Faith Remembers God’s Promises

Transcript

GR 1712
02/09/2014
Faith Remembers God's Promises
Hebrews 11:8-12
Gil Rugh

We are going to be returning to the book of Hebrews. We looked at some prophetic matters and we are going to find ourselves drawn back into some prophetic matters in these closing chapters of the letter to the Hebrews.

Just a little bit of refresher for you to bring us up to date. The letter to the Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians in a local congregation, a local church. And they have gone through difficult trials, they have suffered persecution, it has been a costly life for them as believers. And now more trouble, persecution and so on is on the horizon. And under this pressure some of these Jewish believers are thinking that a return to Judaism might be a way to alleviate some of their trials. They are not abandoning the truth of God, they are just going back to what He originally gave. Because, as Jews and part of the Jewish religion, they were recognized by the Roman Empire. The Romans recognized Judaism as a valid religion. That doesn't mean they were supportive or encouraging of it, but it was accepted as a valid, recognized religion. Christianity was not. And when you were not recognized, you were viewed as a threat to the Empire. Now even though the Romans recognized Judaism as a valid religion, that does not mean they were sympathetic to the Jews. But as Jewish Christians these believers had a double difficulty to deal with. They were persecuted as Christians, part of a non-recognized religion, they were rejected and persecuted by other Jews because they had abandoned traditional Judaism for faith in the true Messiah of Israel.

The whole book of Hebrews is written to explain to them the superiority of Jesus Christ to everything in Judaism, to make clear that the revelation of God in His Son, as Hebrews began, ”in these last days God has spoken to us in One who is Son,” the One through whom He made the ages. There is no turning back. And so these Jews need to understand and place their attention on what they have in Christ and what has been promised in Christ and that will enable them to endure what is before them.

Come to Hebrews 10, we are in chapter 11 but to see the context of what we have here. Chapter 10 concluded by challenging them in verse 36, “you have need of endurance so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.” Keep that word in mind, what was promised. You have the promises of God to hold on to, you have need of endurance. The problem is right now basic to what you have is a promise. The suffering, the persecution, the trial is a present reality, that's what you have to endure, but remember you are going to receive what was promised. You have need of endurance.

When you come over to Hebrews 12:1, the last statement, “let us run with endurance the race set before us.” So chapter 11 is sandwiched between these emphases on endurance and the need for endurance. Now these are not Christians who are just dealing with ordinary, daily troubles and are soft, they've gone through serious times. In Hebrews 10:32, “remember the former days when after being enlightened after you became believers, you endured a great conflict of suffering, partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, partly becoming sharers with those who were so treated. You showed sympathy to the prisoners.” This was serious enough that some believers had been imprisoned. They were willing to go and be identified with them. You accepted joyfully the seizure of your property. It had been costly for them to declare their faith in Christ. But they knew they had a better possession, something yet future. They had what God had promised.

So verse 35 says, “don't throw away your confidence which has great reward.” Crucial to understand, foundational for us to endure in our lives as God's people is that we have a clear understanding of the person and work of Jesus Christ, the finality of what God has revealed and what God has accomplished through the death and resurrection of His Son. There is salvation in no one else, there is salvation in no place else. He is the only Savior. And key to that, if you have truly believed in Him, you will endure. So saving faith is enduring faith.

Hebrews 10:38, “My righteous one shall live by faith.” You enter into life by believing in Christ, you live your new life in Christ by faith. There can be no confusion here, although many are confused. We are not saved by faith plus works, nor are we saved by faith that does not result in works. When you place your faith in Christ and the God who has sent Him to be our Savior, you begin a life of faith. So you enter into life, into a relationship with God through faith in what He has done in His Son Jesus Christ. Now you live your life every day after that, trusting in the God and the promises of the God that has provided our salvation. The alternative, verse 38, “My righteous one shall live by faith and if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him,” God says. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul. Those who turn back from the life of faith, believing what God has said and living in light of what God has said turn back to destruction. It's not that they lost their salvation, it's that they manifest they never had it.

What Hebrews 11 does is give examples from Old Testament history of those who had placed their faith in the promises of God and that guided them in the decisions that they made day be day. Now I want to make something clear here. The faith that we are talking about is not a faith in your faith or a faith in your feelings. This is a faith in the Word that God has given, believing that God will do what He promises. That's different. People say, I have faith, I have faith in this, I believe and I feel this is what God would have me do. So we need to be very careful, the faith we are talking about is a faith in the Word of God.

