Let's open our Bibles tonight
to Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews 11. Now the title of this message is,
Faith's Perseverance. Faith's Perseverance. A few days
ago, I brought you a message on the
subject, the faith of God's elect. from this chapter in Hebrews.
And I had you underscore some words about faith. I'm going
to review them just for a moment. In verse 1, I talked about faith's
definition and had you underscore things hoped for, things not
seen. That's the definition of faith.
The things hoped for. The things not seen. And then in verse 3, I showed
you faith's foundation. The Word of God. Through faith,
we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God.
That's the foundation of faith. God's Word. We believe because
He has said it. He has spoken it. And then in
verse 4, I showed you faith's sacrifice. We don't bring a lamb,
but we bring that which Abel's lamb pictured, verse 4, a more
excellent sacrifice. That's Christ. Faith has a more
excellent sacrifice, the blood of the Son of God. And then in
verse 5, I showed you faith's walk. It says, Enoch pleased
God. How did he please God? By faith. Verse 6 says, without faith it's
impossible to please God. Enoch walked with God. But he
didn't walk with God because he worked. He walked with God
because he believed God. He believed God. That was the
foundation of his faith. He believed God just like Abraham.
So that's faith's walk. It's walks with God. He believes
God. He pleases God. And then verse
7, I showed you faith's response. How does faith respond? Verse
7, it moves with fear. When God speaks, it moves. When
God calls, they come. By faith, Noah, being warned
of God of things not seen, moved. Faith responds. Responds to the
Word of God. Not in word only, but in deed. Can't separate faith and conduct,
faith and obedience. Then in verse 8, I showed you
faith's trials. A summary of faith's trials.
By faith, Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place
which he should have to receive for an inheritance, obeyed. And
he went out. Here's the word, not knowing
whether he went. The wind blows where it listeth.
And you hear the sound there. I can't tell whence it cometh
or where it's going. That's trials. They're set by
God. And we don't know why, or where, or how, but we know they're
from Him. And faith submits to those trials. And then I showed you in verse
11, faith's confidence and assurance. Verse 11 says, Through faith
also Sava 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. That's faith's confidence. Our
confidence is not in our faith, it's in Him who promised. He's
faithful. He's faithful. He cannot fail
because He's faithful in all that He promised. And then tonight,
I want us to look at verse 13. I spoke briefly on this point
in that other message. But I want to speak more fully
on this subject tonight. It says here in verse 13, these
all, talking about Abel and Abraham and Noah and Moses and Sarah,
these all died in faith. Now the first thing I note about
that statement is this, Even though they had faith, and even
though they believed God, they died. They died. Faith does not deliver us from
illness. And does not deliver us from
death. The last time I stood in this pulpit on Wednesday night,
two weeks ago, there was a casket down here where this table is.
And in that casket was a dear, dear friend of ours. Brother. Preacher of the gospel. A man
who believed God, a man who loved God, a man who was young, 55
years of age, half-Yates, half-believed God, but he still got sick and
died. He believed the gospel, he had
faith, God gave him faith, he preached the gospel, he loved
the gospel, he blessed many people. There's some folks up in Dingus
that say, what are we going to do without him? Well, you'll
have to do without him. And someday you'll have to do
without me and someday we'll have to do without you. Because
you died. These all died. Abel died, Abraham
died, Noah died. It's the part of them to me that
wants to die. It's the way of all flesh. And
not only unbelievers die, believers die. Unbelievers die and believers
die. Unbelievers get sick and believers
get sick. Cain died, but so did Abel. Pharaoh
died, you say he deserved to. Moses did too. Moses died. Esau died and Jacob died. Judas
died by his own hand, but Peter died also. Believers die as well
as unbelievers. So that's the first thing I noticed,
these all died. But now, what's the second two
words? They died in faith. They continued to believe God
all the days of their lives, and they died believing God. They began the journey believing
God, and they ended the journey believing God. They died. They
continued. The Scriptures are too clear
on this point for us to be mistaken. True believers never cease to
be believers. John Gill said this about this
particular point right here. He was dealing with the subject
of believers dying in faith. Dying, believing God. Believing God. Continuing in
the faith. Holding on to their profession.
