Faith In The Moment Faith For The Future

The Old Testament reading this morning is in Genesis chapter 22, please stand.

After these things, God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham, and he said, here

I.

Am.

He said, take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and

offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell.

You.

So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son

Isaac, and he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which

God had told him.

On the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar.

Then Abraham said to his young men, stay here with the donkey.

I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.

And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac, his son, and he took his

hand, in his hand, the fire and the knife.

So they went, both of them together, and Isaac said to his father Abraham, my father,

and he said, here I am, my son.

He said, behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?

Abraham said, God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.

So they went, both of them together.

Then, when they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar,

and there he laid the wood in order and bound Isaac, his son, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood.

Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son, but the angel of the Lord called to

him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham, and he said, here.

I am.

He said, do not lay your hand on the body or do anything to him, for now I know that

you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.

And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns.

And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.

So Abraham called the name of that place, the Lord will provide, as it is said to this.

Day.

On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.

And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, by myself

I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and you have not withheld your son, your only son, I will

surely bless you and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand of the

seashore.

And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be

blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.

So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba.

And Abraham lived in Beersheba.

The New Testament reading this morning, the book of James, chapter 1, verses 2 -4, if you'd

like to read along, that's page 1011 in your pre -bibles.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know

that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

You may be seated.

Take your bibles today and turn again to Hebrews chapter 11.

Hebrews chapter 11, as we continue to understand some of these great truths from God,

follow as I read these first 22 verses.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

For by it the people of old received their commendation.

By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen is not made out of

things that are visible.

By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as

righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts.

And through his faith, and though he died, he still speaks by faith, Enoch

was taken up so that he should not see death and he was not found because God had taken him.

Now before he was taken, he was commended as having pleased God.

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that

he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent

fear, constructed an ark for the saving of his household.

By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by.

Faith.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he

was to receive as an inheritance.

And he went out not knowing where he was going.

By faith he went to live in the land of promises, in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs

with him of the same promise.

For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

By faith Sarah herself received the power to conceive, even when she was past age, since she considered him

faithful who had promised.

Therefore from one man and him as good as dead were born descendants, as many as the stars of heaven and as many

as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them

from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the.

Earth.

For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.

If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone 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 for them a city.

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac.

And he who had received the promise was in the act of offering up his only son of whom it was said,

through Isaac shall your offspring be named.

He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which figuratively speaking he did

receive him.

By faith, Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.

By faith, Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his

staff.

By faith, Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave

directions concerning his bones.

Let's pray.

Father, now as we look at these stories, as we look at these heroes of the faith, we pray that you would teach us what kind

of faith we must have.

Father, you not only tell us what faith we must have, but as we hear it, you can work it in us.

We thank you for your spirit who can do that.

But we know, Lord, that he uses the word to do it, and so I pray that you would make the word clear today, that

the listeners here of your word would listen carefully, and by listening the spirit then

would produce in them the kind of faith that we need.

Help us now as we do that.

Help us as we actively look into the word of God, as we look at our own hearts, as we

seek to be what you would have us to be, and as your spirit works in us.

Help us, we pray, in Jesus' name, amen.

You know, we have a document that tells us the story of a family that lived nearly 4

,000 years ago.

It happens to be the Bible, and the family I'm talking about is the family of Abraham.

Abraham and his immediate descendants, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.

It's interesting to read their story.

You find in it lying and deceit.

You find incredible family rivalries that have even produced conflict in the age in which we

live.

You read of courts of pharaohs and kings.

You see hidden identities, international intrigue, and violence.

All of that wrapped up in this story.

But the writer to the Hebrews wants us to get one thing that they had, and that's faith.

And he tells us of their faith so that that will be produced in us,

that kind of faith.

So we return again to Hebrews 11, which is that great chapter that describes for us the kind of faith

that God wants in us.

We've already seen faith working in the lives of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, and

Isaac.

We've seen that already.

We see played out in their lives the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

We've seen that happening.

And our writer friend wants you to see this kind of faith because this is the kind of faith you need if you would

endure hardship that comes from following Jesus.

Because you follow Jesus, people are going to marginalize you.

And someday they may even persecute you.

But you cannot abandon Jesus because of it.

You cannot give up your faith in Jesus because you want to be relieved of the pressure.

So what will keep you going?

What will keep you holding on to Jesus in adversity?

Faith in the promises of God.

That's what will do it.

You will endure if you believe that God has promised something greater when haters turn your life

upside down.

