WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.700 listening and through my preaching, Lord, may I be an empty vessel that your Spirit may use tonight. 00:00:07.419 --> 00:00:10.359 And we pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:00:15.160 --> 00:00:21.820 Now, this evening, we are going to continue our brief walk through Hebrews 11. For those who are 00:00:21.820 --> 00:00:26.379 with us this morning or watching online, you know we talked about the life of Enoch. This evening, 00:00:26.379 --> 00:00:32.200 we're going to look at someone else who may be a little more obscure in this chapter. We're going 00:00:32.200 --> 00:00:39.759 to be looking at the life of Isaac, focusing on Hebrews 11, verse 20. Now, as we've been going 00:00:39.759 --> 00:00:44.299 through this pandemic for a year and a half, obviously, there's a lot of names that have 00:00:44.299 --> 00:00:51.460 come up over and over again. Government officials, people within the NHS, health ministers, whoever 00:00:51.460 --> 00:00:55.980 it may be, we see their faces on the screen every day. They continue to give us advice and counsel. 00:00:55.979 --> 00:01:01.579 As to how we should proceed. But there's been another person who was at the beginning of this 00:01:01.579 --> 00:01:08.179 pandemic, someone who is a rather unexpected celebrity, you might say, and that's Captain 00:01:08.179 --> 00:01:14.379 Tom Moore. You probably all have heard of Tom Moore. He passed away recently, but this was 00:01:14.379 --> 00:01:22.199 the old man who decided he was going to do something to try to raise funds for the NHS. And as he was 00:01:22.200 --> 00:01:28.820 approaching his 100th birthday, he decided that he was going to walk back and forth in his garden 00:01:28.820 --> 00:01:37.700 before his birthday in hopes of raising 1,000 pounds for the NHS. And we all know how this story went, 00:01:37.799 --> 00:01:45.700 right? It received international notoriety and media attention because of just who he was and 00:01:45.700 --> 00:01:52.780 and this desire to help others. It went far beyond just raising 1,000 pounds. In the end, I think he 00:01:52.780 --> 00:02:00.040 raised over 34 million pounds and was actually knighted by the Queen in the months following. 00:02:00.560 --> 00:02:06.040 And the reason I think that this man, Captain Tom, was so attractive to many of us, why it became such 00:02:06.040 --> 00:02:12.759 an international story was because he was just an ordinary guy, right? He wasn't someone who was in a 00:02:12.759 --> 00:02:18.859 great position of power or influence. He didn't have great financial means. We know that he was 00:02:18.859 --> 00:02:24.259 an army veteran and then worked for years as a manager in a concrete company. And so it's because 00:02:24.259 --> 00:02:31.239 of this ordinariness that I think he was so appealing to many of us. He was so endearing to many of us. 00:02:32.199 --> 00:02:40.159 And so I think when we look at the life of Isaac here, they may share similar traits in the fact 00:02:40.159 --> 00:02:45.500 that Isaac too is a rather ordinary guy in a lot of ways. He's someone that I think we can easily 00:02:45.500 --> 00:02:52.759 relate to and someone that I think that we can learn from in this passage today. He's someone 00:02:52.759 --> 00:02:56.919 that wasn't an important leader. He wasn't this dominant figure, but he was someone who faithfully 00:02:56.919 --> 00:03:03.659 clung to the promise of God. And so let's look at our verse, Hebrews 11, 20. It's a rather short 00:03:03.659 --> 00:03:09.099 verse, but we're also going to be jumping around in the book of Genesis as well. But Hebrews 11, 00:03:09.219 --> 00:03:15.539 chapter 20. By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. 00:03:17.519 --> 00:03:24.379 Now, if we read through Hebrews 11, this hall of faith, as it's called, we recognize that there's a 00:03:24.379 --> 00:03:31.699 long list of important Old Testament figures, right? We know that it talks at length about Abraham, 00:03:31.699 --> 00:03:39.139 who was the father of the nation of Israel. He was a person that God chose to bless him and his 00:03:39.139 --> 00:03:45.199 descendants. We know that Joseph is mentioned in Hebrews 11. He's this figure who is sold by his 00:03:45.199 --> 00:03:51.560 brothers into slavery and then eventually became second to Pharaoh. We see people like Moses, 00:03:51.819 --> 00:04:01.479 who led the Israelites out of Egypt, who led them through the Red Sea. It also lists judges and kings 00:04:01.479 --> 00:04:05.519 and prophets. And this is what it goes on to say if we go down to verse 33 and 34. 