Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11. I'd like to read one verse of
Scripture, verse 14. Hebrews 11, 14. The Scripture
says, that say such things, declare
plainly that they seek a country. Let's pray together. Our Father, we ask your blessing
upon the services tonight. Lord, cause us to hear. Cause
us to see. Cause us to rejoice. help us
to worship for Christ's sake. Amen. The Apostle, under the inspiration
of God's Spirit, has recorded in this chapter some of the evidences
of faith that was found in some of the
Old Testament saints. By faith, verse 4 says that Abel
offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. He believed God. He knew the right and proper,
the ordained way that God Almighty is approached. He is approached
in a blood sacrifice. Verse 5 says, Enoch was translated
by faith that he should not see death. Verse 7 says, Noah being
warned of God of things not seen as yet. It had not rained. It never rained. God said He was going to send
rain. He was going to send a flood. Noah was warned of God of things
not seen as yet, and he moved with fear. prepared an ark to the saving
of his house. Verse 8 says, Abraham, when he
was called to go out into a place which he should after receive
for an inheritance, what does the Scripture say he did? He
obeyed. He obeyed God. Verse 11 says, Sarah herself
received strength by faith. to conceive seed and was delivered
of a child when she was past age. God Almighty said, you're
going to have a son. The Scripture says she laughed
in her heart. The Lord asked Abraham, he said, why did Sarah
laugh? She said, I didn't laugh. He said, yeah, you did. Yeah,
you did. I'm telling you that thanks be
unto God, our frailties and our inconsistencies and our inabilities,
by the grace of God shall never thwart God's purpose, God's will. Aren't you glad of that? Aren't
you glad that it's not left up to me and you to sustain ourselves
Now, the Scripture says in verse 13, all these, they died in faith. They died according to faith,
not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off,
were persuaded of them, embraced them, and confessed that they
were strangers and pilgrims on the earth by faith. By faith. By faith, God's people
walk. By faith. That faith, that grace,
that miracle, that precious gift called faith. Faith. Faith that is from above. By
faith, God's people walk. Every day. Every day. And God
gives them faith to believe right now. Right now. Here's what Scripture says this
evening. Verse 14, For they that say such things declare plainly
that they seek a country. I've got three things to say
about that verse of Scripture right now. Number one, for every
believer, every believer, believers in the Old Testament, believers
right now, here's the first thing that a believer declares. Number one, this world is not
our home. This world is not our eternal
residence. that say such things." What things? What things? Well, the last part,
even verse 13, I was going to say the last part of verse 13.
They that say such things that had not received the promises,
had seen them afar off, persuaded of them, embraced them, and confessed
that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Now, that
is the things that they were saying. Those that confessed
in their hearts and outwardly that they were strangers, that
they were foreigners. Now, I do know this. Being born
in this world, Born in Adam. This is our home. But being born from above. Born
of God. Reborn. Rebirthed. That new man. Conceived by God's
grace and power and will. That man. That new man. He's a foreigner. He's a stranger. And he's a pilgrim on this earth. I thought this was good. Pilgrims. Those that reside with
the natives. Those that reside with the natives. This world and all of the inhabitants
of this world's religion, this world's goods, this world's prosperities,
this world's lying and fleeting things, natives to this world. God's people are just pilgrims
residing with Him. The Lord said in His high priestly
prayer concerning His people, John 17, 14, "...I have given
them thy word, and the world hath hated them." Because they're
not of the world. They're in regeneration, in the
new birth, the new man. They're not natives to this world,
to this world's religion. They don't believe what this
world believes. It's either works or grace. And God's people, born from above,
knows God. They know God's Christ. And they love His Christ. They
love the Messiah. They're not of this world, even
as I'm not of this world. He's from above. He told them,
He said, you're from beneath. You're of your father the devil.
God's people, those that declare such things, that say such things,
what do they say? It's not my home. I know, I know. Now there's a part of me When
I think of dying, there's a part of me, I remember Brother Scott
saying this, y'all heard him say this, God created man to
never die. And there's a part of us that
sees death, and it's an unknown thing, and there's just a part
of us that doesn't want to go. It's just so. You know that's
so. If I think that I'm sick, I'm going to a doctor. I want
to get well. I want to be healthy. But that
new man knows. He knows. It's not my home. I know that I'm going to leave. I know I am. I know I'm going
to see him. It's not my country. And when
the Spirit of God opens the heart of God's people to understand
that, to embrace that, the Word of God by faith is their foundational
truth. Thy Word is a lamp unto my faith. It's a light to my path. God's
people know there's been a change wrought within. And what God's
people loved and held to before, the things of this world, that
doesn't rule anymore. Now, I do understand. There's
an appreciation for the temporal things of this life. I know that.
I know. I do enjoy. I like things that
are nice. I like things that make me comfortable. There are some things that I
enjoy. There are some things that I enjoy doing. There are
some things that I like. But if those things, if I'm faced
with a decision that I've got to make between things that I
care for, I like to paint. I enjoy painting. I really do. I enjoy it. I like
it. Some people asked me before,
said, isn't that relaxing? Sometimes. But most of the time
not. Most of the time it's a job.
But I enjoy it. I do. But not at the expense
of faithfulness to Christ. It's not my home. Things that
were so important, fleeting things, they cannot, they do not, they
shall not hold a place when it comes to faithfulness of Christ.