You will endure as you see the faith in God's promises that your forefathers exercised in

centuries past.

Faith is taking God at his word.

Faith is believing what God has told you even though the promises seem impossible,

even though the fulfillment seems like it's totally out of reality.

You take God at his word.

You believe what he says no matter how impossible it sounds.

And that is the kind of faith that generates perseverance.

Now let me just say very quickly here.

As we've gone through this book, we have seen over and over and over that the writer, God at least, says to

us that we must persevere.

We cannot abandon our faith in Jesus no matter what the pressure.

And some of us think, oh no, I've got to grit it out, I don't know if I'm powerful enough to do that.

And what he's telling us here is that that kind of perseverance in the midst of incredible

pressure comes as you believe the promises of God.

That's what we have to see.

It is faith in the promises of God that generates the kind of perseverance that we need that can

withstand the pressure of the world around us.

So again now, in verses 17 through 22, we look at Abraham and his descendants

to understand that kind of faith.

Let's look at our text for this morning, 17 through 22.

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered Isaac, and he who had received the promises

was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, through Isaac shall your offspring be

named.

He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which figuratively speaking he

did receive him back.

By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.

By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff.

By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave

directions concerning his bones.

Here then is faith.

What does it look like?

Well, first of all, know what faith looks like in the moment of crisis.

Know what faith looks like in the moment of crisis.

Here the writer reminds us of the time when Abraham faced a crisis, when God

brought upon Abraham a test of his faith.

Now God, it says here, called on Abraham to sacrifice his only son.

And we might respond and say, hold on, hold on.

Abraham had more than one son.

He had another son named Ishmael.

Why does this text say his only son?

Well, it says that because it is Isaac through whom God would fulfill the promise of

descendants that would occupy Canaan and that would be a blessing to all the nations.

And he emphasizes that in verse 18 by quoting God when he was speaking to

Abraham when he said to him in chapter 21, through Isaac,

shall your offspring be named.

So yes, Ishmael is your son, but it's Isaac who is going to carry on the

promise.

He had also said to Abraham earlier in Genesis 17, but I will establish my covenant

with Isaac whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.

Now, I don't know if you can imagine this, but imagine Abraham saying, no, wait a minute.

Wait a minute.

First you tell me that Isaac is the one of my two sons.

Isaac is the one that's going to carry out these covenant promises of all these descendants and a blessing

to all the nations of the world.

You said it was Isaac, right?

And now what are you telling me to do?

Before he even has a chance to get married and produce children.

Now you're telling me to sacrifice him.

What is going on?

That doesn't look right.

That's impossible.

But the text says, notice in verse 17, by faith,

by faith, Abraham offered up his son.

By faith, he did exactly what God called him to do.

He put his boy on the altar, just like God commanded.

And he was about to take his life.

And he was able to do that.

He was able to do that because he truly believed that God would raise up descendants

from that boy, even though he told him to sacrifice him.

He believed, he still believed that God was going to raise up descendants after him.

Now imagine you're one of the servants who went with Abraham and Isaac up to Mount Moriah.

Imagine you're one of them and you're walking along and Isaac's out of earshot.

And he says to Abraham, Abraham, you cannot be serious about sacrificing your son.

It does not make a bit of sense.

If you sacrifice Isaac, the covenant that God has made with you will be nullified.

If there's no way, there's no way he can do what he

promises if you kill your son.

It's impossible.

And imagine Abraham responding.

You know what?

You're absolutely right.

If Isaac dies, it will be impossible for him to have descendants that will

occupy this land and bless the nations.

But God has promised that he's going to do it through Isaac.

And I believe he will keep his promise.

He had no way of knowing how God was going to keep that promise.

You see, impossible as it seems, Abraham was assured of things hoped for, convinced of things

not yet seen.

He was convinced of that.

Abraham even believed that God could raise Isaac from the dead if that's what he was going to do.

I don't know how God's going to do it.

Maybe he can raise him from the dead.

I don't know, but God's going to do it.

And there's a hint of that when you read the text in Genesis 22.

Why?

Because Abraham says to that servant, you hear it, you heard it.

He says, stay here with the donkey.

I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.

What is he saying?

He's saying, I'm going to go and I'll come back with it.

Right?

He has no idea.

It all seems impossible, but he evidently believed that God would do whatever it took

to keep his promise.

You know what?

Ever think about this?

Abraham had never seen a resurrection.

According to the record of Scripture, no one had ever seen a resurrection yet.

No one had ever been raised from the dead.

None.

