Hebrews - The Faith of Abraham and Sarah - Part 3

Abraham is the great example of what it means to live by faith. Abraham and Sarah were godly people; they made their mistakes, they had their problems, but they trusted God and they obeyed Him.

We've been looking at Hebrews 11, and now we’ve come to Hebrews 11:13-16: "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 on 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 return. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city."

When Hebrews 11:13 says that they had not received the promises, this means they had not received that which was promised. God promised them a land, but Abraham never owned that land. He lived in it as a stranger and a pilgrim, and the only thing he owned in that land was a grave where he was buried, where Sarah was buried. Isaac, Jacob were sojourners in the land, but eventually God gave those people the land, their descendants, because they claimed it as their inheritance.

It’s important when you walk by faith to realize that God has a timetable. God has His schedule. To do something to the glory of God means that we must do it in the right way, with the right motive, at the right time. You know, it’s possible to do a good thing at the wrong time. It’s possible also to do a good thing at the right time with a wrong motive.

So our motive must be right—the glory of God—and our means must be right—we should do it the way God wants it done—but also our timing has to be right.

The Lord Jesus Christ lived on a divine timetable. He said to His disciples, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? My hour is not yet come." I believe that God has ordained for us works that He wants us to perform. Ephesians 2:10: "For ye are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before prepared, before ordained, that we should walk in them." I believe that God does have a plan for our lives.

Now, He expects us to use our common sense. Unfortunately, common sense is very uncommon these days; people are doing very, very strange things. He expects me to think and to plan and to pray and to meditate and to wait for the Spirit to guide. It’s such a wonderful thing to wait before the Lord and to see how He opens up the way, how He puts things together in a beautiful way when we wait before Him, we think, we plan, we meditate, we search the Scriptures. God has a definite plan for our lives.

Now, there are those who say it really doesn’t make much difference what we do, as long as you do it to the glory of God and you’re willing to be sincere about it. I believe God has a definite plan for each of our lives. I don’t believe that we should worry God with little details we can think about ourselves.

I had a friend in school who actually became a nervous wreck because he prayed about every little detail of life. What breakfast food should he eat at breakfast? I don't really pray about that. I commit my life to the Lord and I expect God to guide me, and I don't ask God if I should eat a certain breakfast food.

What I’m saying is this: God has given us a brain to think with. God has given us a book, His Bible, that we can trust. God has given us the Holy Spirit within. Now, as the Spirit of God uses the Word of God and impresses on our minds the truth of God, then our minds are transformed and He can guide us. But we have to have patience, patience, patience.

I need to preach to myself at this point because, oh, how I need patience! I suppose the one area in life that God constantly has to be working on in my life is this matter of patience. Because it’s through faith and patience that we inherit the promise—Hebrews 6:12.

Now God gives His promises, but God doesn’t always give us His timetable. When God says, "Now I want you to take a step," I'll take a step. "Now take two more steps," I'll take two more steps. I believe in waiting before God, and this is what Abraham had to do. He had to wait before God. Abraham died in faith.

You’re going to die the way you live. You live an unbeliever—unless you trust Jesus Christ—you’ll die an unbeliever. He lived by faith; he died by faith. It’s great to die by faith—faith in the Word of God. Are you going to die by faith? Can you on your deathbed look up and say, "I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day"? There are no speculations; we want assurances.

He died in faith, and so did Isaac, and so did Jacob, not having received the things that were promised, but having seen them afar off. Now, you can always tell a person who is waiting by faith; they have certain characteristics. Number one: you can always tell one of these pilgrims because they live in a tent. In Hebrews 11:9, he dwelt in tents—tabernacles. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived in tents. A pilgrim has to be on the move. Now you and I dwell in a tent—the earthly house of this tabernacle—2 Corinthians 5:1.

You can always tell one of these pilgrims not only by his tent, but by his eyes. In Hebrews 11:10, he looked for the city. In Hebrews 11:13, these all died in faith, not having received the promise, but having seen them, seen them afar off. Hebrews 11:14: they seek a country. They’re looking for a city in the heavenly country.

You can always tell one of these pilgrims by his eyes; he has sort of a faraway look in his eye. Now, he’s not a visionary—that’s the last thing we need in our churches today, a visionary, somebody who has these ethereal, nebulous views and gets very mystical. No, no, Abraham was not like that, neither were Isaac and Jacob.

When a person’s living by faith, he can see the future; he can see the invisible. First there’s vision, and then there’s revision, then there’s supervision, and God brings about great things. Now Abraham saw a city. He said, "One of these days there’s going to be a city and I’m going to go there." Isaac saw the city; Jacob saw the city. You can always tell one of these pilgrims by his eyes.

