Hebrews 11:17-22

All right, so Hebrews 11 17 through 22. Good morning. Good morning. Welcome to coffee and devotions This morning we're going to talk about the faith of the patriarchs So let's have some coffee. We'll pray and we'll get into God's Word. Oh you want your microphone? I wanted your coffee. Oh, you want my coffee too? No, you don't want coffee? No. Are you sure? No. Okay. Okay. Hey, hey, hey, no reason to get defensive about it.
Let's pray. God, thank you so much for what a blessing it is to get to read your word. Lord, this is a blessing that people have not had throughout time, but you have given us it in a language we can understand And Father, we pray that your spirit would please help us to understand it, and that you would open our eyes, soften our hearts, that we would also have the same faith. Believe, Lord, as you have taught us, in Jesus's name, amen. All right, Hebrews chapter 11, beginning at verse 17.
Do you wanna wear my glasses since you forgot yours? You lost your glasses? I looked where I put where I usually put them and they're not there. Oh, so you're as blind as a bat now? You can't see nothing? Here, why don't you try those? I don't want you to not be able to see that wouldn't be good. No, you don't want to. Okay. All right. Well, why don't you read 17 through 19 and I'll read 20 through 22.
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises, offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, In Isaac your seed shall be called, concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning the things to come. By faith, Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. By faith, Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel and gave instructions concerning his bones.
All right, so we gotta ask ourselves three questions. A, what's your favorite color? B, what's the best type of coffee? And C, why is coffee so good? Is that our ABCs? Yeah. Okay, so. A, what is this? That. B, what's the? Best verse to summarize. And C, what are we? Called to do. All right, so let's go ahead and break this down, right? Because there's one, two, three, four different people here mentioned with their faith. So the first one is who? Verse 17. Abraham. Abraham. All right.
So this is that story all the way back in the book of Genesis when God told Abraham to offer up Isaac. And there's a point in that story where Abraham and Isaac are at the base of the mountain and Abraham tells his servants, you wait here. The boy and I are going up to the mountain and we will come back.
Why didn't he say, and I will come back? Because he knew the Lord would provide. He knew the Lord would provide. And even if he was to even offer up his only begotten son, what did he think God would do? Bring him back to life. Yeah. Isn't that amazing? Of whom it is said, Isaac, your son shall be called, concluding that God was able to raise him up even from the dead.
He knew. that God was so true to his promises. He was going to keep his promises. Sure, he might have said, he's going to offer up your son, your only son. But he knew that because God's promises were true. If he was to obey God, what would God have to do? What would God have to do if God was going to actually keep his promise?
Raise him up from the dead. That's right. And he says, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. In a parabolic, parable type sense, he did. Because he lifted up his hand and he was just about to plunge the dagger. And what happened? Stop. Yeah, an angel. No, don't do it. Now I know your faith is real, right? And God provides a substitute, a ramp caught in the thicket. All right, well then, it's not just about Abraham, though. What does his son Jacob do? Isaac. Isaac, sorry. What does his son Isaac do? I skipped a generation. Blessed Jacob and Esau. Yeah, so he blessed Jacob and Esau.
Why would he do that if he didn't think that the blessing was real? What? Why, if Isaac didn't believe in God's promises, why would he pass on the blessing? That wouldn't make sense, would it? He believed, and so he blessed his sons. He gave them this blessing. I'm like, wait, what? He didn't believe? No, he didn't believe. And then Jacob, what about Jacob when he's dying? Is it like, oh man, I'm dead. I'm dying. God didn't keep his promises. We're down here in Egypt and I'm dying.
He blessed each of the sons of Joseph. Yeah, he continued to worship God even though he hadn't seen the fulfillment of the promises. And he blesses Ephraim and Manasseh. And then Joseph... Wait, wasn't it Manasseh and then Ephraim? It's normally labeled Ephraim and Manasseh, but we're not worried about the order here. We're worried about Jacob's blessing them and worshiping God, even though he hadn't seen the fulfillment of the promises. And then we have Joseph, and Joseph's about to die, but what does he say to the people? Don't leave my bones here. Yeah, don't leave my bones here. He doesn't want him to leave his bones there, because where's his final resting place?
In the promised land, right? That's where God made his promises. And so he trusts in God. Well, yeah, so Jerusalem is still held by the Jebusites, right? But the point is, right, he has faith, even though he's dying. He's like, hey, look, I know God is so good that in a whole bunch of years, he's going to do this. And 400 years later, they leave Egypt and where do they go? They go into the land of yawns. Yeah, they go into the promised land. That's right, they go into the promised land.
So we have Abraham, who shows us a faith, even to his dying days. We have Isaac, who has faith, even to his dying days. We have Jacob, who has faith, even to his dying days. And we have Joseph, who has faith, even to his dying days. When our old and gray haven't yet seen the promises of God fulfilled, what do they still have?
They still have faith, they still have hope. Confidence in the things not yet seen, the evidence. Confidence in the promises, evidence of the things not yet seen. Where are you ready read for faith is the assurance of things? Oh, that's in this same chapter. Chapter 11, verse one and two. Now faith is a substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet seen.
Right? They had faith. They had hope. They hadn't seen these things come to fruition yet, come to completion yet, and yet they had hope. Faith. So, what do you think is the best verse to summarize this section? Verses 17 through 22. If you looked there, which one would you choose?
19. 19. Okay. All right. That's what I have underlined in my Bible too. Good job. We agree, for once. For once, yeah. Not any other time. All right, let's talk about seek calling. What are we called to do? Or how does this show us Jesus Christ? Or what about the covenant? Have faith in who? What's the object? What's the object of your faith? What are you clinging on to? What are you hoping in?
Jesus. Jesus. That's right. Jesus is a fulfillment of the promises. He's the one that gives us a better city. He's the one who gives us hope. He's the one with the better sacrifices. That's what we hope in Jesus. Good job. You want to pray for us to close? Sure. Okay. Lord, thank you for your gift of Jesus. Please help us have faith in him. Have faith that he will help us to tell others about him and you. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Amen. Well, may the Lord bless you as you look to Jesus Christ, the author and perfecter of your faith. May you grow old and gray, and may you lean on your staff and still worship the Lord, trusting in Him. I'll see you next time. You want to say bye? Bye! Adios!