You say, what about Enoch?

He didn't die.

Nobody had died and been raised from the dead, but Abraham believed that God could do it.

Why?

Impossible as it seems, Abraham was assured of things hoped for and confident of things not seen.

Right?

God said he's going to raise up descendants from this boy.

He's told me to sacrifice him.

I don't know how he's going to do it, but he's going to keep that promise.

I'm convinced of it.

Why?

Because he said so.

Abraham took God at his word, and God remained faithful to his

promises, provided a sacrifice, and Abraham, as it were,

received Isaac back from the dead.

You see, God, no matter how impossible it seemed, no matter how,

it's not going to happen.

It's impossible for him to fulfill his promise if I do this, and yet he believed that God would do it.

He didn't know how, but God said he was, and he believed it.

Now, crises often are the means that God uses to test your faith.

Crises are often those things that God uses to test your faith.

Will you believe his promises even when it seems absolutely impossible?

Will you still believe them?

Will you take God at his word when circumstances challenge the reality

of God's word?

This last week,

Pastor Jeff Ryan, Jeff Ryan, Jeff pastors Calvary Bible Church in Roger City,

Michigan, a sister church of ours, and many of us have gotten to know Jeff very well because he always

comes to the Midwest conferences, he's always at the international fire conferences.

I know Jeff, a number of you know Jeff, and some of you have been seeing the emails.

This last week, his 17 -year -old son was in a horrific, horrific

car accident and did a lot of damage to Liam, their 17 -year -old,

and it was so bad, and Roger City is way up there,

it was so bad they had to take him to the university hospital at Ann Arbor.

And Kerry, his mom, writes that when they got to him at the emergency room initially, he was really

close to death, they didn't know if he was going to survive.

And this is what she wrote, the first words he was able to weakly say to us when we got

to the ER were, we have a good God.

Now all the circumstances say otherwise.

All the circumstances say, God is good, why did he do this to my boy, right?

But that guy believed God, no matter what the circumstances look like.

You know, when persecution arrives and the judicial system is so corrupt that it calls you subversive to the good of

the nation because you're a follower of Jesus, like many Christians in China are experiencing,

when that happens and you lose all that you own, will you go on with

Jesus because you believe his promise that you have better and lasting or abiding possessions

waiting for you, better than what you're losing now, will you believe that?

When because you follow Christ, you're barred from certain professions,

because you believe in Jesus, you're barred from being a teacher or a doctor or an attorney or a nurse

or something.

Else.

When you're barred and the temptation is, I got to provide, how am I going to do that?

I'm going to cave in.

I'm just not going to, I'm going to not profess Christ anymore.

Or will you believe the promises of God when he says, seek my kingdom first and I'll provide everything

you need.

Are you going to believe him then?

What about a woman who writes this?

I saw this post this last week.

This is a woman I know.

Here's what she wrote this last week.

This may sound crazy, but I am thankful for how my life looks now.

My relationships with people are so much deeper.

I can have hard talks, but all out of love.

I've gained friendships with people here who have become like sisters to me.

I have conversations with people and we both feel so encouraged.

I've grown so much in my faith, but it hasn't come easy.

I've really had to put myself out there and open up about some painful things, but God has been so good to provide

all I need.

I have a husband who loves the Lord with his whole heart and is constantly seeking after.

Him.

It is an amazing to witness.

I can't help but give praise to the Lord for all the good things he has done because I am so undeserving.

This is a woman who won't see her husband home.

Her husband's not coming home for three years because he's in prison.

And yet, what does she say?

I am so thankful for what God has done.

She says, I am thankful for how my life looks now.

Here's a woman who has to raise four children on her own until her husband comes home and probably not for three

more years.

You know, I've talked to her this last week.

It's amazing.

How is that possible?

You know how it's possible?

She believes that God is sovereign and that he's working things for her

good.

And she believes that now.

Even though the circumstances are contrary to it all, she believes it.

So even in crises, at the moment, it seems as if God's promise couldn't possibly come.

True.

You must take God at his word.

If he says it, he will do it.

And then finally, he tells us, know what faith looks like facing the future.

So he talks about now Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.

And he's talking about all of them as they're dying, but all of them looking to the future.

And they're looking to the future with absolute confidence.

How is that so?

Look at verse 20.

Here we see the story of Isaac.

By faith, Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.

By faith, Isaac invoked blessings on his sons because he

believed the promises of God.

Now we all know the story about Isaac and his sons, right?

Jacob and Esau.

