Cold one, right? If I get a brain freeze and it goes out, I told the reefer he's got to step in. Sorry, but I got cotton mouth for some reason. But it is good to be out tonight. It's a great service this morning. It's always a blessing to bring the word. Some of these points tonight are gonna remind you of Sunday school. So those that are in Sunday school, I was thinking it's gonna be just a reminder, not a repeat. But a reminder how things work together and the way the Lord leads. But it is good to be here and continue to remember our pastor while they are away and his family. They might enjoy their time away and come back refreshed and with a new vigor to continue the work that he's been called to do. We are in Hebrews chapter 11 tonight. verses 8 through 16 with the main verse being 13 of our focus. But I've titled this message tonight, What Kind of Pilgrim Are You? What Kind of Pilgrim Are You? Starting with verse 8 in chapter 11 of Hebrews, By faith, Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed, and he went out not knowing whether he went. By faith, he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked for a city which had foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Through faith, also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the seashore innumerable. 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 them, that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country, and truly, if they had been Mindful of that country, from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, in heavenly, wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city. Now let's reread our main verse in verse 13. It says, 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 earth. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, we thank you for this evening. In John 15, 5, you said, without me, you can do nothing. I am continually reminded of that daily. And Father, the older I get, the more I'm reminded of that. And now I know that if your people tonight, including me, are to get anything out of this message, out of your word, it must come from you. It must come from the power of the Holy Spirit working through me as an unfit vessel, Lord, yet chosen for the evening to bring forth the word that you would have us to hear and to embed in our lives. I pray you'd speak to each and every one of us. You'd convict us to a closer walk, and that our focus would not be here on earth, but having word daily. Be with our pastor and their family as they're away. Lord, help them to enjoy themselves and bring them back safely, that they might be here next Sunday. Forgive us for our failures and shortcomings. And Lord, again, just bless tonight the word that goes forth. And if someone here is lost without Christ, they might see that He is their only hope for eternal life and glory. In Jesus' name, amen. In 1620, according to history, approximately 102 passengers and 30 crew members got on a boat and sailed seas during a harsh New England winter, many wishing to separate from the Church of England, others for other reasons, but pilgrims were the name that was given to these people, being early settlers of the Plymouth Colony, which is now called Plymouth, Massachusetts. This group was second only to English settlers that came over in 1609. founding Jamestown, Virginia. And I tried to think of what it must have been like for them to come over here for the first time. I mean, some of them, the leaders, they had a plan. I hope they had a plan. Sometimes we wonder if our leaders today have a plan. But the passengers, for the most part, they didn't have a plan. They had not had any idea of what was on the other side, what was, you know, before them to await. I think of some of these series that are on TV, you know, where these creatures come out, they're on the other side, and they attack them. They don't know. But it was a foreign country to them. It was a foreign place. And there had to be a lot of fears of what was on that side when they got off the ship and stepped on to this ground into a land that they had never been. You know, for Joyce and I, we sort of experienced a little bit of a feeling relocating down here. It'd be five years this coming November that we've been down here in Kentucky. Now, of course, we didn't face the peril that faced them as they sailed across those rough seas. The roughest seas ever coming across is during the fall and winter. And so many perished. Many lost their lives during that time. But they hoped for a better land. God lifted us up five years ago and said, you need to leave your country. Our country was Michigan. How did he do that? He took my job away from me. and let it retain without me for over three years. Like I said, 10,000 to 12,000 resumes, trying to get results, and then when I still held out hope that something would be there, he decided to take away Joyce's job and leave us with nothing, but yet give it an opportunity to continue down here. We have a little feeling, but yet we didn't have the peril that faced us. But we did have the uncertainty that our flesh filled us with. as well as the pain of leaving our loved ones behind that was there, that we didn't know how often we would get to go back. You know, everyone here, most people here were here when we first came, know that we probably went back a little more than normal during the first couple years, birthdays, you know, weekends and stuff like that, trips. The older I get, those five years are growing on me and I tend to find that we can maybe Skype to do a birthday or something, or combine them or something, because it gets old. But it was quite stressful for that time, is what I'm saying. You know, if you look at the definition of a pilgrim, you think the dictionary has it as a traveler, a wanderer in a foreign place, maybe a person who journeys a very long distance to some sacred place. you know, as an act of a religious devotion. Tonight in our scriptures we see here Abraham, Sirach, Isaac, and Jacob confessed as being strangers and pilgrims on earth, in verse 13. We who are in Christ, though, also have no continuing city and should seek one to come. You know, in chapter 13 of Hebrews, in verse 14, it says