that goes beyond the capability of any mere man. We pray that for those sitting here facing their needs and their trials and needing guidance and encouragement, that you might be pleased to illuminate their own hearts and that their own minds would be ready to receive the engrafted word which is able to save their souls. Oh God, please extend thy kingdom today, do a work—Work that is lasting, a work that is real. And if one here be unsaved, even today, let it be the day. Finally, they close in with Christ. We pray in our Savior’s name. Amen.”

One of my memories from childhood—and, of course, growing up and being sent to public school—you had two occasions in the year which you always dreaded. Those were the days when you would be handed the report card or the letter of the report that you were to carry home and give to your parents. And you’re always wondering, of course, because it had their name on the front of it; it was not for you to open, and to alter or in any way doctor, as you might discover certain things in there that you might not bring the smile of your parents in the way you might hope. Sometimes it wasn’t even so much the grade you were concerned about as it was the comments that the teachers might make. And maybe some of the homeschoolers here don’t really know that experience. God bless you. You get to avoid some of that experience, perhaps. But it was always a dreaded time. Some of you perhaps can remember it, and you have the fond memory of being one of those children—always straight A’s and everything was excellent, and the teacher really hadn’t much to say at all except to confirm your diligence and your brightness. Well, we look forward to those things, positive reports—we want it. And we still get it sometimes, depending on where we work. There’s certain assessments at times in places of employment where you have to go through something similar.

But what about the report that is much higher? What about a report that is far more significant? In verse 39, summarizing what we have considered, we find these words, “and these all having obtained a good report through faith.” The individuals mentioned, the catalog of Old Testament saints, receive a report—a good report through faith. And they did so because they were faithful. They were faithful.

Now, when I say that word “faithful,” I fear at times we have a way of defining it according to our own strengths, because we know the significance of it—that we must be one found faithful, or the expression that is given, “well done, thou good and faithful servant.” We want to be found faithful. But, as I’ve said, I think at times we are in danger of defining “faithful” according to our own strengths rather than assessing where our areas of weakness are—where are the areas where we are not so faithful. You see, if we are to improve, if we are to grow, if we are to become more like Christ, it does not do us a whole lot of good if we constantly focus upon, dwell upon, and pat our backs in the areas where we are doing well. In order to grow and advance and progress and become more like Christ, there needs to be an honest assessment of the areas where we are not so like Christ or we are not so faithful. And by doing so, by assessing our lives, recognizing what it is that we are after, we are looking at a text like this, seeing in a summary fashion that what we want—the believer desires more than anything—is to receive this good report.

What does it matter if you gain the whole world and lose your own soul? What does it matter if you attain the applause of men but not the commendation of heaven? And there needs to be then a little heart searching. As we come to this language asking, “Will God say the same of me?” These all having obtained a good report through faith. So we can look at them, and we can see here not a mere museum of saints to admire, but those who are to be modeled—that every serious-minded Christian is reading this, and indeed the entire history given to us in the Old Testament, that these things are, as the apostle writes elsewhere, written for our learning. And we are to learn then what it is that God requires of us and how we might obtain a good report. If you don’t obtain a good report, what else matters? We want to obtain this. I have to believe that every true child of God here this morning at the last will be focused on one thing: “Will I obtain the good report? Can I be listed with such faithful saints?” But you see how they obtain it—these all having obtained the good report through faith, or by faith, by the same faith. It’s not different, it’s not distinct, it doesn’t deviate—it’s the same.

And so this morning I want us to think about this and the challenge of it: Will I obtain a good report? So, I’ve titled it simply, “Believers Obtaining a Good Report.” And the three primary heads here: first, they will obtain the good report by universally, or universally by justifying faith. These believers obtain their good report universally by justifying faith. That’s the first thing to notice. In fact, we might say the most important. You see what it says: “these all having obtained a good report through faith.” These all—the patriarchs, the prophets, the pilgrim believer, the martyr—what unites them? Not the age in which they lived, not even their nationality, though there was certain common ground for many of them; not moral perfection, not their ecclesiastical status. No, what unites them is that they obtained a good report through faith, by faith. Not the mere profession of faith, but the possession of it; not just the form, but they had the substance of this faith. This faith, again, we have dealt with earlier on—I want to underline certain truths so we grasp what this faith is, because if we’re wrong here, we’re wrong on the most fundamental truth.