And we all know how Jacob tricked Isaac into blessing him with

the firstborn blessing.

Tricked him into giving him the blessing in Genesis chapter 27.

Now Isaac blessed Jacob and then he blessed Esau.

And Esau's blessing wasn't as great, it couldn't have been.

But he still blessed Esau and said, God, we'll look after you and things are going to happen.

And then Isaac gave a great blessing to Jacob.

A blessing that echoes what God promised Abraham.

He said to Jacob, Isaac said to Jacob, let people serve you and nations bow

down to you.

Okay, there's an echo of the promise there.

And may your mother's sons bow down to you.

Cursed be everyone who curses you and blessed be everyone who blesses you.

Again, the promises God had made to Abraham.

I'm going to bless those who bless you and I'm going to curse those who curse you.

Now, how could he be so confident that those promises would come true?

Look over to Genesis 26 for a moment.

Genesis 26.

He blessed them with an assurance that yes, this is what's going to happen.

Genesis 26, one

through five.

Now there was a famine in the land besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham.

And Isaac went to Gerar to Abimelech, king of the Philistines.

And the Lord appeared to him and said, do not go down to Egypt.

Dwell in the land of which I tell you.

Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and will bless you.

For to you and to your offspring, I will give all these lands and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham, your

father.

I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands.

And in your offspring, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.

Because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes and my laws.

So what does he do?

He reiterates the Abrahamic covenant and he says, it's true of you as well.

And Isaac, because of that, looked to the future with confidence because he believed those covenant promises.

He could make those promise to Jacob.

He could say that.

Why?

Because God had said, this is what I'm going to do.

So with confidence, he blessed Jacob.

Now notice verse 21.

By faith, Jacob, when dying, blessed each one of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his

staff.

And so here's a picture of the dying days of Jacob.

He believed the promises of God.

All the promises he made to those two boys of Joseph.

He believed they were going to come true because he believed that God would keep his promise.

And he believed the promises of God.

Listen, Jacob believed the promises of God because of the faithfulness of God.

Now you recall when Jacob was on his deathbed, he called Joseph to bring his two sons,

Ephraim and Manasseh, to him.

And he adopted them as his sons.

Okay.

And so he went through this ceremony to adopt two of Joseph's sons, his two sons, to become one of his

and then become heirs.

And in that adoption ceremony, he promised incredible blessings on these two

boys.

So let's look at that in Genesis chapter 48.

Genesis 48.

Let's look at verses 17 through 20.

When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him.

He took his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head.

Because Manasseh was the firstborn.

Let's not get the two mixed up again.

Isn't that funny?

Anyway, if you think about it, you'll get it.

And Joseph said to his father, not this way, my father, since this one is the firstborn, but your right hand,

put your right hand on his head.

But his father refused and said, I know, my son, I know.

He also shall become a people and he also shall be great.

Nevertheless, the younger brother shall be greater than he and his offspring shall become a multitude of

nations.

So he blessed them that day saying, by you, Israel will pronounce a blessing saying,

God makes you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.

Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh.

What's he saying?

Look at what he says.

You're going to be have nations, multitudes of nations are going to come from you, right?

He pronounces these great blessings.

Now, how in the world could he do that?

Because he realized the faithfulness of God in his own life.

Now, I want you to think about this.

Recall the history of Joseph.

I'm sorry, the history of Jacob.

Jacob.

This is a history designed to show you how Jacob left to

himself would have brought ruin to the promises of God.

Everything that Jacob did spelled ruin to the promises that God made.

Consider this.

Jacob left the land of promise.

Recall the story.

Because he tricked his father and Esau didn't get that blessing.

What did Esau say?

I'm going to kill you.

When dad's dead, you're dead.

So what happens?

Jacob leaves.

Jacob leaves the land of promise and he goes to Mesopotamia, grandpa's

homeland.

And he goes back there fully intending to live there.

Now, what's going to happen to the promise of God if he lives there?

The descendants are not going to inherit the land.

They're not going to take the land.

They're not going to take the land of promise.

That's what will happen.

But God, by his providence, gets this thing going between him and Laban, his uncle, who he's

working for.

And because of that, what does Jacob do?

He goes back to the land.

He goes back home.

Right?

Well, so now he's headed home and there's one other obstacle.

What is it?

His brother.

He hasn't forgotten his brother has said, next time I see you, when dad's dead, you're dead.

He hasn't forgotten that.

And he's really worried about that.

Right?

You remember the story?

He's worried about that.

What happens?

Well, God, according to his promise, had blessed Esau.

