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What a joy it is to be with you again this morning, to be able to open up the Word of God and minister it to you. So will you take your Bibles and turn to Hebrews chapter 11; Hebrews chapter 11, we find ourselves this morning in verses eight through 19, examining the topic of Abraham and the living faith that was his example to us.

Before we look at the text closely, may I remind you that the writer has first examined the life of Abel and then Enoch and Noah. And now the inspired writer turns to a fourth example of a man who lived by faith, the man Abraham - the father of the Jewish people - whom they esteemed above all the patriarchs, and it was for this reason that the writer presents him, as well, in this group of illustrations; because the Jewish people esteemed Abraham perhaps more than any other man, and they were tempted to succumb to persecution and fall back into Judaism, into the works righteousness system that they were used to; and so they needed to understand more fully the faith that Abraham exhibited, genuine saving faith. He was not a man that was so righteous that God decided to save him - as many of the Rabbis taught, as many of the Jewish people believe - but rather this was a sinful man upon whom God set his love. And by grace, he called him, he drew him unto himself, and Abraham believed God resulting in righteousness. So God was not pleased with Abraham as the Jews thought, because of his righteousness, but because of his faith in the living God; his belief that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone. In fact, in Romans, chapter four, you may recall that the apostle Paul uses Abraham as the the supreme example of a man who was justified by faith, not by works. In verse three of that text, we read, "'Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.'" In fact, Abraham is ultimately the Father of all who believe in Christ, whether Jew or Gentile. Paul makes that clear in Galatians chapter three and verse seven, he says, "be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham." And in verse 29 he went on to add, "And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs, according to promise." So Abraham's example was, and it continues to be, of utmost importance, especially to Jewish people who are prone to believe in that damnable lie that salvation is earned by keeping the law and therefore impressing God rather than trusting in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I must add that this amazing example will speak to each one of us who know and love Christ, for in it, we see great examples of what obedient faith really looks like, and how it brings inexpressible joy to the believer, helping us to transcend the very difficult issues of life.

So Abraham was an example of what I would call living faith, and living faith manifests itself in four ways that we will see as we examine this text. Living faith obeys the Word of God. It trusts in the promises of God. It transcends this transient world - transient meaning temporary or short lived - and finally, it validates its veracity. In other words, it proves its genuineness, its sincerity, its truthfulness.

Now what we need to do before we look at this text is put ourselves in the place of the audience that first heard these words. Put yourself in the midst of first century Judaism and hear what I am about to read as they would have heard it for the first time. Listen with ears that are burning with ridicule from family and friends. Let the word of God sink deep into a heart that is being tempted to fall back into Judaism, to live by sight. Rather than by faith, to live with a system that teaches salvation by works rather than grace; here's what they would have heard, beginning in verse eight of Hebrews 11,

"By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance, and he went out not knowing where he was going."

Here we see the first point in our little outline, and that is living faith obeys the Word of God. This is where the Jewish believers and the "almost" believers were struggling. This is where we all struggle. Let me give you some historical context. Originally, Abraham lived in a very fertile region in ancient Mesopotamia between the Tigris and the Euphrates River, a place known as Chaldea, near the region of the Garden of Eden. And there he lived in a fabulously wealthy, culturally advanced and sophisticated city called Ur approximately 250 years after the Great Flood of Noah that covered the earth. We know that a magnificent ziggurat was built there by King Ur-Nammu, and it was likened to the Tower of Babel that we read about in Genesis 10. In fact, during that time, the Old Kingdom pyramids of Egypt were already in existence. So don't think of Abraham like a lot of people do, as if he's some kind of a cave man, all right? This was a very highly advanced culture that he lived in. In fact, excavations reveal that approximately 24,000 people would have lived in Ur during the days of Abraham. The people of that region were godless pagans that worshiped many gods, but the primary god that they worshiped in Ur was the moon god, "Sin," this idol was also venerated in Ur under the name Nanna. In fact, the crescent moon symbol of Islam is a remnant of that ancient pagan moon worship.