00:04:05.899 --> 00:04:11.079 These people who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised, 00:04:11.479 --> 00:04:16.000 who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword, 00:04:16.539 --> 00:04:22.180 whose weakness was turned to strength, and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign enemies. 00:04:22.180 --> 00:04:29.759 This kind of sounds like the stuff of an adventure novel, not what we'd expect of someone who's kind of 00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:36.480 put in the middle here, little old ordinary Isaac. But today, that's exactly what we're going to look 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:42.379 at when we think of the life of Isaac. I want us to consider this statement. Isaac was an ordinary man 00:04:42.379 --> 00:04:50.439 of enduring faith in an extraordinary promise. And so we're going to break that down, take those in 00:04:50.439 --> 00:04:55.680 three bits. We're going to look at him again, an ordinary man of enduring faith in an extraordinary 00:04:55.680 --> 00:05:02.100 promise. So let's continue to look at him first as this ordinary man. If you're familiar at all with 00:05:02.100 --> 00:05:10.000 the Bible and the Old Testament, we know that Isaac was the son of Abraham. God chose Abraham to bless 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:15.860 him, that Abraham and his descendants would be God's people. And we know that Abraham was very 00:05:15.860 --> 00:05:21.240 advanced in age, and he didn't have any children. But we know that God came to him and his wife, Sarah, 00:05:21.240 --> 00:05:28.060 and blessed them with a son when Abraham was 100 years old. And this son, of course, is Isaac. 00:05:29.639 --> 00:05:34.759 And so the Bible doesn't really include a whole lot about Isaac's life, especially compared to 00:05:34.759 --> 00:05:40.980 some of these other figures that are listed in Hebrews 11. His whole life is really summed up 00:05:40.980 --> 00:05:47.519 between Genesis 25 and Genesis 27. So from those chapters, this is a little bit about what we learn 00:05:47.519 --> 00:05:54.779 of Isaac. We realize that he didn't have any land of his own. Much like Abraham, he was more of a 00:05:54.779 --> 00:06:01.920 sojourner. But we know that he became very wealthy. He had large flocks. He had herds and servants. 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:08.960 We know that he had an attractive wife, Rebecca, who at one point he denied was being his wife so 00:06:08.960 --> 00:06:16.220 that she may not be stolen from him and he may not be killed, what he feared at least. We know that 00:06:16.220 --> 00:06:22.080 he had twin sons, Jacob and Esau. It doesn't mention whether he had any other children or not, but we 00:06:22.080 --> 00:06:29.660 know at least of these twin boys. And we know that he favored his firstborn, Esau, and especially liked 00:06:29.660 --> 00:06:36.420 Esau by the fact that he could cook these delicious meals. He was an outdoorsman. He cooked all this 00:06:36.420 --> 00:06:42.200 wild game. And we know something about Esau's wives. He had these Hittite wives that seemed to make life 00:06:42.200 --> 00:06:48.740 rather miserable for Isaac and Rebecca. So we know that Isaac wasn't a warrior. He wasn't a man with a 00:06:48.740 --> 00:06:54.660 particularly big personality, it doesn't seem. But we know that God chose him in the same way that God chose 00:06:54.660 --> 00:07:01.380 Abraham. He was continuing his promise through his son Isaac, not based on any merit or efforts of his 00:07:01.380 --> 00:07:09.760 own. And so oftentimes I think when we look at our own lives, I think we have this aversion sometimes 00:07:09.760 --> 00:07:16.020 to being ordinary like Isaac, especially when you were young or maybe you are young and you think 00:07:16.020 --> 