Alright, we're looking in Hebrews
11, and we've read these verses,
some of them, but we'll read some of them again. It says,
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he that cometh
to God must believe that He is a rewarder of them that diligently
seek Him. By faith Noah, being warned of
God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an
ark for the saving of his house by which he condemned the world
and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. By faith Abraham,
when he was called, go out into a place which he should after
receive on inheritance, obeyed and he went out not knowing whether
he went. By faith he sojourned in the
land of promise as in a strange country, dwelling 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. 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. 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 whence they
came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
But now they desire a better country. That is unheavenly. Wherefore, God is not ashamed
to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city."
Now, keeping in mind that this chapter is coming right on the
heels of what he had said in verse 10 where he said this,
Cast not away, therefore, your confidence, which hath great
recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience,
after that ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the
promise. For yet a little while that shall
come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live
by faith, but if any man draw back, my souls shall have no
pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw
back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of
the soul. Now, this passage must be taken in the context
of understanding that he is speaking here of what true faith is and
what belief is. And faith is not what a man begins
with. Faith is not that which is the
product of man. Faith is not that which a man
can get as though he would go into an orchard and pick apples
off of a tree or he would dig up potatoes out of the earth.
There is no labor involved in what we are talking about here
with this faith because the faith of which this is speaking of
is, of course, the gift of God. Now, that can't be emphasized
enough, and it is vitally necessary that we understand when we read
this book, this eleventh chapter of Hebrews, that faith is the
gift of God. Now, faith is the substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, but it's
not that which man can come up with. is that alone which God
can give. And so we see illustrated for
us all of those who the writer of Hebrews sets forth for us
as examples of faith. A lot of times people look at
these examples of faith and they want to build a shrine to them
like Peter wanted to build a shrine to Elijah and Moses on the Mount
of Transfiguration. I mean, because here was Moses
and Elijah and the Lord Jesus Christ in this cloud of glory,
and Peter said, well, it's a good thing that we're here. Man, this
is great. We'll just build a shrine to
all three of these great prophets of God. But then, of course,
we know what happened. Moses and Elijah disappeared. The Lord from heaven said, this
is my beloved Son, hear ye Him. So these are not given to us
here that we might build a shrine to them and that we might say,
well, we're going to put a plaque on the wall and say, well, Abraham
had faith. We're not going to put a plaque
on the wall that says Noah had faith. Because the source of
their faith and that which the writer is setting forth here
is to talk about the one who gives the faith and the one who's
the basis of faith. Because it doesn't just merely
count for anything if a man believes. Now, if you listen to the common
thought today about faith That is, it goes out over the radio
waves and whatnot. Faith is generally spoken of
as just something man just has, and it's just a matter of if
you're believing. No, it's not about believing
in that sense, but it's about the basis of that which you believe. Because if your faith is built
on something that is not the proper foundation, then it doesn't
make any difference what you believe. Because you can believe
anything you want to believe. Men can believe anything they
want to. You can't keep them from it,
and we're not sent into the world to try to keep them from it.
Because men are going to believe what they want to believe. But
that which is spoken of here is that faith without which it's
impossible to please God. Now, we've said this, but I can't
reiterate it enough, that it's not that God is just pleased
with faith. That's not the issue. That's
not the point. It says without faith it is impossible
to please God. But what is the faith? A man
must believe that he is. Well, who is he? He is the absolute
God. So it doesn't make any difference
what faith you might have. If that's not the faith it is,
it's not going to be pleasing to God. And there's only one
source of the faith that he's revealed to us. No man has seen
God at any time. The Son, which is in the bosom
of the Father, he hath declared him. Now how could we know the
God who is had it not been that Jesus Christ had come into the
world? We could never have seen Him.
We could never have understood Him. We could never have gained
it. And that's why it speaks here
about those that not having seen, not having yet received the promises,
believed God. See, these all died, the Scripture
says, in the faith, not having received the promises. Now brethren,
that can't be said of us because we have received the promises.
Now, we have not yet died and received, we've not had the manifestation
yet of those things that we shall see. It has not yet entered into
the heart of man what we shall be. But we have received the
promises. You see, the promise was that
the Lord said, Behold, a virgin shall conceive. and his name
shall be called Wonderful, Counselor of the Mighty God, the Prince
of Peace, the Everlasting Father." And we have received the promises
because the Lord Jesus Christ has come into the world. We're
not in a world where we are bereft of the promise. We've seen it.
Now, we haven't seen it with these eyes, but we have known
the revelation of it that Abraham didn't see. Now he confessed
that he was a stranger and a pilgrim in the earth in which we have
the same identical testimony if we be in Christ. We know this
world is not our home, but we also see greater things than
Abraham saw because we have seen the promise of God revealed.
