The Faith of the Patriarchs.

Opening:

It is a beautiful thing to open the Word of God on the Lord’s Day.

Introduction of the Passage:

This morning we will be in Hebrews 11:13-16. We are continuing on in our study of our great cloud of witnesses. And here we come to an interesting change in style. The Apostle here rather than give an account of what a specific person did in faith, gives some commentary. And the focus here is the people who the Apostle just listed. Specifically Paul has just spoken of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Jacob. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are often referred to biblically as the Patriarchs. Now, don’t worry. I am not forgetting Sarah. I am including her here under the covenant head of her husband Abraham. So when I say patriarchs, I am assuming Sarah to be here standing beside Abraham as her status as wife would indicate. So this morning we are looking at what the faith of the Patriarchs did.

Would you stand with me for the reading of God’s Word.

Reading of the Passage:

Hebrews 11:13–16“13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”

Behold, the Word of God. Let’s pray.

Prayer:

Our Gracious Heavenly Father, we commit this time in your Word to you this morning. May you use it to sanctify us and grow us. May we be a people you are not ashamed of. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen.

Introduction:

There is a legend of a man named Saint Brendan the Navigator. Now by all indication, Saint Brendan did exist and indeed his voyage was likely real in at least some sense. But I am not telling you about him for the sake of relating historical fact like some dusty professor. No, the point of Saint Brendan’s life is to spur the heart on to adventure.

Brendan was an Irish monastic of the late 5th to early 6th century. He was a Christian. And his life is one of mythic proportion. But what he is most well known for was for a sailing voyage near the end of his life. See, Saint Brendan was a man of action and adventure. And he decided to set sail in order to find the heavenly Jerusalem. He longed to find Eden, or the New Eden. Now it is here that the dusty theologians will push up there glasses and tell you about how ridiculous that is and how Christ’s Kingdom is not a mere earthly place.

Their criticism would be valid if that was the point of the story. But the point of this tale of a likely real man who likely did voyage in search of discovery to glorify God, is to spur the heart on to adventure. It is to tell us that there is something better out there. There is glory on the horizon. Over those crashing waves, even late in life, there is more to this world than you yet imagine. Saint Brendan’s voyage is meant to teach us that there are idols to be cut down, lands to be discovered, glories to be won, and all of this is to be done for the glory of God.

But perhaps principally, this story is to teach us that the Kingdom of God is real. Now, the theologians are correct. The New Jerusalem is not some place we can physically sail to. But they are wrong in thinking this means it is not a real place. No, Saint Brendan was right on that. The New Jerusalem is a real place. And we must go there. Or rather, we are becoming there. And as the song my catechism students know so well says, “Well we’ll be all right if the Lord is on our side.”

While the historical details around saint Brendan’s life may be disputed (It was absolutely true by the way), our passage this morning is not up for any dispute. The patriarchs did indeed seek a heavenly country. They did set out from homelands and never looked back. They did see the future shores of that New Jerusalem. And perhaps most amazingly, they by faith earned a title we must all long for. God was not ashamed to be called their God.

Our passage is hauntingly beautiful. It is poetic in a way that makes us want to go climb a mountain or take on an army of foes. Our fathers in the faith did not look back. They left their homes in search of the heavenly country. And behold, they found it.

Text Idea:

You see, the Apostle here tells us that the patriarchs did not live to receive the promise. But by faith they saw it, were assured of it, embraced it, and confessed it. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God.

Sermon Idea:

We must learn that while we may not live to see the fulness of God's promise, we must by faith see it, be assured of it, embrace it, confess it; thereby ensuring God is not ashamed to be called our God.

Interrogative:

But how? Well, let us honor our fathers. Let us dive into the text this morning.

Transition:

The first thing the Apostle tells us is:

The Patriarchs Died Before Receiving the Promises.

Explanation:

Think of the way our passage opens. Hebrews 11:13“13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises...”

This is a depressing opening. Or is it? We often think of dying with work left undone to be a sad thing. But it is not framed this way here. Yes, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob died not having seen the fulness of the promise. They didn’t conquer Canaan. They did not build the walls of Jerusalem. They did not build the Temple. None of them were crowned kings. None of them heard David’s Psalms. They did not usher in the Messiah.

But these all died. They died with fields left to be tilled. With crops unharvested. They died with work to be done. So were they failures? Well, let’s keep looking at the account.

The first thing we see is that they died in faith.

In Faith:

That phrase in faith is so important. They died in faith. What does that mean? It means they were able to look beyond their limited perspectives. They died knowing that God would keep His Word. They did not die in doubt. They died in faith knowing that God would be faithful to their children.

