WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.419 A reading this evening is taken from Hebrews chapter 11. It's a short reading. We're reading 00:00:07.419 --> 00:00:15.220 ! We're reading from verse 13 through 16, and Ryan will be opening up these verses to us in a moment or two. 00:00:15.880 --> 00:00:23.000 Let's hear and read together in God's Word. Hebrews 11 from verse 13. 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:36.579 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted 00:00:36.579 --> 00:00:44.719 them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 00:00:46.100 --> 00:00:52.240 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:59.259 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity 00:00:59.259 --> 00:01:10.159 to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, 00:01:10.159 --> 00:01:19.120 God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city. 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:25.900 This is God's Word, and to His name be the praise and the glory. 00:01:25.900 --> 00:01:34.600 We've been looking at Hebrews 11 for about a couple of months now on how we live by faith. 00:01:35.140 --> 00:01:40.940 Hebrews 11, obviously, is a very famous chapter in the Bible. Some people call it the Hall of Faiths, 00:01:40.940 --> 00:01:47.780 as we look back at the patriarchs and people from the Old Testament and how they lived by faith. 00:01:47.780 --> 00:01:54.700 And we know that, and understand that, Christianity begins by faith. We have verses like Ephesians 2, 00:01:54.760 --> 00:02:00.519 8 and 9 that says, for it's by grace you've been saved through faith. It begins with faith. And then 00:02:00.519 --> 00:02:06.579 we have lots of verses that tell us that the Christianity, the Christian walk with the Lord 00:02:06.579 --> 00:02:13.340 is by faith. So Romans 1, 17 talks about the righteous to live by faith. Paul talked about in 00:02:13.340 --> 00:02:20.819 Corinthians how we walk by faith and not by sight. He says personally in Galatians 2 that he lives by 00:02:20.819 --> 00:02:27.539 faith, this life that he lives in the flesh. So the question then is, how do we live by faith? And 00:02:27.539 --> 00:02:36.740 that's one of the things that Hebrews 11 is addressing. We also see in Hebrews 11 that this is the life that 00:02:36.740 --> 00:02:43.219 is commended by God, is one that is lived by faith. And in fact, verse 6 of chapter 11 says that without 00:02:43.219 --> 00:02:50.780 faith, it is impossible to please God. So tonight we're going to look a little bit about the nature 00:02:50.780 --> 00:02:58.760 of faith. But to understand that, we actually need to go back to verse 1 to understand what this passage 00:02:58.759 --> 00:03:08.519 is talking about. And Hebrews 11 says that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of 00:03:08.519 --> 00:03:17.500 things not seen. So faith involves assurance. It involves something that is a foundation that is firm, 00:03:17.599 --> 00:03:24.139 that we can count on. It involves a conviction. Another word for that would be evidence or maybe even 00:03:24.139 --> 00:03:32.419 proof. It's reasonable faith. It's faith that makes so much sense that I would consider it a firm foundation 00:03:32.419 --> 00:03:41.099 and even live my life built around these things that I believe. In fact, the word believe is the verb form 00:03:41.099 --> 00:03:49.779 for the word faith is the noun form. Faith and belief go together. But this also tells us that faith is tied 00:03:49.780 --> 00:03:59.420 to hope. Faith is tied and linked to this idea of what we put our hope in. Hope is when you realize that 00:03:59.420 --> 00:04:07.780 things aren't completely as they should be, and you long for something better. And your hope depends 00:04:07.780 --> 00:04:15.699 on the object of your faith. For instance, I was getting a haircut. Yes, my hair is almost gone, but I still get 00:04:15.699 --> 00:04:21.199 haircuts. And went to the barber. And the guy that was in the chair when I got there, the barber tends 00:04:21.199 --> 00:04:27.599 to ask a question like, okay, sir, what's your philosophy of the day? Like he's asking for just 00:04:27.599 --> 00:04:35.079 some, what have you been thinking about lately? And the guy in the chair