There's a providence of God again.

And Esau was not angry any longer.

And so he survived.

Right?

He survived.

They were back in the land.

But that's not all.

You remember where they settled?

They settled next to the city of Shechem.

You remember that story?

Yikes.

Genesis 34.

So here is Jacob with all of his people.

Now, with Jacob, right?

He has 12 sons.

They're just really big.

And the prince of Shechem really, really

likes Dinah.

And he rapes her.

And two of the brothers, Levi and Simeon, are furious.

These two guys have pretty good tempers.

OK?

And so they say, all right.

You can marry our sister if all of the men in this city are circumcised.

And so the prince of Shechem has everybody circumcised.

All the men circumcised.

Now, you know, when you're a man, that's not a really pleasant thing.

I'm sure it's not pleasant at all, but most of us have forgotten it.

So in the days of their recovery, when all these guys are in pain, what did Simon and Simeon and Levi

do?

They go in with their swords, and they wipe out all the men of that city.

And Jacob says to them, you idiots.

Now, all of the cities in Canaan will lie themselves against us, and

they will wipe us out.

You know what the text of Genesis 34 says?

God caused a terror to fall on all of the surrounding Canaanites

so that Jacob's family was not wiped out.

Now, what's the point of it all?

How could Jacob be sure that some of his descendants

would make the same boneheaded mistakes that he had made and make a mess of the

promises of God?

How could he be sure that was going to happen?

Maybe they'd do the same stupid things that he did.

Well, he saw the faithfulness of God over his entire life.

He saw the faithfulness of God.

He looked back at the history, and he saw God's faithful providences arranging all of the events

so that Jacob's actions would not derail his promises.

And so he had confidence that God would keep his covenant promises to him.

So he looks to the future, and he blesses these boys with these breathtaking promises because he

knew that God would keep his promise.

He knew that God would fulfill all the promises that he had made to Abraham, Isaac, and himself.

Do you see the history of God's faithfulness in your life?

Do you ever take time?

Do you ever take time to just stop, look back, and see all the faithfulness of

God when you made boneheaded decisions?

Right?

What happened?

When you look back and you see how God faithfully, all the way along the line,

kept his promises to you.

I anticipate retirement someday, and I'm thinking about what I'm going to do.

And I'm thinking about my income, what's going to happen there.

I do think about that.

However, however, I'm not worried about it.

And listen, I've made some boneheaded decisions.

But I'm still not worried about it because I believe that God will keep his promise, that he will provide.

How about you?

Can you look at God's faithfulness?

You know, looking at God's faithfulness will help you believe that he will keep his promises.

Look at the history of God's faithfulness in your life.

And because of God's faithfulness and fulfilling his promises, you can look to the future with confidence, just like Jacob did.

And then lastly, we have Joseph, verse 21.

By faith, Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and

gave directions concerning his bones.

By faith, Joseph mentioned the exodus and gave directions for his funeral.

He believed and proclaimed the promises of God.

He proclaimed them.

He was clear, this is gonna happen.

He declared that God would bring out of Egypt these people, his descendants and his brother's

descendants.

He believed that God would take them out someday.

All right, turn over to Genesis chapter 50.

All right, let's look at the last verses of Genesis, starting in verse 22.

So Joseph remained in Egypt.

He and his father's house, in his father's house.

Joseph lived 110 years.

And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation.

The children also of Machair, the son of Manasseh, were counted as Joseph's own.

And Joseph said to his brothers, I am about to die, but God will visit you.

And by the way, brothers here doesn't mean his immediate brothers.

I think it means his relatives.

And Joseph said to his relatives, I'm about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up

out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.

Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear saying, God will surely visit you and you shall carry up my

bones from here.

So Joseph died being 110 years old.

They embalmed him and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

All right, and what do we see happening here?

He declared that God would bring out of Egypt the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and

take them back to Canaan.

He believed there was going to be an exodus.

Now, why would he believe that?

All right, well, Genesis 15, God says this to Abraham, know for certain that

your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there

and they will be afflicted for 400 years.

But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve and afterward they shall come out with great

possessions.

He believed that, God was going to do that.

He believed that, the promises of God as well to the patriarchs that those descendants would live in

Canaan.

And he was so confident that God would do that, that he made his funeral plans

based on that, right?

He said, take my bones with you when the nation leaves or when our people

leave and have them buried in Canaan.

And even though he would never see the exodus and he knew that even though he would never

see the exodus, he believed God and he proclaimed it as a fact when

God does it.

