Five and a half years ago I was at this very moment
contemplating the unknown—my life after my undergraduate degree. Knowing that I
wanted to insert myself in the ministry as soon as possible, and after having
already solidified a way to attend and pay for my masters of divinity at Liberty
University, I began to pray perhaps the boldest prayer of my life—“God, give me
a place to minister in while I attend graduate school.” After a lot of praying
and waiting on the Lord’s timing as my graduation day inched closer, I received a call to consider ministering in a
remote place in a far-away land—Crystal Spring Baptist Church in Roanoke, VA. Up
to this point in my life, the only other time I had ever been to Roanoke was to
see the Star! However, after visiting this church and preaching a trial
message, I received another call—this time to join the people here in a journey
that is still underway to this day. One marriage and two kids later, my family
is still on that journey of faith. To be sure, initially, this journey required
for my then girlfriend and I to go out on a limb and, if I’m being perfectly
honest, at times it requires plenty of patience. However, we are confident that
God’s miracles are still at hand for this wonderful place as God builds His
church.
While my journey of faith has taken me to some unforeseen places,
today’s message is all about the next inductee in the “Hall of Faith” of
Hebrews 11—Abraham. His faith journey took him to several pretty incredible
places also and, in the preacher’s estimation, Abraham’s example deserves the
kind of attention that cannot be contained in just a few verses. Therefore, let
us take a close look at three places you would have found Abraham in the later
part of his life and how he lived out his faith in Hebrews 11:8-12.
On a Limb-11:8
Our next inductee in the “Hall of Faith” of Hebrews 11 comes
as no surprise. In fact, while Abel, Enoch, and Noah are called men of faith in
Hebrews 11, even Abraham’s original account in Genesis refers to him as man of
faith and that resulting in him being called “righteous.”
Genesis 15:6-“he believed Yahweh; and he reckoned it
to him as righteousness.”
So noteworthy is this candidate for the “Hall of Faith” of
Hebrews 11 that he is given not just a couple of verses, but a couple of
paragraphs that properly delineate the life he led and the trust he placed in
the one true God. It is only proper for this installation to then begin where
Abraham’s faith-journey began, when, as verse 8 says, “he was called, obeyed by
going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance” (11:8a). Here
is how it reads from Genesis 12.
Genesis 12:1-3-“Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go forth
from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the
land which I will show you; and I will make you a great nation, and I will
bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will
bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you
all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
This invitation from the Lord was the bait that, if taken,
would send Abraham on a trajectory he could have never before imagined. Not
only that, but the Lord’s calling of Abraham satisfies perfectly the definition
of faith outlined in the beginning of Hebrews 11.
Hebrews 11:1-“now faith is the assurance of things
hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
It was every man’s hope in Abraham’s day to be the father of
a great family, and here was the invitation to see that take place ten-thousand
fold! However, this hope for Abraham required “conviction of things not seen”—i.e.
a new land, new people, new blessings, etc. Not only that, but at least for
Abraham, answering “yes” to this call would require a great deal of sacrifice.
Saying “yes” to what God requested here involved leaving his family, friends,
and familiar surroundings. Literally everything he knew would be abandoned in
order to follow the Lord’s calling on his life.
However, this is exactly what Abraham did. The text of
Hebrews 11 goes on to say that “he went out, not knowing where he was going” (11:8b).
Abraham’s faith in God was met with instantaneous obedience.
In fact, as we continue to see this story unfold, faith is always met with
obedience. One might call the two inseparable partners in the God-following
enterprise. To be sure, faith informs
obedience by telling Abraham what to do. Obedience proves Abraham’s faith when
he goes and does what has been requested. One ancient voice has said the
following of Abraham’s faith, “this is a testimony to the faith which the soul
placed in God, manifesting its gratitude not on the basis of accomplished facts
but on the basis of expectation of things to come. For the soul, utterly
dependent on good hope and considering those things which are not present to be
indubitably present already because of the trustworthiness of him who has
promised, has won as its guerdon [recompense] that perfect blessing, faith…” (Philo,
Migration of Abraham).
Abraham’s faith propelled him out on a limb of obedience,
even when he didn’t have the slightest clue where God was leading him! Abraham out
on the limb reveals that knowing who sent you is far more important than knowing
exactly where you are going.
In a Holding Pattern-11:9-10
The next scene we find Abraham in is flying overhead in a
holding pattern.