says, I hope that Scotland wins 00:04:35.079 --> 00:04:40.099 the FIFA World Cup. And everybody just starts laughing and everything. And I was like, okay, maybe this is 00:04:40.100 --> 00:04:45.980 something that's not that possible. It's more of a joke or whatever. But if you are putting your faith 00:04:45.980 --> 00:04:52.080 in Scotland winning the World Cup, you might be disappointed, right? That might be misplaced hope, 00:04:52.160 --> 00:04:59.160 no offense, but that experience would tell us that. However, if you said something like, I hope to make a 00:04:59.160 --> 00:05:05.340 good grade on the exam, you're kind of putting your faith in your ability to perform well after you've 00:05:05.339 --> 00:05:12.739 studied. If you did not study for that exam, maybe misplaced hope, right? So faith is actually, your 00:05:12.739 --> 00:05:19.019 hope is tied to your faith in the object. How good is this object that I'm putting my faith in? 00:05:20.019 --> 00:05:26.319 But faith is believing in something that gives me assurance of a better future. It's tied to hope. 00:05:26.519 --> 00:05:31.399 And that's what we're talking about tonight. So when we come to our passage, the writer has just 00:05:31.399 --> 00:05:40.179 been talking about Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob. They had believed what God had said, and it changed 00:05:40.179 --> 00:05:45.699 the way that they lived their lives and the decisions that they made. So we get to verse 13, 00:05:46.039 --> 00:05:52.699 and when it says, these all died in faith, it's probably talking about those four, Abraham, Sarah, 00:05:52.699 --> 00:05:59.939 Isaac, and Jacob. And the NIV translates this as, all of these people were still living by faith 00:05:59.939 --> 00:06:08.139 when they died. So the sentence structure, the way that it's worded would demonstrate that their lives 00:06:08.139 --> 00:06:16.939 were characterized by faith, but when it came to death, they were still facing death by faith. 00:06:17.300 --> 00:06:24.620 What does that mean? Well, it says, these all died in faith, not having received the things promised. 00:06:24.620 --> 00:06:33.019 They hadn't received the things yet that had been promised to them. Faith, they're believing that 00:06:33.019 --> 00:06:39.040 what God had said is going to come to pass, but they're coming to their death, and they still haven't 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:44.160 received those promises. If you think about it and remember, Abraham was promised this massive area 00:06:44.160 --> 00:06:50.259 of land from Genesis 15 tells us from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates, the great river. 00:06:50.259 --> 00:06:56.620 And he was also promised descendants that were as countless as the stars and the sands on the seashore. 00:06:57.219 --> 00:07:07.039 And he left this great urban cultural city to dwell in tents. The last paragraph tells us that he was 00:07:07.039 --> 00:07:13.920 dwelling in tents. And what we know now about Ur of the Chaldees, where he came from, you can actually, 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:20.099 it was pretty cool. We were in the British Museum this summer and went to an exhibit where this piece 00:07:20.100 --> 00:07:28.420 of what they think might be the leg of a table or a stool or something, it was so ornate and just 00:07:28.420 --> 00:07:36.400 so valuable that they were like, this is what Abraham left when he left Ur. It was a cultural center. 00:07:36.740 --> 00:07:43.160 We know that this was a developed place. This was an established city. And he left all of that 00:07:43.160 --> 00:07:53.480 to go live in tents. He was dwelling in a temporary place so that even when his wife died, he had to go 00:07:53.480 --> 00:08:04.080 buy a place for her to be buried. Did God not fulfill his promise? Abraham believed God knowing 00:08:04.080 --> 00:08:11.160 that even though it wasn't completely fulfilled, it was being fulfilled. And he knew that God would 00:08:11.160 --> 00:08:17.439 fulfill his promise. But can you imagine waiting your whole life for a promise to be fulfilled by God 00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:24.140 only to get to your deathbed and see that these promises have yet to be fulfilled? 