The Letter to the Hebrews
By Faith Abraham Obeyed
Hebrews 11:8
I’ve noticed something puzzling. Most Christians know from God’s Word what commands we are to obey. But many Christians have not seen in God’s Word what it is that enables us to obey those commands.
Here’s an example. We all know that God calls us to meditate on His Word. That’s what we are to obey. But what if you are struggling to do that? What if you are more drawn to checking your stocks, or reading your email, or watching NCIS?
You know what God calls you to do -- meditate on His Word. Your problem is knowing how to do it. If you were struggling to read God’s Word regularly, what would you do?
Maybe you could just get serious and commit – I’m just going to do this. Or maybe you could write down your goal – I will read God’s Word every day. Or maybe you would commit to a time – every morning at 6am. Or maybe you would ask someone to hold you accountable.
But here’s the problem. There may be some benefit in those. But none of those are what God tells us in His Word about how to obey.
So how are we to obey? Turn to Hebrews 11:8. If you need a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand, and we will bring one to you. Hebrews 11 is on page 1007 in the Bibles we are passing out.
As you are turning there, let me give you the big picture of what the author is telling us. In chapters one through the first half of chapter ten he has told us that Jesus Christ is the very Son of God who conquered death, paid for our sins, destroyed Satan’s power, sympathizes with us in our weaknesses, and who is the perfect priest with the perfect sacrifice for our sins.
Then in 10:19 through v.39 he says therefore we should
· draw near to God;
· cling to God’s promises;
· encourage each other so no one falls away;
· and stir up our faith in Christ as our better and lasting possession.
And then because he has just talked about how important faith is, in ch.11 he helps us understand what faith is.
· Vv.1-2 – Faith assures us that God keeps His promises
· V.3 – Faith believes in God as Creator
· V.4 – From Abel -- faith believes in God as our all-satisfying Treasure
· Vv.5-6 – From Enoch -- faith conquers death
· V.7 – From Noah -- faith brings the gift of perfect righteousness and helps us resist the world.
And then in v.8 the author tells us that faith is how we obey. Let’s read that verse –
8 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.
To understand what’s going on here, let’s ask -- what did God call Abraham to do? In v.8 we see that God called Abraham to go out to a place that Abraham did not know.
To see what this meant, keep your finger here in Hebrews 11 and turn back to Genesis 12 (p.8). Genesis 12 is the passage in the Old Testament where these events actually take place. Look at v.1 –
Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.
Here’s a map to show the distances we are talking about. God gave this command to Abraham when he was living here in Ur of the Chaldeans. So God was calling Abraham to leave everything and travel 600 miles to a place he did not know anything about.
So imagine you are Abraham. Look at all you have to leave. Can you feel how costly that would have been? God calls Abraham to obey a command that will be costly. And God calls all of us to obey commands that are costly. He calls us --
· To love our enemies – costly.
· To share the Gospel with others – costly.
· To forgive everyone who hurts us – costly.
· To battle sin – costly.
So God call us to obedience that’s costly. And God called Abraham to obedience that was costly. But Abraham obeyed. So it’s crucial that we learn how he did it. So let’s ask -- how did Abraham obey?
To answer that keep your finger here in Genesis 12 and flip back to Hebrews 11. Look again at v.8 –
8 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.
So how did Abraham obey? Two simple words – by faith. But for many Christians something terrible has happened to those two words. For many Christians those two words are just a cliché. They have lost any real meaning.
So let’s think about this. Abraham obeyed by faith – which means he obeyed by means of faith. So what does that mean?
Here’s an example. If you were planning on traveling to San Francisco by bike – by means of a bike – the bike would be HOW you would get to San Francisco. That is, the way you would go to San Francisco would be by getting on your bike and starting to pedal. The bike is what you would use in order to get to San Francisco.
And Abraham obeyed by faith – by means of faith. So that means faith was HOW he was going to obey. That is, the way he would obey would be by means of having faith. Faith was what he would do in order to obey.
So faith means something. If you were going to go to San Francisco by bike – that would mean biking is what you do in order to get to San Francisco. And if you are going to obey by faith – that means faith is what you do in order to obey.
But what does that mean? What does it mean to obey by faith? To answer that we must be clear on what faith is. And we saw that in v.1 –
Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
So what are these hoped for things? These unseen things? They are what God has promised us. So faith means trusting all that God promises to be to us in Christ Jesus. So faith is always looking to God’s promises, resting in God’s promises, trusting God’s promises.
