The God Of The Pilgrim

Hebrews 11 and the Pilgrim Faith

Turn with me, please, once again to the book of Hebrews, chapter 11. We continue in our study in the book of Hebrews, and we are in the faith chapter of Hebrews, chapter 11. While you are turning there, I brought with me a bulletin, and it is last Sunday's bulletin from the Evangelium's Christian Gemeinde in Hellersdorf, Berlin.

Hellersdorf is well within what would have been, back in the olden days, East Germany. And that's where I've spent, I've hardly had any, I haven't been in the western part of Berlin at all. I've only been in the east primarily.

And as you look at it, it's a little bit like ours, except it doesn't have a pretty picture on it. And it has a place for notes, not for writing to each other, but notes you're supposed to be taking at the sermon.

And it is a bilingual congregation. I preached twice, two different sermons, last Sunday morning. The first to the Russian congregation, so on the back in Russian is a place for taking notes, and then after that to the German congregation.

And I will tell you right now that we are an expressive congregation in comparison to Russians. And I will also tell you that based on personal experience, it is best not to attempt humor with Russians.

Especially when you have to translate from English into Russian to communicate the humor, not going to happen. Just not, better not do that. But the reason I brought that is they had their services nine hours ago.

There's a nine hour difference currently between us. And often when I do the Sunday morning prayer, you may have noticed that I say something along the lines of, as your son has moved across the surface of this earth, because I cannot help but realize that we're sort of toward the tail end of things when it comes to the Lord's Day.

In other words, the vast majority of believers on this planet have already met and worshipped this day. There's only a few people that are going to be eating after us. And I know some of them, the folks up in Anchorage and out in Hawaii or someplace like that.

But that's about all that's left during the course of this Lord's Day. And so it's just a reminder to me, certainly my time overseas this last trip, again, a reminder of just how we are a part of something a whole lot bigger than we normally imagine.

It is incredibly encouraging to have taught a class on something as complicated as textual criticism. I was teaching textual criticism in New Testament manuscripts and methodologies and history and critical editions of the Greek text and all the rest of that stuff in the European Biblical Training Center there in Berlin.

But my students, I only had one German student. The rest were from Poland, the Czech Republic, and a number from Ukraine. And here you have men and they are dedicated. They are sacrificing. I had one young man, a brilliant young man, sitting down front whose wife gave birth while he was traveling, actually the morning of the beginning of our class.

She had their fourth child back somewhere in the environs of Kiev. And there he was in that class and they were just so thrilled to have this kind of opportunity. And it is truly, truly an encouragement to realize when we pray, build your kingdom, build your church.

Well, it's exactly what God's been doing and he's doing that to this very day. So pray for those brothers. They don't have nearly what we have as far as physical blessings. But in many ways, sometimes they have more than we have because they're not distracted by those physical blessings.

One of the things we'll be talking about today. And so as they pray for us, we pray for them and pray toward the end. It looks like next February, I'll have the opportunity actually of teaching for them in their seminary in Kiev.

And I'm really looking, they want me to teach on church history. So I'm very much looking forward to that. Hebrews chapter 11. Some of you may have been wondering if I'm just not very good at math, which I'm not.

But because we sort of skipped a section of verses. But if you're listening carefully, I specifically acknowledge that when we looked the last time we were together at Abraham and the offering of Isaac.

And I mentioned that at that time, I felt it would be best to just cover all of Abraham at once and then go back and pick up this transitional section. Beginning of verse 13. And so that's what we will do in our studies on this Lord's Day.

Hebrews chapter 11, beginning of verse 13. All these died in faith without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, from afar off, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles or pilgrims on the earth.

For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. Indeed, if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.

But as it is, they desire a better country that is a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. Now, this was at that division point between those of the of the patriarchs who came very early on up to Abraham.

And then we're going to transition below that into Isaac and all those that come afterwards who have entered into the Holy Land itself. But at this point, the author decides to take a break and to comment upon the fact that these individuals were given promises, and yet they died without receiving the promises.

