Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to Hebrews chapter 11 and reading
for our text verse 14. Hebrews chapter 11 and verse
14. For they that say such things
declare plainly that they seek a country. I want to consider what they
that say such things are declaring. Our mouths, what we say, words,
they make known the condition of the heart. We read Solomon saying that even
a fool When he keepeth his peace, when he is silent, his esteem
demand of understanding. But as soon as he starts to speak,
then his foolishness is evidenced. This applies in so many ways. So often it is what is said betrays
what that person really is. Our Lord says, out of the abundance
of the heart the mouth speaketh, and so it is the mouth that is
making known the state and condition of the heart. This is why Paul
writing to the Romans, he says that with the heart man believeth,
but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Because it is only really known
to the church and known here below the condition of a heart
when that person speaks, when they either make confession or
they're saying such things as are referred to and spoken of
here. We have in the Gospel according
to John, a solemn account, two accounts really, in John chapter
12. In verse six, we read concerning
Judas, what Judas said. When Mary had taken a pound of
ointment, spikenard, very costly, anointed the feet of our Lord,
Then Judas Iscariot, he says, why was not this ointment sold
for 300 pence and given to the poor? Now, we might think, well,
that's a good thought, that's a good utterance. But the inspired
word says that there's another thing that is being declared
here, another thing that is being spoken, which only later events
really made known what was being said at this time. Sometimes
we've had those that have prayed beautiful prayers, had men in
admiration for their prayers, we have admired their prayers,
and then later on understood what was at the root of them
and what they were really asking for, and it wasn't God glorifying
at all. And so what is said here regarding
Judas, this he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because
he was a thief and had the bank, and bare what was put therein. And we have then a solemn thing
that he was speaking out of his heart, and yet in this instance
it sounded, it seemed in some ways, to be praiseworthy, but
our Lord, he reproved him really, he said, let her alone. Against the day of my burying
has she kept this, for the poor always ye have with you, but
me ye have not always. And then we have later on in
the same chapter, verse 32, In John 12, the Lord saying, and
I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto
me. Those are the words that he was
saying. What was he declaring? What was
he signifying? This, he said, signifying what
death he should die. And so we have words that seem
to say one thing, but there is another message in them as well. And that is what is in our text. It is words that are used that
are not specifically saying we are seeking a country, we are
seeking a heavenly country, but they are words that when they
are uttered, those that are saying such things are declaring plainly
that they seek a country, and the context is very clear what
that country is, verse 16, but now they desire a better country
that is in heavenly. Wherefore God is not ashamed
to be called their God We have prepared for them a city. Now it should be our desire,
our concern. What does our speech show? What does that reveal of our
heart and how we view this world, how we view that which is to
come? Does it bear this witness that
we also are declaring plainly that we seek a country, or are
we giving another message that we are just living for this time? The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians
15, if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we've all been
most miserable. And he implies this, a person
can have a hope in Christ, religion, a faith that is all earth bound,
is not seeking anything above this earth that is fully rooted
in this world. And so the testimony here, right
in the middle of all of these characters here in Hebrews 11,
the individual characters that show by their actions in various
ways their faith, their true faith, their faith that look
to Christ. Here are some verses from verse
13 to 16 that applies to them all. Verse 13 begins, these all
died in faith. This is a common thread, this
what is in these verses and in our text applies to all of God's
people. Now, sometimes we must be very
careful in the ministry. We do not run tram lines or say,
well, God must deal in this way or that way. Otherwise, you're
not a child of God. You must have this experience
or that experience. And that can put God's people
in bondage. But there are some evidences. There are those things that are
said and felt that are common to all, they are vital to all. Our text, for they that say such
things declare plainly that they seek a country. And we may say,
if we do not seek a country that isn't heavenly, then whatever