As either Brother Scott or Brother Henry said one time, he said,
be careful how tightly you hold on to things. Your kids or anything
else. The Lord just may have to break
your hand, get you turned loose on them. This is not our home. This is not our life. Believers are born, they live,
they die in this world just like other men, but in spirit and
in attitude, they know that this world and all of its lying promises
has no hope for them. The older a person gets and lives
in this world, a believer, the more clearly they see that. And they place no stock in this
world's promises. None. Here's the second thing
I know. Believers are faithful in their
walk. We do walk by faith. You ask a believer, do you see
yourself walking by faith as you ought to. And the believer
says, oh. And I wish you wouldn't ask me
that question. You know, the only thing a believer
sees, he sees his inconsistencies. That's what he sees. He sees
his inconsistencies. But in the seeing of his inconsistencies,
That exhibits that life is there. Life is there. You think back,
before the Lord called you out of darkness, how much did it
really bother you? Of inconsistencies toward God.
Of an inconsistency toward the hearing of the gospel. How much
did that bother you? It didn't. It didn't. It didn't bother you at all.
God's people are faithful in their walk. The Scripture says,
verse 14, For they that say such things, that they are strangers
and pilgrims on the earth, declare plainly, They exhibit. That's what that means. They
exhibit what they believe. You want to know what a person
believes, that's what they do. What a man
does is what he believes. Matthew 7.21, Not everyone that
saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven,
but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." What is the Father's will? He
that doeth the will of my Father. I think no scripture sums that
truth up any plainer, any more simply than this. He that doeth
the will of my Father which is in heaven. This is my beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him. Hear Him. How do you sum up any clearer,
any more concisely God's will, belief, trust, come to the Lord
Jesus Christ? Bless the Lord, thy people shall
be willing in the day of His power. Where faithfulness and
obedience to the Lord of glory is not found, where faithfulness
and belief in God's gospel, faithfulness and belief in the Lord Jesus,
God's Christ, Grace has not been bestowed.
God's people walk by faith. The Lord said, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. My sheep hear my voice and they
follow me. They follow me. They follow Him,
believing Him, and all the while acknowledge their inconsistencies. But they
follow Him. They long after His Word. I must hear what He has to say.
God's people are praying people. And when you pray, you don't
have to browbeat people. I tell you, you better be praying. God's people pray. They seek
the Lord. When they come together, they're
going to talk about Him. It's coming around. They absolutely
declare plainly faith. And the evidence of their faith,
belief in Christ, love of the brethren, love for the hearing
and the preaching of the Word of God, the forsaking of that
which is in opposition to Him, They exhibit plainly. Turn to Luke 14 for just a second. Luke 14.26. Listen to the words
of our Lord. Luke 14.26. I'm talking about exhibiting plainly. Now, as I said, you ask a believer,
how consistent do you see yourself being? A believer is just, he'll
be the first one to tell you, I'm not as I ought to. Luke 14, 26, If any man come
to me, and hate not his father and mother, wife, children, brethren,
sisters, yea, and his own life also, He cannot be my disciple. And whosoever does not bear his
cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Which of you
intending to build a tower, sit it not down first and count it
the cost whether he have sufficient to finish it. After he hath laid
the foundations, not able to finish it all, behold, it began
to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able
to finish. Or what king going to make war
against another king, sitteth not down first and consulteth,
whether he be able, with ten thousand to meet him, that cometh
against him but twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet
a great way off, he send an ambassage. and desires conditions of peace,
so likewise whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that
he hath." He cannot be my disciple. You may not be called upon. You may not be to forsake some
things. I don't know. But if you are,
if you are, You will, by the grace of God, you will declare
plainly your love for Christ. A believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ strives after Him, seeks after Him, desires to be faithful
to his Master. He declares plainly by life and
a walk of faith that he is a stranger and is a pilgrim in this world.
And lastly, the scripture says, the last part of verse 14, that
they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. A fatherland. That's what the
word country means. They desire a fatherland. They want to go home. I want
to go home. I want to be where he is. I read an account of a faithful
servant of God. It was one of the old Puritans, I suppose. It was years
and years ago. He lay upon his bed dying. And he said this, and I read
that and I thought, you know, that's dying grace. This is dying
grace. He laid there and he was breathing
heavily and he asked this question. He said, is this what I have
feared all these years? Is this dying? Is this what I've
been afraid of all these years? I want to go home. I want to
go home. They seek a country. The Lord
told His disciples, John 14, 2 and 3, in my Father's house
are many mansions, many dwelling places. Now, you know, here's
what I know. According to His Word, in His Father's house, in heaven. There 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 you may
be also." This is real. This is real. The sheep of Almighty God, regenerated
by the grace of God, knows that wherever He is, that's where
they want to be. To really see Him. To really,
the Scripture says, be like Him. Be like Him. To see Him as He
is. Seated with Him on His throne. He said, as I am seated on my
Father's throne. Here's God Almighty. And He said, I have a throne.
As the Messiah. As the surety. The husband of
the bride. And He said, you're going to
sit with Me. in His presence, it is in the
place where all spiritual blessings and promises of God that were
made from before the foundation of the world, in that country,
the Scripture says, we shall forever behold the glory given
to the Savior by the Father. Father, I will. Those that Thou
hast given me, be with me. For I am that they may behold
my glory that Thou hast given me, for Thou lovest me from before
the foundation of the world. Believers, while they're in this
world, and they're struggling, struggling with unbelief. Lord,
I believe. Help mine unbelief. For by the
grace of God, while they're in this world, saying, I'm a stranger
and I'm a pilgrim. They declare plainly. They walk as children of light. They do. They do. And Almighty
God directs them and guides them and chastens them because they're
sons. Because they're His. Because
He loves them. And He will not let them go.
And He keeps them by grace. And they know, just like Abraham, all the while,
every day, they're aware, they're aware. I don't know what this
day holds, but I know that he holds it. And they look for a
city which has foundations that's settled, founded on the
rock of ages himself. who's builder and makers of God.
They know that they're going to see Him soon. By the grace
of God, they shall in mercy and in compassion, because He's chosen
to show them that, for Christ's sake.