TAKE YOUR BIBLES AND TURN BACK
WITH ME TO HEBREWS CHAPTER 11. HEBREWS CHAPTER 11. CONTINUING
OUR STUDY IN THIS BOOK, IS RIGHTLY TURNED BY ONE PREACHER TO THE
HALL OF FAITH. HALL OF FAITH. AND IT IS TRULY
THE FAITH OF THESE PATRIARCHS THAT IS THE FAITH OF EVERYONE
WHO BELIEVES IN CHRIST NOW. YOU WHO BELIEVE IN CHRIST. YOU,
IF YOU ARE A TRUE BELIEVER IN CHRIST, YOU TRULY CAN IDENTIFY
WITH EACH ONE OF THESE PATRIARCHS. YOU IDENTIFY WITH THEIR FAITH.
NOW, LAST TIME WE HAD STUDIED SARA'S FAITH. SARA'S FAITH IN
VERSE 11, THE SCRIPTURE SAYS, THROUGH FAITH ALSO SARA HERSELF
RECEIVED STRENGTH TO CONCEIVE SEED AND WAS DELIVERED OF A CHILD SHE JUDGED HIM FAITHFUL, WHO
PROMISED. THE OBJECT OF HER FAITH WAS GOD. SHE JUDGED HIM FAITHFUL, NOT
COUNTING HER BODY, NOT COUNTING SHE WAS PAST AGE. SHE JUDGED
THE PROMISES OF GOD TO BE FAITHFUL BECAUSE SHE JUDGED HIM FAITHFUL. AND SO IT IS WITH ALL TRUE FAITH
IN JESUS CHRIST, WE JUDGE HIM FAITHFUL, WHO PROMISED. WHO PROMISED. NOW, IF YOU READ THIS TEXT, YOU
SEE THAT HE IS COMMENDING THE FAITH OF SARA. NOW, IF YOU GO
BACK IN GENESIS AND YOU READ THE ACCOUNT OF SARA, YOU READ
NOT OF HER STRONG FAITH. YOU READ OF HER UNBELIEF. THE
SCRIPTURE SAYS, WHEN CHRIST SAID SHE WOULD BEAR A SON, SHE LAUGHED
IN UNBELIEF. Her conduct was that of unbelief. It was her failure to trust that
is recorded in scripture. She failed to trust the promise
of Christ, yet here her faith is magnified as honorable. Honorable. AND THIS IS BECAUSE
OF THIS, ALL TRUE FAITH IN CHRIST IS PERFECT AND HONORABLE BECAUSE
IT IS A GIFT OF GOD'S GRACE. EVERY GOOD AND PERFECT GIFT COMETH
FROM THE FATHER OF LIGHTS, IN WHOM THERE IS NO VARIABLE NOR
SHADOW OF TURNING. YOUR FAITH AND MY FAITH IS A
GIFT OF GOD. THEREFORE, IT IS PERFECT. NOW WE KNOW THIS, LIKE SARA,
OUR FAITH IN PRACTICE IS NOT PERFECT. WE WOULD DARE NOT EVEN
SAY SO. BUT IN THE EYES OF GOD IT IS
PERFECT EVEN BECAUSE WE ARE MADE PERFECT IN EVERY WAY BY THE BLOOD
AND RIGHTEOUSNESS OF JESUS CHRIST. WE ARE GIVEN THE RIGHTEOUSNESS
OF GOD. That's what he merited for you
and me. For the righteousness of God is by the faith of Jesus
Christ. It was merited by the faith of
Jesus Christ. And then that righteousness is
imputed and imparted to all them that what? Believe. And where did that faith come
from? That faith was a gift of God. It was a gift of God. WE ARE OFTEN FEARFUL. HAVE YOU?