00:07:20.640 about wanting to conquer the world, right? You want to be this influential person. You want to be a mover 00:07:20.639 --> 00:07:26.279 and shaker. You want to make a difference in the world for Christ. And then life progresses and you 00:07:26.279 --> 00:07:32.620 realize maybe things didn't quite shake out like you wanted to. For the vast majority of us, we're 00:07:32.620 --> 00:07:40.659 probably going to live rather ordinary lives by worldly standards. You probably have a rather normal job 00:07:40.659 --> 00:07:47.620 where you may, most of your day may be taken up with meetings or emails, hours looking after your 00:07:47.620 --> 00:07:54.579 children, balancing your budget and maybe falling asleep doing the laundry at night. Things may not 00:07:54.579 --> 00:08:01.340 have worked out. Life may not be quite as glamorous as you had imagined. But it's important to remember 00:08:01.340 --> 00:08:06.560 back what we looked at this morning from Hebrews chapter 11 verse 6 where it says, without faith is 00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:12.300 impossible to please God. So it's not about our hard work or our good effort. There's nothing that we can 00:08:12.300 --> 00:08:20.040 do to please or to impress God apart from our faith. And there's actually a book that came out a few 00:08:20.040 --> 00:08:26.740 years ago by a guy named Michael Horton. He's a professor at Westminster Theological Seminary in the 00:08:26.740 --> 00:08:34.259 States. And the book is called Ordinary. And it addresses this idea how in society there's this urge to do 00:08:34.259 --> 00:08:40.980 something important, to do something radical. But he reminds us that contrary to popular belief, 00:08:41.980 --> 00:08:52.220 it's not our own self-driven, self-shaped religiosity that God cares about. It's God's faithfulness to us, 00:08:52.319 --> 00:08:58.620 his people. So our Christian life, it's about glorifying him through our vocation, whatever that 00:08:58.620 --> 00:09:04.100 vocation may be, recognizing that it's probably going to be rather ordinary, rather unspectacular. 00:09:04.259 --> 00:09:11.500 But nonetheless can be resolutely God-honoring work. He says this in his book, he says, 00:09:11.860 --> 00:09:18.799 daily faithfulness to our work and to our neighbor is precisely what enriches our lives. 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:25.840 And so being ordinary doesn't limit our ability to please God. In fact, in some ways it can enhance 00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:32.939 it because we're not distracted by this temptation to focus on our own exceptionalism. We recognize that we 00:09:32.940 --> 00:09:40.900 can trust in Christ because it's in him that we find our true value. And so this then brings us to 00:09:40.900 --> 00:09:47.180 our second point when we look at Isaac. We know that he was just this ordinary man, but he also had this 00:09:47.180 --> 00:09:55.580 enduring faith. If we look at Genesis 27, when Isaac is advanced in years, he's near death, 00:09:55.580 --> 00:10:03.700 and he realizes it's time to bless his son. And so he brings Esau to him before he dies. And this is 00:10:03.700 --> 00:10:11.759 what he says. He says, now I am an old man and don't know the day of my death. Now then, get out your 00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:17.320 equipment, your quiver and bow, and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. Prepare for 00:10:17.320 --> 00:10:23.200 me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat so that I may give you my blessing before I die. 00:10:25.020 --> 00:10:30.520 And of course, we know how this story goes, right? Rebecca is within earshot. She hears of her husband's 00:10:30.520 --> 00:10:37.340 plan, and because she favors Jacob, she devises this plan that Jacob should disguise himself as Esau. 00:10:37.460 --> 00:10:43.160 She will prepare this delicious meal and have Jacob take it to Isaac so he can receive his father's 00:10:43.159 --> 00:10:49.600 blessing. And so though it took a little convincing at first, we know that Isaac did bless his son Jacob 00:10:49.600 --> 00:10:57.639 thinking that it was Esau. And this is a blessing that he gives to