Remember, a fugitive is somebody who’s running away from home. A vagabond is somebody who has no home. A stranger is a person who’s away from home. A pilgrim is somebody who’s on the way home. We are strangers and pilgrims. We’re away from home—our citizenship is in heaven, our home is in heaven. "I go to prepare a place for you," said the Lord Jesus. And so we are strangers because we’re away from home; we’re pilgrims because we’re on the way home.

Well, these all died in faith, not having received the things that were promised, but having seen them afar off. They were persuaded of them—they had a conviction within. They embraced them—ah, that means more than mental assent; this means they gave themselves to these promises. And they confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

You can always tell one of these pilgrims by his tent—he’s temporary; he doesn’t get himself too attached to the things of this life. You can tell a pilgrim because of his eyes—he’s looking down toward the future; he sees this vision of what God is going to do. And thirdly, you can tell him by his lips—he’s not ashamed to confess what he believes.

Hebrews 11:14: "For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country." Wherever Abraham went, people would say, "Oh, Abraham, you’re a great man. Why don’t you build yourself a city?" "No, I’m looking for a city." "Well, why do you live in that tent? A tent is a very unsafe structure." "No, I’m not going to build myself a house because I’m just here temporarily. This world is not my home; I’m just passing through. I’ve got to be ready anytime God calls me. I have to move at God’s command."

This is the mistake you see that Lot made. Lot began to get interested in the city, and the city he got interested in was Sodom. He learned that in Egypt. Abraham was able to take Lot out of Egypt, but he was never able to get Egypt out of Lot. And so Lot moved over toward Sodom, then he moved into Sodom, and before you know it, Lot has lost the tent and he’s living in a house. And he’s all settled down—temporarily? No, permanently. And Lot becomes a big man in the city.

Now, Lot did not agree with what went on in the city, but he had no right to be there. Lot ceased to be a stranger and a pilgrim; he got at home in this world. You watch out when you start getting too comfortable in this world, because this world is not your home. We live for the next world, not this world. And when Lot had to be rescued from Sodom, thanks to the prayers of Abraham, he didn't want to leave. The angels had to get a hold of Lot and drag him out of the city because his heart was so in love with that permanent home of his.

"And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from which they came out, they might have had opportunity to return." This is the theme of Hebrews, isn't it? Let us go on to perfection. The people to whom the book of Hebrews was written were tempted to go back, to go back into the old life.

They were going through difficulty, persecution, economic problems—everything was shaking. And their temptation was to go back. They learned that from the Old Testament nation of Israel, didn't they? They kept saying, "Let’s go back to Egypt. Let’s make a commander and go back. Moses, if you want to go on, go ahead; we’re going back."

Oh, that’s the temptation you face. When things are tough, you say, "Well, why trust the Lord? Where in the world is He leading me? Here I am trusting Him and obeying Him, and look what I’m into. My, oh my, where’d all this trouble come from? And let’s go back." And the devil comes along and says, "You know, things went better when you were living in the world. You know, you had more money, you had more friends. Why don’t you go back to that other life? You'll be alright."

And Hebrews 11:15 says that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, if they had wanted to, could have gone back. But they were not mindful of that old country. Their mind was fixed upon the future country. This is where Paul gets his idea: "Set your mind, your affection, your attention on things above and not on things on the earth, for you are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God."

Where’s your mind today? Is your mind fixed on the things of this world, or is your mind fixed on the things of heaven? "Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." Are you living in the past or are you living in the future tense? "But now they desire a better country." Notice now: Hebrews 11:15, the mind; Hebrews 11:16, the heart. The heart—they desire a better country. Their heart was fixed upon the better land that God had for them.

You see, in Hebrews 11:14 we have the will—they’re seeking. In Hebrews 11:15 we have the mind—if they had been mindful of that country from which they came out. In Hebrews 11:16 we have the heart. Here you have the will and the mind and the heart totally fixed upon what God wanted to do for them.

And that’s what you and I need to do every day. I know life is difficult. There are people with bodies that are just filled with pain, and there are folks who are living in circumstances that are so difficult. You have family problems and you have job problems, neighborhood difficulties, or maybe difficulties in your church assembly. I don’t know. But this I do know: God can bring us through. He did it for Abraham; He did it for Isaac; He did it for Jacob.

Did they make mistakes? Of course they did. Did they ever sin? Certainly. Were they always on top? No, sometimes they went through the valley. But in spite of all of that, God brought them through. And they obeyed God by faith when they did not understand when.

Abraham didn't know when that baby was going to be born. Abraham didn't know when he was going to get that land. Abraham did not know when the Savior would come. But it made no difference—God knew, and that’s all that really matters. As long as God is in control and we trust Him.

You see, your outlook is going to determine your outcome. If your outlook is worldly, your outcome will be worldly. Lot is the example: his outlook was on the world; he ends up in a cave, committing incest in drunken lust. Abraham’s outlook was on heaven, and he ends up going to heaven. He ends up being the example of what a believer ought to be.

