Well, if we turn again, please, to Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11. In our series here on different characters, we've been working our way from the beginning, really, from Adam to Abel. We looked at Enoch. We looked at Hagar. Last time we looked at Melchizedek. how great this man was to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a 10th of the spoils. And this evening we would like to look at the patriarch Abraham himself. And we'll do so through this lens in Hebrews 11, eight through 16. You do notice that in Hebrews 11, when you come to Abraham, there's more time, there's more attention given to Abraham than those who have gone before. Some of those who went before had the space of one verse, but when we come to Abraham, it's a lot longer. And really, that should not be a surprise when you consider how how centrally Abraham figures in the Bible and into the New Testament too. So much is said about Abraham, the father of the faithful. What's interesting here in Hebrews 11, I think, is that you see Abraham and you see his faith at, as it were, crisis moments in his life. There's the leaving of his home in Ur of the Chaldees. There's the birth of Isaac when he is too old and his wife Sarah is too old, and in the verses that come after our text, there's the offering up of Isaac, the child of promise. But isn't that where faith is often, if not especially, most clearly seen? in the crisis moments as it were, in the times when it is tested. And for Abraham and for us too, these times that call us to faith, call us to look like Abraham did and like all these saints of the past did, as chapter 12 will tell us, it encourages us to look to Jesus. the author and the finisher of faith. Well, we want to consider here this evening just some lessons from this part of the revelation concerning Abraham and his faith. And we'll notice firstly here that the obedience that is in faith, the obedience of faith, We see here that the Lord has called Abraham to leave his country. There is this divine call that comes to Abraham. Well, children, who is Abraham? Abraham lives in Ur of the Chaldees in modern day Babylon or Iraq. And this at the time is a wicked city. It's a city that's full of idols. It's a city where the God of the Bible, the true God is not known, far less worshiped. You can remember when Joshua speaks as they cross over the Jordan years later. Joshua says in chapter 24 verse two, Joshua says to all the people, "'Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, "'your fathers dwelt on the other side "'of the flood in old time. "'Even Terah, the father of Abraham, "'and the father of Nacar," now listen to this, "'and they served other gods. "'That's where the Lord found Abraham. in idolatry, serving, worshiping other gods. And so when we come to look at Abraham here, Abraham highlights for us the free and the sovereign and the powerful grace of God. It was not Abraham who sought God. It was God who found and sought and called Abraham. Abraham is an idolater. There's nothing special about Abraham. He at this time is not a man of faith in Ur of the Chaldees when the Lord comes to him. But God does come. And God calls him powerfully by his spirit Not because of anything in Abraham. Not because Abraham seeks God, but only of grace. And that, dear friends, is the only reason that God ever saves any sinner. Here's Abraham, worshiping other gods, and as we read in the New Testament, the God of glory. appeared to Abraham. The God of glory appeared to Abraham. The God of glory said to Abraham, Abraham, Abraham, get out of this place. Leave this place. Leave it all behind. And really the testimony of every believer is that. Why do they come to have faith in the Lord Jesus, faith towards God and repentance towards God and faith in Jesus Christ? Why do they leave the world? Why do they begin this pilgrimage towards Zion? Because the God of glory appeared and the God of glory called. And you notice that when that powerful effectual call comes to Abraham, in Ur of the Chaldees, Abram obeys, because a willing people in thy day of power shall come to thee. And dear friends, there is no faith where there is no obedience. James makes that very clear. But here, God calls powerfully, and Abraham obeyed. That's what verse eight says. When he was called to go out into a place, which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed. When he was called, he obeyed, not knowing whether he went. Now that's really, certainly from the world's perspective, but we have to say it is remarkable And faith is such a wonderful thing. Here's this man in Ur of the Chaldees, and he knows everything about the place that he is leaving. He knows where his children can have a good education. He knows where the prospects are for him. He knows the people. He has relations. He understands the culture. He's settled here. He has family here. He has societal relations here. Humanly speaking, he's made here. He knows everything about this place. And he knows nothing. about the place where he's going. He knows absolutely nothing about it. Who they are, what their culture is like, what their language is like, the prospects for him and his work and his children, he knows nothing about that. All he does know about the place where he is going is this. This is the place. that God has told me to go, he has called me to. And though he knows everything about this place, and though he knows nothing except this is the calling of the Lord here, when he knows the calling of the Lord here, he obeys and he does so willingly and he desires nothing more than to go to that place. That faith is the gift of God, and what a wonderful thing faith is. And dear friends, this evening in the gospel, if you are here this evening or you are listening in, and you are still in Ur of the Chaldees spiritually, You're living in the city of destruction. You have your own idols and your own things that you are doing, and this is where the gospel is. Then the God of glory in his word is saying to you this evening, get out. Leave this place. Thou must forget thy father's house, and people that are thine, and then of the king, desired shall be your beauty vehemently. Because he is thy Lord, do thou him worship reverently. Psalm 45. And is it not the testimony of many of you here that you have stepped out, as it were, not knowing where you are going. In many ways, that's what happens when the Spirit comes and effectually calls a person. They step into a new direction, and they don't know the future, in terms at least of the details. They're leaving, as it were, the known behind, and they're going into this new direction. But if it's the God of glory who has appeared, and the God of glory who has called, then oh, to obey his voice is the most glorious thing. To say with the psalmist in Psalm 39, oh Lord, I am a stranger with thee. That makes the difference, doesn't it? It's not just I am a stranger, but I am a stranger with thee. as all my fathers were. Suddenly you come into not just your natural fathers, but spiritual fathers, these fathers, Father Abraham, and all the faithful. I am a stranger in this world with God, with thee, as all my fathers were. This is the obedience of faith. But if you look at verse 11 and 12, we see here secondly, the trust of faith. The trust of faith. Now these things of course are all interrelated. We're not necessarily giving a chronology, an order of time here, but we do see here trust that's in faith. Through faith, Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed. and was delivered of a child when she was past age because she judged him faithful who had promised. What did God promise? God promised two things at least. He promised land, a place, and he promised seed. And again, in our character studies, we can go back to the beginning. We've seen this right from the beginning, the seed of the woman. will crush the head of the serpent. There's this theme, this theology that runs all the way from Genesis 3.15, all the way to heaven itself. And she has been promised seed. And this then is, in that light, this is no ordinary promise. Of course, it's true that to have children naturally is a wonderful thing, and there's nothing ordinary about that, but here, this is more than simply saying you will have children. This is saying you will have seed. That's why it's actually, just by the way, it's important to maintain the words that the Bible actually uses. It would be a big mistake to speak here of conceiving children. And then you come to the New Testament and you read seed and you don't make the connection. Seed, there's a reason, there's a theology behind this. And if you would go to Galatians 3 verse eight, you would suddenly see there, and you can turn there, you suddenly see there what this is, what this promise is. That this promise that's given to Abraham and to Sarah is what Paul describes to the Galatians as the preaching of the gospel. The scripture we read there, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached the gospel unto Abraham saying. What's the gospel? If you would go to Abraham and preach him the gospel as you understand it, what would you say? This is the gospel, Paul tells us. In thee shall all nations be blessed, in thy seed. Kings will come out of you, God had said to him. in Genesis 12 and 17, nations will be blessed. And it's pointing us then, not just to kings like David and Josiah, although that's true, but it's pointing us to the king himself, the Lord Jesus, who is, as Galatians also tells us, the seed, the seed of the woman, the one through whom the nations would be blessed. Well, what a promise this is to such an old man with a senior wife. And God had, remember in Genesis 12, he had taken Abraham outside and he had said, lift up your eyes and try to count the number of the stars. Have you ever tried that? You know, when you try to count the stars on a clear night, the more your eyes become acclimated to the darkness, the more stars you see. And so it becomes an impossibility. Try to count them, but that's the idea, you can't count them, there's so many. The sand of the sea, you can't count it, it's so much. And he says, that's your seed. It's not just gonna be one or two. It's not a small blessing. It's not a little thing. It's a great blessing that is being promised to you here. It is tremendous blessing. They're going to come from the north and the south, the east and the west, and they're gonna sit down with Abram, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God. And Galatians tells us again, 329, if you are Christ's, Then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. But there's this problem here. It's a big problem. Abraham's so old. And Sarah's old and Sarah's barren. And Abraham asks God in Genesis 17, 17, shall a child be born unto him that is 100 years old? And shall Sarah that is 90 years old bear? Verse 12 in our chapter here in Hebrews 11 tells us that his body is as good as dead. But you see, faith not only obeys, but faith trusts God. Faith, though weak in itself, lays hold of God. And with God, as our Savior told us, all things are possible. Faith trusts God then, even when humanly speaking, everything seems impossible. And so while the world would look at Abraham and Sarah, an unbelief would do the same and say, it's impossible. They are incapable of bearing children. Yet Abraham, by faith, does not count his body as dead. And God counts it to Him for righteousness. Laying hold of God by faith, and God in His abundant grace counts it to Him as righteousness. And verse 11 then says of Sarah, she judges Him faithful. Nothing, nothing else to hold onto but this, the faithfulness of God. And she, when she does that, you notice, receives strength. There wasn't, we would say, any strength in Sarah. It wasn't the strength