This is a great chapter. We know
it as the chapter on faith, of course. We don't have time to
read it all, so verse 8 through 16. 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 whither
he went. By faith he sojourned in a land
of promise, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs
with him of the same promise. For he looked for a city that
had foundation, whose builder and maker is God. Through faith
Sarah, also herself, received strength to conceive seed, whilst
delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged
him faithful who had promise. 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. 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 in 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 which they came out, they might have had
opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better
country, that is, and heavenly, wherefore God is not ashamed
to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city. We know that chapter 11, as I
mentioned, is a chapter of faith and a chapter describing the
acts of faith of those that were characters in the Old Testament. In here there is an example of
faith in the life of some of the most eminent saints of the
Old Testament, examples to be imitated by us as the writer
gives them unto us. In the end of chapter 10, the
writer had made mention of something concerning faith, that the just
are the righteous, live by faith, that we are not of them that
draw back unto perdition. Then in chapter 11, the apostle
gives what I think we'd have to agree is the longest dissertation
found in the New Testament or the scripture on the acts of
faith and the lives of faith in the children of God. But first,
in verse 1, we notice, we remember that he gives us a short definition
of faith, saying that faith is a conviction or it is an assurance
of things that are not seen, and this in relation to things
that are hoped for on the basis of God's promise while yet they
are unseen or yet not fully realized. A fact, in verse 2, to further
embellish faith in the minds of his readers, by it, he said,
the elders obtained witness. That is, these eminent ancient
saints of God obtained witness. With whom have they a good report? With the world, with those that
believe, with God, with the latter saints, such as the first recipient
of the Hebrew epistle, as they read these things. It is that
which the Holy Spirit gives them in the Scripture because they
please God, as did Enoch, as written down here in verse 5
of this chapter. In chapter, rather in verse four,
we see that Abel obtained witness that he was righteous. God testified
of his gifts and of his sacrifices. You have that in Genesis chapter
four and verse four, and Abel being dead yet speaks, or is
spoken of, or about. By the way, the great cloud of
witnesses in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 1, I believe, are
those Old Testament saints. But in the third verse, the apostle
gives a grand example of the last half, of the definition
of faith in verse 1, that it is the evidence of things that
are not seen. In that, it is by faith that
we believe that the worlds and the heavens were created by the
power or by the word of God. And it does not strain our faith
at all to believe in direct creation. We believe it. We're not strained
to believe in the fall of man. So-called science and all that
it brings forth does not erase from our mind the fact that God
is the creator of all things. But beginning in verse 4, the
apostle proceeds to give many instances of the efficacy of
faith to, as John Brown put it, quote, perform duties, endure
trial, obtain benefits, unquote, and of course, much more. The
first three he mentioned are all very well attended in the
scripture. Number one, verse four, by faith
Abel did offer a sacrifice to God wherein he therefore received
a testimony from God. Secondly, in verse five, by faith
Enoch was translated that he should not see death. And verse
three, or rather thirdly, in verse seven, by faith Noah moved
with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his family and
house, and to the condemnation of the old world. And there are
many other examples here of the faith and its power in their
life. By faith, Jacob on his deathbed,
verse 21. Verse 22, Joseph by faith gave
command that his carcass was to be carried into the land of
promise. Verse 24, by faith Moses forsook
Egypt. Verse 31, by faith the harlot
Rahab perished not with them in Jericho. And in verse 32 through
40, there are various and sundry examples are given to show how
this faith got the victory somehow in the Old Testament. But we
put the fake focus this evening upon the passage here concerning
Abraham, with the intention of ending at that statement that
we read, these all died in faith, in verse 13, or as the margin
had it, They died according unto faith. First, let's settle a
point about the apostles' constant repetition of the word by faith. Just quickly counting with quick
glances, we will find the phrase some 15 times here in this chapter. By faith, so and so did so. By faith, he obtained. By faith,
this happened. And on and on we go. The point
is, chapter 11, as the Puritan Owen noted, he is not here treating
of faith as justifying. Now of course it is justifying,
we're justified by faith. But he's not treating of it here
strictly as justifying faith, but by faith whereby the lives
of the children of God were lived out in that world. In the text
in Hebrews 11, 8 through 19 concerning Abraham, there are two special
statements and experiences of the father of the faithful, Abraham,
which begins with a word, by faith Abraham, and then is described
what faith enabled Abraham to do what faith wrought in this
man, Abraham, the father of the faithful. The first one is in
verse 8, which says, in essence, by faith Abraham, when called,
called to leave his home and his land and his kindred obeyed
God. He went, he left. You will see