We know that the people of that day were already using geometry and astronomic measurements, and through this, they would identify astrological signs of the zodiac, which, by the way, is a Satanic form of divination that God calls an abomination unto the Lord. So folks stay away from that stuff. Excavations reveal that the common area of the city of Ur was filled with marketplaces, with schools, with libraries, surrounded by nice homes, very lush gardens and numerous temples that were made out of stone. They have found 1000s of clay tablets that give great detail to their pagan religious beliefs, and later, the great city of Babylon was built just about 140 miles north of Ur. Now, the Bible tells us, in the book of Joshua, chapter 24 and verse two that Abraham's father, Terah, served other gods. So Abraham would have been an idolatrous pagan when God set his love upon him and called him unto himself. What a picture of salvation this is. It is God who initiates salvation when we are dead in our sins. It's not man. It is God who condescends to our lowly estate, our sinful state of mind, and calls us out of darkness into his marvelous light. He is the one that commands us to trust in the redemptive work of Christ, to separate ourselves from the world and trust him to take us to a place that we could never imagine, a place we have never seen. And by grace, in the midst of that calling, he gives us the gift of faith; and because of that gift, we can trust him, and we will obey him like Abraham. He asks us to leave the old life, and he gives us a desire for the new life, to leave all of the selfishness and the worldliness, and he gives us a desire to do so. True Believers don't do that kicking and screaming. They do it because God has placed that passion in their heart. Jesus said in Luke nine, "'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself."

Indeed, the gift of faith radically transforms a person, as we will see in the life of Abraham. God makes us a new creation. We begin to love what God loves. We begin to hate what he hates, and his Word becomes the sole authority of our faith and of our practice. We lose the desire for the things of the world, those things that are wicked, those things that are worthless, that occupy our time, the things we spend our money on. And by the way, this is why the world hates us, why they cannot understand us, and this is why phony Christians hate us and cannot understand us, because they really agree with the world and not with God, certainly not with us.

So let's put ourselves in the place of Abraham. Imagine you live in Nashville, Tennessee. You don't know anything about the true God, and you're worshiping all of the idols of Nashville, Tennessee. And suddenly God comes to you, and he speaks to you, and he says, "I want you to leave this place. I want you to pack up everything that you own. I want you to pack up your family. I want you to trust me, and I'm going to take you to a place of your inheritance. You won't even know where you're going to go. You're going to have to trust me. You're going to have to obey me, and I will lead you to a place of promise." And by the power of grace, God gives you that gift of faith, and immediately you pack up; and your friends wonder if you've lost your mind. Imagine the ridicule. "You're going to leave here and go where? Why are you doing this? Who is it that you say told you to do this? You've lost your mind."  And they would be saying to themselves, "Why would this man immediately, without hesitation, without question, without any reluctance and with great joy, give up his religion, give up his home, give up his family, all of his security, all of his comforts, everything that's familiar to him, and follow this God that he claims has spoken to hi?"  Of course, dear friends, the answer is, God gave him the gift of faith, the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things unseen. Ephesians, chapter two, beginning in verse eight, the apostle Paul speaks to this issue. He says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast; for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, so that we would walk in them."

I must digress for a moment, because this is such a beautiful picture of the biblical doctrine of divine calling that we read about in Scripture. As you look at this, you see it under two headings. There is a general call of God, and then there is a special call. The general call is that call of God by which he invites all men to Christ. It is a universal call in terms of of time and and extent, but it can be resisted. It can be rejected. In Matthew 22 we read, many were invited to the feast and but refused to come; Hebrews, chapter four, verse six, do not harden your hearts so many other passages. And yet we know biblically that men are morally responsible for rejecting that universal call. We will read about that in Hebrews, chapter 12 and verse 25.

But then there is also the special call of God, sometimes called the effectual call, or the efficacious call of God; that calling of God which certainly results in individuals responding in faith and accepting God's offer of salvation. And it's fascinating as we study scripture, we see that this does not mean that God coerces the will of man, not at all, but works with his will so that he freely and voluntarily chooses to come to Christ for salvation. And of course, this is that inscrutable mystery that harmonizes God's sovereignty with man's freedom. And we've all experienced that, those of us who know and love Christ. Maybe it was through a sermon that we heard, and the Spirit of God caused some of the great truths of his word to penetrate our heart. Or maybe it was in the form of some great sickness or some trouble. Or maybe it was a dear mother whose words were used by the Spirit of God to penetrate the core of our great being and bring conviction. Or maybe some father that said something and lived in such a way that caused our conscience to just scream, even in the middle of the night, that we were guilty before a holy God and that we needed to come to him in saving faith. But certainly, God calls his elect, and he draws us unto himself, and that's what we see in the life of Abraham. Paul speaks of this in Romans eight, verse 28 he speaks of those "called according to His purpose." He went on to say, "and these whom He predestined, He also called, and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified." And Paul said in First Corinthians, one and verse 23, "but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentile’s foolishness, but to those who are the called both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." This is such a precious, such a humbling truth filled with hope and blessing. In fact, Paul said in Ephesians 1:18, "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened," and here's why, "so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints." And of course, this effectual call of God is known only by its results, as in the case of Abraham. And Peter also tells us in Second Peter 1:10 to, "make certain about His calling in choosing you."

