13These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
14For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
15And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
16But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
Before
we begin an exposition of the verses we must have a good understanding of the
context. We will start with a couple of simple questions that will help with
this. First, why was the book of Hebrews written? What was happening was some of the believers
were being pressured by orthodox Jews to come back under the law. The author
intends to give his readers a reason to not turn from the faith or be persuaded
to succumb to the persecution that they were surely to face. If you know
anything about the book of Hebrews then you know that the whole book is about
the superiority of Christ. But that leaves us in a bit of an odd situation. Why
does he spend his time only telling them about the greatness of Christ? It
seems as if he really expects them to endure through any type of persecution
then there has to be something other than simply a more sufficient knowledge of
Christ he can tell them. But the author views knowledge of the superiority of
Christ as more than enough.
I believe the theme of the book can
be found in chapter 10 verse 34 “For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and
took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in
heaven a better and an enduring substance.” The author had been placed in
prison and the other believers of the day had a few choices. They could either
not act like they knew him, or simply just pray for him, or go to him and help
him. But they knew helping him would surely result in those who had placed him
in prison in turn persecuting them for helping. But the author writes that not
only did the men choose to help him but they “took joyfully the spoiling of
your goods”. It seems that the whole purpose of this book is to give believers
enough reason to go under any persecution and hold on to their faith joyfully.
And the way that the author goes about it is he shows clearly that Christ is
superior to every single aspect of the law that they had known. Whether it be
prophets, priests, angels, whatever it could be Christ is better. It seems that
he expects that their response to the superiority of Christ would be to endure
any type of persecution.
Another
question I would like to ask is why was Hebrews 11 written? I believe the
natural reaction to what the author had just said in verse 10:34 of the men
joyfully give up all their good is “that’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard,
what would be in a man to make him behave that way”. I mean why in the world
would a person just gladly give up everything he has in order to help someone
in prison? The author tells us the reason is because they knew they “have in
heaven a better and an enduring substance”. But what would give a person so
much certainty in the world after death that they would do such a thing. The
author tells us that “the just shall live by faith” in verse 38. So the author
expects that Christians would be able to act just the way that those in verse
34 acted if they had within themselves true faith. Our natural reaction to this
statement is that there has to be more to our assurance then just faith. With
this in mind he writes Hebrews 11. Not only did the men of verse 10:34 act this
way simply in faith but this is how all believers of the past lived.
He
starts Hebrews 11 by giving an explanation of what faith is before he shows to
them that men of the past have always lived this way. I believe that this
chapter is written with a dual purpose. First to show that faith is the only way
that believers have lived, also to give those reading inspirations and examples
to base their life on. And as we have been taught even recently he ends this
section with Christ himself, that Christ is the perfect example of pure faith.
But the author starts first with Abel who was the first person to have been
persecuted for his faith. Then he talks about Enoch who we all know never
experienced death and “walked with God”. I just love the working of the Holy
Spirit at times. He starts with Abel which shows us that we should not doubt
that the righteous will be persecuted, and moves directly to Enoch which shows
that we also shall be victorious. And the author pauses, I believe to make sure
we keep ourselves connected with these individuals and he tells us that “without
faith it is impossible to please God”. The tendency is to not associate ourselves
with these great people of the past. Yet, the author makes sure that we know
that it is only by faith, just as our faith, that these individuals lived. Then
he begins to talk about Noah and then Abraham and his descendants. And the
author pauses again with this section from verse 13-16 I believe to again
reconnect us with these people. “These all died in faith, not having received
the promises”. He seems to be referring to Noah, Abraham, and Sarah. But does
this not refer to us all? Do we not truly receive the culmination of all of our
promises from God after death? They had not received their promises, just as we
have not received ours.