ARE YOU FEARFUL? I TELL YOU WHAT, I IDENTIFY MORE
WITH SARA'S LAUGHING THAN I DO WITH HER HONORABLE FAITH. I DO. IF WE ARE HONEST, OUR FAITH IS
AT BEST WEAK AND UNBELIEF. AT BEST. In practice, it is weak. And yet, because of the perfect
faith of Christ, we are counted righteous in everything. Even
our faith. Even our faith is counted righteous
before God because of Christ's faith. Because of Christ's faith. Now then, secondly, we saw this,
that her faith was not only honorable, but it was personal. The scripture
says, THAT'S IMPORTANT. HE PUT THAT
IN THERE FOR A REASON. SARAH HERSELF RECEIVED STRENGTH
TO CONCEIVE SEED. WHY? BECAUSE SHE JUDGED HIM FAITHFUL.
SHE BELIEVED HERSELF. ABRAHAM COULD NOT BELIEVE FOR
HER. THIS IS AN ASPECT OF FAITH THAT FAITH MUST BE PERSONAL.
FAITH IS PERSONAL. NO PREACHER OR PARENT OR PRIEST
CAN GIVE YOU FAITH. ONLY GOD CAN GIVE FAITH. THAT'S IT. FOR BY GRACE YOU ARE
SAVED THROUGH FAITH, AND THAT FAITH IS NOT OF YOURSELF. FAITH INVOLVES THE WILL, BUT
FAITH IS NOT A PRODUCT OF THE WILL. IT IS NOT A PRODUCT OF
MAN'S CHOICES OR DECISIONS. IT IS NOT A PRODUCT OF MAN'S
WORKS. IT IS A FREE GIFT OF GRACE THAT GOD BESTOWS UPON THE UNDESERVING,
THE HELL-DESERVING SINNER. No man can give it to himself.
God must give it. Have you believed on the Son
of God? Have you counted all your works as done that you may
win Christ and be found in Him? Yes. Yes, I want Him. I judge Him faithful. I judge
His sacrifice acceptable. I judge His righteousness to
be accepted of God. I count his work of salvation
complete, and I count all my works but dung. All my religion
is dung. I have fled to Christ for refuge
and to lay hold on the hope of eternal life, the anchor of my
soul. And I'll tell you this, no one could
have done that for me. I must have done that. I must
believe. NO ONE CAN BELIEVE FOR YOU. YOU
MUST BELIEVE. YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN. IN ORDER
TO HAVE FAITH, IT IS A RESULT OF THE NEW BIRTH. YOU THAT BELIEVE,
CAN YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE BUT BELIEVE? I TELL YOU WHAT, MY UNBELIEF,
I DESPISE IT. I DESPISE IT BECAUSE I BELIEVE.
If I didn't believe, I wouldn't despise my unbelief, would I?
I despise it because I believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son
of the living God. I believe he's all my hope and
acceptance before God. And you that are born again,
you believe. Now, if you have not believed,
now listen, if you have not believed, sue God for mercy that you may
believe. You know what? I've never found
anyone needing mercy that hadn't found it. Problem is, you don't
want it. Oh, I want to believe. No, you
don't. If you did, you would because
God gives faith. God gives mercy to those in need. And those who believe, we give
all the glory to God. Now the Apostle in our text,
now if you go down to the next portion here, it says in verse
13, these all died in faith. THESE ALL DIED IN FAITH, NOT
HAVING RECEIVED THE PROMISES, BUT HAVING SEEN THEM AFAR OFF,
WERE PERSUADED OF THEM, AND EMBRACED THEM, AND CONFESSED THAT THEY
WERE STRANGERS AND PILGRIMS IN THE EARTH. THERE ARE TWO THINGS,
TWO THINGS, TWO ASPECTS OF FAITH THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES US. FIRST
OF ALL, TRUE FAITH, TRUE GOD-GIVEN FAITH IS PERSUADED AND EMBRACES
THE PROMISES OF GOD. True faith is persuaded. TRUE FAITH EMBRACES THE PROMISES
OF GOD. THE SECOND THING IS THIS, TRUE
FAITH CONFESSES SOMETHING. IT CONFESSES THIS, THAT WE ARE
STRANGERS AND PILGRIMS IN THIS WORLD. TRUE FAITH CONFESSES THAT.
LET'S SEE THESE THINGS TOGETHER. NOW, I WANT YOU TO SEE THE PROMISES
FIRST. IT SAYS, THESE ALL DIED IN FAITH,
NOT HAVING RECEIVED THE PROMISES. What were they persuaded of?
