Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter
11, we'll be looking at verses 8 and 9 this evening. We'll get into 10 just a little
bit, so we'll just go ahead and read all three of them together.
And the title of the message this evening is, The Sojourner's
Rule of Life. Sojourner's rule of life. The scripture says, by faith,
Abraham, when he was called to go into a place which he should
after receive for an inheritance, obeyed and went, and he went
out not knowing whither he went. Listen, "...by faith he sojourned
in the land of promise, as in a strange country dwelling in
tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same
promise. For he looked for a city which
hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." Now, in the
previous verse here, in verse 8, we see the Apostle lays out
for us the faith of Abraham as an illustration of all true faith
in Christ. The faith of Abraham is an illustration
of all true faith. That by faith, Abraham was called
of God to go into a place that he should receive afterward for
an inheritance. Now this calling of Abraham,
we know this, it was not by merit. The calling of Abraham was not
by the wisdom of Abraham. The calling of Abraham did not
come because Abraham sought God. The calling of Abraham came by
God seeking Abraham. It was God who called him. Matter of fact, Abraham was a
pagan idolater. He was 75 years old, steeped
in idolatrous ways. And yet the Lord called him,
the Word of God is very clear on this point, that no man will
ever seek after God. Scriptures are plain. Romans
chapter 3 is very clear. There is none righteous, no,
not one. There is none that understandeth.
There is none that seeketh after God. None. Abraham did not seek God. The
depravity of man is so great This is a point that must be
stressed at every opportunity. The depravity of man is so great
that let the gospel be preached with ever so much clarity. Let it be preached with ever
so much plainness of speech. Let the proof be ever so infallible,
irresistible proof. Let the argument be so ever sound
as it may be. If we could call such men with
zeal and love and plead with sinners, let the tears from our
eyes flood this world in pleading with men. And I tell you we do. I beseech you I beseech you,
be ye reconciled to Christ. But let it be ever so much pleading. But unless God calls the sinner
to life, except God draw the sinner, except God call the sinner,
that man will never come to Christ. Men today use many tricks to
deceive men into coming. I heard one preacher say, well,
you need to have a lot of potluck dinners and you could draw a
big crowd with potluck dinners. What are they trying to do with
those dinners? They are trying to deceive men to come into the
church and trick them into believing. You can't trick a man into believing
as much as you can trick a dead corpse into life. You can't do
it. It's impossible. And friends, this is not something
we make up. This is not something that we
preach because of intellect. This is what Christ Himself preached. Go to John chapter 6. Our Lord,
the Prince of Preachers, preached this. In verse 44 of John chapter
6, no man can come unto Me. Plainer words were never spoken,
no man can come unto Me. Except, here's the exception,
the Father which has sent Me, draw him. And I will raise him
up at the last day. And listen, it is not only the
Lord who said it, but the prophets that went before him. He says,
it is written in the prophets, and they shall all be taught
of God. What is it to draw a sinner?
It is to be taught of God. It is to be taught of God. Every
man therefore that hath heard and learned of who? The Father. What does the Father teach? What
does the Father do when He draws the sinner? He says this, He
cometh unto me. What then is the evidence of
the drawing? What is the evidence of the calling?
What is the evidence of the teaching of God? It is that you believe
on Christ. You believe. Our gospel is as clear as day. Jesus said, I am the bread of
life. I am the bread of life. I am
the living bread. It came down from heaven. If any
man eat this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread that
I will give him is my flesh, and I will give it for the life
of the world. No man can come, no man has the
ability unless they're taught of God. And that's what happened
to Abraham. When he was called, he was taught
of God. He was drawn of God. And the
result of calling is always this. Faith in Christ. That is always
the result. It is not a call to decision.
It is a call to life. It is a call to faith. All that God gave His Son shall
come to Him, of which Jesus declared that they should all, all of
those that He gave should come to Him, that they would believe
on Him, who by nature could not. But how? How shall they who by
nature being depraved, who are unwilling and incapable, how
shall they come to Christ? They are drawn of the Father. taught of the Father, even as
Abraham was, by divine call and revelation of God, by the sovereign,
free, and grace of God alone, Abraham was called. Have you been called? This is a moment for reflection.
Have you been called? The Apostle plainly tells us
then the means of how God calls sinners. The means by which God
calls sinners is also plainly declared. It's plainly declared,
man's depraved and he will not come to God, he cannot come to
God, nor will he seek God. It's plain. And it's plain that
this, that only God calls and draws and teaches sinners. But
how then does God call sinners? How then does God teach sinners?
