Hebrews ch. 11, part 2 A heavenly hope. I feel like travelling on.

(I have decided to continue this study that I am giving at the church house via my blogspot, Godspattern )

Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees and looks to God alone.
Laughs at impossibilities and cries; IT SHALL BE DONE!
I FIRST HEARD THIS CHORUS in 1952 in a little town just northwest of Toronto. It was in a little Baptist church, the building itself was a rented Orange hall that the congregation was using while they were waiting to build a new place.
That was where I first accepted Jesus as my own personal Savior. It was Jan. 27 or 28, I can’t remember the exact date but I remember being under tremendous conviction of sin, night after night. They had an evangelist there from Grand Rapids Michigan and he was holding a two week evangelistic campaign; he was preaching from the book of the Revelation, had all the charts and this little boy from Campobello Island knew he was lost and needed a Savior but was too timid to raise his hand or go to the altar. One Saturday night, the last Saturday night of the campaign, the pastor of that church was waiting at the door to greet everyone and he asked me if I wanted to accept Jesus as my Savior. I thank God for that pastor’s obedience, he led me to the Lord that night and though there have been times I’ve been unfaithful, He has kept me through the years and I am living by faith tonight in the finished work of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. No doubt there are many who can tell of a similar experience in your own life. Here is an opportunity to testify; perhaps a couple or more…

My heavenly home is bright and fair and I feel like travelling on. Brother Clifford Crabtree, another great man of God used to sing a little chorus that said “I remember the time and I can take you to the place, where God saved me by His saving grace, But I can’t tell you how and I can’t tell you why, but I’ll tell you all about it in the by and by…

Faithful Abraham. Look at Hebrews 11:8-16. “By faith Abraham obeyed…” The two go together don’t they? I’m speaking of faith and obedience…by obedience we declare our faith. Last time we met in this setting, I said that there is a practical side of faith and that would be acting on His Word in obedience. James says “faith without works is dead. Abraham demonstrated by his life that his trust, his faith was in his God.
By faith he waited for that city which has foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God. Waiting on the LORD…they that wait on the LORD shall renew their strength…Isa.ch. 40 vs. 31
God made a promise to Abraham. He said in Gen,,.12:1-…well let’s read it Stop at verse 7 for a while. It says that the LORD had appeared to him. Perhaps a little review of Abraham’s life is in order at this point.
Abraham was called of God as we just read it there in this 12th. Chapter of Genesis. He was to become the leader of a great spiritual host more than could be numbered. He obeyed the call and as a result became that leader of a people who are still looking for a city whose builder and maker is God.
Most of the important events connected with his life are seen throughout his journeys. He was brought up in a place called Ur of the Chaldees and God called him to leave there, as we read in ch. 12 but we need to back up to the previous chapter and read the story starting at verse 27. So we see that Abraham’s father Terah died there in Haran. That would have been no doubt a major blow to Abraham, he was called Abram at this point in his life, …the loss of a loved one can be a devastating thing…but life goes on and you or I have to go on. Amen?
So Abram journeyed from Haran to Shechem. And God appeared to him. He built an altar at Shechem, ch 12:4,7 Shechem means a part or portion and Haran means “grace.”
From Shechem, Abram journeyed to Bethel which means “house of God” ch 12 verse no.8. There he built an altar unto God and “called upon the name of the LORD.” Abram was a man of prayer. It is what we do today , don’t we? We come in to the house of God and call upon His name only we don’t have to be in this house to call on God because wherever we are is where the house of God is . He dwells in us, amen? And wherever we are we can call upon Him. Just like Abraham did.
The next move was down to Egypt. There is never a good feeling when the Bible talks about going down to Egypt. I could list the many times when people of God have gone down to Egypt and only in a few exceptions did it turn out for good. Read it in ch. 12 verses 9-11. It was there in Egypt that he denied Sarah being his wife, verses 11-13. When you think of the consequences that could have come out of that stupid decision had it not been that God had His hand on His life….but then we make foolish and rash choices don’t we? And God comes along and saves our bacon? He bails us out? That is what He did for Abraham. Do we cast off our children just because they make a mistake every now and then? Is God any less merciful than we are? No, but He is manifold wiser
It was no doubt while in Egypt that Sarah acquired her handmaid Hagar and look at the results of that decision. Israel is still paying for that choice today.

