Hebrews 11 C
Hebrews
{11:7} By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as
yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house;
by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the
righteousness which is by faith.
What faith! God warned Noah and Noah acted out of faith. Noah became an heir of RIGHTEOUSNESS by FAITH.
{11:8} By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place
which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he
went out, not knowing whither he went.
{11:9} By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as [in] a strange
country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with
him of the same promise:
{11:10} For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder
and maker [is] God.
Abraham looked for a city with a foundation whose builder and maker is God!
Do we look for such a city? By faith he lived with promises.
{11:11} Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive
seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because
she judged him faithful who had promised.
All physical fact made it IMPOSSIBLE for Sarah to conceive a child, Impossible, not just unlikely but Impossible!
Faith gave Sara strength and she conceived and delivered a baby past the age of being able to do so. Faith.
{11:12} Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead,
[so many] as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand
which is by the sea shore innumerable.
The child born by faith was the continuation of a nation of people, a whole nation born by faith, a nation that wouldn't have existed without faith. How special is that?
{11:13} These 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.
If you were promised to be a father of a nation and only saw a few generations out from your own would you believe there could be a nation from those few generations? As a rule, no. Who foresees a whole nation from their own offspring? Yes, there is generation after generation after generation. I've gone back through my family tree on my father's side and yes, I can see how extensively it branches out to the point you almost feel as if you could be related to just about anyone. A nation. Yes, a nation for God. The promise given, the promise believed, the promise realized even when you don't live to see it.
{11:14} For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek
a country.
{11:15} And truly, if they had been mindful of that [country] from
whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
{11:16} But 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.
Amazing! Desiring a better country, a heavenly home prepared by God. They knew this earth was just a temporary dwelling place that one day they would be heirs to the city made by God Himself, faith gives them and us the promise of the city.
Faith.
They didn't see the city yet they believed.
By faith we live.
Faith the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Faith gives us the hope we need to see that city made by God.
Faith.
May our faith increase always. May our lack of faith be helped as we seek our Savior the only One that can help us.
By the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Amen.
2/8/10
Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Unto them that look for him.
Are you looking for Jesus Christ? What do you do when you look for someone? Looking is an active pursuit not passive. You can't say you are looking for someone with your eyes closed, everyone would know that you're lying. You can't see with your eyes closed. Telling someone to look for something they can't see is a fool's game, right? It's like telling someone to look for the very breath they are breathing. We are to look for a very real Jesus Christ to return and for those of us who are looking we will see him again because He will appear to us and when He appears it will be without the sin He took upon Himself for us because the atonement will be complete. The heavenly sanctuary service will have been fulfilled.
We can't take our minds off Christ's appearing it needs to be ever before us. Our lives must be lived under the constant assurance that Christ will appear to us again as long as we look for Him.
When we fear retribution we often hide from the source of that retribution. Our looking for Jesus is like looking for love, true love that is beyond anything we can ever imagine. We can't fear the coming of the Lord, we have to live daily in hope of His return.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior may we look for His return, look for Him in a very real way to appear to us. Let us keep Him ever before us.
Amen.