By Faith, Looking to What is Better – Hebrews 11: 8-22

Red Village Church Podcast

Audio Transcript

All right. Well, good morning and welcome to Red Village Church. If I’ve not met you, I’m Aaron and I’m the preaching pastor here. I’m glad you are with us. It’s actually kind of a nice December morning. So if you have a Bible with you, open up to the book of Hebrews. We’ve got a lot to cover today, so we’re just going to jump in and get to work.

So Hebrews 11, if you want to flip there. If you don’t have a Bible with you, it’s on page 585. Our text to study is going to be verses 8 through 22, but I’m just going to read verse 13 here, and then we’re going to pray. As mentioned, then we’re going to work through this passage.

So Hebrews 11, I’m going to read just verse 13. This is what the Word says: “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.”

Okay, so that’s God’s word for us this morning. Would you please pray with me?

Lord, thank you for gathering us together this morning to sit under your word. God, we do pray that the power of the Holy Spirit would be very present in this time. Please help me, God, to be a good communicator of your word. Please help the congregation be good listeners of your Word. We pray that you would use your Word through your Spirit to speak to our hearts, just to grow us in the faith or draw us to faith. We pray that you’d use this time also just to bring much glory to Jesus. In his name, we pray. Amen.

So this morning, let me start with a quick story concerning my extended family. It was actually almost 14 years ago that my dad passed away, which was a hard time for my family, obviously. But in particular, it was hard for my mom, who was most affected. After my dad died, my mom had to process through a lot of things in life, including many questions that she had about God and his goodness. As she was working through all these things, a friend who had been fairly consistent in inviting my mom to church over the years continued to do so to the point that my mom finally agreed to go with her. Perhaps there she’d find some answers to all the questions she was having.

My mom grew up going to church. She certainly had some biblical knowledge. But shortly after attending this church, the knowledge all came together for her in ways that her questions found answers, and this had a deep impact on my mom. It was really life-changing as the things of God, particularly the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, went from being a little more distant, maybe a little more formal, to being very real, very close, and very warm to my mom, where the life or the message of Jesus Christ became life-changing to her.

As the things of God warmed my mom’s heart, she then began to talk to her parents, my grandparents, who had a very similar church background experience where they also had biblical knowledge, but it was a little more distant and a little more formal. As my mom talked with her parents, she invited them to church to go with her. After a medical scare that my grandpa had, my grandparents agreed to go with her, where in a very similar fashion, the things of God grabbed hold of their hearts in very real personal ways, where their hearts were also warmed by the things of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, and their lives were also changed in really noticeable ways.

Now, fast forward a few years after these life-changing events took place in my mom’s life and in the life of my grandparents. My mom ended up striking up a conversation with a lady from this church, a lady who was actually there from the earliest days when the church was being started. In this conversation, the lady shared with my mom how hard the early days were, how hard they had to work together as a church, where often they would wonder if the church would last much longer.

This lady shared with my mom how the church used to meet in a school, and she had the job of sweeping the floors at the end of the service to ensure everything was put back the way they found it. As she swept, she would testify that she would just pray that God would do something through this new, struggling church, do something in ways that would bring much glory to himself by bringing people to salvation, to faith in Jesus Christ.

As this lady was sharing the story with my mom, my mom started to cry. She told this lady the impact that the church had not only on her, but also on my grandparents and how their lives were changed by the Lord through the ministry of this church. My mom went on to express just this gratitude that she had for people like this lady who she was talking with. If not for people like her doing all they could without knowing what would happen by faith, working towards an unknown future to see the church go forward, if not for this woman and others like her, we trust God, but who knows where my mom and my grandparents would be?

This led to this lady starting to cry as well. She told my mom how when she would sweep, she would do so just praying and praying and praying, hoping that the Lord would do a work, even though in the moment it often seemed very unlikely. But still praying, hoping someday, looking ahead down the road that perhaps the Lord would lead this church in ways that my mom testified the Lord actually did do in her life and in my grandparents’ life.

Now, I tell you that story for a few reasons. First, I hope this is an encouragement to simply invite people to church. Friends, sometimes it doesn’t need to be harder than it is. Sometimes I think we make it harder than it needs to be. There’s no doubt countless people throughout church history have stories like my mom and grandparents, where their lives were changed simply because someone invited them to church, where the message of Jesus Christ warmed their hearts. They believed that Jesus Christ did die for them only to rise again from the dead.

