The Journey Of Faith

The Journey Of Faith

Abraham’s obedience to God’s call is one of those recorded in Faith’s Hall of Fame in Hebrews 11.

“By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:” Hebrews 11:8-9

For Abraham to have sojourned in the land of promise, it means he must have actually gotten there. But verse 10 records that “…he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” This indicates that he lived his life in a special way, because he was on the look-out for a city. How come he got to the land of promise, sojourned there and still looked for a city?

The Bible lets us know that Abraham was a prophet of God, and being a prophet he knew of the days of Christ to come, because the Bible says, all of God’s prophets since the world began spoke of the coming of Christ (Acts 3:21). So he had enough spiritual insight to know that God was not just referring to the land he stood upon. The Promised Land was beyond the land on which he stood and Abraham knew the difference.

In Hebrews chapter 11, we read of other men of faith who also looked forward to the promise but “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” (verse 13). This Scripture never ceases to inspire me. These men and women knew of the promise of God and they looked forward to it. They knew that whatever it was they had could not be compared to what God had in mind for them. So they were not attached to the things of this world; they looked forward to a better place. And they went further than just looking forward to it, they acted like those looking for a better place and they confessed it. They confessed they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

How many Christians live with the consciousness that they’re strangers and pilgrims on the earth, and that this present world is just a passing phase? If only the people of God will learn to live with this kind of consciousness and set their minds on spiritual things.
God knows the things we have need of ever before we ask Him. But the Lord Jesus said, “… seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). He knows that these are the things the Gentiles seek after and He also knows we have need of them. However, He wants us to set our hearts and affections on things above and not on the things of this world (Colossians 3:2). He wants us to mind His business, so He can mind our business. This is why in Psalm 115:12, the Bible says, God is mindful of us so He can bless us.

If some people are told today that they’re going to die in 5 years, they’d say, “Well, since I’ve got only 5 years, I might as well enjoy my life as much as I can for the next 5 years,”and they’ll try to get all the fun they can and leave the most vital issues of life unattended to. This is nothing but great emptiness!

Somebody once said the angels look at the world of men with wondering eyes and say, “You have many mansions in a temporary world, but in your eternal home, you have laid no stone of foundation.”

God doesn’t want His children to live like this; He wants us to focus our attention on eternal things.

The men of faith in Hebrews 11:13 all died in faith. Understand this: it is far better to die believing than to live doubting; better to die believing than to live a life full of doubt, sin and unbelief. Better to die believing than to live a wasted life, filled with all of the world’s goods. Jesus asked, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36). Nothing!

Hebrew 11:13-15: “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. 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.”

Can you see that if they had their minds on the place from where they came, they could easily have gone back? But thank God they didn’t! And today we have them as our examples.

There are people today who draw back after giving their lives to Christ. They start out being born again, and the next thing they turn around and go back to the world; in a sense they went back to Egypt. And the sad thing is that most of the time they don’t blame themselves. They would rather blame a minister who behaved in a way they did not expect or church leaders, or even some brethren in the church. These people allow themselves to be deceived of the devil into thinking they are okay and every other person is not as good. Don’t be like this. Let your mind be made up for Christ, once and for all. He is all you need and if you seek Him in His Word, you will be firmly established upon the truth.

Verse 16, 37: “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…They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;”

But all these things did not dissuade them from going after the real thing: a city prepared for them by God. And God was not ashamed to be called their God, because He had actually prepared for them a city!

These men believed they had something better in store for them; they were going somewhere. They had a country to which they had been called. What’s more? They believed it to the point they died believing it. The Bible says, they had faith and lived by faith. Listen! The reason they had faith was because they heard the Word of God, for “…faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). The Word that had been given to their father Abraham was passed down through different generations, and continued to produce an expectation in them, for that which they had not seen.

Until you hear, you cannot believe. These men had so much faith because God had spoken to them. The Word of God brings faith!