So God called Abraham, he called him specifically; and such a calling cannot be resisted because it is God's decreed will, and by his grace, he gives the gift of faith and transforming grace to those that he calls. So first, we see that living faith obeys the Word of God. Secondly, it trusts in the promises of God. Notice verse nine, "By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise." So what we understand here is that Abraham was divinely smitten with a consuming desire for this land of promise, and Abraham set out upon this pilgrimage to live a life as a nomad, if that's what God wanted him to do, living in tents. Can you imagine that with your family living in tents, no air conditioning, no television, no cell phones?

The idea here is that there was no permanent dwelling place for Abraham and his family, even when he eventually entered into the primitive land of the Canaanites, which God had promised to him and his descendants. Imagine living among a foreign people, a people known for their barbarism, for human sacrifices. Basically, it's like moving to a place where ISIS is in control. That's how you need to think about it. Imagine wandering from one place to another so that your animals have a place to graze and never settling down, setting up, tearing down, setting up, tearing down your dwelling place. Oh, dear friends, the portable tent is a king's palace for a man who lives by faith because he sees what no other man sees, and he hopes in things that other people can't even imagine. He sees the unfulfilled promise of God as though it were visible to his very eyes, and with that he is content. So patiently Abraham, and later Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise, wandered around the land that God had promised them; that God had promised would one day belong to them and their descendants that would be as innumerable as the stars in heaven and the sands of the seashore. Friends, to be sure, living faith trusts in the promises of God. It never grows weary. It never loses its patience, because it knows that God, who cannot lie, will perform all that he has promised. Living faith ignores ridicule and rejection. It overcomes hardship. It overcomes setbacks, and it finds new strength in times of discouragement and fatigue. And the reason why is because it looks beyond what is seen to those things that are unseen, and it lays hold of the invisible promises of an invisible God.

Notice verse 10, "For he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God." It's remarkable. Abraham looked beyond even The Promised Land on Earth - which he must have known was merely a type of heaven; a picture of heaven - and instead, he set his gaze upon heaven's glory and the heavenly Jerusalem that we read described, for example, in Revelation chapter 21, the abode of God himself. Beloved, we would all do well to learn this lesson. If I can put it to you very simply, never allow the troubles and the trials of this world to fill your mind. Don't obsess over them. Practically speaking, you need to turn off the news a whole lot more. You need to unfriend the worldly wackos on Facebook; you don't need to read what they have to say. You need to you need to ignore manipulative, controlling people. Stop wringing your hands and getting all worked up over bad news. I know I have to preach to myself regarding this, and I've learned how to do this fairly well, because as a pastor, 90% of the news I get is bad news. Sometimes I feel like a 911 operator. You know, it's not like people are calling to encourage you. And boy, isn't this great? Look what has happened. No. But that's life in a fallen world. That's what it is to live in a tent, so to speak, as an alien in a land of promise. So folks, don't let the inevitable sorrow and disappointments of life steal away your joy. Keep looking for the city which has foundations whose architect and builder is God. If I can put it to you a little bit differently, don't dwell on the here and now, because if you do, you will absolutely drown in self-pity and despair, because life isn't all that great at times. Oh, sometimes it's wonderful, and other times it stinks. And we all understand that. Learn to live by faith, not by sight. Focus on the promises of God. That's why Paul said in Colossians three and verse one, "Since you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God." Set your mind on the things above, not on the things of this earth; and as we trudge through this difficult pilgrimage of life, our burdens grow lighter when we contemplate that day when we will stand in the presence of his glory, blameless with great joy.

