Well again, turn back to Hebrews
and the 11th chapter. Hebrews chapter 11. I want to
look this morning at verses 17 to 22. The faith of the patriarchs. Verse 17. By faith Abraham, when
he was tried, offered up Isaac. And he that had received the
promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was
said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called. accounting that
God was able to raise him up, even from the dead. From whence
also he received him in a figure. By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob
and Esau concerning things to come. By faith, Jacob, when he
was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph and worshipped,
leaning upon the top of his staff. By faith, Joseph, when he died,
made mention of the departing of the children of Israel and
gave commandment concerning his bones. These are the verses that
I want to look at together. The purpose of Hebrews 11 is
to encourage belief and faithfulness to the end in the believing people
of God. It's to encourage belief and
faithfulness to the end. The whole of the epistle to the
Hebrews is to show how superior Christ is in everything. That
without Christ you have nothing. That he is superior in everything.
All that believers experience of God, all that they experience
of salvation, of eternal truth, of the hope of eternity, it's
all experienced by faith. Faith is the means by which we
sense these things, experience these things, grasp hold of these
things, see these things. It's a God-given spiritual sense. It's given by God, it's not something
you work up for yourself, it's not something that depends on
your intellectual capability. It's a spiritual God-given sense
by which we apprehend things that can't be sensed by fleshly
senses and fleshly reason. Now, the Hebrews revered the
patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, they revered the patriarchs. But they had exactly the same
faith as those who trust in Christ in New Testament days. If you
trust in Christ, you're on exactly the same basis as Abraham. You're
on exactly the same basis as Isaac. There is no difference.
There are differences. We have written scriptures completed.
They didn't. They didn't have the written
scriptures in those days. But exactly the same faith Do
you remember we read earlier what Jacob said when he was blessing
the sons of Joseph? He talked about the Angel. Did
you notice capital A? The translators put that there
for a reason. The Angel which redeemed me. He knew of Christ. His faith was in Christ. He looked
to Christ. He had no other confidence than
Christ. Christ was all his hope. Christ
was all his righteousness. Christ was all of his acceptance
with God he knew that that's how a man can be just with God
that way and that way alone he had exactly the faith of true
believers in all ages accepted by God on that basis now what
I want to do is to look at these examples of Abraham Isaac Jacob
and Joseph as they're recounted here in these verses to see how
their faith worked and how it works in true believers now so
we'll look at the individual accounts of these people as given
here and then we'll look at how does that apply to us in terms
of some lessons, I've got six lessons about faith that we can
learn from this, look at Abraham in verses seventeen to nineteen
remember that Abraham and there's more about Abraham in the earlier
verses as we've seen in previous weeks Abraham had heard God's
call, verse 8, by faith Abraham when he was called to go out
into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance
obeyed and he went out not knowing whether he went by faith he sojourned
in the land of promise as in a strange country dwelling in
tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob the heirs with him of the same
promises looking for a city he'd heard God's call he'd heard God's
call concerning the salvation of an elect people in a substitute
Redeemer. I'm sure that's what he'd heard.
It was revealed to him in picture after picture, in more and more
clarity, in type and in symbol and in experience, but this is
what God revealed to him. The salvation of an elect people
in a substitute Redeemer. And to those that he lived with
in Ur of Chaldees, his family, which was so established and
wealthy and prosperous in that land, in that land of comfort
and everything that they needed, he was going to go out from there.
And to those people around him who had their religion, they
were very religious people, they were idolaters, they worshipped
false gods. To them, what Abraham was doing
was foolishness. It was foolishness. Doesn't the
world regard the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ as foolishness
today? To the religious ones, what are
you doing that for? It was a stumbling block. Just
as Paul says to the Corinthians, he talks about, to the Greeks,
foolishness, and to the Jews, the religious folks, a stumbling
block. The gospel of Christ is those things, but Abraham had
seen it. The salvation of an elect people in a substitute
redeemer. Foolishness. Stumbling block.
