Well, this morning we're bringing this series that we've been doing on Abraham to a close.
And it's been quite the journey to look at Abraham's life and to see all that he has been through.
And as we've gone through his story, we've seen that this is about so much more than just Abraham.
This is really God's story.
This is the story of our world.
This is the story of how God is going to fix the big problem with our world.
The story began with the big events that really have shaped our world, with God's creating the world, with the rebellion of humanity against God, the fall of man, with the flood, with the confusion of languages at Babel.
And in all of this, we see a good world that became broken because of sin.
We see how humanity, despite even a fresh start, having a fresh start at a couple points, is spiraling downward, away from God.
What is God going to do to fix this?
And we see a good start at a couple points, with the flood, with the flood, with the flood, with the flood.
And we've seen that the start of his plan, of his solution, involves this guy named Abraham in Ur of the Chaldeans.
God, seemingly out of nowhere, speaks to him.
He, with his family, they worshipped other so-called gods over there in Ur.
And one day, God simply revealed himself to Abraham and called him to leave his homeland and to make the journey to the land that he would show him.
And at that time, God made some amazing promises to him, promises to bless him, promises to protect him, and the big promise to bless all the families of the earth through him.
Abraham, by faith, obeyed, and he went to the land that he would later receive as his inheritance.
When he entered Canaan, we saw how God, very, very, very soon after he entered, gave him this promise,
To your offspring, I will give this land.
And as Abraham began to settle and live in the land of Canaan, we saw very quickly that Abraham is a man just like us.
He blew it.
He sinned, just like us.
He wrestled with unbelief and doubt, just like we do.
He tried to take situations into his own hand and deal with it, rather than trusting God's promises at different points, just like we do.
And yet in the midst of all of that, we watched as God was gracious to him and blessed him again and again and again.
And Abraham plundered kings.
His household grew.
His possessions grew.
He, in one sense, came to this moment where he has all of this stuff.
He's got servants.
He's got livestock.
Everything's going well.
Except for one thing.
He has no children.
Sarah has been barren.
And as long as they've been married, she's been unable to conceive.
And so he's got all of this.
But who will it go to when he dies?
No son.
We watched as Abraham wrestled with this.
And God made a covenant with him.
He made promises to him.
Your offspring will be as beyond numbering as the stars in the sky.
And we saw how Abraham in that moment believed God.
And on account of his faith, God gave to him or treated him as righteous, though he was a sinner.
Finally, this whole thing about the son and the offspring.
This was really the key issue in Abraham and Sarah's lives.
God's made all of this.
God's made all of these promises.
But almost all of them are connected to this.
Having a child.
Having a son.
How can all of this come true without that?
We watched as Abraham and Sarah tried to help God out and did the surrogate motherhood thing.
Heartache and division came into the family.
He got a son, Ishmael.
And then we watched as 13 years later, God said, no, it's not going to be Ishmael.
Sarah is going to bear a son, Isaac.
And he will be the one to whom this covenant and all these promises will be kept.
We watched as God reaffirmed his covenant again and again.
And finally, as this child of promise was born in Abraham and Sarah's old age.
A miracle child.
A gift of God.
And then we watched as well as it came to the moment of ultimate testing for Abraham
when God asked him to sacrifice this son.
And he passed the test.
He was willing.
And God did not have him go through with it at the end.
And in all of this, we've seen how Abraham has been learning little by little to trust the Lord.
And a little more and a little more.
To take God at his word.
And to live according to those promises.
And we've watched at the same time as Abraham is growing in his faith and trust.
God seems to be promising more and more.
And the promises of what God will do for Abraham and his offspring are growing.
Finally, we come today to the last chapter of Abraham's story.
If you have your Bible with you, please open it to Genesis chapter 23.
Genesis chapter 23.
And we're going to read this whole chapter.
Genesis chapter 23.
Sarah lived to be 127 years old.
She died at Kiriath Arba, that is Hebron, in the land of Canaan.
And Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.
Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites.
He said,
I am a foreigner and stranger among you.
Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.
The Hittites replied to Abraham,
Sir, listen to us.
You are a mighty prince among us.
Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs.
None of us will refuse you his tomb for burying your dead.
Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites.
He said to them,
If you are willing to let me bury my dead,
then listen to me and intercede with Ephron, son of Zohar, on my behalf.
So he will sell me the cave of Machpelah, which belongs to him
and is at the end of his field.
Ask him to sell it to me for the full price as a burial site among you.
Ephron the Hittite was sitting among his people
and he replied to Abraham in the hearing of all the Hittites
who had come to the gate of his city.
No, my lord, he said,
Listen to me.
I give you the field
and I give you the cave that is in it.
I give it to you in the presence of my people.
Bury your dead.
Again, Abraham bowed down before the people of the land
and he said to Ephron in their hearing,
Listen to me, if you will.
I will pay the price of the field.
Accept it from me so I can bury my dead there.
Ephron answered Abraham,
Listen to me, my lord.
The land is worth 400 shekels of silver.
But what is that between you and me?
Bury your dead.
Abraham agreed to Ephron's terms
and weighed out for him the price he had named
in the hearing of the Hittites,
400 shekels of silver,
according to the weight current among the merchants.
So Ephron's field in Machpelah near Mamre,
both the field and the cave in it
and all the trees within the borders of the field
was deeded to Abraham as his property
in the presence of all the Hittites
who had come to the gate of the city.
Afterward, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave
in the field of Machpelah near Mamre
in the land of Canaan.
So the field and the cave in it
were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites
as a burial site.
After this, it talks about Isaac and Rebekah
and Abraham finding a wife for Isaac.
We're going to skip over that
and go to chapter 25
and read there starting in verse 7.
Abraham lived 175 years.
Then Abraham breathed his last
and died at a good old age,
an old man and full of years.
And he was gathered to his people.
His sons Isaac and Ishmael
buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre
in the field of Ephron,
son of Zohar the Hittite,
the field Abraham had bought from the Hittites.
There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah.
And the story goes on to focus on Isaac after this.
This is the last chapter in Genesis of Abraham's life.
And even as we see at the end,
there's a lot here that really speaks
about what the Lord is doing in this situation.
It all starts with Sarah's death back in chapter 23.
And it's quite telling what Abraham says
when his wife passes away.
He speaks to the Hittites
and in verse 4 of chapter 23,
he says,
I'm a foreigner and stranger among you.
Sell me some property
so that I can bury my wife.
It says a lot about Abraham
and where things have come to
until now in the story.
I mean, by this point,
we're kind of expecting that Abraham
will have already bought a lot of land.
And yet up until this point,
he doesn't actually own any of it yet.
And he freely admits,
I'm still a stranger.
I'm still a foreigner among you.
Sell me a piece of land
so I can bury my dead.
And the response of the Hittites
is wonderful.
They are the people
who would consider it their native land
or their homeland.
And in here,
we see the blessing of God
on Abraham's life again.
They respond very favorably.
You're a mighty prince among us.
Take your pick.
Take your pick of the choicest of tombs
and bury her there.
None of us will refuse you.
So Abraham takes his pick.
The field of Ephron, the Hittite.
That's the one that I would like.
I'll pay the full price.
And again, we see the favor
that God has upon Abraham
that he's given him
in the eyes of the Hittites.
They're ready to just give the land to him.
Three times Ephron says it.
I give you the field.
I give you the cave in it.
I give it to you.
Take it.
Bury your dead.
Even after Abraham offers again to pay
400 shekels of silver.
What's that between you and me?
Just take the field.
Again, we see God blessing Abraham.
He's given him favor
in the eyes of the people
that this land really belongs to.
So Ephron's field
is given to Abraham.
So he buys it.
And he gets his first piece of property
that he owns in the promised land
towards the end of his life here.
Three times the author makes it clear
it was deeded to him as his property.
And right about now
if we've been really following closely this story
we're thinking, yes!
Finally!
This promise about the land is coming true.
