The Faith of Abraham: Seeking A Better Country

WELCOME

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1, ESV)

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Prayer on Tuesday

Men’s Night - Friday, Oct. 24th

Youth Campout - Friday, November 21st

Hymn of Preparation #

†CALL TO WORSHIP Psalm 27:4, 8

Pastor Austin Prince

Minister: People of God, the Lord calls out to you: “Seek my face.”

Congregation: One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to meditate in his temple.

Minister: The Lord calls out to you, his gathered church.

Congregation: Thy face, O Lord, we shall seek.

†PRAYER OF ADORATION AND INVOCATION

Almighty God, you built your church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ himself as the cornerstone. Come, Holy Spirit, join us together by Christ’s faithful work and the saints faithful witness. May we too be a holy temple in which you dwell to the glory of our triune god.

†OPENING PSALM OF PRAISE #47A

“O Clap Your Hands”

†CONFESSION OF SIN & ASSURANCE OF PARDON

“Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.” (Psalm 19:12–13, ESV)

Let us acknowledge our transgressions with a time of silent confession

TIME OF SILENT CONFESSION

Minister: O Father, we are gathered before you, the maker of heaven and earth, whose chosen dwelling place is with the broken and contrite, to confess that:

Congregation: we have sinned in thought and word and deed; we have not loved you with all our heart and soul, we have not loved you with all our mind and strength; we have not even loved our neighbor as ourselves.

In your mercy, deepen our sorrow for the wrong we have done and for the good we have left undone, so that we may hate our sin with a holy hatred. But, please Father, do not leave us in sorrow. With you, O Lord, there is forgiveness. In your mercy, restore the joy of our salvation; so that we may love you with a holy love. Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

“When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:17–18, ESV)

CONTINUAL READING OF SCRIPTURE Numbers 31:21-54

Elder Paul Mulner

THE OFFERING OF TITHES AND OUR GIFTS

CONGREGATIONAL PRAYERS

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

†HYMN OF PREPARATION #444

“Come to the Waters”

SERMON Hebrews 11:8–16 // The Faith of Abraham: Seeking a Better Country

PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION

Heavenly Father, may you grant us to comprehend your holy Word according to your divine will, that we may learn from it to put all our confidence in you alone, and withdraw it from all other creatures; moreover, that also our old man with all his lusts may be crucified more and more each day, and that we may offer ourselves to you as a living sacrifice, to the glory of your holy name and to the edification of our neighbor, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. —Zacharias Ursinus

TEXT Hebrews 11:8-16

Hebrews 11:8–16 ESV

8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 11 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. 13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

AFTER SCRIPTURE

Every word of God is perfect, let his people bless his Holy name.

Intro

When you read through Hebrews, a single word keeps rising off the page: better. Jesus is better. He is a better Word than the prophets. He is a better Priest than all who came before. His sacrifice is a better sacrifice—built on better promises, securing a better hope. In every comparison, Christ surpasses what came before.

And when we arrive at Hebrews 11, the same theme continues. Here we learn that in Christ we are called to something better still: a better country. A home not built with human hands, but designed and prepared by God Himself.

Every one of us knows what it is to long for home—for a place of rest, security, and belonging. And yet, Christians are never fully at home here. Like the apostle Peter says, we are “strangers and exiles.” We are meant to feel a kind of holy discontent with the world, even when surrounded by its comforts and successes. Our hope isn’t anchored in what we can build, buy, or hold here. Our hope is in Christ, and He calls us forward.

That’s why Hebrews draws our attention to Abraham—the father of the faithful. Abraham was called to leave behind the security of what he knew and follow God into the unknown. He lived as a pilgrim, longing for a better country. And if we are children of Abraham by faith, then his story becomes our story too.

Like Abraham, Christ calls us to a better country.

He was asked to leave the only home he ever knew—family, land, security—for a promise he couldn’t see. That’s the same kind of call we receive in Christ.

This morning we’ll look at Abraham’s example in Hebrews 11 and see three marks of his faith—three lessons that call us to walk as pilgrims toward the city God has prepared:

Outline: 3 Things From The Life of Abraham

Faith Trusts God’s Promises (vv.8-10)

Faith Trusts In Desperate Situations (vv.11-12)

Faith Trusts Even In Death (vv.13-16)

To understand what it means to live for this better country, let’s first examine Abraham’s faith through his obedience to God’s call, a faith that trusted God’s promises without knowing all the details.

Faith Trusts God’s Promises (VV.8-10)

“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.” (Hebrews 11:8–10, ESV)

Abraham received a word from God to pick up and go, and He did, considering the promise of God trustworthy.

As we walk through chapter 11 with all of these wonderful examples of faith, of course our lives aren’t the same as theirs and we aren’t asked to do the same things, but we are to learn from them. You and I might not receive a direct call from God to leave our homes, but we, too, have promises from God.

Abraham wasn’t following a hunch; he was obeying a promise. And if you remember from last week, we said that faith can come with assurance and conviction because of the object that our faith is in. When God makes a promise, He can be trusted.

What are some of those promises of God?