You may recall that the last time we were together, I emphasized that over and over again, the text places weight upon the fact that Abraham, even though he dwells in the land, he's a rich man. He could have built homes.

He could have bought property. He did not do so. He lived in tents. He lived as a stranger and a pilgrim, as one without a land there amongst the Canaanites. And now we have the discussion of the fact that, well, what about these people who have received these promises?

And yet they do not, it seems from at least a human perspective, receive these promises in their life. And here we're told that by faith, using the same phraseology that has been used before this, they died in faith.

That's not that they by faith died. It is that when that time in God's providence for them to leave this physical sojourn came, they died in faith. Now, for us, especially for younger people, it might be simple to pass over those words without giving them serious thought.

It is only when you begin to truly contemplate your own mortality and begin to recognize the true brevity of life that maybe these words come to have more meaning for you. I remember the first day it struck me that not only was I mortal, but that life was not all that long.

I was a young person. And I thank the Lord for that. I actually thought about things like this as a younger person. And I remember it was during the summer. And all of a sudden, one day, I remember exactly where I was.

I was standing in the gravel driveway next to 301 St. Mark's Road, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. Why can I remember that? And I can go to the grocery store and have no clue why I'm there. Why is this? I just don't get it.

But I remember which direction I was facing. I remember whose house I was facing. The Chenoweths lived there. They don't live there anymore. But I remember these things. And all of a sudden, it struck me.

This summer has gone by much faster than the last one did. And all of a sudden, I realized life's accelerating. And man, I don't know about you, but did you notice that when Brother Boyles read from the Catechism this morning, we're halfway through this year.

Didn't this year just start? Have you noticed that every year, it seems to go faster and faster? And as you begin to realize, I'm not going to be on this earth forever. You start to find out that as young people, we sort of thought, well, you know, we see all the good older folks at church and it must be easier for them.

They don't have all the lusts of the flesh to deal with. That's not true. They don't have all the distractions that we have to deal with. Sometimes they have more. In fact, sometimes that the body begins to ache and to break down and to not, there's even more difficulty in maintaining that proper witness.

And one thing I've certainly learned, what you need to be praying for, even as a young person, is, Lord, may I finish well. May I finish well, because there's almost nothing more sad than to see someone who had made a big splash in their younger days, but then they enter into their older years.

And instead of, I love the term, orthopodeo, to walk straight in accordance with the line. That's what Paul says when he talks about Peter and the others. He says they weren't walking straight in accordance with the line.

Instead of walking straight in accordance with the line of the gospel toward the high calling of Christ, they start varying. They start veering off one way or another. Sometimes they just don't walk straight anymore at all.

They turn around. Sometimes they apostatize. It's a terrible thing to see. And so when I read these words, all these died in faith, I don't for a second take that for granted. That is a wonderful thing to hear.

In other words, despite all the challenges and difficulties, God was faithful and their faith extended all the way to the end of their life. That's what saving faith really is. Sometimes we're afraid of Jesus' words, he who endures to the end shall be saved, as if somehow that violates salvation by grace through faith.

It doesn't. It's descriptive. It's describing what saving faith is, and it endures to the end. And only the faith that comes through the work of Jesus Christ, by the work and power of the Holy Spirit, endures until the end.

All these died in faith without receiving the promises. But were they foolish then? No, because it says, having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance. See, once again, these individuals knew the character of their God.

They knew the character of their God. And they knew that some promises take time to fulfill. And so, it's not that the promises were not fulfilled for them. They were actually given the ability to recognize that what they had been called to do was to start this process, to start walking down this road.

They saw them and they welcomed them from a distance, but they recognized it was not for them to build the homes in the promised land. They had a heavenly promise that had been made to them. And instead, they confessed.

They made a confession, having confessed that they were strangers, exiles, pilgrims on the earth. My question really for us today is, have we made that confession? And if we have, does anybody know about it?

Have you made the confession that you're a stranger and pilgrim on the earth? You might say, well, I don't remember writing anything. Were you given a card when we came in? Did I forget something? Was there an email sent out?