I would
like to begin an explanation of this text by starting with “…confessed that
they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things
declare plainly that they seek a country.” These saints of the past had
confessed that they were pilgrims here. They showed the world that the belonged
somewhere else. Their heart and desire was elsewhere. But how did they confess
this? What was it that they had said that the author says would “declare
plainly” that they sought another country. I believe the answer is very plain.
I don’t think he means literal words but actions. I do believe that we should
always be talking of Christ and the blessings he has bestowed upon us and
awaits us. But I think what he is referring to here are the actions these men
had done that show the world that their hopes and desires were not of this
world. The point the author is trying to make is that believers will act in a
way that makes absolutely no sense to the world. What had Noah done? He built a
boat and everyone must have thought he was crazy. What did Abraham do? He left
everything he had without knowing where he was going because he had faith in
the word of God. And even more amazing, after he got there what did he do? The
normal reaction for any of us would be to settle down there, build a city.
Build a place to give your sons, a place that was permanent and reliable. But
it says that after Abraham made it to the land of promise he lived in tents.
Why would he live in tents? The author tells us that “he looked for a city
which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” There was one thing
Abraham knew, he wanted to be with God. Let God give him all the blessings of
this Earth if God so desired but even still his desire and longing would be
towards God Himself.
It
makes us wonder if we are living with anywhere near the same faith that these
men of old did. These men made it obvious that this world was not their home.
We must ponder the situation and ask ourselves, “Are we living in a way that
the world says to us, ‘they have a hope elsewhere’ ”. I don’t even mean our
entire lives, but is there even one aspect of anything we ever do that makes
someone in the world say to us “what’s wrong with you, why aren’t you like
everyone else” I believe a great example of a person who lived for God is John
the Baptist. He lived in a way that almost seems bizarre to us. He lived as an
outcast and made no sense to the world. But do you think the world took notice?
And what was the record given of him? “There was a man sent from God, whose
name was John.” Talk about a wonderful description to have! He not only made it
obvious to the world that his hope was elsewhere, but it was so obvious that he
did not belong here it was as if God Himself had planted him here. Oh how it is
my prayer that when I am dead and gone that some might say of me “there was a
man sent from God, whose name was Rickie”. Should this not be the prayer of all
of us? It was because he lived in a way that proved to the world that he had no
desires for the world. Or as he says in on words in reference to Christ “He
must increase, but I must decrease.” I am reminded of a quote by Thomas Manton,
a quote that has convicted my heart more than any other. He says of men of old
who had such a passion for the glory of God that we are left with only two
options. “Either these histories are not true, or our hearts are much unlike
theirs”. I know that all of us here believe that these histories are faithful
and accurate or we wouldn’t be here. So we are left with only one alternative,
our “hearts are much unlike theirs”. I ask you to turn to a well known portion
of scripture. In I Peter 3:15 we read something that for a long time I don’t
believe I fully grasped. Peter tells them “..be ready always to give an answer
to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you..” For a long
time my response to this verse was “ok, I am ready, I study and study and
study, and I may not know everything but I know enough to be ready”. But there
is something implied here that I believe I have missed. Someone should be
asking us about the hope that is in us! There should be at least one thing in
our lives that says to the world “my hope is not here!” Then in turn someone in
the world should see it and realize that there is absolutely no earthly
explanation for what they have seen and they would ask “what’s the reason for
this hope inside of you?” I just ask us tonight, is anyone asking?
Now I
believe that there is one ultimate way of showing the world that your hope and
desire is not here. As the author said in the beginning of verse 13 “these all
died in faith”. We all know that last words are often remembered. When death
comes and if we have time to consider all the events at hand then it becomes
blatantly obvious what is important to us. So what does it mean to die in
faith? I believe to understand this we simply need to ask ourselves one simple
question. Are we cheated in death? That question may seem a bit odd but I think
it is a simple way of understanding this concept. We need to ask ourselves
honestly “are we cheated in death”. It is easy to say that someone in their
90’s who has lived a full life is ready to die in faith. What else have they to
live for here, but what about someone younger? We must ask ourselves not only
at this point in our lives, but at every single point, would death have cheated
us out of life? It is easier to say yes than it is to truly mean it I believe.
