Forward Looking Faith

Series: Faith in Action

Text: Hebrews 11:8-12

PP: God calls Christians to trust and follow his lead wherever that might take us.

RTL:

Points:

1. Follow Christ No Matter What (vv.8-9)

2. Learn Patient Endurance (vv.11-12)

3. Constantly Remember Your Eternal Home (v.10)

Intro:

Well I don’t know about you guys … but there are some things that growing up my parents would remind me of … but I don’t necessarily remember

things like your first words or what you acted like when you were a baby

I was reminded of one of those the other day on 4th July when my parents and I were flipping through old photo albums … and there was pictures of me

My dad as he always did growing up … reminded me of when I first started walking

I guess when I was a baby … I did not want to let go of my dad … I would grab onto his leg … or when I gained a little more confidence … he would just put his fingers on the back of my shirt and I’d walk

But to get me to walk by myself that’s different … my parents tried and tried … I wouldn’t want to

So what my dad did … is that he tricked me … he put a clothes pin on the back of my shirt to get me to think that he was walking with me

And it worked! … I eventually found out when I noticed that he wasn’t there … but the point is that I walked by myself

Anyways … I don’t remember that … but what I do kinda remember is going fast … and bc I would go fast I would get hurt

One time I was at my aunt’s house in the backyard and you know I am going … and I run into a rose bush full of thorns … I actually still have the scar on my forehead

See the way I learned to walk was trusting my dad … and although at some point it was not my dad but it was a clothes pin … i trusted him wherever he was taking me

and sometimes there was bumps and cuts after I started walking by myself

The Christian life is described as your walk in the Bible … it is the way you live

We’ve been talking about living a life of faith

Today we’re going to see that God calls Christians to trust and follow Christ’s lead wherever that might take us … through bumps … through bushes … and we might even get some scars

This is the Christian life … . God says that it is “through many tribulations that you must enter the kingdom of God”

See if you don’t get this … you will think that being a Christian is you getting what you want … with no pain … no trouble … just easy … ticket to heaven and I am good

… but it’s not like that

We’re going to look at one the greatest men in the Bible … how he had faith through hard times because he was focused on the right thing

Turn with me to Hebrews 11:8-12

READ

Abraham is known as the father of faith … and there’s a reason for that … bc he exercised great faith in God

As we’ve seen in weeks past … faith is connected to obedience

God called Abraham … he listened … and obeyed

What did he tell him to? … To move from Ur of the Chaldeans … to Canann … which was 900 miles away

At that time they were no Tesla’s … or E-bikes … they had animals … just you and your animal

which in that place was very dangerous … bc thieves and plunderers

Did you guys catch what it said in v.11b “And he went out, not knowing where he was going.”

He just obeyed God

God said “follow me” and he did … he went … not letting the fact that this was going to be difficult … stop him

God does not only just call the great patriarchs like Abraham or even just the disciples who later went on to be apostles, writing the NT

Christ calls anyone that wants to be his disciple and says “follow me”

This is what Christ consistently said to those that wanted to be his disciples “Come and follow me”

Following someone means following their lead … following wherever they take you

So If want to have genuine faith in Christ … then you have to follow him … no matter what

1. Follow Christ No Matter What (vv.8-9)

Super important for us to grasp …

That Christ calls all of us and says “follow me”

… and yet the journey might not be what you want it to be

See there’s a lie that you will hear in popular Christian culture or maybe just from other people

… that when you sign up to follow Christ … your life will be perfect and just great

Jesus says in the world … “being my follower” … you will have tribulation … it will not be easy

If Jesus were to walk in right now and say to us if he walked in here right now and said “raise your hand if you want to follow me”

Turn to Luke 9:23-25

As we read this … notice how doing what you want … doesn’t pair up with following Jesus

Luke 9:23–25 “And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?”

Can’t do whatever you want to do … whenever you want … go wherever you want to go … bc now you don’t follow yourself .. you follow Jesus

Following the path of Christ is submitting to what he wants for your life to do whatever he wants

What we’re talking about here is the essence of the gospel

the response is to confess Christ is Savior and Lord

You can’t have Jesus without him being Lord (boss/leader)

Jesus says why do you call me Lord, Lord and not do what I say

See we can’t ever see the gospel response (giving our lives to him) as just having our sins forgiven … taken away … record cleaned

Being a Christian means Christ is now your leader … you do what he says

Everyday your under Christ’s leadership … he leads your life

2 Corinthians 5:15 “he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”

Now Jesus knows the human heart so he knows that you will say I will follow you Christ but …

Luke 9:57–62 “As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

v.58 - IOW you might not have a home

vv.59-61- IOW Jesus makes clear there’s no one or anything that is more important than him

v.62 - summary statement

Did you notice every person that wanted to follow Jesus here … was willing … but on their own time … they were saying “let me first go do this”

what are those things for you?

