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A Journey of Faith (Heb 11:8-16)

I'm glad to be back. I was away last Sunday, being in China in a seminar on discipleship over there. I was away for five days, from Wednesday to Monday and when I was there, I really missed home. I miss what is familiar here in Singapore – I miss the comfort here in this land, I miss my wife, my children, I miss the church when it was Sunday morning. And I thought to myself, I could do this if it's five days but I will really struggle if it's five weeks. I'll cry if it's five months and I really will hate it if it is for five years.

And then I thought to myself, there is a man who was called to leave home, not just for five weeks, five months or five years, or even five decades. But there was a man who was called to leave home for a hundred years. Who is this man? Well, this man is what we have read of, just now, when we had Scripture reading. We're talking today about Abraham in the book of Hebrews. In Hebrews 11 and verse 8, we are told:

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance…
(Hebrews 11:8 ESV)

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out. Abraham at this point was 75 years old and he was called out to journey to a foreign land and the journey will take ultimately a hundred years, to the very day he died at 175. This was an amazing journey taken by this amazing man.

Well, Abraham lived in a place called Ur of the Chaldees initially. This place is in modern-day Iraq. If you look at the map today, Ur of the Chaldees is modern-day Iraq. And the environment he lived in was a paganistic one, in that his family served other gods (Joshua 24:2). They were idols worshipers, they were a sinful people who did not know the true and living God, but served other gods. And it is in such a context that the God of the heavens appeared to Abraham and called out to him. The Bible says in Genesis:

… the Lord said to Abram (added by Pastor: that it his… Abram… his name before it was changed to Abraham), “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.
(Genesis 12:1 ESV)

Now, God gave him a command, God gave him an order. And not only that, God gave him a promise, in verse 2:

… 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.
(Genesis 12:2 ESV)

So, God says, “I will give you a land.” God says, “I'll make your name great.” God says, “I will bless you and make of you a great nation and through you, many will be blessed.” And Abraham, the Bible tells us, obeyed (Heb 11:8) and he embarked on this hundred-year journey to the Promised Land.

So this morning we're going to look at Abraham, a journey of faith. This journey is a journey that parallels your life. And so we’re going to start by looking at this story that is before us and then we’re going to apply this story to our own spiritual pilgrimage and journey towards God. Now this faith Abraham had, to embark on this journey, was a remarkable one because the Bible tells us:

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.
(Hebrews 11:8 ESV)

He did not know where he was going. Imagine this: God just appears to you one day and says, “Leave. Go.” And you will ask, “God, go where?” God didn't tell Abraham. He had no clue; he did not know where he was going. God did not show him a photo on his iPhone. God did not give him a color brochure. He probably has never been to this place before. He probably has no friends or family. He knows that when he goes to this land, he would be a foreigner, an exile, a stranger. He wouldn’t know where to sleep, where to stay, how to keep on living and surviving. He didn't know what are the dangers or the enemies that were lurked therein. But it didn't matter. Abraham, even though he did not know where to go, nevertheless obeyed and went out – remarkable!

Imagine if someone calls you today to leave home and go somewhere else, you will say, “No way, there are so many things to take care of.” Not Abraham, he obeyed. And the reason given in the Bible that he obeyed is because of faith. He believed God, he believed that God will give him a land, he believed that God will make his name great, he believed that God will bless many people through him and so, he took a step and went on this journey.

Timestamp 0:05:03.7

Now, many of us will suppose that when a man obeys God in faith, God will bless him, right? I mean, that's how it works. That's why God is God; He is faithful to reward those who believe Him. So we will suppose Abraham obeying God in faith, stepping out, following God would now meet with wonderful blessings.