When he does it, he believed what God said.

He was assured of things hoped for, convinced of things not seen because God said it was going

to happen.

By the way, you know what else he proclaimed here?

I want you to think about this.

He proclaimed that he was a sojourner in Egypt and Canaan was his home.

You say, what's the big deal about that?

Well, let's think about that.

When did he come to Egypt?

When he was probably a teenager.

How old was he when he died?

110.

You know, I would say he lived most of his life in Egypt.

Wouldn't you?

Right?

But because of those covenant promises, he thought Canaan was his home.

As far as I know, in my reading of the story, he only went to Canaan, he only went back there one time and that was to

bury Jacob and that was it.

So he lived nearly 100 years in this land and he was still saying, I'm a

sojourner.

I may have lived nearly 100 years here, but this is not my country.

Listen, that would be like me telling my kids, when I die, bury me in the

Netherlands, right?

That's what it sounds like.

Listen, he proclaimed that he was in exile in the land where he spent almost

his entire life.

He said he was a stranger in a land that he ruled,

but he said, this is not my land.

Take me to the land that God promised our fathers.

Do you have confidence in God's promises in the gospel so much so that you can

proclaim it as a fact?

What about you when you die?

Can you proclaim as a fact?

I believe in Jesus and I know where I'm headed, right?

Some of you may have heard this song.

It may have been around a long time.

I only heard it this last year.

It's a song called All My Tears.

I love this song.

This is a song where someone talks about the confidence they have.

I'm just gonna read it to you.

I wish I could sing it to you, but I won't.

Here's what it says.

When I die, don't cry for me.

In my father's arms I'll be.

The wounds this world left on my soul will all be healed and I'll be whole.

Sun and moon will be replaced with the light of Jesus' face and I will not be ashamed for my savior knows my

name.

And then the refrain.

It don't matter where you bury me.

I'll be home and I'll be free.

It don't matter where I lay.

All my tears be washed away.

Obviously, it's kind of a country song.

Gold and silver blind the eye.

Temporary riches lie.

Come and eat from heaven's store.

Come and drink and thirst no more.

So weep not for me, my friend, when my time below does end.

And for my life belongs to him who will raise the dead again.

It don't matter where you bury me.

I'll be home and I'll be free.

It don't matter where I lay.

All my tears be washed away.

That song talks confidently about what's going to happen.

Do you have that kind of confidence because of the promises of God?

So this faith that we see in Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph is the kind

of faith that produces endurance in a world that hates Jesus and hates

you because of him.

And that world will pressure you to abandon your

profession in Christ.

It will pressure you, and it may be getting worse, I don't know,

continue to pressure you just to say you cannot exist with us unless you abandon

him.

But you can endure if you imitate the faith of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.

What's the bedrock promise that Jesus makes you in the covenant that he made with us?

If you believe in Jesus, if you entrust yourself to him, you will

never perish.

You will gain eternal life.

Now, how do you know that's true?

How do you know that's true?

When you entrusted yourself to Jesus, did you get a halo?

When you entrusted yourself to Jesus, did you hear lightning and thunder somewhere?

When you entrusted yourself to Jesus, did you get this overwhelming peace that lasts for the rest of your life?

You say no.

Well, then how do you know that's true?

Because God says so, because God says so.

You know, there's a song.

I remember my philosophy professor once saying, this is a very biblical song.

You know what that song is?

Jesus loves me.

The first line says, Jesus loves me, this I know, for what?

The Bible tells me so.

I may not feel like Jesus loves me, but how do I know it?

God says it.

Do I believe him?

You see?

That's the bedrock promise.

And from that comes the promise of a new city and a new land that you will inhabit

forever.

You may live in, listen, not as long as Joseph, but like Joseph, you may live in

this land for, let's say, 85 years and never seen the other land.

Do you believe that you'll get it?

Do you believe that you'll get that land, that new earth and new heaven?

A new earth and a new city is yours because Jesus promised it.

No matter what troubles come, you can endure because something better

waits for you.

You haven't seen it, gotta believe it.

It's the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not yet seen.

That's, that's what's going to see you through, that kind of faith.

Father, thank you for your word.

Lord, we know these things are true, not because we feel it, not because we

had a dream about it.

We know they're true because you've said it in your word.

And just like our forefathers in the faith, help us to believe the promises that you make

so that we will endure the difficulties and the hardships that come our way.

Thank you for these great and precious promises.

God, strengthen us to believe them.

And we'll thank you in Jesus' name, amen.