I tell you, through the preaching of the Gospel. the preaching
of the gospel go to Romans chapter 10 Romans chapter 10 verse 13 beginning there for
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved this is our gospel isn't it whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved that's our
gospel Now what does that mean? Who
shall call upon the name of the Lord? Now it's not just any name,
is it? You can't just call on any name.
It must be the name of the Lord. They shall be saved. Not any
name will do. Not any Jesus will do. You got
that? Not any Jesus will do. Not any
old Christ will do. But the Lord Jesus Christ as
He is revealed in Holy Scripture, the one testified of by the prophets
and the apostles who received their word from the Holy Spirit
and were eyewitnesses, that is the only Jesus that we call on.
That is the only Jesus that God teaches us to call on. Now there are many who call on
the name of Jesus who is nothing like the Son of God. They call on the Jesus of their
own imagination, the Christ of their parents, the Christ of
their feelings. Well, I think Jesus... I don't
care what you think Jesus is. And you know what? You shouldn't
care what I think Jesus is. You should care who Jesus is
according to the Word of God. And everything else must be set
aside. Feelings, thoughts, parents,
grandparents, whatever they said about Jesus, if it contradicts
the Word of God, it is not Christ. This is who God reveals, the
Christ of this book. Christ of this book. The only Jesus who can save sinners
is the one is revealed in this book. And if our Jesus is not
this Jesus, then our Jesus is not Christ. What does this book reveal about
this name of the Lord? Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Who is this Lord? Well, first
of all, He is God manifest in the flesh. You got that? God manifest in the flesh. i
like this without controversy you see that see what paul did
he put all debate aside immediately you know i love that story about
the unitarian mary uh... theitarian in the brother who's
a baptist preacher in uh... they said uh... he he called
his baptist brother over he was sick preach for me said you can't
preach anything controversial you know the interested in believing
that the deity of christ so He preached from that text in
1 Timothy 3.16 without controversy. This is without controversy.
Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. So that's the Lord I'm talking
about. That's the one that God calls us to. God manifests in
the flesh. The Christ of Scripture, God
sent to redeem, save, justify, sanctify, and obtain everlasting
righteousness for all the elect. You got that? All the elect. God hath made Him to be wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption for us. You see, this Christ that we
believe on, that we are called to believe, is a representative
Savior. A representative Savior. And we know this Christ is victorious
in His work. Thou shalt call His name Jesus.
You listen, before He did one thing as a man, before He was
born into the world, you get this, the scripture said He shall
save His people from their sins. It was as good as done before
it was even done. Our Christ that we worship is
successful. He said it is finished by His
one offering. He hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. And Christ is victorious, successful
Savior who saved His people. And even now He has sent the
Holy Spirit into the world to call them, to call them who are
lost And I tell you, not one of His
elect will ever be lost. Not one of them will ever not
come to Christ. They will all come to Him. All
that the Father giveth Me, says My Savior, all that the Father
hath given Me shall come to Me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. I am the good shepherd, and know
my sheep, and am known of mine, and the Father knoweth me. Even
so know I the Father, and I lay down my life, you listen, for
the sheep. For the sheep. Not for everyone. For the sheep. Those that the
Father hath given me, I lay down my life for them. And he said, many sheep. He said,
I have sheep that are not of this fold. Does it not kind of make you
smile that he was thinking of you? Specifically you. I have sheep not of this fold.
Them I also must bring. I must bring them. And that shall
be one fold and one shepherd. Thus the gospel that we preach,
the purpose that we preach this gospel, is that God should bring
in his sheep, and they should believe and follow Him. But now
then, what do you do with this? Because every one of you just
heard me. Paul says, have they not all
heard? Didn't you just all hear me? Every one of you just heard
me. And I pray that my speech was
plain, that it was simple so that everyone could understand
what I said. I purposefully do this. I don't
want to be intellectual. I want to be plain. Have you not all heard the gospel
that I just preached to you? But I tell you this, why is it
that not all of you believed? Because not all of you were called. not because you weren't smart
enough to understand what i said the only people that heard what
i said and believed it are those who are called god abraham was
called in jesus in that same passage in john ten those fair
seas didn't believe it he told them this he says i told you
i told you i am I told you what I came to do. I preached to you
the gospel, and not only that, I showed you miracles. I showed
you signs and wonders to prove who I am, and you believed not. Why? Because you are not of my
sheep. You are not of my sheep, as I
said to you. Have you not heard any plainer
speech than that? Why will men not believe? Because
they're not his sheep. Because God won't call them. If you are Christ and He is your
shepherd, I know this, when you're called, you'll do the same thing
Abraham did. What did Abraham do? He obeyed. Now what the text says? Said
that, by faith, Abraham, when he was called, what'd he do?