Notice again the text, in verse 11, the Holy Spirit goes on through his inspired writer and says, "By faith, even Sarah herself received ability to conceive even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised. Now let's think back upon this amazing story. You will recall that in Genesis 12, God promised Abraham that a great nation would descend from him. But as we examine the text there, we see that after 10 childless years, Sarah got tired of waiting upon the Lord, so she resorted to the custom of the day by which a barren wife could get a child through one of her own maidservants. And so Abraham foolishly yielded to her idea and impregnated Sarah's Egyptian maid, Hagar, who bore a son named Ishmael, the progenitor of the Arabs. To this day, the Arab people see Abraham as their father, and Mohammed, the Arabian, as the fulfillment of Abraham's blessing. In Genesis chapter 16 and verse 10, we read how "the angel of the LORD said to Hagar, 'I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered.'" And then he went on to say, in verse 12, speaking of Ishmael, he says, "'He shall be a wild donkey of a man,'" by the way, that is a reference to the desert onager that cannot be tamed. You cannot tame that animal, you cannot subdue them; they will not yield to a yoke. So, "'he shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone, and everyone's hand against him; and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.'" And to this very day, we see the fulfillment of that promise. The Muslim Arabs have been, and continue to be, the most fierce adversaries of the Jewish people, who descended from Abraham through Isaac, the son of promise, who would later be born as God promised. On two different occasions in Genesis, chapter 17 and chapter 18, God promised Abraham and Sarah a son; and even though they were well beyond childbearing years, he promised them a son. Sarah was 90 years old, and she had been barren all of her life. These are exactly the types of scenarios the Lord orchestrates that he loves so he can prove to everyone that this was absolutely my doing.

Well, you will recall that both Abraham and Sarah were incredulous when they heard this. They laughed at God's promise. Nevertheless, the Lord was faithful to his promise, and the reason for that is because it was his plan. God doesn't back down on his plan; but Sarah and Abraham decided to come up with their own plan, because God's plan just wasn't coming along like they think they it probably should have. There's a great caution there. Let me remind you of that. Whenever we grow weak in faith and we try to take matters into our own hand, you know what we do? We thwart God's purposes in our life and replace his purposes with our own. And inevitably, it ends in disaster. It was God's plan for the universal blessings of the Abrahamic covenant to come through Isaac, not through Ishmael, and then later through Jacob, not through Esau. It was God's plan for the universal blessing to come through Israel - the Israelites - not the Arabs, through Jesus Christ, not through Muhammad.

By the way, if politicians understood Bible history and theology, they would have a much better grasp of what's really going on in the world today, because ultimately, it is a battle between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of our glorious God. The universal blessing God promised will not only be for Israel, but for all Gentiles, even the Arab people. Both Israel and Gentiles will be related to the Abrahamic covenant, yet each will retain their ethnic identities. Israel and the Land of Promise are, frankly, microcosms of what God will do for all of the nations in the millennial kingdom; a global kingdom when he will restore all things, and the nation of Israel will function as a beach head to establish God's kingdom promises. So this was God's promise to Abraham. This was and is God's plan. And although Abraham faltered in his faith, God remained faithful, especially as it related to his promises, even with Hagar.

Now, of course, Abraham and Sarah couldn't see all of this, and how much Abraham knew about this, we can only speculate, other than the elements that we can read about in his covenant to Abraham revealed in Scripture. But have you ever noticed when God's way doesn't seem to be working from our perspective, we are prone to take matters into our own hands, aren't we? And to do it our way. And we see this in the story of Abraham and Hagar. You know, why wait on God to do something that is so supernatural, when we could do it our way. Maybe they thought, well, maybe God changed his mind. Maybe he forgot, maybe he was just speaking figuratively. We don't know. And also, have you ever noticed that doing something contrary to the will of God is always rather easy? You know, it's far easier to find a spouse and to have a marriage our way than it is God's way. It is far easier to raise a family our way than God's way. It's far easier to start a church and to lead a church our way than God's way. And on and on it goes. And the reason for this is Satan is so readily available to help facilitate us in our endeavors to do things our way, which would be contrary to the will of God and ultimately his way. And he rules a complex world system that is designed to accomplish his nefarious purposes that are always in opposition to the will of God. But whenever we take the easy way that is contrary to the will of God, it always ends in disaster. Ah, but God is merciful. Aren't you thankful for that? He is faithful. He is long suffering.

So in reference to the Jewish people of Israel that came through Abraham, the writer goes on to say in verse, 12, "Therefore, there was born even one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore." And think of the countless children that have been born as a result of Abraham's faith. Dear Christian, another lesson that we can learn here that I must mention to you before we move on; and that is this, God is never too late. He is always on time, and his time might not match our timing, but his time is always perfect.