Now there are times that the Scripture does not address a matter. I came to be pastor here many years ago. God never said to me, Gil, go to Lincoln, Nebraska, that unknown country inhabited by Indians, recently settled. No. There was a subjectivity to it, considering in light of God's Word, in light of what He called me to do, in light of the opportunity here. What would you have me do, Lord? He does lead. But the faith that we are talking about that is foundational to everything is a faith that responds to the promises of God, the Word of God. He never leads me contrary to His Word or in conflict with His Word, but what will sustain me and sustain you is believing that God will do what He said.

Hebrews 11 opened up by its first example, verse 3, “by faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the Word of God so that what is seen was made of things which are not seen, not visible.” Very simply, it starts out with the faith that every believer has. Every true believer believes that God is the creator. What evidence do we have? Genesis 1, “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” I believe it. I was never there, you were never there, none of us were there to experience it. We believe it because God said it. That's foundational. If you don't believe in the sovereign God who brought all things into existence, then you don't believe in what God has said. On what basis would you claim to be a believer? That's foundational. We manifest our faith.

And the first example from the men, Abel, verse 4, “he offered a better sacrifice,” what God required. God told his brother Cain, if you do the right thing, you will be accepted, too. But Cain would not. Abel did. Verse 5, “by faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death.” He was not found because God took him. He obtained the witness that before his being taken up, he was pleasing to God. He was walking by faith. Jude tells us he was proclaiming the message that God had given and he believed it. And God took him into His presence without death.

You can't please God without faith, verse 6. Again, saving faith, that beginning act of faith when God opens our eyes to see and understand our sinful, lost, hopeless condition and we place our faith in Christ and what He has done, that's the beginning of a life. Not the “well, I've trusted in Him, now I've gotten on with my life.” I trusted Him then and I trust Him today.

Noah, verse 7, “being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household.” We looked at Noah. God told him to build an ark because judgment was coming on the world of unbelievers. For 120 years Noah worked on building an ark. What an idiot. He had never even seen rain, let alone a worldwide flood. No one in the world but his own immediate family believed him. One hundred twenty years he spent building that ark. I was thinking about that, I'm 70, I know I look much younger on the screen, but 70. At 70 years Noah still had 50 more years to build the ark. All he had was the promise of God and so day after day with the mockery, the ridicule, everybody thinking he was a fool, he believed God. That's the point. We have the Word of God, the promises of God, and we are to hold onto those.

The next example is the most extensive in Hebrews 11, and he is the greatest example of faith in the New Testament. He is referred to in a number of different places in our New Testament as an example of faith. We're going to have three examples of Abraham's faith in verses 8-12, and he won't be done with Abraham, he'll pick up with him again in verse 17 and talk further about Abraham's faith. We see something of Abraham responding to God's promises, that enduring characteristic of faith. We often think of Genesis 15:6 when we think of Abraham's faith, “Abraham believed God and God credited it to him as righteousness.” That verse is used a number of times in the New Testament. It is the clearest connection of faith and righteousness, but Abraham was a righteous man before that. This is just another example of Abraham's faith and the righteousness he had from God because he was a man who believed in Him.

The first example we're going to have of Abraham's faith is in verse 8. And this precedes the events of Genesis 15 which I just referred to. “By faith Abraham, when he was called, he obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for inheritance. He went out not knowing where he was going.” The call of Abraham “to a place he knew not where.”

Come back to Genesis 12, and this is the call of Abraham as we have it recorded in Genesis. Verse 12, “now the Lord said to Abram, go forth from your country, from your relatives, from your father's house to the land which I will show you.” And then I will do these things for you—make you a great nation and so on. Verse 4, “so Abram,” his name will be changed to Abraham, “went forth as the Lord had spoken to him and Lot went with him. Now Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran.” Now this was not Abraham's original starting point, as many of you are aware.

Turn over to Genesis 15. After we look at these verses, I'm going to show you a map. Genesis 15, I just referred to verse 6, “then he believed in the Lord and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness. And He said to him, I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess it.”

