Faith Prepares a Home
Notes
Transcript
These all:
Abel
Enoch
Noah
Abraham
Sarah
Isaac
Jacob
From the beginning of mankind with Adam, there has always been a generation whose faith is placed in the Lord
Each of these generations have died, but they died in faith
Faith:
Hope
There is something or someone better, fairer, or greater
Football - coach - tried to train me as he hoped I could be the next - next Wayne Rooney or David Beckham
It is evidence that recognise the depravity of what is around us, and validates our desire for an answer to the depravity
Belief
Receiving what is being promised and adopting it as my own
Mrs. Furiatti - She said I could have a nice singing voice - but I did not believe her
Belief is receiving the promise and making it our own
These 2 working together like petrol and air in a motor bring one to act upon the hope and belief
The action of hope and belief is faith
Faith sees home
Faith sees home
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 on the earth.
Purchasing property to build a house - People cannot see what you see on this property
God gave these dear people a promise - I will fulfill my promise of redemption and restoration
God gave Abraham and Sarah a promise:
Gen 12:2
And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Gen 15:4-6
And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
God promised to make a great nation from Abraham and to give him a land that flowed with milk and honey
Others could not see this promise
Abraham and Sarah had one son that was in line of the promise
A great nation from 1 son?
Abraham did not see the 12 sons of Israel. He did not see the fulfillment of the promised land come to his family.
Even though others could not see it, Abraham hoped and believed the promise
His faith in the Lord’s promise was:
Persuaded - convinced
Embraced - greeted - a welcome embrace
Confessed - Declared with authority
Gen 23:4
I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.
This affected their actions
Strangers - they did not put down roots where they where - they recognised that all of what they had was a temporary thing
Pilgrims - they were bound for a land that God was preparing for them
The Hebrews in this first century must have been challenged by this as their roots where now being implored to transition into something greater than land, but rather an eternal promise that would never be taken away!
As Christians, we too, can take comfort that what God has graciously allowed us to be steward over here on this earth is just temporary! God’s promises through our response in faith take us to a place that eternally is holy, just, and established.
Agnostics and atheists, the best they can hope for is what is now. Eternity without faith in God’s promise, Jesus Christ, leads to eternal condemnation and destruction - eternal death.
Have you ever built something out of legos, and as you neared your masterpiece, suddenly it all come tumbling down?
All that you worked for, all that time, all that effort - destroyed before your very eyes
Without God, in Hell, is a place of eternal destruction. Eternal fire consumes and destroy for ever and ever.
Faith travels home
Faith travels home
For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
The testimony of these people declared plainly/clearly that they trusted in the promise of God.
Nothing was going to deter them.
Coming home to Holly - Nothing was going to deter me - I picked up the vehicle and drove and drove and drove for 12 hours straight - I could’ve stopped - I could’ve decided to see some tourist attractions, an amusement park, a zoo, but, no I was determined to get home! I wanted to be with my family. I determined that nothing was going to distract me.
There are a lot of distractions:
Sinful pleasures - you deserve to indulge in that sinful activity
Distracting pleasures - Nothing necessarily sinful about it, but it distracts us from focusing on God’s heart and plan
Hurts - Satan will use hurt to get us off of where God desires us to be
Pride - How dare you say that or treat me like that
Satan has a lot of distractions that he will use to get our eyes off of what God wants
Faith comes home
Faith comes home
But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
Faith in Jesus Christ enables a child of God to see the home that He has prepared for us.
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
Jesus prepares a place for us in Heaven
The Bible calls it a mansion - a place that is designed with us in mind
Heaven:
Physical place
The builder and maker is God
Gates of pearl
Fruitful paradise with beauty beyond comprehension
Trees
Full of animals
Many intelligent beings
Saints
Angels
Beings worshipping God - Daniel, Isaiah, and John called them beasts
Perfect love
Perfect love will govern all relationships and that law of love will not be broken
Physical bodies
We will have physical bodies
Glorified bodies - sin nature removed - All things will be new
No pain, suffering, tears
New earth
Recreated earth free from the temptation of Satan and demons
Real houses
Gardens
Hobbies
No more sickness, war, crime
God says I enjoyed the spirit and desire of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob so much that I delight in being called their God!
Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.