September 29, 2021 – Hebrews 11-13

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (11:1). So begins chapter 11. Abel and Enoch and Noah and Abraham, and all those others, went out and eventually “died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar” (11:13), they knew that the promises were theirs. And in Jesus, “the mediator of a new covenant” (12:24), we all have the promises fulfilled. As Paul puts it in another place, “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen” (2 Cor 1:20).

We do not yet possess all that God has promised us, but one day, we will! All is assured because of Jesus. And, so, with the saints of Hebrews with the saints of all time, we can sing with confidence:

On Jordan's stormy banks I stand,

and cast a wishful eye

to Canaan's fair and happy land,

where my possessions lie.

I am bound for the promised land,

I am bound for the promised land;

oh, who will come and go with me?

I am bound for the promised land. --Samuel Stennett (1787)