Bring your prayerful attention
to Hebrews chapter 11. Read through our text, verses
13 through to 16. Hebrews chapter 11 from verse
13. These all died in faith, not
having received the promises, but having seen them afar off. and were persuaded of them and
embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and
pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things
declare plainly that they seek a country, and truly if they
had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they
might have had opportunity to have returned. that now they
desire a better country, that is, an heavenly, wherefore God
is not ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared for
them a city. Hebrews 11 and verses 13 through
to 16. And that which is upon my spirit
is faith, and its effects on all the people of God. We have in the very opening verses
of this chapter a description of faith. Now faith is the substance
of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. So faith
really are the eyes, the eyes of the soul, See that which is
not seen. We are told also of the importance
of faith. This follows on from what is
said concerning Enoch, that he had a testimony in verse 5 that
he pleased God. And then in verse 6 we are told
that without faith it is impossible to please Him. For he that cometh
to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek him. Now, oftentimes you hear people
and they say that they have faith. They have faith in all sorts
of things. All sorts of gods. All sorts
of things they put their trust in. But what is set before us
here is a faith that is pleasing to the true and the living God. And it is a faith according to
the word of God, because faith cometh by hearing, and hearing
by the word of God. And if our faith does not come
that way, that is not a faith that is pleasing to God, whatever
it might be pleasing to man. And so we have set before us
here a very clear definition of what faith is. And you and
I need that faith. And we're told in the opening
verses of Hebrews 12, who is the author and finisher of faith? And it is not us. It is the Lord. He gives faith to his people. When the new birth, that is when
they are given faith. you by race, you are saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. And when it closes, the finish
of it, when we die, faith shall return to sight, we do not need
faith above. And it is the Lord that determines
when we are born, naturally, when we are born spiritually,
and when we shall die. Not a single shaft can hitch
us in, writer, till the God of love Now, in this chapter we have
descriptions of faith in instances in the lives of God's people.
And you might think, well, to really show it, God should take
one life and trace all the way through all the years of their
life. But He doesn't. He picks out one thing. or in Abraham's case, several
things. And we may say this, that if
faith is given, even in one thing, that faith is an evidence of
that gift from God, and you always have that faith. It may not be
always in the exercise of it, but that faith is there. And we have as well, so evident
how different the way that that faith is shown. We're not to
batten ourselves off other people and say, well, if I've got the
faith of God's elect, then I must have it in this aspect or this
way, because this is in very different ways, and it's shown
actually in outward ways. Other people would have seen
Abel offering his sacrifice, a different sacrifice to Cain,
they would have known and said, why was Cain, why did Abel, why
was Abel slain? Why did Cain slay him? It was
an open thing. Enoch as well, we read that long
list of those, and he died, and he died. In Genesis, he gets
Enoch and he didn't die. He was translated, he was taken
up like Elijah was, and like all of the people of God shall
be when the Lord comes again in the clouds of power and great
glory, we shall be changed, says the Apostle, like Elijah, like
Enoch, to have those patterns in the Old Testament. And so
that is mentioned of Enoch being Noah, what ever other of those
people have made an up like Noah. None can walk that way. And yet
that instance is given of Noah going a very evident outward
thing. And the same with Abraham. He
left his country. He went out not knowing whether
he wins. It was an outward thing. It's
not just something in our minds we're thinking, yes, we got free.
And it's not evidenced outwardly. What is evident here, it is evident
outwardly. And we have the cases later on
of Abraham offering up Isaac again. It's a very defined event. And then we have Jacob blessing
both of his sons. You can read of him literally
doing that. And not so, says Joseph, and
he tries to take the cross handed blessing, no. And Jacob would
not have it so. And he put the blessing on the
younger one's head. And so right through here we
have Rahab, all of them, there are those things that affected
their lives, what they did, what they did not do. It's not something
imagined, not something others even didn't notice. It was really
evidence. It changed how they acted and
what they did. You might say then, well, that
is a guidance, that is a help to the people of God to know
that faith will have a real evidence and effect in our lives. I think of the epilogue story,
I think it was Mr. Anspott who told in his Bible
doctrine simply explained a young maid, servant maid, was asked
to give an illustration of how faith had made a difference in
her life, how that which God had done for her. She thought,
and she said, well, before I was called, she said, I only claimed
where people would see me. but afterwards I cleaned everywhere.