No. How had they done this? How had they confessed they were strangers and exiles on the earth? Well, it's described for us, it says, for those who say such things, make it clear they are seeking a country of their own.

And indeed, if they had been thinking of that country in which they went out, they would have had the opportunity to return. So by their life, by their acceptance of God's promises, even though they did not experience the fulfillment of it and having that land given to them right now in this world, they weren't looking for the place they came from.

Now, Abraham could have gone back to Ur of the Chaldees if that's what he was looking for. But no. Instead, but as it is, they desire a better country that is a heavenly one. They looked beyond this world.

They looked beyond this life and they were looking for a heavenly country. And that's why they could never get past being exiles and pilgrims in this world, because their heart was someplace else. Where your heart is, that's where your treasure will be, right?

And these are people whose heart was not focused upon the things of this world. So to confess that you're a stranger, that's a term that's frequently used of someone who comes in from the outside. So for example, there were a couple of times I felt like a stranger on this last trip.

It wasn't too bad, I'll have to admit. I felt a little bit more like a stranger in the Russian service than I did the rest of the time, because at least in Germany, I can ask directions, you know, I can communicate some.

And so I never really felt completely disconnected. But I've traveled other places where I did. When I went to Sao Paulo, for example, I can't figure out Portuguese at all. So there was the feeling of being a stranger, being on the outs and everyone's talking and you have no idea what they're talking about.

That's what it means to be a stranger or a pilgrim. A pilgrim, what's a pilgrim? I mean, on my way to Germany, actually, I didn't realize this was going to happen. But once I finally got to Boston after a really interesting traveling day, I ended up in Plymouth.

And at one point, going to and from the church, we drove by Plymouth Rock. I finally got to see it. We didn't stop. It was just like, no, there it goes. Which is normally how I do sightseeing anyway. So that's interesting.

OK, I've been here. Good. Mark that one down. I don't need to stop, take pictures, pose in front of it and stuff like that. But I saw Plymouth Rock where the pilgrims went. When we hear pilgrim, that's what we think of.

Funny looking hats and turkeys and Thanksgiving and Indians and corn on the cob and stuff like that. I shouldn't have mentioned food. I'm sorry. I apologize. But that's not really what a pilgrim is. And the other kind of pilgrim, though, is, well, why were they called pilgrims?

I suppose we should say, why were they called pilgrims? Because they were driven out of their land. The religious persecution, they were looking for a place of freedom where they could worship God as they felt they had to.

And you hear people going on pilgrimages. And that's where you're going to a special place normally to worship God. But you don't go and buy a home there. And normally you have to camp out or the whole idea is it's not an easy thing to do.

It's not something that's just convenient to do. I mean, we would not say that the friars go on a pilgrimage to San Diego. You know, it's not quite the same thing. They sit on the beach. Pretty nice. You know, that's not a pilgrimage.

Not really much in the way of hardships there. That's not why they're doing it. And so exiles and pilgrims on the earth, it says they made confession. Having confessed, they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

And in thinking about that, I just had to ask myself, have I made that confession? Not just as a, yes, I'm a stranger and exile on the earth. Does anybody else know that? Do the people at work know that?

When they see how I live, when they listen to how I speak, when they see how I dress, when they see how I react to things happening in the world, do they go, you're not from around here, are you? You're not from around here.

No, not in the sense of you're not from Phoenix. But do they sense that there's something, well, peculiar and strange about how I act and how I think? Or do they actually get the feeling that I am from around here and I'm quite comfortable?

I talk like the locals. I dress like the locals. I think like the locals. I tell jokes like the locals. I'm like them, invested in this world and the things of this world. Yeah, once in a while, I go do something religious, but I don't really allow it to make much of an impact on my life.

Is that the confession that we've made? I'm asking myself these questions because we cannot help but in recognizing that over the past week, those of us who hold to biblical morality were identified, quite honestly, in a majority opinion of the highest court in our land as being animated by animus and bigotry.

And if you don't think that's not going to open the doors to all sorts of further radical social engineering and the further marginalization of you and I to the point where we are looked at as being bigots, motivated by animus, then you haven't been paying attention to what's going on.

