Welcome to our program. Now I'm
going to be preaching from the book of Hebrews chapter 11. And
this chapter is commonly called the Hall of Faith. Because in
this chapter we have a listing of Old Testament believers. Those who looked to the Lord
Jesus Christ as he was promised in the covenant of grace. The
gospel was preached in the Old Testament. And men like Abel,
we've mentioned Abel, men like Enoch, we're going to talk about
Noah and Abraham today. They believe the same gospel
that New Testament believers believe. It's the same Christ.
Salvation has always been by the grace of God in Christ. It
has never been by works. It has never been by the sinner
keeping the law, because all have been born in sin, fallen
in Adam, and born in sin, and in need of mercy. So these are
examples of Old Testament believers, those who lived and walked and
died in the faith. And I've entitled this message,
Living and Dying in Christ. There's a verse here in verse
13 that says, These all died in faith. Well, they died in
faith because they first lived in faith. And to live and die
in faith means this, very simply. It means to live in Christ and
to die in Christ. It means to live looking to Christ
and to die looking to Christ. All of this shows examples of
faith, and we'll start at verse 7 of Hebrews chapter 11. Those
who lived and died in the faith lived and died looking to, resting
in Christ for their whole salvation. They looked to Christ and lived
in Him, died in Him as their wisdom, their righteousness,
their holiness, and their redemption. They had no other hope of salvation. but that which is by the blood
and the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ." You see,
Noah wasn't saved because Noah was such a great person or a
good person. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Abraham wasn't saved because
Abraham was such a great and noble person. Abraham was an
idolater in Ur of the Chaldees, his home country where the Lord
found him. And Abraham was a great example of how God justifies
the ungodly. Now, let's look at Hebrews chapter
11, beginning at verse 7, where we pick up with Noah, a man named
Noah. Now, you know about Noah. The
Bible speaks of Noah. What do we know about Noah? We
know the first thing it said of Noah in Genesis chapter 6
is that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Noah was a
sinner, and he was a sinner saved by grace. And it says in Hebrews
11 and verse 7, it says, By faith Noah, being warned of God of
things not seen as yet, Noah moved with fear, prepared an
ark to the saving of his house, by the which he condemned the
world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. Now, first of all, each one of
these verses, when it introduces one of the Old Testament believers,
it starts out with this phrase, by faith. We've already seen
in the first few verses of Hebrews 11 what faith is. The apostle
wrote, faith is the substance, the foundation, the ground of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And then
it speaks of how by faith the elders obtained a good report. By faith, Abel offered a more
excellent sacrifice than Cain. By faith, Enoch was translated
that he should not see death. Verse 6, but without faith, it's
impossible to please God. By faith, by faith. What does that mean? Well, as
I said last time, we need to understand when the Bible speaks
of faith, saving faith, We must understand faith according to
its object. For example, you can believe
a lot of different things which are not true. There are a lot
of people, a multitude of people today, who honestly and sincerely
believe that God will save them based upon their works. But you
see, their faith is empty and vain and useless. And the reason
is because they believe something that God commands sinners not
to believe. You see, faith in the Scripture
is believing what God says. And God promises in His Word
to save sinners in Christ. He promises to save you for Christ's
sake alone. He promises to save those who
come to Him seeking mercy and grace, who plead at the throne
of His grace for mercy in Christ. God will never save you, and
He has never promised to save you. It is never written in this
book that He will save any sinner based upon that sinner's efforts
to keep the law. Salvation is not by works, it's
by grace, for by grace are you saved through faith And that's
not of yourself. It's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. So faith in the Bible, saving
faith, believes God's word. And God had a word for Noah. First of all is the word of grace.
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. So it says, by faith,
Noah being warned of God. Now, God told Noah that he was
going to destroy the whole world by a flood. In other words, God's
judgment was going to come down on the world because of its sin. And he warned Noah, and it says,
by faith, Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet.
A flood in the future, you see. God's wrath coming in the future.