And it was the evidence that God saw her, He knew, and it
affected how she actually worked in simple ways relative to her
employment and what she was doing. And we need to bear that in mind,
all of these here, is relative to where God called them, where
He put them. Our faith will be evidence in
our homes, in our work, in our church, in our lives, where we
actually walk. You might say, well, every one
of these is very different, and they are. But God, in His wisdom,
mercy, in this inspired Word of God, has given us the words
of our text, because our text sums up what is common to all
the people of God. Obviously, A minister needs to
be very, very careful that he prescribes this must happen,
or all the children of God must have these things. But in this
passage, it is very clear. It begins with these words, these
all die in faith. And then, in the words of our
text, it gives a summary of how I desire to set before you this
evening. And so I want to look in four
places, I'll introduce them as we go, because I don't usually,
if we have three, I'll name my points, but with four, they'll
be too many. So firstly this, they saw and
embraced the promises. In verse 13, these all died in
faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them
afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them. Now we know these are all Old
Testament sayings. None of them saw the Lord Jesus
Christ born, they never saw His Now the Lord says something very
telling of John Baptist. He said that the least in the
kingdom of heaven was greater than him. One way, and I believe the two
way our Lord was meaning, John Baptist was the last And he could
point directly to the Lord Jesus Christ. But John Baptist died
before Christ was crucified. Before the Holy Spirit was given. Before the New Testament Church
was formed. And in that way, the least in
the Kingdom of Heaven, that have actually seen what all of these
saints did not see, John the Baptist in a way did, the same
as Sigmund, as he held the Lord Jesus Christ as a bag, Lord now,
lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for on mine eyes I
see thy salvation. He could see the Lord's Christ. But when we think of even the
disciples, when our Lord was taken up, they said, will thou
at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? Still they were not
clear. But the day of Pentecost, the
Holy Spirit was given, and they were very clear. They knew then,
and they preached the Gospel. We trust the same Gospel and
the same message that we preach today. And so there's another
aspect as well, and I've often thought with John the Baptist,
especially being a minister myself, John the Baptist had an office, a work, a messenger sent before
the face of the Lord. And anyone that has an office,
whether they're a minister, or deacon, or whatever, what is
more important is that we actually be a child of God. You could
be a minister, you could have that office, and yet so many
of these deceiving people are not really being converted. The
most important, we do not rest upon our ministry, the success
of it, the conversions, or anything like that. Our hope is the same,
the trust is yours, in the precious blood of Christ alone. We do
not want a ministry or an outward work to mask an absence of something
inward and in our hearts. And so now you buy the back of That is, they have what is so
precious. They have the life of God in
their souls. And they have a title to those
mansions in the skies. And then these Old Testament
saints, they look forward to Christ. They saw the promises. They saw the promises in the
Word. The seed for the woman should
bruise the serpent's head. They saw these promises. and
they embraced them. They, as it were, hugged them.
They rested upon these, their sins, their, His promise. And
they died in the faith that what God had promised, He would most
certainly do. And we know, in these gospel
days, when the word is preached, God did fulfill His promise. He has come. Now, word two, to
Ahaz, that was spoken in Isaiah. And Ahaz, he didn't want to ask. When asked for a sign, he wasn't
going to ask for that at all. It's in Isaiah 7. But the Lord
said that he would give them a sign anyway. And therefore
the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall
conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat,
that he might know to refuse the evil and to choose the good.