That's what the Lord said.
I give this land to you
and now Abraham has his name
on some of it.
But it's at this point
that we start to realize and consider
that Abraham is near the end of his life.
In fact, not long after this
he dies.
And when he does
we start to look back over this story
and wonder
just how has God kept his promises?
He's made some big promises.
How has he kept them to Abraham?
Abraham.
One of the first things God said
was that he would bless Abraham.
He certainly has kept that.
Abraham's household has grown.
His servants have increased in number.
His animals.
His material possessions.
His wealth.
Lots.
He's plundered kings at different times.
God has blessed him in that way.
We read about how God credited righteousness to him.
Not a physical blessing
but a spiritual blessing.
God is dealing with him favorably
even though he doesn't deserve it.
Yes, God has kept this promise.
He has blessed Abraham the whole way along
and we see that clearly.
God promised also to protect Abraham.
He said,
I will bless those who bless you
and I will curse those who curse you.
And God has done that too.
We saw that when Abraham went down to Egypt
and Sarah was taken.
We saw that when King Abimelech took Sarah.
In both situations,
God came to Abraham and Sarah's defense
and turned the situation around.
We saw that when Abraham went to rescue Lot,
he ended up going into battle.
God, as he had promised,
was Abraham's shield
and protected him
throughout his whole life.
God promised to make Abraham's name great.
Has he done that?
Well, it certainly seems as though he has.
I mean,
Pharaoh had to give his wife back
and give all this stuff to him.
Some of the kings of the land
revered him and respected him.
The king of Sodom and Gomorrah
who he rescued and bailed out
of the situation that they were in.
Yes, God has increased him in fame
and made him well known
and revered and respected in the land.
And we see that again here with the Hittites.
God promised that Abraham
would be a blessing to others.
And if the attitude and treatment
of the Hittites is evidenced,
then we see that he has done that as well.
He was a blessing to Lot
who he went and rescued
from the hands of those kings
that came to attack Sodom and Gomorrah.
And then there was the promise of a son
through Sarah,
which God absolutely kept.
And he didn't just,
this wasn't a small thing.
This was a miracle child
born in old age
and kept at the exact time
that God said he would.
All of these promises
were kept.
But what of the other promises?
God promised that he would make Abraham
into a great nation.
Not yet.
Not something that we could say
is true yet.
At this point,
Abraham has Isaac.
That's it.
He's,
this is a promise
that isn't fulfilled yet.
There's still more to come.
And it's dependent on Isaac.
He promised that Abraham's offspring
would be beyond numbering,
like the stars in the sky,
like the sand on the seashore.
Another,
not yet.
It's just Isaac.
It's pretty easy to number.
He's married,
but they don't have any kids yet
at the time that Abraham dies.
There's the big promise.
All families or nations on the earth
will be blessed through you.
Not even,
not even a hint
of how that's going to happen.
I mean,
that's quite the thing to say
to Abraham,
the guy who at the time
was married to a barren woman
and was living in a foreign land.
All the families of the earth.
How was that going to happen?
We don't know yet.
Abraham didn't know yet.
God promised that he would be
the father of many nations
or a multitude of nations.
Again,
not yet.
Not something that,
that has happened yet.
And all of these promises,
they,
they really seem to pertain to
Abraham's offspring,
to Isaac.
And so,
there is,
there is still much to
anticipate
or look forward to
from Abraham's perspective
if God is to
be faithful
and keep his promise.
And then finally,
there's the promise
of the land.
The promise
of the land.
This one seems
pretty obvious.
Has God
kept this promise?
Well,
it remains to be seen.
I mean,
the land is supposed
to be an everlasting
possession for,
for Abraham
and his offspring.
They're in it right now.
But if we're honest,
all they've got
is this little
burial plot.
That's a start.
That's something.
But it's
not even close
to the whole
of what was promised.
When Abraham
initially arrived
in the land,
this is what
God said,
to your offspring
I will give this land.
And so in one sense,
yeah,
this remains
to be seen.
How will God
do this?
