This morning in Bible Study we recalled the words in Hebrews 11:13-16 as quoted below:

All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. 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 a city for them.

Pastor Brandon preached from Titus 2:11-15 where the following words appear:

. . . looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

Christians are indeed strangers in this world. We are waiting for a better country – a city built by God’s own hands. We are his possession and we should be greatly looking forward to the appearing of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. Meditate on these passages with great anticipation and joy. Our future is sure in Christ. And just think, every single day we live these promises move closer to consummation. Indeed every second of life – we keep getting closer.

Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. James 5:7

Patience – we sow here and now but harvest comes we know not where! This is consistent with the image of the sower and reaper and with our own experience.

1) Parable of the sower (Luke 8:4-15). Here, the sower cast seeds with no particular thought to results. It is the free offer of the gospel with no ‘market research’ to see who might receive the gospel and no modification of the message to fit the ‘felt needs’ of the recipients. This attitude comes logically when we believe that God is the initiator in regards to conversion. The sower merely makes the offer. Also, the sower doesn’t necessarily reap in kind. That is, there seems a very real possiblity that the harvest will be dissimilar to the seed planted. In 2 Corinthinians 9:6-11 the Apostle Paul commends the Corinthian church in their giving. Notice that he doesn’t say that they will reap a harvest of cash!

2 Corinthians 9:10 “He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way for all your generosity, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.”

Luke 8:38 “I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

2) Experientially. Admittedly, there are some things that we do that will have a direct relationship to what we desire to happen. If we want to buy a home we must go and look for a home. If we want a driver’s license we must present ourselves to the authorities, pay a fee and pass some sort of test. But some other things seem to have no relation to what our desires seem to direct us. Many an older saint has wondered at a particularly distressing life event in the past and yet lived to see a positive outcome related to that seemingly random ‘evil’ experience. We can sympathize with the disciples’ view that the prospect of Jesus’ death must have seemed to be fruitless & counterproductive at that time yet on our side of the event we see clearly that its purpose was the great hope and salvation for many.

Consider also that our former lives of sin had an opposite effect from what we desired:

Romans 6:21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The end of those things is death.

We desire joy yet in our rebellion we reap death!

Conclusion: We are a church that has, by the grace of God, gotten much right! Experiential doctrine and a warm fellowship of mutual support and encouragement – and we are to be commended for that. But we cannot expect our pastor and/or missionaries to be faithful in that which we are not willing to do ourselves. If we are a prayerless people, can we expect our representatives in much harsher conditions to be prayerful? If we are an ungrateful people, can we expect our representatives to be grateful? If we are uninterested in evangelism here in a land of freedom and opportunity, can we expect our missionaries to be evangelistic in places where they face real persecution and hardship? If we are discouraged when our evangelistic efforts seem fruitless do we quit?

Do we see that our planting here may result in an unexpected harvest across the world? Is it possible that God may take our personal effort here to harvest fruit in Africa but not allow us to see the direct results of our effort? Is it possible that we may see no fruit here for the sake of building our faith? If we demand evidence that our efforts are producing results are we not elevating our works above God’s work? Or do we walk by faith, knowing that the works we do, we do only by the grace of God.

Daniel 11:32

We do not have a strong church today. Nor do we have many strong Christians. We can trace the cause to an acute lack of sounds spiritual knowledge. Why is the church weak? Why are individual Christians weak? It is because they have allowed their minds to become conformed to the ’spirit of the age,’ with its mechanistic, godless thinking. They have forgotten what God is like and what he promises to do for those who trust him. Ask an average Christian to talk about God. After getting past the expected answers you will find that his god is a little god of vacillating sentiments. He is a god who would like to save the world, but who cannot. He would like to restrain evil, but somehow he finds it beyond his power. So he has withdrawn into semiretirement, being willing to give good advice in a grandfatherly sort of way, but for the most part he has left his children to fend for themselves in a dangerous environment.

Such a god is not the God of the Bible. Those who know their God perceive the error in that kind of thinking and act accordingly. The God of the Bible is not weak; he is strong. He is all-mighty. Nothing happens without his permission or apart from his purposes — even evil. Nothing disturbs or puzzles him. His purposes are always accomplished. Therefore, those who know him rightly act with boldness, assured that God is with them to accomplish his own desirable purposes in their lives.

James Montgomery Boice, Foundations of the Christian Faith, InterVarsity Press

I highly recommend this book! A most readable Systematic Theology; a valuable reference as well as a great devotional read.