00:08:25.460 --> 00:08:31.440 Would you die in living by having lived by faith? Would you die in faith, as this passage 00:08:31.440 --> 00:08:38.320 talks about? I mean, we have a hard time being patient with things not happening instantly, right? 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:47.140 So how would we face this kind of situation by faith? How do you keep from thinking that God has 00:08:47.140 --> 00:08:54.660 broken his promise and let you down? How can you have the confidence that these things will come 00:08:54.660 --> 00:09:00.580 to pass? That's what this passage tonight helps us understand. So when it says, these all died in 00:09:00.580 --> 00:09:07.480 faith, verse 13, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from 00:09:07.480 --> 00:09:16.279 afar and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. It says that they saw 00:09:16.279 --> 00:09:25.019 these things and greeted them from afar. This word seen here is actually an experiential seeing, meaning 00:09:25.019 --> 00:09:31.620 they'd seen some things that by experience, it kind of helped them understand these things would come to 00:09:31.620 --> 00:09:41.779 pass. And it says they welcomed them from afar. The word here is to salute, to welcome, to greet. We might think of it as a wave 00:09:41.779 --> 00:09:50.480 today, a friendly wave. Or you might think of it as, I get into gifts sometimes when I'm sending messages and there's 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:55.700 one of Jack Black saluting, you know what I'm talking about from School of Rock. It's like that, where it's like this 00:09:55.700 --> 00:10:01.800 passionate, yes, I salute you kind of thing. It's this welcoming thing that we'll talk about in just a minute. 00:10:01.900 --> 00:10:09.759 It's more than just a academic or intellectual exercise. But it says that he acknowledged, or this word 00:10:09.759 --> 00:10:18.020 says confessed, is another translation of this word, having confessed that they were strangers and exiles 00:10:18.019 --> 00:10:24.659 on the earth. So how do you live by fates like this? Well, one, you have to understand the reality of your 00:10:24.659 --> 00:10:33.919 situation. And that is what we see here, that we are aliens and strangers, strangers and exiles on the earth. 00:10:34.079 --> 00:10:40.600 We've been talking a little bit about this on Sunday mornings with Daniel and how he was in Babylon. 00:10:41.100 --> 00:10:48.000 This was not his home, but it was a temporary dwelling place. And how do we live as a foreigner in a 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:53.720 strange land? Well, if that's ever been you, if you've ever been a foreigner living in a strange land, 00:10:53.840 --> 00:11:00.299 especially if someone speaks a different language, you're longing for something that feels like home. 00:11:00.940 --> 00:11:09.539 There's a longing there. It's not a dispassionate thing. In fact, we love to connect with things that 00:11:09.539 --> 00:11:17.980 feel like home. And he acknowledged, these by faith acknowledged, that they were residing 00:11:17.980 --> 00:11:23.600 in a place that is not their home. Maybe when you look at this word, one of the best translations 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:33.240 might be a resident alien, meaning I live here, but I'm not a citizen here. The reality of our situation 00:11:33.240 --> 00:11:40.060 in Christ is that we live here, but our citizenship is in heaven, in another place. 00:11:40.059 --> 00:11:47.479 There are ways that while we're living here on earth, we might try to live like residents. 00:11:48.679 --> 00:11:55.059 And when we do that, we're tempted to look just like the world. There are other times where we're 00:11:55.059 --> 00:12:00.759 tempted to live like aliens. In other words, we're so trying to disconnect from the world that we're 00:12:00.759 --> 00:12:08.459 living separately from it and disconnected from it, even in an unhealthy way. But the reality is, 00:12:08.460 --> 00:12:14.680 because we are resident aliens, this is not our home. There are just some ways that we're not going 00:12:14.680 --> 00:12:20.660 to completely fit in. There are just some ways that we're going to feel like a foreigner. 