But the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes. To
his family and his neighbours he was doing a stupid thing,
but he acted on what God revealed to him. And he looked for a city,
it says verse 10, he looked for a city which hath foundations,
whose builder and maker is God. In this life we all look for
cities, we all look for physical things that are going to give
us prosperity. and comfort and ease and plenty to eat and the
things that we want. But he looked for a city. Those
who are of faith, of true faith, look for a city which has foundations,
whose builder and maker is God. They're looking for eternal things.
Are you looking for eternal things? This is what Abraham was looking
for. This is why he could leave all those things that would have
been so precious to the world. This is why he could say of those
things that were so precious that he wouldn't grasp and cling
hold of them but he'd open the palm of his hand and if God said
I'm going to take those away and you go where I show you and
I'll bless you and he went because he saw by faith he didn't cling
on to it he didn't grasp on to what the world tells you you
ought to have and you must have you submit to God's will and
open your hand and say, if that be your will, Lord, you lead
me where you want me to go. You take me there. Teach me to
serve you there. He looked for a city. He could
have looked back. Look at verse 15. And truly,
if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came
out, you know, looking back, they might have opportunity to
have returned. Oh, if only we were back there.
You know how when Israel came out of Egypt and they said, oh,
how we long for the cucumbers and the fruits of Egypt and long
to go back there. You know how Lot's wife, when
they came out of Sodom and Gomorrah before the judgment of God fell
and God said, don't look back, but where was the heart of the
wife of Lot? Her heart was in Sodom, where
everything that she counted dear was, and she looked back. and
she was turned to a pillar of salt. They could have looked
back, but they didn't. They might have had opportunity
to return, but they didn't. Instead, verse 16, they desire
a better country. Not one of this world, a heavenly
country. Wherefore God is not ashamed
to be called their God. He's the God of his people. For
he hath prepared for them a city. If you have the faith of the
elect of God, the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, if you have
that faith then you know this, he has prepared for you a city
which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God, nothing
of this world And he believed God's promise of offspring. Even though he was as good as
dead, he was 100 years old. And God had promised that there
would be a seed that would come, he would prosper him, he would
make of him a great nation. And here's Abraham, 100 years
old, and here's Sarah, 90 years old, and there they are, well,
well past the years of childbearing. You know, well past it, by any
reckoning, well past it. As good as dead, it says here,
as good as dead. And yet the promise of God was,
there will be a great nation that will come from you. Now
then, this wasn't just a promise that you're going to have lots
of kids and grandkids and so on and so forth. What that was,
was the promise of the one who would be the Redeemer. that that
seed that was promised to Eve would come through Abraham and
Sarah. That that seed that God had promised,
the seed by whom he would save his elect, that seed would come
through them. And he believed God. And although
there were times when the flesh doubted, like when Sarah laughed,
they believed God. They believed God. And God honoured
that promise. And Isaac, despite Ishmael being
born, the son of the servant woman, despite them trying to
do things their way rather than God's way. In God's time, just
to prove that it was miraculous, just to prove that it was the
miraculous working of God, in God's time, in God's place, Isaac
was born. Isaac, the one in whom the promise
would be fulfilled. The one, the line through whom
that godly line leading to the Redeemer would come. And so now
in verse 17, Abraham is tried. Abraham when he was tried, what
was his trial? Take your son, your only begotten
son, the true son, the son of promise, the son of Sarah's dead
womb. Take your son and slay him on
Mount Moriah. Take him there and slay him.
This is a trial. This is a tremendous trial. The
son of Sarah's barren womb. the one through whom God had
said the promises would be fulfilled. Look, it says in verse 18, of
whom it was said that in Isaac thy seed shall be called. Hold
on, God, you've said that through Isaac will the promises be fulfilled
and now you're telling me to go and kill him? You know, it
was a trial in the flesh. Think of the trial in the flesh
that God is telling him to go and kill the very one by whom
the promises were given would be fulfilled in Isaac. shall
thy seed be called. And so what does he say in response
to that? God has shown me such promises.
God has given me such sight of what he's going to do in sending
a redeemer that will come as the fruit of his loins through
generation after generation, but one who would come. And he
accounted, verse 19, that God was able to raise him up even
from the dead from whence also he received him in a figure. He counted that if he obeyed
God and slew his son and killed him that God would raise him
from the dead. This is the faith of a true believer. He staggered not, says Romans
4, Romans 4 verses 20 and 21, Abraham staggered not at the
promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving
glory to God, and being fully persuaded that what he had promised,
God had promised. Abraham was fully persuaded that
what God had promised. He was also able to perform. And he accounted that God was
able to raise Isaac up from the dead. Abraham had already settled
this issue of life and faith in his heart. In his heart, he'd
already settled it. Isaac was as good as slain when
they set off on that journey in Abraham's heart. He was going
to do what God had told him to do. He was going to do it because
he believed that God would raise him from the dead. He knew he
would raise him from the dead. He knew that in this would be
something symbolical. And how symbolical? of God, sacrificing
his only beloved son for the sake of the redemption of his
elect people. He'd settled it in his heart.
Isaac was as good as slain. God had already as good as raised
him back to life to fulfil the promises. He'd already had proof
of this, hadn't he? Isaac had already been raised
from the dead. What do you mean, you say? Think
about Sarah's dead womb. Think about how hopeless was
that case. Think about how hopeless was
that case, and yet Isaac was raised up from that dead womb. Why would God not now keep his
promise to raise up Isaac from the dead? Why would he not now
keep that promise? And so contrary to all the physical
evidence, Abraham acted upon what he saw and heard by faith,
being fully persuaded. This is the faith of God's elect.
The flesh comes in, and the flesh doubts, and the flesh wavers,
and the flesh fears. But the faith of the elect of
God believes God, believes what he said concerning eternity,
concerning this life, concerning death, concerning sin and acceptance
with God, concerning salvation. sees what God has said, believes
what God has said, is fully persuaded that what he had promised he
was able also to perform. Has God promised us heaven? Has God promised his people eternal
life? Has God promised to walk with
us through this life and take us to be with him in glory and
to give us bliss which the eye of man has not seen nor ear heard
the things which he has prepared for those that love him? Yes
he has. The faith of God's elect is fully persuaded that what
he has promised he will perform. This is the lot of those that
have gone before us and of those in faith who will go from here
on. Let's now look at Isaac. This
is a whistle-stop tour through these four people. Look at Isaac,
verse 20. You see, the faith gallery of
Hebrews 11 just says this about Isaac. by faith Isaac blessed
Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. Is that all you've got
to say about Isaac? Isn't there a bit more than that?
Well of all the patriarchs there isn't actually a great deal in
Genesis about Isaac you know compared with Joseph where there's
chapter after chapter and Jacob with chapter after chapter and
Abraham likewise and although Isaac appears in the account
of of all of those, the bit where it's really just focusing on
Isaac on his own is only a couple of chapters in about 26, 27 of
Genesis there or thereabouts but nevertheless there's still
plenty that went on you know his Beersheba wanderings and
buildings of altars and all sorts of things like that, the events
that happened he's going for a wife and all of those things
is this all he could think of to say, by faith Isaac blessed
Jacob and Esau. He's talking about faith. So
is this all he has to say about Isaac? You see, of all that could
have been said, there's only this regarding blessing Jacob
and Esau. What's he talking about? Naturally,
Isaac preferred Esau. You know, as a son These were
twins, Isaac and Esau and Jacob were twins. And Esau was the
firstborn and Jacob came out of the womb, out of his mother's
womb with his hand gripping hold of the heel of Esau. And they
grew up and they were quite different. Jacob was a schemer. Jacob was
deceitful. Jacob was a mummy's boy. Jacob
was always you know, in our politically correct society there'd be no
difference, don't make any difference between them, they're absolutely
fine. But, you know, in a the sort of society that some
of our friends in the states live in. Esau would be the man's
son. He's a really man's man, is this
man. He goes out into the field hunting
and he's a good, strong boy and he gets out there in the country
and he goes and shoots venison with his bow and arrow and he's
a man of the world and of the field and he's a real, real roughneck
character. Whereas Jacob is mummy's boy.
all the time hanging around her apron strings in the kitchen
and at home and he's a real softy and you know he's not at all
strong and Isaac preferred Esau he liked him better he really
did but Esau counted the birthright of no value you know there's
a lot about the birthright in that culture that we don't understand
because our culture isn't like that but the birthright it spoke
just briefly what it spoke of far more was the blessings that
God had promised the blessings of salvation that God had promised.