This is what he said. The grace of faith, which is
the gift of God, once implanted will never be lost. The grace
of faith to believe God, which is the gift of God, once implanted,
will never, never be lost. The righteous shall hold his
way. He shall continue in faith. Back one page, turn to Hebrews
10, back just Back one page from where you are in your Bible,
probably on the same page. In verse 38 of Hebrews 10, it
says, Now the just shall live by faith. But if any man draw
back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But, watch this now,
we are not of them which draw back. We are not of them who
draw back under perdition, but of them that believe, and keep
believing, and keep believing. to the saving of the soul. I
want to show you a Scripture in Jeremiah, chapter 32. Jeremiah, chapter 32. Now here,
the Lord is talking about His covenant with Israel, which is
His covenant with spiritual Israel, which is His covenant with you
and with me and with every believer. And He says here in Jeremiah
32, verse 38, He says, They shall be My people. And I'll be their
God. And I'll give them one heart
and one way that they may fear Me forever, all their days, for
the good of them and of their children after them. And I'll
make an everlasting covenant with them, now watch this, that
I will not turn away from them, I will not turn away from them,
I will not turn away from them to do them good, But I'll put
my fear in their hearts, and they shall not depart from me."
There it is. There's preservation and perseverance.
I will not turn from them, and they will not turn from me. That's
a guarantee. They die in faith. I will not
turn from them, and they will not turn from me. All right,
let me show you something else I've noticed about this statement.
These all died. These all died. expect it. We don't sometimes
welcome it, but they died in faith. They died believing God. They didn't die on a scrap heap.
They died believing God. They didn't die denying the gospel. They died in faith. And here's
the thing I notice here, they never got beyond faith. When
they came to the end of the journey, they would still believe in God,
believe in Christ. They never got beyond faith.
True believers never get beyond trusting Christ, looking to Christ,
resting in Christ, feasting upon Christ. I'm a little suspicious
of people who are always looking for something more, something
better, signs and wonders, Is not God's Word enough? I'm always
troubled by people who talk of a new experience, such as receiving
the Spirit, receiving certain gifts. Is not Christ enough?
Is not His Word enough? Is not Christ enough? I'm concerned
about people who want to hear more of what we ought to do.
What we ought to do. Is not faith enough? Did you begin In the Spirit,
we are made perfect by our works? No, we begin in the Spirit, we
continue in the Spirit, we are made perfect by the Spirit. We
begin in faith, we continue in faith, we die in faith. They
never got beyond faith. Let me show you an illustration
that occurred to me while I was looking at this point here, Luke
chapter 2. Now there are three things I
mention. Is not the Word enough? Do I
need signs and wonders in addition, visions and dreams in addition
to God's Word? Is not the Word enough? Do I
need the baptism of the Holy Spirit, something better and
something newer and greater experience, or is not Christ enough? B.B. Caldwell said one time,
anything, any experience that's better than Christ, God didn't
give it to you. Any experience that eclipses
Christ is not of God. That's right. If it broughts
out the Son, it's not of God. Is not Christ enough? Is not
faith enough? Listen to Simeon. Now this is
an old man. This is an old, old man. In Luke
2.25. This is a man God selected, elected,
chose. God visited him in a special
manner. And I want you to see how He
deals with these three things I've mentioned. Is not the Word
enough? Is not faith enough? Is not Christ enough? Listen
to it. In Luke 2 verse 45, And behold,
there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And the
same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of
Israel, and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed
unto him by the Holy Ghost that he would not see death, before
he had been baptized with the Holy Ghost, spoke in tongues,
had a new vision, no, before he saw the Lord Christ. And he
came with the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents
brought in the child, Jesus, to do for him after the custom
of the law, then Simeon took him up in his arms and blessed
God and said, Lord, now, let us, thou servant, Depart. Die. Leave here in peace. Number one, according to thy
word. That's guarantee enough for me.
Your word. Secondly, for mine eyes have
seen. That's faith. I've seen. He that seeth the Son and believeth
on him. Thy salvation. That's Christ.
John, that's all I need. And let me die. Based on that,
they died. And they died in faith. And none of these men had any
experience better than faith. Richer than faith. Greater than
faith. They died in faith. Alright, turn back to the text.
What is this faith in which they died? Let's see if he identifies
this faith in which they died. Alright, verse 13, Hebrews 11.
Not having received the promises. Now then, they received the promises. What is this saying? Not having
received the promises? There's a word that needs to
be put in there, really. Not having received the fulfillment
of the promises. Yeah, they had the promises now.
Adam and Eve had the promise of the seed of woman. But the
fulfillment of that promise They didn't see. Isn't that right?