What about someone in their 30’s? or 20’s? or even their teenage years? What
about someone who has just been engaged or just found out they are going to have
a baby. Now I know someone in these situations fear that you would be leaving a
child without a father or mother, which is natural for a parent to feel. But I
would also ask you to believe that the God who calls you home is the same God
that holds the world in His hand. But what I want to know is if I work for
years and finally receive my doctorate in something and I walk on the stage and
I suddenly die of a heart attack have I been cheated? Or perhaps I am in love
and while I stand before my bride on our wedding day death strikes immediately.
Have I been cheated?
Let me
ask it the same way Paul phrases it “is death gain?” That is the simplest way
to understand dying in faith. Do we truly believe that death is gain? If we
could honest believe that statement with our whole heart then there would never
be a time when we would feel cheated. No matter the blessings that have been
raining down upon us we know one thing “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and
there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart
faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever.” God is
our portion. Let the earth give us a wonderful life or let it trample upon us
every day. It does not matter because it can never take away our portion and
treasure. Another way to test this is,
are we always praying for the Lords return? Is there ever a time when we would
rather stay here then have Christ take us home? If there is then we are
certainly not ready to die in faith. No matter our situation we must always say
to ourselves as John does at the end of the book of revelation “Even so, come,
Lord Jesus.” When we finally say “I do”, when we finally get that diploma, when
finally hear the cry of a new born child, whatsoever that finally maybe for you
we must always have in our hearts “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” We should await
and long for His arrival more than anything else. If he came would we say in our
hearts “oh just a couple more minutes let me finish this real quick” or would
we shout with the voice of the woman as she finally hears the voice of her
beloved “Listen! My beloved! Behold, he is coming, climbing on the mountains, leaping
on the hills!” You can hear the excitement in her heart! Oh that no matter our
situation one that day comes and our Lord returns we can stop immediately and
shout with joy in our hearts “Listen! My beloved! Behold, he is coming!”
I
believe there are several observations that can be made here regarding this.
But one I would like to emphasis is that those who have gone before us we
should allow them to die in faith. If death is truly gain then we should not
continual lament over the passing of a loved one. I know the natural reaction
to loss is sadness. But as it is written “ye sorrow not, even as others which
have no hope.” I often times think about my grandmother. I spent the weekend
with my cousin Josh and his wife Emilie and while I was holding their new born
baby Grayson I thought “I wish grandma were here she would love this little guy”.
But honestly if I were able to ask my grandma today if she wishes she could
come back. And I particularly mention my grandmother because she was someone
who thoroughly enjoyed her life. She adored her kids, her grandkids and she
absolutely loved her church. Every chance she had she asked me what was new at
church and how everyone was. But I know that if I could ask her if she would
come back I think she would look at God and with almost a laugh she respond to
my question as if it were a joke and answer just as the disciples did to Christ
when all others had left and he asked if they would leave too. She would
laughingly say “Where else would I go?” Because she was finally experiencing the
fullness of joy and the fullness of what she was made to do. Enjoying and
glorify God for all of eternity. Oh may this always be a comfort to us all who
have lost loved ones. Our stay on this earth is but a vapor in comparison to
what awaits us. Any joy, any sweetness, any delight is but a shadow of the day
that lies before when we shall dwell in the presence of our Lord and Savior. I
know many of us miss my cousin Adam. For someone to die so young naturally
seems to have been cheated out of life. I know there are moments always when I
say to myself “I wish Adam were here.” But, I know, that if I could tell Adam
this very moment “I wish you were here” he would without need of consideration
simply look at the beauty of the glory of God and say to me “I don’t wish I was
there, but I do wish that you were here”. May we always find comfort in the
knowledge that those who have gone before are finally experiencing the
culmination of an ever increasing joy in the wonder and ravishing glory of our
marvelous Lord.
