Pursue the Promise

Context

Theme: Growing Together.

New Guide: The author of the Letter to the Hebrews.

Many scholars posit Paul as the author.

But the identity of the author is not known with certainty; no name attached to it. Author refers to himself only as “I”.

So in your Bible the letter is placed after the letters of Paul but before the letters with clearly identified authors — James, Peter, and John.

We call the letter “Hebrews” because it makes extensive use of the Old Testament, its narrative, its heroes, and rituals — suggesting perhaps a primarily Jewish audience.

The great theme of the letter is that Jesus is the supreme fulfillment of promises of God contained in the Law and the Prophets and therefore Christians should endure in faith despite all challenges and so obtain the eternal life and kingdom promised in the Hebrew Scriptures and fulfilled by Christ.

Today’s reading comes from Hebrews 11. The author uses the example of Abraham (OT Genesis) to illustrate for us that it is by faith that we pursue the promises of God.

Text

Hebrews 11:1–3 NRSV

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.

Hebrews 11:8–16 NRSV

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old—and Sarah herself was barren—because he considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.” All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.

Introduction

Gods calls and offers a promise. Abraham has faith and pursues the promise.

Like Abraham, we too are called by God into a journey.

If we are going to pursue God’s promises, we want to have faith like Abraham did.

What is faith? What does it look like? Where does it take us?

Exegesis 1: What faith is

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for.

Assurance — being made sure.

Being sure that a desired goal will be achieved.

“This is going to work.” They are assuring us.

“Okay, let’s do it.” We have been assured.

Faith is sureness that what God is telling is to do can be trusted.

Conviction of things not seen.

Conviction —

Legal setting. When someone is convicted of a crime, it is because the proof points to them.

Communication setting. She spoke with conviction— spoke as if her perspective were absolute fact and vitally important and convincing.

Faith is being passionately convinced by what is not seen…(God)…is just as much a fact as something tangible.

By faith we understand the universe was created by the word of God.

perceive, think, consider, weigh in the fact

that God exist, upholds all things.

Just as we factor in hurricanes when we build a home: we factor in God for how we live our life.

Faith is assurance, conviction, and thinking about what is hoped for, what is invisible, what is promised by God.

Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

Application 1: We have faith

Faith is a capacity you have.

You do…it exists alongside of other ways have of interacting with reality.

We have our physical senses. Sight, smell, touch, hearing, taste

We can know the physical world.

We can know truths rationally with our mind.

2+2 = 4.

Area of a square is LxW. Triangle = h (squared) x base divided by 2.

Deduce things: I am a man. All men are mortal. One day, I will die.

we build our lives on these worlds of knowledge: physical world, the rational world.

Christians firmly believe in the spiritual world. We know the spiritual world by the action of the soul: faith.

By faith, we are assured of what we hope for from God.

2 Timothy 1:12 “…I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard [it] until the Great Day”

By faith we are convicted by God’s word

Hebrews 4:12 “Indeed, the word of God is living and active, …able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

By faith, we weigh God into all that we do.

Romans 8:28 “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”

So we should not be ashamed to say: I sense God is leading me to…This is a sentiment of faith which is to be taken seriously.

Exegesis 2: Abraham acts on faith

Abraham the prime example from Old Testament. He took faith seriously and was commended for it.

Genesis 12:1–4 “Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you….So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; …”

So simple, but so profound.

The Lord said, go to a land that I will show you. So Abram went.

He had never been to that far-away land. He could not see it on a map. But he gathered up all he had and went.

Neighbors may have said “you are crazy”. But Abraham by faith said: If God can create the world, he can give me a piece of it.

Genesis 15:3–6 “And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring,…” But the Lord said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, … Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed the Lord..and the Lord commended him as righteous.

Simple and so profound.

God said you will become a great nation. And Abram believed.

He and Sara were too old (pushing 100 yrs) to have children. Child rearing years over. Biologically the clock had stopped ticking.

People may have said, Don’t get your hopes up. [Indeed even Sarah laughed at the promise and Abram had to be assured more than once.}

yet the conviction of faith won out: If God created man from the dirt, a woman from a rib, can certainly give a child to an aged couple.