Come to Acts in the New Testament, Acts 7. And this is Stephen on trial for his life, speaking to Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. Verse 2, “and he said, hear me, brethren and fathers, the God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, leave your country and your relatives and come into the land that I will show you. And he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. From there after his father died God had him move to this country in which you are now living.” And it goes on and he is going to follow the pattern that we have in Hebrews 11.

But first come back to Genesis 12, and just before chapter 12, the end of chapter 11. Verse 27, “now these are the records of the generation of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran; Haran became the father of Lot.” We're setting the family situation of Abraham. Haran died in the presence of his father, Terah, in the land of his birth in Ur of the Chaldeans. Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves, the name of Abram's wife was Sarai. Verse 30, “Sarai was barren, was childless. Terah took Abram, his son, and Lot, the son of Haran, his grandson, Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife. They went together from Ur of the Chaldeans to settle in the land of Canaan. They went as far as Haran and settled there, and it was there that Terah died.”

Now you have the picture here of the family of Abraham’s immediate family. It talked about Terah, the father, and Abraham going. But the motivation for this move as we saw in Genesis 15 and in Acts 7 as the Spirit spoke through Stephen was the appearance of God to Abram. So they go to Haran and then they'll come down into Canaan.

Put up the map if you would on the route of Abram or Abraham. This gives you the picture. You can see Ur of the Chaldeans there on the right and that little body of water coming up is the Persian Gulf as we know it today. So that's Ur of the Chaldeans. And he is going to travel up and you have the route and a possible variant route from what we know as the Fertile Crescent. You have the Arabian Desert there because as you can note on the left hand side you have the land of Israel over there, you can see Hebron and Beersheba and some of those that are a little clearer to see on the map. That's the land of Israel, that's where Abram is going. But no one goes across the Arabian Desert. You travel across where there is water and food and so on. An exception, some of you are familiar with the Old Testament account, Nebuchadnezzar is conquering Israel and so he is over in Israel and he gets word that his father has died back in Babylon, and Ur of the Chaldeans is in Babylon, Chaldea, Babylon. And he took a contingent of soldiers and went across the desert, the most direct route, so he could get there and secure the throne before someone else usurped the throne. But that was unusual. So Abraham is taking the normal route.

Put the second map up if you would. I put this up because you can see Ur down on the right but it will tell you where some of the modern day countries are. You see Saudi Arabia, then Iraq which is Babylon, then a little harder to see with the dotted line, you see Iran there on the far right. And so you see how Abraham went and you see something of the modern countries, Jordan and so on, Syria in there. And so just so you get an idea of the present countries, you can see where Haran is, where the family of Abraham is going, up there with the top of Syria.

Okay, what about the third map. I like the colors on this so I threw it in. These are just empires that play a major role. Now that's not the limit, but you see where they are and obviously like Babylon is going to spread out and be the dominant empire and will go all the way down into Egypt. But Egypt had its day. Then you'll have Assyria. The Hittite Empire comes in, that wasn't even known as an empire for centuries. People thought the Bible made a mistake. In fact the history channel or one of the channels had a whole hour program on the Hittites. I remember one of the papers I wrote all the way back when I was a student in college was on the Hittites as another demonstration of the reliability of Scripture. They didn't think it existed; the Bible must have made a mistake. Now they have found all this information, what a vast, powerful empire the Hittites were. So, at any rate, those are particularly the Babylonians, the Assyrians, the Egyptians we are familiar with. You can see their land and they will spread out.

And then the last map, that is just present day. You can see the Persian Gulf coming up, down that dark blue on the far right corner and Ur of the Chaldeans would just be up there a little bit in Iraq, and then they journeyed up that green up to the top of Syria and down.

So that's where Abraham is going. And you know, God told him, “leave your homeland and your family and you go to where I tell you,” and the Scripture tells us he didn't know where he was going. Back in Hebrews 11:8, “by faith Abraham when he was called obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he was going.” And we're told that Terah was an idol worshiper back in Ur of the Chaldeans. So this is the family background. How the Lord appeared to Abraham and he came to trust Him and the details are not recorded. But Terah and the family go. And again, I don't think that's an act of disobedience that Abraham should have left the rest of his family. I think when it says he left his homeland behind, he did leave his family. His father goes, the immediate family goes with Abraham, but left the hometown, the other relatives and so on.

