Heb. 11:13. 13These 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 strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
So far, we have seen that at its very heart, Faith is invoking he ability of God into every situation. We next discovered that Faith ultimately resting in the Faithfulness of God. It’s not faith in our faith, but Faith in His Faithfulness. Then we talked about Faiths starting place; a promise from God. This assumes an intimate relationship with Him. Even though we said that Faith isn’t a formula, we talked yesterday about a sequence of faith as it is modeled in Heb.11:13. In a way, we can see in this verse how faith operates. There is the PROMISE of God that gives birth to Faith, the BELIEVING in Your Heart that is persuaded of the promise and embraces and finally, the CONFESSING with Your Mouth that gives life to Faith. I wanted to share with you a little this morning about the COMMITMENT of Faith. At the beginning of verse 13 we are told,”These all died in Faith, not having received the promises”. All these Old Testament Saints saw in the spirit the Messiah and His Kingdom, yet at their death none of them had experienced Jesus or His Kingdom on the earth. At their death, the promises not yet realized, they still CONFESSED the promises God had spoken. They died in Faith. Nothing made sense in the sense realm. It would have been easy to mock them, telling them at their death wouldn’t they now admit that they were wrong. They were so come committed to the promises of God, that they and the promises alone were reality (Faith IS substance Heb. 11:1). Death didn’t deter them. They walked, and died by Faith and not by sight. Here is the interesting thing; God did keep His promises, as He always does. When Jesus went into Sheol to preach to those sprits who were in prison, He also went into the good side of Sheol (Abrahams Bosom) and led captivity captive. He showed them that their Faith in the promises of God were not in vain. God honored their faith even after they had left this world. God is always faithful to His promises. We have to be so committed to the promises of God, and to a life of faith that at our last breath we are confessing with our mouth what we have embraced and believed in our hearts. We are called to fight the good fight of faith. Make no mistake, it is a fight. The moment you start walking in living, breathing faith, the enemy will go to war trying to get you to back down. The enemy has to know that you are in it to win it, and that you are willing to die in Faith even though everyone else has given up, and everything around you says you are wrong. Only this kind of attitude walks in the supernatural. If we aren’t willing to die in Faith, we will never live by Faith. Have a great day living the adventure of Faith.
Faith is a living power from Heaven
That grasps the promise God hath given,
A trust that cannot be o’erthrown,
Fixed heartily on Christ alone.
Faith finds in Christ whate’er we need
To save or strengthen us indeed,
Receives the grace He sends us down,
And makes us share His cross and crown.
Faith in the conscience worketh peace,
And bids the mourner’s weeping cease;
By faith the children’s place we claim,
And give all honor to one Name.
Faith feels the Spirit’s kindling breath
In love and hope that conquer death;
Faith worketh hourly joy in God,
And trusts and blesses e’en the rod.
We thank Thee then, O God of Heaven,
That Thou to us this faith hast given
In Jesus Christ Thy Son, who is
Our only fount and source of bliss.
And from His fullness grant each soul
The rightful faith’s true end and goal,
The blessedness no foes destroy,
Eternal love and light and joy.
Further up and further in,
+Chuck