For before the child shall know to refuse the evil and choose
the good, the land that thou art o'ershall be forsaken of
both her kings. And we have right through the
word those promises, and the people of God, like dear Job,
he says, I know that my Redeemer liveth, that he shall stand at
the latter day upon the earth. They held these promises when
Solomon dedicated the temple. He says that the heaven of heaven
cannot contain thee. How much less this house that
I have builded, that will God in very deed dwell upon the earth. It seemed amazing to him that
it should be God with us, Emmanuel. How could it be brought to pass? And yet, they saw these promises. They wrestled with them as if
they embraced them, but wondered how could it come to pass? Jonah,
he says, how can a clean thing come out of it unclean. The promise
is to see to the woman, but everyone that's born into this world is
unclean. How can that happen? We know
in the gospel day how it was done, with the overshadowing
of the Holy Spirit on Mary. But John, he didn't cast away
those promises, he embraced them, but wondered how God would perform
it. Maybe this evening, you have a promise, you're holding on
to promises in the Word of God, because we have, we come through
faith with not only the promises in the Old Testament, but the
promises in the New Testament, and Paul tells us that all the
promises of God are yea and amen in Christ Jesus. They're all
bound up in the Lord. And we have these promises. You
might have one, but you say, how can the Lord bring it about?
You can't see that. You hold it. You plead it before
the Lord. You wait upon Him. You watch.
You embrace it. Is that what your soul needs? Do you plead some of these promises
in the Word that encourage a poor sinner? Ask, and it shall be
given you. Seek. and ye shall find knock,
and it shall be opened unto you. Do you ever take that in prayer
and say, Lord, thou hast said that? Bless me in that way. Do you ever take the word that
the Lord says, if ye, being eagles, talking to fathers, know how
to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall
your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask
him? Do you embrace our promise and
you ask him? Lord give me thy Holy Spirit. Do we think of the promises of
eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ? And they hold upon
those promises? Word of God are full of the promises
of God. He will not suffer you to be
tempted above that which ye are able, but will, with the temptation,
make a way of escape that ye be able to bear it. You've been
under temptation, and you've seen that promise, and you've
sought a low hold upon it, and embraced it as a hope. Maybe
with your sins such a weight over you, but the Lord says in
1 John 1, 9. If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. Are you in such an encouragement
to confess your sin? And when the devil comes in and
says, yeah, you'll confess it, but you end up doing it again. And what answer have you got
for that? There's two answers. One is,
the promise is, he will cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
You're like me, all the time you're thinking, I'm going to
cleanse myself, I'll confess my sins, I'll go away and I'll
pray and do better next time. But we cannot promise spiritual
good to breath. The Lord promised He will cleanse
us from all unrighteousness and our eyes are to be upon the Lord,
not upon us. because we will surely fail,
we cannot, we cannot cleanse ourselves, all our unrighteousness
is as filthy rags, but the Lord is able to cleanse. And so, another
aspect of that is well, our Lord was asked, how many times shall
my brother sit against me and repent, and I forgave him till
seven times, The Lord said to him, seventy times seven. And
as you go back again and again, you're not foreseeing that grace
might abound, and you're diligent over our harms of that, but we
are to never think we're weared out in the throne of grace. the
mercy of the Lord for His people, those people that keep coming
to Him, that know they have an advocate with the Father, they
know they have a Redeemer, they know that they have Him who has
put away their sins on the Calvary Street with His precious blood. They know that they have a God
to go to. You know, with a child, Even
if they've been doing wrong, they fall down, they injure themselves,
who do they turn to? They turn to their parents. And
yes, they know that they've been reproved, they may be corrected,
but they also know they have compassion, and they have love,
and their parent loves them. And their parent won't say, well,
that's your own fault, and just leave them. No parent would do
that. They wouldn't look at their child
in distress because of what they've done. They're injured, helpless,
and just saying, that was your own fault. I warned you, I warned
you not to do that. You've done it, and now it serves
you right. I'm not going to help you. The Lord is a compassionate God, a merciful
God to his children. Yes, sin, it was smart. And we reprove for Him, and correct
for Him, and often our sins correct ourselves. But the Lord will
not forsake His people. And those promises that are in
the Word, those promises of an expectation for a coming sinner,
those promises to those that know the Lord, in every aspect
of their lives, I hope this aspect of faith is something that we
have. that we see the promises of God
and we embrace them. Those Old Testament signs, they
embrace them, that Christ would most certainly come. We look
back and we need as much faith as then. I know we have the Lord
in the word, clearly set forth in the gospel, but to remember,
there were those that saw our Lord actually on this earth.