"The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." (Deuteronomy 31:8) "And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19) "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33)

Faith Embraces Ignorance

“Abraham went out not knowing where he was going.”

God made a promise and that was good enough. But that so often doesn’t seem good enough to us. We need a plan or a map. We need every detail spelled out to us before we will obey and move. We need to see that we will be protected and that all will work out. We test God, weighing Him in the balance before He gets our allegiance.

But faith embraces ignorance while trusting in the promises. We have His word and that is enough.

Faith doesn’t wait until the situation looks possible; it acts on God’s promise even when nothing else makes sense.

Where do you weigh Him in the balances?

“I’ll be at peace once you show me the way”

“I’ll forgive once I feel that they deserve it and I’m protected”

“I would speak to them about Christ but they won’t hear me and they will be angry…”

“I need to know that my children’s future is secure before I trust you”

Where is God calling you to obey without a map?

Looking forward to a city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

Abraham opted for living in a tent over building foundations in the land of Ur.

Faith in God’s promises looks like that still. It looks like holding on to the things of this world lightly. It looks like living in a tent and being ready to move instead of trying to fortify yourself and accumulate comforts here while never testing the promises of God. There is another word for that: being a prisoner.

Our suspicion of God’s promises and our lack of obedience can come because we have such a dependence on this world to usher in our greatest hope. It won’t.

Where are we unable to trust? Where are we unable to give? Where are we beholden by fear?

Faith today looks like loosening your grip—on security, on possessions, on control—and tightening your grip on the promises of God.

Reason for the hope in you

“always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15, ESV)

Why would someone ask you about that? Because they should see you trusting the promises of God. They see you living in a tent while they are trying to build a fortress. But you’re the one filled with hope and life. They notice that your ambitions aren’t the same as theirs. They see the way you spend your time. They notice how buoyant your heart is. They see faith that bears what to all the earth looks like a tragedy.

If someone looked at your calendar and your bank account, and heard your speech, would they see that you’re building a home here—or that you’re living in a tent on the way to a city?

Faith trusts in the promises of God.

But Abraham was not alone in this faith—his wife, Sarah, had her own remarkable story

Faith Trusts In Desperate Situations (VV.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. 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.” (Hebrews 11:11–12, ESV)

Faith Trusts In Desperate Situations

God took a barren couple in their nineties and made them the parents of innumerable offspring. It was said that Abraham was a s good as dead.

But God’s grace doesn’t need anyone’s strength. When God promises, He will be faithful, even though the situation seems desperate. He takes desperate situations and makes them possible.

How often do these types of considerations begin to creep into our thinking: “There’s just no way that this person is going to change. Or, this person seems so far gone in unbelief that God cannot work here. Or, I don’t think I’m in a position for God to use me—I’m not equipped or positioned for it yet.”

Faith Trusts in Desperate Situations

Where have you quietly decided that God can’t work anymore—maybe in a child’s heart, in a strained marriage, or even in your own struggle with sin? Faith says, ‘God is still faithful, even here.

Where do you feel as good as dead—too weak, too late, too far gone? That is the very ground where God delights to show Himself faithful.

God’s power is made perfect in our weakness.

Considered Him Faithful

Sarah, we are told, considered God to be faithful to His promises.

Now, if you remember her story then you remember that she initially laughed when she heard the promise, and she was rebuked for that. So why is she commended? Well, this is a good lesson on what to do with incredulity. Sometimes the promises of God seem so difficult to believe, but what did Sarah eventually do?

At some point, she considered the one who promised to be faithful. How do we know that?

Well, where do babies come from? Isaac was not a divine conception. At some point these two ninety year olds decided to trust God and gave it a shot.

Trust must always be accompanied by obedience. Even when we are skeptical, we must consider Him who promised to be faithful.

The Stability of her husband

While we are looking at both Abraham and Sarah together, we should notice something else about the life of faith.

Sarah trusted when Abraham said that they were moving and she trusted God when He promised to give her a child.

For Abraham’s sake, His faith gave his wife stability and strength, even through uncertainty, and her faith gave him deep encouragement.

Husbands and fathers and men, we’ve already said that faith can be like living in a tent. And your wife probably doesn’t want to live in this metaphorical tent. She wants security and stability. But that’s exactly what faith brings to bear in your home. Faith becomes a fortress. It’s non-anxious and it leads from conviction and assurance. It’s confident in the promises of God and it is faithful in action. It’s the kind of leading that will let a wife pack her bags and follow you into the unknown.

Examples:

Faith looks like not turning to passivity when leading is hard.

It look like faithful work in the small things and in the humble things - maybe you’ve lost a job and you have to do something that looks beneath you. Do you bring the stability of faith?

Not turning into passivity, faithful work in all seasons)

Wives and mothers and ladies, your faith brings warmth and joy and encouragement. The frenetic energy of doubt and anxiety can put a home on edge. The smog of pessimism can choke out a room — the kids can feel it. And a husband is often bound up to the level of their wife’s faith.