But now
what I would like to focus on for just a few minutes is why it is that we can
have so much confidence. I believe that part of verse 13 is just another way of
saying verse 1. The author tells us that of the promises they had “seen them
afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them”. In correlation with
verse one that which is afar off is what we hope for and is not seen, and we
are persuaded of them because they have evidence and we embrace them because it
is full of substance. First we must realize that nearly all promises in a
Christian’s life are far off. Now this could mean more than just distance, I
believe it means time. But we all know that most of what happens to us in our
lives is not truly seen. We know that God is always working in our lives but do
we seem Him? We never see his hand visibly working on the hands of our friends
who comfort us. We never see Him convicting and working in the heart of an
unbeliever who is brought to salvation. We must as believers know that most of what
happens to us is not seen. But also the blessings that await us are yet to
come. We have not received the culmination of the promises of God. But we are
told that these promises are enough to endanger our lives for. But why is it
that something that we believe that might happen off in the future is enough to
base everything we do on? The point is that we don’t believe it “might happen”
we believe it will happen. There is no doubt. In verse 1 it says “hoped for”.
Now I know that we all know that the word hoped for does not mean what it does
today. It is not a wishing that something would happen but a confident
expectation of something we know will come about. That is why he says that they
not only believe it but they are persuaded of it.
Why
would a person believe that something they have not seen is real? The reason is
given to us in verse 1 again. We have seen the evidence. God has opened our
eyes and we have seen the truth that lies in scripture. That’s why in verse 3
he says “through faith we understand”. We are not taking a blind guess and
hoping for the best that we are right. We have a confident expectation of it
because we have seen it. When God opens our eyes to who we truly are and who he
truly is there is no denying it anymore. We know one thing, there is a God and
He is gloriously wonderful. I will steal an idea that John Piper used in a
sermon regarding this that I think explained it well. He used the idea of the
3D magic eye books. If you cross your eyes you can see an image on the paper in
3D. You can look at that picture as hard as you want but you will never see it
until your eyes are fixed the correct way. Now what if you’re the only person
who sees it? Is it there? Of course it is! I don’t care if one person sees it
or 5 million see it, it is there! If God decides to open the eyes of one person
to the truths of salvation, I don’t care if I’m the only person in the world
that believes you will never be able to convince me that it isn’t real. Why?
Because I have seen the evidence, I have seen the truth. It must be real because my eyes are open.
But not
only did they believe that it is true. But they embraced it. They embraced that
which they had not received. This can only mean one thing. That which they
embraced had substance to be embraced. As verse 1 says “faith is the substance
of things hoped for”. That may seem odd, but have you ever enjoyed something
before its reality? Have you ever been so looking forward to a vacation that
while you were at work the idea of that vacation brought peace and enjoyment to
you? I know that we have all done this. I’m sure the longer you work the worse
it gets, unless you are one of those people who actually enjoy your jobs. We
have all taken enjoyment by embracing the substance of something that awaits
us. What does the Bible say about Abraham and Christ? It says “Abraham rejoiced
to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.” John 8:56. He rejoiced to see that
day and he was glad for it. We have something much more of substance than what
the enjoyments of the idea of a vacation can give us. I will call them first
fruits. We have the beginnings of Heaven now.
This
might seem like a strange idea but we all know that it is true. Why can I
rejoice in the idea of Heaven and base my life on the fact that it awaits me,
because I have already begun Heaven. Ask
yourself what really is Heaven? When it comes straight to the point of what
Heaven actually is, what is it? The answer is very simple. I will quote Thomas
Manton for this. “What is Heaven but the eternal enjoyment of God in Christ?”
Let me ask this, have we not begun an eternal enjoyment of God in Christ?
Surely we can all, who are believers, say that even now we enjoy God in Christ.