They had the promise. God promised the seed of woman.
God promised the seed of woman. But they didn't live to see.
You and I have seen the seed of woman. Abel did not see the
Lamb of God. But he sure had the promise.
He didn't see the fulfillment of it. He was offering a lamb.
I don't offer a lamb. I've seen the fulfillment. Abraham did not see his seed
as the stars. He saw one boy. I don't know whether he lived
to see a grandchild or not. But he had the promise. He had
the promise. And that's the faith. Faith rests
on the promise. That what God promises is as
good as done. Moses didn't see the Passover
fulfilled. He died still celebrating the
Passover. You and I don't celebrate the
Passover. It's fulfilled. Christ is our Passover. Jacob
didn't see Shallow, but he sure had the promise. He said, the
scepter shall not depart from Judah till Shallow comes, whose
goings forth have been from everlasting. I know who he's talking about.
He never saw it, but he had the promise. Isaiah never saw the
virgin son, but he wrote about him. He never saw the child born,
the son given, the one whose name is wonderful. I did. It's
been fulfilled. But this is faith. It receives
the promise. Let me show you what it says
over here in Romans 4. This is very vital right here.
What is this faith? in which they died. It has to
do with God's Word. It has to do with God's power.
It has to do with God's Son. In Romans 4, verse 17, "...as
it is written, I made you a father of many nations." Now watch it. "...before Him whom He believed,
even God." I told somebody the other day, this generation believes
there is a God, but they don't believe Him. They believe in
God, but they don't believe Him. Abraham believed Him. Now listen,
who did he believe? He believed Him, even God, who
quickens the dead and calls those things which be not as though
they were. There it is. Now then, are there
promises you and I have not had fulfilled? Am I called on to believe with
the same kind of faith? These men had promises They had
the promises, but they were not fulfilled. Oh, there's many. The coming of Christ. He said,
I'll come again and receive you to myself. He hadn't yet. He said, I'll go to prepare a
place for you. I haven't seen it, but I know
it's there. He said that my body may be buried,
but when I die, He's going to come back and raise my body and
make me like Him. That hasn't happened yet. I believe
in the same faith. Having received the promises,
but not the fulfillment of them. That's right. Secondly, what's
this now about this faith? Verse 13, they haven't. Having received the promises,
but not the fulfillment of them, but they saw them afar off. How far off? Job, 4,000 years.
That's right. Job, wasn't he the earliest one?
He said, I know my Redeemer liveth, and He's going to stand on this
earth, and I'm going to see Him, and not another. These eyes are
going to see my Redeemer. How far off Abraham? Well, 3,000 years. It says, Abraham
rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was glad. A far
off. A far off. Moses, 2,000 years. A far off. Moses wrote of him. And notice another thing. It
says they received the promises, not the fulfillment of them,
but the promises, and saw them a far off, and watch this, and
were persuaded of them. You know, I preached here Sunday
morning about Abraham. God came to him and told him
to cast out the bond woman and her son. Cast Hagar out and Ishmael. And I tried to point out to you,
he loved Hagar and he loved Ishmael. Ishmael was about 17 years of
age. And most people seemed to think
that was a cruel act on the part of Abraham. How could he just
put a bottle of water on that young lady's shoulders and a
loaf of bread under her arm and kiss his son and watch as they
walked off in the wilderness? I'll tell you how. He was fully,
confidently persuaded, God's going to bless that boy. God
said to Abraham in verse 13 of that chapter 21, He said, don't
you worry about Ishmael, I'm going to make him a great nation.
A great nation. And Abraham was, this is what
this says here, they hadn't received the full fulfillment of the promises,
saw them afar, and were persuaded of them. Persuaded of them. And when he took that boy up
the mountain, Isaac, and he said to those young men, You wait
here, the land, and I'll go up and worship God, and we'll be
back." He was persuaded beyond a shadow of a doubt that he'd
walk down that mountain with Isaac. He didn't have a doubt
in his mind about it, because God said in Isaac, shall your
seed be called? And he knew God couldn't kill
Isaac. Because God can't lie. A man
can lie, still be a man, but God can't be God and lie. Persuaded, that's the thing.
Oh, Paul said, Moses was persuaded that what God, or Abraham was
persuaded that what God had promised, he was able to perform. In Romans
8, 38, Paul said, I'm persuaded that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities can separate us from the love
of Christ. In 2 Timothy 1, Paul said, I
know whom I have believed. I am persuaded. He's able to
keep that which I've committed you. I'm persuaded. That's faith. Not this. Persuasion. Now what's the fourth thing here?