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:32.720 So growing up in the 80s and 90s, even in the Bible Belt in America, the picture of Christianity became 00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:40.940 like Ned Flanders from The Simpsons. And I spent so much of my time trying to demonstrate that I'm not 00:12:40.940 --> 00:12:48.000 like that. Trying to demonstrate that I was in fact cool and I shouldn't be ostracized because I'm not 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:55.800 a certain way or don't do certain things. And I might even try to be in one of those situations where I'm 00:12:55.800 --> 00:13:01.300 feeling that tension and even try to soften that tension. Something like, well, I don't party because 00:13:01.299 --> 00:13:08.199 I'm so focused on being an athlete. Even being afraid to admit that it was because of my Christian 00:13:08.199 --> 00:13:14.019 convictions that I might not do the things that my friends were doing. I was trying to say, let me prove 00:13:14.019 --> 00:13:21.159 to you that I'm not that different. And that's a temptation in our lives. But we are called, as God's 00:13:21.159 --> 00:13:27.719 people, living by faith to understand that we are resident aliens. So in some ways, we're just going to be 00:13:27.720 --> 00:13:35.420 different and maybe even would say weird in the eyes of the world. It's weird to the world for us 00:13:35.420 --> 00:13:41.700 to pursue holiness and purity and not give in to our fleshly appetites. People don't understand that. 00:13:41.740 --> 00:13:48.860 It seems weird. It seems weird to eat and drink in moderation. It seems weird that we would guard our 00:13:48.860 --> 00:13:55.440 eyes and our ears from what we see and what we hear. It's weird that we're willing to inconvenience 00:13:55.440 --> 00:14:01.780 ourselves in order for others to have what they need. It's weird that we would give a considerable 00:14:01.780 --> 00:14:08.640 percentage of our income to the church and the mission of God out of joy and not out of trying to 00:14:08.640 --> 00:14:15.560 earn God's favor or trying to ease our consciences or anything. We're just going to stand out sometimes 00:14:15.560 --> 00:14:24.820 and we have to be okay with that. Now, many of us can try not to stand out from those around us or we 00:14:24.820 --> 00:14:29.100 might do the opposite and create our own little subcultures so that we're separate from the world, 00:14:29.100 --> 00:14:35.960 but we need to let the gospel and the obedience to Christ make us unusual and maybe even a little 00:14:35.960 --> 00:14:41.800 weird, not like a lack of self-awareness or a desire to stay comfortable in a certain subculture, 00:14:42.460 --> 00:14:51.180 but just walking by faith, understanding who God is and what he's called us to do. So we live and love 00:14:51.179 --> 00:14:57.500 our city. We seek the peace and prosperity of the city as the Bible teaches us to, but we still 00:14:57.500 --> 00:15:03.939 acknowledge that we are foreigners and resident aliens. And that's the reality we're in if we're 00:15:03.939 --> 00:15:10.859 going to live by faith. But this passage also teaches us a little bit about the nature of faith. 00:15:10.860 --> 00:15:21.460 In verse 14, for people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been 00:15:21.460 --> 00:15:27.840 thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it 00:15:27.840 --> 00:15:36.480 is, they desire a better country that is a heavenly one. In these three verses, we see that the nature of 00:15:36.480 --> 00:15:46.120 faith is something like this, seeking, thinking, and desiring. The word here for seeking is like a word 00:15:46.120 --> 00:15:53.840 that would mean something like overly seeking, like meaning we do it with passion, we do it with focus, 00:15:54.139 --> 00:16:01.600 we do it with an intensity. It's a focused pursuit, a deliberate pursuit, something with passion. 