We might not do it to our fullest capabilities but we do it nonetheless. I
believe that when we are in Heaven we will still worship God through the
Spirit, and God will still bless us in the Spirit. And do we not have that now?
Are we not already experience the great blessing of the spirit working on our
hearts? As Manton puts it “As the odours and sweet smells of Arabia are carried
by the winds and air into the neighbouring provinces, so that before travellers
come thither they have the scent of that aromatic country; so the joys of he
aven are by the sweet breathings and gales of the Holy Ghost blown into the
hearts of believers, and the sweet smells of the upper paradise are conveyed
into the gardens of the churches; those joys which are stirred up in us by the
Spirit before we get to heaven are a pledge of what we may expect hereafter.
God would not weary our lippes by expecting too much, therefore he hath not
only given us his word, but he gives a taste and earnest here as part of the
sum which shall be paid us in heaven; by these sweet refreshments of the Spirit
we may conceive of the glory of the ever-lasting state. Look, as before the sun
ariseth, there are some forerun-ning beams and streaks of light that usher it
in; so the joys of the Holy Ghost are but the morning glances of the daylight
of glory, and of the sun of happiness that shall arise upon us in another
world.” Just as the beams of light coming in the early dawn, the spirit
breathes glimpses of the glories of Heaven on our hearts. Oh the enjoyments
that I know we shall in time receive!
It is
for this fact that these great men of faith were able to be unmindful of that
land which the left. Why were they so unmindful? Because they had found what
the world could never offer them. That is the reason why they lived in a way
that shouted to the world “we are strangers and pilgrims on the earth!” Why, because
they sought another country. They had tasted the goodness of God and realized
that only God could satisfy them. They were not unmindful because they through
strict discipline refused to think about where they came from. They were
unmindful because they found a delight in God that made this world seem strange
to them. We will never part with our love for the world until we realize that
there is a greater delight out there. As Thomas Watson put it, “the more we
enjoy God, the more we are ravished with delight”. Why in the world would
Abraham go to the land of promise and when he finally gets there put up a tent
instead of a city? Because he was not only unmindful of the land he left but of
the world itself. His mind was fixed solely on his greatest delight, God
Himself. When we see God for who He is we realize two things. This world can
offer us nothing, and I want to see God again more and more.
And
what is said of us when we desire God more than the world? “God is not ashamed
to be called their God” Oh what a wonderful sound is this! Do we realize what
he says here? God is not ashamed is a negative expression. You can put it
positively and it would be the same thing. “God is proud to be their God!” Why
is he proud, because they were perfect? No, we clearly read in scripture of the
sins of all the great men of the past. But He is proud to be called their God
when they desire God more than they desire the world! What a joy this is to us.
We don’t have to be successful, we don’t have to be rich, there is no
performance that we could ever do. But when I see God, in all of His glory and
all of His splendor and say to myself “my God, my God altogether lovely, my
beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages. Let us
get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish. Let us go
anywhere just let me go with you for you are my joy and greatest delight, my
Lord, my friend, you have ravished my heart” If we can say that then God will
say to us “I am not ashamed to be called your God”. I would simply like to end
today’s lesson with a quote from Jonathan Edwards. Of everything that I have
read in all my life I don’t believe that any other paragraph has meant as much
to me as this paragraph. I will simply read it with no comments and close us in
prayer.
“God is
the highest good of the reasonable creature, and the enjoyment of him is the
only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. — To go to heaven fully
to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations
here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, children, or the company of earthly
friends, are but shadows. But the enjoyment of God is the substance. These are
but scattered beams, but God is the sun. These are but streams, but God is the
fountain. These are but drops, but God is the ocean. — Therefore it becomes us
to spend this life only as a journey towards heaven, as it becomes us to make
the seeking of our highest end and proper good, the whole work of our lives, to
which we should subordinate all other concerns of life. Why should we labor
for, or set our hearts on anything else, but that which is our proper end, and
true happiness?”
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