our religion, our faith, our hope is, it is not that. which is of the Bible. It is not that which comes from
the Lord. If it just leaves us on this
world and leaves us looking for things of time. And so let us
look at the things here in a way with three points. Firstly, the
things said. Our text says, for they that
say such things. For what things are said? And what they that say such things
are plainly declaring. What is bound up with this? And then lastly what it is to
be seeking heaven or seeking a country because our text says
for they that say such things declare plainly that they seek
a country. They are seekers, and this language
belongs to seekers. But firstly, the things that
are said. And we must begin and really
concentrate all or most of our remarks upon the context, the
very verses, the verse that comes prior to our text. the fruit and effect of faith. They did not receive the Lord
Jesus, they did not live when he came, the promises of him,
but they saw those promises afar off and they embraced those promises. Their hope was in the promises
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ coming. That is vital
for us to understand right through the Old Testament that their
hopes were in the coming Messiah, the promised seed of the woman,
the great antitype of all the types and shadows of the ceremonial
law. And it was these promises that
they were holding on to, that they died embracing those promises. that the Son of God would come,
would put away their sin, would redeem them, and would bring
them safely to heaven at last. The Lord Jesus Christ declared,
I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the
Father but by me. When the Lord had suffered, bled
and died, he rose and he ascended up to be with his Father where
he was before. And his prayer is that they whom
thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold
my glory. His word of assurance to the
dying thief. It was, this day shalt thou be
with me in paradise. And so the promises, all yea
and amen in Christ, all bound up with the Lord Jesus Christ
coming, these souls, their hope, their trust, and all that they
said would have centered in the coming Messiah. We, in the gospel
day, can use much plainer, clearer language than that. The Lord
said, if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall perish in your
sins. There is none other name given
among men whereby we must be saved. And those that say such
things, they are declaring plainly that they seek a country. These
are things that they are saying, they are saying concerning where
their hope is upon the Lord Jesus Christ, upon what he has done
and what he has accomplished. Remember our Lord said, my kingdom
is not of this world. I ascend unto my father, your
God, my God. The Lord ascension into heaven,
the promises centering in Him. To they that look for Him, He
shall appear the second time. Let us run the race that is set
before us, looking unto Jesus. One of the things that will be
said is the hope and trust and expectation in the Lord Jesus
Christ. But that is not the only thing
that is set forth here. It's the most solemn thing, I
believe today, that there are many that will be saying that
they are trusting in Christ, they are looking to Him, they
do rely upon His grace, they do profess His name. But the second part bears a very
important part. in what is said. They confessed that they were
strangers and pilgrims on the earth. The word says, this is not your
rest, it is polluted. That heaven and earth shall pass
away, our Lord says, but my word shall not pass away. In this
world, Satan goes about as a roaring lion. He is king over all the
children of pride in this world. The Lord says that whoso is a
lover of this world is an enemy of God. Whosoever will be a friend
of the world is an enemy of God. He cannot serve God and mammon. that which is of the world is
not of the Father. Here below is but a passing scene. Here is under the curse. Here is the people of God as
travellers, as strangers, as pilgrims. Now, Lord, in John
17, He says, I have given them Thy word and the world have hated
them. The only thing that is needed
for the world to hate the people of God is that they have the
word of God and they live by it, they speak according to it,
they desire that laws be made according to it, that their standard
is the word of God, to the law, and to the testimony is their
standard. And so their confession is not
just a hope in Christ. Their confession is not directly
a hope even in heaven, that which is set forth here. But it is
what implied is that they are not at home here. God works in both ways. And I believe I knew it when
the Lord called me by grace and didn't recognise it at first. Couldn't work out what was happening. On one hand, yes, I knew I was
seeking the Lord. I felt my ignorance. I felt my
need of a saviour, my sinnership. But on the other hand, which
I did not connect at the first at all, was the things that I
was doing. Things mixing with the world.