But then in all,
most of the other times
that God speaks
of this promise,
this is what he says
in Genesis 13,
verse 15.
All the land
that you see,
talking to Abraham,
I will give to you
and your offspring
forever.
Verse 17
of the same chapter,
walk through the length
and breadth of the land
for I am giving it
to you.
Referring to Abraham.
Again,
in chapter 15,
verse 7,
I am the Lord
who brought you
out of Ur
of the Chaldeans
to give you,
referring to Abraham,
this land,
to take possession
of it.
And again,
in chapter 17,
verse 8,
the whole land
of Canaan
where you now reside
as a foreigner,
I will give
as an everlasting
possession
to you,
Abraham,
and your descendants
after you.
So you've got to
wonder,
Abraham has got
to be wondering,
to me
or just
to my descendants?
How does this
work here?
In fact,
we know he was
thinking about it
because he says
that he was.
He asks the Lord
about this
in chapter 15,
verse 8.
This was the time
when God made
a covenant
with Abraham.
Abraham.
He said,
Sovereign Lord,
how can I know
that I will
gain possession
of it?
I mean,
think about this.
I'm going to
give this land
to you.
And he looks
around and he
sees this land
is occupied.
It's full of
people.
And they've been
here for a long
time.
They've got
fortified cities.
There's kings
in this land.
They have armies,
militia.
How is God
going to do
this to me?
What does the
Lord say in
response?
Well, he says,
let's make a
covenant.
There's your
proof.
There's your
guarantee that
it will happen.
And then the
Lord gives this
word in the
midst of this
covenant ceremony,
which we read
earlier, but I'll
read it again.
He says,
Know for certain
that for 400
years your
descendants will
be strangers
in a country
not their own
and that they
will be enslaved
and mistreated
there.
But I will
punish the
nation they
serve as
slaves and
afterward they
will come out
with great
possessions.
You, however,
will go to
your ancestors
in peace and
be buried at
a good old
age.
In the fourth
generation,
your descendants
will come back
here for the
sin of the
Amorites has
not yet reached
its full
measure.
And we
imagine that
Abraham is
probably wondering,
so what is
it?
Am I going to
possess this
land myself?
It doesn't seem
like it from this.
It seems that it's
going to be my
descendants that
will possess it
and not for quite
a while.
400 years.
The Amorites are
going to stay in
the land until
their sins pile up
to the measure
and it'll be
400 years.
But Lord, you
said to me, you
would give this
land.
Did you only
really mean to
my descendants, to
my offspring?
Are they going to
kind of receive it
on my behalf?
Did God keep this
promise?
it seems like he
started to by the
end.
He's got this
field now, this
burial plot.
But is that it?
We're kind of
left to wonder, did
God fail to keep
this promise to
Abraham?
It's at this
point that we're
going to flip to
the New Testament,
book of Hebrews,
chapter 11.
Thankfully, we're
not left to just
try to figure
this out for
ourselves.
We actually have
inspired commentary
that points back
and helps us see a
little bit of what's
going on here.
Hebrews, chapter
11.
The author of
Hebrews is
writing to Jewish
believers to
encourage them
in their faith.
And he's giving
examples of people
who have
demonstrated faith.
And Abraham is
one of them.
And it's here that
we learn some
things about
Abraham and what
we're meant to
really take from
Abraham and his
life.
Verse 8.
By faith, Abraham,
when called to go to
a place he would
later receive as his
inheritance,
obeyed and went,
even though he did
not know where he
was going.
that's interesting.
You hear those
words?
A place he would
later receive as his
inheritance.
Was that a mistake?
You mean he didn't
receive it?
He died.
He got the burial
plot.
What do you mean a
place he would later
receive as his
inheritance?
Let's keep going.
Verse 9.
By faith, Abraham
made his home in
the promised land
like a stranger in
a foreign country.
He lived in tents
as did Isaac and
Jacob who were
heirs with him of
the same promise.
For he was looking
forward to the city
with foundations
whose architect and
builder is God.
the author of
Hebrews is putting
the emphasis here
on faith.