We could probably write the story as such: After he walked out, God gave him a huge piece of land – prime property like Orchard road. And God is going to give him lots and lots of children. Somehow, Sarah will be extremely fertile, give birth one by one, triplets, quadruplets each time. And then after that, they grow up very fast, got wise very fast and they also have their grandchildren very quickly and soon enough, he has a huge family and because he has a huge family, his name is now great. And this is probably what we would thought when a man obeys God in faith but surprise, surprise, nothing like this ever happened. In fact, the opposite took place. Even though Abraham obeyed God in faith and took a step into the foreign land, he did not experience the blessings in his lifetime. The Bible tells us:

By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.
(Hebrews 11:9 ESV)

He went about living in tents. You know you live in tents means you don't own the place, right? Because if you own the place, you’ll probably build a house. Some of you might have lived in tents in East Coast Park. You go there, you pitch a tent, you sleep there but you know this is not your home. This is just a temporary dwelling. Abraham went about his life living in tents. You say, “How long?” One night lah, East Coast Park. No, no, hundred years, no settled place, no place to call his own but temporary arrangements. In fact, the Bible becomes very absolute when you look at Acts 7 and verse 5, when God says:

Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot's length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child.
(Acts 7:5 ESV)

He gave Abraham no inheritance in that land, not even a foot’s length. So I did not invent this. God specifically said, “Abraham obeyed me. He stepped out in faith, I did promise him many things, but he got nothing of it in his lifetime.” He had not even a single square foot of property in the Promised Land.

Okay, maybe he doesn't have land but what about kids? He must have many children, right in his lifetime? No, he had one with Hagar, his handmaid got Ishmael but that's not quite counted in the grand scheme of things. So he had one. After many tries, after many years, after many wasted urine pregnancy test kits, finally, they got Isaac and you would have thought maybe after that, many more but no, there's only Isaac.

And Isaac was married and had children and he only had two – Jacob and Esau. And you would have thought maybe Jacob and Esau will be more productive and have more children, but by the time Abraham died, they were only 15 years old. So, this poor man Abraham had all the promises of God, no land to his name, one real son of promise – Isaac, two grandchild, grandsons. You couldn't call that multitude. You couldn't call that “my descendants are like the stars of the sky” or “the sand of the seashore”, just these few. So, the Hebrews author marks this and say:

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.
(Hebrews 11:13 ESV)

These, including Abraham, all died in faith. Why, because they did not see, they did not receive the things that were promised. Well, that's quite a shocker because in our theology today, we think that faith in God will always be rewarded today in this life, almost like instant gratification. I obey God to make a sacrifice in my job and God will immediately bless me with something. I obey God in stepping out of this sin and God will imme... We almost imagine it will be an immediate reward but hey, this Abraham didn't get anything like this for a hundred years. So, his name was not great during that time. He was not the man to whom many would say, “I'm blessed,” or through whom many will say “I’m blessed.” He didn't inherit the land. So he might have been thinking, “Ha, God is pulling a fast one on me, He cheated me. I'm going to go back to Ur of the Chaldees.” Could he go back? Certainly he could. The author again says:

If they (added by pastor: that includes Abraham) had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.
(Hebrews 11:15 ESV)

He could very well go back to Ur of the Chaldees but he didn't. Even though he had no land, even though he had not descendants like that of the sand of the seashore, he kept on trusting God. He kept on this pilgrimage, he did not look back, he did not give up, he did not quit on God, he kept following.

Timestamp 0:10:57.6

The question now is: How is this even possible? Won’t he be discouraged? Won’t he be disappointed? Won’t he feel like God just took him on a wild goose chase? How come, how come Abraham could keep on journeying in faith? What motivated him? The answer:

… he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
(Hebrews 11:10 ESV)

Sometimes, we think Abraham is a blur guy, just follow and go and didn't really have deep theology. No, no, no, he had deep theology. He believed in the life after death, he believed in the future that is to come, he believed in the life in the heavens with the God who created him. So, he was looking forward. He was not looking to the land that he was stepping on, he was trusting God for a future that is glorious – a city that has foundations. That means, a city that is imperishable, whose designer and builder is God. Just in case you think: “How do you know this is heaven? It may be another earthly city.” No, the answer is not, because it tells us:

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.
(Hebrews 11:16 ESV)