You know, my guess is that even in this room right now, some of you know Jesus Christ simply because someone invited you to church or a Bible study. I mentioned some of my story in the past, but that is my story. Someone invited me to a Bible study, and my life was changed by God.

By the way, on this note, as a reminder, we have a good number of invitations in the back for our Christmas Eve service. Let’s hand these out. You know, this weekend, last weekend, my son Elijah and I went around to our neighborhood and invited them out, and we actually already had people responding with some interest. Church, we can do this.

Okay, second, I tell you the story because this weekend is actually the 14th anniversary of our church here. Throughout the history of our church, especially in the earliest days, those who were with us, I’m sure you identify with the story of the lady and how she would just work and do these things, sweeping the floors with this uncertain future, where she was just looking ahead down the road hoping that God might do something. You can identify with it because in many ways, that is our story. We started with just the most humble beginnings, a real small group of us, where for years we too met in a school, where we had to set up and take down, sweep the floors, and make sure everything looked better after we left than when we found it.

So this is our story. And by the way, to go off what Rob preached on last week, if you were with us from Romans 12, that need we had from the start for people to come together, working harder, sacrificing, praying that the Lord would do a work for his glory through the life-changing message of Jesus Christ. So 14 years later for us, from when we first started, that need actually has not changed, and that actually will never change in the life of our church.

No doubt, hopefully, we’re a little more stable. Hopefully, we’ve grown a little bit in 14 years, but we have not arrived as a church. There’s still a lot of ways that we should grow, and we will always be dependent upon the Lord. No matter how long the Lord gives us, we will always be dependent to work hard together, pray hard together, and do what we can together to trust that the Lord will continue to move our church forward. However many anniversaries the Lord provides for us to celebrate, we’re never going to outgrow our dependency upon the Lord.

Third, I’ll tell you this story, the story of my mom and this lady, just to help set us up for our text today, which is the next in line in our study of Hebrews, specifically Hebrews 11, which details a series of characters who sacrificed and served the Lord in ways that they didn’t fully know the future, where they were very much looking ahead down the road. In fact, they were looking so far down the road that, unlike the lady that my mom talked with, they didn’t get to see the things that they were promised, which is often the case in this life.

No doubt, at times we see the fruits of our labor in this life. In fact, in part, even as we look around this room this morning or think of the things happening in the village kids downstairs, we have already seen some fruits of our labors, however long you’ve been part of Red Village. These are fruits of your labors, whether you’ve been here from the earliest days or just recently. But often, the fruits of our labors that create the biggest ripple are those who come long after we’re gone, where we might not personally see and experience that which is promised.

Okay, so that was the intro. Please look back with me in our text during verse eight. As you’re looking there, if you’re visiting, just so you know, over the last few months as a church, we’ve been slowly working through this letter of Hebrews. The section that we’re currently in, that we started a number of weeks back, details the faith of various characters that we see throughout the Old Testament, which are the scriptures before the incarnation of Jesus Christ, before the story of Christmas.

So a few weeks back, when we started this section, we were given a definition of what faith is. Let me just remind us what that definition is from Hebrews 11:1. It says, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Let me also remind you of something I said a few weeks back, that the author of Hebrews seemed to be organizing the characters in Hebrews 11 into different eras or epochs that we see in the Old Testament storyline.

In the first passage we looked at, the author took us back to creation. Then in the passage we looked at last time, the characters came from the era after sin entered in after creation and up to the flood. We looked at Abel, Enoch, and Noah. Now today, we’re looking at the era after the flood and before God’s people enter into the promised land, which you can read about in the book of Joshua. The promised land is actually something that’s going to be central to our passage today.

The time of that era, from the flood to the promised land, is often referred to as the time of the patriarchs, which starts with a man named Abraham and ends with Jacob and his 12 sons. If you’re reading through the book of Genesis, this time period is found in Genesis 12 through 50.

Okay, so now back to the text, verse eight. We read, “By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance.” This is referring to a passage in Genesis 12. In that chapter, God came to Abraham, telling him to leave his country, his family, his security, and head to a land that God was going to show him. Let’s not underestimate how hard this must have been for Abraham.