Things that weren't sinful in and of themselves, but they were
worldly things. And those things, they lost their
appeal. I walked in the path of Solomon. Vanity of vanity saith the preacher,
All is vanity. All is as an empty show, a vain
thing. Many of the Lord's people have
found this. Those that have perhaps been
playing sport in their youth and the Lord has called them,
and then they think, well, what a foolish thing, this group of
grown men kicking a ball around a field and all these thousands
coming to see them and to cheer them on. What an empty thing. And the thing is, these things,
the Lord will make sure with his people that they confess,
they say, that these are empty. These are not my God. These do
not hold an attraction. an allurement to me. And it will
be how they speak and how they act will betray that. It doesn't mean to say we have
no hobbies, that we're morbid, that we're uninteresting, we
don't delight in the Lord's creation and what He has made. But we
hold it. We hold it in, as it were, a
loose hand. knowing that these things at
a moment can all be taken away and that these things are not
our all and in all, they are not our home. And so there's
this confession, a confession that they were strangers, they
didn't seem to fit in, they didn't feel to fit in, a speckled bird. You know this later on, not in the portion
that we read in Ruth chapter 1. But she said when she was
speaking to Boaz, though I be not like one of thine handmaidens. Well, she felt not like one of
the Lord's people. But the Lord's people, and no
doubt she felt that she was not like those of the world either. Often the people of God As the
Lord begins with them, they feel not to fit on either camp. They're
not like the Lord's people in their own eyes, and they're not
like the world. They don't want their portion
in the world, but they feel unworthy and unfit to be numbered amongst
the people of God. But what is emphasized here,
and right through the Scriptures, often there's not just one way
set forth, there's two ways set forth. two characters, a right one in a wrong way. You've got Cain and Abel, one
offering a right sacrifice, one a wrong one, so you can see the
difference between the two. You have two praying, the publican
and the Pharisee, so you can see a contrast between the two. But here we have the people of
God, with these promises that they embrace. And what is emphasized
in the holy, inspired, infallible Word of God is how these people
view this present world and view their position in it and how
they are in it, how they react, how they interact with the men
and women of this world. Remember the Lord telling the
account of the rich man whose barns, he said, were too small to hold
all the plenty that his fields had brought forth. So he says,
I know what I'll do. I'll pull them down. I'll build
greater. And then I'll say to my soul,
take thy knees and rest. Thou splendid for many years,
but the Lord said, Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be
required of thee, and whose then will these things be? A complete opposite language, a
speaking, listening, is what the Lord did to what he was saying. and testifying that he was a
fool in that. He is putting all his hopes on
this world. But where there's a different
language, where the soul is saying, this is not my rest. Being let
go, we go to our own company. We observe the one day in seven,
coming apart, resting a while, around the Word of God. not filled
with the world and filled with it so that we cannot stop to
read the Word, we cannot stop to pray, we cannot stop to meet
with the Lord's people, we cannot stop to worship the Lord here
below. We must have all of this world
all the time. But the language of those here
is different. What is our language, those round
about us, those that know us, those that hear us speak, what
verdict would they give? You know, years ago, sometimes
we can give a wrong impression. There was a loved one that, 1975,
there was great political changes in Australia, with the overthrow
of the government that was there and a change of government. There
was a lot going on. And this person was very much
involved. He wanted to listen to all of
the news reports and wanted to know all about it. And someone
that saw what he was doing thought when his birthday come, well,
there's this book about all of this. He really liked that because
he was all into all of this sort of thing. But when he was given
the book, the surprise was that he wasn't really interested in
it. That wasn't really his heart
at all. But the impression that he had
given for a time was that His heart was fully in these
things. He was fully immersed with it. What type of impression do we
give in those things that we spend our time with and how we
speak and how we act to those that look upon us? And here especially,
it is what is actually said, they that say such things. It is uttered, it is spoken,
it is testifying to those round about us. This is not my rest. I don't desire to live always. I don't find my gods here, my
hope here at all. I live for eternity. I live for the things of God. Paul says that when Christ, who
is our life, shall appear, then shall we appear with Him. In
Him we live and move and have our being, united to Him as the
living vine. Sometimes it doesn't take many
words. Sometimes it's words in a particular
context. When the world expresses, or
maybe loved ones express, what they want to do, and what their
hopes and everything are, then we must say, I don't desire to
go with you. I don't want to do that. I want
to go another way. A pilgrim, a traveler, One that
is travelling from one place to another. What a picture. The