Jacob. This is from Genesis 27 00:10:57.639 --> 00:11:05.819 verses 28. It says, may God give you heaven's dew and earth's riches and abundance of grain and new wine. 00:11:06.360 --> 00:11:12.100 May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be Lord over your brothers and may the sons of your 00:11:12.100 --> 00:11:18.700 mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed. 00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:25.620 And so we see here, this is a really significant blessing. This isn't just your run of the mill 00:11:25.620 --> 00:11:31.960 blessing that you'd get in those days when a father who is dying would basically turn over his material 00:11:31.960 --> 00:11:38.540 blessings, blessings, possessions to his son, and then just give a request that he'd be remembered by 00:11:38.539 --> 00:11:44.219 his descendants. Isaac goes far beyond this, far beyond just talking about material blessings. 00:11:45.240 --> 00:11:52.179 He really blesses his son with this universal sovereignty. He says that people will serve him, 00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:58.480 that nations will bow down to him. And so we see in this blessing Isaac's enduring faith, how he 00:11:58.480 --> 00:12:06.860 wholeheartedly relied on the blessing and the promise that had been given to him by God. We know that this 00:12:06.860 --> 00:12:13.120 promise was given first to Abraham and then God gave the same blessing to Isaac. It says in Genesis 26, 00:12:13.560 --> 00:12:16.360 2 through 4, this is the blessing. He said, 00:12:16.440 --> 00:12:18.360 The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, 00:12:18.860 --> 00:12:22.480 Do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land where I tell you to live. 00:12:23.100 --> 00:12:26.320 Stay in this land for a while and I will be with you and I will bless you. 00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:28.560 For to you and your descendants, 00:12:28.759 --> 00:12:33.080 I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. 00:12:33.080 --> 00:12:38.500 I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands 00:12:38.500 --> 00:12:42.100 and through your offspring, all nations will be blessed. 00:12:43.540 --> 00:12:50.340 And so we see that Isaac is relying on this promise. He's looking back at how God has promised 00:12:50.340 --> 00:12:55.360 this in the past, but he's also looking forward. He's fully confident that God will fulfill this 00:12:55.360 --> 00:12:59.860 promise even though he hasn't seen it come and be fulfilled at this point. 00:12:59.860 --> 00:13:06.440 And so even though he could have easily given up on God's promise, we see that he continues in his 00:13:06.440 --> 00:13:11.300 faith. He really could have stopped and just focused on his situation because it really hadn't 00:13:11.300 --> 00:13:16.039 changed at all since the point in time that he was first given this promise. There was little to 00:13:16.039 --> 00:13:20.680 indicate that God was going to fulfill his promise to Isaac. He didn't have any land of his own. 00:13:21.740 --> 00:13:26.620 He was still living through a famine and was in exile. He didn't have many children, 00:13:26.620 --> 00:13:31.919 it doesn't say. One of his sons still wasn't married. The other son was married to these horrible 00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:40.419 wives. He could have very easily given up on the promise of God, but he doesn't here. We see that 00:13:40.419 --> 00:13:44.879 in this enduring faith, it's what's described at the very beginning of Hebrews that we looked at this 00:13:44.879 --> 00:13:46.840 morning. In Hebrews 11, 1, it says, 00:13:46.840 --> 00:14:02.120 And so we see that this conviction is active in the life of Isaac. It's this vital certainty that he's 00:14:02.120 --> 00:14:07.620 reaching out and holding on to the promises of God. He's hoping in the work of the Lord. 00:14:07.620 --> 00:14:14.940 But it's worth noting that even though this faith was enduring, it wasn't a perfect faith. 