So Abraham was looking forward to that heavenly city. That kept him going. He says:

“I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”
(Genesis 23:4 ESV)

I am a sojourner and foreigner among you. He says I am just pass… This is the time when he was trying to buy a piece of land, a piece of property, a cave to bury his wife Sarah when she died. And this is how he speaks about his life for the past decades. He says, “I am simply a sojourner and foreigner among you. This is not my land. I'm just passing through. My real home? Not Ur of the Chaldees which I came from but forward, the heavenly city to which I am heading.” So the author 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. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.
(Hebrews 11:13-14 ESV)

Now, these all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but they saw them and greeted them from afar, they were going to embrace heaven as it were and they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth; they were aliens, they were foreigners, they did not really belong here – amazing faith to trust God regardless of present circumstances around us. No wonder the Bible says, therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God (Heb 11:16) – stunning statement that occurs only here in the Bible. God is not ashamed to be called their God. Why, because they are a people who trusts God, believes God and pants for what God wants to give them, and what God has prepared to give them.

So this is a remarkable man, Abraham, who was called to step out of this sinful environment in Ur of the Chaldees, to obey God, to go to a land that is yet unknown to him, to live like a stranger and a pilgrim who is not discouraged by the lack of fulfillment of promises in his lifetime because he trusted God to fulfill His promises in God's time frame. And he looked towards the heavenly city, never gave up, never turned back, kept pressing on and with such, God is well pleased.

Timestamp 0:15:13.2

So this is the story of this remarkable father of faith, Abraham. But like I said, this is not… I'm not here to tell a story, I'm not here to give a history lesson. This is preaching, this is about spiritual lessons for your life, and I want to say that the journey of faith Abraham took is a journey of faith all of us will take. The stories given in Hebrews 11 are not just exotic stories about amazing faith of some spectacular man that none of us could ever have. But actually the intent of the author is saying, the faith of Enoch, the faith of Noah, the faith of Abel, the faith of Abraham is the faith of the true believer. And this is the kind of faith and life that you and I should also exhibit. These are examples.

Watchman Nee, he says, “The Christian experience, from start to finish, is a journey of faith.” It’s not a unique statement. John Bunyan, way before him, has given us a Christian classic called “Pilgrim’s Progress”. John Bunyan's theology informs him that the Christian life is like a pilgrim going on a journey and we’re going from where we were to where God is. It’s a journey towards Him. That's what Christianity is about. It’s a progress, it's a journey, it's a pilgrimage.

Let me ask you today: “How is your pilgrimage of faith?” You say, “Pastor, when did I ever get on a pilgrimage? I'm still here in Singapore. I never really left my country.” Ah, I’m talking about spiritual pilgrimage and a spiritual pilgrimage is one that begins and is marked and is continued by obedience (Heb 11:8). You say, “Where is my pilgrimage?” It's a pilgrimage of obedience, a pilgrimage of obeying God to leave the Ur of the Chaldees to go further and further and further away from that place to where God is, where God wants me to be.

Faith like Abraham is about the walk, not the talk. You know if you ask Abraham, “Hey, Abraham, do you believe God?” “Yeah, I do, I do, I do. I do believe him.” “What does He want you to do?” “He wants me to leave Ur of the Chaldees.” “So why have you been staying here for the past 50 years?” “Well, you know, I just don't feel like leaving.” “But you believe God, right?” “Yeah, I believe God but I just don’t want to leave. I say I believe but I won’t leave.” You know, to anyone who talks to Abraham, you’ll say, “You have no faith. You say you have faith but you don’t really have faith.”