He returned to Bethel and again called on the name of the LORD. That’s found in ch.13: 1-4. From Bethel he went to Hebron. Hebron means society or friendship. We need fellowship don’t we? It is not good being alone, we need one another. Again in Hebron he built an altar unto his God. Ch. 13 vs. 18 Abram spent a lot of time building altars. Do you think that had something to do with his spiritual success? I know it does today; if we make an altar in our hearts, God will meet us there, amen? That song we sing says it, “Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary” So we need to prepare our hearts to build an altar there. We need to find a place of prayer wherever we are. We need to nurture the desire for the presence of God. You can’t ride on your parent’s faith or your husband or your wife; you have to seek God for yourself… Pastor preached on being desperate for God. It was a masterful sermon. I love good preaching. And we will lose out if we are not desparate for God. How we need to return as a body to holiness living if we are going to be effective as a church. I need to, we all need to live holy, amen?

The next move was from Hebron to Damascus., you would have to go through Damascus to get to Canaan. Damascus is the oldest city on earth. Did you know that? It was and still is, or so I’m told, an impressive city to behold, though I’ve never been there. Sometimes you have to take the word of others. It was a beautiful city; legend says that when Mohammed first entered the city that he stood in awe at the wonderful scene before him and decided not to enter it because he said “man can have but one paradise and mine is fixed above”. So it must have been a beautiful place. And it still is today, or so I am told.
And Abraham might have been mindful to live there but he had his mind fixed on that continuing city whose Builder and Maker is God….read it again in verses 9 & 10.Hebrews 11….. He could find no permanent dwelling because he was looking for a city that has foundation and the Architect is God. And he believed God, amen? Are you looking for that same city? The old hymn says “that city where the Lamb is the Light…” “I’ve a mansion over there and when free from toil and care I am going where the Lamb is the LIGHT.” Let’s not hold to this world too tightly. Let’s pray for loved ones to make it…let’s be that witness to them through our lives. Pray that they will have a hunger for God and heaven. When all else fails…pray. Pray without ceasing. Pray for the lost of this world, pray for India, China, Africa, Saint John…pray for all men everywhere. Pray for an outpouring of the Spirit. Abraham was a man of prayer; he knew just how to build an altar.
I have just mentioned a few places in Abraham’s journeys but what is important here for us to see is his faith. Turn to the book of Romans ch.4 verses 1-5.
“What shall we say then our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found ?
2/ For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. 3/ For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness.” Let me pause right here and ask a question. If that made Abraham a righteous man, is this not the same requirement today? The answer lies in the next two verses: “ 4/Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5/But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Amen, amen, amen! What a glorious revelation of truth…faith counts for righteousness…nothing else will do! Nothing less will do.
I am going to quote those last two verses, 4 & 5 from an earlier paraphrase of the living Bible because it says it very clearly, “ But didn’t he(speaking of Abraham) earn his right to heaven by all the good things he did? No, for being saved is a gift; if a person could earn it by being good, then it wouldn’t be free----
But it is! It is given to those who do not work for it. For God declares sinners to be good in His sight if they have faith in Christ to save them from God’s wrath.”

I think this is the hardest part for us as human beings to grasp and we try to understand it all with our human intellect and it just doesn’t work. We still have to try and earn it and it just doesn’t work! It is all through the blood of Christ; it is only through His sacrifice on the cross and there is absolutely nothing that we can do except believe it…except receive it…it is free! By faith Abraham…
There are so many examples here in the book of Hebrews of people of faith
And in the 13th. Verse of Hebrews 11, it tells us “These all died in faith…” not having received the promises,” but”…there’s that word again…”but” having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Vs. 14 “For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.” Read verses 15 & 16 also. The last portion of verse again “Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for He hath prepared for them a city.” He has prepared for us a city, Hallelujah! There is so much here in this chapter and what a tragedy it is when some modern day prophets turn this chapter into a manual for success meaning financial prosperity. This is all about faith in the finished work of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ! I wish that I could do it justice, I’m talking about my teaching here but just read it over and over and over again until it gets down in your spirit and in your soul and you will receive whatever you need because having said what I have just said about the prosperity thing, I still believe that the just shall LIVE by faith! Both spiritually and physically; I hope I haven’t confused anyone. To be continued…tomorrow