“By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:” Hebrews 11:9.
The verse is referring to Abraham, whom we considered when we looked at verse 8. Here, Abraham has obeyed the Lord and is now ‘sojourning’ — ‘living as a stranger’ in Canaan.
I. THUS WE HAVE ABRAHAM LIVING AS A STRANGER IN THE LAND PROMISED HIM BY THE LORD.
Boys and girls, this perfectly reflects the situation for every Christian in this world today. We are in exactly same position. Please consider these Scriptures: “But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace,” Psalm 37:11. “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth,” Matthew 5:5.
Meekness means that disposition of spirit in which we accept all of God’s dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting. The Christian ought to wholly rely on God rather than their own strength to defend them against injustice.
II. WHERE DOES MEEKNESS COME FROM?
We certainly are not meek by nature! No, meekness is something we obtain from the Lord. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light,” Matthew 11:28-30. We learn meekness from the Lord by being yoked to Him. That means we put on the harness of the gospel and bind ourselves to Christ and walk in His direction and at His pace. Young animals were often yoked to older, disciplined animals so that they learn how to serve! They learn the gentler ways of the subdued older animal, broken in to the plough
III. ABRAHAM’S FAITH SUSTAINED HIM WHILE HE LIVED A STRANGER IN THE PROMISED LAND.
“By faith he sojourned in the land of promise. . .”
1. Today we see at work in Israel the very same spirit that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendants faced. That they truly owned the land, given them of God, was never accepted by the Canaanite tribes.
2. So today, the Christian is deemed an outsider whose views and standards have no place in society. Many believe, and that includes many policemen and politicians, that open-air preachers have no right to speak in public. Likewise, there is much resentment whenever a Christian puts pen to paper to express by letter or leaflet their opposition to practices taking place in church and state. See Acts 28:22.
3. The opposition has been such that Christians have forfeited their lives. We can look back into history and see how many were martyred simply because they believed the Bible and would not live by any other rule!
IV. IT IS THE PROMISE OF GOD WHICH ENABLES US TO LIVE AMIDST THIS SPIRIT OF REJECTION.
Thus, the Christian ‘lives by faith’, just like Abraham. We are not cast down and made to despair in the midst of the world’s hatred. We see this displayed in Paul and Silas. “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them,” Acts 16:25. This they did after having been beaten and thrown into prison, totally innocent of any wrongdoing.
The Saviour has said: “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33.
He will one day come again and show that He is the KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS, Rev 19:16.
It is then that all who are saved shall enter into that which God has promised to the Christian.