Well, hello everyone and welcome back. This is our daily devotional for Wednesday, January 22nd, 2025 and mercy, mercy, not just frost on the pumpkin this morning. The pumpkin shattered a long time ago. It is cold in Virginia, but Isn't it wonderful? I know, I know. If you've got arthritis or whatever it is that I got with my hand, I got all sorts of hand issues, killing me last night, all that kind of stuff. But one of the things I enjoy about living here is that when it's fall, it feels like fall. When it's winter, it feels like winter, okay? Spring, spring, summer, summer. I used to say in South Carolina that spring was lovely last year. It was on a Wednesday, right? Because it went from cold to just hot and humid and all that kind of stuff. here, just fantastic outside. If you don't live in the valley, I'm sorry that you've never had that joy and that pleasure, because it is a joy and a pleasure even on super duper double triple cold days like today. But I'm here, I'm in my nice warm study at the church, and I'm excited to be back with you as we continue along in our time together. Now, Where we find ourselves is in the book of Genesis. We're finishing up chapter 20, well, not really finishing up chapter 25, but before we move on in chapter 25, I said this a couple of days ago, we need to deal with Abraham's legacy. Well, as we saw in Genesis chapter 25, verse seven, all together, Abraham lived 120, or excuse me, 175 years. Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age. An old man, and full of years, and he was gathered to his people." I've mentioned this the last couple of days, right? This is the first time that this phraseology, that this idea, appears in the Bible. That someone dies at a good old age. What that's referring to is Abraham's legacy, who he was, what was accomplished by God through him. Y'all, it points to the defining characteristic of Abraham. And what is that? Well, there's lots of places in God's Word that references Abraham. You can go to Romans, you can see that Abraham was saved by his faith, right? That Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. But it's not just that in a salvific sense that is Abraham's legacy. As we see from Galatians chapter 3, if your faith is in Jesus Christ, Abraham is your father. But why is Abraham seen as so critical? Is it because in Genesis chapter 12, God came to him and said, all right, Abraham, through you, you are the one. It is going to be through you that I reckon a people for myself. I think that's part of it, but even that's not the whole of it, because all of these things are things that happened to Abraham. Instead, today, I wanna focus on Abraham's mindset, on Abraham's vision, on why Abraham did what he did. And I've made allusions to this all throughout, especially dealing with Isaac and other issues. But y'all, it's in Hebrews chapter 11 that we learn so much about who Abraham really is, yes, but also that we see his legacy. So I've read from Genesis chapter 25. Fast forward all the way, a few thousand years here, to Hebrews chapter 11. And it's got many names. It's got different title headings, right? Mine, in this copy of the 1984 NIV, says, my fate. OK, I've got another one over here. I'm not sure exactly what it says. But it's all pretty much the same subtitle, right? The nifty chapter headings that are not inspired. They talk about faith. And the whole of Hebrews chapter 11 looks at different examples of people living by faith. It starts there very early on. Cain and Abel, all of those different things, goes to Enoch. But soon enough, after dealing with Noah, we get to Abraham. And therein, we see his legacy and why. Why he was who he was, why he did what he did. And in so seeing it, you and I receive a prompting too. So, we're gonna be in Hebrews chapter 11, but before we read anything, let's read. Our Father, would you be with us now as we examine the life and legacy of Abraham, of who you call our father. Through the apostle, you call him that, and we're his descendants, though not because of him, because of you. because of faith in Jesus Christ, and we know that this is not from ourselves, lest we should boast, but instead it is the gift of God. It is your gift to us, and we know that from Ephesians as well. So Father, would you be with us now that we would not be haughty in our heritage, but instead that we would be convicted by our father Abraham? all seeing along the way that He is our Father because you are our Father, and because you love us so much. He was faithful, but Father, you are faithful every day. So please be with us now and guide us by your Holy Spirit, and we pray it in Christ's name, amen. All right, so Hebrews chapter 11. Remember what the book of Hebrews, before I even read anything. And by the way, it's Wednesday. Well, I don't know what day it is when you're watching this, but if it is Wednesday and if it's Wednesday morning, if it's any time before 6.45 on Wednesday night, come join us. We're going through the book of Hebrews. We're not in chapter 11, but we will be fairly soon. But we're going through it. The book of Hebrews is fascinating. It's like no other book of the Bible. It's not an epistle like Corinthians or Romans or anything like that. It's really like a sermon treatise, right? And it's written to a bunch of people who are Christians that were originally Jews. Persecution has come, and so they're thinking about abandoning Jesus and going back to being regular old Jews. And what the author of Hebrews is doing is he's systematically comparing Christianity and Judaism, all with the goal, and he's successful at doing it because this is God breathing out his word, but what he's doing is he compares Christianity to Judaism as he's saying, there is no comparison. You can't go back. And instead of going back, Exercise, exercise, choose to live by the faith that God has given you. And in Hebrews chapter 11, he gives some examples of what this looks like. And again, the first meaty, big section that we find, and in fact, the only really large section that we find about any individual, all focuses on Abraham. Noah, for instance, gets one verse. Hebrews 11, verse seven. By faith, Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear, built an ark to save his family. By his faith, he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. Right, it's all about his faith, but he gets one verse. Verse four, for instance. By faith, Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith, he