It was the right of the firstborn. But Esau counted the birthright
as of no value. In his love for the world, he
counted the birthright as of no value at all. He wanted the
world. He wanted to have a good time
in the world. He loved his women. He went off with foreign women
that God had said he shouldn't go off with. He went off and
formed relationships. He married multiple wives of
the Hittites and those that were around him. And do you know what
it says about Rebecca and Isaac? It says, it was a grief of mind
to them, the fact that Esau did these things. He despised his
birthright. He had no thought, because in
the birthright, It was the thought for Christ, the angel who would
redeem him, and eternal salvation. But Esau was only obsessed with
the world. God's sovereign grace to Jacob
was shown. God's reprobation of Esau was
what happened. What does that mean, reprobation?
Leaving to the natural desires of his fallen flesh, which are
bound to make him refuse God. which are bound to make him go
his own way and not see the truth. Because God had said, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. And that's quoted in Romans 9.
It's a verse from Micah, I think, isn't it? Jacob have I loved
and Esau have I hated. Hated. was deceived by Rebecca
and Jacob in the question of the birthright. He was deceived,
he was an old man, he was blind, he couldn't see properly, and
there was a real deception went on, and he almost wasn't deceived
because he detected it was the voice of Jacob, but he felt the
fur that the mother, Rebecca, had put on Jacob, and he thought,
this is funny, it feels like Esau, it smells like Esau, but
that's the voice of Jacob, but he was deceived. But what did
he do? when he blessed Jacob he said
he surely will be blessed and Esau wanted the blessing even
though he had previously despised the blessing but he couldn't
have it and what Isaac did and this is why he's here as an illustration
of faith Isaac bowed to the sovereignty of God in his purpose of grace
to Jacob and that's it that's why this is all we read about
Isaac in this chapter Isaac bowed, even though he didn't want to
in his flesh, Isaac bowed to the sovereignty of God in his
purpose of grace to Jacob. Esau was blessed, yes he did
give him a blessing, but it was a blessing that was just a worldly
blessing. of material blessing. Esau got
everything that he wanted. Esau got prosperity, he got his
various wives, he got his big family, he got his riches, he
got everything that his heart wanted. Oh yes, Esau was blessed. But do you know, there are blessings. There are blessings of material
well-being. and there are blessings of spiritual
well-being. And the two don't necessarily
coincide, in fact they rarely do. He saw God exactly what he
wanted in the blessing of Isaac. But Isaac bowed to the sovereignty
of God in the purpose of grace to Jacob, who was the younger
of the two, and not the naturally deserving one of the birthright
blessing. But in the purpose of God's grace,
he was the one through whom the patriarchs would come, the 12
tribes, and all the further dealings of God with Israel right up to
the Redeemer, the coming of Christ. It was all in Jacob that that
line would be maintained. Let's move on. Jacob, verse 21. By faith, Jacob, when he was
a dying, blessed, and we read about it in Genesis 48, he blessed
both the sons of Joseph and worshiped leaning on the top of his staff
now likewise Paul is that all you've got to say about Jacob
I mean think of all the things he could have written here to
illustrate to the people of God what a man of faith Jacob was
you know how he had to run away from Esau because he was scared
of him And how he went out and he had that dream, and he used
a stone for his pillow and he saw that ladder, which was such
a picture of Christ. Surely we're going to hear something
about that here in this faith gallery, aren't we? And he goes
off to Laban, his mother's brother, and works for Laban, and works
to marry Rachel. the one he really wanted and