For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come." Well, we as God's people should be the same as God's people back then, that this is not our city, this is not our home. So my question to us tonight is, how are we doing at it? How are you doing at it? Do you find yourself settling in here on this foreign soil as a child of God? It can happen if you're not focused on our real home and what awaits us. I was told a story this morning, sort of goes with this, about years ago, this missionary was coming back on a plane from Africa, and on the plane was also Teddy Roosevelt, who was coming back from Africa. He was out there hunting. And when the plane arrived, There was this huge celebration for Teddy Roosevelt, welcoming party and everything. And the missionary went to his wife and he's like, well, how come there's no welcoming party for us? I've been out on the foreign field, slaving and wasting my time, you know, preaching the Word of God and nobody welcomed us. How come that's like that? And she said, maybe you should ask God. So he went into his bedroom and he prayed and he's like, Lord, how come How come you give Teddy Roosevelt all this big welcoming party, but you don't give me any welcoming party after all the service that I've given to you? And he comes out of his room, and his wife's like, so, did you talk to the Lord? He asked God, and he's like, yeah. He's like, what'd God say? He said, God said I'm not home yet. So sometimes we lose our focus. I thank Brother Ron for telling me that story, because it went right with this message tonight. But sometimes we lose our focus. We're not home yet. We want this big welcoming party. We think that we should get all this recognition for our hard work. But our payoff, as they say, is not yet here. Our payoff is in glory when we're absent from the body and present with the Lord. If we're looking for a payoff here while we're on earth, my friend, we're going to be sorely disappointed each and every time. So we've got to be careful about that. And while we're doing that, you must possess the characteristics of a true spiritual pilgrim. or you'll find yourself not enjoying our journey. God never desired for us to not enjoy our journey. It didn't say it wouldn't be rough. He didn't say that it wouldn't be painful, that it wouldn't be discouraging at time. But we can enjoy our journey as we walk with the Lord, as we commune with Him, even as we serve Him and we look for the glimpses. You know, I say the fragments, of the leftovers from the baskets as Christ fed the children of the 5,000. All those fragments. So fragments, sometimes we overlook those fragments in life of little blessings. Are we looking at the fragments or are we just trying to look at the big things? Forget about all those fragments that are left over for us to tap into. So we gotta be careful. Then you think about that this world is full of religious pilgrims. wandering their way through life, attempting to find their way to their God. But as a child of God, my friend, we wander not, but are travelers in a land not our own, yet focused on a land we will soon be in. Isn't that glorious? Maybe tonight you're one that could fit the description of a religious pilgrim. I don't know your hearts. Maybe you're just wandering, trying to do the works that the world says are needed to appease your God. But my friend, no works will appease the God of God, the King of Kings. For there's no works that will meet his requirements. They'll all fall short. Only one work, the work of Christ on the cross. will meet that need. So it will never be there. But yet we're focused on a land that will soon be in. Maybe tonight you're not that person. But I do ask you, how's it going for you? Maybe mankind has been trying this pathway for eons, seeking their own path, wandering around seeking how they might find and please their God, ending up in the same destination, a place created for the devil and eternally separated from the God of heaven and earth. And of course we all know in Christ for us here that that place of hell will one day be cast along with death into the lake of fire where the worm doth not and the fire is not quenched. So why is this reason though? Well they're not pilgrims. Remember I called them religious pilgrims but in essence they're truly not pilgrims, they're wanderers. One who travels aimlessly in search of something or some experience they cannot define. My hope is that by the end, if you're one of these people here tonight, that by the end, my message, you'll understand that there is a better way. There's a true way. And that way is through Jesus Christ and his finished work on the cross. If you've come here and you're lost in search of a way to heaven, my friend, then you've arrived in the right place, because Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by him. So, but for us in Christ, this bulk message right now here is for you. We need to look at some characteristics as children of God of being a spiritual pilgrim that Abraham possessed, that we likewise can possess, and it can make our journey much more effective, much more profitable, much more enjoyable. The first one is in verse eight. Let's read it. I gotta go back a page here. By Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed. and he went out not knowing whether he went. He had no clue where he was going but God said you need to go and he went. So the first thing that we need to do that Abraham did as a spiritual pilgrim is he obeyed the call. in genesis twelve verses one through four says now the lord had said and abram get the out of my country and from my kindred from my father's house onto a land and i will show the and i will make of the a great nation and i will bless the and make my name great and now shall be a blessing and i will bless and the blessed the curse him the curse of the and in the show all families of the earth the blast so abraham departed as the Lord had spoken unto him." Obedience. Obedience is the first thing, and that's why we talked about obedience this morning in Sunday school. Before we can be a good pilgrim, child of God, we must start by being obedient to the one who called us out. Who is that one? The Lord Jesus