00:14:16.159 --> 00:14:18.460 He tries to bring it about in his own way. 00:14:20.740 --> 00:14:24.899 You know, we see examples of this often in young children. Maybe your own children, you remember 00:14:24.899 --> 00:14:30.240 this. In the first couple years of life, children are very dependent. They rely on you to do things 00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:34.019 for them. Then they hit this age at about two or three where they think they can do everything for 00:14:34.019 --> 00:14:39.259 themselves, right? Whether it's getting dressed or feeding themselves or doing basic tasks around 00:14:39.259 --> 00:14:45.079 the house, they don't want your help. And so when you ask to help them, they say, no, I don't want it, 00:14:45.079 --> 00:14:50.679 right? And so even though they are attempting to complete tasks that do need to be done, usually 00:14:50.679 --> 00:14:56.299 they do it in such a way that is slower, that usually makes a mess, that's usually not successful 00:14:56.299 --> 00:15:02.980 in their efforts. And so this is kind of what we see Isaac do here. Even though he understands the 00:15:02.980 --> 00:15:08.980 promise of God, he wants this blessing to be passed on to his children, he goes about it in his way, 00:15:09.879 --> 00:15:15.420 based on his preferences, because he favored his firstborn Esau. He wanted to carry out that promise 00:15:15.420 --> 00:15:25.920 and give it to his son Esau rather than to Jacob. Because we know that likely Rebecca was given this 00:15:25.920 --> 00:15:31.920 promise from God when she was pregnant with both her sons. In Genesis 25, 23, it says, 00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:37.899 two nations are in your womb, and two nations from within will be separated. One people will be 00:15:37.899 --> 00:15:47.159 stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger. And so Isaac certainly would have known 00:15:47.159 --> 00:15:52.819 of this message that Rebecca received. And though we don't know his mindset later in life, 00:15:53.179 --> 00:15:57.899 it's fair to assume that he knew that God intended Jacob to be the one that was blessed. But 00:15:57.899 --> 00:16:05.139 again, he goes about his own preferences, and he chooses to bless Esau instead. And so we know what 00:16:05.139 --> 00:16:11.039 happens here after he blesses Jacob, and Jacob leaves. Esau comes in with his food, and this 00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:16.819 confusion begins. If we read in Genesis 27, verse 33, it says, 00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:19.840 Isaac trembled violently. And he says, 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:24.320 who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came in, 00:16:24.340 --> 00:16:30.040 and I blessed him, and indeed he will be blessed. When Esau heard his father's words, 00:16:30.100 --> 00:16:35.460 he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, bless me, me too, my father. 00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:40.000 But he said, your younger brother came deceitfully and took your blessing. 00:16:41.500 --> 00:16:46.340 Esau said, isn't he rightly named Jacob? This is the second time he's taken advantage of me. 00:16:46.340 --> 00:16:51.740 He took my birthright, and now he takes my blessing. And then he asked, haven't you reserved 00:16:51.740 --> 00:16:59.100 any blessing for me? Isaac answered Esau, I have made him lord over you and have made all his 00:16:59.100 --> 00:17:05.920 relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do 00:17:05.920 --> 00:17:14.620 for you, my son? Isaac, when he figured out he'd been tricked, really could have been pretty ticked off, 00:17:14.619 --> 00:17:20.039 right? He could have given in to Esau's pleading and tried to rescind this blessing that he gave 00:17:20.039 --> 00:17:28.159 to Jacob. But instead it says that he trembled. And in fact, he confirmed the blessing that he gave 00:17:28.159 --> 00:17:33.219 to Jacob because he realizes that he was out of harmony with the will of God, and God had 00:17:33.219 --> 00:17:40.099 providentially intervened. And so how often do we, when we fall into sin, do we try to correct 00:17:40.099 --> 00:17:47.139 the situation ourselves? Rather than going to God and requesting forgiveness and his intercession, 00:17:47.240 --> 00:17:53.980 we try to fix it ourselves. We think that we need to make the