The faith itself is not the thing that justifies; it is the instrument. It is the one thing that brings us into union and connection with what it is. It allows us to be right with God. This is not a body of people who just had some belief in God, who believed in the unseen. Their faith joined them to something—or, more accurately, someone. Again, I underline it because it is summarized in chapter 12, verse 2: it’s looking on to Jesus. The faith that they possessed was a look—it was a seizing upon, a grasping, a letting hold of Jesus Christ. And so it’s not the faith itself—that is the virtue, as it were—so much as the faith enables them to obtain what is virtuous. It lays hold of something they do not possess in and of themselves. It’s not faith within the person that enables them to have this commendation before God; it’s not just the existence of faith, it’s what the faith puts you into or how it presents you. The faith grasps something. It’s not just an entity in and of itself—it lays hold on what we describe as an alien righteousness, or the personal work of Jesus Christ, or the One who alone can save us. So if we are going to obtain a good report, we have to recognize that this is the kind of faith that we possess. It is not just believing, but it is believing someone, resting in someone. And through that, we obtain a good report.

The argument of Hebrews is: “Don’t leave Christ.” And none of these people—none of them, I would say, you could say universally as far as those the apostle is addressing—were in danger of abandoning belief in God utterly. They believed in God, and they were going to believe in God. They weren’t threatened by thoughts of atheism. They weren’t picking up Greek philosophy and running with the Epicureans and the Stoics. They believed in God. But the danger, what was at threat, is that in their faith it was being disconnected from that which God has provided to justify the sinner—Jesus Christ. But moving away from Him would be detrimental to the soul, to the whole standing that they possessed before God, the whole possibility of obtaining a good report.

So the Lord here is commending these individuals, and He’s commanding them because the good report through faith is judicial. The verb behind “having obtained a good report” is closely related to the word our Savior used when He addressed His disciples before He ascended, and He said, “ye are my witnesses.” And we think of that in a sense—we often think of witnesses being evangelists and going about and sharing the gospel, and of course that’s involved. But the language—and again, even “martyrios,” we tend to focus on, well, martyr and giving up your life and dying for the cause of Jesus Christ—we see the Greek word and we see how it’s used in the English and we make connections there. But it’s legal. The martyr is someone who’s testifying, and yes, he’s willing to testify should it threaten his life. There’s a sense in which he’s already come to terms that whatever it costs him, he will tell the truth—the whole truth, nothing but the truth. He is a witness, and he is legally standing in this place in which he is declaring or testifying to the truth, his body of truth. And here, the body of truth—the language is, the legal language is, “here you are a witness, here you are one who is being witnessed about.” There’s a report that is being given, a witness that is being given, but it’s not of yourself, nor is it of the pastor or your friends or your family. Obtaining a good report is a judicial, legal verdict by God concerning these people. They obtained a good report. This is what we are after. It’s not just about that you’re being good. These people were being good—they were living good lives. There’s something more, again, absolute about it, fixed. These people obtained a good report. The testimony of God concerning them is where they stand—a fixed report in which they are favored by God and seen favorably before God.

And what had happened to them? What united them? Again, they’re living in different days, facing different challenges, coming from different backgrounds, but they obtained a good report through faith. Something occurred in their experience—something that united them. And so they were— we talk about regeneration, being born from above (the language of John 3)—that’s regeneration. That’s an internal work. But justification, this obtaining a good report, this declaration, is external to the believer. It is God’s pronouncement. It is God’s legal assessment of His people. These are a people who have obtained a good report. It’s how God views you.

So we talk about regeneration—it’s a change within. We talk about justification in one sense—it’s an external change; God looking upon the sinner. They are justified. They are found then to have this good report before Him. Again, they’re all so different. You think of the list of people given to us and the whole catalogue of those in the Old Testament and all the saints unnamed. They don’t live at the same time; they don’t manifest the same gifts; they’re not going through the same scenarios. But look at what it says—universal. These all, these all, through faith, obtained a good report. That’s what’s universal about them. Every last one of them has this declared about them and obtained it because they possessed this faith.

This faith then is what you cannot leave this meeting without. That you would be a fool to leave a meeting like this without this faith, this kind of faith. It’s not simply asking you, “Do you believe in God?” It is asking you, “Do you lean on, rest in, put your whole weight upon—say the answer before God for your soul—Is Jesus Christ?” Beginning, middle, and end, all of your standing before God is all in Him. And that’s what I want you to go away with. If you’re not yet in Him, make sure that you are in Him so that you can say, “I can join with these all, and I can say, ‘I’m found there, praise God.’” These all obtained a good report—not that they were all good people in that sense. They didn’t do everything good; they didn’t always get it right; they didn’t have an impeccable past. They fell. They messed up. They sinned grievously. They had times that caused great lamentation to their soul—times when their cry before God is, “Take not thy Holy Spirit from me,” because they know that they have grieved God. They were not perfect. God views them because they have this faith that joins them to Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Through faith, then, they obtain this testimony. This, then, is the chief jewel in the crown of God’s salvation, justified by faith. That’s where you need to get.

This morning, if you’re not there, children, justified by faith—not justified because your parents are Christian, not justified because you’re in a Christian home and environment and in church and all those details. “Justified,” you say; all of that is good. I’m glad I was brought up, and I’m here in a Christian family, and I’m in church, and I’m thankful for these things—but do I have Jesus Christ? The blood of Abraham running in your veins does not save. This is what the Jews misunderstood. We be of Abraham’s seed. Jesus’ answer was—if I can paraphrase—“so what? Ye are of your father the devil, and the works of your father ye will do.” Having the blood of Abraham running through your veins does not save. It is the faith of Abraham. Abraham saw afar off. We will get to it, what he saw. As the text goes on to say—“not having received the promise” (or “they received not the promise”)—but we’re just focusing here upon the report.

So Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice. Why did he offer a more excellent sacrifice? Why was the sacrifice more excellent? Because his faith saw in what he was offering. It was typifying—it wasn’t saving him; it wasn’t the thing itself. Abel had been taught, “the seed of the woman shall bruise the head of a serpent.” Now you’re telling me you think that having told the seed of the woman will be the deliverer—that he’s going and saying, “Yes, this animal that I kill will be my deliverer.” No. It was typifying something. And the sacrifice is more excellent not just in the fact that it followed the pattern that God had said, but because the faith that saw beyond the sacrifice said, “Yes, God shall provide Himself a lamb.” And that’s where my hope is—the day when God fulfills His promise, the day when God sends the seed and the woman who will bruise the head of the serpent, the day when God’s answer is found in one who will deliver men. And that’s where his faith was. So it wasn’t just the sacrifice itself being more excellent, but the faith that made him present that sacrifice and saw beyond it. And you could say again, “Enoch, he walked with God, not being justified, not receiving a good report because he walked, but he walked with God because he was justified.” It was by faith he obtained a good report. It was the faith that made the difference. The same for Rahab—and all of her blotted past found in this chapter because she believed something, and that put her in the right standing before God.

So faith is not the cause of justification. It is the condition ordained by God. You can’t be in Christ without faith. So faith is the linking aspect. It is the conduit. It is the hand that reaches out and grasps where the salvation lies. So it’s not just looking at Jesus in the sense I look at Him and believe He lived—looking onto Jesus as a reaching out, laying hold upon Him. And this is what they did. It’s not just knowing the promise, knowing about the promise, being able to rehearse what God has promised, but actually believing it, taking it and saying, “Yes, it shall be so.” God will save through the sending of His Son. His condescension, His life, His death, His resurrection is the answer for us.

So the universality of this report concerning these people—these all—is because of the faith that justified them. That’s what made all the difference. And there were others who were in the community, others who had the opportunity. Cain had the opportunity, but he would not believe. There were many others as well—Esau, those that crossed the Red Sea, Korah, Dathan, and others who finally would rebel, showing the true absence of any believing reality in their hearts, perishing in the wilderness. They had access to the truth. They saw the same things; they heard about them, but they did not obtain a good report. Why? Because they didn’t have the faith. You obtained a good report through faith. Oh, I hope you’ve got it by now. I hope— I hope when you read Hebrews 11 next time you’re not just looking at, “Oh, look at the great feats of these people. Look what they accomplished,” and so on. And you see that as distinct, as separate from it. It’s like some narrative of their doings. You’re missing the point. The point is that these doings are an outworking of a real faith. The faith is there, abiding every day. When they get up in the morning till they go to sleep at night, the faith is there. And so in various circumstances—some of which are given to us in the record of God’s Word—we can read and say, “Well, look at what it produced in these people. Look at what happened.” They were faced with a water that couldn’t be parted. Again, they were trusting God, believing God, believing His Word, and so the waters part. They’re standing before a city; God says, “Go and take the city,” and they’re believing His Word. That’s what faith does—it will take God at His Word, even when it can’t make sense of the particulars, and the walls will fall.

When they’re faced with the threat of their own life, again, the same is true. They will not relent because what they believe about God matters more. So have you laid hold of Jesus Christ? Have you? Do you have the faith? You can’t obtain the good report by being a good boy; you can’t obtain the good report by being a good girl. That is not how it is obtained. It is through faith. So do you believe? Do you believe? You have to have this submission, this resignation to Jesus Christ fully and entirely.

Also, they obtained this good report unequivocally by persevering faith—not only universally by justifying faith, but unequivocally by persevering faith. There’s no doubt about it—that their faith carried on. The faith that these believers possessed did not flicker. It did not die. It endured. This is the encouragement. It presses on no matter what stands in the way. And the previous verses illustrate that for us. There are those times and seasons when it leads us into an opportunity to see this great victory, and there are times and seasons when it will cost us everything. The text goes on to say “they received not the promise”—and we’ll look at that more at some other time. They did receive promises. There were certain promises—you see it in verse 33. Obtained promises. There were certain things that they obtained. They obtained deliverance at times; they obtained the land; they obtained children. There were other things that God promised them, individually said, “This will happen,” and they obtained promises. They believed God for those things, but something more was waiting. There was the singular, the promise—and that we will see more in the future—but that was what was driving them. What was leading them was this particular promise, a particular promise—a promise in which everything was encapsulated. Everything—it’s all wrapped up in this. It’s not just about, it’s not just Isaac. The whole point is not Isaac. Isaac’s a part of the way God has ordained things to fall out, but Isaac’s not where you look; Isaac’s not where the hope is. The one that they’re looking for is Jesus Christ. He is the promise.

But they continued on. They didn’t see Him come. They didn’t have the blessing or the privilege of living through that period. But these all, having obtained a good report through faith, they carried on. That faith persevered. It kept going on no matter what. And oh, beloved, this is the need of the hour. Because Satan—you are sitting under the Word. You’re not in bars; you’re not frequenting dens of iniquity; you’re not giving yourself to all forms of sin, I trust—but you might waver. You might feel a flickering effect in your soul. You would not be the first. And these believers, though called upon to wait, did not quit. They did not begin to say, “Lord, I’ve waited too long.” And this is what was unique, of course, to those like Simeon in the temple, because he got a particular promise to him—and that was that he would not die until he had seen the promise. And so there he is, living out his days, getting weary with this old world. One part of him is going—he desires to depart; another part of him is waiting for the fulfillment, looking for it on the day when that word would be fulfilled, and he would see it. God had said to him, “Thou shalt not die, Simeon, until thou hast seen the Messiah.” So every day he came in expecting.

I wish that’s how we turned up at God’s house. You turn up at God’s house expecting something—expecting God to bless and feed my soul, to meet the need of my heart, and to show me His Son, and give me an appetite for the bread of God. It’s like the way you go to your birthday, right? You know, you go, and you know, “Mom’s gonna have a cake for you.” You know, and she might even come and say, “What kind of cake would you like? You want a vanilla with strawberry jam and stuff like that? Or do you want chocolate? Do you want triple chocolate? Or what do you—what kind of thing?” That’s what goes on in our house, of course. Like, is it the ice cream cake or Victoria sponge cake or whatever? You know, all these—and mom, of course, has to execute on it to the whims of her children. And you have an expectation. You know, all day, you’re thinking—even weeks beforehand—they’re thinking about it. They’re thinking about it. They’re deciding. Some of them are a little more, let’s say, thoughtful about it. They’re like, “What do I want? What do I want? How long have I got? I can think about what exactly I want for my birthday.” Of course, Christmas is similar, too—same idea. You’re anticipating something. There’s an expectation. And there’s other occasions similar to that—there’s this anticipation. Oh, that the Lord’s day would become that in the hearts of God’s people. Even the Wednesday prayer meeting would become more like that in the hearts of God’s people. Like, “Hey, there we are. We’re going there,” like Simeon, and waiting for the time when, out of nowhere, it seems, there it is—the fulfillment of God’s word.

Beloved, this is what we’re to have—a desire for this kind of thing, an anticipation of something. And these believers had a faith that kept them going. They received a good report; obtained a good report through faith. Very quickly you see it in a couple of ways: seen in their submission, right? This persevering faith has to be a submitting faith. It has to be, because it gets challenged. And sometimes God’s providence leads in a path that you might never have anticipated. He brings you into seasons of hardship and difficulty and strife, and you’re asking yourself, “To what end does this help?” You can’t help but ask, “Why?” Then you collect yourself and you realize He’s sovereign. He’s working and weaving His own plan here, and I have to submit. If you stop submitting, stop persevering. Keep that in mind—if you stop submitting, you will stop persevering.

There are saints who have gotten to that point because it’s in the resistance of what’s happening in their life that their faith caves, it wilts, it dissolves. They won’t submit—they’re fighting against God. So it’s seen in their submission. All these saints had trials and difficulties and delays, seasons of hardship, challenge, disappointment. Go again, go through the list, watch them all, see them. But they submit. So must you.

It’s seen also in their suffering—in their suffering. Sometimes there’s a kind of submission that isn’t really tied to suffering, but suffering then needs its own separate idea. And we’re not just submitting to things not going according to plan, but we’re actually suffering for the cause. And so you see it, right? The very first one, the first one named—Abel dies. It’s not like it begins with, “You know, it wasn’t so bad; persecution wasn’t so bad back in those days.” Some people sometimes think about persecution as if all the awful things are in the future. Well, there may be awful things in the future, but there’s always been persecution for God’s people to some degree or other. And right out of the gate, Abel has to give up his life. So we suffer. And we looked at that last time, so I don’t need to say too much. But this is a kind of faith—through faith, they obtain a good report through faith, which means they would rather die than deny. Are you there? Are you like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? They do not have that same certainty like Joshua and those around Jericho, or other occasions where there was great confidence. David before Goliath, and so on, didn’t say, “God will deliver us.” They qualified their confidence: “If not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods.” Period. You threaten us with whatever you wish—we will not serve thy gods. You need that, you need that, because you know at the other end of that is the possibility of suffering. And, oh Christian, you need to get there. You need to get to a place where you see beyond—and you want to obtain a good report through faith, which means as you live out your life, those who truly obtain a good report, those with this real kind of faith, will be faced with those challenges. Bow the knee, submit, give in to your boss and the compromises. Those compromises violate the conscience; those compromises are of such a nature that they are unchristian and disobedient to God. Better be jobless. Better be lifeless than to give in. That’s what this faith will do. And the world will watch on and say, “Why would you do that? It’s not a big deal, it’s not such a big deal.” They’ve been doing this for years in this business. Did you not know this was part of doing business? And you say, “No, I had no idea.” And if that’s what it takes, I am out. But you’re crazy. Why would you do that? You’re making quarter million dollars a year—I’d rather be serving coffees as a barista in Starbucks for 15 bucks an hour than violate my conscience and disobey my God.