was commended as a righteous man when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith, he still speaks even though he is dead. Abel gets one verse. Enoch gets a verse, right? Noah gets a verse. Isaac gets a verse. Jacob gets one. But Abraham gets a whole massive chunk. and it's indicative of his faith being massive. It's indicative of what God did in him. What am I talking about? Well, Hebrews chapter 11, verse eight. We're asking what's Abraham's legacy? Why did he do what he did? Excuse me, Hebrews 11, verse eight. It says, by faith, Abraham, when called to go to a place, he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. Now, pause right there for a second. Y'all, I talked about this a little bit on Sunday morning, if you were here, if you watch Sunday morning sermon. Y'all, the idea of this, even now, today, right now, is one that is mind-boggling to us. And just think about how different it is now, thousands of years later, than it was then. God came to Abraham and said, you're the one, you're the man. I'm gonna build a people for myself through you, but get out of here. Okay, God, where am I going? Wherever I show you. Most people talk about the difference between my wife and myself. She's a planner, which is good. If it wasn't for her, my credit score would be 350. That's just how life works. But I'm the one that finds the house of mud. I'm the one that says, oh, wait a second. This place, they serve, I don't know, They serve a mean chili dog? All right, let's drive 200 miles out of the way and we'll go see what it's about. My good friend Kyle Sims came up here and visited me one time. I took him to Pennsylvania for breakfast. I mean, that's just the kind of thing I do because I don't need plans and all that kind of stuff. But even me, God says, all right, just go. Okay, where? I'll show you. That's tough for me. And if you're a planner, that's really tough. But Abraham, again, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. But that's not all. Verse nine, by faith, he, talking about Abraham, made his home in the promised land, like a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents. as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise." You know, this is something that we shouldn't just overlook. Again, we're asking what his legacy is. We're asking about the man himself. The fact that Abraham was blessed as he was, think about what happened when Sarah died. He went, and remember what they said of him? They said, you are a prince among men. Now, why did they say that? Was it because he was a nice guy? No. They said that because he was so incredibly wealthy, because his holdings were such, I mean, incredible, incredible stuff here. Abraham could have built the most grand palace that anybody had ever seen. But he didn't. Why? Well, He didn't, he chose, as we just read from verse nine, he chose to live in a tent, as did Isaac and Jacob, because they kept on going. And we find out in verse 10 why. Why did he live in a tent instead of building a grand palace? Verse 10, for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. Yo, Abraham's faith was so great that it led him to the point that he wouldn't settle. I'll say that again. His faith was so great that he would not settle. He knew what God had promised to him, that he would give him all the land as his inheritance. It would be his people's forever and that he was gonna bless all peoples through him. And Abraham believed. And so he kept going. He kept looking for that spot. And he never found it, not in that life, but he kept going. He kept living in a tent. You know, that's what Isaac and Jacob did too, because they believed, not always trusting well, but they believed and they kept on going because they understood that God's promise was never about just a physical plot of land. It was about glory itself. That's the kind of faith that Abraham had. And it continues, verse 11, by faith, Abraham, even though he was past age and Sarah herself was barren, was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. And y'all, something is revealed there about Abraham and his faith, but something is revealed there about the basis of our faith. If the basis of your faith is you, then you don't have faith in God, you got faith in you. Think about what was just said there. Okay, again, I'm gonna read it. By faith, Abraham, even though he was past age and Sarah herself was barren, wasn't able to become a father because what? He considered him faithful who had made the promise. Abraham's faith was not based on his stick-to-itiveness. It was not based on his skills. It wasn't a pride thing. It wasn't, well, look, I'm equipped and all. No, no, no, no. The whole basis of why Abraham did what he did had nothing to do with him. It didn't. It had everything to do with God's faithfulness, not his own. And y'all, that's what faith is. Because look, you either view God as the one who is in charge or you as the one who is in charge. Either you come alongside God's plan for your life, striving to be faithful, obeying and leaving the consequences to God, or you view God as a supplement to you. And let me just tell you something, this is not a cognizant think, right? It's not where you wake up one morning and you say, hmm, I think that God is a supplement to my divine will. That's not how we work. God shows himself to be what he is through your faith in how you carry yourself and the things that you allow yourself to believe and the roads you let yourself go down. Either God is in charge or you are in charge, and most often that's borne out in the order of events. It's borne out in how you go to God, if you go to God, and how you rely on God, if you rely on God. It's born out in obedience. I used a phrase a minute ago. Do you obey and leave the consequences to God? Trusting that he's going to work. Do you do that? It's my prayer that you do, because that's real faith. That's the faith that Abraham had. And as a result, verse 12, and so from this one man, and he is good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. And we've been reading about that recently, right? All the different descendants that came out of Abraham through Ishmael and through these other sons. But yeah, more than that, y'all, this is not just talking about physical descendants, it's talking about spiritual descendants. Galatians chapter three, if you have placed your faith in Christ, then Abraham is your father. There is no Jew or Greek or male