For us to put ourselves in his shoes, think about leaving everything—everyone you know, your relational circle, the things that you’ve worked for, your comfort, your security—and now go to a great unknown. Think how hard it would have been for the people in this time period.

Yep, we read in Genesis, in our text today, that in the face of the challenges and the unknowns, we see that he, Abraham, went out, and he went out not knowing where he was going. Right? There’s no Google for him to search, to prepare and plan. There’s no deep diving to get all the information that he could. Rather, by faith, he left. He left without knowing anything about where he was headed. All that Abraham knew was God’s call on him to go.

Verse 9: “By faith he went to live in a land promised him by God, which was a foreign land where he lived in tents.” This is also true for his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob, who also lived in tents, even though they were heirs of Abraham to the same promise, the promise of inheritance that is to come.

Just a couple of thoughts on this. First, the tents. This is not just simply historical detail on how they lived, but I think the tents communicate this wandering aspect of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that they were being called into. This wander is not some type of earthly security, earthly stability, or earthly comfort, which none of these things are wrong in themselves. In fact, they can be good things in the right place.

In the story of Abraham and his family, God was leading them to a place where, by faith, they were to leave all those things and live in tents. Second, the promised land that is to come. I think there’s a twofold way to understand the promised land that is to come. The first is simply the promised land that God’s people were going to enter into, as mentioned in the book of Joshua.

So this is after God’s people left Egypt under the leadership of Moses, which actually will be our text next time in Hebrews 11. They went on a journey to the promised land, which Joshua would lead them into. But there’s also another way to read the promised land, and it’s as a promised land of a better promised land that is to come.

You may remember when we get to Hebrews 11, remember how Joshua entered the promised land as a land of rest, but that land of rest is actually a picture of the ultimate and final rest that God would bring his people, the rest found in the Lord Jesus Christ and the eternal life that is to come. The far better, the far superior promised land that even Joshua entered into.

So as we read through this text, keep those two promised lands in mind: the first promised land, but then the ultimate promised land.

Keep going. Verse 10. “As Abraham lived in tents, he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God,” which also means a reference to eternal life that is to come. So even though he left his homeland to go to a promised land, his sights ultimately were looking past that promised land to the greater promised land, to the greater city that is to come, which is a city, by the way, where we will fully find stability, security, and comfort.

Just on that note, as we walk by faith, what we’re doing is we’re actually walking away from earthly stability, security, and comfort in order that we can find true full security and comfort that’s only found in the Lord.

Okay, so to summarize verses 8 to 10: by faith, Abraham obeyed God’s call in his life, doing so without knowing how things were going to work out, yet trusting in God, trusting in his promises that things were going to work out in the life that is to come.

Okay, this is important for us as we think about walking by faith.

Keep going. Verse 11. “By faith Sarah,” just so we all know who she is—Sarah is the wife of Abraham—”received power to conceive even when she was past the age, since she considered him, with him being the Lord, faithful who had promised.”

Now this story here is one that actually picks up starting in Genesis 11, where when we first meet Sarah, who is called Sarai in chapter 11, we read multiple times in Genesis 11 that Sarah was barren without child. Culturally, in this age, this would have been a great shame to a woman, where no doubt she would have faced challenges to her self-worth. She probably had a lot of different insecurities, frustrations, and hurts, which I actually do think we see played out in her life in Genesis as for years and years and years she would be without child.

Yet by faith, in Genesis as well as in our text today, by faith, Sarah conceived even though she was well past the age of normal childbearing—90 years old. This conception here is presented in the scripture as a miracle, right? This is a unique act of God. But within that miracle, there’s a miracle that took place through normal means of conception that Abraham and Sarah engaged in.

So as a side note, as we approach the Christmas season, this miraculous conception of Sarah—just take note, this is actually one of several miraculous conceptions within the Old Testament storyline that starts with Sarah and really ends with the conception of John the Baptist. Remember him and his mother Elizabeth, who also was barren.

All these miraculous births in the Old Testament storyline came through normal means of conception, but they were setting us up for the most miraculous conception, one that did not come through normal means: a virgin named Mary conceived the child through the power of the Holy Spirit, a child that she would name Jesus because he would save his people from their sins.

So friends, as you read through scriptures, just take note of different themes that you might see running throughout and how those themes perhaps are leading us to the Lord Jesus Christ, which is actually one of the things that we’ve been reading over and over again in our study of Hebrews.

Okay, back to our text, verse 12. “Therefore from one man, Abraham, who was as good as dead in terms of natural ability to conceive,” as both Abraham and Sarah were well past the age of normal childbearing, “yet through Abraham, through Sarah, were born descendants, as many as the stars of heaven, as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”

An incredible family came from this old couple who lived by faith, who trusted in the Lord, who trusted in God’s good plan for them, who conceived a child.

Verse 13: “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised.” This is referring to the eternal promised land. Even though God did a work in them, the promised land, at least in that moment, was not for them to enjoy. Rather, in the text, they could only see them and greet them from afar, which I think is referring to the eyes of faith, where through faith, in their mind’s eye, they could picture this promised land, both the one that Joshua would lead them into and, I think, also eternal life, even though they never physically entered into the promised land themselves.

Now, I should mention that some wonder if this land that they could see from afar was a reference to an ancient story of Abraham, where he was given a vision by God of this promised land that was to come. I tend to think that the scene from afar was actually through the eyes of faith, not this ancient story. But either way, whatever the scene and greeting from afar refers to in the text, the application is the same.

Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob lived by faith, and even though they lived in tents, they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. As they lived in these tents, I think it provides a real picture. This was not their home. They were sojourners, wanderers, pilgrims. They knew their ultimate home was found in the promised land that is to come, the heavenly places where God’s people will dwell forever and ever.

This reality is not only important to them, but this heavenly home is really important for all God’s people of faith, including all of us here today who have faith in Jesus Christ. Remember this: this is not our home. Even if we’re not living in tents, this is not our home. Rather, our home is in heaven, the heavenly home that awaits. We’re just like Abraham and Sarah. We too are strangers, we’re exiles on the earth, we’re sojourners, we’re pilgrims. We walk through life with a suitcase in hand, where we are headed to a better home.

Talk about more in just a second, but to keep going. Verse 14 says this: “For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.” Commentaries I read this week point out that there are a number of ancient literary stories about characters having strong desires to return to their former life, to their former homeland.

Verse 15: “If they had been thinking about that land from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.” This is probably specifically referring to Abraham and Sarah. If they had been thinking about this land that they went out from—this physical homeland in Genesis 11—they’re thinking there. But within that application for us, for all people of faith who have left a life that they used to live before Christ, our former life, in our text, if Abraham and Sarah wanted to return to that homeland, by way of application, if the people of faith want to return to their former life before Jesus Christ, would you know if you’ve been with us in our study, this is what the first readers are considering doing—heading back to their former life?

The text shows that this was a place they wanted to return to. We see opportunity was given. However, even though opportunity was given for Abraham, for Sarah, for the people of faith, verse 16 tells us: “But as it is, they did not take that opportunity to head back.” The reason why is because by faith they desired a better country, a heavenly country, meaning that while appealing and tempting it might be to head back to that which we once lived, to that which is familiar and maybe comfortable, when one has faith in God, where the Spirit of God dwells in our hearts in this new birth, the desires for God, for his better country, in the end, will win out. God’s people will persevere.

Now, unfortunately, this life is not a perfect winning out, even for the people of faith. We all stumble and fall in many ways, where our perseverance often is not as neat and clean, as straight as we want it to be or ought to be, where we’re tempted to maybe head back to our former life, where at times our perseverance can feel pretty bumpy and windy.

But when God has birthed faith in our hearts, he also has given us the promise that he’s going to keep us in the faith and keep us in ways that we will persevere, where in the end, our desires for God and his promised land will be stronger than the desire for the homeland that we left.

In verse 16, we read: “Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God,” which, by the way, is that not a great encouragement to us? God is not ashamed to be called our God. I mean, how often do we prove to be ashamed of God? We’re ashamed either by our actions or perhaps maybe ashamed because of our silence to speak about Him. Yet for the people of faith, God is not ashamed to be our God. There’s no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because on the cross, Christ Jesus took all of our shame on himself.

In our text, God is not ashamed to be called our God. He is the one who has prepared for us a heavenly city that is to come—a heavenly city that we deeply desire. This here, I think, picks up a bit of a theme in Hebrews, which is the theme of better and superior. Throughout the book of Hebrews, Jesus is better; he is superior to all things. The country that he has prepared for his people is better; it’s superior. That’s what we want.