he, the deceiver, was deceived by Laban and he ended up marrying
Leah and then had to work another seven years to get Rachel and
all the time he was learning lessons and he was wrestling
with God and surely you're going to say something about that,
aren't you? And then he gets Joseph taken off him, his favourite
son, the son to whom he gave the coat of many colours and
his heart is broken because this one is apparently killed by wild
animals, and he thinks he's never going to see him again, and oh,
he has such a sorrowful time, and surely we're going to learn
something about his faith in all of that. And then he comes
down in his old age into Egypt, and he lives in Goshen for, I
don't know, 15, 20 years, something like that, and has his family
around him. Surely we're going to see something
about that, aren't we? But all it says is about Jacob
dying and blessing the sons of Joseph and worshipping, leaning
on his staff. Is that all that could be recounted
here? Just the blessing of Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh? We read about it. In that blessing,
again, it's the same sort of thing. The right hand is the
hand of blessing. now this is nothing against any
of you that happen to be left-handed and I know that one of you does
happen to be left-handed but in their culture the right hand
was the hand of blessing and that was the hand that went on
the head of the oldest one to receive that birthright blessing
but Jacob knew what he was doing even though he was old and blind
he kissed the lads and he thought I thought I would never see you
again Joseph but here you are I'm seeing your seed your sons
now bring them to me Manasseh the older one Ephraim the younger
one and so Joseph puts them so that he will get the blessing
so he puts Manasseh there so the right hand will naturally
go on his head and the left hand on Ephraim's head and Jacob goes
like that and he crosses over puts his hand on Ephraim's head
and why we're not given any more details why but it must surely
be this that again he submitted to God's sovereign grace in the
blessing of Ephraim the preference of Ephraim and not of Manasseh.
And Joseph likewise in that. Joseph was not happy. Joseph
was displeased that his father did that. But Jacob said to Joseph,
no, I know what I'm doing, my son. I know what I'm doing. Manasseh
surely will be blessed, but this is the one through whom God's
purposes are going to be fulfilled. And he put his hand on his head.
He subdued the natural fleshly rebellion against the sovereign
choice of God. Is that getting near to what
the true faith of God's elect is? You know? The flesh doesn't
like the way God does things. But the faith of God's elect
says, I bow to what you say. I bow to your eternal purposes.
Because I know in the end I will see that it is right and it is
good. I will see that it is right and
it is good. There are people that we would
long to be within the family of God and have the faith of
God's elect. But the true faith of God's elect,
although we might plead for it, we bow to God's eternal purposes. And we say, not my will, but
yours be done. Then Joseph, look at Joseph,
verse 22. By faith, Joseph, when he died,
made mention of the departing of the children of Israel and
gave commandment concerning his bones and again I would say the
same again. Is this it? Is this all there
is to say about him? Is it only? I mean what about
him being taken down into Egypt and all the trials that he had
Potiphar's wife and then in the prison and then the dreams and
then before Pharaoh and the famine and the seven years of good and
the seven years of famine and being made head over all of the
grain stores and being promoted to second only to Pharaoh himself
in the land and bringing his brothers and his father down
into Egypt and oh what a tremendous thing and all of this remember
in a pagan land With no written scriptures, you know, he wasn't
like people that we know who are on their own, but they've
got the scriptures and they've got access to preaching. He didn't.