Noah hadn't seen it yet, but God told him, and Noah believed
God. It's just like the gospel. When
God preached the gospel to Noah or revealed Christ to Noah, Christ
had not yet come. But Noah believed the promise
because God said it. In other words, Noah looked by
faith to a future fulfillment of the promise of salvation through
the promised Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he depended
upon God's Word. He had faith in the Lord. He
knew God would save him based on the blood of the promised
Messiah, and he showed that by sacrifice later on. Noah sacrificed
just like Abel. Noah sacrificed just like Abraham. He shed the blood of animals
on the altar to worship God because he knew, according to God's Word,
that without the shedding of blood, without law and justice
being satisfied, there was no remission of sins. So Noah, being
warned of God of things not seen as yet, he moved with fear. He acted, the Bible says, he
acted in fear. Now this fear is not a legal,
mercenary, unholy, ungodly fear. It's not just a terror or being
afraid. It is a respect. Noah moved with
respect. He moved with regard for who
God is. He knew the God. He believed
the promise because he knew the God who'd made the promise. And
he believed the threat because he knew the God who made the
threat and he moved with fear. God spoke and Noah acted. And listen, let me tell you something.
That's the way it is with the gospel. When the gospel is preached,
that salvation is of the Lord. That salvation is in Christ.
that the forgiveness of sins and justification before God
is by His blood and His righteousness imputed alone, we're to act by
believing God. We believe Him, just like Noah.
And it says he moved with fear. What did he do? He prepared an
ark to the saving of his house. Now that ark, you know, God told
Noah to build an ark. God gave Noah the specific instructions
of what that ark was to be made of, how it was to be set out.
how big it was to be, the dimensions. And God told Noah to get his
family on that ark. He took two of every animal on
earth at that time, male and female, and Noah got inside the
ark, and God shut the door of the ark. And by that, Noah saved
himself and his family. The world outside the ark was
condemned and destroyed. And as the rains of God's judgment,
the actual physical rain, rained down and beat upon that ark,
Noah and his family were safe inside the ark. Now, the Bible
is very clear on this. That ark, not only did it deliver
Noah from physical destruction, it was typical. It was a picture,
a symbol that God used to teach Noah and the world a lesson.
That ark is representative of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is
the believer's ark. And what it means is this, in
Christ, those who are in Him, in Him by representation, in
Him by substitution, in Him by imputation, Christ went to the
cross for our sins, you see. And we were in Him, He represented
me. He substituted Himself for me,
and my sins were imputed, legally charged, laid upon Him. And the
fury of God's wrath came down upon Him, Christ Himself, while
He hung on that cross, and I was safe and secure in Him. He took the wrath of God. He
became accursed for me. And that's true of every believer,
even Noah. It's true of you today if you
know him. if you believe in Him and rest in Him. That ark was
Christ. Everyone who's in Him is secure
and safe from the wrath of God, because He took the wrath of
God for our sins, and He gave us His righteousness that secures
us eternally in the favor and the family and the kingdom of
God. It says that He moved with fear, prepared an ark to the
saving of His house, and listen, Christ died for His house. all
whom he represented, his sheep, his church, God's elect, given
him from the foundation of the world. And by this, it says in
verse 7, by the which Noah condemned the world and became heir of
the righteousness which is by faith." Now, there are two things
there. When Noah got on that ark, he condemned the world.
What does that mean, he condemned the world? It doesn't mean Noah
himself pronounced condemnation on the world. Noah's not the
judge. I'm not the judge. You're not the judge. No man
is. But when Noah got on that ark, it was a testimony to the
truth of God's judgment against the world. And that's the same
way when we believe the gospel of God's grace in Christ. When
we believe the gospel and we enter into union with Christ
by faith, That is a testimony of the truth of God's judgment
against the world. And it's stated in the Great
Commission. The Great Commission, Christ told his disciples to
go into all the world and preach the gospel. And he said, teach
all nations. And he said, he that believeth
not shall be damned. But he that believeth in the
Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. In Christ there is salvation. Outside of Christ there's condemnation. So just like Noah, when he got
on the ark, he was a testimony, a living testimony to the truth
of how God's going to condemn everyone outside the ark. And when we believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ, we are living testimonies that God has condemned all who
are not in him, all who do not have his blood to wash away their
sins. You see, the Bible says, Lord,
if thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, who would stand?
Well, without the blood of Christ, God's going to mark iniquities.
He's going to hold your sins against you, and you cannot stand
the test. And so the wrath of God will
be poured down upon you. So outside of Christ, without
his blood, condemnation. Outside of Christ, without his
righteousness to clothe us, there's no justification, nothing but
guilt and defilement and condemnation. Now, the second thing here is
that Noah, when he did that, he became heir of the righteousness
which is by faith, or the righteousness which is according to faith.
