Faith That Embraces The Promises 6-28-26 PM
I. Faith pursues the promise (Heb. 11:8-10, 17-18).
a. Abraham’s faith is shown in two major acts: He left Ur of the Chaldees and was willing to offer up his only begotten son Isaac.
b. There are some key words that we need to notice:
i. Obeyed – Abraham’s faith moved him to action.
1. Biblical faith is never mere agreement.
2. Abraham did not simply believe God existed; he trusted God enough to act.
ii. Called – Abraham did not create his own mission.
1. God initiated it.
2. Faith begins when God speaks and we respond.
iii. Sojourned – this means Abraham lived as a temporary resident.
1. Abraham did live in the promised land eventually.
2. However, he did not fully possess it.
iv. Offered up – describes Abraham’s willingness to give Isaac back to God.
1. The text doesn’t say Abraham understood everything.
2. It says he trusted God who had made the promise.
v. Only son – refers to Isaac as the unique son of promise.
1. This is the same phrase used by God the Father about Jesus.
2. Isaac was one of a kind and there was never to another like him.
3. Abraham had other sons but not like Isaac, the son of promise.
c. When God called Abraham to leave Ur and go to a land, God did not say what land or how to get there.
i. He said to a land I will show you.
ii. Here we read that Abraham went out not knowing where he was going.
iii. Abraham didn’t have a detailed itinerary.
iv. He did have a divine promise.
d. Later, God tests Abraham by commanding him to offer Isaac.
i. This created a crisis because God had promised that through Isaac Abraham’s offspring would be named.
ii. Here is God commanding Abraham to give up that son.
iii. The reason Abraham was willing is found in verse 19 – he believed God could raise him from the dead.
iv. Abraham did not know how God would keep His promise, but he did know that he would keep His promise.
e. Faith does not always know the route, but faith knows the guide.
i. Some people won’t obey God until they understand every consequence.
ii. They want to know how every relationship, financial decision, and family situation will work out first.
iii. Abraham says faith obeys when God’s word is clear, even if the outcome is not.
f. For us today, it means leaving sin behind even when it’s been familiar.
i. It means obeying Christ in baptism even if family does not understand.
ii. It means forgiving someone, serving someone when it costs, or trusting in God through a season of life where the future is not clear.
g. In Acts 16:9, we read about what we call Paul’s Macedonian call.
i. Paul had never been in Greece and had not been allowed to go.
ii. The call comes and Paul drops everything and goes.
iii. They had no gps, no Siri, or Google Maps.
iv. He went because he got the call.
h. Faith does not require visibility before obedience.
i. Faith obeys God’s word even when God has not shown the whole road.
II. Faith perceives the Promise-Giver (Heb. 11:11-12).
a. Sarah’s faith was not in her age, body, or her circumstances, but in the character of God.
b. There are some important key words or phrases in these two verses:
i. Received power means God supplied what Sarah did not naturally possess – the promise was fulfilled by divine power, not human ability.
ii. Past the age emphasizes the impossibility of the situation from a human standpoint – Sarah was beyond childbearing years.
iii. Considered carries the idea of judging, counting, or concluding something to be true – Sarah made a faith judgment about God.
iv. Faithful means reliable, trustworthy, dependable – Sarah believed God would do what He said.
v. Promised reminds us that faith rests on God’s word, not human optimism.
c. Sarah’s account is not a simple story of perfect faith from beginning to end.
i. In Genesis 18, Sarah laughs when she heard the promise that she would bear a son.
ii. Her first reaction was disbelief.
d. But Hebrews 11 remembers the final position of her faith – she came to regard God as faithful.
e. That matters with God.
i. Faith does not mean you have never struggled.
ii. Faith means you bring your struggles under the truth of who God is.
iii. The result was staggering (Heb. 11:12).
iv. God produced a multitude out of barrenness.
f. Faith does not deny weakness – it looks beyond weakness to God’s faithfulness.
g. Some of us may look at our lives and say: It’s too late, I’ve done too much damage. I am too weak. My family is too far gone. I have failed too many times.
i. Sarah reminds us that the issue is not whether you are strong enough.
ii. The issue is whether God is faithful.
iii. This doesn’t mean God will give us everything we desire, but He will keep every promise He has ever made.
h. God has promised forgiveness in Christ.
i. He promises strength in the time of temptation.
ii. He promises resurrection.
iii. He promises to complete His work in His people.
iv. He promises that our labor in the Lord is not in vain.
i. I have a preaching friend, who if I called his name you would probably know, who had a terrible accident.
i. He can no longer walk but he can still preach and does.
ii. He continually points out God’s goodness in his life even with the injuries he has.
iii. His life shows that life is not easy, but that God remains faithful.
j. This is Sarah-like faith: not confidence in circumstances, but confidence in a faithful God.
k. Faith measures life by God’s faithfulness, not our limitations.