situation better before we are able to 00:17:53.980 --> 00:18:01.099 go to God. But that's not what Isaac does here. We see that in Isaac's faith there's this element of 00:18:01.099 --> 00:18:10.919 submission. He recognized that he has sinned against God. And so rather than trying to fix this himself, 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:16.959 rather than try to pursue these misplaced affections that he had for his son Esau, he turns 00:18:16.959 --> 00:18:25.199 to God in faith, knowing that it's only God that can heal and repair. It's only God that has in his 00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:33.500 sovereignty that won't be thwarted no matter what Isaac was to do. And so it's interesting to note 00:18:33.500 --> 00:18:39.880 too then that in this verse that we looked at in Hebrews, how it describes this blessing, because it 00:18:39.880 --> 00:18:47.559 says, by faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. And I've read this a few times, 00:18:47.620 --> 00:18:53.620 and you might think this as well, why does it even mention Esau? Because the blessing went to Jacob, 00:18:53.619 --> 00:19:00.559 right? But I think there's significance in this blessing that he gives to Esau because of how it 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:06.639 contrasts from the blessing that Jacob ultimately received. This is the blessing that Isaac gave to 00:19:06.639 --> 00:19:12.939 Esau. It says, your dwelling will be away from earth's riches, away from the dew of heaven above. 00:19:13.619 --> 00:19:18.679 You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother. But when you grow restless, you will throw 00:19:18.680 --> 00:19:26.960 his yoke from off your neck. We see that Esau's blessing doesn't contain any of these eternal, 00:19:27.620 --> 00:19:34.039 spiritual blessings that Jacob received. And so I think that's the point of why the author of Hebrews 00:19:34.039 --> 00:19:41.980 includes it into this verse 20, because he's making the point that by faith Isaac recognized that God's 00:19:41.980 --> 00:19:48.160 blessing is exclusively reserved for God's people. There's no way for anyone outside of God's people 00:19:48.160 --> 00:19:56.759 to receive that eternal blessing of God's promise. And so what is that extraordinary promise then? 00:19:56.799 --> 00:20:02.819 We've talked about Isaac in his, with his ordinary, that he's an ordinary man with enduring faith. 00:20:03.620 --> 00:20:06.940 What's this extraordinary promise? What is the object of his faith? 00:20:06.940 --> 00:20:13.420 If you're like me, you may have been following the European championships and especially with 00:20:13.420 --> 00:20:21.160 Scotland having gotten to the finals for the first time in, was it 25 years or so? Many of us, 00:20:21.240 --> 00:20:27.100 I'm sure, have been following along. And there's no doubt there's been some Scottish fans who 00:20:27.100 --> 00:20:33.779 placed some money, some wagers, some bets that Scotland may win a game, that they may beat England, 00:20:33.779 --> 00:20:39.279 that they may advance to the knockout round. I'm sure they had great confidence when they placed 00:20:39.279 --> 00:20:44.899 those bets that Scotland would win, right? So it's not a problem with their faith. Their faith wasn't 00:20:44.899 --> 00:20:52.539 the problem. Unfortunately, it was the object of their faith. And so you see that faith without a 00:20:52.539 --> 00:21:00.259 proper foundation actually usually turns into nothing more than foolishness. However, we see in this case 00:21:00.259 --> 00:21:08.400 that Isaac's faith was founded on an extraordinary promise, a promise of something better to come. 00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:15.119 We see in Hebrews 11, at the very end of that chapter, in verse 39 and 40, it says this, 00:21:16.180 --> 00:21:21.079 these, talking about all these figures that were mentioned, these were all commended for their 00:21:21.079 --> 00:21:26.700 faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. Since God had planned something better for us, 00:21:26.700 --> 00:21:35.680 so that only together with us would they be made perfect. And so, so often in our society, we desire 00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:42.519 this instant gratification, right? We don't want to wait for our reward. We are impatient. 