That's what he
wants us to see
of Abraham.
His faith.
By faith, he did
this.
And what did he do?
He made his home
in the promised
land.
Literally, he lived
among the people
of the promised
land and he did
it as a stranger
in a foreign
country.
He lived in
tents.
But he was
looking forward
to the city
with foundations
whose architect
and builder
is God.
What is the
author of Hebrews
saying here?
He seems to be
contrasting the
whole tents
and foreigner
with city.
And if you think
about it, it
makes sense.
A tent is
a temporary
thing.
It's not a
permanent
dwelling.
I mean, Abraham,
this is not a
perfect analogy,
but Abraham is
like a guy who
brought his camper
into the Davidson
campground and has
been living there
for half a
lifetime.
There's a sense
of this is
temporary.
This is not a
permanent kind
of dwelling.
thing.
Why did Abraham
pitch his tent
in this country
in which he was a
foreigner and a
stranger?
That's the author
of Hebrews point
by faith because he
believed the promise
of God, which was I
will give this land to
you and to your
offspring.
God said it.
I believe it.
And so I'm going to
pitch my tent here.
It's not comfortable
to be a foreigner,
a stranger, to be the
one that doesn't speak
the native tongue, all
that's involved with
that, to be the guy who
worships Yahweh and not
Baal and these other
gods who stands out like
a sore thumb.
But he pitched his tent
there because God gave
him that promise and
he believed it that
one day this will be
my everlasting
possession, this land.
The author of Hebrews
says he was looking
forward to the city
who's a city with
foundations, whose
architect and builder
is God.
And I think what we're
meant to take from
that is that Abraham
was in faith.
He heard the promise
of God and he looked
at the land around
him and thought,
look at all those
cities.
One day I'm going to
live in the city.
I'm going to be the
one who has the
permanent dwelling
situation here.
This will be my
homeland and the
homeland of my
descendants.
But how is this
going to happen?
These cities are
already occupied by
other people.
I think it was very
clear to Abraham that
this was not something
he could just bring
about for himself.
No, if he was to
live in a city, a
permanent established
dwelling place in this
good land, it would be
God who would have to
bring that about.
That's what I think is
meant when he says he
was looking forward to
the city with foundations
whose architect and
builder is God.
He was looking for God
to do it.
He couldn't do that for
himself.
The author of Hebrews
continues on in verse
13.
After talking about
Abraham and Sarah and
the son, the
offspring, he comes
down in verse 13.
He says, all these
people were still
living by faith when
they died.
All these people
refers to Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, who
he mentioned in verse
nine, and perhaps more,
but at the very least
those ones, they were
still living by faith
when they died.
Right up to the day
that Abraham died, he
was trusting that the
Lord would do the very
things that he had
promised.
And here's the amazing
statement which follows.
They did not receive
the things promised.
You hear that?
Abraham did not receive
the things promised.
Well, we looked at the
promises and we saw
that some of the things
he already did receive.
And so he's not
talking about that.
He's talking about the
things that he didn't.
And in this context,
he's talking very
specifically about the
land.
Back up in verse
eight, a place that he
would later receive as
his inheritance.
There's been all this
reference to him as a
stranger in the
promised land, living
in a tent rather than
in a city, a permanent
dwelling.
He did not receive the
land.
And that's what we saw
as we looked at
Genesis.
I'm going to give you
this land, Abraham.
Did he receive it?
Abraham.
The author of Hebrews
helps us to just admit,
no, he didn't.
He got a little piece.
And that's it.
But even though he
acknowledges that Abraham
did not receive the things
promised, at the same
time, and back up in
verse eight, he says a land,
a place he would later
receive as his
inheritance.
How does that work?
How can you not receive
it and yet later receive
it?
What's going on here?
Let's continue on in
verse 13 and see what the
author of Hebrews says.
He says, they did not
receive the things
promised.
They only saw them and
welcomed them from a
distance.
Admitting that they were
foreigners and strangers on
earth.