There is not a cunning promise. Now what I mean by that is not
that the promised things that the Lord has said to us will
not yet occur, but the promise of God has come. And it is upon
the basis of knowing that the promise of God has come that
we look forward to that promise manifested as he said to his
disciples, I go away to prepare a place for you that where I
am there ye may be also. And is it not plainly set forth,
as he said to his disciples, when Thomas said, well, Lord,
show us the Father and it will suffice? He said, have I been
so long with you and you have not known me? He said, he that
has seen me has seen the Father. They said, well, we want to know
the way. He said, well, I am the way. the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but
by me. But you see, the promise, we
know that. Now when Abraham was walking
on the earth, he didn't know who the Messiah was. He was given
a promise that he looked forward to and he confessed that he wanted
a part of that. But he didn't know who it was.
But dear brethren, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven
is greater than the greatest of the Old Testament prophets.
because we have seen the Messiah. We know who He is. We're not
wondering yet. See, the Jews, they're wondering
who the Messiah is. The Arabs, I mean, they're wondering
who the Messiah is. They don't know. But you see,
to those who have been given this precious faith, we know
who He is. He's been revealed to us. And
so it cannot be said in the same fashion as it was said of Abraham
that we have died in the faith not having yet received the promises
because we have received the promise. We have not yet received
the manifestation of all that those promises hold and in that
is where we have a like-kindred mind with Abraham. Now I mentioned this last week
But I think it's good that we mention it again so that we understand
what the nature of that which Abraham looked for. Abraham was
promised some land. The Lord said to Abraham, I'm
going to give you this land. Now Abraham got that land. He got hold of it. He entered
into it. But listen to what this says.
It says, by faith he sojourned in the land of promise. Well, wait a minute. Didn't it
say that he hadn't yet received the promise? Well, he did receive
the promise in the carnal sense in which that land was given
to him and he occupied it. The Lord said that he would.
But you see, he was still dwelling in a strange land when he got
in the land that was promised to him carnally. Now this is
the thing, you see, that as Brother Al was pointing out there a moment
ago that the Jews and the Arabs do not understand. They believe
that the land of promise is a piece of ground over in the Mideast. Abraham knew that it was not.
How do we know that? Because it says right here, by
faith he sojourned in the land of promise. And what's a sojourner? The stranger. Now he was a stranger
in the land of promise. He had all of those things that
God gave him. God said, you're going to have
this land. And he got it. But he said, this
ain't it. He said, I'm not looking for
this. This is not the place I want to be. By faith he sojourned
in the land of promise as in what a strange country. It was
a strange place to him even though God said, It's yours. He said,
This world is not my home. He said, This promise is not
yet fulfilled with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of
the same promise. Now they dwelt in that same land,
same place, but he said, We're strangers and sojourners in this
land. And they manifested by living
in tents and tabernacles. They didn't build any cities
and great edifices. Why? Because even though it was
a land promised to them, it was not the promise that they were
looking for. It says, For he looked for a city which hath
foundations, whose builder and maker is God. He looked for something
more than a carnal piece of dirt. Now much blood has been shed,
and most likely more blood will be shed over this piece of dirt. And people will get all up in
arms, and some people will tell us that we need to get involved
in the mess. But I'm here to tell you that
that's not the land of promise. Abraham understood it, and he
looked for something beyond that. Dear brethren, we're not looking
for a land of promise in this world. We're not looking for
that which this world has to offer. For he looked for a city
which had foundations, a basis, that which something is built
upon that will not Blow away. Remember when the
Lord gave the parable of the two men. One man built his house
on the sand and another man built his house on the rock. And when
the rains came, the man that built his house on the rock was
the only one that stood. And that's an illustration of
the fact that faith itself is of no use whatsoever. Because
I imagine the man that built his house on the sand was happy
with the fine house that he had, wasn't he? Because he said, man,
this is great. And he believed that house would
be there from now on. Why would he have invested his
money in it if he didn't? But you see, it wasn't built
on a foundation. Now there is no foundation, the
Scripture says, which any other man can lay than that which is
laid, which is Jesus Christ. That is our foundation. There is no other name given
under heaven among men whereby we must be saved. There is not
one. This is it. For he looked for
a city which had foundations. He looked for something that
was substantial, that was built on more than being able to occupy
a piece of dirt in this world. And then listen to what it says,
"...whose builder and maker is God." Now there are two different
words used there, builder and maker. One, the first word, the
word builder, is often translated in Scripture as craftsman. And
the word maker is that which is a mechanic. Now, we might
think about that for a moment, that the builder is the one of
what it's saying here, the builder is speaking of one who would
be like an architect, one who crafts the building, one who
designs the building, one who has a mind for the beauty of
what it is. Now, the mechanic, on the other
hand, is the one that just puts the pieces together. The craftsman
is the builder, but he doesn't necessarily ever pick up a hammer. The mechanic picks up the hammer.