Promises. The promises of God. They were
persuaded. Then, because they were persuaded,
they embraced them. They sold out to those promises. They forsook everything to obtain
the promises given. And as they journeyed, they confessed. Now, these promises, let's look
at this for a second. It's my experience in this life
that the promises of men are not always fulfilled. Anybody
made you a promise and they've not fulfilled it? A man may have
the best intentions to fulfill his promise. He may plan very
carefully to honor his word. He may be very sincere and really,
with all of his heart, intend to keep his promises. But the
truth is, man is limited. Man is limited by his inability. He may have desire, but he may
not have power. He may have power, but he may
not have desire to fulfill his promises. Man is limited and
cannot, with all of his strength, be able to keep all the promises
that he makes. But I want to tell you of someone
who makes a promise and can do nothing else but keep it. And
that's God. That's God. Listen to what the
psalmist said in Psalm 135. He said this is Psalm 135 verse
5 and 6. He says, For I know that the
Lord is great. AND THAT OUR LORD IS ABOVE ALL
GODS. NOW, WHAT HE'S GOING TO DO IS
MAKE A DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE TRUE GOD AND ALL FALSE GODS. I LOVE THIS BECAUSE IT'S SIMPLE.
IT'S PLAIN. IT'S NOT SOMETHING, NOT AMBIGUOUS.
YOU KNOW, HE'S NOT, HE'S NOT, THIS IS, ANYBODY CAN GET THIS.
LISTEN, HERE'S THE DIFFERENCE. THAT DID HE IN HEAVEN AND EARTH
AND THE SEAS AND IN ALL DEEP PLACES. THAT DIVIDES FALSE GODS
FROM EVERY OTHER GOD. WHATEVER GOD SAYS, HE WILL DO.
WHATEVER GOD DESIRES TO DO, HE DOES. NOW, IF YOUR GOD DESIRES
TO DO SOMETHING AND DOESN'T DO IT OR CAN'T DO IT, HE IS A LITTLE
G. But we know our God is great. And this is why He's great. Whatever
He pleases to do, He does. Where? In all places. In all places. In the places
you don't even see or know or even think about. He's performing
His will. That's why He's great. ANY OTHER
GOD IS NOT GOD. LISTEN TO THIS IN PSALM 33, VERSE
11, THE COUNCIL OF THE LORD STANDETH FOREVER. YOU GOT THAT? HOW LONG DOES THE COUNCIL OF
THE LORD STAND? HOW LONG DOES YOUR COUNCIL STAND? HOW LONG
DOES MY COUNCIL STAND? I DETERMINED TO DO SOMETHING
AND IT'S GONE IN A MOMENT. IT'S JUST NOTHING BUT AIR, AND
IT JUST EVAPORATES AS SOON AS IT COMES OUT OF MY MOUTH. BUT
GOD'S COUNSEL, WHATEVER GOD COUNSELS TO DO, IT STANDS FOREVER, THE
THOUGHTS OF HIS HEART TO ALL GENERATIONS. IN PSALM 115, LISTEN, WHEREFORE
DO THE HEATHENS SAY, WHERE IS NOW THY GOD? YOU EVER HEARD THAT?
YOU EVER HEARD THAT? THE WICKED LOOK AT THE CIRCUMSTANCES
AND THE AFFLICTED BELIEVER. THEY LOOK AND SEE THE SORROW
AND SUFFERING SAINTS AND THEY SAY, WHERE IS YOUR SOVEREIGN
GOD? THERE'S LAZARUS BEGGING AT THE
RICH MAN'S GATE WITH SORES ON HIS BODY FROM HEAD TO TOE AND
THEY MOCK HIM, WHERE IS NOW THY GOD? He made with confidence
and all his pain and all his hurt, looked him in the eye.
He's in heaven doing whatsoever he hath pleased. Where's your
God? He's doing what he wants to with
me and with you. See the difference? Our God is
in the heavens done whatsoever he has pleased. I remember this,
when 9-11 happened, people running around, where's God, where's
God? Every false preacher just stammering, stuttering. That Sunday a preacher got up
in our church and he said, well, they just quote that scripture.