They saw his miracles, they saw the day of grace, Are those still
not not believed? And when the Lord told about
the rich man and Lazarus, and he thought, if one rose from
the dead, they would certainly believe if he sent his Lazarus from the dead to his
brethren, they would. The Lord said, if they do not
believe Moses and the prophets, no, will they believe if they
one rose from the dead? It is a miracle of God that makes
a believer. What shall we do that we might
learn the works of God? This is the work of God that
he believed in Him, who God has sent. And it is Christ that makes
a believer and gives him his crown. It's Christ that gives
that faith. And very often this mark is right
at the very, very beginning. That God's dear children see
what they want, They may even see the good of the people of
God. They may be like Ruth, and see the good, the blessing that
Naomi had, and want her God, and her people, and her land.
And many of those people, they see those things first before
they have them. They see the promises before
they actually realize the blessing of those in their own soul. but
we are told to cover earnestly the best gifts, and we are certainly
to cover and lay hold upon the promises of God. What God has
said, what God has said, He will perform. So this is the first
evidence of faith, and when it first begins and really following
through the lives of the people of God, their faith embraces
what promises in Christ, and those
will be pleaded, embraced and pleaded. The second thing is
this, they confess that they were strangers and pilgrims in
the earth. And this a bit, and over that,
perhaps with this morning, follows on from this morning. And shall
remember all the way, the Lord thy God led thee these forty
years in the wilderness. This world, will be to a converted
person a wilderness. As barren, as lacking sustenance
for a soul, were in food or drink, as what that wilderness was to
the children of Israel. They did not get their food from
that wilderness, but through the miracle of the manna. They
did not get their water from the wilderness, but the miracle
of the smitten rock. And this world will be that to
a child of God. The Lord says, Come ye out from
among them, touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you,
and ye shall be my sons and my daughters. The world itself,
for an unbeliever, that is what they go after. And they want
their fill of it. They want their pleasures, they
want that faith it will look above
and look to that world to come. We mentioned this morning about
the dying thieves and the difference in those two thieves. One, did
thou neither Christ save thyself nor us, come down from the cross.
But the other, he saw the Lord there, that one crucified between
them, we indeed justly We receive the due reward of our deeds,
but this man hath done nothing amiss. Lord, remember me when
thou comest into thy kingdom. Who told that man all those things
about the Lord? What made the difference between
the two things? Faith. And faith, it then made,
he did not want to come down from the cross, he did not want
this world, he wanted that which is above. And this world then
is put in this aspect of faith that the world is a wilderness
and they actually confess. Now we said before regarding
these other aspects of faith it really affected their lives. It could be noticed. Could be
noticed. Now there are some that might
confess or might say that they are the people of God. But they
don't confess and say, this world is not my home. This world, I
do not want my rest here. The word says it is polluted,
and this is not your rest. It is under the curse. And they
feel it, and they say it so. And if their lives are looked
at, then those that look upon them can see that. They can see
that they're not trying to grab everything of this world and
look for everything of this world. They're living for that which
is to come. But not only living for that which is to come, even
if there wasn't that which is to come, the aspect of faith
here is what they feel we are now. And it is only faith
that will really show us the vanity of vanity, saith the preacher,
the emptiness of this time stage. We are made for this world, we
have set the world in their hearts, we rooted the wicked, but they
cannot seek after God. And if God ever changes that,
it is His work that does it. You know, when the Lord first
began with me, and He began in two ways at the same time. One
was to make me feel totally ignorant of the things of God, and to
feel a hypocrite in things that I had said, and not wanting the
things of God, not wanting the house of God, and to flee from
it, and yet could condemn others as if they were walking wrong.