So living faith obeys the word of God. It trusts in the promises of God, and thirdly, it transcends this transient world. Notice verse 13. "All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth." This is an astounding statement. Think about this, Abraham lived in tents all of the years of his life. He never owned a square inch of the land that God promised him, except for a small parcel that he purchased to bury his wife, Sarah. The writer uses the word "strangers." It's a term that referred to those who were unwelcomed and at times, even despised. They were not only strangers, but exiles; the idea of pilgrims that are just passing through a place but never established. Boy, isn't that a picture of us? Don't you feel that way? I do. From time to time, people will ask me my position on some cultural or moral or theological issue, and when I answer them, they have this look of being flabbergasted and offended at the same time. You know the thing; you see it in your lives as well. And I know they're going to - I'm not on Facebook - but they're going to unfriend me. I guess that's what you call it. I'm certainly not going to get a Christmas card from them. And suddenly you know you're a homophobe or a xenophobe or a racist or a bigot or the worst name of all that guy is a born-again Bible believing Christian fundamentalist. Yes, we feel like strangers and exiles. I think of all the people that we have encountered in our lives that think of us that way, and we feel that, and that's certainly the way Abraham felt. In fact, in First Peter one, in verse one, Peter writes quote to those who are elect "exiles” of the dispersion, referring to spiritual pilgrims - aliens to the earth, whether Jews or Gentiles -  strangers that are dispossessed in a land not their own; temporary residents; foreigners that aren't welcomed; and folks, this is the way it's going to be, because as believers, we're citizens of another kingdom. This is not our home.

So it's amazing to think that Abraham never possessed the land that God promised. And do you realize that the same was true of Isaac? Never possessed it. Same was true of his son Jacob, never possessed the land. In fact, the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites didn't take place for 500 years after Jacob died and it. And today, the Jews only possess a fraction of their land. But by faith Abraham did possess the land, every square inch of it because he trusted God to make good on his promise, even if he were dead. Beloved, this is what living faith is. True faith is patient. It endures. It is unyielding. It is to use a word we don't use very often, indefatigable. It never quits. It never grows weary in well doing. It never succumbs to doubt and discouragement. It never questions God's ability to do what he has promised, to do what to us is impossible. It says, "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." You know each of us, every day of our lives, experience great difficulties, and I know some of you are going through some very difficult trials right now, and I'm burdened for you. But you know, by faith, we believe that God is at work in us. We believe that God is at work through us. We believe that he will never leave us nor forsake us. We believe that he is able to do exceedingly abundantly, beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works within us. We believe that one day he is coming to take us unto himself. We believe by faith, that death is not the final end, but rather the door into paradise. And therefore, as James says in chapter five, verse seven, we are patient. He says, "Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets to early and late rains. You too, be patient." Folks, this was the heart of Abraham who died in faith without receiving the promises. Amazing, isn't it?

Notice verse 14, "For those who say such things," in other words, he's referring to those who see and welcome God's promises from a distance, who confess they are strangers and exiles on the earth, "For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed, if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return." Now, of course, this spoke very directly to the Hebrew believers that were hearing this for the first time. They had all kinds of opportunities to return to Judaism, to return to their comfort zone, even as Abraham had opportunity to return to his idolatry in the land of Ur, but as believers, we have come out from the world and have become the redeemed of God, and that's not our desire, to return to those things.

Verse 16, "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." Indeed, dear friends, for those who trust in him, he is not ashamed to refer to himself, as he often does in Scripture, saying, "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." You see, he rejoices in the faith of those who yearn for the promises that he gives. O child of God don't miss this, true living faith transcends this transient world. It transcends the temporal. It not only looks beyond the things of this earth, but it sees what God has promised through the eyes of faith.

I think of the unimaginable, inexplicable trials of Job who, in his faith, was able to say in Job 19, "As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives; and at the last He will take His stand on the earth, even after my skin is destroyed. Yet from my flesh, I shall see God." Beloved, you will never be able to walk faithfully with the Lord your God, year after year in this fallen world with all of the sin and all of the sorrow and all of the sickness, unless you keep your eyes fixed on the invisible promises of our invisible God. Without that kind of hope, life is hopeless. That is the reality of everyone without Christ; and like a child we need to learn to place our hand in the hand of our Heavenly Father and trust him to lead us in the way that we should go, even when it makes no sense to us.