III. Faith Pilgrims toward the promise (Heb. 11:13-16).
a. Verse 13 is the heart of the passage – these people lived and died believing promises they had not fully received.
b. There are some key words or phrases in this we need to notice:
i. Died in faith means their faith endured to the end – they did not abandon God because fulfillment was not going to be in their lifetime.
ii. Seen them from afar means they perceived God’s promises by faith, though they did not yet possess them by sight.
iii. Strangers and pilgrims describes people who do not fully belong to the land where they live – they are residents, but not truly home.
iv. Desire in verse 16 speaks of deep longing – their hearts were set on something better.
v. Better country points beyond Canaan to the heavenly homeland God has waiting for His people.
c. Hebrews says they acknowledged that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
i. This does not mean they hated life.
ii. It means they understood life properly.
d. They knew the land promise mattered, but they also knew God’s greater promise pointed beyond earthly geography.
i. They were seeking a homeland.
ii. They desired a better country, that is, a heavenly one.
e. Then comes one of the most beautiful statements in Hebrews (Heb. 11:16).
i. They were not ashamed to live like pilgrims.
ii. God was not ashamed to be called their God.
f. Faith changes how we view the world.
i. The world tells us to make our home hear.
ii. Faith says that this world is not our final home.
g. This should changes our priorities.
i. We don’t live for possessions as though they are permanent.
ii. We do not treat comfort as our highest God.
iii. We don’t compromise truth just to be accepted by the culture.
iv. We don’t despair when life is hard, because we are headed to a better country.
h. Christians should be the best citizens, neighbors, workers, and family members.
i. But, we should never forget: we are strangers and pilgrims here because our citizenship is in heaven.
j. Faith lives full here because heaven is home.
IV. Faith proclaims the promise (Heb. 11:20-22).
a. Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph all looked forward and their faith spoke into the future.
b. Look at these key words and phrases:
i. Blessed means they spoke covenant promises to the next generation – this was not sentimental wishing, but faith in God’s covenant word.
ii. Concerning things to come emphasizes that their faith reached beyond their own lives.
iii. Made mention means Joseph deliberately spoke about the exodus before it happened.
iv. Departing refers to Israel’s future deliverance from Egypt – Joseph believing God would bring His people out.
v. Bones in verse 22 shows how concrete Joseph’s faith was – he gave instructions about his burial because he believed God would bring Israel to the promised land.
c. Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things still to come.
d. Jacob, near death blessed Joseph’s sons.
i. He leaned on his staff and worshiped.
ii. His body was weak, but his faith was looking forward.
e. Joseph may be the most striking example here.
i. At the end of Genesis, Joseph was powerful in Egypt.
ii. But he did not want his bones to stay there permanently.
iii. Joseph died in Egypt but his faith was packed for Canaan.
iv. He believed in a future he would not personally see in his lifetime.
f. Faith is not only personal; it is generational.
i. We have to speak God promises to those coming after us.
1. Parents, grandparents, elders, teachers, and mature Christians need to bless the next generation with truth.
2. Not vague positivity, worldly success slogans.
ii. We have to teach them about God’s promises.
1. Tell them God is faithful.
2. Christ is worth following.
3. Sin destroys.
4. Obedience matters.
5. Heaven is real.
6. There is one church.
7. Jesus is coming again.
8. The resurrection is worth waiting for.
iii. A dying Joseph gave instructions about his bones because he believed God’s promise
g. What instructions are we leaving behind by the way we live?
h. Many of us know families where a faithful grandmother or grandfather never saw all the fruit they prayed for.
i. They taught bible classes, brought children to worship, prayed over names, and kept pointing the family to Christ.
ii. Some died before seeing children or grandchildren obey the gospel or come back to the Lord they had left.
iii. But their faith still spoke after they were gone.
i. That is Joseph’s kind of faith: one that says, God is not finished, even when my life is.
j. Faith speaks God’s promises to a future it may never see.