But think about this. He said whose builder and maker
is God. Not only is he the one that has
designed it, not only is he the one that has seen the beauty
of the panoramic view of the whole thing, But he has actually
taken up the hammer and the saw in his hand and he has placed
every part of that building in the exact place that he would
have it to be. And brethren, that's the place
we're looking for. is a place whose builder and
maker is God. Now, this world is made by God. I mean, He did the same thing
here, but not with the same thing in mind. See, the craftsman,
the designer, God didn't build this world that we presently
see as that which would be the manifestation of His glory. But
the city which has foundations is
that which is founded in Jesus Christ. It is the kingdom of
God. This world is temporary. Peter
said that the elements shall melt with fervent heat. This
world is passing away because it is temporary. Why is it temporary? Did God set out a grand experiment
and it went awry? And he said, well, I'm going
to have to start again. Now, that's the way a lot of people
look at it. They think that's what happened at the flood. And
the Lord just tried, and the Lord finally, He just gave up
on the world. Now He's going to destroy it.
No. He built this world to be destroyed because He would have
His people to know and understand that all of the blessings of
God are found in Jesus Christ. That is the place of His kingdom. And He said this to Nicodemus. He said, Nicodemus, except a
man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And so it is that that which
is eternal is that which is fashioned and formed as that which is eternal,
which is the kingdom of God, a city which has foundations.
Now we think of the city having foundations as that which can't
be moved, and that won't change because it is eternal. 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, if you read that on the surface
and you didn't know anything about this incident, you would
consider that, well, the Lord saw that Sarah had faith that
he was going to give her a son and therefore she judged him
faithful on the account of the fact that she judged him faithful. So God solved Sarah. He said,
Well, she believes me, so I'm going to count her as faithful
and I'm going to give her the thing that she asked. That's
not what it actually is implying or setting forth. But it's simply
stating the fact that that very incident that occurred, that
Sarah conceived seed, is based on the same faith that we confess. You see, by faith Sarah conceived
seed, by that which God had ordained. And Sarah did in the... I believe
that what the actual... if you look at this verse, in
its context and in the fact that it is speaking about the faith
of Abraham per se. It is that Sarah is included
in that which was given to Abraham and she is included in the family
of faith as a result of the very same faith that was given to
Abraham, the exact same one. It is not different. It's not
that Abraham had faith to do this and Sarah believed God would
give her a son, because the reality is that in the flesh she didn't
really necessarily believe it. Now, she heard about it and she
said, well, just like you pointed out there about giving her maid
Hagar to Abraham, she finally said, well, I don't think this
is going to happen, so here. You know? Having said that, lest
we jump on Sarah and get all, you know, well, she was just
unworthy. She did in a measure believe
the promise of God, did she not? Because she said, God said, He's
going to give us a son. I don't think I'm ever going
to have a child, so we've got to do something. Now, was she
completely right? Well, as we know as it turned
out, no, it wasn't the best way. It wasn't God's ordained purpose
for giving Abraham and her a son. Now, it was God's ordained purpose
to come to pass, though, was it not? I mean, this man wouldn't
have come to pass if it had not been for that, and the Lord ordained
that. So it was in keeping with that. And Sarah did have some inclination
toward having a son, even though she jumped the gun, so to speak.