Christ. To do that requires wholeheartedness, though. Deuteronomy 26.16 says, this day the Lord thy God hath commanded thee to do these statues and judgments. Thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart and with all thy soul. Being obedient to our heavenly vision, as Paul told King Agrippa when he spoke to him in Acts 26.19, is the first step in our walk as a spiritual pilgrim. He said, Whereupon, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision. Do we change our ways because of the way the world responds to us? Then we're changing our heavenly vision. Actually, we're setting our heavenly vision that God has given us aside, and we're looking to our earthly vision. but we need to not, we need to be obedient. The next thing in verse nine, it said, by faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. Secondly, as a spiritual pilgrim, Abraham never settled down. It speaks here that Abraham sojourned. in a land of promises in a strange country. The word sojourn means to stay for a time in a place. for a time. That means live temporarily. He never got too bogged down because he knew he was already up and moving to another area to where God was directed him. So the second step is to stay focused in your final destination, realizing this is just temporary. Too often we get comfortable in a land that's not intended for us. not intended for the child of God. And we put down our stakes here and it starts to be quite comfortable. And we start enjoying the things of the world too much. And then all of a sudden most of our time is taken up by the things of the world. That doesn't mean that God hasn't created this world for us as his children to enjoy parts of it, but when this world is what dominates us instead of what God's mission for us and what his calling for us dominates, then we've got a problem. Now we're settling in. and we're thriving on the things of earth instead of the things that are heavenward. We need to not allow ourselves to get too comfortable, because it not only holds you back from the blessings God has, but misleads your family, your loved ones, and friends, where their focus should be. I'm sure every one of us here have lost unsaved loved ones in our family. We talk about that in prayer band for the men, I'm sure, in the ladies' prayer meeting on Sunday nights. It's always brought up about unsaved loved ones. But you know the best way that we can influence our unsaved loved ones is After we go to God in prayer, we need to live before them, letting them see that this world is not where our hope is. This world is not where our joy is. We don't thrive in what this world is going to give to us. We don't thrive in the hope of what we will get out while we are here. It's just temporary. It's just temporary. Three, in step three, In verse 10, it says, for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. So step three in the spiritual pilgrimage, he looked for an eternal city with a telescopic vision. Abraham, leading his family, knew, my one grandson, he wants a telescope. He's been wanting a telescope so he can see far away. I don't know if he wants a big telescope or if he wants one like you see on the ships, like pop out that telescope and see. I don't know. But my friend, when it comes to walking as a pilgrim for God, we need a telescopic vision to see what's heavenward. and not what's here on earth before us, because that is constantly bombarding our eyes. And heaven sometimes seems so far away. And we see through a glass darkly, and we only get glimpses of what heaven is like. But even those glimpses should always stay focused in the back of our mind and in the front of our mind, and let us focus with a telescopic vision. He had a spiritual vision focused on the eternal promises from God, not in the temporal promises from man, those being the promise of a Savior. the promise of a heavenly home, and the promise of being face to face with the God who created us and who redeemed us for all eternity. That's where our focus is. This kind of vision can only come, though, to God's people who are saved. John 14, 19, that's the only way you can be God's people, is if you know His Son, Jesus Christ, through salvation. But in John 14, 19, it says, yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more. But ye see me, because I live. Ye also shall live, or you shall live also. This kind of vision, when we don't lose that, helps us focus that it's available to us as God's people. God has given it to us. It gives us the courage to not fear man and what beholds us and stay focused on he who is invisible. Sometimes I talked about recently, I think it might have been at the rescue mission or that, sometimes we worry about wars and rumors of wars and we worry about earthquakes and we get so caught up of these catastrophic events in our world, in our country. That doesn't mean that our hearts shouldn't pain, But we should not allow ourselves to become controlled by these events that is stymies us. from doing anything else, and we are just like the rest of the world, glued to our TV to watch this over and over and over and over, panicking, what shall we do? What is gonna happen? Where is God in all this? My friend, God is in all of this, and he's got a plan, and though we can't understand it, we are his children, and that's not where our focus should be. But what it should remind us when we see those is how short our time is. here on earth, and how short their time is before being cast into outer darkness without Christ, if they come not to repentance and faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. So we must work while the day is come. This is the day, my friend, and as God's people, we must work it. Hebrews 11, 27 says, By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. See, our focus is on God, and He lives within us, child of God. And the more that we walk with Him, the more that we feel Him within us, and the more that we see Him around us and working in everything. And our fear isn't the same as the fear of the world. Number one, because if that building falls and we're in it and we collapse and we may die, what's the worst thing? We're absent from the body and present with the