And yet he showed me how ignorant I was, and how without God. And the difference there, from
wanting to get away from the house of God, I wanted to go
to every occasion where I could hear the Word that I could. So
that was one aspect, going to rear-hearing ear and appetite
and longing and desire, complete opposite than what was there
before. And you might say, added to that
was immediately after the Lord began with me at that point,
I was 19, and my father said we're going to leave Melbourne
and the chapel there, we're going to go to Tasmania. There wasn't
a chapel there. And if the Lord hadn't begun
with me when he did, I would have said, good, I don't have
to worry about upsetting my parents and going away from the chapel,
we're just going to go home. But when he said that, I said,
I'm not going. I said, I'll stay here at Melbourne and buy my
own house. Saved up enough for an apprenticeship
to be able to do it, and I did. For nine years I lived on my
own there until marrying. And it made a profound difference
in my life. It changed me, marked me. Without
that, that wouldn't happen. But one thing or other happened
at the same time, because I was in youth orchestras, in choirs,
and much in a social thing, and I wondered what was wrong. Because
I used to love being up on the stage, I loved being in the auditorium
with an orchestra playing or a band playing, and I didn't
like it anymore, and I couldn't work out what was wrong. Why
didn't I enjoy it? what I once enjoined. And I didn't
put the two things together until the Lord showed me what it was.
And those two things were happening. And this here, the evidence of
faith, it will bring the people of God to make this confession
that they are strangers and pilgrims in the earth. The world thinks
them strange, and we feel strangers there. And a pilgrim is one that
is walking through, traveling through. This is not our home. We are traveling through it.
So that then is the second evidence of faith. And in the third, it
is this, that they desire and seek a heavenly country. In verse 14 we say, that say
such things, declare plainly that they seek a country, verse
16, and now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly,
and they are seeking a man. To your way, the true faith is
evidence in two ways. One regarding this world, and
one regarding that which is to come. The certainty of that which is
to come is evidenced by here below. Because it's here below
we can see. We can see a person's life. We can see what their emphasis
is. We can see what they prize and
what they value and where their things are, all of what they're
gathering in this world. But we cannot perceive where
a seeing that which is. But that which is here, as the
word says, they that say such things declare blithely that
they seek a country. We are exalted in Peter that
we are to give a reason of a hope that is within us to everyone
that asketh us, and is to be with fear and trembling, that
we are to be ready. There are some people that will
not tell their call by grace, but you know the Apostle Paul's
call of task is, whenever he was given the opportunity, I
think we have three accounts of it in the world, the truth
that he told, he readily did. And we should, yes, if someone
is, as it were, baiting us and goading us, and obviously in
a very insincere worldly way, then it is not fitting to do
it. But there's been some times,
and some times in my life, where I've had workers come to me in
a very light and frivolous way, and the man says to us, answer
a fool according to his folly, and answer not a fool according
to his folly. So we're to fool God, we're not
to be foolish like Him, but we're to answer Him with most soberness
and solemnness. I had one man come to me once,
he said, oh Lord, and he said, why don't you live life, get
moving to the full, go out to the pub and enjoy yourself. He
said, life is short, you know, I turned to him, I said, yes,
it is short. The Lord over my mouth is only
to speak most solemnly to him. That sincerity, that solemnity,
that contrast against the lightness and foolishness, it shuttles
you out. And it's a blessing when we're
given those openings. But why do people ask? Because
they see our lives are different. That's why they ask. They see
that you've got a home, they see that you're living, and it
doesn't appear you're living for this world, so they ask,
what's the reason? And it's an honour, it's a blessing
to be able to confess and to say the very words, really, of
our text. And something that we are strangers
and pilgrims in this world is not my rest, and we're seeking
for that. which is to come. They desire
it, they seek it. May the Lord give us that evidence
of faith, that real desire. In Psalm 107 there's those beautiful
words, so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. If you think
of that word, the desire of the righteous shall be granted. The
Lord works in such right designs that will affect our prayers.