He said, our God's right where he's always been. You know who
killed all those people? God did. He said, I kill and
I make alive. I wound and I heal. And who are
you to question what I do? That's God. That's God. Therefore, all true faith who
knows God, we are persuaded that whatever God has promised, He
will do. WHATEVER GOD HAS GIVEN US AS
PROMISES, WE ARE PERSUADED, AND WE EMBRACE THESE PROMISES. UNLIKE MEN, GOD'S PROMISES ARE
SURE, GOD'S PROMISES ARE IMMUTABLE, THEY'RE UNALTERABLE, AND THEY
CANNOT BE CHANGED BY MEN OR CIRCUMSTANCE. IN FACT, ALL MEN AND ALL PROVIDENCE THE WILL OF GOD, WHETHER THEY
KNOW IT OR NOT. EVERYTHING IS HAPPENING ACCORDING
TO THE WILL OF GOD. EVERY PROVIDENCE OF TIME ARE
ONLY PURPOSED AND USED OF GOD TO FULFILL HIS WILL. LISTEN TO
WHAT HE SAID IN PSALM 76, THE WRATH OF MAN SHALL PRAISE THEE. AND THE REMAINDER, WHAT DOES
HE DO? So whatever praises Him, He allows. And whatever doesn't, He don't. He is absolutely sovereign and
immutable. His promises are yea and amen. They cannot be altered. The Lord hath made all things
for Himself, yea, even the wicked. IN THE DAY OF EVIL. THUS OUR FAITH LOOKS NOT THEN
TO CIRCUMSTANCES OF TIME, NOR DOES IT LOOK AT THE POWER OF
MEN TO FULFILL OR EVEN TO THWART THE WILL AND PROMISES OF GOD,
BUT RATHER WE BELIEVE LIKE SARA. HE WHO PROMISED IS WHAT? FAITHFUL. HE CANNOT BE THWARTED. HIS PROMISES CANNOT BE OVERTURNED. And our text, listen what it
says. These all died in faith. These all died in faith. Speaking
of all those that went before in this chapter, having not yet
received the promises. What did they believe in? What
were they holding to? What were they, what were they
wandering around in a wilderness for? They believe the promises of
God, though they had not seen the fulfillment of them. They
trusted in the promises of God. Now, what were the promises given?
The promises was given. Now, there are earthly promises
that were given to Abraham and to these others. They were promised
a physical land. That land that he was walking
in, he didn't own any of it at that time. And God says, you
own it all. And he says, OK, I own it all. He didn't buy a
stitch of land and yet he owned everything because he believed
the promises of God, not having yet received the land, yet he
believed God. Therefore, he followed God. He
was promised a seed that his seed should be as the sand of
the sea, the stars of the sky. And he was promised this, that
Christ should come by his seed, by his line. Those were promises
given to him. fulfilled. Isn't that right?
Did not Israel inherit the land of Canaan? They sure did. Did
not, were not the nation of Israel a vast people? Yes. And did not Christ come from
the line of Jacob, Isaac and Jacob? Yes, He did. But their
faith didn't look just for the historical earthly fulfillment
of these promises. In fact, their faith looked for
something much more. They looked for something spiritual,
something lasting, something eternal. They looked for a spiritual fulfillment. Their faith saw the promises
of God to be greater and higher than earthly people and lands. There's a scene in Abraham. Look back up in your text. Look
at verse 10. You see Abraham, while he was
walking around, what was he looking for? Was he looking for an earthly
land? Scripture tells us no. He looked
for a city, which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Look at verse 16. But now they
desired a better country, that is a heavenly HEAVENLY COUNTRY,
WHEREFORE GOD IS NOT ASHAMED TO BE CALLED THEIR GOD, WHO HATH
PREPARED FOR THEM A CITY." YOU SEE, THEIR FAITH WAS THAT CHRIST
WOULD COME. Their faith was that Christ would
come and establish a place for them, that Christ would come
and merit for them what they could not merit for themselves,
entrance into this heavenly place where God is not ashamed to call
them His people. Now, by nature, God should be
ashamed of us. We do not deserve entrance into
a heavenly country. But their hope was not their
merits to enter into this place, but the hope was that the seed,
the seed Christ should accomplish for them entrance into this heavenly
place. Isn't that what Jesus said? I
go to prepare what? A place for you. That's what
Abraham believed. That's what Abel believed. That's
what Sarah believed. They look for a city whose builder
and maker is God, and they look for one to give them merit by
which they may enter into this place. They look for spiritual
things. Their faith was that Christ would
come and he would be the Savior and Redeemer of their souls.
