A MEMORIAL OF FAITH - Hebrews 11:13

 General Testimonies of God’s Greatness and Their Great Faith

 11:13 The believers described in chapter eleven had their sights set on Zion.  There main concern was not with possessing the earthly land, but the inheritance of the eternal promises of God.

 Certainly, they had faith that their seed would possess an earthly land, but even more importantly, they desired that their seed possess the heavenly kingdom. 

 They saw the promises by faith, visualizing what God promised in the future. They were absolutely convinced of God's faithfulness to keep His promises. They sought for a city that was not made with hands.

 We, as those who love the Lord have a temporary dwelling place. Our primary love and concern should not be the possession of this temporary dwelling, but the permanent habitation, promised by the Lord.   It will not be long before our God will call for us!

 2 Cor. 5:1 “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”

 Just as the believers in the first century, we are to leave an eternal heritage to our children. What is this heritage?  The love of Christ, a true dedication to the Lord, loyalty and faithfulness to God, and desire to pass that same heritage on their children, should be the prayer of every believer.

 After years of serving the Lord, and walking with Christ, we who know the greatness of Christ’s work in our lives should communicate that greatness to those who follow, as a memorial or heritage.

 Those believers described in Hebrews eleven could have kept their heart in the old land (wanting to go back to Egypt, etc.), which they had left behind, but they set their affections on heaven. Therefore they and their children reaped an eternal reward.

 Matt. 6:19-21,33 “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal...But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

 Col. 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

 They trusted in the Lord to give them eternal wealth and riches, not in earthly lands. They lived their lives for others, who would follow after them, teaching and admonishing those who would follow, to have faith. They desired a better country.  Because of this God Himself is not ashamed to call them brethren!

 It is the Lord who calls from heaven reminding us to seek Him at the beginning of everything: to set our hearts and eyes on eternal values, and then pass on this priority to pass on to the next generation.

 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:  And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”  Cf. Deut. 11:18-21

 As we approach this study of Hebrews, let’s approach it within the context of being fully persuaded that the earthly possession of the land is in stark contrast to the heavenly promises given in the Word of God.

 11:13 “These all died in faith not having received the promises” – lambonteV - Aor Act Ptc  - they had not laid hold or grasped the promise in their hand.  It was a physical thing to hold, but a concept of the physical in glory.  The promises, although not held in their hands (earthly) were to be personally experienced in the future (eternal).  Cf. Heb. 11:39

 “But having seen them afar off” - idonteV - Aor Act Ptc – they perceived the truth with their eyes or senses.  They discerned and discovered by faith the actual promises.  These promises turned their mind toward the heavenly.  They understood by close examination, the force and meaning of that which was definite and absolute.  Cf. Heb. 11:27

 “And were persuaded of them” - THEY WERE CONVINCED IN THEIR SPIRIT   peisqenteV  Aor Pass Ptc – there is a continual work of the Lord God to bring a steadfast confidence to His children, that is, bring them to a place complete confidence.

 “And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.  Romans 4:21

 “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:38-39

 “...Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.  Romans 14:5

 For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.  I Chron. 29:15

 “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.  2 Tim. 1:12

 “And embraced them” - aspasamenoi - Aor Mid Ptc – First they saw the promises, then they were persuaded that the promises were true and now Scripture says, “they embraced” those promises.  They embraced the promises in their souls.  The promise became part of their general spiritual makeup.  They literally greeted the promises with excitement, welcoming the promise with joy of heart and mind.

They loved the promises and took them as their own.  Just as a man hugs a wife or child, so does the believer take to his heart the promises of God, as a mother who holds her infant to her heart.

 “And confessed”- omologhsanteV - Aor Act Ptc – First they saw the promises, then they were persuaded that the promises were true and now Scripture says, “they embraced” those promises.  As a consequence they now “confess” or they communicated this to one another because they took the promises as their own. 

 They confessed them, that is to say, they all said the same thing as the Lord, and agreed with the truth, and then declared openly and freely that truth in their lives. There was no hesitancy in collective confession of the truth or in their worship.

 What was this confession (or realization of God’s truth told to one another).  “that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth” – they saw themselves as xenoi, or strangers on the earth.  They were aliens without a share in this earthly existence. 

 They were pilgrims, or parepidhmoi, in this temporary dwelling.  They saw themselves as strangers, foreigners, and temporary dwellers in a temporal environment. 

 Eph 2:12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

 This world is not my home, I’m just passing through
My treasures are laid up, somewhere beyond the blue.

1Pet. 1:17  And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: