A Life of Fatih

Hebrews 11:8-10 A Life of Faith
Is how you are living today, any different from the way the world lives? I’ve probably asked that question before. So, let me get more specific: When your unbelieving friends observe your life, are they curious about why you’re peaceful during a crisis, or that you always seem to have a joy no matter what you are facing, or that you’re not obsessed with chasing after the things they are chasing after? Is there a stark difference between how you live and how people without Christ live? Now I believe most of us would quickly answer: “I certainly hope so.” But most of the time, we’re not even aware of how different we’re living or how walking with God has changed us.

So, let me give you some illustrations of some changes that took place in my life when I started following Jesus. The first change had to do with me mouth. Before trusting in Jesus, I had a foul mouth. But once I started following Jesus, the Holy Spirit cleaned up my mouth. A second change had to do with my relationships. Before meeting Jesus, I was very selfish and didn’t really care much for people. But once the Holy Spirit began got a hold of me, He gave me a compassion and patience with people I had never experienced before. Then came a third change: Whenever I read His Word, I wanted to obey it. I wanted to please God and do whatever He wanted. Which led me to going back to school at Western Baptist College, where I discovered this new desire to help other people trust and follow Jesus. And that changed everything. I had a new passion, a new purpose and a new joy. I wasn’t ashamed to follow Jesus, because when Jesus saved me, He changed everything about me.

In fact, once you start following Jesus, the same should happen to you. He will begin transforming you into a new person, which will transform how you live your life. You’ll want to obey His Word. He’ll change your values, how you treat people and transform your perspective on life, and you’ll start living what the Bible calls, “a life of faith.”

And that’s what we’re going to look at today from the life of Abraham. Abraham lived a life of faith, and his story is recorded for us in Hebrews 11. So, if you’ve brought your Bible with you today, let me encourage you to find Hebrews 11:8-10, we’re going to unpack three truths from Abraham’s life that show us what it looks like to live by faith today. So, let’s begin by looking at the first truth, and that is this:

1. A Life of Faith is a Call to a Life of Obedience This is how Abraham’s story begins: By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. Hebrews 11:8 Abraham was seventy-five years old, living in Ur, the land of his father’s, when God revealed Himself to Abraham and called Him to leave everything behind and begin his life of faith. So, the first thing God Word reveals to us today is that a life of faith begins when God reveals Himself to you. In Abraham’s case it was a divine visitation. For you, it may have been hearing God’s Word in Church or Sunday School or Summer Camp. Or it maybe it came from reading a Bible. For you, God may have revealed Himself to you through the faithful witness of your parents or a friend. Or perhaps God first revealed Himself to you through someone who loved you with the love of Christ. But in whatever way God first revealed Himself to you, the truth is this: God initiated the relationship. He broke into your world, and revealed Himself to you as someone you could trust. That’s what God did with Abraham. And this’s what He does with anyone who comes to faith in Him. He reveals Himself as worthy of our trust.

But God didn’t just initiate Abraham’s faith. In order for Abraham to have faith, he needed to respond to God’s revelation. So, Abraham shows us what faith requires. Abraham did leave his home, his family, his prospects for life, and went where God called him to go.

The same is true for anyone who would answer His call to faith today. God calls you to not merely to believe some facts about Jesus, but to respond to His call and follow Him. So, Abraham’s example of faith, shows us what real conversion looks like, namely, that there is a definitive change of life. Old Time Preacher, Arthur Pink says it this way: The evidence of regeneration (of a new life of faith) is found in a genuine conversion: it is that complete break from the old life, both inner and outer, which furnishes proof of the new birth… The moment a man truly realizes that he has to deal with God, there must be a radical change. As Scripture says, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: The old has gone, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17

Abraham proved his new faith by obeying God’s command. And he did so, without even know where he was going. Abraham did not have a crystal-clear path. He had no vision mapped out where he would be in five or ten or twenty years. Rather, after meeting God, and hearing God’s call, at great cost to himself, he simply obeyed and went. This is what it means to live by faith: Faith always demands decisive action and always demonstrates itself in obedience to God’s command.

Again, the same is true for anyone today. We begin the life of faith not knowing where we are going. When I first trusted Jesus and surrendered my life to His leading, I had no idea, He would lead me to go back to school at a Christian College. I had no idea He would lead me to become a youth pastor. I had no idea He would lead me to Canada to take over a struggling church plant. And I had no idea He would lead me to this desert to start this church. You see, At the beginning of our faith journey, most of us, just like Abraham, have no idea of all that will happen in and to us, all the ways He will change us, and all the things we need to give up. But we also have no idea of all the ways He intends to bless us on our journey of faith. Like us, Abraham really didn’t know what lied ahead, but he’d met God and heard his call. He believed, and by faith he obeyed and went.