00:21:43.380 --> 00:21:50.019 We want our reward. What we think we are due, we want it now. And we even see this within the church. 00:21:50.019 --> 00:21:59.240 We see this temptation to maybe believe in the prosperity gospel, to think that our faithfulness 00:21:59.240 --> 00:22:07.400 needs to be rewarded right now with material wealth. We'd rather focus on our earthly prosperity 00:22:07.400 --> 00:22:12.299 rather than on the heavenly riches that we've been promised. But here we see that Isaac wasn't 00:22:12.299 --> 00:22:18.420 concerned with his current condition. He was looking much further beyond. So that's the extraordinary 00:22:18.420 --> 00:22:27.860 blessing that Isaac received and that he passed on to his son, Jacob. It wasn't this temporary, 00:22:28.180 --> 00:22:35.180 temporal, worldly blessing. He was pointing him forward to the eternal blessing that we experience 00:22:35.180 --> 00:22:42.440 through the coming of Jesus. And so that's that extraordinary promise that God promised to send 00:22:42.440 --> 00:22:47.800 his son to be our redeemer, that he would come to earth and live a perfect life. He would die a horrible 00:22:47.799 --> 00:22:55.700 death to be a sacrifice for our sins, that we may avoid his divine judgment and we can be reconciled to God. 00:22:57.419 --> 00:23:02.159 And so throughout the book of Hebrews, we see that the author, he mentions over and over again, he refers to 00:23:02.159 --> 00:23:09.740 Jesus as our high priest. He is the one who can save us completely, all those who come to God through him. 00:23:09.740 --> 00:23:19.039 And so if Isaac, we know that there's these different covenants in the Bible. Isaac lived under one of these old covenants. 00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:26.660 And so if Isaac, in the dim light of this old covenant that pointed forward to Christ, though he didn't know how it was going to happen 00:23:26.660 --> 00:23:33.240 or who was going to come, he could still have faith in God. He could still have fellowship and communion with him. 00:23:33.240 --> 00:23:41.779 How much more can we, as we share in that promise of the new covenant, now that we live under the blaze of Calvary, 00:23:41.880 --> 00:23:46.079 under the shadow of the cross of Jesus, how much greater should our faith be? 00:23:48.500 --> 00:23:52.839 The great thing about Isaac's faith is that it gave him full perspective. 00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:57.960 He was able to look back at the promise of God, but also look forward. 00:23:57.960 --> 00:24:03.500 That though that promise wasn't fulfilled during his life, he knew that God was going to keep his word. 00:24:05.960 --> 00:24:10.940 And so through faith, we can do the same. We can look back to the work of Christ on the cross, 00:24:10.940 --> 00:24:16.440 who provided our means of salvation, who welcomed us into relationship with the Father. 00:24:17.759 --> 00:24:19.460 But we can also look forward. 00:24:20.819 --> 00:24:24.440 Our faith allows us to look forward to when Christ will come again, 00:24:24.440 --> 00:24:30.500 when we, along with all these Old Testament figures, will experience perfect communion with God. 00:24:32.580 --> 00:24:37.080 And so that's the extraordinary promise that you and I have been given today, 00:24:37.200 --> 00:24:41.840 together with these Old Testament heroes, we share in this heavenly calling, 00:24:42.400 --> 00:24:47.840 where we have been made perfect and we can enter in to perfect relationship with God 00:24:47.840 --> 00:24:51.120 through the Son, our perfect mediator. 00:24:52.620 --> 00:24:53.259 Let's pray. 00:24:54.440 --> 00:25:02.100 Lord, so often we feel small and insignificant. 00:25:04.600 --> 00:25:06.960 But we recognize that you are great. 00:25:08.700 --> 00:25:14.059 And we recognize today that through our faith, we receive your righteousness. 00:25:14.539 --> 00:25:17.200 And through our faith, you are pleased. 00:25:18.600 --> 00:25:21.220 And so, God, we ask that you strengthen our faith. 