or female. That's what this is talking about. But again, an emphasis is placed on the fact that this isn't about Abraham, it's about God. That's why it says that Abraham was as good as dead, and he was. But you see, God is no respecter of persons, and God is not bound by the circumstances that we lay down or that we suspect should bind him. He's able to do immeasurably more than you could ever ask or imagine, and he does. The question is, will you believe? Will you believe? Will you obey and leave the consequences to Him? And he continues on. Now, he talks about all these people. He's talking about all those that have been referenced thus far. In verse 13, he says, all these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised. They only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they've been thinking of the country they left, they would have had the opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He had prepared a city for them. Y'all, do you get what the author of Hebrews is saying there? He's saying that God made this promise to Abraham. Think about it. Genesis 12 affirmed in Genesis 15. God said, go look, go outside, look, look. And y'all, I've mentioned this before. This is one of the reasons I love Virginia. Oh, we can see everything. The constellations, I used to teach that stuff. Love it, love the night sky and all of its grandness because the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows forth his handiwork. But aside from that, think about Abraham. God said, go outside, just look, just look. Your descendants are gonna be more numerous. Count the stars. God says, count them if you can, knowing that he couldn't. There's estimates out there that there's something like 16 quadrillion stars. That's 16 with 32 zeros after it, I think. And even that's a guess, of course. Nobody knows how many stars there are in the sky. And God said, go count them, and that's how many descendants you're gonna have. And Abraham never saw. In fact, Abraham saw Isaac, And that's it. Now, we know about the other sons and the other nations, but that's not the nation that God is talking about here. He's talking about Abraham's spiritual descent. He never saw it. Abraham had to buy that piece of land to bury Sarah. That's where he was laid, but it was still in the area of the Hittites. It was not Hebron yet. It would be, but Abraham never saw it, just like the same way all the others that are mentioned here. Isaac never saw it. Jacob never saw it. In fact, what we have with Jacob is Jacob ends up in Egypt because of famine. He saw Joseph though. Saw Joseph, right? They never saw it, but they trusted because they knew that God is faithful. And y'all, that's a challenge for us. When life turns upside down, we are presented with a challenge and an opportunity. Are we gonna trust God in spite of our circumstances? Far too many trust God only because of their circumstances. And if that's you, when your circumstances change, your trust will change as well. and you'll show the difference between real faith and quasi-belief. Keep that in mind. He continues on, goes back to Abraham. Verse 17, by faith, Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son. The author of Hebrews really brings it out here, the high stakes nature of this. God said, go sacrifice Isaac. We talked about this recently. And Abraham was willing. Why? Even though God had said to him, it's through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. Abraham reasoned, verse 19, this is why. Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from the dead. Y'all, y'all, do you see the substance of faith? Again, faith is not about you and what you're good at, what you're strong at, or what you think you need, even. Faith isn't about the circumstances that you face. Doing a continuum, one of these numbers to see which way the wind is blowing out there, that's not what faith is either. Faith is one thing. It is the enduring trust and belief that God is good to his word. that God is going to do what he says he's going to do, that if you're forgiven, you're forgiven. That if God promises something, and he's promised a whole lot of things, y'all. Promises like he'll never leave or forsake you, that he's our shepherd, all of these things. Jesus, I've gone to prepare a place for you, and if I prepare a place for you, then I'll bring you to be where I am. John chapter six, read it, read it, read it today, okay? It says that Thomas wondered at these things and said, Lord, we don't know where you're going, so how can we know the way? Verse 14, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. But all of these are based on promises, you see. and we can trust in those promises because Abraham's legacy of all the things that could be said, the father of nations, all these different things, let it be said that he lived by faith. That's the best legacy that Abraham could have. It's the best legacy that you and I could have. What made him live to a good old age? Faith. Not himself, not his circumstances, but trusting in the Lord. And so you and I have an invitation here. Will we? Will we trust the Lord? It's my prayer that we will. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you for this time and we thank you again for this remarkable life. Remarkable not because of the man, because we know he made mistakes, but instead remarkable because of your work. Thank you that you don't give up on us. that you're always working in us, and in fact, you have given us your Holy Spirit to dwell within us and guide us, let us yield, let us trust, let us live these lives of faith that you call us to. Not based on us, not based on our circumstances, but based on you. So please, work in our hearts to that end. And we pray it all in Jesus' name, amen. Well, I'd like to thank you all for being a part of this time. Lord Willem will be back tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. If you're here, if you're local, we would love to see you tonight. Again, good stuff. I think it's good stuff, at least. Oh, and also, you get to ask me questions. You can ask me questions about the devotionals. You can ask me questions about sermons on Sunday. You can ask me questions about other things. I might say I was young and needed the money. I don't know, but seriously, you ask questions, it's interactive, all that kind of stuff, but I would love to see you here. But Lord willing, we'll see you again soon. Take care and stay warm. Stay warm. Take care.