How do you know Abraham have faith? By faith, Abraham obeyed. Real faith is obedient to God. It's not talk, it's walk. It starts with a step out of Ur of the Chaldees. And this is exactly how the New Testament teaches it. Paul, in his great treaties of the Gospel – in Romans, begins by saying:

through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,
(Romans 1:5 ESV)

I'm here to bring about the obedience of faith. Paul says, “I'm here to preach to you the Gospel. I'm here to help you come to faith in Jesus Christ. But let me tell you something, this faith in Jesus Christ is not idle or passive, it will result in obedience. And when we obey God because we believe Him, it will be something that praises His name – “for the sake of his name among all the nations”. So that's how Paul began, and that is also how Paul ended when he says, “to bring about the obedience of faith”:

but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith
(Romans 16:26 ESV)

We live in a culture that is so easily satisfied with someone raising his hand, saying the sinner’s prayer and we say, “Amen, you're on the way to heaven.” He may go to heaven; I'm not discounting that. But how do you know if it's genuine faith? Simply because he prayed, or simply because a pastor prayed? No, I know if he has faith if he has obedience in his life. That's how you know.

But we like to so comfort ourselves that if someone just said this or prayed that, done deal. Phew! It’s okay, he’s a Christian. That’s all we need to do. Would you do that for your own children? Would you be satisfied if your children just professes faith but doesn’t exhibit any obedience to God, would you be happy? No, deep down in your heart, you know his heart has not been changed. And for yourself, don't sit here and be self-deceived. If for your entire Christian pilgrimage, you are still at Ur of the Chaldees, I say you have no faith in Jesus Christ.

Timestamp 0:20:29.1

Now, let me be clear: it is not that you obey to be saved. No, nobody obeys the laws in order to be saved. But if you are truly saved and you have faith in Jesus, you will have obedience. Jesus tells us this is what the great commission is about:

teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
(Matthew 28:20 ESV)

Today we minimize the great commission to just getting people sign their name, say a prayer, raise their hands. The great commission is to teach them to “observe all that I have commanded you”. It’s obedience. We know this obedience is impossible apart from faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That's the first step, sure. But this first step will necessarily evidence itself in a continuous life of obedience. And I say to you, if you truly want to fulfill the great commission, take a good look at Matthew 28 – not our modern church version, but the version Jesus gave. Jesus Himself says:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
(Matthew 7:21 ESV)

Many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, claim my name, lay hold of the claim that I am a Christian.” And Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of God, but the one who does the will of my Father.” Now these are the ones who have real faith. These are the ones who really believe me as Lord. They do the will of the Father.

This morning let me ask you: Have you had this obedience of faith in your life? Folks, have you stepped out of the Ur of the Chaldees of your life? Have you stepped out from pornography? Have you stepped out from worldliness? Have you stepped out from bitterness and hatred and an unforgiving spirit? You say, “I come to church, I believe in Jesus, I have even been baptized. It doesn't matter if I'm still living in these sins for the past 20 years.” I say to you, you are deceiving yourself. Real faith results in obedience. You’ll step out of Ur of the Chaldees, not 100%, not perfectly; we all are on a pilgrimage. But you know what? There is a progress, there is a difference; there will be if there is real faith.

Some of you are in an unequal yoke position. You’re with someone who is not a Christian and you are intending to marry. Step out of that. Some of you are in an adulterous relationship. Let me say this: as a pastor, I've seen and I’ve heard in our church sad cases. We think it is impossible; it will not take place in the church. Don’t fool yourself, it’s right here. And if you’re someone in that relationship and you still feel it is perfectly okay because you’re coming to church, you’ve been baptized, and you stay in Ur of the Chaldees, my friends, I fear for your soul. If you truly believe in Jesus, you’ll not be satisfied there. You’ll say, “I want to come out. I want to obey God.”

Some of us need to step out of Ur of the Chaldees not just in terms of sin, but maybe step out of Ur of the Chaldees in terms of comfort zone. You know obedience to God is also obedience to what he wants us to do? Some of you are not willing to step out of the Ur of the Chaldees because this is your home, this is where you are comfortable and you know God wants you to take a new step of faith serving Him and so on. But you say, “No, I prefer Ur. That’s unknown, that's difficult. I do not know the kind of people I’ll meet. I do not know the difficulties in ministry. I'm not going to take a step there.” Real faith obeys.