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:07.860 Thinking about this, Kelly and I, we first moved here. King Charles was being presented the honors of 00:16:07.860 --> 00:16:14.600 Scotland, and we came up to the Royal Mile so that we could hopefully get a glance, just to get a peek 00:16:14.600 --> 00:16:22.620 of the new king. And we're actually like getting there early. We made plans around it to do that. 00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:27.120 People would be like getting in front of us and jostling, and we're trying to keep our position, 00:16:27.120 --> 00:16:32.879 you know, and Hannah Ryan at that time was a little bit smaller than she is right now, and so she's up on 00:16:32.879 --> 00:16:40.220 my shoulders. We're like stretching out, looking, seeing, doing anything that we can do to see the king. 00:16:40.560 --> 00:16:46.799 What an experience to be able to do that. And then, of course, the police changed the barricade, and a whole 00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:52.379 crowd got in front of us, and we got to see nothing. However, the pursuit is what it was about, right? 00:16:52.379 --> 00:17:00.200 We're trying to organize our day, our life, to try to see this thing. That's the idea here of seeking. 00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:10.559 We have to seek the Lord. We have to seek a homeland, it says. So that's one thing about faith, 00:17:10.640 --> 00:17:17.599 is it is about intensely seeking, intensely seeking God. The second thing, though, it says, 00:17:17.599 --> 00:17:23.779 if they had been thinking of that land from which they came. Thinking, this word here, 00:17:24.099 --> 00:17:30.599 is actually a word that means to remember or to recall. So it's looking at things in the past. It's 00:17:30.599 --> 00:17:37.879 looking back, not forward. And it says if they had been doing that, that would have been bad. That 00:17:37.879 --> 00:17:46.339 would have been wrong. Fate is actually forward-looking. It's setting our minds on things above, 00:17:46.339 --> 00:17:53.819 not on things of this earth. In this example that the author gives, it's clear that they shouldn't 00:17:53.819 --> 00:18:01.019 be looking back. And their minds, he's writing to people with a Jewish identity in this letter, 00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:06.659 and their minds may have gone a couple of things. It may have gone to the people of Israel when they 00:18:06.659 --> 00:18:11.539 were in the wilderness, and they were longing to go back to Egypt. If they would have been, 00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:15.759 they were looking back and thinking about how good they had it back then, not remembering that 00:18:15.759 --> 00:18:20.279 they were slaves, but they were thinking at least we had food and weren't going to starve like we are 00:18:20.279 --> 00:18:26.059 in this desert. They might have thought about that, thinking back to when we were in Egypt. But in the 00:18:26.059 --> 00:18:32.539 immediate context, it's talking about Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob. What would have happened 00:18:32.539 --> 00:18:40.680 had they looked back to maybe going back to Ur, maybe going back to an organized city instead of 00:18:40.680 --> 00:18:49.980 living in tents? Dwelling in the past. That's not the thing that's needed in living by faith, but faith 00:18:49.980 --> 00:18:56.220 is forward-looking. We all know what that's like to dwell in the past, like remember how much freedom 00:18:56.220 --> 00:19:03.200 we had before kids. Have you ever said anything like that? Or my son recently was talking about, 00:19:03.360 --> 00:19:09.259 oh, I remember when I lived at home and you paid for everything, right? It's that looking back and 00:19:09.259 --> 00:19:13.819 longing. I'm sitting there thinking like, son, it's not good for you as a 24-year-old to have your 00:19:13.819 --> 00:19:18.480 parents pay for everything, right? That is not a good thing to look back in that way. But many of us 00:19:18.480 --> 00:19:26.220 can focus on those losses that we're grieving instead of focusing on what lies ahead. Faith focuses 00:19:26.220 --> 00:19:33.740 forward towards the promises of God, the hope of Christ's return, that place that he's prepared for us. 00:19:33.740 --> 00:19:40.620 And that's why we have words like Paul telling us in Colossians 3 to set your mind on things above. 00:19:40.779 --> 00:19:47.039 Keep seeking the things above where Christ is, he says. Set your mind on things above, not on things 00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:54.299 of the earth. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 1 to set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to 00:19:54.299 --> 00:20:01.599 you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Even Jesus, when talking with Peter, or when talking with the 00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:07.119 disciples, he rebukes Peter because he says, you're setting your mind on the things of man instead of 00:20:07.119 --> 00:20:15.980 on the things of God. So faith is about thinking forward towards the promises of God and that future 00:20:15.980 --> 00:20:22.339 that he has promised to us. The nature of faith takes every thought captive and sets those thoughts 00:20:22.339 --> 00:20:29.019 on the things of God and the promises that he's made to us. So the nature of faith, as we see it here, 00:20:29.019 --> 00:20:35.279 is about seeking. It's about thinking. And then the next verse talks about desiring. But as it is, 00:20:35.359 --> 00:20:43.160 they desire a better country that is a heavenly one. This word desire literally means to stretch oneself 00:20:43.160 --> 00:20:50.160 out in order to touch something. It's a word picture of trying to reach up and grab something. 00:20:50.400 --> 00:20:55.079 And as I do that, as I get older, I start getting cramps in my shoulders and stuff. But it's that 00:20:55.079 --> 00:21:03.439 really, like really stretching myself to the limits in order to get that thing that I'm craving. And in 00:21:03.439 --> 00:21:11.399 fact, sometimes that word can be translated as aspiring or craving. It is a desire that has strong 00:21:11.399 --> 00:21:18.819 passion. Especially these two words, seeking and desiring here, they have an intensity to them. Passion 00:21:18.819 --> 00:21:27.539 is involved. If we're to walk by faith, our minds have to be set on these promises that God has made to 00:21:27.539 --> 00:21:33.339 us. But so do our hearts. And when the Bible talks about setting your minds, it's not just an intellectual 00:21:33.339 --> 00:21:42.700 thing. It's setting our hearts, our wills on that thing that God has promised. Banking on the promises 00:21:42.700 --> 00:21:51.279 of God. And so we have to ask ourselves a question, what is it that we seek? What is it that we think 00:21:51.279 --> 00:22:01.039 about? What is it that we desire? I often think about the song, Everybody's Working for the Weekend. 00:22:02.279 --> 00:22:09.759 That can be me sometimes. Why? Because I'm putting my hope in the ability for comfort and leisure to 00:22:09.759 --> 00:22:15.940 bring me that thing that I'm looking for. Maybe turning off, watching Netflix, something like that's 00:22:15.940 --> 00:22:21.720 going to make me feel really refreshed and fulfilled. And if you've been there, you know that is an 00:22:21.720 --> 00:22:28.400 absolute lie. It does not leave us fulfilled. What are those things that we seek? Is it financial 00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:35.980 security or wealth? Is it a relationship with someone? What are you putting your hope in? What do you seek? 00:22:35.980 --> 00:22:44.220 What do you think about and set your mind on? What do you desire? So that gives us a little bit about the 00:22:44.220 --> 00:22:51.480 nature of faith. But then also it shows us this passage, a pursuit of faith. And that is this word, 00:22:51.660 --> 00:22:58.480 we're pursuing a homeland. It's the same word in the Gospels. It's translated as hometown, 00:22:58.480 --> 00:23:06.920 town, a place where I feel grounded and centered. If you're in a foreign country, in a foreign place, 00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:15.420 they'll tell you that even if you don't necessarily feel it, there is a low-level anxiety that is on you. 00:23:15.880 --> 00:23:19.660 Maybe it is a different language and you're trying to figure that out. Maybe it's just like this 00:23:19.660 --> 00:23:26.120 unfamiliar puts this low-level stress and we start longing for those familiar things, 00:23:26.119 --> 00:23:33.979 longing to feel centered and grounded and feel at ease. And that's what this word homeland would represent. 