having fun … enjoying your sin

growing up … “and then I will become a X “

or you just don’t want to give up control

Jesus calls for all or nothing of him

Being willing to follow Christ means you do what he says … no matter what he tells you to do

Letting go of sin in your life (gossip, lying, pride, envy)

Letting go of the things that are weighing you down and not bringing you closer to Christ (Heb 12:2 - calls these weights)

maybe that’s video games for you … shows … movies … your phone … YouTube

Letting go of friends that are not bringing you closer to Christ

Not only letting go of things … but doing … Christ has things for you to do

speaking about Christ to your neighbors … to your friends that don’t come to church … to others in your family

doing the right thing in school or when your with your friends

Maybe you’re thinking … “why should I do all this?”

You will have access to the kingdom of heaven

You will find comfort and satisfaction

You shall see God

You will be called a son of God

You will be rewarded

Most of all … you will be free from your own sin and where your sin would lead you = destruction (this is the wide gate)

See if you try to be your own boss … that will lead to destruction = unhappiness … feeling guilty … having no hope

That’s why you should follow Christ! … Bc it is so much better and that’s the only way

Now Jesus never promises it will be easy

If you enter by the narrow gate and walk on the narrow road … well that’s hard … and sometimes it will be filled with uncertainty

we see this in the life of Abraham

Hebrews 11:11–12 “By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”

Abraham is made to wait to have a child

Abraham is faced with difficulty and pain

We don’t like to wait … we want things now

We don’t want to wait a few weeks, few months, a year, a few years, a decade

Abraham waited for 25 years!

God describes what Abraham did while waiting

Hebrews 6:13–15 “For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15 And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.”

Abraham waited patiently

Patience is something we have to have if we are going to live a life of trusting God

that leads us to #2

2. Learn Patient Endurance (vv.11-12)

Well a couple weeks ago we all went to Knott’s Berry Farm … and of course bc I am going with all you guys … and bc I was with my small group … I started off thinking “ok I am going to do whatever they want to do” … and of course the first ride we get in line for …

is … Hang Time … which if you don’t know goes up 150 ft vertically … then comes back to normal … then you are left hanging at a 60 deg. … then you go!

And if you already don’t know I am not the biggest fan of roller-coasters … but we got in line … so I couldn’t leave … I guess I could’ve been wasn’t going to …

… what I kept doing tho was … I kept looking at the ride and just thinking about how much I was not going to like this … I kept watching it … I was not excited for it … finally we went on it … and it was terrifying but fun

Anyways … in line … I was not excited about it … I was not willingly to endure what I was about to get into

What made it worse … was that i kept thinking about it …

Sometimes we can be like that … maybe you have been like that … or will be like that … when you face a hard time

You will go through that hard time with worry and you’ll give into what you feel …not with patient endurance

God says that in times when you need to wait for something … when times are tough … you need patient endurance … like Abraham

Abraham was … 75 yrs when we first encounter him and Sarah is 65 yrs old

Yet Abraham is promised a great nation … that’s a problem when you are already very old and no children

They had to wait

Life was not going the way they wanted it to go

As they were longing to have that child … they probably hurting … there was pain

You know there’s a ditch you can fall into when your following Christ … you can think that if you are godly then you won’t experience hurt and disappointment in your life

You guys remember the story of Job … faithful to God … loved … served God … was even called “blameless” in a relative sense

and what happened in his life? … Full of hardship … pain … difficulties … lots of waiting (that’s the whole book)

If you are a follower of Christ … you are not immune to pain and disappointment

The specific type of disappointment that we’re reading about today … is having to wait

Throughout your life … God will have you wait on things you might really want … things that are good and godly

desires to go somewhere … to do something … to be someone …

maybe it’s not getting on that team … not going to that school …or just life just not going the way you wanted it to

God will says not now or even just no

Think about “what’s the longest you’ve had to wait for something” … now think of waiting 25 years … a quarter of a century

If you are going to live a life for Christ … you need know that your life will have disappointment … you need patience

Every Christian needs patience - this inner resolve to say I am trusting God during this time

Isaiah 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.”

Turn with me to the NT

When things in your life are not turning out the way you wanted them to … God says …

James 5:7–11“Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

Establishing your hearts is saying “God is not giving me what I want right now … but that is ok”

9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.