And there were those who did not have it easy— not everyone escaped. You think of, let’s go back just to some of these ones that get missed. Jeremiah, Jeremiah 26—go to Jeremiah 26. These little windows into individuals—we don’t know much about really. In this case it’s Uriah, Jeremiah 26. Just read from verse 20: “This faithful man,” Jeremiah 26, verse 20. It wasn’t like he was a great champion in the sense of being really strong; you can see the weakness in him. Jeremiah 26, verse 20. And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the Lord, Uriah the son of Shammaiah of Kirjath-Jerim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah—said the same things Jeremiah was saying. And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death, but when Uriah heard it, he was afraid and fled and went into Egypt. And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely El Nathan, the son of Achbor, and certain men with him into Egypt. And they fetched forth Uriah out of Egypt and brought him on to Jehoiakim the king, who slew him with the sword and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people.” That’s it—just saying the same thing Jeremiah’s saying. And when the word goes out, I want him dead. Some way his word really cut—his word’s cut—and the king couldn’t cope with it. Enough is enough. Fetch him. Someone gives word, and he runs for his life. You know, it was like certain times when Paul escaped, right? “Get out of here.” Maybe there’s sometimes a sense of fear; sometimes it’s just, you know, a natural sense of preservation. Now is not the time. But he didn’t give up. He didn’t go into the king and say, “I apologize, your majesty. I take back every word I said.” No. He offered the ultimate sacrifice himself because he will persevere in faith. So this is what it means sometimes.

But also finally, these believers obtained this good report undeniably by exemplary faith. That’s the third thing—undeniably by exemplary faith. This faith that justifies and this faith that perseveres is also exemplary. It cannot help but speak. It speaks to you and it speaks to me, and it does not hide. The Lord has not hidden it away. He has it shining here in the pages of Hebrews 11, bearing witness. These people were, as Paul wrote about being an epistle, “known and read of all men.” So it is for the believer. And they obtained a good report—not just before God, which ultimately is the truth, but then before men. God’s declaration of them, God’s elevation of them, lifts them up before our view.

And two things, just to leave with you before we close: it’s seen in their faithfulness and in their fruitfulness. Their faithfulness—they were faithful. The faith that they possessed kept them going on faithfully. They were not sinless, but they were sincere, and they lived out their faith. Sometimes they were mocked, building an ark; sometimes they were set aside, but they were resolved. Again, another one who escapes us during Absalom’s rebellion—David, of course, is cast out and running for his life and trying to shore up his defenses and so on in the pursuit of his son Absalom. And we’re told of one, Ittai the Gittite. Follow David, and his words are great—what he says to David, what an image it is: “As the Lord liveth, this is 2 Samuel 15, as the Lord liveth, surely in what place my Lord the King shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be.” That’s a great word—the commitment to David the King, and it depicts the commitment of the believer to his God. Wherever you are, Lord, wherever you call me to be, whether in death or life, there also will thy servant be.” Is that where you are? Because that’s the faith of these believers. That is what obtains a good report—that kind of loyalty, exemplary in their character. They’re not just talking the talk. They will follow it up; they will back it up; they will pay the price; they will suffer for it. And so they are faithful in all the ways that God calls them to be faithful.

So, is this you? Will your name be found among the faithful? It’s also seen in their fruitfulness—they bore fruit. Now, the fruit that they bore was different, and how it looked was different. It wasn’t always in success, but there was fruit there—there was a substance of something that was there that God saw and God honored. And so they still speak to us even if they’re sawn asunder. Oh, imagine it—sawn in half. But faith will not relent, and it bears its own fruit.

And so you have, again, individuals. We don’t have much written about them—there’s not huge details given regarding them—but likes of Obadiah, the steward of that wicked king, Ahab. And he had hidden away a hundred prophets. He knew the consequence—the possible consequences to his own life—hiding those prophets. But that was fruit. He fed them, going to them with bread and water, keeping them alive. That was him being faithful, diligent in his business, serving his generation, as is said of David.

Or again, what’s Anna called to do? She’s not called to preach, and she’s not called to govern in the sense like classically, but she is a woman in touch with God and she has a word to speak, and she is used by God. And she goes to the temple day and night, fasting and praying, and she sees the Lord and she speaks of Him to all who look for redemption in Israel.

So, you young people—I’m thinking about you before we close. You ask yourself, “How can I make sure I’ve obtained this good report?” Or, let me put it this way, “What does it look like for me if I am one who has obtained a good report through faith? What does it look like for you, young person?” And it applies to us all, of course. But these are basic truths that have to be seen in a faithful life.