Timestamp 0:24:52.7

Some of you are introverts. Actually I'm an introvert, believe it or not. Some of you are introverts and you don't like to be in community. You don’t like to be in crowds, you don’t like to be with a lot of people, you just like to be with yourself. But the idea of community is not about yourself, it's from God. I like to be alone. Let me tell you: God says I’ve saved you that you may live in community. But I’ve always been living alone. Well, you have been saved by Jesus. He wants you to live in community.

And it is sad when I think in our church, one in two Gospeliters are not in Gospel communities, at least not in care groups. You may have community outside, not community center community ah, but Gospel community, spiritual community, Christ-centered community. If you don’t even have that, I say to you, “Why?” Oh, because I don't like it. I, too busy lah, my life very busy, a lot of things to do. But what about God's commands in the Bible to serve one another, exalt one another, encourage one another, assemble together? I know He said that, but I just don’t want to step out of my Ur of the Chaldees. No obedience of faith. I can’t square up. I mean if this is an option, sure. But this is not an option In the Bible. Faith obeys. Faith obeys God to step out of your comfort zone to serve one another, to serve the people outside the body of Christ, to serve our neighbours.

Some of you want to serve maybe but you’re scared it's an unknown territory. You know, I do not know whether I can serve as a greeter or usher. I do not know whether I can serve as a CG leader because I'm scared of people, and they may say things that may hurt me and I’m very scared of all that. Well, Abraham had a lot of things to be scared about, I'm sure, but he obeyed, and he obeyed.

Maybe you need to step out in your area of giving. Maybe you need to step out of your comfort zone in terms of God's calling for your life. He may want you to do something and you know He's been speaking to you for a long while, but you sit there because you fear. Would we be obedient?

Now, let me just put this in perspective. Pastor, you mean when I serve God and I'm in a care group as God commands, everything will be nice and easy? You mean I'll be so happy in care group, I’ll enjoy it so much I… if I serve people, it will be so easy for me? No, I say no. No.

When Abraham stepped out, we have thought that he would have the land and the descendants but he didn't have it, didn't he? He didn’t and I'm not here to deceive you to say, “Hey, you join a care group today, all your problems will solve away. Maybe you join a care group; you have more problems in life. I actually think so. If you really care about people and if you really relate with people, you have more problems.

When you step out to serve God, you have plenty of problems. One sure way of avoiding problems in church is just come service and go home. No problem, clean, easy, nice, really. And many of you are very happy with such a clinical Christianity – totally sterile, no germs, no need to shake hands, no need to say “hi”, no saliva, it’s clean, simple, just sit here, sit far away so that my saliva won’t go to you. And you’re very happy with that but you’re at the Ur of the Chaldees, folks. You’re still stuck there.

There are plenty of problems. There’ll be plenty of difficulties. People frustrate us, people irritate us, sure. I've been a pastor, I’ve been irritated countless times, but I am very glad I'm not at Ur of the Chaldees today. And I want to continue to go further and further away from Ur of the Chaldees and I am satisfied to know it’s not about here and now. I may be abused, you may be laughed at, people may treat you nastily but you know what, like Abraham, your eyes are to the heavenly city before you. That's what motivates me and that's what I think will motivate you, because if you're looking for satisfaction here and now, if you're always thinking when I obey God, my son will be healed, I will get a promotion, I will have lots of money, I'll be happy and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I tell you, you will never have the faith of Abraham, you will never have the faith like that of the missionaries and the martyrs of old who were willing to abandon all, suffer, sacrifice, serve. Why, because they had their eye towards heaven.