When we moved from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia I was a young person. My immediate family went, but we left our family in a broader sense behind. That's what Abraham did and he goes to Haran. He didn't know where his ultimate destination was going to be. Amazing, we're just going. What did he have? The promise of God. I have a land for you. Could you give me a map? Could you maybe give me a picture, something to help me? It's a major thing. He grew up here, this is home, and we're going to leave? Yes, we're leaving. God promised. He goes to Haran, he's there, that's not the land. His father dies. The journey goes on and he comes down into the land of Canaan.

So verse 8, he went by faith. When he was called he obeyed by going out. This is the connection. When you come to believe in the salvation God has provided, that's your first act of obedience to Him. God commands all everywhere to repent. When He opened my eyes to see and understand and believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that was in effect my first act of obedience. God commands us to believe in His Son, place my faith in Him, not in my own strength, not as an act of my own, but as a result of the grace of God opening my eyes to see and believe the truth. Abraham now responds in faith. It's the beginning of a life of faith for Abraham. God says, go, you don't know where you are going but I know. All Abraham has is the promise, God has an inheritance for me. We look back and say, we know. It's always easy reading the history of a believer walking with God, the hard thing is when we are doing it. So that's the first act or demonstration of faith on Abraham's part. He left his homeland by faith with nothing but the promise of God.

Verse 9, the second example—“by faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise.” There is our word, key word, I told you to remember that word when we read it at the end of chapter 10—promise. It's going to be used twice in verse 9. He lives as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise. Down at the end of verse 11, that last word, one who had promised. The point is all they have is a promise. Abraham leaves his homeland, makes that journey. You know you didn't just call a moving van or rent a truck. Whatever you are taking because you are not coming back. You load up and your whole life is moving on. And you don't even know where you are going. Now you've finally arrived at the promised land.

What do we have? He lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land. All he had was the promise, he didn't own any of it, none of it belonged to him. And by the time he dies the only piece of land that he owns is a gravesite he bought so he would have a place to bury his wife. When Sarah dies Abraham didn't even have a plot of land that he could bury her in, so he buys a cave that is used for burial. That's all he had when he died. He dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise. The tent is a temporary structure. We think now after all this time we are finally in the land that God has promised. Wonderful. We can build a house. I wonder what Sarah was thinking. Finally, we cleaned out everything, we left our home, we've been traveling. We lived in Haran. Now we are where Abraham said God promised. And you know for their whole life they won't have a house, they won't get to build a permanent structure. They will live in a tent. A tent is a temporary thing. They are like aliens, it's like they don't belong here. Other people own the land and yet God has said, it belongs to you and your descendants. Abraham is going to live here for 100 years. He is 75 when he leaves Haran, he is 175 when he dies, recorded in Genesis 25. But he owns nothing but that gravesite and is living in a tent. We say, maybe God didn't mean what He said. God always means what He says. Abraham believed God. Isaac and Jacob were born, they still don't have a city they could name the City of Abraham in honor of their father or grandfather. No. The line of promise, and this is crucial, the line of promise for Abraham's descendant comes from Abraham, through Isaac, through Jacob. Abraham has other children. There are other children that come into the picture. They are not part of the central promises to Abraham, the Jewish people and then the twelve descendants, the twelve sons of Jacob which will form the twelve tribes of Israel.

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and nothing so to speak, but a promise. You see the point. He is reminding these Jewish believers that they have a promise. Back in Hebrews 10:36, “you have need of endurance so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what was promised.” It is one thing for me to read the life of Abraham and say, sure, he had the promise. Why would he waiver? But these Jews going through pressure and trial, persecution, some have been imprisoned, some have lost all their earthly possessions. And it is not going to get any better for them. You know how when trouble comes into your life, it tends to absorb you. It's true for all of us, whatever the kind of trouble. One of your family members develops a serious disease, diagnosed with cancer. All of a sudden building a new house, getting a new car, taking a vacation is pushed into the background. That trial demands our full attention. And what happens to us as believers with persecution, opposition spread out over time? These are second generation believers in the book of Hebrews. We begin to wear down and the promise begins to get sort of cloudy in our vision. We get absorbed. I don't know if I can take another trial. I don't know whether I can endure another round of this. And we lose sight of what, the promise?