And those prayers then will be answered because they will be
according to the mind of God, thinking the same and acting
the same as what the Spirit of God in giving us faith dictates. So that is the third thing. But
then fourthly, I want to notice what God says of those who have
this faith. And there's two things he says
of them. He says this, that he is not
ashamed, in verse 16, wherefore God is not ashamed to be called
their God. What a wonderful blessing that
that is. We read that those who are ashamed
of the Lord here, of them shall his Father be ashamed before
the angels which are in heaven. With the heart man believeth,
with confession, mouth confession is made unto salvation. And to thank him, God, is not
ashamed. to call these people His. He
honors them, very different from those that claim, Lord, Lord,
open to us. Thou hast taught in our streets,
we have been called by thy name. But He doesn't honor them. He
says, depart from me. I never knew you. All ye that
work iniquity. Their faith hadn't changed their
lives. It hadn't crucified sin. They haven't walked in the way
after the Lord, but after the course of this world. We know that all God's people,
they're the ones that really know what sin is, and more know
the sin, and after sin. We know the Lord knows them,
because they often bring their sins to Him, confessing them. And they're pleading those promises
that if they're sinners, They come where the dear publican
did, God be merciful to me a sinner. And they testify their only hope
is in the Lord. And the Lord knows them often
at his throne of grace. Often they meet there, amongst
his people they are there. In his word they are there. And
that faith he has given them, he knows that faith. and he knows
how it lays hold upon him. You think of the woman with the
issue of blood, 12 years. The Lord gave her faith to come
and the crowd behind touched the hem of his garment. He knew
her, she thought she was hit. She thought she could just blend
into the crowd, but the Lord said, no, someone touched me.
Virtue has gone out of that. And the Lord knows those that
he You know, the psalmist said,
my help cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth.
And he said, that's the thing to realize that, that he has
been our helper. Our faith has been in him, and
he's appeared for us, and he's delivered us, and he's helped
us. You think of those who described him, you think of Daniel, and
how the Lord delivered him out of the lion's den, And you think
of the Hebrew children as well. Those who had their faith in
the Lord, and the Lord delivered them. They trusted in Him, and
He did not let them down. He appeared for their help. And before the angels then, that those that had this evidence
here below, He is not ashamed to be called their God. Those are beautiful words. Our
Lord said, I ascend unto my God and your God, my Father and your
Father. Now blessed union with the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. And then there's a second assurance
and promise. For he hath prepared for them
a city. Not only a city, but we think
of those beautiful words in John 14. Let not your heart be troubled,
you believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are
many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you,
and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and
receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there ye may be also."
God is a preparing God, and He prepares His people for that
prepared place, and He makes them willing to go there. You know, if we had an age friend,
or your relative, And we thought, they're living in their own home. But I think I'd like to prepare
a place, you know, a nursing home, or maybe a bungalow, or
just feed it to them. And it was all prepared and all
done. And then you came to them and
said, I've got all of this prepared, all this ready for you. And they
turned around and said, I don't believe my heart. I'm happy here. I don't want to go there. A prepared place, but they don't
want to go there. But when God prepares a place
for His people, He prepares them to go there, and they do want
to go there. It is a desired haven, and they
long for it, they look for it. God works on both sides. We only
notice one side. We know from the Word of God
the other side. But we know just what He has
done, making void that the world cannot fill. And a desire for
that which is above, Paul says, to depart and to be with Christ,
which is far better. When Christ who is alive shall
appear, then shall we also appear with Him. And we see how it is
working in both sides. Do we have that faith? faith
that God has been the author of and begun, and has that evidence
in our hearts and minds what we confess that this world is
to us, and the promises, how we embrace them, and what the
world to come is, and what the Lord has prepared, that that
is precious, and there are precious promises, that relate to that
inheritance, incorruptible and undefiled, that faded not away,
reserved in heaven for you. Do we have that same light, precious
faith? Because these verses, they sum
up this faith that all of God's dear children have, brought in
them by a gift of God. His Spirit bear witness that
He has given Him, and shine upon the world as plain before us
this evening. We realize that this, the Lord
has so in mercy given unto us. Unworthy that we are, He has
granted us that fact.