in the 12th chapter of Genesis how this is recorded. Such was
the efficacy of the faith of Abraham that he went out not
knowing where he was going. For Genesis chapter 12 verse
1, God said it will be unto a land that I will show you. It would
be revealed, it would be made known unto him in due time. And he left his homeland and
his family by faith and acted in harmony with the promise of
God and the divine call. And as scripture puts it, he
lived as a pilgrim in this world for quite a while, a stranger,
as it were, upon the earth, sojourning in a strange country, in tents,
in temporary dwelling. And as he did, by faith, according
to God's promise, He was looking for a city. A city having foundation. A city not handmade. Not made with the hands of men. But the second begins in verse
17. By faith Abraham, when he was
tried, offered up Isaac. This record you have in Genesis
chapter 22 as you know. Then he offered up the one son
of promise. in whom his seed would be called,
the one that God gave him after a long delay, the one in whom
the nations would be bled, and his seed would be called. And
though he was this promised son, Abraham lay him upon the altar,
because he believed, as Romans said, that God was able to raise
him up again and did raise him in a type or a parable or a picture,
a figure of the resurrection. But our main concern here is
the first acting of Abraham in faith. There is a second one
beginning at verse 9 and running then through verse 16. But coming
to verse 9, and if we might look at it again, being a continuation
of verse 8 and expanding even more in the verses following. where verse 8 says, Abraham was
called. Stephen in Acts 7 and verse 2
refers to this and he tells the council who hear charges of blasphemy
against him, men and brethren, hearken, the God of glory appeared
unto our father Abraham when he was yet in Mesopotamia before
he dwelt in Haran. Stephen remembered that. He dwelt
as a sojourner in the land of Canaan, confessing that they
were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Verse 13, the last
part. Hebrews 11. But we see here in
verse 9 that the land of Canaan is given the nickname the land
of promise or literally the promised land as we see it throughout
the Old Testament. a type of our heavenly inheritance
that is to be acquired by those in Christ. And in Hebrews 11,
verse 10, it opens with a conjunction for, and that is to explain further
why Abraham, number one, dwelt as a sojourner and a temporary
dweller upon the earth, Number two, in a strange country. Number three, living in tents. And number four, with other heirs
of promise that share the same hope. So that far, in verse 10,
because of the call and the promise of God, he looked far, he lived
in constant expectation, he cherished the hope of a city. a city which
had foundation, and such a city as had God as its builder and
its maker. It is a strange, I think, interpretation
held by some who make that city to be the earthly Jerusalem,
the central city of the Holy Land and the heartbeat of Judaism. But the overall context makes
it clear that the country and the city sought by Abraham was
both spiritual and it was heavenly. In verse 16, note, they desire
a better, that is, a heavenly. And verse 10, the architect of
the city is none other than God, not handmade, which lets out
earthly Jerusalem. Now, see some expressions that
are scattered throughout the passages here. In verse 10, he
looked for a city. Now, looked does not mean that
he went here and there, to and fro, on the earth searching for
such a city, but that by faith he lived in expectation of such
a city as God had promised, just as in John 8. And verse 56, Abraham
saw Christ's day and was glad and rejoiced when he saw it.
But look at verse 14 in chapter 11. They seek a country. Verse 16, they desire a better,
that is, a heavenly country. And then look at verse 13, they
all died in faith. Here's some point, the words
these all do not refer to every person mentioned since the second
verse for Enoch did not die, though he walked with God by
faith. But it includes those from Abraham's
house, who sojourned in and out of Canaan, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac,
Jacob, and such like. Now again, they died in faith
without receiving the fulfillment of the promise in its entirety. The expression, these all died
in faith must agree that the words can be rendered either
these all died by way of faith or these died according on the
faith. The meaning to this statement
is clear. They lived a life of faith and
that faith continued all of their days and they died in the same
faith in which they had lived, and then is explained, and this
is expanded upon in the next three verses in verse 14 through
verse 16, that they died in faith might be considered from two
standpoints are angle. That is, A, as they breathe their
last breath, in their last minutes in this vessel of clay, faith
assured them to the end that all was well with their soul. That this death was not an end,
but was a transition from this world onto that next one to come. That to be absent from the body
is to be present with the Lord as Paul puts it. Then B, these
all died in faith as to their special circumstances in that
day and time. In that they died prior to the
realization of the land of promise and the promises made to Abraham
and his seed concerning and regarding that land. that their dying according
to faith consists in death. They believed in the, as yet,
unfulfilled promise, and they lived with the hope of realizing
that promise, even though it did not come in their lifetime. They died believing the promise. They died by faith. And they
died in the faith by which they lived and ordered their life. Now, we see both a negative and
a positive connected to their dying according to faith, eh? These all died in or according
to faith. and the negative be not having
seen, that is realized or seen, the fulfillment, not living to
the realization of the promise. And though death cut off their