Lord. How much greater could that be? Now, it doesn't mean that we walk frivolously through life and live an arrogant life in front of the world, that who cares what happens, I'll be in heaven. No, but our life should not be driven around the things in the world is that they're controlling us. This world, my friend, does not control you. You should be controlled by your love for Jesus Christ and what he did for you. And that's where a line should be. In verse 13, let's go to verse 13. It says, 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 them that they were strangers and pilgrims on earth. As a spiritual pilgrim, my friend, he acknowledged their faith. He acknowledged their faith. So that's step four. Abraham acknowledged that that which he hadn't seen but knew would come to pass is what gave him the drive to stay focused. What is that, my friend? It's called faith. It's called faith. Believing in the unseen and acting upon it. Has any of us been to heaven that's sitting here tonight? No. None of us have been to heaven, but my friend, we've seen people go into glory, and we have God's Word, most of all, that tells us what glory is going to be like. So we walk by faith, not by sight. Too many times God's people operate like the world, and they will not act until they can see what will come of it in advance. Is that you? Has that been our church at times in the past? I don't know. I only know for the last five years, four years, four and a half years. But many here that's been here for years, you could tell whether that has or not. Sometimes churches can operate that way as well, and many have already closed their doors because of that very thing, that they're not gonna act until they can see it occur. Well, my friend, God expects his children to walk by faith, not by sight, to realize that he's the controller. You're the activator. He's to use you, but you need to be using. You need to be used. What a shame. What a shame. Faith provides the spiritual persuasion we need. Have you ever thought about that? When we don't have faith, we're not persuaded to do the things that God has called us out to do. And so we sit still, and we think on ourselves, and we mumble, and we write, and we moan, and we groan. Why? Because we're not persuaded to do the things that God has called us, because our faith is suffering. Our faith is weak. Many have faith, but unfortunately not the right faith. You must have a faith that persuades you of, first, the divine availability. Romans 4.21 said, being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he was also able to perform. My friend, when you walk by faith, do you believe that God is going to do what he said? Because if you do something thinking, well, God said he would, so I guess I better do it, but I'm just not quite sure, then you're only going to walk half-heartedly. and you're only going to get half-hearted results. So we need to walk understanding the divine ability. Secondly, we need to have faith that persuades you of the inseparable love of God. Romans 8, 38 and 39 says, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor debt, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Is that the kind of faith you have tonight? If not, you need to work on it. You need to ask God for it. You need to get on your knees and hunger for it. You need to get in his word daily and hunger for it and search for it and then put it to work. Fifthly, he never turned back or even paid attention. to what the current land had to offer. In verse 15 it says, and truly if he had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. We who are in Christ Jesus are a new creation. We who are in Christ Jesus, we have a new home. Before Christ, This was our home. In Christ, glory is our home. But if we spend time looking back here and not heavenward, where do we go? We go backwards in our walk for Christ. We go backwards in accomplishing those things that Christ has called us out to do. This land we live in might seem like it has so much to offer, but compared to the land we will soon be in, there ain't no comparison. I know some English people out there will be saying, ain't ain't a word, but it's a word in my language. Romans 12, two, the first part says, and be not conformed to this world. Are you? Child of God? If somebody was to look at you, would they think that you're more like the world than you are like heaven? I mean, I don't see any difference in you. Is that how your colleagues would say? Is that how your neighbors would think? I pray not, I pray not for me. I know at times I'm sure they could easily say that, the way my spirit was, the way my demeanor was, and I ask God to forgive me when that occurs, when I realize that. First John 2.15, the first part, says, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. Throughout God's Word, we're challenged, we're charged with making sure that our focus is not here, but having Word. But whenever our love is in this world because of the things in our world that are tempting the flesh, and filling this flesh with desire that we battle with constantly, and then it starts to control us, all of a sudden, Our focus isn't heavenward, but it's like in between, headed downward. And then we go nowhere, and we become stumbling blocks instead of stepping stones for those in the world to know Jesus. To be a spiritual pilgrim, we must never turn back. We must pay attention to what is heavenward and not what we left behind. Sixth, he longed for a better land. I've only got a couple more. Verse 16 says this, But now they desire a better country, that is, in heavenly, wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city. So sixth in our steps is a spiritual pilgrim. He longed for a better land. Why did Abraham not get entangled with that, the current land he was in had to offer him? Because his focus was on a better land. He realized that this land has nothing to offer. It's only temporal. It only has letdowns. The land God has promised him, though, the land that God has promised you and I, it's an eternal one, if you know Christ as your Savior. And one day, that land, we will be in. And what a day that will be when Jesus we shall see. To be a spiritual pilgrim, you