Imagine what Abraham’s friends and neighbors would have thought about him. As he was packing, they would surely have asked, “Where are you going?” To this he could only reply, “I don’t know. All I know is that I’ve met God, and He’s called me to follow Him.” Imagine their response and then realize that it’s no different for you. Do people question how you live and ask you, “Why don’t you drink and party like us? Why are you throwing your life away to do what God wants you to do? Why are you so serious about God?” Like every believer since Abraham, there really are implications to following Jesus. And our answer should come without reservation, saying something like this: “I’ve met Jesus, and he’s changed everything for me. He’s called me to a new kind of life. And I’m willing to do whatever He asks of me and go wherever He wants me to go, because He saved me.”

That’s what it means to have a life of faith: Faith obeys God’s commands, simply because you’ve met God and He’s called you to follow Him, even if you don’t know where you’re going or what to expect. You simply obey God and go, because you trust in God. That’s the life of faith we see in Abraham, and it’s the same kind of faith that’s birthed in you when God changes you by His grace. You now want what God wants for your life, so you will obey His call, and begin living a life of faith.

Which leads to the next truth about a life of faith we see from Abraham, and that is this:
2. A Life of Faith is a Call to a Life of Patience By faith he made his home in the
promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. Hebrews 11:9 When Abraham finally arrived in the land of Canaan, which God had promised that he would possess; he found it was inhabited by Canaanites, an idolatrous people who did not know God. By faith he lived there, not as its owner but as a stranger “in a foreign land.” He lived as a pilgrim, a resident alien, in the very land God had promised would be his.

This is a classic example of how we are called to live out our existence in this world today. God’s Word says that we are now citizens of heaven and exiles or pilgrims in this world, and as citizens of heaven, we are called to live out our time here on earth as foreigners in reverent fear. That’s what Abraham did.

Dwelling in tents was the way of travelers and nomads. Even in Abraham’s time, tents were not considered permanent residences. Not only Abraham, but also his son and grandson, Isaac and Jacob, lived out their lives in tents. They were in the land God had promised, but they did not settle down in it. Those great patriarchs, in fact, would never possess the land, except by faith. Near as it was, it was still only a promise. Abraham never built any houses or cities. He never owned any land, except for the small plot of land he purchased to bury his wife. He lived as an alien in the land of promise.

So, living as a foreigner in the land, Abraham had to be patient. And since he was living in the land promised to him, patience must have been all the harder. Abraham waited patiently for God’s promise. And yet he never saw God’s promise fulfilled; he simply lived his life waiting. Often the hardest times for us as believers are times just like Abraham’s. Times of waiting. Waiting for unanswered prayer. Waiting to that rebellious son or daughter to come back to God. Waiting for a revival to change our country. You see, Abraham waited many years for the son of promise who was finally given. And he waited all his life for the land of promise, which was never given.

And yet, we see from Abraham’s experience that living by faith doesn’t mean you will receive God’s promises immediately or even at all in this life. This kind of patience is foreign to us today. We think if God doesn’t answer a prayer right away, then He must not be listening. Or we think if we’re experiencing an extended health crisis, or life just keeps being hard, that God’s forgotten about us. But that’s not how Abraham lived. He continually lived in a strange land believing that God would fulfill His promise. And God credited this to him as righteousness. His perseverance of faith is a great example for us. From beginning to end, the Christian life is one of faith not of sight. Philip Hughes writes: “He who begins by faith must continue by faith, for faith is the principle not only of initiation but also of perseverance. The life of faith did not cease for Abraham when he left Ur behind him or when at length, he set foot in the territory toward which he had directed his steps. Indeed, the situation into which he moved on his arrival in the land of promises was a more severe trial of his faith than was the call to leave home and kindred behind.”

This is the life of faith that we too are called to. We are called to live a life of patience while we live as foreigners in this world. We are commanded continually to live with patience because we live in a broken and lost world that is hostile to God. That is why the New Testament is full of commands to remind us of our need to live with patience:

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 1 Thessalonians 12:12 As Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” This speaks to how our faith alters our perspective. When trouble comes, we’re not to be surprised. Jesus told us we would face hardships and trials. So, when life is hard, we need to wait it out, because we trust in the one who has overcome the world.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9 Our world is quick to celebrate success and criticize the lack of success. But when we live a life of faith, we don’t measure success by the world’s standards. We stay the course. We wait on God. Because we know that God’s timetable is not like ours. So, we keep doing good, even when everyone else tells us to throw in the towel. That’s living by faith.

