Grace Baptist Church, Nokomis, IL.

Text:

Read Hebrews 11:8-16

Since beginning our study through the book of Hebrews, we’ve talked several times about how God keeps His promises. God not only promises to bless us, but He seals that promise with a promise. And God doesn’t lie, so we can know that He keeps His promises. But knowing that God keeps His promises and trusting Him to keep His promises toward us are sometimes two different things. Knowing that God keeps His promises means that we’ll respect Him, and maybe even gather with like-minded people to worship Him. But trusting Him to keep His promises to us means that we’ll follow Him. We’ll go where He sends us. We’ll obey His commands, because we trust Him (v. 8)

Abraham obeyed God because He had faith in God. Abraham didn’t even know where he was going. God told Abraham, ?Just start walking, and I’ll show you where you’re going when you get there.? If I were to say, ?After church today, I’d like everyone to hop in their cars and follow me,? I wonder how many would actually do it.

Do you ever feel like you don’t know where you’re going? It can actually be a good thing to not know where you’re going, if you’re trusting God will get you there. It’s good to plan, but not if it means you stop following God’s leading. I’m not suggesting that we stop planning for the future. ?Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.? ?If you don’t know where you’re going, you might not get there.? ?If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll wind up somewhere else.? The point is, though, trust God to know where you need to go, and follow His lead.

Abraham trusted God, so he obeyed God (v. 9-10). He looked forward to getting there, even though he didn’t know where there was. And Abraham knew it would be great, because God built that place for him. We don’t know where life will lead us. But if you’re being led by God, you can know that the place will be great.

At this point the writer realizes that there’s another story here that we shouldn’t overlook. In the midst of talking about Abraham believing God’s promises, the writer mentioned Isaac and Jacob. But they weren’t even born when Abraham first received the promise. So the writer points out that Abraham’s wife also believed God’s promises (v. 11).

It should be noted that verse 11 may still be talking about Abraham’s faith. You’d be right to remember that Sarah scoffed at the idea of having children in the Old Testament account. The verse could read ?he considered him faithful who had promised? since the Greek isn’t specific. And the words ?herself? and ?even? could point to how Abraham’s faith had an effect on Sarah’s body. And I think that this interpretation needs to be considered.

But the natural reading of the text is that the faith refers to Sarah’s faith. The pattern throughout this chapter is that each person named did something by faith. And while it’s true that Sarah scoffed at the idea of having a child so late in life, Abraham did also (Genesis 17:17). They both took matters into their own hands at times in order to fulfill God’s promise that Abraham would be the father of many nations. So now here, it’s explicit that eventually both them of them came around and believed God’s promise, and believed that God would bring it about. But if this is talking about Sarah’s faith, why does it use the words ?herself? and ?even?, as if her faith is a remarkable thing?

I don’t think it was pointing out that Sarah’s faith was any more remarkable than Abraham’s, rather it was pointing out the miraculous that happened in Sarah’s life by faith. Sarah was 91 when she gave birth! That doesn’t happen! According to the Guiness Book of World Records, the oldest woman to conceive naturally and give birth was 59 years old. And we’d say that that was miraculous! Listen, faith can move mountains! Faith can walk on water! And if God promises a 90 year old woman that she’ll have a child a year later, we can have faith that God will bring it about! Sarah had been barren all of her life. To prove that He can be believed, God fulfilled His promise to Sarah not when Sarah was young, but when it was least likely, so that He could get all the glory.

God wanted to make it clear that He is sovereign over all things. He is the giver of all blessings. Children are a blessing! He gives life, and He takes it away as He sees fit. Praise be to God! Now I’m going to get really sober for a moment. This is why abortion isn’t choice, but a tragedy. Abortion takes away the life that God gave. Forty years ago, the Supreme Court sought to settle the abortion controversy, but today we actually have less The pro-choice argument says it’s for protecting women’s freedom and health, but it completely ignores God’s authority. It’s possible that someone in this room has had an abortion. A million abortions are performed in America each year. More than a forth of all adult woman have an abortion. If that’s you and you’re broken over it, let me just share with you that there’s forgiveness and mercy at the cross.

The same thing that Sarah experienced, that God chose to display His power through the most unbelievable circumstances, is true for our salvation as well. We were dead in our trespasses and sins, but God made us alive in Christ, so that He might show us the incomparable riches of His grace (Ephesians 2:7). No person of faith in this chapter illustrates this better than Sarah. All the others did something by faith. They built an ark. They left their country. They walked with God. But notice it says that by faith Sarah received power to conceive. That’s not something she did! That’s something God did. Living by faith has less to do with what we do and more to do with trusting God to be faithful. That has practical ramifications. Abel offered a pleasing sacrifice. Noah built an ark. Abraham left his country to go to the place God would show him. And Sarah likely got ready for a child even in her old age by setting up the nursery and putting together the crib.

Yet Sarah having a child in her old age was only part of the promise (v. 12). The promise included not just one child, but for a multitude of descendants. Just as Abraham would be the father of many nations, Sarah would be the mother of many nations. But Sarah herself never saw the fulfillment of this promise. She bore one child, but never saw the multitude. And Abraham, although he set food in Canaan, didn’t receive the whole land as his own. The same goes for Isaac and Jacob, his son and grandson (v. 13). They had faith that even though they didn’t receive the promises in their lifetimes, they trusted God’s timing and faithfulness. And they knew God had something up His sleeve. It says that they greeted the promises from afar, and acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. This earth was not their home. They were born here, they lived all of their lives here, but they knew this place was only temporary, and they couldn’t wait to go to their eternal home (v. 14-16). They thought of themselves strangers and exiles because this world was not their home. They recognized that although life didn’t always go the way they wanted, they served a God who is infinitely gracious and good.

God is a God of abundant blessings! And we can trust Him to fulfill His promises, even when we don’t see it. We can trust Him to be with us in our darkest hour. We can trust Him to give us strength when we’re weary. We can trust Him to bring us home to glory when this life is over.

So we now await the fulfillment of God’s promises, stepping out in faith, going where He leads us because we know He’s faithful. When we have this kind of faith, we actually make God proud to be our God (v. 16). Because Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac, and Jacob believed God and followed Him, God wasn’t ashamed to be called their God. They didn’t just concede to the idea that God is faithful, they followed Him! And if we trust God and follow Him, God is proud to be our God.

But notice that His pride in us isn’t based on our obedience, but on His own blessing. God prepared a city for those who trust Him. There’s hope in life for all of us, not that we get our lives together or that we accomplish something, but that we look to God for His blessing. That we acknowledge that God is faithful, and that He loves us, and that He loves us so much that He sent His Son, His only Son, to die on a cross for us, that we would receive the fulfillment of all of His promises through Him. And when we get that, God says, ?That’s my boy. He gets it!?

Life isn’t about what we can achieve. Life isn’t about having everything go our way. Life’s about knowing Christ, and looking forward to the amazing blessings to come, and living in joy today because we know those blessings are coming, and because we know we have Christ with us every day to strengthen us until we get there. Don’t just believe in God; believe God. Because He is faithful.