So then what does it mean for Abraham to obey by faith? If faith means trusting God’s promises, and Abraham obeyed by faith, that means Abraham obeyed by trusting God’s promises. To see how he did this, turn back to Genesis 12.
Look again at what God says to Abraham – and notice not just the command, but also the promises God connects to the command --
1 Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.
2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
Did you catch those four promises?
I will make of you a great nation. At that point Abraham and Sarah were childless – but God was going to make of them a great nation.
I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. God will lavish His blessings on Abraham, and make him great, and as a result he would be a blessing everywhere he went.
I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse. So God Himself will protect Abraham from those who might harm him.
In you all the families of the earth will be blessed. Because of sin the world was under God’s curse. But in Abraham all the families – people from all the people groups of the earth would be blessed by God. How would that happen? Through the Messiah who would be born in the line of Abraham.
So Abraham obeyed by faith, which meant he did not just focus on the command. He did not just say I’m supposed to go. No. He obeyed by faith. Faith was what he did in order to obey. So his first step would be to trust God’s promises.
Now this is not easy. We have indwelling sin which makes us not want to trust God’s promises. So Abraham would have had to pray and ask God to strengthen his faith. And he would have known that faith comes from hearing the word of God – so he would have prayed over these promises. And as he did that – the Holy Spirit would have strengthened his faith so Abraham would have known – if I obey God --
God will make of me a great nation
God will bless me and make me a blessing
God will protect me
God will bless every people group on the earth through me
Now think about it. If Abraham believed that if he obeyed God he would receive all these promises – what would Abraham do? He would obey. By faith.
Abraham obeyed by trusting God’s promises. But what’s shocking is that many followers of Jesus try to obey without trusting God’s promises.
Here’s an example. How many of you know the command that whatever we do, we are to work heartily as for the Lord and not for men? How many of you have heard of that command? How many of you have tried to obey that command?
OK. Now -- how many of you know the promise that Paul gives to motivate that command? See? For some tragic reason we have been taught commands – but not the promises that will enable us to obey the commands.
But look at what Paul says in Colossians 3:23-24 --
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward.
So God commands us to work heartily as for the Lord and not for men. But notice HOW we are to do that. It’s by knowing – by trusting – that from the Lord we will receive the inheritance as our reward.
Remember – the inheritance is His presence – His all-satisfying presence now and forever. Remember also that this reward is not something we earn or deserve. The only reason God can reward sinful people like us is because Jesus paid for our sins. So because of Jesus’ death on the Cross, God mercifully promises to reward our undeserving work with more of His presence forever.
So God does not just want you to work heartily. God wants you to work heartily knowing – trusting – that God will mercifully reward this undeserving work with the inheritance -- more of Himself forever.
Now let’s think of something you would usually not do heartily -- like taking out the trash. What would happen when you trust that God is worth everything – and that taking out the trash will bring you more of God forever? You’ll take out the trash heartily.
But what if you don’t want to take out the trash – what’s the problem? It’s that you are not knowing – trusting – that God is worth everything and that you will receive more of Him forever by taking out the trash.
So what should you do? Ask God to strengthen your faith. Then you should pray over this promise until you feel the Holy Spirit changing your heart so you know that God is your inheritance and that you will receive more of God by taking out the trash. And when you feel that and know that and trust that – you’ll be heading out the door with the trash.
OK – quiz time.
Let’s say someone doesn’t want to take out the trash, but he knows he’s supposed to, so he does. Is that obeying by faith? No. Because faith means trusting God’s promises – and there was nothing about trusting God’s promises.
Let’s say someone doesn’t want to take out the trash, but he knows the guys in his DNA group will ask about how he served his wife, so he does it. Is that obeying by faith? No. Because he wasn’t trusting that he would receive more of God.
To obey by faith means obeying by trusting God’s promises. So when you read God’s Word, don’t just notice the commands. Notice also the promises God gives which he wants us to trust so we will obey the commands.
For example, look at Galatians 6:9 --
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
What’s the command? Do not grow weary of doing good. But we are to obey by faith – so what’s the promise that God gives to help us not grow weary? In due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
Or look at Luke 14:13-14 --
But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.
What’s the command? Invite the poor, the crippled, the lame to your feast. But we are to obey by faith – so what’s the promise Jesus wants us to trust? That we will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.
Questions?
Abraham obeyed by faith. That means he obeyed by trusting God’s promises. He didn’t just grit his teeth and try to do commands. He trusted God’s promises and so wanted to obey the commands. Let’s follow his example.