What does that mean? By getting on the ark, Noah testified
that his salvation was based on a righteousness, not that
he produced, but that one that was to come in the future. One
that would be produced for him by the Lord Jesus Christ, and
Noah became an heir of that. He stood to inherit all the riches
of grace and glory by virtue of what Christ would accomplish
years and years later. Noah believed it by promise.
So there's Noah who lived in faith, Noah who walked by faith,
and eventually died in faith. Now look at verse 8. It says,
it talks about Abraham here. It says, By faith Abraham, when
he was called to go out into a place, which he should after
receive for an inheritance, obeyed. And he went out, not knowing
whether he went. You remember Abraham lived in
Ur of the Chaldeans. It's the area of the world that
we call Iraq today. And he lived in an idolatrous
land. His family was idolatrous. He was idolatrous. But God had
marked Abraham out for salvation, and he came to Abraham, and he
spoke to Abraham. The Bible says he preached the
gospel to Abraham. And he told Abraham, he says,
you get out of this country, this idolatrous country, and
he says, you go to a land that I'm going to give you. You'll
receive this land for an inheritance. You see, Abraham had done nothing
to deserve this. Abraham had done nothing to earn
it. Abraham was just a sinner who
deserves condemnation just like all of us by nature and by practice.
But God determined to give it to Abraham freely out of his
mercy and grace, and he called Abraham an Abraham by faith,
by looking to Christ. Abraham, by believing God's Word,
he obeyed. Now that's the issue of faith.
You see, if you truly believe what God says, you'll obey it. A lot of people claim to believe
what God says, but they don't obey. That's what the book of
James talks about when it talks about faith without words. Obedience
is not the ground of salvation, but obedience is the evidence
of faith, faith in Christ. And Abraham obeyed, and he went
out, not knowing whether he went. In other words, he went based
upon a promise of God. Verse 9 says this, it says, 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. In other words, by looking to
God's promise, by looking to Christ, and listen to me now,
Somebody says, well, how do you know Abraham looked to Christ?
Well, Christ himself said Abraham looked to him. Christ said in
John chapter 8, he told the Pharisees who claimed Abraham as their
father, he said, Abraham rejoiced to see my day. Abraham saw the
day of Christ. He looked forward to the coming
of the Messiah, the establishment of salvation and redemption through
his blood and righteousness on the cross. And Christ said, Abraham,
rejoice to see my day. He saw it and was glad. So it
is by faith that Abraham sojourned in a land of promise. He was
a pilgrim. He didn't put down roots. This world was not his
home. And it was a land of promise,
a land given to him. That's a picture of salvation.
Salvation is a land of promise. It's not a land of debt. It's
not a land of bondage. It's not a land of works religion.
It's a land of promise. God promises to save sinners
by His grace. And Abraham, as in a strange
country, he wandered like a foreigner in a strange country, dwelling
in tents with Isaac and his son and his grandson Jacob, and they
were heirs with him of the same promise. We'll see that later
on. But Isaac was the child of promise. Jacob was a sinner saved
by the grace of God. And it says in verse 10 that
Abraham looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder
and maker is God. What that teaches us is that
Abraham, in his pilgrimage, in his sojourning in the land of
promise, he wasn't looking ultimately for earthly real estate, how
much land he could get, and for earthly borders. He was looking
for a city that had foundations. And the city is the foundation
and it's the builder and maker is God. That's what Abraham was
looking for. He was looking for a heavenly
city. He was looking for eternal salvation and final glory through
the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, God made Abraham a
lot of promises. Some of those promises were earthly.
His seed would inherit an earthly land. But the ultimate promises
all ran to the eternal, the spiritual realm. And that was salvation
in Christ. And that's what Abraham was looking
for. And then it mentions his wife in verse 11, Sarah. Through faith also Sarah herself
received strength to conceive seed and was delivered of a child
when she was past age because she judged him faithful who had
promised. Now you know the story of Abraham
and Sarah. God promised Abraham a child,
children. He said your seed will outnumber
the sands of the seashore. multiply, nations will come out
of thee," he said. But Abraham and Sarah, Sarah
was barren. She couldn't have children. You
remember Abraham took it upon himself, and Sarah was in cahoots
with him on this too, to have relations with his bondmaid,
Hagar, and Ishmael was born out of that. Ishmael was the child
of the flesh. He was the child of human effort.