00:23:34.859 --> 00:23:40.059 When we say home is where the heart is, we're talking about these kind of things where there is 00:23:40.059 --> 00:23:48.819 just a deep desire and passion. If you've had many conversations with me, I might reveal to you how I 00:23:48.819 --> 00:23:56.419 I love. I'm kind of a fantasy nerd. I love like this high fantasy or what's called epic fantasy. 00:23:57.099 --> 00:24:01.619 And that is a very regular theme, which Tolkien tells us that's one of the reasons why you should 00:24:01.619 --> 00:24:06.819 read fantasy is because it helps you have that longing for something better. But speaking of Tolkien, 00:24:07.339 --> 00:24:15.879 it's like the elves longing for Valinor, the undying lands beyond the sea. It's a deep longing for that 00:24:15.880 --> 00:24:24.520 which is truly my home. And it becomes a pursuit. Now, when we think about this, this absolutely 00:24:24.520 --> 00:24:30.460 doesn't mean that life here is meaningless. It doesn't mean or downplay the reality of God's 00:24:30.460 --> 00:24:38.300 kingdom coming to bear on the here and the now. But there is an already and a not yet and longing for 00:24:38.300 --> 00:24:45.260 that not yet. There is a sense in which we pursue things that are unseen, things that are eternal, 00:24:45.259 --> 00:24:51.680 that Paul tells us about in his writings. We need to understand that this is not our home. And there 00:24:51.680 --> 00:24:57.740 are some of those great gifts here that God has given us that are a shadow, but they aren't the 00:24:57.740 --> 00:25:04.000 substance. And we can't make those things the substance. I mentioned how we will long to turn 00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:12.799 off sometimes and just to do nothing. Or maybe that's just me. When we're like that, rest is a good thing. 00:25:12.799 --> 00:25:19.980 But that's the shadow. The substance is the rest that only Christ can give us. Rest is talked about 00:25:19.980 --> 00:25:28.000 in the book of Hebrews here. Maybe it's a good thing like we're longing to cuddle up with your 00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:34.119 significant other, your husband or wife. Or maybe it's that pursuit of Mr. or Mrs. Wright as we would 00:25:34.119 --> 00:25:41.659 talk about it. These are good godly longings. However, the deeper longing is a relationship with our 00:25:41.660 --> 00:25:50.019 heavenly groom who we will one day be with. Maybe we long to get that promotion or long to get a raise 00:25:50.019 --> 00:25:57.400 or long for those hours that fit perfectly into the lifestyles that we desire. The substance in that 00:25:57.400 --> 00:26:02.600 though, those are some good longings. It's okay to long to see the fruit of your labor and to see 00:26:02.600 --> 00:26:09.400 success from putting in hard work. But the substance is wanting to hear the master say, 00:26:09.400 --> 00:26:17.160 well done, good and faithful servant. We can't focus on the shadow. We must focus on the substance. 00:26:17.840 --> 00:26:27.019 Let it lead us to Christ. So the question that this passage leaves us is where are we putting our hope? 00:26:27.820 --> 00:26:31.620 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had the 00:26:31.620 --> 00:26:37.019 opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country that is a heavenly one. 00:26:37.019 --> 00:26:46.019 Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. 00:26:47.379 --> 00:26:54.859 Where do we put our hope? What thoughts go through your head throughout the week that get you through 00:26:54.859 --> 00:27:01.839 the week? What is that thing that you long for that kind of gives you that extra boost throughout the 00:27:01.839 --> 00:27:08.679 week? What do you set your mind on? What are the things that you passionately seek or passionately 00:27:08.679 --> 00:27:16.819 long for? This passage tells us that we've got to set our minds on the things above. We've got to 00:27:16.819 --> 00:27:25.839 desire the better heavenly country. Do we long for our true home with God? And again, we're talking about 00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:32.819 passion. We're talking about longing for that time where we're with God and we will be like him for we 00:27:32.819 --> 00:27:40.439 will see him as he is, where he will wipe away every tear. Death will be no more. There'll be no mourning, 00:27:40.959 --> 00:27:49.819 no crying, no pain. We will get to dwell with God himself. Do we long for that day? Do we long for 00:27:49.819 --> 00:27:56.480 that day when all will be made right? Maybe we might call it a holy discontentment with the way things are 00:27:56.480 --> 00:28:04.299 here? Do our prayers reflect that, that there is a holy discontentment, that we long to be with our 00:28:04.299 --> 00:28:14.119 Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Or are you just fine with how things are? Are you just, okay, things are great. 