He just had the presence of God with him. He didn't have written
scriptures. They hadn't been written. The
books of Moses were not written until Moses wrote the books of
Moses. I don't know if there was any
scripture from Job but you know they didn't have what we have
in that way he was in a pagan land with no written scriptures
with absolutely no fellowship in the things of the God of his
fathers what faithfulness and yet there's not a mention of
it all it mentions is Joseph making mention of the departure
of the children of Israel that's all it says he made mention,
he talked about maybe he preached about the exodus, maybe he preached
to those children of Israel down in Egypt that you're not going
to be here forever that this isn't your home forever but that
in time when I've died and when my flesh has decayed and when
all I am is bones, dry bones, very dry bones in that length
of time you're going back out of this land he made mention
of the exodus the exodus back to the promised land and of his
own bones not being buried there in Egypt for although he was
a faithful servant of the country that adopted him and gave him
such preeminence although he was a faithful servant yet he
never ever conformed to the pagan culture and the pagan attitudes
of that land because he looked for what? He looked for the exodus
back to the promised land. He looked for all that that would
picture, for all that that would foretell, for all that that would
prepare the way for the coming of the Redeemer who doubtless
he saw and trusted in for all of his acceptance with God. He
wouldn't have his bones left there. He gave instruction, don't
leave my bones here. It's said, and Spurgeon made
the point, that there is a monument in Egypt, you know, in the 1800s
when all the archaeology of Egypt was being discovered, that next
to one of the big pyramids there is a monument. And Spurgeon thought,
and I know others think it's highly likely, that it was a
monument to Joseph. And there's a name on it and
a title which is the one who had rule over the king's grain
stores. And the one who was highly exalted,
you must bow your knee to this one. But there's not the name
of Joseph on it. He wouldn't be honored with that. He was going back to the promised
land, the land that God had promised, because there the Redeemer would
come. There would come the one who would save his people, who
would redeem his people. Where was Joseph's hope? In some
magnificent tomb in Egypt and all the adulation of that society
which he so richly deserved as man would see it? No. He didn't
look for that city. He looked for a city who had
foundations, whose builder and maker was God. And that was back
in the promised land where God had promised to Abraham and Isaac
and Jacob, his fathers. He promised that back there the
line would be fulfilled. Back there is where it would
all happen. Oh, he served his country, his
adopted country well. but he wouldn't conform to its
pagan ways he looked for God's salvation of his elect people
through Christ and that's why this is what we read of him he
made mention of the departing of the children of Israel because
all the rest was just incidental illustrating pictures the key
thing was the way God was going to save his elect people so you
see the way in which they had faith and in what ways their
faith worked let's just look at these six lessons and I'll
give you these quickly so that we won't run over time but firstly
the true faith of God's elect for them and for you today if
you have it is this it sees and hears God's word and purpose
concerning salvation concerning the salvation of an elect people
they saw what others didn't their relatives in Ur of the Chaldees.
They saw what others didn't. Esau didn't see these things.
Jacob did. By God's grace, Jacob did. Esau
didn't. Joseph saw that the exodus must
happen so that it would all point to the redemption of an elect
people. Have you seen anything like they
did? You know, those who have the
faith of God's elect do. Think of Pilgrim's Progress.
Think of Pilgrim. There he is with his wife and
family in Vanity Fair. Vanity Fair's a great place to
live. There's everything going on. There's all sorts of things.
There's all sorts of entertainments and prosperity, and everything's
happy all around him. But Pilgrim gets this burden
on his back. He's always had it, but now he's conscious of
it, and it's weighing him down, and it's nearly crushing him,
and his wife thinks he's gone mad, and his wife thinks there's
something drastically wrong with him. But what is it? He's seen
eternity. He's seen judgment. He's seen
a desperate need to be right with God. He's seen these things. This is the true faith of God's
elect. It sees and hears God's word
and purpose that others, the flesh, cannot see. When we listen
to the Sunday morning service on the radio, What is patently
obvious, and why their religion is so empty and so much the religion
of Babel, is this. They don't seem to have seen
a solitary thing concerning eternity, concerning sin, concerning judgement
to come, concerning hell, concerning the need to be right with God,
concerning the need to cry out to God for mercy, concerning
the need to find out who is God's saviour and how does he save,
there's not a solitary notion of that in anything that they
do. But the faith of God's elect is this. Everything hangs upon
it. Nothing else is important. It's
the one thing I must have. I must have this knowledge of
being right with the living God in one who is an acceptable saviour. Firstly then, it sees and hears
God's word and purpose. Secondly, it believes God and
trusts Him. Remember what we read about Abraham.
He was fully persuaded that he is able to keep his promises.
The faith of God's elect believes God and trusts him. Are you fully
persuaded that he's able to keep his promises? You see, they acted
in accordance with God's revealed will, contrary to all natural
reason, contrary to everything around them. Think about what
we do in this life now. How do we react to situations
in terms of family, career, home, ambitions, church, all of these
things? If you have the faith of God's
elect, you believe Him and trust Him and you're fully persuaded
that He is able to keep His promises. And so what you do? You launch
out. You know, you hear people saying,
I stepped out in faith. I know there's true stepping
out in faith, but there's so much that is just emotional claptrap,
basically. The true faith of the true elect
of God steps out in faith, believes him and trusts him, fully persuaded.
