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Hebrews 11:13, "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off,
and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the
earth."

This morning, the continuation of our natural lives with breath and being needs to be continually marked by the walk of faith. The walk of faith and race of patience that we have to exercise are never laid down until the day that we pass from this vale of tears to the next or the Lord descends from heaven with a shout to take us home to be with Him forevermore. At that day, faith will be made sight, and the things that we press toward (but not seeing naturally) will be manifest and before us for all eternity. The culmination of those promises will be realized. The depth of the riches of God's grace and mercy will be comprehended as we will know Him as He knows us. The richness and majesty of immortal glory will radiate before our very eyes that have been changed to be able to behold the fulness of God's glory. Until that day, our walk of faith continues.

Paul has reached a point in his discussion of faith that "sums his points." Quite often, Paul will employ this methodology of teaching that brings all the former things into focus before pressing anew. This refreshes the reader about what has gone before, for the writer (in this case ultimately the Holy Spirit) desires that the former points be kept fresh for the continuation of the thought. Therefore, all those that Paul has discussed (Abel, Noah, etc.) died in faith. Their natural existences are over, and the faith that they followed after is no longer necessaryfor them. They did not fully experience the promises  of God, but by faith, they rejoiced in the sight of these things to come in the future.

One of the things that they rejoiced to see in the future was the coming of the Messiah. Abel's offering bore testimony that the Perfect Offering would one day come. Paul will later go into Abraham's trial when he saw the Lord's Ram offered in the stead of his own son. That promise had not been realized (manifested) during their lives, but for us today, we can look back on the fulfillment of that promise of God. They rejoiced to see the day of the Lord's Christ coming.

 
Today, we can rejoice to see the day of the Lord's Christ has come. But, even today, there is a promise (as mentioned above) that we have not received. That promise is that "I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." (John 14:3)

Even though that day has not come, we can rejoice (by faith) to see it. As those old saints rejoiced to see that 1st coming of the Saviour, let us rejoice to see the 2nd coming of the Saviour. Part of the rejoicing that these saints experienced in this promise was that they were fully persuaded of it and embraced it. It is important to consider the Apostle's language here. This language employed does not lend any credence to the idea that "faith isweak." Many belittle those that claim to have faith and hope as too many equate these terms with wishes and dreams. Beloved, faith and hope are fully persuaded of things not yet come to pass and embrace
them as if the time has come. What would happen if I tried to embrace a guest that was coming to visit me 2
hours before his arrival? My embrace would be empty and pointless. But, dear friends, we can embrace these promises by faith and feel that blessed Spirit of peace that comes to us to speak the Saviour's name in our ear and say, "This is the way, walk ye in it." (Isaiah 30:21)

When we are embracing these promises and persuaded of their surety, we exhibit a very important precept. That precept is that we consider our home some place other than this old earth. When we walk by sight (instead of faith), we follow after the things that are perishing. We also fail to declare plainly by our actions that we seek that better and enduring country where our citizenship is. As fallible creatures, we still have the daily warfare between the flesh and spirit. Therefore, we can be found seeking and walking by faith, or we can be found seeking by mortal sight. When we seek by mortal sight, we become engulfed and enwrapped in the affairs of life.

One of the things that we must (as the household of faith) consider is that we need to follow the impression and direction of the Spirit. When the command is to "stand still," we need to be observant and patient in our watching. When we hear the sound of a going through the tops of the mulberry trees, we need to be moving and ready to follow after the blowing of the Spirit's direction. As pilgrims and strangers on this earth, we should not consider ourselves tied down. In recent years, I have become somewhat troubled by an observation among some of our people that boils down to being tied down to a location. As God's obedient children (and pertinently to ministers), we need to go and follow the Lord's direction.

I remember an instance many years ago when my natural father said, "If someone were to tell me 8 months ago that I would move my family, lock, stock, and barrel from California all the way to Mississippi, I would have said, 'You're crazy.'" But, when the Lord directs a man away from serving one church into another field of labour, whether it be near or far, convenient or inconvenient, or easy or hard, we need to be willing to shew obedience to the call. Does this take faith? Does this take the forsaking of the things of the world and those that lightly esteem that course of action? Taking my own experience, many did not understand why we moved from California to Mississippi (some still do not), but looking back, the Lord in His providence gently led that course that faith followed after.

Whether the course is that of an individual, family, minister, etc., we need to be willing to lay aside every weight to run this race and confess plainly that we are pilgrims and strangers here. Our home is beyond the stars where our Saviour sits upon His throne. Since that is our home and eventual destination, what should garner our affection here?  There is a verse from a favourite song of mine that reads, "What is there here to court my stay, Or keep me back from home, When angels beckon me away, And Jesus bids me come? Shall I regret to leave my friends Here in this world confined? To Christ, the Lord, my soul ascends; Fare-well to all behind!"

May we ever press toward that blessed country and  press into the earnest of it here while in service to our Redeemer. While death may come to us sooner than the Lord's coming, even death will not prevent us from His love. We may die in faith not having seen (as of that point) the manifest fulness of that final promise of His coming. We may die at a weak point or in a weak moment. Whatever the circumstance, let us rejoice that whether we wake or sleep (are watching by faith or slumbering according to the flesh), Christ died and rose gain for us, and we will live together with Him. (I Thessalonians 5:10) Due to reality of this truth, His coming is just as certain, and our resting place near to the heart of God is assured.  May we embrace that now and hold it fast and near our own heart so that we might not sin against our Lord, but rather show Him honour and glory with every step that declares, "I'm but a stranger here: Heaven is my home!"
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In Hope,

Bro Philip