Obeyed. True faith always comes with
obedience. You that are called to Christ
as a shepherd, you not only know him mentally or academically,
but you know him intimately. You who know Christ will not
be duped by another Christ. You who follow Christ, you follow
Christ in obedience to the gospel. Here's what separates true professors
from false professors. Obedience. Obedience. What is this to obey the gospel? To obey our gospel is nothing
less than to believe. That's what obedience is. Obedience
is, didn't I just preach that? Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. How are you going to call on
Him and who have you not heard? How shall you hear without a preacher?
And how shall you preach except they be sent? As it is written,
how beautiful the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace
and bring glad tidings of good things. So then faith cometh
by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Faith cometh by
hearing, not just outward hearing, inward hearing of the call of
God, being taught of God that Christ is all, Christ is all,
and you come, you come. I like this, Paul said, knowing
your election. Now that's something, isn't it? Pastor, I know the elect will
be saved. I know that. Yeah, but are you
one of them? Well, how do you know? Paul said,
knowing your election of God. Well, how did they know? Knowing
your election of God, for our gospel came not in word only,
but in power and the Holy Ghost and in much assurance. This call
always comes with power, comes with power. You see, you can't
obey the Gospel until there's power. And when there's power, there's
ability. Isn't that right? If you laid
a corpse and life came into the corpse, then there would be ability. Thy people shall be willing when,
in the day of thy power, they shall be willing and obedient
to come to Christ. Paul says of these elect Peter
says of the elect he said the elect according the foreknowledge
of God through sanctification of the Spirit unto what obedience
and sprinkling of the blood of Christ true faith always moves
the sinner to Christ to you who obey was Christ an
option Or was he a necessity? See, I know the answer to that. I must have Christ or I die. Not an option. Not an option. Those who are called to Christ
flee to Christ and forsake everything else. That's what it is to obey
to Christ. It is absolute, free and complete
surrender to Christ and Christ alone. That's what it is. Obedience. Is this your faith? Is this your
faith? Then listen, you have the same
promise Abraham had. you have the same promise for
we have this hope of abraham even the imputed righteousness
of christ that is given to everyone that believes all who are called
and obey the gospel received with abraham the same blessings
and benefits abraham and so now let's move on in our text now
By faith, he sojourned in the land of promise. Now the Apostle,
after giving us the example or illustration of Abraham's faith,
he is now going to give us a very practical view of Abraham's faith. A very practical thing concerning
true faith. By faith, Abraham sojourned. Now having been called of God
by faith, obeying the gospel, now we see how he walked in this
world. How he walked. We see in these few words his
rule of life. His rule of life. How did Abraham sojourn? what does your text say? by faith he sojourned in the
land of promise by faith the apostle then in the book of Galatians
testifies to us that Abraham is the father of all believers
the father of all believers Seeing he is the prime example of how
the true believer is to live in this world, he sets him in
opposition to the rule of law as a guide for life. You remember,
that was the controversy in the Church of Galatia. The controversy
was that men should believe in Christ and then, after believing,
should go back to the Law as a rule, as a rule of life. They should begin in the Spirit
but finish by obedience in the flesh. And the Apostle uses Abraham
as a prime example an opposition to that point of view go to Galatians
chapter 3 Galatians chapter 3 verse 1 the Apostle says O foolish
Galatians who hath bewitched you that you should not obey
the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ had been evidently set
forth crucified among you This only would I learn of you
received you the spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing
of faith How did we just been over that? How did you receive? How did you receive this spirit? Was it through the law or faith? Are you so foolish to begin in
the Spirit? Are you now made perfect by the
flesh?" And what he means by the flesh is the law. Remember
the point that the contention was circumcision. That's the
point of the law they wanted to keep. And he said, now are
you made perfect by circumcision? Are you made perfect by obeying
that law? Have you suffered so many things
in vain, if yet it be in vain? In other words, Paul's calling
into question their very faith. he says i'm calling into question
if you believe that then you're lost everything you suffered
been in vain if that's what you believe he therefore that ministers
and you minister to you the spirit and work miracles among you do
it the by the works of the law by the hearing of faith even
as abraham believed god it was accounted to him righteousness
no you therefore that they which are of faith the same are the
children of abraham and the scripture for saying that god would justify
the heathen through faith preach before the gospel under abraham
saying in the show all the nations of the earth be blessed so then
they which be of faith are blessed with faithful abraham you see
now that abraham is the example the rule of life he's saying
look abraham is the example He's not only an example of how a
sinner is called to life and faith, but he's also an example
of how we're to live in this world. Not by law, but how? By faith. By faith. Now, all who would be brought
back from faith to law, Paul says, you need to listen to the
law. You need to listen to it. That's
the rule of life that a man sojourns by in this world. You've not
heard the law Paul says in the verse 10 then he says cursed
for as many as are under the works of the law or under the
curse of the law as It is written curses everyone that continued
not in all things written in the book of the law to do them
But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God.