That's why these examples are here. What do you think every day was like for Noah when he was building an ark with no water, and the whole world would be talking about him. There is some kind of fool over in such-and-such-a-place and he is building this big boat. And he keeps talking about there is going to be a flood of water and judgment is coming. You know how long he has been talking about that? That was 60 years ago. My dad said he was doing that when he was a kid. And do you know what? He is only halfway there. He has another 60 years of building. And Lord, I'm wasting my life. Lord, what's the purpose of this?

So we come back to Abraham. Lord, I've lived in this land 100 years, I have the promised son. At least he'll get to build it. No, all Isaac had was the promise. All Jacob had was the promise. That's all they had, the promise, the promise. But Abraham was willing to live as an alien in the land of promise. Here I am on it, walking on it. You'll note, the land of promise. Then you have verse 10, how could he do this? “For he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” That's amazing. Abraham was not discouraged. God had promised and Abraham knew that God would fulfill His promise. And he might not get to build a city, but God would build the city. And He would be the architect and builder. He would lay the foundation.

So in verse 10 you have the contrast. Verse 9, Abraham dwelt in tents, owning nothing, but God would build the city that has foundations. We're talking about the New Jerusalem here, the ultimate destiny. Now you'll note verse 9 says, “he lived as an alien in the land of promise.” I scratch my head and I almost brought you some commentaries to read you some excerpts of writers who said, verse 10 makes clear that the land of promise. In fact one person said, the land of promise really isn't found in the Old Testament. There is God swearing to give them the land, but the actual expression land of promise. Verse 10 makes clear Abraham was not looking for a physical land, he was looking for heaven. I just shake my head at the contortions we'll go through to deny what God says. He lived as an alien in the land of promise, believing God would fulfill the promise and the promised fulfillment ultimately means the New Jerusalem. Where will the New Jerusalem be? On the new earth. Where exactly? You can go visit it. It's Mount Zion. God is the One who founded Jerusalem, the old Jerusalem and the New Jerusalem.

One passage in the Old Testament, Psalm 87. We're not going to do much on the New Jerusalem because it is going to come up again in Hebrews, we'll look at that passage but we'll wait until we get to the later passage because it is a fuller passage. But Psalm 87:1, “His foundation is in the holy mountains, the Lord loves the gates of Zion, more than all other dwelling places of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of you, oh city of God.” What is the most wonderful and important city on earth in the Old Testament? Jerusalem. Verse 5, “but of Zion it shall be said, this one and that one were born in her and the Most High Himself will establish her.” That's the anticipation. Now Abraham is looking for that city. We're not told how much God had told him about the city, but he is looking forward to the full fulfillment of all that God promised.

Come back to Hebrews 12, this is where we will talk more about the New Jerusalem, verse 22, “but you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to myriads of angels, general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, to God the judge of all, the spirits of righteous men made perfect.” The New Jerusalem.

Come over to Hebrews 13:14, for here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city to come. You see he writes to these church saints and tells them what we have is the same promise ultimately. We are not Israel. But turn over to Revelation 21, just to refresh your mind, verse 1. “I saw a new heaven and a new earth.” Then verse 2, “I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” And the tabernacle of God is among men. And the description goes on down, picking up verse 10 will talk about it and so on. Just in summary I believe the New Jerusalem will be the dwelling place of resurrected Old Testament saints. We'll see this when we get to Hebrews 13 in detail. It's the New Jerusalem and it is the bride city because it is also the dwelling place of the church, and the church does have the place of great honor there because it is the bride of Christ. It is the bride city. But we'll talk more about the details.

The point back in Hebrews 11:10, Abraham was anticipating and believing the fulfillment of the promise God gave. How much of the details I don't know. Just like me, I believe I am going to see the glories of God in heaven and in the New Jerusalem that He has prepared. Now we have a little more revelation with the book of Revelation, but that's only a little bit. And it's hard for me to conceive the city and that promise has been in place for a long time, but all I have is the promise today. Somebody says, have you ever seen heaven? But you are just so sure you are going there. Absolutely. What makes you so sure? God promised. That's all I have. You realize that's all we have. That's why the devil relentlessly attacks the Word of God. It's all we have. People who reject the Word of God have their feelings, they have faith in their faith, faith in their feelings, faith in their thoughts, faith in a false religious system that someone has established. But the only faith that is saving faith and assured of the realized outcome that is promised is faith in the promises of God, the Word of God.