Timestamp 0:30:32.1

That's why I hate the prosperity, and the health and wealth Gospel. It tells you that when you obey God, He’s going to give you a Mercedes here today. You obey God; He’s going to give you a Sentosa Cove today. I tell you what it creates. It creates spiritual whims who want only instant gratification, who will never radically lay down their lives here on this earth, because they are desperately grabbing at life in this earth. That's not the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

You go and ask Abraham, “Why did you follow God out of the Ur of the Chaldees?” Oh, because He's going to give me a Mercedes here. No, I follow Him because my eye is towards the heavenly city. I believe that He is God and He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. And the world may laugh at me, the world may say, “You’re alien, you’re stranger, you’re nobody.” But it doesn't matter. I trust Him, and God is not ashamed to be my God. A.W. Pink says:

“To seek after Heaven must be the chief aim and supreme task which the Christian sets before him: laying aside all that would hinder, and using every means which God has appointed. The world must be held loosely, the affections be set upon things above, and the heart constantly exercised about treading the Narrow Way, which alone leads thither.”

To seek after Heaven must be the chief aim and supreme task which the Christian sets before him. Today, we seek everything under the sun, right now in your heart, many of us. It may be an image of a car, house, number of zeros in your bank account – these are what you live for. You may not want to admit it but this is how you live. But Pink tells us, no, you’ve lived the wrong way. The right way, the chief aim and the supreme task is to seek after heaven. You see, if you don't believe God, you don't believe in heaven, then live for this world, by all means. This the only thing you live for. But if God be God and that His promises are real, then why would you want to live for this earth when He promises a heavenly city to come? So he says we must lay aside all that would hinder, and use every means by which God has appointed. This world must be held loosely, the affections be set upon things above, and the heart constantly exercised about treading the narrow way, which alone leads thither.

Strangers and pilgrims, would you go on a holiday in Phuket or in Malaysia for five days, get there and say, “Hey, let's build a house. Let's pay money and get people to build a nice mansion in Phuket.” People look and you, “You ‘siow’ ah [‘siow’ means crazy in Hokkien]. Why you build? You’re only here for five days.” But that’s that kind of insanity Christians can have when we try to build our mansions here and forget that we are just strangers and pilgrims passing through this land. A simple poem goes like this:

“It is not for me to be seeking my bliss
And building my hopes in a region like this;
I look for a city which hands have not piled,
I pant for a country by sin undefiled.”

Timestamp 0:34:18.1

I think Christianity today is heading in a very dangerous trajectory. When people are trusting God, coming to church only because God gives me the here and now – health now, the wealth now, the blessings now, the word of faith now, everything is about the here and now. I tell you, there is a great departure from the faith of the patriarchs. That’s not faith, not biblical faith.

Brothers and sisters, I urge you to live in such a way that when that day of your end draws near, when you're about to die and take your last breath, you would be able to say, “I am going home,” because many people today on that day they die will say, “I am leaving home.” It's a big difference. I'm living for that day when I will die and I will say, “God, finally I'm coming home to you.” That's how I want to live. I hope that's the way you want to live. “The more our hearts are attracted to heaven, the less will the poor things of this world appeal to us.” [A.W. Pink]

You know what's the great cure for worldliness? Remember the positive power of affection? Replace it; replace it with a hope, with a joy, with an anticipation of the real rewards and city and blessing that is to come.

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.
(Hebrews 11:6 ESV)

And they who seek the Lord and trust in Him will never be ashamed because God rewards those who seek Him; He’s faithful. Now the difference is this, time frame, time reference is different. Our time reference: 70, 80 years now. God's time reference: future for all eternity. Which one would you prefer? Well, you’ll never be ashamed. God has prepared that city and you can trust Him.

Today when we look back at Abraham's life, we say, “What a champion, what a hero of faith, what wisdom, what faith to trust God.” Today he’s truly a name that is great. Many religions today might have heard about Abraham, certainly Christians, we know Abraham. And because he's the example of faith, many likewise have followed his footsteps to trust God and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Abraham today must be satisfied that the hundred-year journey is one that is richly rewarded. You can trust God too. My home is in heaven; I’m just traveling through this world. Pack lightly, folks. You don't have to carry a lot to heaven, leave it all here, something far greater up there for you. I pray we will all follow Abraham in this journey of faith. Let's bow for a word of prayer together.

