God Is Not Ashamed of Us

Chapter 11: 13-16

“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. ¹⁴ For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. ¹⁵ And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”

Millions, maybe even billions, of saved Old Testament and New Testament saints have died over the past 6,000 years since the fall of man. Notice verse 1, ‘these all died,’ but none of them got to see the promise of the Messiah in the Old Testament, and none of the New Testament saints got to see the redemption of the whole earth. Yet, they all lived by faith, looking forward and focused on the PROMISES OF GOD. These were accepted and taken by faith. We explored last week that faith was not just believing but also action based on the belief.

These folks patterned their lives and the lives of their children in a way that showed that they always looked toward the future that God had promised.

Just this morning, I was reading Genesis 50; Joseph made his brother promise to take his bones out of Egypt when they left. Joseph was about 37 or so when the whole family moved to Egypt. He died at 110, so the next generation, for more than 300 years, had to pass on the belief that they would be leaving Egypt and charge them to take Joseph’s bones. They patterned their lives around the promise that one day God would give them their own land. A promise He made to Abraham (in Genesis 12:1, 7) changed Abraham’s life so much that he taught it to Isaac, Isaac to Jacob, and on and on for generations. They built their entire heritage around the leaving of Egypt, so much so that they could pack and move in one night.

• They Embraced and Confessed the promises, verses 13-14

This is so important and why we encourage the people in our churches, and in truth, anyone who is saved and looking for the return of Jesus, to constantly review the promises that were made in the Bible. Read them, repeat them to each other, repeat creeds, and sing songs that teach these doctrines. One of the major problems that a lot of our modern ‘Christian music’ faces is that there is a lack of doctrinal teaching in them. The best way to teach is by song; Sesame Street has been doing this for decades. This is how we teach our children, by embracing the promises of God and then confessing them to our kids, our friends, and our church family.

My ‘life’ verse is 1 John 3:1, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore, the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.“ When I get down, get broken, get beaten down by my own sin and flesh, get tired and feel unappreciated, I turn to this verse. I say it, repeat it, go over and over it in my head, and it reminds me that God has called me His child. He has bestowed His love on me; I did not earn it or buy it; He gave it to me. This is just one example. Maybe you have an example of your own – a verse that keeps you, focuses you, and comforts you.

These patriarchs and matriarchs embraced the promises of God; they held them close as if they were precious and cherished. We should be the same way. God’s promises to us are precious, paid for in the blood of Jesus, His only Begotten Son.

• They Embraced Being Aliens, verses 13-15

They left their home; Abraham left his people and all that he knew. He left all that he had, tangible things, and traded them for a promised land. He gave up what was secure and seen for the promised and the unknown. He had to accept and then teach his kids that they had a home here, in this wilderness, and then in an even greater place that God had made.

His kids stayed: Isaac was a tent dweller, and Jacob left to find safety from Esau, but when God called, he willingly came back and dwelt in tents. Abraham was a resident alien, a sojourner here on earth. Peter tells us that we are resident aliens as well (1 Peter 1:1, 2:11), called to understand that this world is not our home. We, like these stalwarts of the faith, wait for a homeland whose builder and maker is God. I believe in aliens; we, the children of God, are the aliens.

• God Embraced Us, verse 16

God embraces us, and we embrace Him and His promises. He embraces us, and we serve Him and look for a place that we cannot see, a place that we cannot touch, and a place that is as real to us as the ground we walk on. God, the scriptures tell us, is not ashamed to be called our God. He identifies with us. We are His, and He welcomes us to call Him ‘Abba,’ the common name for Dad in Hebrew. ‘Our Abba’ who is in Heaven. I am as much His, and He mine. We are united in a Promise, paid for in the death and sacrifice of Jesus, our Savior, eternally secured in the power of His resurrection.

God embraced these sinful men and women: adulterers, murderers, thieves, schemers, liars, and on and on we can go. He embraced men and women just like us – sinners saved by grace, secure in the Promise of eternal life that we have from God. The reciprocal love we have is from God the Father; He embraced us, He loved us, He endowed us with great promises and hope, and we, in turn, embrace His promises and confess them to one another. This way, we help each other to be secure in our faith, strong in our hope, and comforted by His hand.

John 10: 28-30, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.“

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

How to Connect with Us

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MississaugaMissionaryBaptistChurch
Online: https://mmbchurch.ca/
Email: seangooding@mmbchurch.ca; support@mmbchurch.ca

Chapter 11: 8-12

⁸ “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. ⁹ By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; ¹⁰ for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. ¹¹ By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. ¹² Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.”