So he was “looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” And the ultimate fulfillment of all the promises given to Abraham are in the eternal kingdom, ultimately, even after the first phase of the eternal kingdom, the thousand years when the New Jerusalem comes to earth. There is when it all is finally brought together in the fullness of its fulfillment. Abraham believed God, it doesn't matter. I left home many, many years ago, I've been through much. Now I'm dying and I own nothing but a grave. I believe God.

Verse 11 presents a little bit of a challenge. I don't like to rearrange Scripture but it becomes necessary here. Not rearranging the Scripture but our translation I think gives a misunderstanding. I think the faith we are talking about in verse 11, is by faith Abraham received power not to conceive. We'll say something about that. The whole context is about Abraham. Verse 12 will pick up about the one man. Down in verse 17 it's Abraham. I believe Sarah was a woman of faith and she was the only one through whom the son of promise could come, and all that's true. But I think here he is talking about Abraham. One of the main reasons is in our translation we have by faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive. And as you have in the margin of your Bible by verse 11 the number 1, literally power for the laying down of seed. And that expression here, they have translated it the ability to conceive is literally the laying down of seed. It is never used of a woman's part in conception. It's always used of the man's part in depositing the semen for conception to take place. So they have tried to give it a unique and different meaning here. Almost all modern commentators recognize the true translation here. Sarah is brought in because it adds. By faith even Sarah herself sterile. The word sterile is here in some manuscripts and I believe it should be here. The point is he's adding to what he says about Abraham. By faith he received power to lay down seed even beyond the proper time of life. But he adds here almost like a parenthesis as we would put it, by faith even Sarah herself sterile. It adds to it. Abraham not only had faith that God would enable him to father the necessary child, he had faith that God would enable him to father the necessary child through Sarah. The impossibility of what God is bringing, showing all Abraham had was the promise. Now I realize Abraham stumbled with Sarah because he didn't think God was going to be able to work this out. Here is a chance to take Hagar as a concubine, my servant, Sarah says, and father a child. And he does father the child, but he can't be the child of promise, the child that God promised.

You see how it has to be exactly as God promised. And that's our security. Well, it wasn't exactly how I promised, but you worked it out. I'll accept that. God is not looking for me to solve His problems because He has no problems. They are simply difficulties that I see and I don't understand how God is going to work it out. We go through that in our lives. If you've been a believer very long, how many times have you said to the Lord, “Lord, I don't see how anything good can come of this,” as though it was important that I see what is good, when God says, I work all things together for good for those who love Me. I have to come to Him and say, “God, I don't know how this is going to work out for good, but you do. Now I believe you.” That takes so much of the pressure off me. Instead of the more I worry about it, the more I fuss about it, I tie myself in knots. Then I'm just sure I can't go on and I'm just sure I can't handle this. Then what do I do? Remember the promises, remember what God says. He won't allow me to be tested above what He enables me to bear. So I have to come back and say, Lord, this looks like my feelings right now are that I can't handle it but I know your Word is true, you will do what you promised and I trust you. I go on.

We put ourselves in the depths of depression and discouragement and bewilderment by not believing what God said. That's what he is telling these Hebrews. He is not making light of the seriousness. Some of those will die for their testimony before this is done. Some will see family die. Doesn't mean the promise of God has failed. It doesn't. So no matter what comes into our lives, Lord, I didn't count on this. My child, having this happen or this one so precious to me, or this situation when I've tried to be . . . . That's all right. He doesn't fail. I just didn't understand how God was going to work it out.

Did Abraham know he would die without ever owning anything really in the land that God promised him and that his son would die without owning anything there? And his son's son would die? And the ultimate fulfillment of that promise was thousands of years away. We're 4000 years after Abraham and the ultimate fulfillment of that promise. The city which has foundations whose builder and designer is God, that's still in the future. Has God's promise gotten weaker? No. Has God's ability? No. Nothing. So by faith even Sarah herself sterile, in fact we get the word sterile from this Greek word, stara, sterile, barren. By faith he received the power, the word we get the English word dynamic, dynamite, dynamo, “he received power to lay down seed, even beyond the proper time of life.” And remember this was even with Sarah who was sterile.