After saying “yes” to the Lord and journeying out of town,
he “lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in
tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise” (11:9). This was
hardly the nation that I imagine Abraham believed he was going to experience
firsthand! Instead of a prosperous nation of people, Abraham, even at the end
of his life, experienced the plight of a refugee in a foreign land. Not only
that, but even his son and grandson after him could hardly say that they lived
the lives of kings. For all of these, it
was the promise of God, not its realization, that kept them following after the
Lord in faithfulness.
And where were they following the Lord? –they were looking
for the great nation that God had promised in Genesis 12—“for he was looking
for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (11:10).
This verse spells out again the reason behind their endurance of faith in spite
of the slow progress being made. One commentator has said, “the commonwealth on
which his hopes were fixed was no transient commonwealth of this temporal
order. He was looking for a city of a different kind: the city with the eternal
foundations, planned and built by God” (Bruce, 292-93). Abraham knew, even in his spiritual infancy,
that the nation God had called him to father would be a different kind of place
and because of this, he was patient to await its fruition, even if it meant
this would not take place in his lifetime.
On the limb we learned that faith is obedient even when the
details are unknown. In the holding pattern we learn that faith remains
faithful even when one is required to wait.
Outside the Delivery
Room-11:11-12
The last place we see Abraham in this passage is one of the
most exciting places on earth—outside the delivery room (or delivery tent as it
were). In verse 11 the text says, “by faith, even Sarah herself received
ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life” (11:11a). Finally,
the faith of Abraham and now even Sarah was awarded with a miracle! The birth
of a long awaited child—the first step in the promised nation. Notice, that God
alone is to blame for Sarah’s conception as it says “she received the ability
to conceive.” The miracle is further emphasized by the timing as she was well
beyond her child-bearing years. All of these work to demonstrate that faith that
goes on a limb with obedience and patiently waits on the Lord is awarded with
the miraculous. Here is how Genesis tells the story:
Genesis 21:1-7-“Then the Lord took note of Sarah as
He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had promised. So Sarah conceived
and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God
had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom
Sarah born to him, Isaac…Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son
Isaac was born to him. Sarah said, ‘God has made laughter for me; everyone who
hears will laugh with me.’ And she said, ‘Who would have said to Abraham that
Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.’”
As Hebrews 11:11 continues, “she considered Him faithful who
had promised.” Her faith along with Abraham’s rendered it pleasing to God to
follow through on His promise.
Let us take a moment to remind ourselves how long this faith
has been exercised. First, Sarah had to be willing to follow her husband to a
foreign land. NO telling how long that journey took. Even after arriving, as
the years progressed with no child, Sarah became anxious and encouraged her
husband to have a child by another woman. This experience turns sour after the
child—Ishmael—is born and God, as a result, presses Sarah’s due date back even
further. Isaac is promised in Genesis 15, but he is not delivered until chapter
21! So much faith, even in the midst of a big failure, was required of Sarah
and Abraham to see a miracle and it finally paid off in a big way. There,
outside the delivery room, after years of waiting, the cries of an infant –the first
cries of a promised of a nation!
As the preacher closes this wing of Abraham’s installation
in the “Hall of Faith” he concludes by saying, “therefore there was born even
of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants as the stars
of heaven in number and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore” (11:12).
In short, Isaac’s birth, at a most improbable time in Abraham’s life (when he
was already counted out as dead without descendants), was the first inkling of
the nation God was bringing into focus—a nation that would grow and prosper in
number and in influence—a nation that would one day bless the world.
So What?
The faith witnessed by Abraham and his family (including his
wife Sarah, his son Isaac, and grandson Jacob), was willing to obey, even when
it meant going out on a limb, deciding God’s word was more important than knowing
all the details. Not only that, but their faith was willing to endure the long
holding pattern, patiently waiting to catch even a glimpse of the promise’s
fulfillment. This kind of faith eventually saw the miraculous take place—Isaac was
born and the promised nation began.
Abraham’s faith serves as an example worth following for
believers both in Hebrews’ direct audience and for us today. Is your faith in
God’s word or is it in what you can see now? Obedient faith doesn’t have to
know it all, it just has to know the one who knows it all. Is your faith
patient? Compelling faith is willing to wait on God’s timing to see what God
has in store. Such faith will eventually see miracles take place.
In Abraham’s story, Sarah’s miracle birth of Isaac points to
another miracle in the making. The birth of the nation of Israel, miraculous as
it was, is a foreshadowing of another miraculous conception—Mary’s conception
of Jesus Christ who, like Abraham, was sent to a distant land (from heaven to
planet earth). While Abraham’s child marked the beginning of a new earthly
nation, Jesus’ spiritual children were and still are populating the kingdom of
God that will one day culminate in a very real heaven. Both men were men of obedient
and patient faith that saw miracles take place—may it be said of us!
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