That's evident That's evident For the just shall live... How? By faith. By faith. So then, how did Abraham
live? If Abraham's the father of the
faithful, if Abraham is the example by which that believers follow
in his footsteps, how then did he live? Scripture says he sojourned
by faith. By faith. Now I'll tell you this, it cannot
be of both. It cannot be of both. You cannot
live by law and faith. You can't. Why? Paul just tells us that
in verse 12. And the law is not of faith.
Now, I love when scripture is plain. And it's always plain. Men can throw their objections
to it, but that's just so. Just as grace and works cannot
mix, I tell you this, faith and law cannot mix. Not the same. If it is law, it is not a faith.
It's not a faith. The law is not a faith. A man
that doeth them shall live in them. Shall live in them. And
all who live in them, what is that? Cursed is everyone that
continueth not in all things. This is where men start throwing
in their objections. They say, well, I don't mean
all the law. I just mean certain parts of the law. No, can't do
that. The law is the law. The Ten Commandments
is just as much the law as circumcision and tithing, just as much as
the dietary and governmental laws of the Old Testament Scripture. Law is the law and curse is everyone
that continues not in all them. But for us, but for us who believe as we
sojourn in this life this is our this is our rule of life that our savior was made a curse
for us what he tells us christ have
redeemed us from the curse of the law by being made a curse
as is written curses everyone that hangeth upon the tree For what purpose did he do this?
That we should receive the blessing of Abraham. That says in verse
14, that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through
Christ. That we might receive the promise
of the Spirit through faith. Through faith. So when Abraham sojourned, was that before or after the
law? Paul says it was 430 years before
the law was ever written. He sojourned by faith every day. Every day Abraham walked upon
the face of this earth. You listen how he walked. He
walked by faith. He walked looking forward to
this coming of the seed by which all the nations of the earth
should be blessed. Jesus said that. Abraham rejoiced
to see my day and saw it and was glad. Even so, then, it is with us
who are blessed with faithful Abraham. For behold, salvation
was never by any measure to come by the law. Paul says if it were
possible that salvation should come by law, then it should.
But what does the scripture conclude? The scripture concludes all under
sin. Impossible to save us by law.
We are all under sin. We are all guilty. That the promise by faith of
Christ might be given to them that believe." Isn't that exactly
what he tells us in Romans 3? Exactly. He said, "...therefore
by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his
sight." And what's then the remedy? Christ came and by his faith
obtained the righteousness of God and imputes that righteousness,
imparts that righteousness to who? Everyone that believeth. and believeth. Therefore rejoice,
all you who sojourn in this barren world. This land is filled with
troubles, is filled with pains, is filled with sorrows. This
land grieves us. It cuts us to the quick. And yet you have great cause
to rejoice. If you live by faith, you have
great cause to rejoice. Rejoice for Christ is the end
of the law. For what? For righteousness. To who? Everyone that believeth. Now you get that? That's not
a one-time thing, is it? When you believe, was that a
one-time, check it off your bucket list and move on? You bet it's
not. Faith is always present tense. It's always now. Faith never looks back or looks
forward. It looks to Christ now. And so in the very teeth of your
trouble, you can sojourn, you can endure. How the just shall
live by faith. And those who live by faith receive
the blessing of faithful Abraham. The blessing of faithful Abraham. The promise that was given to
him is now given to us. And this faith that we live by,
we know this, we don't have faith in our faith. We have faith in
the object of our faith. Abraham looked for a city whose
builder and maker was God. How long did he look for that?