00:25:21.220 --> 00:25:28.759 May we have faith looking back to the promises that have been fulfilled in Jesus 00:25:28.759 --> 00:25:32.740 and looking forward to the promises to come. 00:25:33.779 --> 00:25:38.700 May we desire to walk with you, to have perfect communion with the Father. 00:25:40.200 --> 00:25:41.720 This we pray in Jesus' name. 00:25:42.460 --> 00:25:42.740 Amen. 00:25:42.740 --> 00:25:48.880 Now we're going to listen to our last hymn together. 00:25:51.380 --> 00:25:55.759 I know this was different than what we had on the initial order of worship. 00:25:55.940 --> 00:25:58.160 It's, I believe, it's Christ, our hope in life and death. 00:25:58.240 --> 00:25:58.620 There we go. 00:25:59.180 --> 00:25:59.859 Let's listen together. 00:25:59.859 --> 00:26:01.859 Christ alone. 00:26:01.859 --> 00:26:02.859 Christ alone. 00:26:02.859 --> 00:26:13.159 What is our hope in life and death? 00:26:13.159 --> 00:26:15.439 Christ alone. 00:26:15.439 --> 00:26:17.559 Christ alone. 00:26:17.559 --> 00:26:21.940 What is our only confidence 00:26:21.940 --> 00:26:27.019 That our souls to him belong 00:26:27.019 --> 00:26:31.879 Who holds our days within his hand 00:26:31.879 --> 00:26:35.960 What comes apart from his command 00:26:35.960 --> 00:26:41.179 And what will keep us to the end 00:26:41.179 --> 00:26:46.599 The love of Christ in which we stand 00:26:46.599 --> 00:26:52.419 Oh sing hallelujah 00:26:52.419 --> 00:26:56.839 Our hope springs eternal 00:26:56.839 --> 00:27:01.139 Oh sing hallelujah 00:27:01.139 --> 00:27:04.839 Now on the earth we confess 00:27:04.839 --> 00:27:09.240 Christ our hope in life and death 00:27:09.240 --> 00:27:19.680 What truth can calm the troubled soul 00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:24.339 God is good, God is good 00:27:24.339 --> 00:27:29.000 Where is his grace and goodness known 00:27:29.000 --> 00:27:33.459 In our great Redeemer's blood 00:27:33.459 --> 00:27:38.059 Who holds our faith when fears arise 00:27:38.059 --> 00:27:42.480 Who stands above the stormy trial 00:27:42.480 --> 00:27:47.140 Who sends the waves that bring us nigh 00:27:47.140 --> 00:27:52.720 Unto his shore, the rock of Christ 00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:58.539 Oh sing hallelujah 00:27:58.539 --> 00:28:02.720 Our hope springs eternal 00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:06.960 Oh sing hallelujah 00:28:06.960 --> 00:28:10.620 Now and ever we confess 00:28:10.620 --> 00:28:15.620 Christ our hope in life and death 00:28:15.619 --> 00:28:21.439 Christ our hope in life and death 00:28:21.439 --> 00:28:25.279 Unto the grave what shall we sing 00:28:25.279 --> 00:28:30.099 Christ he lives, Christ he lives 00:28:30.099 --> 00:28:34.599 And what reward will heaven bring 00:28:34.599 --> 00:28:39.259 Everlasting life within 00:28:39.259 --> 00:28:43.839 There we will rise to meet the Lord 00:28:43.839 --> 00:28:48.199 Then sin and death will be destroyed 00:28:48.199 --> 00:28:52.740 And we will feast in endless joy 00:28:52.740 --> 00:28:58.679 When Christ is ours forevermore 00:28:58.680 --> 00:29:04.340 Oh sing hallelujah 00:29:04.340 --> 00:29:08.660 Our hope springs eternal 00:29:08.660 --> 00:29:12.980 Oh sing hallelujah 00:29:12.980 --> 00:29:16.740 Now and ever we confess 00:29:16.740 --> 00:29:20.640 Christ our hope in life and death 00:29:20.640 --> 00:29:24.180 Now and ever we confess 00:29:24.180 --> 00:29:29.500 Christ our hope in life and death 00:29:29.500 --> 00:29:37.240 Will you stand with me for our benediction 00:29:37.240 --> 00:29:39.220 taken from the book of Jude? 00:29:42.220 --> 00:29:45.299 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling 00:29:45.299 --> 00:29:46.820 and to present you blameless 00:29:46.820 --> 00:29:48.560 before the presence of his glory 00:29:48.560 --> 00:29:49.539 with great joy 00:29:49.539 --> 00:29:51.880 to the only God our Savior 00:29:51.880 --> 00:29:53.539 through Jesus Christ our Lord 00:29:53.539 --> 00:29:57.359 be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority 00:29:57.359 --> 00:29:58.799 before all time 00:29:58.799 --> 00:30:00.779 now and forever 00:30:00.779 --> 00:30:01.899 Amen 00:30:23.539 --> 00:30:32.779 God bless NOW 00:30:32.779 --> 00:30:33.359 Amen 00:30:33.359 --> 00:30:45.420 Amen