“Trust the Promises of God”
(Hebrews 11:1, 8-16 – Pentecost 12 – August 31, 2025)
Hebrews 11:1, 8-16 – 1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen…. 8By 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. 9By 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; 10for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 11By 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. 12Therefore 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. 13These 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. 14For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16But 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.
Dear citizens of the heavenly homeland Jesus has prepared for us:
“You’ve got to have faith.” Sometimes people say that when facing life’s trials and troubles. A person who is battling serious illness, or who has suffered great loss may be counseled, “Faith will get you through.” But the question is: Faith in what? Such words are used by people in all sorts of religions, with totally different ideas about God and truth. Even people who do not belong to any religion may say, “You’ve got to have faith.” What does it mean? Faith in medicine? Faith in the economy? Faith in myself?
Our text encourages us to have faith, but not just any faith. Like Abraham, it leads us to put our faith in the one true God, who promised and sent His Son to be our Savior. More specifically, it leads us to trust God’s revealed Word in Scripture. For this alone is how we know Him and His promise of salvation and eternal life in Christ. And when we go through life’s trials and troubles, God’s Word alone is where we have assurance that He is still working all things together for our good. With Abraham and all the faithful through the ages, let us listen to God’s Word and “Trust the Promises of God”: 1) To be certain of what you cannot see today, and 2) To be sure of what you hope for in eternity.
1) To be certain of what you cannot see today
It says: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (vs. 1). Though we cannot see something with our physical eyes, the eyes of faith have all the evidence they need in God’s promise. Faith says: “God is faithful and true. What He promises will happen. When He speaks, it is as good as done.”
God’s people always have believed His unfailing Word over limited human understanding. Hebrews 11 lists many examples of believers from ancient times who simply clung to God’s promises, trusting that He was working out His gracious plan of salvation in their lives, despite all sorts of trials and appearances to the contrary.
Our text picks up with the account of Abraham, whom Scripture calls “the father of all those who believe” (Romans 4:11). It says: “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” (vs. 8). At God’s Word, Abraham left behind extended family and their gods and all that was familiar. At the age of 75 he left for a distant land, sight unseen, where God was leading him. Faith had all the evidence it needed in God’s promise: “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you…. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:2, 3). God promised Abraham that through his seed, or offspring, there would come one special Descendant – Christ the Savior, in whom all peoples on earth would be blessed (Galatians 3:16). Abraham based his whole life journey on this promise.
Even after God led Abraham to his new home in Canaan, he still had to live by faith in things not seen. The fulfillment of God’s promise of offspring seemed impossible, since Abraham and Sarah had never been able to bear children. They still had to wait 25 more years, until Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90, before they had their only son Isaac. Yet they believed the promise of God. “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” (vs. 12).
Even after God provided the miracle of offspring to Abraham, he still had to live by faith in things not seen. God promised that the land of Canaan would belong to his descendants. Yet in Abraham’s lifetime, God gave him no inheritance in it (Acts 7:5). The same was true for his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob. It says: “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” (vs. 9). They lived as a small foreign family of believers in the one true God, among a vast population of pagan Canaanites who still occupied the land. It was not until centuries later after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob died, and their descendants had been enslaved in Egypt, that God finally had Moses lead His people back to this land.
Then, Abraham’s descendants inherited the Promised Land. Even after that, it would still be many centuries until God sent that one Descendant of Abraham they all were looking forward to – Jesus Christ, the Savior for all nations. So it says of God’s faithful through the ages: “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” (vs. 13).
Do we see why Abraham is called the father of all who believe? God may not have asked us to pick up and leave for a strange land in a distant part of the world, to live as aliens there in tents with nothing more than a future promise to our name. But like Abraham, God has called us to live by faith in things not seen. As Abraham lived among pagan people who mocked God’s Word, the world around us says we are foolish to believe as we do simply from God’s Word of Holy Scripture. Like Abraham, none of us lived at the time of Christ’s coming. Yet God asks us to stake our whole life’s journey through this world, and our eternal future, on what Jesus has accomplished for our salvation. Like Abraham, we live in this world by faith in things not seen.