By the way, maybe on this note, there’s a phrase that was a little more common maybe 10 or 15 years ago, popularized by John Piper: the phrase “Christian hedonism.” As Christians, we are actually always pursuing that which is better. We are pursuing that which will bring us the most joy and most pleasure because in doing so, our desires will take us to God in ways we’re seeking to pursue him, enjoy him, the One who is the ultimate of all things.

Friends, that’s really what the letter of Hebrews is teaching us, including our passage here today. In the end, Christians, we’re no different than everyone else who desires the best, who desires to be happy. Where we’re different is we’re not seeking the best in this life. We’re not settling for the fleeting happiness that this life can sometimes offer. It just comes and goes. Rather, we seek happiness; we seek the best we believe is found only in the Lord, in the better country that he has prepared for us.

So this morning, if you’re here and you’re not a Christian and you’re looking for something more, if in your quest for happiness you’re feeling like more and more frustrated, maybe even more and more empty, listen, we are so glad you’re here. Because like a beggar finding bread, we want to tell you where happiness is found. It’s in Jesus Christ, who is always better, who is always superior.

And friend, the promise of Scripture is that if you would turn from your sin, turn from your hedonistic pleasures that are apart from God, and you turn by faith to Jesus Christ, believing that he died for you and rose again from the dead, friend, you would find true happiness as well, where your heart would be warmed by the life-changing love and forgiveness of God.

Keep going, verse 17. Back to Abraham. “By faith, Abraham, when tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son.”

Now, take pause here if you’re not familiar with the story. This comes from Genesis 22. As mentioned, Sarah was able to conceive a son well past the age when conception normally takes place. That child that Sarah and Abraham longed for is Isaac. Through Isaac’s descendants would come as measurable as the grains of sand on the seashore.

In verse 18 of our text, “Through Isaac your offspring will be named.” You can read about Isaac’s birth in Genesis 21. But as I mentioned, verse 17 comes right off the heels of Genesis 21 and from Genesis 22. Even though those chapters come right back to back, there’s actually a decent amount of time that took place in Genesis 22. Now Isaac is a young man, and in this chapter, God instructed Abraham to take this long-awaited child, this heir to the promise, and sacrifice him to the Lord.

This is God’s way of testing Abraham and his faith to see if Abraham would trust him even with his precious only son. Now for us, obviously, it does not take a lot of imagination to recognize how hard this test had to be for Abraham. But as we read Genesis 22, this is exactly what Abraham starts to do. By faith, he takes his only son up on a mountain. Can you imagine how painful each step up the mountain must have been?

Upon arriving at the location, Abraham gets everything in place. He builds an altar. Can you imagine placing each stone to form the altar, getting each piece of wood ready to light to burn up the offering? Throughout this process, Isaac seems to be asking his dear father questions like, “Where would the offering come from?” In our text, in verse 19, by faith we see Abraham put everything in place, doing so in ways we should consider. God was able to even raise Isaac from the dead.

This is an incredible test that God gave to Abraham without trying to belittle any test that any of us have taken or for our college students, belittle finals week that is quickly approaching for you. This is like a test like no other. However, in our passage, as Abraham by faith was going through with the test, we read figuratively speaking, he received Isaac back.

As Abraham did all that he needed to do, as he grabbed the knife ready to slaughter his son, the Lord sent an angel to Abraham to let him know that by faith, he had passed the test. As Abraham passed the test, the Lord provided a ram caught in the thicket who would become a substitute for Isaac, where the ram was offered up in his place—the ram would die, and Isaac would live.

So in our text, in Hebrews, figuratively speaking, by faith, Abraham received back his son from the dead—the very thing Abraham trusted God was able to do. Now, I’m not going to spend a lot of time here, but I’ll let you find the parallels of that story to the story of the Lord Jesus Christ—not just the parallels between Isaac and Christ, but also the ram caught in the thicket who would die as a substitute.

Keep going. Verse 20. We’ll go a little more quickly here. “By faith, Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau,” who were his two sons. You may remember a story from Genesis 27. According to God’s good eternal plan, Jacob tricked Isaac into thinking he was Esau—Esau, who previously sold his birthright to Isaac—where Esau did not act in faith but in disobedience in that scene.