that God had promised to give him heaven by the work of Christ. We see this and you can see it
in Galatians 3 and verse 16 where he said, Now Abraham, and to
Abraham and to his seed were the promises made. You see, the seed was the one
to fulfill the promises and Abraham was the one to receive them. There was a promise given to
Christ. that he should be the head, that he should be the Redeemer,
that he should be the Savior. And that promise was fulfilled
at Calvary. It was fulfilled when God raised
him from the dead and set him on the throne of heaven. And
now he gives this promise to all his people. I have merited
for you heaven, eternal life and peace with God. That's why
Jesus said, Abraham rejoiced to see my day and saw it. AND
WAS GLAD. YOU SEE, ABRAHAM, HE LOOKED FOR
THAT PROMISES OF GOD. AS ABRAHAM BELIEVED ON CHRIST,
LISTEN, HE WAS PERSUADED. HE WAS PERSUADED. AND BECAUSE
HE WAS PERSUADED, HE EMBRACED THIS PROMISE BY FAITH, AND IT
WAS COUNTED TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS. THESE SPIRITUAL PROMISES THAT
THEY WERE GIVEN, THEY SAW THEM AFAR OFF. HAVING
NOT YET RECEIVED THE PROMISES, THEY SAW THEM AFAR OFF. SEE THEN, WE ARE REMINDED THAT
FAITH IS ASSURED AND IS CONFIDENT OF UNSEEN THINGS, THINGS THAT
ARE PROMISED OF GOD, YET WE HAVE NOT RECEIVED THE FULL MEASURE
OF THEM. Consider this, you are promised
the righteousness of God. I told you that earlier, that
Christ merited the righteousness of God and that He has imputed
that, charged that to your account, and not only that, He's imparted
it to you in the new nature. Now, do you feel righteous? Do you act righteous? But do you long to be righteous? Yes, yes. Faith receives this even though
we have not yet received the full measure of it. Even though
we've not experienced the fullness of it, we like these patriarchs,
they did not receive the full measure of the promises, yet
they embraced them. They were persuaded. I am persuaded
that I have the righteousness of God. And I embrace the word
of God that tells me so. EMBRACE HIS PROMISES THAT CANNOT
BE MOVED. WE ARE PROMISED THIS, THAT JESUS
CHRIST HAS ONCE AND FOREVER REMOVED OUR SINS FROM US. LOOK BACK IN
CHAPTER 10. THIS IS WHAT HE TELLS YOU TO
EMBRACE. HE SAID, HOLD FAST YOUR PROFESSION OF FAITH. WHAT'S YOUR
PROFESSION OF FAITH? HERE IT IS IN VERSE 14, FOR BY ONE OFFERING,
ONE OFFERING HE HATH PERFECTED FOREVER THEM THAT ARE SANCTIFIED. Now let me ask you this, has
he perfected forever them that are sanctified? Do you believe on Christ? You're
one of these. You have been perfected forever,
not by your works, but by his one offering for sin. Scripture
says he sat down, he finished the work. That's a promise. That's
a promise. Are you persuaded of that? Do
you believe that? True faith is persuaded. I am persuaded that His righteousness
is the very righteousness of God. I am persuaded that His
blood satisfied the justice of God for all of the sins of His
people. And not only am I persuaded of
it, I embrace it as my own. Faith embraces these things. Even so, true faith looks and
trusts and hopes for eternal life. True faith looks to the
promises of heaven, peace with God, acceptance before the judgment
seat of Christ. We embrace these things. We are
persuaded of them. But on what grounds? Where do
you find such assurances? What is it that moves us to embrace
these unseen things? I have not seen Christ. Have
you? I have not seen Christ with my
eyes. I have not felt Him with my hands. I was not there at
His birth. I did not hear the angels sing
His praise at His coming. I did not see Him obey the law
of God. I did not hear his moans of agony
on Calvary's tree. I did not see the justice of
God pierce his soul for the sins of his people. I did not see
his body laid in the tomb. I did not see him rise from the
dead. I did not see him ascend into heaven. Yet we believe these
things more surely than anything we have ever felt or experienced
in this life. I trust those things to be more
true than anything I've ever had or seen with my eyes. Faith embraces these things,
though we have not yet seen them physically. Yet how are we so sure? Because God has not left himself
without witnesses, without witnesses. These saints before Christ, they
were given infallible proofs by God. They were. God spoke
to them. They were given infallible proofs.