God said Go, Abrham went. God said, you will have children…Abaham and Sarah believed.

They were serious about faith. God commended them as righteous.

Application 2: Act on Faith

Faith — asssurance, conviction, and understanding of God — results in motion. Moving into an unknown future by taking God at his word.

Taking the spiritual life serious and making serious steps because of it.

I think God is leading me…telling me…SO I am GOING TO DO IT.

Retired member of this church. I’m retired. I have these plans in place. Then a ministry here at the church. There’s a need. I think God is calling me to meet that need. So I am going to do it.

Another member. A few months ago, Compassion International series. Said: I felt that God was calling me to make a financial commitment to make a difference. So I started sponsoring a child.

Example: Combined Services. We think God is leading us to…SO we are doing it. Asking the congregation to come with.

Faith is real and becomes visible in the real world because our assurance, conviction, understanding of God, leads us into concrete steps.

Scary…will it work out? It will more than work out…

Exegesis 3: The Promise is more than fulfilled

But, careful listener, you point out: Hebrews 11:13 “All of these died in faith without having received the promises…

Let us stick close to the Scriptures here:

True: when Abraham arrived in the Promised land he lived there like a stranger in a tent. He did not take full possession of it.

Abraham received the promise, but not fully.

Abraham had children. But he never saw descendants like grains of sand or the stars of the sky. He saw only Isaac and Ishmael.

He received the promise, but not fully.

Sounds like bad news, but this is actually the Good News.

The glimpse of the earthly promises fulfilled purified Abraham’s faith and made him ready for the heavenly fulfillment God had in store.

Hebrews 11:13 “…They confessed (came to realize) that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth,” what they were really…seeking a spiritual homeland, a better country, a heavenly one.

That heavenly land became their true, God-given, objective.

When that happened, God fulfilled his promise: Hebrews 11:16 “Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.” That is where Abraham and Sarah went.

In the New Testament, (Luke 16) When Jesus talks about heaven, he calls it “Abraham’s bosom.”

God’s promise was kept even more than Abraham expected: for what land could be better than the heavenly one?

And Abraham’s descendants have become like the sands of the beach and the stars of the sky. The New Testament declares that any and all — like you and me today — place their faith in Jesus, they are miraculously born of the spirit to become children of Abrham. Children born of faith.

God’s promise was kept even more than Abraham expected: for what family could be more numerous than the myriads upon myriads gathered before the throne of God at the last day?

The partial, earthly, temporal fulfillment of promise, was not a failure by God, but was designed by God to propel Abraham to the highest blessing, the entering into heaven and being in the great family of God. Which promise we also share in…

Application 3 - Pursue the Promise

Faith and not getting all that was promised go together because God wants to give us more than just this world.

I love seeing us all gathered here today….but no matter how full this space gets, or how beautiful, or how technologically updated…I will still long for the heavenly sanctuary.

take the step absolutely, it is a sign of the promise.

I appreciate when God has given me health, wealth, home, and happiness…and it hurts not to have those things…but no matter how much we have here, it will not be the bliss of seeing God and being with all the saints in glory which can never be taken away.

live godly and gratefully, it is a sign of the promise.

Only getting a glimpse of the promise is not a bug in the spiritual program, it is a feature. The promise partially fulfilled purifies our hearts. It reminds us of what God really has in store for us.

One day, when we go to heaven or heaven comes to us: Then God, who alone can meet the deepest desires of our hearts, fulfills his promise.

There will come a day, when you will receive the promised land: when you will see the pearly gates, golden streets, and the river and tree of life. That is the city with real foundations, built by God.

There will come a day, when you will receive a family beyond count: when you will stand in the midst of the fiery angels and saints dressed in white and before the Lamb of God Jesus on his throne, and Abraham and Sarah will be there too, among the many more than the stars of the sky or the grains of sand on the shore.

On that day, you will be able to say, having had faith, having walked a journey, having confessed that for time it all seemed far off, finally it has been fulfilled, for God fulfills his promise.

Conclusion

So in conclusion.

Let us have faith. Assurance of what we hope, confidence in what we cannot yet see.

Let us take our faith seriously and take serious steps because of it.

And by God’s grace, let us receive all that he has promised us.