HEBREWS 11:13-16

1. Intro.
1. the glorious & happy effects of grace are here set forth - 13
1. died in faith
2. had confidence in promises not yet fulfilled
3. confessed that they were strangers & pilgrims on earth
4. they sought for another country as their home
2. the hope that grace gives enables us to break all earthly ties, and to set forth on our own pilgrimage
2. this life ought to be spent as a journey toward heaven
1. we ought not desire the world & its enjoyments, but we should desire heaven
1. we should seek first the kingdom of God
1. above all things desire a heavenly happiness; to be with God
2. we may be surrounded with many outward enjoyments, but be willing to leave them all
2. a traveler does not stay long at comfortable & pleasing places
1. he is not enticed by the fine appearance of things along the way
2. he has no thought of settling in to a comfortable hotel
3. he has only the journeys end on his mind
4. he may tarry a night and refresh himself, but he is for going forward
3. we should desire heaven more than the comforts & enjoyments of this life - I Cor. 7:29-31
2. our journey to heaven should be on the straight & narrow path
1. this path is the way of holiness - Heb. 12:1
1. denying all our sinful inclinations and interest
2. anything that hinders us on our journey to heaven should be laid aside
3. no matter how pleasant the gratification of any appetite, we must lay it aside
2. this path is the way of obedience to all of God’s commands
1. even the difficult as well as the easy, for the way to heaven is up
2. we must be content to travel up hill, though the way be hard and tiresome
3. we should take up our cross and follow Him; it is the path He followed (in meekness, love & doing good)
3. this path is the way of labor
1. long journeys are often accompanied by toil & fatigue; especially through a wilderness
2. in our journey we can expect to suffer hardship and weariness
3. the whole of our life should be spent in traveling this road
1. it should be the work of every day
2. we should persevere in it as long as we live
3. we should often think of the journeys end, and travel in the way that leads to it
4. we need to travel the road with patience
1. though the road be difficult, we must endure hardship
2. though the journey be long, we must not stop short
3. all our thoughts and desires should be to press forward until we arrive
3. why the Christian life is a pilgrimage
1. this world is not our abiding place
1. our time spent in this world is very short
2. all the things of this world will one day soon vanish away
2. the future world is designed to be our everlasting dwelling place
1. the world to come is a lasting habitation, and a lasting inheritance
2. our present state is short, but our future state is everlasting
3. our future state is of so much greater importance than our present state, that all of our concern should be on our future state
3. heaven is the place where our highest good will be obtained
1. God is the highest good for man; therefor, the enjoyment of Him is the only happiness that can satisfy the soul
2. we do not attain to our highest good until we are brought to God
1. in this world we have a very imperfect union with God
2. imperfect conformity, service & knowledge
3. in heaven our imperfections will become perfection
3. to fully enjoy God is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here
4. why should we labor for anything, but that which is our true happiness
4. this world was made for a place of preparation for another
1. man’s mortal life was given him, so that he might prepare for his eternal life
2. all that God has given us here is for training us for the future world
4. the knowledge gained by professing to be a stranger and a pilgrim
1. the death of a dear Christian friend will not be as painful - I Thes. 4:13-18 & I Cor. 15:19-20
2. those on the pathway to hell have nothing to look forward to
3. the time of conversion is the beginning of the pilgrimage
5. a challenge to spend our life as on a pilgrimage to heaven
1. labor to obtain the best heaven possible
1. to what better purpose can we spend our life
2. we are placed in this world with a choice given to us, which way will we travel
3. realize the vanity of this world
2. this is the way to make death comfortable to us
3. if we are not on the road to heaven, we are on the road to hell