Let's look at where we are. First of all, they believed the
promises. Believed them. They didn't see them, they believed
them. They didn't see them fulfilled, they believed them. They saw
him far off, way off, many years. They were persuaded of him and
watched this. And they embraced him. They embraced
him. Abel embraced the promise and
offered a more excellent sacrifice. Noah embraced the promise and
built an ark. Abraham embraced the promise
and sent forth Ishmael. Moses embraced the promise and
left Egypt. embraced it, made it theirs. Over here in Ruth, let's turn
to Ruth a minute. Last time I heard Hap speak,
he spoke from this passage of Scripture right here, Ruth chapter
1. This sums up this commitment,
this commitment Paul said, I know whom I have believed. I'm persuaded
that He's able to keep that which I've committed. Faith is a commitment. Without the commitment, there's
no faith. In Ruth 1 verse 16, Ruth said to Naomi who was urging
her to go back to her people, return, go back where your sister's
gone. Go on back. Ruth said, entreat
me not to leave thee. or to return from following after
thee. For where you go, I will go. Where you lodge, I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people. Thy God, my God. Where you die,
will I die, and there will I be buried." That's commitment. Alright, let's look at the text
again and see how this faith affected their lives. Down here in verse 13. They died in faith, not having
received the fulfillment of the promises, but having by faith
seen them afar off and been fully persuaded of them and embraced
them. experienced them. They were made
their own. And here's what they did. This
is how it affected their lives. They confessed. They willingly
confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on this earth. They
willingly, readily confessed, this world is not my home. This world is not my home, it's
not my dwelling place, it's not my inheritance. God forbid that
I should glory save in the cross of Christ by which the world
is crucified to me, and I unto the world. I am crucified with
Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me, and the life which I now live in this flesh, I live by
the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself
for me. They confess, this is not my home, this is not my dwelling
place, this is not my inheritance, these are not my people in this
world. I'm a sojourner. Let's see how Abraham put it
over here in Genesis 23. Now, we looked at chapter 21,
Sunday morning, and chapter 22, Sunday night. Look here at the
beginning of chapter 23. Sarah died. I want you to listen to Abraham
now. This world is not my home. That's
what he says in Genesis 23. Verse 1, and Sarah was a hundred
and seven and twenty years old, 127 years old. These were the
years of the life of Sarah. And Sarah died in Kerjeth Arbor. The same is Hebron, the land
of Canaan. Abraham came to mourn for Sarah,
to weep for her. Abraham stood up from before
his dead and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying, I'm a stranger. I'm a stranger here. I'm a sojourner. I'm a pilgrim. I'm a traveler here among you. Give me a possession of a burying
place with you that I may bury my dead out of my sight. Think
about this. Here is the greatest man on the
face of the earth. The greatest man living. Abraham. With no place to bury
his wife. He didn't own a piece of land. That's what this is talking about.
He didn't have nothing. He had nothing. This world was
not his home. David owned a lot, but listen
to what David said in Psalm 39. Yeah, David was a wealthy man,
and a powerful man, and a king, and had a castle, a palace, or
whatever. But turn to Psalm 39, let's see
what he said. You see, these people confessed
they were strangers and pilgrims on this earth. They were passing
through. Passing through. And David in Psalm 39.12 says,
Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry. Hold not thy
peace at my tears. I'm a stranger. I'm a passing
guest. That's what they amplify. It says, I'm a passing guest. I'm a sojourner. This man's a
king. It rules a nation. This man has
everything that a person naturally could desire, but it didn't mean
anything to him. He says, I'm just passing through.
I'm a passing guest with thee. With thee, passing through. I'm
a stranger. Watch verse 13, O spare me that
I may recover strength before I go And I like to put the word
home. Go home and be here no more. Going home. The old song said
to die no more. I'm going home. That's how it
affected their lives. It's this thing of they had the promises, saw them
afar off. Be confident of them. You can't
turn loose of this until you have that. But if you have that,
you can turn loose of this. You say, why don't people lay
hold of God? They won't turn loose of their other gods. No
man can serve two gods. He can't serve God and mammon. But when you have Him, you can
turn loose of the others because they're flimsy and fickle and
foolish and faulty and fatal. Turn them loose. They were persuaded. And so they embraced the promises.