Surely it was not always easy for Abraham to believe. In fact, no one can believe God’s promises in Christ unless His Holy Spirit works the gift of saving faith in us. In Abraham’s life, he faced trials and temptations that seemed to suggest God’s plan was not being fulfilled. Abraham was not perfect. He had his doubts and failings, too.
Like every believer before us, at times we are tempted to doubt God’s promises. Our weakness of faith shows when things do not go as we want, and we may pout and complain as if God were no longer in control. At times, we push His Word and prayer aside and trust our own strength and understanding to get us through. We get impatient with His leading. God says, “In My time and way”; but we follow the impatient voice in our heart that says, “I want it now, I want it my way!” So we try to satisfy ourselves by sinful desires. By our lack of faith, by our sin, we bring trouble on ourselves. Why should we think that God is still carrying out His gracious plan in our lives?
Because we still have His promise. Even if we are faithless, God remains faithful (2 Timothy 2:13). From the beginning He has provided a Savior – not for perfect people who have perfect faith, but for falling and failing sinners like Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, you and me. It is to real sinners that He has always declared His Good News in the Gospel: “For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:11-12). When we fear that we have ruined God’s plan in our lives, He says: “Take heart. I have given you salvation in the name of My Son, that promised Seed of Abraham. By His sacrifice on the cross, I have taken your sins far away from you. In Christ, I pardon you from all sin and condemnation.”
We are told that Abraham believed the promise of God in Christ, “and He accounted it to him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). Through the same faith God has worked in our hearts by His Gospel, He assures us: “I am counting the perfect righteousness of Christ to you. By baptism and faith, I have united you to My Son as My children and heirs of eternal life. Nothing can separate you from My love in Christ. I am working out My eternal plan for you no matter what may come.”
Abraham and countless believers through the ages can attest that, despite the trials and troubles of life, God is faithful and true. As promised, He will work out His plan for our good, day by day, until He brings us home to heaven. Faith hears God’s promises and is strengthened. Over the din of this world’s false promises and false hopes, our faith still sings:
I’m but a stranger here; Heav’n is my home.
Earth is a desert drear; Heav’n is my home.
Danger and sorrow stand Round me on ev’ry hand.
Heav’n is my fatherland; Heav’n is my home.
2) To be sure of what you hope for in eternity
Trust the promises of God, to be certain of what you cannot see today; and also to be sure of what you hope for in eternity. As it says: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for” (vs. 1). We have not seen Jesus or heaven, yet faith says: “I have substance in His unfailing promise. His gift of eternal life is mine. I have heaven’s joys before me.”
We read: “For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 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” (vs. 14-16).
Our life really is not so different from Abraham’s. He was called to leave behind his old life of following the false gods and ways of the world. Instead, he lived as a stranger and pilgrim in this world; for he had something much better. As it says: “He waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (vs. 10).
So do we! We could turn back to the world with all its passing treasures, pleasures, and false gods. But why? We have the living God who loves us and purchased us for eternal life by the blood of His Son! As His redeemed children in Christ, we look forward to our homeland in heaven with Him. Long after the foundations of this world’s greatest structures have crumbled, long after this present world has passed away, we have a heavenly city with foundations that can never fall.
Jesus assures us of our place in His heavenly Fatherland, as He says: “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2-3). Faith looks up to Jesus our living Savior and rejoices in what He is bringing us. Clinging to His promise, we sing:
There at my Savior’s side – Heav’n is my home –
I shall be glorified; Heav’n is my home.
There are the good and blest, Those I love most and best,
And there I, too, shall rest; Heav’n is my home.
Like Abraham and believers through time, trust the promises of God – to be certain He is fulfilling His gracious plans in your life, and to be sure of the blessed hope He has given you in eternity. And soon, faith will turn to sight; for we will see our loving Savior with our own eyes and be like Him in heavenly perfection and glory (1 John 3:2).
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. Amen.