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Listen "Looking Forward to the City of God (Hebrew 11:8-10)"
Episode Synopsis
https://youtu.be/S0KGQNv00CA?si=uhGnvIiI-gugE9s2
Introduction: Hebrews, Augustine, and The City
My name is Kenny. I have the privilege of serving as pastor at Horizon City. Those of you who've been with us for a while, you know we've been traveling through the book of Hebrews, which is structurally a transcribed sermon. In essence, the writer preached a sermon at some point, transcribed it, and then sent it to this small church that was under fire. This church, predominantly ethnic Jews who had become Christians, but some of them were now considering abandoning the Christian faith and going back to Judaism.
He is writing this letter to implore them not to abandon the Christian faith. As we've been traveling through the first 10 chapters of Hebrews, we've seen various exhortations and insights from the writer of Hebrews. Now we've come to chapter 11, which is one of my favorite chapters in the book. My plan is, next Sunday, God willing, for us to exposit the entire chapter, to go through all of chapter 11.
But today's message will feel a little bit different than normal because I want to just hone in on one particular phrase. One particular concept that has sort of been alluded to a little bit already in Hebrews, but now takes center stage. It will be examined and highlighted again later in the book. I want to focus on one phrase that comes from Hebrews 11, chapter 10. It's speaking of Abraham, and it says that:
“He was looking forward to a city that has foundations.”
Now, if you're not familiar with Hebrews, chapter 11, it is sometimes referred to as ‘The hall of Faith.’ It's highlighting all these people from the Old Testament. The writer of Hebrews is going through the list of people in the Old Testament who demonstrated great faith, and he's highlighting these people, and saying, here's the thing this person did which demonstrates genuine faith.
It is interesting, though, when you know the backstory of all the people labeled or mentioned in Hebrews 11. A lot of them made some good choices, but a lot of them also made some really poor choices. The resumes of the people mentioned in Hebrews 11 are jam-packed with warts.
I take great comfort in that, to know that my resume is checkered and sometimes ugly. My background is not pristine. Yet because of God's work in my life, I, too, can demonstrate genuine faith.
What an inspiration this chapter is to me and ought to be to us. So he's going through Hebrews 11, and he's mentioning these people in the Old Testament. He's mentioning something each of them did to demonstrate genuine faith. When he gets to Abraham, he mentions something interesting. He mentions that Abraham was looking forward to a city with foundations, a city not built by human hands, but a city built by God.
This is an interesting descriptor for him to hone in on because he could have said all sorts of things about Abraham. Abraham lived a pretty full life. He did a lot of things, made a lot of decisions, good and bad. He's got a pretty stellar resume in some ways. So, of all the things that he could have said about Abraham to highlight him, I find it interesting that the thing above all that the writer of Hebrews feels the need to highlight is that Abraham was looking forward to a city. This city must have been a really big deal to Abraham. It must have shaped how he lived his life.
Abraham's not alone in that. More than 2400 years later, after Abraham, there would be a Christian pastor in Africa by the name of Augustine. Augustine was a pastor in North Africa.
He lived in the late three hundreds and early four hundreds. Augustine is probably the most brilliant and most influential Christian theologian in Christian history. Augustine's influence goes beyond just Christians. He has a profound influence even on unbelieving people. He engages in theology, but also philosophy.
In fact, in the wake of World War II, in the 1940s and 1950s,
Introduction: Hebrews, Augustine, and The City
My name is Kenny. I have the privilege of serving as pastor at Horizon City. Those of you who've been with us for a while, you know we've been traveling through the book of Hebrews, which is structurally a transcribed sermon. In essence, the writer preached a sermon at some point, transcribed it, and then sent it to this small church that was under fire. This church, predominantly ethnic Jews who had become Christians, but some of them were now considering abandoning the Christian faith and going back to Judaism.
He is writing this letter to implore them not to abandon the Christian faith. As we've been traveling through the first 10 chapters of Hebrews, we've seen various exhortations and insights from the writer of Hebrews. Now we've come to chapter 11, which is one of my favorite chapters in the book. My plan is, next Sunday, God willing, for us to exposit the entire chapter, to go through all of chapter 11.
But today's message will feel a little bit different than normal because I want to just hone in on one particular phrase. One particular concept that has sort of been alluded to a little bit already in Hebrews, but now takes center stage. It will be examined and highlighted again later in the book. I want to focus on one phrase that comes from Hebrews 11, chapter 10. It's speaking of Abraham, and it says that:
“He was looking forward to a city that has foundations.”
Now, if you're not familiar with Hebrews, chapter 11, it is sometimes referred to as ‘The hall of Faith.’ It's highlighting all these people from the Old Testament. The writer of Hebrews is going through the list of people in the Old Testament who demonstrated great faith, and he's highlighting these people, and saying, here's the thing this person did which demonstrates genuine faith.
It is interesting, though, when you know the backstory of all the people labeled or mentioned in Hebrews 11. A lot of them made some good choices, but a lot of them also made some really poor choices. The resumes of the people mentioned in Hebrews 11 are jam-packed with warts.
I take great comfort in that, to know that my resume is checkered and sometimes ugly. My background is not pristine. Yet because of God's work in my life, I, too, can demonstrate genuine faith.
What an inspiration this chapter is to me and ought to be to us. So he's going through Hebrews 11, and he's mentioning these people in the Old Testament. He's mentioning something each of them did to demonstrate genuine faith. When he gets to Abraham, he mentions something interesting. He mentions that Abraham was looking forward to a city with foundations, a city not built by human hands, but a city built by God.
This is an interesting descriptor for him to hone in on because he could have said all sorts of things about Abraham. Abraham lived a pretty full life. He did a lot of things, made a lot of decisions, good and bad. He's got a pretty stellar resume in some ways. So, of all the things that he could have said about Abraham to highlight him, I find it interesting that the thing above all that the writer of Hebrews feels the need to highlight is that Abraham was looking forward to a city. This city must have been a really big deal to Abraham. It must have shaped how he lived his life.
Abraham's not alone in that. More than 2400 years later, after Abraham, there would be a Christian pastor in Africa by the name of Augustine. Augustine was a pastor in North Africa.
He lived in the late three hundreds and early four hundreds. Augustine is probably the most brilliant and most influential Christian theologian in Christian history. Augustine's influence goes beyond just Christians. He has a profound influence even on unbelieving people. He engages in theology, but also philosophy.
In fact, in the wake of World War II, in the 1940s and 1950s,
In God we trust