living to see the promise of God come to pass, it did not
put an end to the promise or to their firm persuasion of that
to come which God had said. B. These all died according to
faith, having seen them afar off, not having realized them
fully, but having seen them at a distance. Owen said that the
expression afar off refers Not to distance, but to time. Not far off as to mile, but far
off as to time. That is, in the future, sometime
in the future. The promise made to Abraham,
respecting dwelling. in the land of promise did not
come to fruition until the day of Joshua, when he led them across
and in. And Abraham, seeing the Lord's
day and his appearance, were separated by many years of time
before Abraham saw by faith and Christ appeared in the world. And such faith, even if it be
then afar off, stands upon the firm persuasion and the promise
of the Word of God. That is, God has promised, so
shall it be. even if we don't live to see
it. Nor Abraham, nor Sarah, nor Isaac,
nor Jacob lived to see the seed of Abraham go in and permanently
possess the land of Canaan. But they all died knowing and
believing that it would come to pass because it was the promise
of God. Consider for a moment that man
Joseph. Hebrews 11 and verse 22, when
he was dying, made mention of the departing of the children
of Israel, and he gave commandment concerning his bones. You have that in Genesis chapter
50 and verses 24 through verse 26. God, or rather Joseph said,
God will surely visit you and bring you out of this land into
that land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. And in verse 25, Joseph made
the children of Israel swear with an oath to carry his carcass
up with them when they departed, which they did, Exodus 13 verse
19, and at the time they buried him in Shechem in Cana, Joshua
chapter 24 and verse 32. However, we must not think that
the promises of God pertain only to literal, physical Canaan. but also to that which is spiritualized
or typified. For need we remind ourselves
that Abraham looked for a city with foundation and a heavenly
country. And consider then the faith of
Moses, Hebrews 11, 24 through verse 28, who by faith forsook
all the privileges that he had gained in the land of Egypt,
being called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He could have had an
easy life there and all the riches of Egypt. and the pleasures of
sin. And yet Moses, by faith, forsook
it all and reckoned the reproach of Christ to be of greater value
than all the treasures of the land of Egypt. And in the end
of verse 27, we read, he endured as seeing the invisible or the
unseen one. Now note three things concerning
Moses' faith. that their firstborn one should
be spared according to the declaration of God. Now, what is the apostles'
purpose in including these examples of the Old Testament saints'
faith for us? To establish that they believed
until they died. all the days of their life. And
this in the face many trials and trouble and setback and persecution. And even though so many of them
never lived to see the promise actually fulfilled, they believed
until they died. So he exhorts the believing Hebrews
in this epistle, they must persevere until the end. The only way to
do that is to embrace the Word of God and the promises of God
as being absolutely true. Why? He is faithful that promise. What he has promised, he will
do. He cannot deny himself. The Word
of God cannot fail. His promises are yea and amen
in the Lord Jesus. With Him, all things are possible. But let's reemphasize, He cannot
lie. And the examples here, which
the apostles cite, were the saints of old, that in spite of them
dwelling as a stranger in a foreign land, dying short of Canaan and
the fulfillment of the promises, Yet, as Pink said, and I quote,
never apostatized from the faith, unquote. Many did, but these
did not. They believed, they died in the
faith. And the point is that faith,
real faith, the faith of God's elect, the faith that justifies,
which is the gift of God, will accompany the saint even to the
point of their death. As the Puritan, that'd be Thomas
Manton, put it, as death performs its last office, unquote, faith
is there at that time. Faith is not like the fickle
conscience, which often forsakes and is a remiss in its peace
in the face of death, which sometimes turns upon the person, flies
in their face at the point of death, and terrifies them. Faith is an anchor of the soul,
holding our vessels, thank God, in the storms and the tumult
and the tossings of life, and keeping alive the hope of eternal
life in Christ Jesus, even as the flesh withers away and is
seized upon by death, by death, that common enemy of all mankind. Now I close by saying there are
three degrees concerning death in people. I think we ought to
look at this. Number one, there are those who
die in their sin, terrorized by dying in their sin, fearful
of that which awaits them and the judgment of God. Secondly,
I think there are some, it seems I've met some, with cauterized
consciences, ignorant, blind, that a fearful thing it is to
fall into the hands of the living God. They think little of death
and think themselves well in death, and that nothing to be
dreaded or feared. We've all met those. Some of
them are in false churches, false religion, and yet their soul
is anchored in that belief, that I'm not afraid to die. and yet
they may not know Christ. Thirdly, those with hearts purified
by faith, who can say with a psalmist, my flesh shall rest in hope,
and who can say with Job, I know that my Redeemer liveth. and can say with Paul, to die
is gain. For the child of God, to die
is gain. And so these all died in faith,
expecting the fulfillment, however, of the word and the promises
of God, even as he has declared unto us. And just like they,
we may die in faith, that our flesh shall rest in hope and
that there is a better abiding and a better life for those who
are in Christ. Thank God that that is so.