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Hebrews 11:8-19 – People of faith experience a lot of things. At times it can seem like God isn’t taking action and that things aren’t really going anywhere.
The call this morning is to keep on. To have persevering faith. We can do this because of the promises of a faithful God.
Abraham seemed to spend a lot of his life waiting for God to work. God promised him many good things… Abraham had to, at times, continue to wait.
Promises
Perseverance in faith is possible because of the promises God has made to those who will be faithful.
What is a promise? A declaration of a future action or inaction. A promise is only as valid as the trustworthiness of the person making the promise. God is the only one who can really follow through on all of his promises.
God promised Abraham that in the future his children would receive the land that he could see. Abraham never saw the fulfillment of the promise, but he was faithful and his children did indeed inherit that land.
God also gave Abraham a spiritual promise. Indeed Abraham did become the Father of all who follow in his footsteps… we are children of Abraham as well in a spiritual sense.
God can and does forgive our sins entirely. As far as the east is from the west he can remove them.
God has promised us the Holy Spirit. A comforter to walk with us each and every step of the way.
God promised that his grace would be sufficient for us in each day.
2 Peter 1 – As believers we receive these promises in the same way that Abraham did. We receive them by faith. It is often these promises that can keep us going through life.
Obedience
Abraham obeyed God. This is a key part of persevering faithfully. Press on in obedience to the things that we already know God is asking us to do.
As we step out in obedience we start to realize more of who God is. And it makes obedience a thing that is not just a duty but something that we are happy and willing to do.
Faith in God is validated by action. Abraham didn’t start another Bible Study. He packed up his camels and set off. James tells us that this is a key concept for those who indeed have faith.
Abraham’s faith was immediate, active and submissive to what God was asking of him.
Patience
Job was an incredibly patient man. Abraham was also a very patient man.
- Abraham waited.
- Abraham struggled.
- God’s purposes are not accomplished overnight.
Lamentations 3:19 – The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. The faithfulness of the Lord is great. Much greater than anything we know.
We have a need of patience in our faith. It is a long hard race, this life.
Pilgrimage
This is the practical part of practicing perseverance in our faith today.
It is so easy to forget that we are not at home yet. Sure, we have a place to go at night. We have land to live on and to work, we have jobs, we have things that we are a part of… but we are not home yet. We are pilgrims here.
A soul that is longing for home is something that we should have as we continue here on this earth. We are citizens of another country.
- Abraham had a tent. Nothing too expensive or substantial. We can invest too much in our place of abode. Our tent can be functional, useful and nice… but it doesn’t need to be a castle. This is a principle of pilgrimage.
- The Altar. Wherever Abraham went he would build an altar. Wherever we are we need to set up our worship. It needs to be a priority.
- The view. Abraham looked at the stars. We need to keep in mind such a view of life, and the promises of God as well.
As we walk we need to keep our focus and our view on the future. On the goal that we have. The goal of the promises of God.