Great wonders and miracles were done before them. But I'll tell
you this, we have something even better. We have a more sure,
this is what Peter said. Peter said, I heard the voice
of God speaking to Christ. Yet you have a more sure word
of prophecy. You have it right here in your
hands. You have the word of the living God. As God moved men
by his Holy Spirit to write, he wrote the very word of the
living God. So now after Christ, the fulfillment
of all of these promises, he sent his apostles who were eyewitnesses
of Jesus' person, of His Word, and of His work. John said this in 1 John chapter
1 and verse 3. He said, That which we have seen
and heard declare we unto you. With our eyes we have seen and
with our hands we have handled the Word of life. So as these embrace the promises
of God, not yet having received them, but saw them afar off,
even so do we now receive the revelation of God by the promises
that are recorded in his word. Though we have not yet seen Christ,
yet we believe on the promises of God that are in Christ. We
embrace these promises by faith. But such understanding does not
always yield faith. Has God spoken to you? Now listen,
you can know everything there is to know in this book. But
unless God teaches you, you'll never understand it to the spiritual
saving of your soul. Now what Christ said, no man
can come unto me except the Father which has sent me draw him. As
it is written, they shall all be taught of God. I was listening
to Scott give his testimony, and Scott had told these people
at the table, he said that, you know, I'd read the Word of God
for years. I diligently, Scott is a studious person. He diligently
studied it. But one thing he couldn't get
is he couldn't understand it. It was unattainable. It was inapplicable. He didn't, could not reach it.
Academically, he could, but in his heart, he felt nothing there
until God spoke. It's not just enough to read
this book and to acknowledge this book. It's not enough just
to attain doctrine in your head. God himself must speak to you,
and only then will you be persuaded. Only then will you embrace these
promises. It's true. This morning, I want
to set Christ, I always want to set Christ before you. I always
want to preach the gospel to you. I want to tell you of God's
mercy and love, how he in love chose a people that did not deserve
to be chosen. Gave them all to his son and
his son in love embraced them and said, I will be surety for
them. He came to the slave market of sin and purchased us with
his own blood. died in our stead, not just an
ignominious death on the cross, but rather a spiritual death. He died under the justice of
God for the sins of his people, suffered in agony like no man.
Is there any suffering like unto my suffering? He said. And when he had finished, he
cried with a loud voice so we would know it's done. It's finished. Salvation's accomplished. He
rose from the dead. And where did He find us? He
found us in this wilderness. He found us dead. He found us
helpless. He found us vile. He found us
corrupt. What did He do? He gave you life. He reached down and said, live. And what could you do? What could
you do but live? He said, Believe. And what could
you do but believe? Why do you still believe? Why
do you still embrace these promises when all around you is seemingly
contradicting these promises? The experience of life contradicts
all the promises that God gives. And yet we trust them more than
what we feel or think. We trust them more than what
wise men in this world say. Why do we do that? Because like
Paul, I know whom I have believed. And I am completely persuaded
that he is able. I am completely persuaded, the
opposite of that, I'm completely persuaded of this, that I am
incapable. But I'm also persuaded that He
is able to keep what He promised to do. This is what true faith
does. It is persuaded. And true faith sells everything. to have Christ. Once that man, he found the pearl
of great price, what did he do? He sold all he had. Sold all
he had. Why? Because all he had was of
lesser value than the pearl. What does a true believer do?