of her faith, but the faith she had received strength because of the one she judged faithful, and she received strength to conceive seed. And verse 12 gloriously tells us, therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many. just what the promise said, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude and as the sand by the seashore, innumerable. Well, this is a reminder that God opens and closes the womb, and children are the heritage of the Lord, and the womb's gift is his reward. And we can pray for these things, and we can seek the Lord for these things, and ask the Lord for these things. These are blessings from his hand. And no doubt there are many things you may You may be required to do and you are. And the Lord in his word asks us to do things and we say, how is this possible? We're called to live a life of holiness without which no man sees God. And we say how is that possible when I look at myself and all I see in myself is him who is as good as dead. No strength, no, nothing in me. And so many things that we're called to do that we would say impossible. But dear friends, when God calls, when the God of glory calls, he appears, and he gives, and faith with its empty hand holds God and his promise, and thereby receives strength. And as was quoted recently, Augustine's great prayer, Lord, then, command what thou wilt, but give what thou commandest. So there's this wonderful trust in faith. But here in 13 and 14 then we have this confession, this confession of faith. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off and were persuaded of them and embraced them and confessed. that they were strangers and pilgrims in the world, for they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. Now, here we, the focus has gone back onto all those who died in faith. Those, and just when I read that, what a glorious and wonderful description, to die in faith. Really, there are two ways to die. Jesus says, if you believe not, if you don't have faith, if you believe not that I am he, you will die in your sins. And I can't think of a more awful description than that, to die in your sins. But here, there's this description. These all died, not in their sins, but in faith. looking to, trusting in, looking to the Christ who was promised. And again, it's remarkable because we're told here that they did not receive the promises, the fulfillment of what was promised. Abraham didn't see the seed in flesh. He didn't see the kings that came out of him in the flesh, and the patriarchs, the fathers in the Old Testament, they did not receive the promises, but immediately we're told of those who did not receive the promises, we're told that not only were they persuaded of them, persuaded of something they did not see with their eyes, persuaded, assured of something that had not come to accomplishment as yet, and yet they were not just hopeful in some kind of way that we would speak of being hopeful, they were persuaded of them. And not only that, but they embraced them. They took hold of them. And the question, children, then is this, how do you embrace something you did not receive? How can you lay hold of something that's not there to receive? The answer is by faith. Faith, this chapter told us at the beginning, is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. By faith, they see them afar off and they embrace them, and faith lays hold of it as reality. What a wonderful thing faith is. And think again of Abraham. What did Abraham lay hold of and embrace and was persuaded of? Well, John 8, 56, your father, Abraham, he never walked this world when I was here. But Jesus says, your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was glad. By faith, Abraham sees the seed of the woman himself. By faith, he sees the one who would come out of his loins Abraham sees the one of whom it is said, or the one who said, before Abraham was, I am. He sees the one who came in obedience to the call of his father. Not from Ur of the Chaldees, but from heavenly glory, the glory I had with thee before the world was, daily his delight, rejoicing always before him. And my delights were with the sons of men, coming from that heavenly glory. And unlike Abraham, Abraham who went out not knowing where he went, Christ went out knowing where he went, knowing fully where he was coming from, the glory of his Father's immediate presence and love and enjoyment and glory. And knowing where he went fully. Whenever you read of Christ coming into the world, you cannot but have this clear impression, he knows why he's here. I must be about my father's business. From that time he set his face to go to Jerusalem. I have a baptism to be baptized of and how I am straightened until it is accomplished. He knew where he was going. And knowing where he was going. Sometimes if we knew where we were going, if we knew into the future, we would run away. But Christ knew where he was going and he ran to it. Yes, even to the very death of the cross. Why? So that he would save a number that no man can number. A number of sinners that would be like the stars of the sky for multitude and the sand of the seashore, innumerable. And he would die. in the land of promise, in the land that was promised to Abraham, but outside the city gate, this one would die. Abraham sees this by faith, and he's glad. Abraham sees this one who obeys and trusts God in the days of his flesh. This one who came, who suffered, who died, who was buried, who rose again from the dead, who ascended to heaven again. Why? To prepare heavenly mansions for a number that no man can number. To build a glorious city. to build a better country, to build a heavenly Jerusalem, to build a city that would have foundations for his pilgrim people, a city whose builder, that has foundations whose builder and maker is God. The goal, he says, to prepare a place for you. Abraham sees it by faith. It's as real to Abraham