Again here, the author of
Hebrews is making the
point that they had
faith.
Even though they didn't
see in the physical sense
how this would all come
about, how this land would
be theirs, they saw
through the eyes of faith
that this would be the
reality.
They trusted that the Lord
would do exactly what he
promised.
They welcomed it from a
distance.
They knew it was for a
future time.
For the present, in verse
13, it says, admitting
that they were foreigners
and strangers.
We just read that back in
Abraham said to the Hittites,
I'm a foreigner.
I'm a stranger among you.
He admitted that.
What does all this mean?
Verse 14, the author of
Hebrews is going to make
the point.
He's going to draw the
parallel.
He says, people who say
such things show that
they are looking for a
country of their own.
If they had been thinking
of the country they had
left, they would have had
opportunity to return.
Instead, they were longing
for a better country.
So what's the lesson in
all this?
What's the principle?
And I think that the author
of Hebrews is trying to
draw it out and make it
clear.
People who say such things,
who admit that they are
foreigners and stranger in
the land, when God has
promised that it will be
their land, they show that
they are looking for a
country of their own.
Literally, the word there
in the original language is
a homeland.
A homeland.
That's why Abraham stayed
there.
That's why he pitched his
tent there, because he
believed God's promise that
this would be his homeland.
That's what God promised.
This land for an
everlasting possession for
you and your descendants.
The author of Hebrews makes
the point.
If he was thinking of the
homeland that he came from,
Ur of the Chaldeans, he had
opportunity to go back.
But he didn't.
And it was evidence of his
faith.
He pitched his tent here
because God said, this is
going to be your homeland
someday.
But notice how, let's maybe
just finish that thought in
verse 16.
It says, instead of going
back home to Ur of the
Chaldeans, they were longing
for a better homeland, a
better country.
That's why Abraham didn't
leave.
He knew what was back in Ur,
but it didn't compare to
what God had promised he
would have here in this land.
And so in faith, he stayed,
even though he was a
foreigner and a stranger.
But as we read through this, we
notice that there's a few
things in here that kind of
might maybe strike us as
interesting here.
verse 16.
Instead, they were longing
for a better homeland, a
heavenly one.
Hmm.
Admitting in verse 13 that
they were foreigners and
strangers on earth.
He was looking forward to the
city with foundations whose
architect and builder is God.
And at this point, we almost
wonder, is the author of
Hebrews saying that Abraham was
actually heavenly minded, that
he was looking not for the
land, but for heaven.
Some people see that here.
And if you see that here, I
bless you in seeing it that
way.
That's a, it's a valid
interpretation.
It's tough when we go back to
the story of Abraham.
Is that what he was thinking?
I mean, everlasting possession.
He believed that Isaac could be
raised from the dead.
So, I mean, he, he, he believed
that these kinds of things were
possible, but was he thinking
about heaven even back then?
I think there's another way to
read this.
And I think it's really through the
lens of the author of Hebrews, the
point that he's trying to make.
He's, he's drawing on Abraham's
life as a, as an example for
us.
He's a model for us, not just
him, but, but, but all the saints
of old, Isaac and Jacob.
They admitted that they were
foreigners and strangers on earth.
As it pertains to them, they
admitted they were foreigners and
strangers in the land, but he's
drawing out the principle.
People who say such things show
that they are looking for a
homeland of their own, a heavenly
one.
As it pertains to Abraham, he was
looking for, for a homeland of his
own here in Canaan, where he
pitched his tent.
That's the promise that God gave.
And it was a heavenly one, I think,
in the sense, not that it's, it's
up in the stars, it's in the place
of heaven, but that the only way
this homeland would come to pass is
by the promise and, and the work
of the God of heaven.
It was God's work to, to give him
this home.
Not that this place came from, from
heaven.
If he was to have this land, God
would have to establish it.
The God of heaven.
I think that's what's meant by a
heavenly one.
As it pertains to Abraham.
Did he admit that he was a
stranger on earth?
That heaven was actually his real
home?