But way on past the age of childbearing, when Abraham was almost 100 years
old and Sarah was almost 90, God allowed her, by His power,
to conceive and bear a son, Isaac, the child of promise. He's the
child of promise, not the child of human effort. Abraham and
Sarah were way past that age. But it was through Isaac that
the Messiah would come eventually, according to the flesh. And that's
the ultimate promise there. And Sarah believed it. Now she
didn't always believe it. Remember when God revealed it
to Abraham later on, Sarah laughed. It was a laugh of disbelief.
But when God performed this great act, Sarah believed it. She judged
him faithful who had promised. God is faithful to his promise. And we live by faith when we
believe God. And it says in verse 12 of Hebrews
11, Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead,
so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand
which is by the seashore innumerable. Out of Abraham and Sarah came
a multitude of people, physically the nation Israel, But out of
Abraham and Sarah, spiritually speaking, came God's people out
of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation. That's how Abraham
would be a blessing to all nations. How? Through Christ. Christ is the Savior of a multitude
of sinners out of every tribe, not just Jews, but a multitude
out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation. He has an
elect people, sheep, his church all over the world. Now, it says
in verse 13, here's the kicker, it says, these all died in faith,
or again, according to faith. That is, all these that he mentioned
up to this point and the ones he's going to mention afterward.
When he spoke of Abel, Abel died in faith. He died believing in
the Lord Jesus Christ, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, And even
Isaac and Jacob, they all died in the faith. They died looking
to Christ. They lived looking to Christ. They walked looking to Christ. And they died looking to Him.
And it says these all died in faith, not having received the
promises. Now, what promises was he talking
about? Well, the same promises that were given to Abraham. Abraham
was given those promises of an earthly land, But they were given
to him, but they didn't live during the time when the Messiah
actually come into this world. That's what it means when it
says, not having received the promises. When Christ came on
earth, Abraham was already dead. Isaac was already dead, Jacob,
Sarah. They heard the promise, they believed the promise, but
they weren't living when the promise was fulfilled in time,
in the fullness of the time. And it says, but having seen
them afar off, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Abel, Enoch, Noah,
they all looked to the promise afar off, and they were persuaded
of them. They believed them and embraced
them. They loved them. They knew them in their head
and they knew them in their heart. They believed them and loved
them, and they confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims
on earth. They weren't looking for earthly
cities. Verse 14 says, for they that say such things declare
plainly that they seek a country. Well, they were seeking a country,
but not here on earth. They were seeking salvation.
Verse 15, and truly, if they had been mindful of that country
from which they came out, they might have had opportunity to
a return. What that's talking about is
repentance. When Abraham left Ur of the Chaldees, his earthly
family, and he followed the plan of God and the purpose of God
and the promise of God, he didn't leave his heart back in his hometown.
His heart was with the Lord. His heart was with Christ. Had
he been mindful, had he loved and his heart been with his old
country, he would have had opportunity to return. That means to forsake
the Lord, forsake the promise, forsake Christ. But it says in
verse 16, But now they desire a better country. Abraham knew
that salvation in Christ was far better than what he had in
Ur of the Chaldees. And he desired a better country,
that is, a heavenly country. Wherefore God is not ashamed
to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city.
Now here's the picture. My friend Abraham came out of
his hometown, Ur of the Chaldees, and he was looking for a better
country, a heavenly country. There was an earthly land involved,
but that wasn't the fulfillment of the ultimate promise. That
was all a means to an end. And the end, the fulfillment,
the whole purpose was a heavenly country, salvation itself. And
Abraham knew that salvation in Christ. That eternal life was
far better than anything he could have had here. Abraham was a
rich man, but he knew that the riches of glory in Christ Jesus
were far better than what he had here on earth. So he was
seeking a better country. And because of that, because
of the grace of God and the mercy of God, it says God is not ashamed
to say, my brethren, my children, God is not ashamed to call him
their children. Sinners now, sinners whom, listen,
God must punish sin. But in Christ, God is not ashamed
to call sinners his children. For they're his children by grace.
They're redeemed by the blood of Christ, washed in his blood.
clothed in His righteousness, adopted into His family, born
again by the Spirit of God. And they enter into that heavenly
relationship, that spiritual relationship, that heart relationship
with God their Father through Christ. And they say, Abba, Father. And we realize He's prepared
for us a city, a great city, a heavenly city, an eternal home
in heaven. Christ told his disciples, he
said, I go to prepare a place for you. He, listen, he earned
it, he built it, and he prepared it. That's living and dying in
Christ.