Thirdly, true faith obeys and bows, decides willingly, decides
willingly. You know, Abraham decided willingly
to go and sacrifice Isaac. It obeys God. It bows to God's
will. It decides willingly. Decided,
as in Isaac, to bless Jacob rather than Esau, whom he preferred.
decides, like Joseph did, to let Jacob bless Ephraim before
Manasseh, bowing. This is the will of God. Not
so, my son, this is the right way. The true faith of God's
elect obeys and bows to what he reveals. What's he revealing
to you? I don't know. I'm not you, but you'll hear
his voice. If you have the faith of God's elect, you'll hear his
voice telling you to do what you ought to do. and the faith
of God's elect hears it, sees it, believes, trusts, obeys and
bows. Fourthly, it subdues fleshly
unbelief. This is so important. Subdues
fleshly unbelief. We so much naturally kick against
the purposes of God in sovereign grace and election. We so much
kick against it and don't like it in the flesh. But the faith
of the elect of God bows to God's eternal purpose. Abraham wanted
to protect Isaac from harm, Abraham in his flesh. But by faith, he
took him determined to slay him because God had told him to.
You know, in the flesh, Peter wanted to keep Christ from the
cross. Peter said, no, you're not going there. Oh no, you know,
you have to kill me first. You're not going there. Not at
all. Isaac in the flesh wanted to
bless Esau. Joseph in the flesh wanted Manasseh,
the oldest, to be preferred. And the natural man stumbles
over God's sovereign choice to save and to pass by son. But true faith says, as Christ
said concerning the cross, not my will, but thine be done. Knowing
this, that God has said, he that honors me, him will I honor. He that honours me, that bows
to God's will, that subdues fleshly unbelief, that obeys God, that
fifthly, refuses the world. This is what the true faith of
God's elect does. It refuses the world. We live
in the world. We enjoy the things of the world,
but we're not of the world as those that have the faith of
God's elect. Are we living in the world? This
is a question to ask yourself. Are we living in the world? Or
is the world living in you? Or me? In your heart, in your
affections, in your desires, in your ambitions. Is the world
living in your heart? Or are you living in the world
and enjoying those things? You know, the oil to make your
face shine, the wine to cheer your heart. All of these things
are good. God gives these gifts freely
for us to enjoy. But how do we hold them? How
do we hold them? All these who had so much were
greatly humbled at times, greatly humbled, had everything taken
from them. As Paul said, I have learned how to be abased and
how to abound. To be being beaten one minute,
to be in shipwreck one minute, and to be in great comfort and
prosperity and happiness another minute. In all these experiences
where God takes, these People of whom we've been reading were
greatly humbled and also greatly blessed but all had their hearts
set on eternity. What about us? Here's a test.
Think of the things in this world that you have and you enjoy and
then think of having them taken from you and how would you react? You know that open palm You know,
things are what God gives us to enjoy for a while, but they're
his and he can take them away from us just as easily. And then
sixthly, sixthly, true faith, we all read about them dying.
And the faith of God's elect is this, it dies well. Those that have the faith of
God's elect die well, all of them. All who have true faith
die this death. I'm just going to read you some
scriptures. Psalm 37 verse 37. Mark the perfect man and behold
the upright, for the end of that man is peace. Now then think,
it's appointed to man to die once. But mark the perfect man
and behold the upright, the end of that man is peace. Proverbs
4 verse 18, the path of the just is as the shining light that
shineth more and more unto the perfect day. The closer we get,
the more real it is, the more vivid are the hopes of it. Psalm
116 verse 15, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death
of his saints. Numbers 23 verse 10, let me die
the death of the righteous and let my last end be like his. What is death to you? To me.
Is it the expectation of the revelation of what God has promised? Is it that thing that we read
in 1 Corinthians 2 verse 9? I has not seen, and it was also
in Isaiah 64, I has not seen nor ear heard nor has entered
into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those
that love him. This true faith of God's elect,
it dies well.