First, hunger for the Word—hunger for the Word. If there’s no hunger for the Word, there’s something wrong. Oh, get it—if there’s no hunger for the Word, there is something wrong. When an infant is born and refuses to feed, the alarm bells go off. When anyone lives at any stage of their life and stops eating, the alarm bells go off. The doctors are concerned. The nurses are reporting—something is not right. This person isn’t eating. And there are professing believers who do not eat the Word, and you wonder what’s going on. You must have an appetite—a hunger for the Word. It is not something you can substitute with anything else. As newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the Word, “that ye may grow thereby.” There it is, illustrating from the natural order. Newborn babes—what do they desire? Hunger for the Word.

Pray when no one’s watching—pray when no one’s watching. “Thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet; and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.” Pray when no one is watching. Young person, if you want to know the good report, you will never have it—it’s not true of you unless you are at ease with private prayer and find yourself calling upon God when no one sees and no one knows.

Obey your parents—that’s the third thing. This is straightforward. But you will not obtain a good report if you’re in rebellion against the people God has put in your life. Love God’s people—we know that we have passed from death unto life; we know that we have obtained a good report because we love the brethren. (1 John 3:14, “by love serve one another.”) Learn, learn. When you’re sitting, young people, when you’re sitting there downstairs, and in the fellowship, and you’re in your little groups around the tables and so on, and you’re talking among yourselves in other settings, in your Sunday school classes, before the teacher begins to teach, or afterwards, or wherever—young people, love the other young people. Love them. Maybe they’re not saved, but love them. Show them the love of Christ.

Grieve over sin—that’s the fifth thing. Grieve over sin. I mentioned it already—David’s lamentation, Psalm 51: “Cast me not away from thy presence. Take not thy Holy Spirit from me.” There has to be a sense of grief over sin. So do you? Do you sin and just think it’s no big deal? I was nasty to my siblings. I was disrespectful to my mother, my father, or whatever the case might be. You have to grieve over sin.

Refuse to fit in with the world. Memorize in Romans 12, “Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Sinners entice thee, consent thou not (Proverbs 1:10). And finally, publicly own the name of Christ. My time is gone—publicly own the name of Christ. You have to. Paul says we’re not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. You can’t be ashamed of the thing that has saved your soul.

So much more could be said, but one day—let’s close with this: one day there will be a summary of your life. There’ll be a summary. On the one hand, it may be, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant;” or it may be, “Depart from me, I never knew thee.” See the focus of the negative there—it doesn’t mean to say you weren’t active in the church; it doesn’t mean to say that you didn’t profess to be a Christian. “I never knew thee.” There’s no knowledge, because your faith is not just a belief in Christianity. Your faith is an entire resting upon Jesus Christ in a way in which it can be said, not only that you came to know Jesus Christ on the Damascus road, but years later you’re still crying out, “I may know Him” (Philippians 3), knowing Him—truly knowing Him; this is the difference.

These all having obtained a good report through faith—do you have it? You have it. You obtain it by faith. And then it gets ratified one day in glory, when the books are opened, everything is unfolded, everything is brought to a culmination and a close. These are the ones who sit at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These are the ones reigning with Christ. These are the ones who are mine when I make up my jewels. They obtained a good report through faith. Make sure you have it.

Let’s bow together in prayer. Young person, this is the good report that you want. I know you may aspire and desire many things, and those things have their place—but what place does this have in your life? Is it first? It can’t be second; if it’s second, it might as well be last. It must be first—it demands priority. Make sure it’s true of you.

“Lord, bless thy word. Help us, help us, oh God, when everything is said and done. In that frightful day, and yet glorious day, when all is tied up, let it be that we are found in the number listed here in Hebrews 11, those who have heaven’s commendation. Please, therefore, let us not worry about what we’re doing. First and foremost, let us be concerned: Am I truly looking on to Jesus Christ? And if I am looking on to Jesus Christ, then I will take up His cross daily and follow Him. Oh, to be like Thee. Help us, Lord. Bless this people, then, with a pursuit that is accordance with Thy Word, and led by the Spirit, and produces real, abiding faithfulness and fruitfulness. May the grace of our Lord Jesus, the love of God our Father, and the fellowship of the Spirit be the portion of the people of God, now and evermore. Amen.”