00:28:14.119 --> 00:28:19.939 I'm not worried about things. And if I can keep that worry down, that's all that I need to be thinking 00:28:19.939 --> 00:28:28.939 about. The writer of Hebrews actually ends his letter pointing us to Jesus and this city that 00:28:28.939 --> 00:28:36.539 he's prepared for us. We see it in chapter 13 verses 12 through 14. It says, so Jesus also suffered 00:28:36.539 --> 00:28:43.879 outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore, let us go to 00:28:43.880 --> 00:28:52.780 him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the 00:28:52.780 --> 00:29:02.540 city that is to come. Jesus was cast outside of the city so that we could gain the city that abides. 00:29:03.480 --> 00:29:10.560 Jesus endured reproach so that we could have the city that has foundations whose designer and builder 00:29:10.559 --> 00:29:18.440 is God. So we've got to fix our eyes on Jesus. We've got to be willing to go outside the camp, meaning 00:29:18.440 --> 00:29:25.879 we've got to be willing to bear the reproach, as it says here. People may find us weird in the way that 00:29:25.879 --> 00:29:33.159 we live our lives. People may think we're crazy to hope in what we hope in. I was listening to a podcast 00:29:33.159 --> 00:29:38.240 the other day and that was one of the things that they were just talking about. A guy that would call 00:29:38.240 --> 00:29:44.680 himself a former Christian who is now an atheist and just talking about almost like it's silly to have 00:29:44.680 --> 00:29:51.299 your hope in something like this. Yeah, there might be some physical or mental benefits from believing in 00:29:51.299 --> 00:29:57.440 something like that, but really is it necessary to believe in something silly like that? And the world 00:29:57.440 --> 00:30:08.640 is just not going to understand. But what are we seeking? Where is our hope? Are we seeking the city 00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:13.320 that is to come? Let's pray. 00:30:13.319 --> 00:30:25.000 Father, I often think when I'm thinking about passages like this that 00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:32.500 how Jesus said the spirit is willing and the flesh is weak. There's something in me that really does 00:30:32.500 --> 00:30:39.960 resonate with this longing of I can't wait for all things to be made right and every sad thing made 00:30:39.960 --> 00:30:49.519 untrue. But yet my flesh is weak. I still put my hope in things of this earth so many times, Father. 00:30:49.799 --> 00:30:56.640 Please help us to walk with you and fix our eyes on you in such a way that we see the promises that 00:30:56.640 --> 00:31:06.360 God has made to us through you, Jesus Christ. Father, thank you for giving us assurance. 00:31:06.359 --> 00:31:13.879 All these things that you've told us in your word will come to pass. And even when we are faithless, 00:31:13.979 --> 00:31:21.500 you are faithful. And we praise you for that. But we do pray that by your spirit, you would empower us, 00:31:21.939 --> 00:31:31.319 help us to fix our eyes on things above, help us to long for the city whose builder and architect, 00:31:31.319 --> 00:31:40.919 the foundations are secured, but you are the builder. You are the designer. Help us to long for that city 00:31:40.919 --> 00:31:47.119 and that time where we can be with you. And show us this week. Show us where we are putting our hope 00:31:47.119 --> 00:31:55.099 in things of this earth. Show us how we put our faith in things that can't handle our faith. Help us to 00:31:55.099 --> 00:32:02.480 repent of those things and fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Please help us to do 00:32:02.480 --> 00:32:09.319 that tonight, tomorrow, day by day. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.