as Sarah beside him. Indeed, it's more real. Faith lays hold on things that are real, the substance of things hoped for, the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And this sight by faith, gives Abraham, gives the fathers, and gives you, Christian friend here, it gives you a confession. It's a confession that says, we are pilgrims. This is not our home. We declare plainly, the clearer this sight by faith of Christ and all He has done and all He is doing for His people, the clearer by faith that comes into focus, the more plain the confession. We declare plainly, there's no doubt or dubiety about it. and we declare plainly that our lives are not bound up with the here and now. Isn't that the struggle of the believer that so often we feel our lives are bound with the here and now and the word of God is calling us continually to lift our eyes up and to look up, set your affections and things above where Christ is. But that becomes more and more the plain declaration. They that say such things declare plainly. Do you have that confession this evening, dear friend? Is this the confession that our children see and our friends see that they would look at us and say, it's plain, it's clear, it's unavoidable. We seek this country that is to come. We have no desire to go back to Ur of the Chaldees, back to the idols. Oh, we feel the tug, but we hate the tug. And we desire to cut that tug at the cross of Calvary and say, what have I to do anymore with idols? Will ye also go away? Go back if you can. Go back to Ur if you can. But faith will say, I can't go back. While I feel that tug so often, the old ways, the old habits, the old lusts, the old pleasures, never, no, I can't go back there. Faith must go forward. Look at verse 15. If they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, They might have had opportunity to have returned. If they had a mind to go back, if they had desires to go back, you'd find a way to go back. But like Ruth, Orpah was mindful of Moab, and she found a way to go back. Ruth had no mind to go back. If she had been mindful of that place where she came, she would have had opportunity. She'd have found a way of going back. But those of faith, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now, verse 16, they desire a better country. Their mind isn't there. Their mind has gone to another country, another place, another direction, heaven itself. They set your affection, your mind on heavenly things. So what have I to do anymore with idols, this confession says. And the person, as we said, making this confession will often feel the tug back. It's a warfare, it's a fight, it's a pilgrimage. Paul is saying, oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I want to go this direction and I feel this weight of sin, this old man that's on my back. Oh, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me? But you see where his mind went. Who will deliver me? because I have no mind to go back there. And so who will deliver me, he says. And I thank God through Jesus Christ, that's where his mind was. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, the one through whom we've received the atonement. So we will not go back, says the psalmist in Psalm 80. And we won't go back from thee. Quicken us, give us life, and we will call upon thy name. They long for heaven. We long to have Christ, to be with him. More Christ, more fellowship, more conformity to the image of Christ. That city that has no need of the sun to shine on it. That city where the gates will never be shut. No fear of any danger there. That city that has no need of the sun or the moon to shine on it because the lamb is the light of it. That city that sometimes you can only describe in negatives because the glory of it would dazzle us so much that we couldn't see it. But we can hold it and see it by faith. But you think of the negatives. No Satan. No temptation. No weariness. No heaviness of heart. No sluggishness of mind. No sighing. No more tears. No more evil heart of unbelief. No more soul that cleaves to the dust. No more going back. No more tug. to Ur of the Chaldees. And you see the great company that's there. Some who have gone from us and have made it to that city now. They're there with the holy angels. They're there with the spirits of just men made perfect, singing the praises of the king of that city forever and forever, dressed in beauty not their own. The beauty of the king. Oh yes, they look like the king in that city. They look like the king. They shall walk with me in white, Jesus says. For they are worthy. They speak like the king. They have fellowship with the king. They love the king. Heaven is a world of perfect love. And I hear the God of this people. I hear the king of that city saying, I am not ashamed to call them brethren. I am not ashamed to be called their God. That was the promise to Abraham, I will be God to you. And we're ashamed of ourselves. But God is saying in Christ, I am not ashamed to be called their God, for I have prepared for them a city. Think of that great promise that was given to Abraham. After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision saying, fear not Abram, I am the shield and I am the exceeding great reward. Well, dear friends, is this our confession? Is this our trust? Is this our faith? Have we had a sight by faith of the glory of the one who we look back to, the one Abraham looked forward to? but really the one we need to look up to now because he's on the throne of heaven itself. And we don't see him with our eyes, but by faith. Though we haven't received the sight of him as the promise is with our eyes, yet by faith we can be persuaded and embrace him. And when you have him, you have everything. Well, let us then be those by faith who declare plainly that we seek a better country with Father Abraham and all the faithful. Amen. May the Lord bless His word. Let us pray.