Think of the promises God made. Perhaps the most impactful one was that God promised to be their God and the God of their children after them. This promise is an ongoing one. You see, Abraham knew the promise did not die with him. It was Isaac’s as well. Isaac knew it was Jacob’s. Jacob knew that the promise belonged to all twelve of his sons. You see, they knew God would not abandon their children.

And so they looked beyond their lives. And in this, God was gracious. You see, they may not have lived all the way to the fulfilment of the promise, but the apostle gives us a list what they recieved in faith. And this is an incredible gift.

First: In faith:

They Saw the Promises.

They saw them afar off. God gave the patriarchs vision to see into the long future. And they saw that God would be faithful. They saw that what God had promised, He would keep. And though their physical eyes may have failed, the eyes of faith allowed them to see. But it was not just sight.

In Faith:

They Were Assured of the Promises.

Here we see how the patriarchs fit our definition of faith. Remember that word assurance? Faith is the title deed of things hoped for, the convincing evidence of things not seen. That word assured here is a word that speaks of being convinced. The Patriarchs were convinced by the evidence of faith. And they died knowing for sure (assured) that God was faithful.

But there is more. Not only did they see, not only were they sure, in faith:

They Embraced the Promises.

I love that word embraced. They held them fast. They held them close. They took God’s Word and held it close. They held onto it like their life depended on it, because it did. I cannot imagine the dark nights they must have had. But in the midst of the doubt and pain, what did they embrace? They embraced the promises of God. Would that we did the same.

But the final thing they did is perhaps the most incredible. In faith:

They Confessed the Truth of the Promises.

Instantly we think of Romans 10:9–10“9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” And indeed the Patriarchs of our faith made true confession. They confessed specifically the truth of the promises of God. They believed God and it came out of their mouth.

Transition:

But the way the apostle speaks of their confession is interesting. Indeed they did confess with their mouths. But they also confessed with their action. And what was this confession? Specifically that they sought a new homeland.

A New Homeland.

Explanation:

Listen again. Hebrews 11:13–16“13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”

Some things stand out. First, they confessed they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Now this could mean two things. First, it could mean that they were not earthly. Specifically that earth itself was not their home. Their home was heaven, not earth. And certainly there is truth to this. They were the fathers of the people of God. They belonged to God. They were in covenant relationship with Him. In the ultimate sense their home was to be in the presence of the Lord.

But it also speaks of the earthly situation. These men were wanderers. They were nomads. They lived in tents. They had no home. God brought them to the land of promise, told them all of it would be the property of their offspring, and then for the rest of their lives they wandered around the promise land in tends. They were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. They had no homeland. And they confessed this. Jacob told Pharaoh that he was a wanderer without a home when he made it down to Egypt.

So you see, this phrase is paring two realities. Their ultimate home was the presence of God. But they were also nomadic. They left their own homeland to wander around without a home all in faith of the promise of God.

And part of their confession of faith in the promise of God is that they never returned to their old homeland.

They Did Not Return to Their Old Homeland.

The text tells us that they had opportunity. They could have gone back. Abraham could have gone back to his homeland. He had left family there. He had an established life there. He could have packed up and gone back anytime he wanted. But in faith he trusted God. And one of the evidences of his faith was that he purposely lived a hard life for the sake of faith. He lived in tents rather than a comfortable house. He labored every day of his life for fruit he would never taste. Why? Because God had called him to it. He was obeying God. You see, the faith of the patriarchs is on full display in the fact that they did not return home. They chose pain in order to follow God rather than comfort in disobedience to God.

They desired the heavenly country over their own homeland. But that raises a question.

What is the Heavenly Country?

There are really two options to how we answer this.

Option 1. Heaven.

Option 2. The New Jerusalem.

You may be wondering what the difference is. Well, theologically there is a difference. Heaven is a theologically complex subject. So I will attempt to simplify. When believers die they go to heaven. The Bible calls this the presence of the Lord or the Third Heaven. We often just call this heaven. The New Jerusalem is also complicated but it is different. Some say the New Jerusalem is a physical city that will descend after Christ returns. Others like myself believe the New Jerusalem is a prophetic picture of the entirety of the church through all time that is completed and perfected when Christ returns.

So the question theologians must wrestle with is what is the Apostle talking about here? Is he talking about heaven, where we go when we die? Or is he talking about this city or country of God which is the eternal church of the faithful of Old and New Testament.

Well, I believe the Apostle is here saying that the patriarchs looked ahead to the city God is building made of living stones. That is, the true Israel, the true Church of God for all time. And I believe this makes the most sense of the passage and the lives of the Patriarchs.

You see, that word heavenly can mean something in heaven as of location or it can mean from heaven in origin. And the church of our Lord is both. The author of Hebrews labors elsewhere to show that when the church comes together in worship we are coming to heaven, the presence of the Lord. But this heavenly country made of living stones is also here on earth but it has its origin in heaven.