And it makes me think, how am I going to respond to that pressure when it comes upon me? And a number of times I have said, made this statement, and you may get tired of it until you fully understand it and make application of it.

But I am absolutely convinced that the only power this world has over us is that which we give it by not making this confession, that which we give it by loving the things of this world, because that's the only hook they have, is to threaten our love of our stuff, our standing, the acceptance of the world.

If we confess that we are strangers and exiles on the earth, then what we're saying is I have no love for the things of this world. I have a heavenly perspective. My home is in heaven. You mean like all those old hymns?

Well, yeah, sort of. But I'm not so much in the sense of becoming so heavenly-minded and know earthly good, but there is nothing wrong with being heavenly-minded. There is nothing wrong with being earthly-minded in the sense that where my heart is, that's where my treasure is going to be.

And these are individuals who refused to place their heart in this world, in the things of this world, the approbation of this world, the pleasures of this world, having confessed they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

That's why I ask the question, not only in your own heart, but can people around you see it's a pilgrim? He's just passing through. Or am I just so attached to all my stuff and to all the earthly things around me that I look like everybody else?

They can't see. They can't even hear. If I were to make this statement with my mouth, would they look at me and go, right, sure, whatever you say. We'll see how well that works Tuesday afternoon at work.

Reflect it in your language, grasp, mindset. Prayed that there's a lot of preaching and teaching in the church today that has become comfortable with living in a nation that has been blessed by God for decades upon end.

And it's made us familiar. It's made it possible for us to put down roots when we're supposed to be pilgrims, making progress toward the heavenly city. There are many times for those of you visiting, you may not be aware of the fact we have a slightly expanded New Testament canon.

The Pilgrim's Progress is the 28th book of the New Testament. And we just just did that one day. And in the Pilgrim's Progress, there are many times when a temptation is placed before pilgrim. Sort of stop making progress.

Turn off here, turn off there. And what happens when he turns off? Most of the time, he gets in trouble. Most of the time, he ends up in a battle or a dungeon someplace or something else. Sure, he learns from all those things, thankfully.

But there's a reason it's called Pilgrim's Progress. He's supposed to be making progress. There's a path to follow and there's effort involved in following that path. And yet, there's a lot of temptations for us to turn off and sort of rest for a little while.

Man, that path looks like it's going through a really tough spot there. It looks a lot nicer over here. We become familiar. We become comfortable with where we are in the world. These who died in faith, they confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

Whatever that means for you. And I'm preaching to myself. What that means for you, you've got to think that through. But notice what the application is. You see, they desire a better country. That's one of the reasons they don't put down roots here.

You don't buy a home in a neighborhood you already don't like. You may have a home in a neighborhood you don't like because the neighborhood's gone downhill. But if you're out looking to buy a house, you don't go to a neighborhood and go, Oh, wow, it's terrible.

Let's buy a house here. They desire a better country than this world we're in. That is a heavenly one. We can't even begin to imagine what it's going to be like. I have not seen, neither is ear heard, neither is entered into the heart of man.

Despite all the books that are published, we don't know. I don't think our language could even begin to express what is being prepared for us by our Lord. But when our heart is where he would have it to be, when our heart is not here upon this earth, but it's focused upon the heavenly realm where we already recognize we've died and our life has been hidden together with Christ and God in that heavenly place, when that's where our true treasure is found in eternal things, not in things upon this earth, then you notice what it says at the end of verse 16.

Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. Have you ever thought about this? Honestly, I don't think I'd ever really thought about it until sermon preparation this week for this text.

God is not ashamed to be called their God. What does that mean? Well, you've heard God of Abraham. You've heard about the God of Isaac. You've heard about the God of Jacob. And isn't it interesting that most often, it's not the God of Abraham or Isaac, it's God of Jacob.

And we sort of look at Jacob and go, interesting character he was. But the God of Moses, the God of Abraham, you know, we're used to hearing that. But would God be ashamed to be called your God? I had never thought of it that way.