She was not waiting upon the Lord. as she perhaps should have,
as men would describe it. I don't know any other way to
put it. But nonetheless, as the time came, the Lord gave her
a son. Now, when the Lord appeared to
Abraham on the plains of Mamre, And prior to that, when he appeared
to him individually and he told him he was going to have a son,
the scripture says that Abraham laughed and he fell upon his
face before God. Now, I think that what... Now, Abraham, as he did that,
I don't think he was laughing in the sense of scoffing at what
God had said. I think what it was was that
he was overjoyed at the prospect that God was going to give him
a son, and he fell on his face to worship God. He laughed. I mean, laughter is not necessarily
derision. It's an expression of joy. And
I believe that Abraham believed God when God told him that. Now,
did he know how God was going to do it? No. He didn't have
any understanding. came and he took to Abraham on
the plains of Mamre and he told him, in about a year you're going
to have a son. He said, oh, that Ishmael might
live before thee. You know, I don't think that
can happen. But Abraham, you see, he didn't
believe in the sense that he just knew it was going to happen,
did he? But you see, God, who is rich
in mercy and the author and finisher of our faith, He says here of
Abraham that he believed God. And it says here that Sarah believed
God. Yet the Scripture says that she
actually laughed in her heart. Now Abraham laughed openly. in an expression of joy as he
fell on his face before God. We don't find that happening
with Sarah. Because she laughed within herself,
and then when the Lord said, Why did you laugh? She said,
Oh, I didn't laugh. Because, you see, she laughed
in her heart. She said, I don't believe that's
going to ever happen. I'm old as I am. How am I going
to have a son? But did that keep her from having
a son? No. And the scripture says that
by faith she conceived and she had a son. So it wasn't that
she believed God was going to do it. That wasn't the power
that caused her to have a son, was it? Because she didn't believe
He would do it. But yet by grace, according to
the working of God, you see, she was given faith. And maybe
it was once she became with Charles that she believed in the sense
in which we would say she believed, but in the sense of saying that
it was because she believed that she received the blessings of
God, as some will tell you. I believe this passage of Scripture
would indicate that's not the case. But it was on the account
of faith that these blessings came to her. Just like it's on
the account of faith. Whose faith? The faith of Christ. The giver of faith. The one who
causes the things, whether we believe them or not, to come
to pass. The disciples, when the Lord
said, I'm going to prepare a place for you, they didn't understand
that, did they? They didn't believe it. They
didn't sit back and say, ma'am, we're glad you're going and we're
glad you're going to do all these things. They said, well, Lord,
how can we come there? What do we know about it? I mean,
is it really true? And that's when the Lord said,
I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father
but by me. And so it was indeed when she
was past age, she received power to have this child through faith. Because it is through the faith
that is given to us, is it not? Now these all died in the faith,
not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off. They didn't receive the things
that you and I receive. They saw them afar off. Now, we've seen them presently,
but we've also seen them afar off, because we haven't seen
the full manifestation. But we know what the basis of
it is. I mean, think, just the very fact that we're sitting
here talking about Abraham and what was given to him, proves
the fact that we are given something Abraham didn't have. I mean,
who did Abraham sit around and talk about? I mean, he didn't
have anybody, did he? Because he came out of pagan
idolatry. The Lord called him out of Ur
of the Chaldees and put him in a land of promise. And what did
Abraham have to do with any of that except that God called him
and gave him faith to believe it and brought him out and put
him there? But once he put him there, he knew there was something
better than that. And he dwelt as a stranger in the land of
promise. So these all died in the faith,
speaking about Abraham, Sarah, Noah, Enoch. Enoch, of course,
he didn't die, but all of those who did die, they didn't receive
the promises, but having seen them afar off and were persuaded
of them, they were convinced and embraced them and confessed
that they were strangers and pilgrims in the earth. They said
this world is not our home. We are passing through. This
is not the place where our long home is. Now some have called
that a pie in the sky by and by. And as such will be those
who are disbelievers and those who do not understand the kingdom
of God. Now we don't desire just to go
to a happy place. Now the world wants to go to
a happy place. Doesn't everybody want to go
to heaven? I remember the story about the preacher asking the
congregation, did everybody want to go to heaven? Or he said, Who wants to go to
heaven? Well, everybody raised their
hands, except one little old boy in the back. He said, Well,
son, don't you want to go to heaven when you die? He said,
Oh, yeah. He said, I thought you was getting
up a load to go right now. And that's kind of the way people
think about heaven, isn't it? It's just a happy place. It's
everybody's happy place. I mean, whatever you want to
do in this world is what you're going to do in heaven. But dear
brethren, those who have been given the faith of God, who confess
that they're strangers and pilgrims, sojourners in this earth, they're
not just looking for a happy place, but they're looking for
a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
It's a place where Christ is. You see, that's what heaven is
to those who believe Christ, is that it's Christ. He's the
one that makes heaven a happy place. I mean, heaven wouldn't
be a happy place for those who confess that they look for a
city if it was just a place where you went and fished all day,
or you did whatever you like to do. I've heard all kinds of
stuff people tell about. So by the grace of God, we look
for a city whose builder and maker is God. And, you know,
that's just what we confess. We don't confess it to make it
true. It's just a fact, just the way that it is. And a man
can't anymore give himself that confession, then He can depart
from it if it's been given to Him. I mean, we are what we are
by the grace of God. May He give us a mind and heart
to seek Him. And even His exhortation to hold
fast, the confidence that we have steadfast unto the end.
Because the Lord has no pleasure in them that draw back. to those
who just say they're going there, but it is to those who desire
it and those who continue on in that way by the grace of God.