We often hear about faith in Christian circles, and there are many who do not know what faith really means or is, for that matter. I came across this definition on gotquestions.org, and I decided to put it for us to look at:

This definition of faith contains two aspects: intellectual assent and trust. Intellectual assent is believing something to be true. Trust is actually relying on the fact that something is true. A chair is often used to help illustrate this. Intellectual assent is recognizing that a chair is a chair and agreeing that it is designed to support a person who sits on it. Trust is actually sitting in the chair.

Notice the two aspects of faith. Faith is not some ethereal idea that is not founded in facts. Rather, our faith is grounded in documented and provable Biblical facts. Many of the books, like Luke, give detailed accounts of who ruled where and when. We have the names of Roman rulers, we have the names of Caesars, and we know when they lived. We have specific geographical locations that we can use to find things, finds where events happened and even when they happened. There are scientific facts in the Bible that cannot be disputed, things that God spoke about before He allowed men to discover them.

If you take the time to examine some of the information in this link, you will find some eye-opening science in the Bible that was there before we knew what it was.

https://www.christianpost.com/voices/scientific-facts-in-the-bible.html

The second part of the definition is then to act based on faith. Abraham believed God and moved his whole family to a place that God promised to give to his descendants. Noah built an Ark, having never seen rain but believing that God was able. Abraham offered Isaac, knowing that God had kept his promise once and that he had received a son in his old age and Sarah long after the times of child-bearing. In verse 11, we are told that Sarah judged that God was faithful to do all He had promised.

At times, these wonderful patriarchs and matriarchs of Christianity did struggle with the doubts that come to all finite saved persons. But in the totality of their lives, we see the faith that God was able to do all He had said He would do and more. Today, we see the fulfillment of verse 12, the Jewish population, even with the thousands of years of hatred, hunting, and running, measure almost 10,000,000 in Israel in 2021, the last number that we have. These all from this one old couple, he 100 years and she 90 at the time of Isaac’s birth. They never saw Jews as much as the ‘sand of the seashore,’ but we do. Thus, we are challenged by immutable facts to put our faith in the same God that these persons did. We are challenged to serve and love Him with the same fervor that they did and to look for His appearing as they did as well.

We, like these heroes of the faith, can be just as confident in the promises that God made to us. In fact, here we are with thousands of years of evidence, a completed Bible, the ability to see the hand of God in every corner of the planet in almost real-time, and the plethora of scientific evidence for God that we can research and see; these all create a foundation of ROCK to carve out our faith in. Yet, like our spiritual ancestors, we, at least I, struggle with doubts. I struggle with sin, and I struggle with wondering if God is truly on my side. Yes, the same struggle these folks in Hebrews 11 had.

Yet, in this chapter, God exclusively highlights their faith, their faithfulness, and the wonders that He brought about because they had faith. God is bigger than our failures, bigger than our lacking at times, and certainly bigger than our doubts. What was it that kept these people going? In verse 10, we see that these folks kept their eyes on the promises of God. He promised Abraham a new home on earth. But He also promised him a new home beyond death. This hope, this focus, kept Abraham hoping and moving through all the delays, all the hiccups, all the failures, and all the stumbles.

Jesus called us to live the same way – focus on our new home, our new place, our permanent dwelling. We see this in Matthew 6:33,

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (KJV).

Hebrews 11:16, “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.”

Colossians 3:1-4, “Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ, strive for the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”

As we approach the end of all things, it will become more and more important for us to focus on Heaven, as our earthly home crumbles and the people begin to hate the ‘truth’ tellers more and more. If we are not focused, as these that went before us, on the city whose builder is God, we will faint and fail and maybe even go backward in our service to the Lord. God is faithful, and He is able to keep and strengthen us all the way through to the end and give us endurance just like He gave endurance to these great men and women of our faith. Most Christians I speak to are looking forward to meeting Moses, Abraham, and other ‘giants’ of our faith. Let me ask you, how would you feel to know that maybe they are waiting to meet you?

Hold on; Jesus is coming, and His promises are assured.

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

How to Connect with Us

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MississaugaMissionaryBaptistChurch
Online: https://mmbchurch.ca/
Email: seangooding@mmbchurch.ca; support@mmbchurch.ca