Now, don't be satisfied with the present. You are a pilgrim and a stranger. We have to go where God wants us to go and do what He wants us to do. Don’t be satisfied with the present, because then you'll get complacent. And don't look to the past; we don’t want you to go back into that old life again. Live for the future. Live in the future tense.

You recall that Abraham obeyed God by faith when he did not know where he was going—Hebrews 11:8-10. He obeyed God by faith when he did not know how it was going to be accomplished—Hebrews 11:11-12. And he obeyed God by faith when he did not understand when God would fulfill the promise—Hebrews 11:13-16.

And now Hebrews 11:17-19: the hardest test of all, the hardest obedience of all. Abraham obeyed God by faith when he did not understand why. "By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, "In Isaac shall thy seed be called": accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from which also he received him in a figure" or in a type.

God came to Abraham and said, "Abraham, Abraham," and Abraham said, "Here am I." And God said, "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and offer him for a burnt offering in the place that I’m going to show you."

And the Word of God tells us in Genesis 22 that early the next morning, Abraham arose and he got the animals and he got his son, he got the wood, and he started on that three-day journey out to the place that God was going to show him. And when he got there, he told the young men who were with him, said, "Now you stay here, and the lad and I are going to go and worship"—that’s an interesting word—"we’re going to go and worship, and we will return to you." And they did. They went and Abraham built the altar; he put his son on the altar. And remember, Isaac was not a little boy; he was a young man. Isaac willingly obeyed his father.

You see, everything that Abraham had was all wrapped up in Isaac. Isaac was his heir; Isaac was the child of promise. It was through Isaac that the Messiah was ultimately going to come. Isaac would give birth to Jacob, and Jacob to the twelve tribes of Israel, and from the tribe of Judah, the family of David, would come the Messiah. And so everything in Abraham’s future, everything in Israel’s future, and by the way, everything in your future, if you’re a Christian, rested upon Isaac there on the altar.

And yet Abraham obeyed God when he did not understand why. I think that this is the highest test we can possibly have. That test of by faith just doing what God tells us to do, even though there is no explanation. I have said many times as we have been studying that faith does not live on explanations; faith lives on promises. You see, true faith is always tested. A faith that can’t be tested can’t be trusted. And all through Abraham’s life, he went through tests, because you see, God tests our faith to prove its reality.

Now, the most difficult tests of all seem the most unreasonable. How unreasonable to take Isaac. I would have asked for Ishmael. You see, we put our worst on the altar, but God wants the best. Ishmael was a big mistake; God doesn’t want our mistakes on the altar. Isaac was the child of promise. Abraham was being tested by that which was the best.

Now, Lot wasn't tested this way. God never asked Lot for anything like this. You know why? Lot wasn't at that level of life. Lot was tempted by Sodom. Abraham was never tempted by Sodom. The lust and filth and foolishness of Sodom never, never bothered Abraham. Abraham was such a mature Christian, such a mature believer, that it took something very special to test him and to help him grow.

When God tests us, He doesn’t ask for the bad things; He asks for the good things. God gave Isaac to Abraham, and then God asked for him back. Reminds us of the words of Job, doesn't it? "The Lord gave, the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord." And yet Abraham was able to go through this trial. I don’t read that he asked any questions; he just instantly obeyed. And he went and built the altar, and Isaac willingly got on the altar.

How was Abraham able to do this? Well, Hebrews 11:19 tells us: he believed, accounting—esteeming, same word used in Hebrews 11:26, translated esteeming—esteeming, accounting, believing, reckoning that God was able. Oh, there’s the difference. I’m not able, but God is able. He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. God is asking you to give Him some good thing, not a bad thing, a good thing, and you say, "I’m not able." But God is able. Turn it over to Him.

God is able to raise him up even from the dead. Well, God did something even greater than that. God stopped Abraham. Just as Abraham was about to plunge the knife into his son’s body, God stopped him. "Abraham, Abraham, don’t kill your son." And Abraham turned around and there was a ram, and the ram died in the place of Isaac.

All of this, of course, is a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ was obedient to His Father; He was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Nobody substituted for the Lord Jesus Christ. He died for you, He died for me, He died willingly. But all of this is a picture to us as well of what God can do in the times of trial.

What do I need in times of trial? Resurrection power. And that resurrection power is available to me when I come to the throne of grace. You see, Abraham believed the Word of God: "In Isaac shall thy seed be called." Alright Lord, if my family is going to come through Isaac, then Isaac can’t die. He’s going to have to be raised from the dead.

So Abraham believed the Word of God, and God responded to that faith. You see, that’s what faith really is. Faith is not believing in spite of evidence; faith is obeying in spite of consequence and circumstance. And this obedience brought blessing. This is the kind of faith that God honors, and this is the kind of faith that brings great glory to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.