And then they confessed, I'm a stranger. I'm a pilgrim. I'm a passing guest. And I'm
a weary pilgrim. And I'm going home. And what's
the next thing? And they said this, they plainly,
verse 14, they that say such things, declare plainly that
they're seeking a country. Let me wear you a little bit
with some more. I love Dr. Gill, but let me tell
you what he says here. They declare plainly they're
seeking a country. They have no settlement here,
no real satisfaction here. They desire to win Christ and
be found in Him and to attain unto the resurrection. And they
seek a country. They're seeking God's kingdom.
They're seeking heaven. And they don't seek that glorious
country because they were born privileged. They don't seek that
country by their personal holiness. They don't seek that country
by their good deeds. They don't seek that country
by a mere profession of faith and religion. They know the way
to that country is Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
way to that country. It's His righteousness. It's
His sacrifice that not only secures for us that country, but makes
us fit to enter there and gives us a sure title to sonship. It's Christ. We seek a country
and that plainly declare, let everybody know that I've got
something better. seeking a country. All right,
third and last, Baptist faith and how it affected their lives.
And truly, if they had been mindful of the country from which they
came out, now that can mean anything. That can be false religion, that
can be a lot of other things. The country from which they came,
the country where God found them, the way of life where God found
them from which He called them, from which they came out, they
might have had opportunity to have returned. In other words,
how did it affect their lives? They proved their lack of interest
in the country out of which they came by the fact they never returned. They never turned back. They
could have. Never turned back. That's the reason I say true
believers never Quit believing. They never turned back. They
could have. They could have come back if
they wanted to. Christ turned to His disciples and said, would
you go away? They said, to whom shall we go? Now that's the words of life. You see, I jotted down four things
in an outline here. The object of faith is Christ. The foundation of faith is His
Word. The evidence of faith is love. By this shall all men know ye
my disciples, ye loved one another. The great mark of faith is perseverance. They continue. That's right. They could have gone back, but
they wouldn't. They wouldn't. Some do. Let me show you a couple
of scriptures. In 1 John chapter 2. Now look at these with me. Some
do. Which proves that they were not of us. John said this, now
listen. 1 John 2 verse 19. They went out from us. They went
back. But they were not of us. They
had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us,
but they went out, that it might be made manifest they were not
all of us. Now here's a Scripture lots of
people are not familiar with, but turn to 1 Timothy 5. 1 Timothy chapter 5. It says in verse 11, The younger widows, as far as
church membership is concerned, the younger widows refuse. When
they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they'll marry.
They'll marry out of the faith. They'll marry an unbeliever,
having damnation because they've cast off their first faith. And with all they learn to be
idle, wondering about from house to house, and not only idle,
but tattlers also, and busybodies speaking things which they ought
not. I will, therefore, that younger widows marry, bear children,
guide the house, give non-occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. Some have already turned aside
after Satan." Some people turn back, but not
a true believer. That's what it says here in Hebrews
chapter 11. Go back to my text and I'll close
with a word. In verse 15, truly, if they had
been mindful of that country, if they had kept it on their
minds, if they had kept that state and country and spirit
and covetous, Lot's wife, she left Sodom, but she never really
left Sodom. Her body left Sodom, but her
mind was in Sodom. And that's the way folks are
that get religion. They make professions and their
bodies run around with people in the church and go to church
and do all this, but their minds and hearts are still back yonder.
Still back yonder. And this is how this affected
the lives of these people. They embraced the promises. They
confessed they were strangers and pilgrims, they desired a
better country, and they never ever thought of turning back.
They were not mindful of it. Just not mindful of that country
at all. Not mindful. Not mindful. All right, look
at the next verse. And now they desire a better
country, better kingdom. The word country is in italics. That is a heavenly country. Wherefore
God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He hath prepared
for them a city. And it says in Hebrews chapter
2, our Lord Jesus is not ashamed to call them brethren. John Newton, I believe it was,
wrote this. How happy every child of grace
who knows his sins are forgiven. This earth, he cries, is not
my place. I seek my home in heaven. A country
far from mortal sight, yet, oh, by faith I see. The land of rest,
the saints' delight, that heaven prepared for me. A stranger in
this world below, I calmly sojourn here, nor can its happiness or
its woe encourage my hope or fear. Its evils in a moment end,
its joys will soon be past, but oh the glory for which I look
eternally shall last.