children of Israel going from Egypt to Canaan. Were they to
rest in the wilderness? A barren place? Was that really
what God had brought them out to dwell forever there? No. It was the promised land. That's
where they were going. And that should be the same way
that we speak and act as well. On to look at a couple of other
utterances, and to go back again to what we read in the book of
Ruth, in Chapter 1. Ruth, of course, was a male biotess,
And when her husband died, her brother-in-law died, her father-in-law
died, and then they were going to go back to Bethlehem. And Naomi tried very hard to
discourage them from going with her. She did not have any. to marry
them, to raise up seed for them. We read that Orpah, she kissed
her mother-in-law and then she went back to her people and unto
her gods. Naomi said to Ruth, return thou
after thy sister-in-law. But then Ruth's answer, these
are words But I said, but have great import as well. Ruth said,
entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after
thee. For whither thou goest, I will
go. Where thou lodgest, I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people,
and thy God my God. Where thou diest, will I die. And there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me and also
for aught but death, part thee and me. He clave to her. How many words clearly testified
where her heart was, what she wanted to do, and what she did
do. We think also of the utterances
of this psalmist in Psalm 119, You have the psalmist saying,
I hate vain law, I hate vain thoughts, but thy law do I love. They are words that are testified. What is felt by a poor sinner
plagued with vain thoughts, but the new man of grace and in his
right mind, he loves the law of God. We think of the publican. How much words betrayed the hearts
of those two praying. The Pharisee who prayed with
himself thus and he gave thanks for how good he was and that
he was not like the publican. He testified of how he gave tithes
of all that he had. spoke of his good works. But
the publican standing afar off, not lifting up his eyes to heaven,
beating upon his breast, he says, God be merciful to me a sinner. Now thinking of our text here,
they that say such things and there's a message joined with
it. Don't words really betray what
is in the heart? Aren't they important? Don't
they tell the truth? They certainly did in that case. We think of the psalmist. Why
art thou cast down, O my soul? Why art thou disquieted within
me? Hope thou in God, for I shall
yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance and my God. His language is pointing very
clearly to God, his hope is in God and not on this world. You think of Psalm 73, my flesh
and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart and
my portion forever. And these are utterances of the
Lord's people. They're viewing what they are
in this world, they're viewing their flesh, their heart, They're
viewing their soul, their hope, beyond the grave. There's many
utterances in the Word of God, many examples of those things
that are said. I want to look then secondly
at what they that say such things are plainly declaring. Now this
is inspired Word of God. It sets forth in immediate context
what is said, and then says that they that
say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. They are seeking what is clarified
as a heavenly country, a better country. They're desiring that
better country. The inspired Word of God is joining
together what comes forth from the heart, what is said. And
it doesn't say this indicates. It doesn't say it points to or suggests that they seek a country. There's very strong language. They that say such things declare
plainly that they seek a country. In one sense, if the scriptures
said that if you are to be a child of God, you have got to state
very clearly that you seek heaven. But here, they are put in this
way. that is not just a seeking heaven,
but it is how we view this world. That is what declares plainly,
more plainly than if we were to use words and say that we
are seeking heaven, we are seeking a world to come. Because if we still lived in
harmony and love with this world, it would give the light of that.
The natural man receiveth not the things of God, neither can
he know them. And it is impossible for a natural
man to dislike this world or to be a stranger and a pilgrim
in it. He is at home in it. And that is why this is such
a strong evidence, a strong witness that it declares so plainly because
it's a language of a newborn soul, awakened soul. It's a language
of one that the Holy Spirit has wrought in those things which
are pure and holy, those things from above, a new nature that
does not have anything in common with this poor dying world. The
Lord said of his people that they are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world. And by nature, there's nothing
to show the difference. But when there is a call, when
there's a new birth, when there's a being born again, then there
is a difference. And that difference then is uttered,
confessed, and set forth. And so those that say these things
that we've considered, and many others, as they are confessing
that they are strangers and pilgrims in the earth, and doing that,
they're declaring plainly that they seek a country. May this
be a real help, a token for good for some who hear the word this
evening. You might have been looking in
many different ways for a token for good, for an evidence of
being a child of God, for the Lord's work, or to have the true
faith of God in your heart, where here is the inspired word of
God that sets forth what really separates the people of God.