He sells all that he had. If any man hate not his father,
and mother, and sister, and brother, and wife, and children, and yes,
his own life also, he cannot be my disciple, because my disciples
gladly sell all they have for me." These people were sold out. and all true faith is sold out
to have Christ. This last thing, I'm gonna go
ahead and skip down to the end, I imagine. There's plenty more
where that came from, but I don't have the time, so let's just
see this last thing. So all true faith is persuaded,
all true faith embraces, and the last thing is this, all true
faith confessed, that they were strangers and pilgrims in the
earth. For they that say such things
declare plainly that they seek a country. Now, we who are believers
in Christ, we confess this, that once we were citizens of this
place, we were citizens of the city of destruction, weren't
we? Like Christian in Pilgrim's Progress, we were citizens of
that city until God gave us grace to see this, and we began to
flee that city. And ever since you believed in
Christ, you've been made to flee the things of this world, cast
them off. Why? Because you are a stranger
here. This world that once was so sin
and this world were like a duck in water. We were happy here. We were content. We love the
things of this world. But once Christ has entered in, All of these things become painful,
miserable. The things we once loved, now
we despise. And the world doesn't know us.
They don't understand why we don't run in excess with them.
Why? Because this place is not our
home. Are you persuaded of that? These, Annie, these children
are fleeting. And right now, they're not really
your family. That man is more brother to me
than the blood brothers I have. That's my family. This is my
family. And we have a home that's not
here. Therefore, we're just passing through. So what do we do in this confession
is that we hold everything here very loosely. And I tell you, I confess that
I have failed miserably many times. I have held too tightly
to the things of the world and it's caused pain and hurt. IF WE WOULD AVOID SUCH PAIN,
WE SHOULD LET THESE THINGS GO. REMEMBER WHEN ABRAHAM WAS PROMISED
ALL THOSE RICHES FROM THOSE KINGS OF SODOM? HE SAID, WE'LL GIVE
YOU, WE'LL GIVE YOU ALL THIS TREASURE. ABRAHAM, YOU SAY, I
DON'T WANT A SHOELATCHET FROM YOU. I DON'T WANT A SHOELACE
FROM YOU. BECAUSE THEN YOU WOULD SAY, I MADE ABRAHAM RICH. HUH, I DON'T WANT ANYTHING FROM
YOU. Did God provide for him? Will God provide for you? He will. What should we do? We should receive this and embrace
it. We should forsake the wisdom of the world and trust the promises
of God, which cannot be moved. We're strangers in pilgrimage.
What are we seeking? We're seeking a heavenly country
where God is not ashamed. God is not ashamed to be called
my God. I'm ashamed of me. God's not. He's not ashamed of
me because I'm in his son. To be ashamed of me, he'd have
to be ashamed of his son. That just ain't gonna happen.
You're in Christ. We are headed to a place where
we're going to experience that. Where God will embrace us. What was that hymn we just read? Was it 439? I'm just looking
at it. We're not gonna sing it or anything. I just wanted to
read that because that came to my mind. Jesus, thy blood and
righteousness, my beauty are my glorious dress. Listen, midst
flaming worlds in these arrayed. Oh, can you imagine actually
wearing the robe of righteousness? Can you imagine lifting up your
head, Jesus Christ, forever without fail? And God there is not ashamed
to be your God. And we are glad to be His people.
So do you embrace these things? Are you persuaded of these things?
True faith is. True faith is. And we confess,
this world is not my home. These people are not my family.
Christ is my brother. God is my father. You are my
brethren. Help us to dwell. I pray God
help us to dwell on these things. Seek a country actively, constantly,
consciously seek a heavenly country and forsake the things of life
in this world of time. I pray God bless us and help
us with this. Let's stand and be dismissed in prayer. Our most gracious Heavenly Father,
thank You. In confession of my soul, I am
not thankful enough. I believe the promises that you've
given, and I confess, I don't believe them enough. I am persuaded
of them, I embrace them, but surely, my faith is weak. Oh Lord, for a faith that will
not shrink, I pray that you would bless your
people today. Pour out your Spirit on them. Give us faith constantly and
help us look to Christ and set our affections on Him and not
the things of this world. I ask you to do this for your
own glory. In Christ's name, amen.