Every day of his life he looked for it. Every day of his life
he anticipated it, looking for it in faith. And secondly, he
sojourned as a stranger. That's something. Look at your
text again. He sojourned by faith, and he sojourned in the land
of promise as in a strange country. And when we were lost, the world
was not strange. It was natural. How many times
have you ever heard that? That's just natural. That's just
natural. If it's natural, it's sinful,
most likely. It's just natural. What comes
naturally to us is sin. And anybody that's opposed to
sin is strange, peculiar. Something's wrong with that person.
He's not natural. You can bet that Abraham was
a strange fellow. To those people he walked among,
he was a stranger. When we walked according to the
course of this world, we were not strange. We were just like all
of Adam's race. The scripture says we were dead
in trespasses and sin. We walked according to the course
of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.
We all had our conversation in time. The world wasn't strange.
Until when? Until God gave us a new nature.
Then everything became strange to us and everyone thought we
were strange. strangers strangers as we sojourn
in this life we flee to Christ we fled to him for refuge and
we forsook all things let the wicked forsake his thoughts let
the unrighteous man forsake his his ways and let it return unto
the Lord isn't that what we did when we came to Christ we forsook
it all we leave it all We've abandoned our religion, we've
abandoned our self-righteousness, we've abandoned everyone that
opposes Christ. We come to Christ and Christ
alone. We are strangers because of it. And the more we grow in grace,
the more we walk by faith, the more vain this world becomes. The more empty, the more hollow,
The more we grow in grace, the more we see the vileness of this
old nature that is wrapped around us like a rotting corpse. We
struggle, we loathe. Isn't that what the part of the
covenant in Ezekiel chapter 36? You shall loathe yourself. Now tell me, is that a strange
thing to people? You go about loathing yourself,
and they say, well you just need a little self-esteem. No, I need
Christ. In Him, I'm perfect. In Him,
I have everything. In myself, I have nothing. Then
you have this warfare. You have this constant struggle
inside of you. The things you would do. You would be holy.
You would be righteous. You want to be like Christ. And
the flesh pulls you to the earth. It drags you in the mud. You
say, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the
body this death? And yet the Word of God tells me I am as
righteous as God's Son. Talk about a strange fellow.
You're a strange fellow, believer. You're a stranger. And the world
won't understand you. Abraham walked in the land of
promise and didn't own a thing. He never bought a piece of ground
till his wife died, had to buy that cave to bury her in. He
didn't own one plot of land, yet it was all his. Isn't that
the same with you? Believer, you have nothing and
yet you own everything. You're a strange fellow. I am an heir to all things. Go where you will in this world,
it's mine. I don't own it in the flesh,
but I tell you I own it in Christ. It's mine. I own it all. I do. Where's your title? Here it is. How do you know? By faith. By
faith. I sojourn by faith. sojourned
by faith and because of this we are strange people and not
only this Abraham dwelt know this the last thing I want you
see this Abraham dwelt dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and
Jacob heirs of the same promise heirs of the same promise now Abraham These men dwelt in
his loins, we know that. And before he had Isaac, he only
saw this by faith. But there was a day that came
and Isaac was born, and he dwelt with Isaac, his son. He saw what
God had promised. And listen to this, he also saw
Jacob. You know that? Jacob was 15 years
old by the time Abraham died. He actually dwelt in tents with
them. Isn't this what we're doing right
now? Dwelling together in tents. I tell you what, every time I
see one of God's people come in, it encourages me. Just as
much as Isaac encouraged Abraham. Because he knew that through
that man Christ should come. I tell you this, I am encouraged
when God brings His people in. And though we don't see them
now, listen, He will bring them in. So that we can dwell together. Believer, we dwell together in
these mortal frames and we, by our sojourning, by sojourning
by faith, we encourage one another. your sojourning by faith encourages
me to sojourn by faith. Encourages me. Forsake not the
assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is. For
the encouragement of the saints to edify, to stir one another
up to love, provoke me to love. That's what we do. So as we sojourn,
we sojourn by faith, we sojourn as strangers, and we sojourn
together. Just like Abraham. I pray that
God bless this to you. Let's stand and be dismissed
in prayer.