Hebrews 11:15

And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. As Abraham, had he desired to leave his pilgrim life in Canaan, and resume his former fixed habitation in Ur, among the worldly, had ample opportunities to have done so, so spiritually, all believers who came out from the world to become God's people might, if so minded, have easily gone back....

15._And truly if they had been mindful, etc. _He anticipates an objection that might have been made, — that they were strangers because they had left their own country. The apostle meets this objection, and says, that though they called themselves strangers, they yet did not think of Mesopotamia; for if they had a desire to return, they might have done so: but they had willingly banished themselves from it, nay, they had disowned it, as though it did not belong to them. By another country, then, they meant, that which is beyond this world. (224)...

8-19 We are often called to leave worldly connexions, interests, and comforts. If heirs of Abraham's faith, we shall obey and go forth, though not knowing what may befall us; and we shall be found in the way of duty, looking for the performance of God's promises. The trial of Abraham's faith was, that he simply and fully obeyed the call of God. Sarah received the promise as the promise of God; being convinced of that, she truly judged that he both could and would perform it. Many, who have a part in the promises, do not soon receive the things promised. Faith can lay hold of blessings at a great distance; can make them present; can love them and rejoice in them, though strangers; as saints, whose home is heaven; as pilgrims, travelling toward their home. By faith, they overcome the terrors of death, and bid a cheerful farewell to this world, and to all the comforts and crosses of it. An...

Verse 15. _IF THEY HAD BEEN MINDFUL OF THAT COUNTRY_] They considered their right to the promises of God as dependent on their utter renunciation of Chaldea; and it was this that induced Abraham to cause his steward Eliezer to _swear_ that he would not carry his son Isaac to Chaldea; see Genesis 24:5-1. There idolatry reigned; and God had called them to be the patriarchs and progenitors of a people among whom the knowledge of the true God, and the worship required by him, should be established and preserved....

AND TRULY IF THEY HAD BEEN MINDFUL OF THAT COUNTRY ... - If they had remembered it with sufficient interest and affection to have made them desirous to return. THEY MIGHT HAVE HAD OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE RETURNED - The journey was not so long or perilous that they could not have retraced their steps. It would have been no more difficult or dangerous for them to do that than it was to make the journey at first. This shows that their remaining as strangers and sojourners in the land of Canaan was voluntary. They preferred it, with all its inconveniences and hardships, to a return to their native land. The same thing is true of all the people of God now. If they choose to return to the world, and to engage again in all its vain pursuits, there is nothing to hinder them. There are “opportunities” enough. There are abundant inducements held out. There are numerous frivolous and worldly friends wh...

EXPOSITION HEBREWS 11:1 NOW FAITH IS THE SUBSTANCE _ _OF THINGS HOPED FOR, THE EVIDENCE OF THINGS NOT SEEN. On the senses in which the word ὑπόστασις (translated "substance") may be used, see under Hebrews 1:2. As to the sense intended here, views differ. There are three possible ones, expressed in the text and margin of the A.V., _substance, ground, _and _confidence. _The first is understood by the Fathers generally, the idea being supposed to be that, inasmuch as things not yet experienced, but only hoped for, become real to us by faith, faith is metaphysically their substance, as substantiating them to us. So Theophilus: Οὐσίωσις τῶν μήπω ὄντων ὑπόστασις τῶν μὴ ὑφεστηκότων:_ _and Chrysostom, who

AND TRULY IF THEY HAD BEEN MINDFUL OF THAT COUNTRY,.... Chaldea, which was Abraham's country: FROM WHENCE THEY CAME OUT; as Abraham and Sarah did, in person, and their posterity in them: THEY MIGHT HAVE HAD OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE RETURNED: for the way from Canaan or Egypt, where they sojourned, was short and easy: and though Abraham sent his servant thither to take a wife for his son Isaac, yet he would not go thither himself, nor suffer his son; nay, made his servant swear that he would not bring him thither, if even the woman should refuse to come; so unmindful was he of that country; so little did he regard it; yea, so much did he despise it: so when men are called by grace, and converted, they come out of a country, this world, which is a land of sin and iniquity, of great folly and ignorance, of darkness, and of the shadow of death; a desert, a mere wilderness; a country where Satan...

This is the Arc de Triomphe erected to the memory of the heroes of faith, whose names are here recorded by the apostle's inspired pen, with a brief mention of some of their most memorable actions. If it had not been for their faith, which moved them to accomplish such valiant deeds, we might not have known anything about them. Hebrews 11:1. _Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,_ Though the «things» are only «hoped for» and «not seen» at present, the eye of faith can see them, and the hand of faith can grasp them. Faith is more mighty than any of our senses, or than all our senses combined. Hebrews 11:2. _For by it the elders obtained a good report._ It is noteworthy that they obtained this «good report» by thei

IV. PRACTICAL INSTRUCTIONS AND EXHORTATIONS CHAPTER 11 _ 1. Faith in regard to creation and salvation (Hebrews 11:1)_ 2. The patience of faith (Hebrews 11:8) 3. The energy of faith (Hebrews 11:23) Hebrews 11:1 The disastrous effect of unbelief has been pointed out in the earlier part of this epistle (Hebrews 3:12; Hebrews 3:19; Hebrews 4:2) a

Passing now from the men of the primeval world, the writer comes to the patriarchs, and especially to Abraham, who stands out in the OT as the chief example of faith. Abraham showed his faith by his obedience to God's call, and by his refusal to make a permanent settlement in the land of Canaan, even though it had been promised to him. His heart was set on God's ultimate promise of an eternal rest in the heavenly city (Hebrews 11:10). His wife Sarah shared his faith and became a mother in her old age, so that Abraham, when his life seemed as good as ended, became the progenitor of a great people. And as the patriarchs lived in faith, so they died (Hebrews 11:13). They only saw the promises from afar, as the traveller sees the distant city which is his goal; and in their dying words they confessed that they wer