Those of you that know Bunyan's pilgrim, this was the thing that
marked him out. He didn't stay in the city of
destruction. He went on pilgrimage. He must
leave it. He was seeking a country. He
went to the wicked gate, the Lord Jesus Christ. He was directed
there, the straight gate. And then he walked in that narrow
way that leadeth unto life." A very clear setting forth by
Bunyan of these same truths. He was a stranger to... Christian
was a stranger to his family. To his wife and to those of this
world, they called him many names. They thought he was strange.
Why did he change like this? But God had brought that change. And there's a real token and
blessing in that. I want to look lastly at what
it is to be seeking heaven. Our text says, for they that
say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. Now,
of course, we're not seeking it like we would try and find
something here below or find a literal company, a country
on this world. We're seeking those things which
are above. You might say the dying thief.
We're seeking it. Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. If we are a seeker, we will be
a praying soul. We'll be seeking from the Lord
Jesus Christ those supplies of grace and blessings that come
from above, not from this world. Remember again, the children
of Israel in the wilderness, they had food from heaven, the
manna from heaven. They had water out of the rock.
And our Lord says, except you eat the flesh and drink the blood
of the Son of Man, you have no life in you. In seeking, there
will be the simple way the Lord set forth. Ask, and it shall
be given you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened
unto you. Where do we seek? Seek ye out
of the book of the law and read the word of God. The Bereans,
they heard Paul preach. They searched the scriptures
daily, whether these things were so. The Lord said to the unbelieving
Jews, Search the scriptures, for in them you think you have
eternal life, and they are they that testify of me. You know, if someone was to go
to a dance or to a football match, would we think that in such places
that we would find the Lord or find his people. If we were to
go to the house of God, if we were to go to the word of God,
if we were to go to faithful preaching and to hear it, if
we were to go to prayer, would we not expect and think there
is one that is seeking the things of God? He shall give, we read in Psalm
84, grace and glory, no good thing shall he withhold from
him that walketh uprightly. If we are seeking that country
above, here below we will be seeking grace, the free unmerited
favour of God, grace to help in time of need, more grace,
that grace to be separate, come ye yourselves upon, Come, touch
not the unclean thing, and I'll receive you. You shall be my
sons and my daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. It'll be following
the Lord. The Lord says, when he puts forth
his sheep, he goeth before them. They hear his voice, they follow
him. My sheep, they know my voice. It's in that way that we'll be
seeking the heavenly city. We seek him in his courts here
below, in what the Lord has joined to heaven and joined to that
better country, a heavenly country. And that is the gospel, the proclamation
of it, the communion of saints, the fellowship of his people,
walking in and feeding upon the word of God. That is where we
will seek here below. That is where we will get the
closest to the Lord here below. Those that on earth, they were
near him. They were like Mary sat at his
feet and heard his word. And may that be where we are
found. What a solemn thing today. There are many who are so already
Christian, but they don't go to a place of worship. They don't
read the Word of God. They're not men and women of
prayer. They're just in name. But the
world has so much to hold and so much room in their lives.
There's no room for the Lord. Well, if we are seeking, that
will be very different. that will be seen not just in
what we say, but in our lives, in what we read, in who we accompany
with, in our worship. May we be of those that say such things, that give
a clear message, Solemn thing, isn't it? What message do we
give to our children, our grandchildren, to those that know us in the
Church of God? They that say such things declare
plainly that they seek a country. And you know, they that seek
shall find. Truly, if they had been mindful
of that country from whence they came out, mindful of the world,
it's always there. We can go back whenever we want.
We can get our full of it. They might have had opportunity
to have returned, but now they desire. The desires are different. Desire a better country that
isn't heavenly. Wherefore God is not ashamed
to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city. What a token. I go to prepare
a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for
you, I come again. and receive you unto myself.
And the evidence of him in heaven, out of sight, preparing a place
for us is that he is preparing us here below, loosening us from
time and making us desire that heavenly city, that heavenly
country. May we be a prepared people for
a prepared place. The Lord add his blessing. Amen.