— It’s not uncommon to see that in ministry. A man has a conviction about something, but after going home to talk with his wife about it, her doubts now become his doubts. What was once resolute has now lost its edge because he won’t have support from home.

A woman of faith laughs at the time to come. Her fear is of the Lord, not the winter weather, as Prov. 31 puts it. Your faith adorns your home, teaching those around you what tasting and seeing that the Lord is good looks like.

Give examples:

Do you set the table and cultivate joy in times of worry?

Do you discipline the children in hope or in desperation?

Do you scoff or do you build up?

Faith Trusts Even In Death

“These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, 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, for he has prepared for them a city.” (Hebrews 11:13–16, ESV)

Died in faith

Abraham died before he ever received the promised land. Did God make a mistake? No, but what was Abraham to do with this disappointment?

It is said that he greeted the promises from afar.

Faith isn’t merely a means to just getting our ends. We don’t buy God with faith so that we can get our true rest in His gifts. Faith trusts the promises and welcomes the timing.

God promises to wipe away every tear. But that doesn’t happen right now. God promises to work all things for our good. But we may never know or see how that is played out in this life. We carry aches and longings and losses that are unresolved.

But God’s promises are greeted, and they are greeted sometimes from afar.

We often use the phrase “I look forward to it” when we anticipate a blessing. That’s a good phrase for this idea. Faith looks forward to how God will repair and redeem. Faith looks forward in joy to how He will untangle the webs. Faith looks forward and greets or welcomes the challenge, because its where God’s promises are going to shine with remarkable glory.

And as faith grows, it greets those promises from afar. It welcomes those things that take time.

Are there areas where you aren’t looking forward to God’s provision? Is faith a concept of fear more than one of a thrill? Welcome and greet His work — look forward to it.

Henry is only five months old, and it’s fun to see a baby change from that initial limitation of sight to being able to recognize you from across the room. At first, you have to get up real close to them before they make any connection, but now he smiles when his momma is standing far off.

It’s much that same way as we grow in our faith. Our sight gets farther out and it makes us smile to see on what a grand scale God is working out His promises.

Not returning/ God not ashamed

Abraham had the opportunity to return home. To leave a tent for a home, but he didn’t, and it is said that God is not ashamed to be called his God.

Faith wants God more than stuff. Think of the garden and the temptation to eat of the fruit. Faith wants God more than what is immediate. It wants God more than these things. It will take living in a tent with God rather than a fortress alone. It lives in that tent with joy with marvelous Sarah rather than clinging onto the trappings of a this world.

God is honored by our faith. It glorifies Him. It announces to all the world that He is our better hope.

So don’t go back and don’t settle here. The tents of this life are temporary, but the city God has prepared is forever. Faith means trusting His promises, even in the dark; it means walking forward when you don’t see the map; it means living as strangers here because our true home is with Him. So take up your tent, fix your eyes on Christ, and walk on by faith—because the better country is already yours in Him.

†HYMN OF RESPONSE #476

“It Is Well With My Soul”

THE MINISTRY OF THE LORD’S SUPPER

Leader: Lift up your hearts!

Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord.

Leader: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

Congregation: It is right for us to give thanks and praise!

CONFESSION OF FAITH -

The Apostles’ Creed (p.851)

INVITATION TO THE LORD’S TABLE

Beloved in the Lord Jesus, the meal which we are about to celebrate is a feast of remembrance, communion, and hope.

We come to remember that Jesus was sent into the world to assume our flesh and blood, to become God with us, that we might be redeemed. We come to have communion with this same Christ who has promised to be with us even to the end of the world.

We come in hope, believing that this bread and this cup are a pledge and a foretaste of a new heaven and a new earth, where we shall behold God.

In his earthly ministry Jesus praised those who provided for him, saying, I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink. Now here, for us, is the bread of life given; let all who hunger come and eat. Here is the fruit of the vine, poured out for us. It is for all who belong to Christ through repentance, faith, baptism, and continuing union with his church. Let all who thirst come and drink.

Let’s pray together:

PRAYER

Congregation: Most righteous God, we remember in this meal the perfect sacrifice offered once on the cross by our Lord Jesus Christ for the sin of the whole world. United with Christ in his suffering, strengthened by the Holy Spirit, trusting in the power of God to triumph over evil, we wait in joyful hope for the fullness of God’s reign. Send your Holy Spirit upon us, we pray, that the bread which we break and the cup which we bless may be to us the communion of the body and blood of Christ.

Grant that, being joined together in him, we may attain to the unity of the faith and grow up in all things into Christ our Lord. And as this grain has been gathered from many fields into one loaf, and these grapes from many hills into one cup, grant, O Lord, that your whole Church may soon be gathered from the ends of the earth into your kingdom. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! Amen.

Congregation is seated.

THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS

THE WORDS OF INSTITUTION AND SHARING OF THE SUPPER

“Eat and drink.”

Mark 14:22-25

And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

†OUR RESPONSE #567

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;

Praise him, all creatures here below;

Praise him above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

†BENEDICTION: GOD’S BLESSING FOR HIS PEOPLE

The Lord will keep you from all evil; He will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever more. Amen.