must possess a spiritual desire. Every day, you must commit to yourself this statement. You can get too much into affirmations, but I don't think there's anything wrong with affirmations, commitments, verbal commitments that we set ourselves each day through affirmations, whether it be verbally re-quoting scripture that we have on a mirror, or just things like this, where we wake up every morning and say, where God is, is where I want to be, and I must not allow my flesh to quench my desire. If we would start ourself each day with an affirmation like that, how much better focused our day would be? How much more glorious it would be? How much easier would it be when we get the darts that's thrown against us from Satan? Isaiah 26, 9a, we could say this as an affirmation every day in using God's word. With my soul have I desired thee in the night, yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early. There's nothing wrong with affirmations. There's nothing wrong with quoting God's word, memorizing God's word, and embedding it in our heart that we might not sin against him. But one of the best ways to do that is to start out each morning committing ourselves to God. And what better way than to use his word or even use his statements like I had mentioned. Seventh and final in our walk as a spiritual pilgrim that Abraham walked, he died in the faith. Verse 13, we go back. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them. They died in faith, never losing sight on what God had promised them, and went to glory, never doubting. I see some old saints of God through the years that have gone into glory. And I see the glimmer in their eye, even as they're fading out in their bodies here on earth, as they're waiting the ascension into heaven. And I think, never doubting, but ever looking. And that's where we should be every day of our life, in our walk with Christ. Never doubting, but ever looking. Oh, what a testimony for the Saint of God going into eternity with such faith, such expectation. In Psalm 62, 5, David said, my soul wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from him. Is that how you feel, child of God? Each day when we get up, I would say probably more days than not, we don't. Because we get so caught up, and I'm speaking even personally, we get so caught up in what this world is around us and all the things that battle us and entangle us. But we need to get back, and that's why I say, what better way than to start our day with an affirmation of commitment to our Lord? to be heavenly focused. Proverbs 24, 14 says, so shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul when thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward and thy expectation shall not be cut off. All that anticipation and experience in the ultimate with God is now a reality when you're absent from the body and present with the Christ. All that you thought it would be and more is now present. for that child of God, that loved one of ours that has now split heaven entrance and is now with Christ. What greater way is there to go out of this world than that? Can you think of a better way? I can't. Where are you tonight? Where are you tonight? Where are we tonight as a church? Are we on the road to heaven? Are we seeking a better land? Are we trying to lead others to that better land that we're headed toward? Is that where our focus is? Is there excitement? Is there anticipation? Is there expectation that is building up in us? So that in Jeremiah, even when he got so depressed that he's like, that's it, I'm finished. God, I'm not talking about you anymore. I'm not telling anybody about you. I'm not thinking about you. But he said it burned within the same sentence. It's almost like the thought went in, but the fire was burning. Is that how your expectation is? That's how our expectation should be. And when we have that kind of expectation, my friend, the world that's around us will truly see something they desire to have, that they know they can't live without, because they truly will see God in us. And isn't that what they need to see? Christ in us. But lost sinner, if you're here, maybe you've not even obeyed the call to repentance and faith, to be obedient to the calling to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, to flee from your sin and look to him for everlasting life. Through repentance and faith, you can have that eternal life. You can be a spiritual pilgrim. At best, you'll just be a religious pilgrim, wandering here and fro, to and fro, never with a set focus on where your end shall be. And you'll end up with the rest, and that is in a lake of fire where the worm doth not, and fire is not quenched. It doesn't have to be that way, though. Jesus did say, I am the way, the truth, and the life. The way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. If you want to go to heaven, it must be through Jesus. And for us, let our focus be heavenward, not earthward. Let's go Lord in prayer as the song leader and pianist come. Father, thank you for this evening. Your word is filled with glimpses of glory. with challenges for us to be heavenly focused, with examples for us of your other children who were heavenly focused and walked by faith and not by sight. Tonight, we looked at ways in how to be a spiritual pilgrim for Christ, how to please you in each and every way that the world truly may see Christ in us and that our walk here on earth might not be in vain. Speak to the hearts of your people Work in the hearts of your people as you see fit, that we might not be conformed to this world, but conformed to the image of Christ in the way that he lived for us and lived as an example. And Lord, that we might be effective as your children. that one day we will hear, well done, thou good and faithful servant. Forgive me for my failures, my shortcomings, and burn within us the fire of the need to present Christ to everyone that passes by us. First in Christ's name we pray and ask, amen. So stand please and turn to him number 237. Why do you wait, dear brother? Oh, why do you tarry so long? Your Savior is waiting to give you a place in His sanctified throng. Why not? Why not? Why not come to Him now? Why not? Why not?