I think that he admitted he was a
stranger in the land that he was.
But as the author of Hebrews kind of
weaves this letter and points us to
how we should think today and how
generations of his people should
think, I think he's steering us in a
bit of a different direction.
Abraham, he trusted the Lord's
promise about the land, the land of
Canaan.
But as it pertains to us, there is
something far greater that God is
doing here.
If we flip over on some, you might
not, it might be on the same page to
verse 39 and 40, we see some, some
confirmation of this.
These were all commended for their
faith.
He goes through the whole, picks up
the whole list.
All of these people, they were
commended for their faith, yet none
of them received what had been
promised.
Since God had planned something
better for us, so that only together
with us would they be made perfect.
So Abraham was promised the land.
The author of Hebrews tells us he
didn't receive it before he died, but
he will receive it.
Only together with us, with the
larger people of God throughout the
ages.
God has had a bigger plan right from
the beginning.
He's going to bring it all together for
all the children of Abraham.
And I think that's why the author
Hebrews puts in these words, admitting
that they were foreigners and
strangers on earth, longing for a
better country, a heavenly one.
At the end of 16, God is not ashamed
to be called their God for he has
prepared a city for them.
They're not going to miss out because
they died.
Abraham will receive his inheritance.
He will receive a city, a permanent
dwelling to live in as an everlasting
possession.
He and his descendants.
But God's plan was that it would come
at the end, that it would come later
together when all of the children of
Abraham together would receive it.
It will be a heavenly homeland, a
homeland that God establishes for all
his people.
The God of heaven brings it.
It will be the city, the permanent
dwelling that God builds and establishes
for his people.
And the author of Hebrews goes on in
this book to really steer us in that
direction.
Chapter 12, verse 22.
You have come to Mount Zion, to the
city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem.
Not the city of the earth that comes
from earth, but the city that comes
from heaven.
You can picture that that moment that
John sees in his revelation, the new
Jerusalem descending down from heaven.
What is what is the author of Hebrews
saying here?
His point is this to the Hebrews
specifically who are going through
persecution and suffering.
He's saying, hold on to the promises
that God has given by faith.
Hang on to them just like Abraham hung
on to them to the day he died.
Even though he didn't get what was
promised, all of it in his lifetime, he
will.
We all will.
God is going to bring that day.
When he, when, when he will build this,
this homeland, this place for all of his
people to dwell.
It's coming.
Abraham had troubles, difficulties that he
went through in his life.
We have troubles and difficulties that we
go through in our life.
And yet Abraham chose to stick, stick it
out, to plant his, to pitch his tent here
because this is what the Lord promised.
We have promises too.
In fact, we have the same promises as we've
talked about in this series.
Who are the children of the promise?
The children of Abraham.
They are those who have faith in Jesus
Christ, whether Jew or Gentile, slave or
free, male or female.
Hold on to them.
Don't give up on them.
Hold them right to the end.
God is planning something wonderful.
A time in which he will keep all of the
promises.
From the very beginning to the very end.
He has something prepared for us.
Something special.
A city.
A permanent dwelling.
For now, we live in a world that just like
Abraham doesn't feel like home.
We feel at times as though we're strangers.
We're foreigners.
We stick out like a sore thumb.
People may ridicule us or mock us for our
faith.
Things may not be prospering along as well
as we hoped.
There's brokenness.
There's all kinds of problems in our world.
But one day when Jesus returns, it won't
be that way.
He will make all things new.
He will make the world that we live in new.
And it will be our home.
Where righteousness will dwell forever.
We look forward to that day.
Let's pray.
Lord Jesus, we thank you.
Lord, you're coming soon.
We ask that you would strengthen us in our
faith in you and help us to hold on to those
promises that you've given us.
Lord, you're coming soon.
We trust that.
We believe that.
We want to make that known, that hope that we
have to the people in this community here in
Davidson.
And so help us.
Strengthen us.
Teach us to trust you just as you taught Abraham
to trust you.
Teach us to live by faith.
We ask this in Christ's name.
Amen.