It's one thing for me to say I am a servant of God because now I'm just one servant amongst lots of servants. I can sort of hide away that way. It's sort of like, you know, being a member of a megachurch, you know.

You know, you got 20 ,000 members coming through the doors. You know, it's a little level of anonymity there, you know, whether you're there or not. But that's not what this is talking about. Would God be ashamed to be identified as your God?

Put your name there. The God of, and put your name there. Think about at work, at school, in your neighborhood, your family. The God of me puts a whole different spin on it, doesn't it? It's one thing for me to say I am a servant of, but I am an unprofitable servant.

And even when I do everything that is required of me, I'm still an unprofitable servant. That's one thing. And there's truth in all of that. But, therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God. The God of Abraham.

I ask myself, when I look at my attitude and my life, would God be ashamed to be called my God? Notice the reason he's not ashamed, for he has prepared the city for them. They believe him. They've looked past the veil of this life.

They see what is coming. They have faith that God is going to sustain them. And he has prepared a city for them. That's the city they long for. They've accepted his promise. They've accepted his promise that that is what is prepared for them.

And, therefore, God is unashamed to be called their God. As we look at our lives, as we look at our profession, we have to ask ourselves the question, where is my heart? And only you know. I would submit to you that the people closest to you cannot discern with accuracy where your heart truly is.

Only you truly know. And this faith chapter calls us not to try to compare ourselves with others, not to try to compare ourselves with Abraham or something like that. It's not a contest. Remember, this section is meant to encourage.

And to encourage these Jewish believers to press forward, to recognize that there has always been opposition, that this has been what God has always called his people to walk through. There is nothing new here in that way.

At the same time, the kind of faith that God finds pleasing, the kind of faith that perseveres, I'm afraid, is not very much like the faith that I see in a lot of what calls itself Christianity today, where that faith teaches you to be comfortable, to put down roots and build your houses right here in this world, to make peace with this world.

We can never do that. These people were not comfortable. They were exiles. They were pilgrims. They were just passing through. They were strangers. Because this world outside of those who bow the knee to Jesus Christ, this world is at enmity with God.

And if we are at peace with God, then we can't be comfortable in the midst of warfare against him. I really think in the next few years, we're going to see just how much of what calls itself Christianity has as its first objective to be pleasing to God, or what has as its first objective to be pleasing to the world around us.

I think we're going to see that. Because the great temptation now is give in on the very article of faith that says that Jesus Christ is Lord over all. Caesar says no. Caesar says Jesus may have defined marriage this way, but now there is a greater authority.

Give in. Give in, we'll leave you alone. Little note here. Give in, we'll leave you alone. Don't give in, we take everything away from you. That pressure is coming. These did not give in. They refused.

Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. What do we love most? Where is our heart? Where is our treasure? Only you can answer that question. But what this text calls us to consider this morning is the true nature of faith.

The true nature of the Christian walk. Do you embrace, are you thankful for being an exile and pilgrim in this world? That you can never get comfortable in a world that's in rebellion against your Lord?

Do you embrace that? Or do you have to confess there's far too many days where we don't look anything like a pilgrim? We look like a local. Act like a local. Speak like one. Text asks us today. God by his Spirit asks us today.

Where's your heart? We know where it should be. Let's pray that by his Spirit, God will give us the grace and the mercy to live for him in this coming week. Let's pray together. Indeed, our gracious Heavenly Father, you have promised that you are preparing a city for those who would follow after you.

Who would not walk in accordance the way of this world, but would follow after you and be your disciples. And we thank you that you have promised through Jesus Christ that where he is, there we will be.

But Lord, we must confess this day. There are far too many days where if the world were to watch us very closely, they would not see pilgrims. They'd see locals. As Lord help us to avoid that, not to avoid, but to work through, resist, fight against that constant pressure the world places upon us to be conformed to its image.

We embrace what it means to be exiles and pilgrims, strangers to this world. So that this world will not have power over us and we might fulfill your calling upon our lives to be a prophetic voice calling for repentance and faith and proclaiming the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

We know we can only do this by your grace and your Spirit. Make your word to come alive in our hearts this day, we pray in Christ's name.