And finally, Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. James 5:7-8 Part of the life of patience is to live with the reality that this world is not our home, that we really are strangers and aliens here, and that Jesus will one day return. So, we live with an eternal perspective on live, patiently waiting for something far greater than what this world offers. Which leads us to the last truth we see from Abraham’s this morning:

3. A Life of Faith is a Call to life of Hope Abraham lived with patience. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. Hebrews 11:10 Imagine how many times Abraham looked out form the flaps of his tent at some city or settlement in that land. He must have yearned for those creature comforts. Like us, Abraham, would have had desires to take advantage of the good things offered in that dry and dusty land: There’s no question that he’d love to build a home with a solid foundation, to settle down, and to enjoy a live of peace and rest. I can relate to this. Have you ever been camping. Our family used to go camping once a week at Rathtrevor Beach on Vancouver Island. But one summer we decide to camp for two weeks. Well, after preparing meals over a camp stove for one week and battling the elements like rain and cold. After two weeks we couldn’t wait to get back to the comforts of our home and a good soft bed to sleep on. Yet, Abraham lived his entire life camping!

And what sustained Abraham was his faith. By faith he lifted his eyes upward, to a city far surpassing anything set before his eyes – a city with foundations – designed and built not be Canaanites, but by the Lord of heaven.

Here is an obvious comparison between the tents in which Abraham lived, the cities of Canaan with their earthly foundations, and the city to come, the City of God, with its eternal foundations. Like us, Abraham longed for the security and comforts that a city with foundations could offer him, but he chose the eternal instead. Abraham looked to what is to come, not contenting himself with the offerings of the world, not sacrificing his inheritance for things that pass away. No, Abraham’s heart was focused on the city to come. He placed his hopes there by faith in God.

What we see in Abraham was his “eternal perspective.” He considered his present life in light of his future inheritance with God. This is how our faith is meant to endure in the midst of suffering and hardship today. Hope is meant to be the focus of our faith today. God has given us so much hope in Jesus. There are no guarantees in the things of this world: loved ones will die, possessions won’t last, beauty fades, our bodies will all eventually give out. But our hope in Christ is an anchor to the soul.

Christ is our hope of glory. Jesus is our hope of salvation. From Jesus comes our hope of forgiveness. We are promised the hope of eternal life through faith in Him. And today we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Titus 2:13-14

And the good news is that God gave you this hope when you first trusted in Jesus. God’s Word says, In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Pet1:3-5

Let’s be candid. If you do not have any assurance of joy in the life to come, then it makes sense to just pursue all the pleasure you can out of this life. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” 1 Corinthians 15:32 However, as followers of Jesus Christ, we cannot place our ultimate hope in the promises and pleasures that this world offers. Like Abraham, living by faith means having an eternal perspective on life. Recognizing that this life is not all there is. Believing that there is so much more, so much better in the life that is to come. God’s Word promises us that the joys of heaven are eternal, that they are abundant and never-fading…

So then, if we set our hearts on eternity, our hope in that eternal city is not just a hope for something sure and good awaiting us in the future – No, it’s the hope in what this city represents – the promised arrival of the new Jerusalem, where the presence of God is its light, and all the pain, sorrow and tears of this life are left behind. That’s the joy that awaits us in God’s heavenly city.

And it is our faith in Jesus Christ that grants us citizenship in that city. And thousands of years ago, Abraham saw that same city even while he was a wandering tribesman in the middle of the desert. That is what faith looks like. It sees through the eyes of faith a future with God. Do you have that kind of perspective today? If you do, then the things of this world will lose their grip on you, and you will be able to live a life of faith, just like Abraham.

And when you have this eternal perspective, when you live with patience in the midst of the hardness of life, and when you continue to obey God when no one else does – your life will be different, because you will be living a life of faith that pleases God.
That’s our calling. You see If you’ve trusted in Jesus, you’ve begun a life of faith.

And your calling will mean you will live a new kind of life, that obeys God’s word, and not your passions.

And your calling will mean you will stay the course when life gets hard, because you trust in the one who has overcome the world.

And your calling will mean that you live with an eternal perspective that this world is not all there is, but the best is yet to come, because your hope is in Jesus.

So, yes, when you obey God’s Word,
when you live patiently in hardship, and
when you hold on to the hope you have in Jesus,
your life will be different.
For you will be living a life of faith, just like Abraham did.