And we must not disconnect this from the promises of God to the Patriarchs. What was God’s promise to Abraham? Was it that when Abraham died he would be with God? Now it is true that when Abraham died he did go to be in the presence of God. In fact, before Christ died and rose, the state believers entered upon their death was called “Abraham’s Bosom.” But was that the promise? No. The promise was in simple terms, that God would be the God of Abraham’s descendants and that through those descendants all the nations of the earth would be blessed.

To me the clearest fulfilment of this is that the heavenly country is the New Jerusalem, the church of Old and New Testaments which are the offspring of Abraham proclaiming blessing to all nations through Christ, the offspring of Abraham. And I think this answers how the Apostle can say in verse 16 that God has prepared (past tense) this country for them. It is prepared now, even though it was future for the patriarchs.

Argumentation:

And this really is why this mattes for us. You see, Christ has come, past tense. He has come. He took on flesh. He died. He rose again. He ascended. He is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again.

We are in this incredibly unique place. You see, Abraham and the patriarchs looked ahead to the fulfilment of the promises. They looked ahead for Christ to come. We now look back at Christ’s coming. The promise of Christ has been fulfilled. But we are not yet at the very end. In our current perspective the promise has been fulfilled, Christ has come. The promises are being fulfilled right now, the church is being built and the nations are being discipled. And the promise will one day be fulfilled, Christ will return and perfect all. The patriarchs looked ahead. We look back, around, and ahead. In a real sense we are in a place of far greater blessing than the patriarchs. We see the fulfilment of much. Christ has come. He has established the church. He is building the church. We are right now in His church.

So if the patriarchs were to trust God even though they never lived to see really any fulfilment of the promises, how much more are we to trust God? What is our responsibility? Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob are all being commended here for looking ahead in faith to something they would never see. They are being hailed as faithful saints because in faith they embraced what they never saw. Beloved, we live in the midst of the fulfilment. How much more so should we remain faithful. What they hoped for has now happened. Christ has come. We should be all the more faithful.

You see, the patriarchs lived and died faithfully. They died trusting the promise they would never see. We now see the promise. Should we not live and die all the more faithfully. Their example should spur us on to live all the more faithfully.

Transition:

But there is one more thing we should see. And perhaps this is the most incredible thing in this passage. The Apostle tells us:

God is Not Ashamed to be Called Their God.

Explanation:

It is challenging to even begin to know how to speak on this. Think of the beauty of this statement. God is not ashamed to be called their God. What an incredible statement. And this is referencing how God is referred to throughout the Bible. God is often called the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We think of God speaking to Moses at the burning bush telling him to say to the children of Israel that the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has sent him to them.

But think of the impact here. Paul is not here saying that God is merely called their God. He isn’t saying that God is just referred to that way. No. The Apostle says God is not ashamed to be their God. God is not ashamed of them. God is not ashamed to be associated with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Illustration:

When I think of things I want to hear from God when I die, there are two things. I want to hear those words from the parable of Christ, “well done, good and faithful servant.” I want to hear that. I want to hear God tell me that I lived faithfully. But second only to that is this phrase. I want to know that I lived a life that God was not ashamed of. I want to hear on that final day that God was not ashamed of me. That I bore His name well. That He was proud of me.

I want to know that I made God proud. That I bore the name Christian well. That I did Him honor.

Argumentation:

I don’t know how else to put it. Beloved, do we live lives of faithfulness? Could God say of us that He is not ashamed to be our God? As our culture has progressively spiraled into unspeakable evil, this has been one of my main concerns. Am I seeking the approval of man or of God? Am I more concerned about being politically correct or am I concerned about honoring God?

Now I don’t want to be needlessly inflammatory. But we live in a world of straw and tinder soaked in gasoline. And I worry that we are far too concerned about the tinder around us. We are so worried that maybe if we say the wrong thing we may drop a spark and light the fire. What do I mean? How often do we worry about offending someone? “If I say this or that, I could offend someone.” We are so worried that we may upset someone.

But beloved, shouldn’t we be more concerned about what God thinks? Shouldn’t we be more concerned about offending God? Paul says God was not ashamed of the patriarchs. But we tend to live like we are more concerned about the secular culture being ashamed of us. And I just can’t do it. I would rather offend men than offend God. I would rather hear that the New York times was ashamed of me than God was ashamed of me.

You see, we live in a powder keg. And it seems like one spark could set it all off. And the Word of God is a flamethrower. This has led many Christians to say we need to tone down the language of Scripture. We need to just ignore parts of Scripture. “You can’t say women are not permitted to be pastors by Scripture, that could offend people.” I didn’t say it, God did. “You can’t say it is a sin for men to be effeminate.” I didn’t say it, God did. We are not responsible for the flammability of our culture. We are responsible to be faithful to God.

