"THESE ALL DIED IN FAITH"


A. "THESE ALL DIED IN FAITH, NOT HAVING RECEIVED THE PROMISES, BUT HAVING SEEN THEM AFAR OFF, AND WERE PERSUADED OF THEM AND EMBRACED THEM, AND CONFESSED THAT THEY WERE PILGRIMS AND STRANGERS ON EARTH" - HEB. 11:12-13
  1. The words of our text are a part of the great chapter of faith:
    1. They were men and women who demonstrated simple but active faith in God's promises
    2. They looked beyond their sorrows and trials to a better world, promised by Him who cannot lie
  2. What a galaxy of a panoramic faith:
    1. A faith in God that was to inspire all generations to come
    2. Even in this faithless generation - Luke 18:8 B. THESE ALL DIED IN FAITH
  3. They all died:
    1. There were but two exceptions - Enoch, the seventh from Adam - Gen. 5:22- 24; Heb. 11:5; and Elijah - 2 Kings 2:11
    2. There was no difference between the righteous and the wicked, all died - Rom. 5:12
  4. What is important for us to note prayerfully is how they died:
    1. God's pilgrims died in faith - fiat in God's word, His promises
    2. But the ungodly are not so; they die in their sins - without God and without hope
    3. So it makes a difference how a person dies - in faith or in unbelief; Examples: Esau and Jacob both died, but how; Esau died an infidel - Heb. 12:16; Jacob died in faith - Rom. 11:13
  5. They all died in faith:
    1. Christ centered faith - Examples, the thief on the cross - Luke 23:42-43; Simeon - Luke 2:29; Stephen - Acts 7:60
    2. Bible based faith - Rom. 10:17
    3. Faith in God's promises of better things to come - Heb. 11:14-16
  6. Faith - the one blessing we can take with us:
    1. All earthly things must stay behind when we die
    2. We just cannot take them with us when we die - Luke 12:16-20 C. LESSON FOR US IN THIS HOUR OF DEEP SORROW
  7. Death comes to all that are born into this world:
    1. To the old and to the young; to the rich and to the poor; to them that are famous and to those who seem less important
    2. But how we die makes the difference
  8. Let us note the great difference of how people die:
    1. Cain and Abel both died - but Cain died a murderer - Gen. 4:8-11; and Abel died in faith of God's promises; one died a murderer and the other died a martyr. Before one can die in faith he must live in faith
    2. He must exercise simple faith in God's word and live by that faith day by day - James 2:22-26
    3. Such a faith requires child-like affections for God and His promises
    4. This faith may be tried by God - Examples: Abraham's faith was tried - Gen. 22:1-12; Jochabed's faith was tried - Ex. 2:1-6; the faith of the three Hebrews was tested - Dan. 3:17-22
  9. What a consolation for those of us who sorrow the passing of his loved ones:
    1. They, like all other men, died but they died in the faith that was born in them when they accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour
    2. They practiced their faith day by day in the kitchen, at the family altar, and in the services of the church
    3. Those of us who knew them best saw their faith in their daily lives - and that is what counts
    4. They died in the faith of the soon coming of our blessed Lord; the life-giver who gives us full assurance that the dead in Christ shall be ransomed from the grave - Hosea 13:14
  10. "These all died in faith"
    1. Will that be true of us when death comes to us in the end
    2. Does our faith embrace God's promises in this hour of sorrow and pain
    3. Are our wounded hearts healed by the faith that takes hold of God's promises of a resurrection of the dead?


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