There’s a temptation while you wait to get angry … to complain … to grumble (v.9)

tells you why … “so that you may not be judged …”

v.10 - gives us another example

10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

the prophets … who were loved and completely appreciated … “we love you prophets”

no they got persecuted … were not always liked

they had to endure

v.11 - Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord,

you are blessed! (steadfast - to bear up under, to remain under)

look at what they all had in mind … “the Lord is compassionate and merciful”

they did not forget who God was

God knows exactly how we respond to situations … he knows that we forget who he is

When your going through a difficult time

you are tempted to forget that God is … sovereign … is your Father … loves you … is good

Being patient is you trusting that God is all these things … despite what’s going on

Jesus says “follow me” … you should be able to say … “yes God I will follow you wherever you take me”

Now the way you will remember all these things about God … when you go through a hard time

you need your Bible!

Romans 15:4 “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

You have to be looking for this!

You also need prayer! Expressing your trust in God

Pray Scripture - Psalm 23

You have to manage your expectations for what your Christian life will be …

… God has a plan for your life and it probably is not what you want it to be …

… He has the best plan … with his best in mind for your good if you are a Christian

Now I am not saying that being a Christian is just not fun … NO! …

… Being a Christian is the best thing! … Those are the most joyful times of your life being in Christ!

… There are highlights! … But there are also bumps in the road

Their big bump in the road was that they were made to wait to have their child

They had to change their perspective in life

We see this back in Hebrews 11:10 “For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.”

His focus was not in the here and now … because his life during the waiting was not the best

His focus was in the then and there … not in the temporal/immediate

He knew that ultimate fulfillment would be in the next life … that moment you die and are with the Lord if you are in Christ

That’s what kept him going

That’s something we need also … if we are going to have confident faith in Christ … we need to follow wherever he leads … we need patience … and we need fuel … that fuel is looking forward to our eternal home

3. Constantly Remember Your Eternal Home (v.10)

Well I’m sure at some point in your life you have really wanted to go somewhere and do something … maybe that’s to go somewhere on vacation … to go see something … maybe an amusement park

For me when I was younger that was a place called Woodward West … which is like Disneyland for skateboarding, bmxing, and scootering … (I used to scooter when I was younger - doing tricks)

Anyways … it was my dream for the longest time … all types of skateparks in one giant plot land … concrete skateparks … wood skateparks … rails to grind … half-pipes … a mega-ramp

and they put on week-long camp and I would beg my dad to let me go

I remember that year that he finally let me go … that year I did all my chores … tried to obey as much as I could… all while being motivated to go this place

Question for you …

Does the reality of heaven motivate you to live a certain way?

Does it even move the needle on your excitement speedometer?

I think this leads to anther question … you have to personally answer

What is so great about our eternal home in the first place?

See If you think that heaven is just Hawaii or Fiji … x100 … then heaven in your imagination won’t be that great for you

We tend to think that heaven will be us floating around … with see-through bodies like Casper the friendly ghost … chubby babies playing harps … cotton candy clouds …

let’s look at what it will actually be like

Turn with me to Revelation 21:1–6 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.”

I am going to give you a list of what all this will be like

New Heaven and New Earth

Our earth is corrupted with sin … this earth will be replaced with a totally new one … that we will live one

A perfect earth

A new physical city called the New Jerusalem - you can read more about in vv.10-16 … giant city

A perfect city … because God will be there …

You will see Christ in all his glory

Not only a physical earth … physical city … but new physical resurrected bodies

the same type of body that Jesus had after his resurrection … where he ate

perfect bodies … perfectly working eyes, brains, illnesses will be no more (asthma, headaches, allergies, colds)

see if you think about it … our bodies rn our weak … the Bible describes them like that … they will then perfect … you literally be full of strength

Bcverything else will be perfect … you will be perfect … there will be no more sin … that desire to sin will not be there anymore!

imagine that … sin is all we know … even after you become a X … you still sin … sin less … but nonetheless you sin

no more battle with sin!

That is your future eternal home if you are a Christian

God will be faithful to his promise … and this will one day be reality

Now God throughout the Bible tells us to look forward to that … but also to be busy with his work right now

Now if you think about Abraham … he knew there was something better … something yet to come … and caused him to be faithful in the here and now …

… bc he knew God was going to do something in the future … he was faithful in the present

If your hope is set on what’s to come … it will change the way you live in the present

Colossians 3:2 “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth

Matthew 6:19–21 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

If you call yourself a X …

… where are you priorities?

… Where’s your treasure? (in your abilities ,in what you look like, in your friends)

… Where’s your time going? (is your time going in investing for the future … are you growing in godly virtues)

Use the here and now to invest in the then and there!

Now if your not X …

if you want to be saved from the wrath of God … repent and trust in Christ

if you want to be guided by your Creator … on the path of life

if you want fullness of joy … if you want pleasures forevermore

… that does not come with being your own boss … in living in sin …

… it comes when you surrender and give your life to Christ

My prayer is that you would imitate that the faith of Abraham … that you would follow Christ wherever he may lead you … whatever happens … you’d be patient during difficult times … trusting God … all while being motivated by our future eternal home

LET’S PRAY