I want to lead you in this time to reflect. The sermon really is not over because I just want you in this quietness of your heart to contemplate some applications for your soul. In this journey of faith, picture yourself today, where are you in this journey? From Ur of the Chaldees to the heavenly city, where are you on your pilgrimage?

I want to say to those who are here maybe for the first time. You do not know Jesus; you’re still at Ur of the Chaldees. Maybe this morning, God is speaking through his servant here to call you out of Ur of the Chaldees. Maybe today you’ve heard His voice, you’ve heard His word that says, He is God, He's glorious, He’s holy and He will deal with sin. And you’ve at the same time heard that God is love and He wants to save you from your sin. This morning, I pray you’ll see your own sinfulness and your own helplessness and may you turn your eyes to Jesus, because Jesus is the Saviour sent by God, His Only Son, who is born into this world to die for your sins and my sins. This is my prayer and I hope this is your prayer that the spirit of the living God would grant to you repentance that you’ll turn from your sins and believe and have faith in Jesus Christ, God’s Son.

You know what? This is the message; this is the voice of God that calls you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to call you out from sin to now belong to him. This morning, my friends, would you hear this call? Do you recognize the mercy and grace of this call? Abraham did not seek God; it is God who sought out Abraham and today, God is seeking you today. He calls you, “My child, come out from Ur. Come and follow me, come and follow My Son, be a disciple of Jesus, repent of your sins, believe in My Son, follow Him.” Would you do that?

Timestamp 0:40:28.9

Now, some of you have left Ur of the Chaldees and you have been on this journey, but this journey has been difficult. You have trials, you have difficulties, you have sickness, you have adversities, people laugh at you and you are saying to yourself, “Maybe it's not worth it after all. I want to go back to Ur of the Chaldees. Maybe I should return.” Ah, then remember the father of faith Abraham. He did not return. He steadfastly, patiently waited upon the Lord and kept following Him. My friends, this is why Hebrews is written for us so that we will not swing back in unbelief but we will endure and keep trusting because if you turn back on Jesus, there remains no sacrifice for your sins. There is no other name under heaven whereby you may be saved. Keep at it.

But may I say also some of you are thinking of quitting in life, quitting in your marriage, quitting in your ministry. Look to heaven. You may be in a difficult marriage but look to heaven. Can I encourage you too; some of you are stuck in sin – pornography, adultery, unequal yoke, bitterness, covetousness, worldliness. God has been calling you, speaking to you for some time now and maybe this morning is a time for you to make a clean break, to repent, to get out and follow Him.

Some of you need to take a step of faith to serve, to give, to be part of a Gospel community. Take that step out of your comfort zone. Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour is never in vain in the Lord. I pray you’ll make godly decisions today.

But, let me end with this. Abraham is not the foremost premier sojourner or pilgrim because Jesus alone is. He’s the one who left everything – He left the glories of heaven, He obeyed the Father's will, He came to this sinful world to be born in weak flesh, took on human nature, became one of us, suffered, had no place to call His own. He said, “The foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” He went through amazing ordeals. Right at the garden, He agonized, tempted maybe to turn back, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me but He nevertheless stayed the course and fulfilled the Father's will.

And He went to the cross. You say, “Why?” Because He went to the cross for the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross. And today, He is risen. He is our Saviour, He is our leader, He’s our king, He's our brother and through Him all nations be blessed. This is our Saviour and our pilgrimage of faith is following the pilgrimage of Jesus Christ. Like Jesus, this world is not our home. Like Jesus, let us march towards Zion, the heavenly city. Like Jesus, let us pray, “Lord, make me strangers and pilgrims here on earth.”

Father, we thank you this morning for Your Word. Bless it now to each and every heart that we will not just be hearers but we’ll make choices of faith. Lord, let us go onward on this pilgrimage, further and further from Ur, closer and closer to you. All, may we have faith like that of Abraham’s, not a hankering after instant gratification and false hopes here but a resolute trust in the reward in heaven that is to come. Bless your church; bless each one gathered this morning. We pray in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

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