The inspired writer closes this section with an example of this very thing. He says,

"By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; it was he to whom it was said, 'In Isaac, your descendants shall be called.'"

Boy, talk about a test of faith. After all he had been through, and finally, he has the promised son, Isaac; and they loved their son as any father would, and mother would. They the miracle of God that is born, the fulfillment of God's promises. In fact, Jesus said in John 8:56, "Your father, Abraham, rejoiced that he would see My day. He saw it and was glad." And so, in other words, Abraham saw, in the continuing seed of Isaac, his son, the beginning of God's fulfilling the covenant to him that would eventually culminate in the Lord Jesus Christ. He saw all of that. He rejoiced in all of that, and now God is asking him to kill his son? To sacrifice his son, the miracle son of the covenant? Why on earth would a man consent to do that? Why would God even ask him to do that? And of course, the reason God asked him to do it as the text says, he wanted to test Abraham's faith. And as we look at Scripture, he wanted to prove Abraham's faith, and he wanted to use Abraham's faith as an example to countless others, as he is doing today. And he also wanted to provide a vivid picture of a substitute sacrifice that he would one day provide to pay the penalty for sin for the redeemed, his beloved miracle Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Abraham, I'm sure, didn't understand all of this, but he did trust God. Notice verse 19, "He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type." Fascinating statement. In one sense, Abraham actually did receive Isaac back from the dead by God's direct intervention. But because Isaac didn't actually die, he was only a type. He was only a picture of resurrection.

And so as we come to this, we see that living faith obeys the Word of God. It trusts in the promises of God. It transcends this transient world, and finally, it validates its veracity. In other words, it proves its sincerity, its truthfulness, its righteousness, and it proves itself by willing sacrifice. What an incredible story. Abraham takes his so, Isaac, to Mount Moriah, to offer him unto the Lord, as commanded, the very place where 2000 years later, the Lamb of God would be offered; would give his life as a ransom for many. Let me remind you of the story as we close this morning. It's in Genesis 22 I'll pick it up at verse seven. As Isaac now and Abraham are making their way up to the top of the mount, Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said,

"'My father!' and he said, 'Here I am, my son.' And he said, 'Behold, the fire in the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?'

"Abraham said, 'God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.' So the two of them walked on together.

"Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar on top of the wood.

"Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay 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 stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.'

"Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son.

"Abraham, called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, 'In the mount of the LORD, it will be provided.'

"Then 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 thing and have not withheld your son, your only son,

"indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies.

"'In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.'"

Oh dear friends, you have no faith unless you believe in the resurrection, because resurrection glory is the goal of saving faith. And if you say that you've placed your faith in Christ, but your hope is only in the things of this world - if that's your preoccupation - yours is not a saving faith; it is a dead faith. And one day, when death comes knocking on your door, as it will, you will discover the foolishness and the futility of your spurious faith, and you will realize that you lived your life in vain.

Well, folks, this was the message to the Hebrews and to each of us. Abraham had a living faith, and he manifested it in every area of his life. It began by obeying the Word of God even when he couldn't fully fathom all that God was up to. That's where it must begin with us. Living faith, trusts in the promises of God even when they seem impossible. It transcends this transient world because it really doesn't expect anything in this world, because its eyes are fixed on heaven. And finally, it validates its veracity by willing sacrifice. In other words, it obeys God without question, without hesitation, without reluctance, regardless of the cost. It is willing to deny self, to take up a cross and follow Christ. It is willing to be a living and a holy sacrifice acceptable to God, and therefore it proves the genuineness of one's faith.

So friends, what about you? Have you obeyed God's call? His command to repent and to put your trust in Christ as your only hope of salvation, to separate yourself from this world and follow Christ? Friends, are you willing to suffer the loss of all things for Christ? Jesus said,"' He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. He who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of me.'" Oh, dear friends, may I challenge you today to be an Abraham. Leave everything behind, trust in the promises of God, behold them with the eyes of faith as you read them in Scripture, make them the lyrics of every song in your heart, and God will reward you in ways that you cannot imagine. Let's pray together.

Father, thank you for this amazing illustration that speaks so directly to our hearts. I pray that by the power of your Spirit, we will be able to live out these truths so that we can enjoy the fullness of your blessing, because we have been saved by grace, through faith. We thank you and we give you praise in Jesus’ name, amen.