So let me ask you, are you more concerned with offending man or God? If you died right now, would God say of you that He was not ashamed to be called your God? May we live lives that God would not be ashamed of. And if that starts a fire, may it burn to the glory of God.

Conclusion:

As we examine this passage we see that the faith of the patriarchs carried them through to death. They, through faith saw and embraced what they could not see with their eyes. They looked ahead. In short, they planted trees they knew they would never eat the fruit of. They trusted God to bring the fruit so that their descendants could eat it. And in living in that faithful way, God was not ashamed of them.

Visualization:

My hope is that we will live like them. May we live lives of faith that looks ahead. That builds in faith, that lives in faith, that continues in faith, and that dies in faith.

Application:

And as we think through what this looks like I would encourage you to do three things. And I hope that these are incredibly practical.

First:

1. Do Not Turn Back.

One of the amazing things in this passage is that it openly says the patriarchs had opportunity to go home if they wanted. Abraham could have returned to his homeland. He had family there, friends there, likely an inheritance from his father. But he rejected it in order to follow God.

In the same way, we all will have opportunity to turn back. We could easily turn back to the sin God called us away from. We will have chances to do what is unfaithful. We will have times where the door is open to abandon faithfulness. To follow our own hearts and desires.

But do not turn back. Don’t do it. Don’t give back in to that sin that so easily enslaves. Life will be hard. There will be so many times where the easiest thing in the world to do will be to be unfaithful to God. Do not turn back. Do not abandon faithfulness. Remain the course. Steady as she goes. The sea is rough, but just like Saint Brendan, remember that there are glories ahead. Remain faithful.

And speaking of the glories ahead.

2. Plant Trees You Will Never Eat the Fruit Of.

There’s an old saying, “You know the best time to plant an apple tree? 20 years ago. You know the second best time to plant an apple tree? Right now.” We need to start planting trees knowing that we won’t live long enough to eat the fruit.

The Patriarchs looked ahead and saw the promise of God. They then set to work. They dedicated their lives to what they knew they would never see. I pray we would have the same mind. May we not be so consumed with the here and now that we no longer look ahead. We need to be people who plant long term. We need to remain focused on doing things we may not see finished. That’s really been the theme of the life of Abraham and the others set forward so far.

Life is not easy right now. It does not look like there are glories on the horizon. First, there are. But second, what does it matter if we see the glories ahead? What does it matter if I live to see a better day? I should right now be setting up my sons to see glories and wonders I will likely never live to see. Maybe I am not going to be the last generation living. And maybe I should live like I’m not. What if I’m not the last pastor Ramsey will ever have? In fact, I pray to God I’m not.

How can we, right here be faithful in such a way that we ensure, to the best of our ability, the longevity of faithfulness. How do we leave a legacy? The legacy of the Patriarchs is that they lived hard lives in a faithful way. And their descendants reaped the benefits. How can we do that. How can we live in such a way that a hundred years from now our descendants can look back and say, “They did well. And their faithfulness to God is why we are still here”?

I can’t give you all the answers on how to do that, but I can give you one. And that’s our third point of application.

3. Live a Life God is not Ashamed Of.

Do you want to know how to leave a legacy. Live in a way that God is not ashamed of you. In simple terms, it means caring more about what God thinks than what man thinks. It means our primary concern must be, “what does God say about this?” We must not be ruled by the opinions of others. We must primarily care about what God thinks.

Beloved, if we as a people begin to reject what God has said, He will crush us. If we as a church begin to cast away what God tells us, we will no longer have his blessing. If we attempt to please our culture to the neglect of what God has said, our church will die. Our primary concern must be with what God wants.

Do you want to leave a lasting legacy like the Patriarchs? Then live a life where God is not ashamed of what you do or say. Stand firm, bear the flamethrower of God’s Word, and do not fear.

We live in an age where the principle virtue we must cultivate is courage. We are surrounded on all sides. The enemy has laid seige to the church. It demands we bow the knee. “Bow the knee to the sexual perversion of day. Bow the knee to feminism. Bow the knee to progressive ideology. Reject the historicity of Genesis! Reject the qualifications for pastors! Reject the ordering of households that God commands! Reject the Bible’s teaching on homosexuality!”

And if we do not bow, they will call us hateful, homophobic, racist, bigots. Do not fear. They might even call us Christian Nationalists. OOOOOOO. Be courageous. Trust the word of God and care more about what He thinks than what anyone else in all the world thinks.

This is how you leave a legacy. You prioritize never shaming the God you love. So let us as a people be jolly and be brave. Kick the tires and light the fires. But be jolly and be brave.

Let’s pray.

Closing Prayer:

Offering:

Offertory Prayer:

Benediction:

Joshua 1:9“9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.””