Well, why? Since he, not she, since he considered Him faithful who had promised. Doesn't mean Abraham didn't stumble. He had stumbles in his life. He went to Egypt and lied about his wife because he was afraid he would get killed by Pharaoh who would want to take his wife for himself. Do you know the encouraging thing to me? God writes it as it is in the Old Testament history but when He is recording Abraham here all He brings out is his faith. Isn't God gracious? Abraham is the giant of faith. Sure, he's a giant of faith. He couldn't even trust God to keep him alive in Egypt. He lies about his wife, puts her at risk. Even Pharaoh was appalled. Well, we're not saying Abraham was perfect, but Abraham was willing to trust God and that's what counts here. “He considered Him faithful who had promised.”

“Therefore there was born even of one man and him as good as dead,” as far as having children he was no better than a dead man. Well, I believe God can do what He promises, but there are some things that just aren't practical. Really? I find out what is practical for God when I read His Word and He tells me what He will do. That may not be practical for me but God hasn't called me to do what only He can do. God didn't tell Abraham and Sarah to come up with a plan to have a child. He told them He would enable them to have a child. And do you know what happened? They have one child together, the only child that could fill the promise. Abraham will have other sons in addition to Ishmael. You get to Genesis 25, his concubine wife Keturah will. But there is only one child of promise. What is that son going to do? He can have a son that can carry on the promise. Things are going slow, but even Sarah herself received ability. No, Abraham even with Sarah, and there was born of one man, him as good as dead, “that as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number, innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.” And that verse is from Genesis 15:5 when God promised Abraham, because Abraham was thinking, I don't even have a descendant. I am old, Sarah has been barren all her life. I'm old, maybe my servant born in my house, maybe he'll be my descendant. Takes Abraham out and shows him the stars, there where there are no lights of the city. You go out and in the pitch darkness on a clear night you could see stars you could never begin to count. And He says, this is how many descendants you will have. This is Genesis 15:5, and the next verse is verse 6, “Abraham believed God and God credited it to Him as righteousness.”

And now these Jews who are receiving this letter, Jewish believers, the Jews have multiplied. And think of that, from a barren man, a man beyond the age of having children and a sterile wife comes one son. What happened? In Word War II six million Jews could be executed and there are still Jews left. And it multiplies. Does God keep His Word? Of course He does. We haven't seen the ultimate realization even of this promise. That awaits the future.

These things are recorded in Hebrews 11 to encourage us, these believers who receive it and the Spirit has included it in the Word of God for us. Why do I allow myself to get turned in to the present circumstances and can I do this, can I go through this? It's more than I can bear. I don't see how this is going to work out. Remember what Jesus said? Each day has enough trouble of its own. Just trust and obey the Lord today, don't worry about tomorrow. There is only one who can control tomorrow and that is the living God. I can worry about tomorrow. I can fret about tomorrow. I can do all kinds of things that I think will fix tomorrow. But remember what James said, “if the Lord wills this is what I'm going to do tomorrow.” Because there is only one person who controls it.

So for us we have the promises of God. Do you know what is coming tomorrow, Gil? What if you go to the doctor and he says, you have cancer, you have a week and a half to live. You say, I'm getting to glory faster than I thought. What is going to happen to my family? Well, that's their problem. I'm going to glory. I have the promise. Has anything changed? Does that mean I want to suffer? That I look forward to physical death and am anxious for it? No, I'm looking forward to the coming of the Lord for me. Does that mean I want to be persecuted and tortured and put in prison? No. I was reading in one of the accounts of the martyrs the last couple of weeks, just a good reminder what people suffered. And they suffered terrible things. But here it was worth it all. The promise still stands true. Man can't frustrate God's plan for me and can’t frustrate God's plan for you. So Lord, I can trust you today. I have your Word. I know what you said. It will happen as you have said, all of this. “Count it all joy, my brethren, when you come into various trials” because God is just building endurance in your life.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for the riches of all that we have in Christ. And Lord, the riches of your Word are so precious, such a treasure. How blessed we are to be able to have it in our possession, to have copies to take home, to have in our home, to sit and read, to reflect on, to remind ourselves again and again. How sad that our attention is so often and so easily turned from the treasure of your promises to the worries and concerns of present day affairs. Lord, may our hearts be encouraged by the example of Abraham and his willing to trust what you said and leave the fulfillment in your hands. Thank you for encouraging our hearts today. We praise you in Christ's name, amen.