This blessing that Isaac gave to Jacob was a blessing that through his line, not Esau, the promised offspring would come. Yes, Esau received blessings, but not the blessings of the promised offspring.

Verse 21: “By faith, Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph.” If you remember Joseph, this is one of Jacob’s 12 sons, a son that Jacob thought was dead. It was an act of great deceit. Jacob’s other sons sold Joseph into slavery. Yet at the end of Jacob’s life, what man meant for evil, God meant for good. Jacob was reunited with Joseph, who God worked in pretty incredible ways in his life, where he basically took Joseph to be like the second in command of the powerful nation of Egypt, where God then used Joseph to save Jacob and his family from a great famine.

A statement that kept the promise of this offspring that was to come through Abraham intact. At the end of Jacob’s life, in our text, Jacob bowed down in worship over the head of his staff. I think this is a reference to a dream. Remember how Joseph had a dream in Genesis 37 that one day his dad and his brothers would bow down before him, whereas Jacob fell down in worship as he blessed the sons of Joseph.

Finally, where we’ll end today, verse 22: “By faith, Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the Exodus, the Exodus the Israelites were on or about to go on, and he gave directions concerning his bones.” By faith, Joseph believed that the promises given to his great-great-grandpa, the land of promises to come, were going to come true, even though he physically would not dwell in them among the living. Yet by faith, he wanted his bones buried in the promised land.

That’s why it further speaks of verse 13 of our passage. Even the powerful Joseph, mentioned as second in command in Egypt, died in faith, not having received the things promised, where even he had to see them from afar, greet them from afar. For even he, in this great power and comfort in Egypt, was a stranger, an exile in the land.

This leads to some concluding thoughts I have for us in this time before we close out this sermon. I think three things here for you.

First, as we consider this passage, friends, our faith is in God and in his promises. This is something we continue to circle around in chapter 11. But it’s good for us to continue circling around this. Our faith does not rest in the things that are happening or not happening around us. It does not rest in that which we can see in our ever-changing world, our ever-changing circumstances. Rather, our faith is in God, in who he is, in the promises that he has given to us in his word.

Ultimately, the promises that he has given to us through his eternal Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us and our salvation only to rise again from the dead. Not figuratively, but he rose again in actuality. In our text, Abraham had faith in God and the promises that God gave out of an inheritance. In the text, Sarah had faith in God in the promise of a child that she would conceive. In the text, Isaac had faith in God and the promises God gave as he blessed his sons. Likewise, Jacob had faith in God and the promises God gave as he blessed the sons of Joseph.

In the text, Joseph had faith in God and the promise of the promised land that was to come after the Exodus as he gave directions concerning his bones. Church, we walk by faith, not by sight. We walk by faith, looking to our God, trusting in the promises that he has given to us, including promises like forgiveness of sin, promises like he’ll never leave nor forsake his people, promises like in this life he’s going to work all things together for our good.

All things are not good, but God gives the promise that he’ll work them for our good. Promises like eternal life that is to come is that Abraham rightly believed God is able to even raise the dead, starting with the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, with which by faith we’re united.

Church, for us on anniversary weekend, we have faith in God and His promises. We believe the promise that his gospel will go forward, that Christ will build his church, that even hell itself will not prevail against us. This has been the story, not just of our history, but of church history. Yes, no doubt the history of the church. Right? Local churches are born, they grow, they die. No doubt at some point that’ll be true of us as well. Hopefully not for a long time to come. But unless the Lord returns first, someday even this church will die.

But even though local churches die, God’s universal church will not. He gives us the promise that it will prevail, that his gospel will go forward. Friends, our faith is in our God, in the promises that he’s given to us.

Second, our faith is the pursuit of that which is better—always better, always superior. As mentioned earlier, our pursuit of faith is a pursuing; it’s a seeking after the Lord Jesus Christ, where we just want to know him deeper and deeper. We want to know him. We want to know the power of his resurrection. That’s our faith. We want to know Jesus, who is the best.

On this anniversary weekend, let me read a quote that I’ve read probably more than any in our 14 years. This is from C.S. Lewis; I’m sure most of you are familiar with this. Lewis said this: “It would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong but too weak. We’re half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered to us. Like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea, we are too far easily pleased.”

Friends, let’s not be so easily pleased. Let’s not settle for anything less than the Lord Jesus Christ. Rather, by faith, may we pursue him for who he is—the highest treasure in the text. Yes, Abraham and Sarah left a lot, but they left a lot. Why? Because they wanted more. They wanted a city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

Yes, the characters in the text had opportunities to return home, just like you. If you’re a Christian, you have opportunities to head back to your former life—maybe some measures of comfort, security, familiarity. But as it is in the text, the characters didn’t go back. Why? They desired a better country, the heavenly country. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he had prepared for his pilgrimage, his people of faith, the city that is to come.

Church, our faith is a faith in the pursuit of that which is better—far better, far superior. Say it again: let’s not settle for anything less but always want that which is best, which is the Lord Jesus Christ.

One more: friends, our faith is rewarded by God. That reward often will fully be realized down the road. In fact, it will be realized down the road. It’s part of us being strangers and exiles who wander the road of faith as we head to the promised land, this land that’s down the road. In the text, no doubt each character had rewards that they experienced in this life.

For me, I was thinking about this week; I can just picture the happiness of Sarah and Abraham as they bounced baby Isaac on their knees, which no doubt had to be done a little gingerly in their age. In the text, the people of faith did not receive the things promised in this life. Rather, in this life, in the text, they only see them and greet them from afar.

They’re strangers; they’re exiles on this land who are to look ahead. Church, may the same be true of us. Yes, throughout life, we’ll experience different blessings that God has given us. In fact, each year we celebrate another anniversary. This is where we celebrate God’s grace to us as a church. But for us, let’s remember the fullness of our reward. It’s not going to come until later, until down the road, into the eternal life that is to come for us.

And here, now, because of that, we must live in light of that which is to come, doing so in ways that by faith we take God up on his word like the characters did in this text, where we do whatever God calls his people to do in his word, trusting in the end there will be a reward.

To close, one last time, let’s circle back to 14 years of God’s grace and kindness to us at Red Village Church. Church, by faith, for the glory of our God, for our joy in him, and for the joy of those who might come after us, may we live by faith, like strangers and exiles on this land, doing so in ways where we love God, where we love each other. By faith, we’re seeking to make disciples, where we’re teaching others what it looks like to follow Jesus as we contend for the faith.

By the way, we do it in a host of different ways here, but the primary ways are either through mentor relationships or small groups. So if you’re interested in mentoring, please talk to me. I’d love to see more of that in 2025. I’d also love to see our small groups continue to intentionally multiply themselves in this coming year, raising up new leaders to start new groups. If that interests you, you can also talk to me.

As a church, may we also, as strangers and exiles, seek to store up treasures in heaven, where we’re generous with our time, our money, our gifting, and our serving. We’re not sitting on any of these things, hoarding them to ourselves, but by faith, we’re actively using them to bless other people, which at times, perhaps even often, will involve doing mundane things like the lady I started the sermon out with, who by faith, for years swept the floors after church, where by faith, she would pray and pray and pray.

Church, by faith, may we not be ashamed of the gospel; may we not be ashamed of Jesus Christ. But by faith, however long the Lord gives us, with great zeal, passion, and urgency, may we proclaim the message of Jesus to those around us, which could be as simple as just inviting someone to church, which we all can do. And who knows how the Lord might use that just to change someone’s life? Who knows how the Lord might use that to bring others to join us in our walk of faith?

For who knows how the Lord might use our little ripple here to help gather together his people into an eternal home, a home that would be filled with so many and be more than the immeasurable grains of sand on the seashore?

Red Village Church, as strangers and exiles in this land, may we do all that God has called us to do, trusting then in the end, down the road, as we hear the words of our Lord—the one who left all comfort, comfort in heaven, to come for us—that as we hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” that that will be a reward that is totally worth it.

Let’s pray.

Lord, please help us to walk by faith, not by sight. We thank you for those who have gone before us, including Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. Lord, I pray that you would spur on our little church here to continue to walk by faith. Thank you for giving us 14 years of doing this together. Lord, we pray that you continue to give us years within that. Please help us to not settle or compromise as a church, but help us to always pursue that which is best, which is you.

We pray this all in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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