Here's my subject today, These
All Died in Faith. And here's my text, found in
Hebrews 11, 13, 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 strangers
and pilgrims on the earth. Now, this is one of those short
texts. These all died in faith. But it's rich in meaning. It
says so much in just a few words. These all died in faith. In other words, their salvation
was certain. Their salvation was absolutely
sure. And secondly, they knew and walked
with God. Or in faith, men walk with God. Those who believe have God and
know God and walk with God. And this is certain of these
men. If they died in faith, they walked with God. And then thirdly,
their deaths were blessed and peaceful. If a man dies in faith,
he dies peacefully. He dies in a blessed fashion.
One old writer said this, he said, let me die the death of
the righteous. And let my latter end be like
his, how blessed it is to die in faith, how peaceful, how sweet
it is to cross the Jordan in peace, in faith. So we know that. And then we know their resurrection
is assured. For Christ said, he that believeth
on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. So by faith men
live, they're raised, they're resurrected. So if they died
in faith, their resurrection is absolutely certain. And then,
not only that, but their eternal glory is secure. For he that
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. You see how important is
this very brief statement? And nothing, nothing better can
be said of any man than to say he died in faith. These all died
in faith. And then in the second place,
this verse, you know who this verse is talking about. These
all died in faith. We're talking about Abel, Enoch,
Noah, and Abraham. These are the men we're talking
about. Now, think what could have been said about these men.
Think of the volume that it would take to record the lives and
the adventures And the times and the works of these men. Think
how long it would take. But listen, Enoch. Enoch lived
365 years. Enoch walked with God. Enoch
was the first man who ever went to heaven without dying. He was
the seventh man from Adam. That's Enoch we're talking about
here. And Abel. Abel was the first martyr. Abel
was the first man to die. Abel was the second son born
to Adam and Eve. Abel was born to Adam and Eve
after they had just come out of the Garden of Eden. Now think
what could have been written about these men. And then Noah.
Noah lived 965 years. Noah's the man to whom God spake
and gave him a direct revelation. and a blueprint for an ark which
he was to build with his three sons. And he spent 120 years
building that ark, and then by the miraculous grace of God,
he was delivered from the flood that destroyed every living thing.
Think about this now. This man Noah. 965 years he lived. Think what could have been written
about him now. Think of the volume. You sell a library with just
books about his life. and what he knew and heard and
said and did and so forth. And then Abraham. Abraham lived
175 years. He was called the friend of God. God spoke to Abraham face to
face as a man speaks with his friend. Abraham was the father
of the Jewish nation. Abraham was the man whom God
called out and said, I'll multiply your seed and there'll be as
the stars of the heaven. And I'll bless you and bless
every nation through you. And I'll bless them that bless
you and curse them that curse you." Now, think about what could
have been written about these men, what could have been recorded
about their works and their deeds and their adventures, and yet
their lives are summed up in one word, faith. These died in
faith. You couldn't say anything better.
You couldn't sum up a man's life in a better fashion. a more profitable
word, that died in faith. These all died in faith. Isn't that a great verse? And
then thirdly, this must be our great concern. This must be my
all-important concern. The concern of my heart is to
die in the faith of Jesus Christ. I must. I must have saving faith. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. He that cometh to God must believe. I've got to have saving faith.
I've got to have living faith, not a dead faith. James says
that dead faith won't save. That faith without works and
faith without holiness and faith without heart is dead and it's
like a body without a soul and that faith can't save. I've got
to have living faith. I've got to have persevering
faith. I've got to continue in the faith. It's not a faith that
I have today and lose tomorrow and pick up six weeks from now
and then lose it again. That's not living faith or persevering
faith or saving faith. And if I have this saving faith
and this living faith and this persevering faith, I'll have
dying faith too. These all died in faith. I want
faith, like Abel, to offer unto God a more excellent sacrifice,
the blood of Christ, that makes the sinner whole. Abel's faith
was in the Lamb. It was in the substitute. Abel's
faith and confidence was in God's atonement. It's the blood that
maketh atonement for the soul. God Almighty said, without the
shedding of blood, there's no remission. That's where Abel's
faith was, and that's where mine must be. I want that faith, like
Enoch, to walk with God, to walk with the King, to walk with the
living God. Don't you? He walks with me. The songwriter said he talks
with me. A long life's a narrow way. And the joys we share as
we tarry there, none other has ever known. I want to walk with
God. I don't want to just hear about God, read about God. I want to walk with God. And
I want, like Noah, to believe God and be delivered from the
wrath of God. To enter in by the door, Christ
Jesus. It says, Noah entered into the
ark by the door and God shut the door. Preserved him I want
to enter in Christ that I'm the door by me if any man enter in
he shall be saved I want willingly and lovingly to enter in by the
door Christ Jesus Noah did God delivered him from wrath judgment
from the storm that destroyed this world and then I won't like
Abraham To believe God no matter where no matter how and no matter
what and no matter why? Believe God the songwriter summed
it up like this faith Has an overcoming power It will triumph
in your dying hour Christ is my life my hope my grace and
no one Can make me fall from this blessed place in Christ
now with your patience and with your permission I'd like to go
back to my text in Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 13 that says, these
all died in faith. And I want, I don't want to make
a play on words or weary you with words, but I want to talk
about each word. There are five words in these
all died in faith. And I want to talk about each
one for just a few moments. And the first word is these.
Now we're not, as I said before, we're not talking about all men.
We're not talking about all men, for all men do not die in faith.
We're talking about believers. We're talking about those who
trusted God. Those who walked with God. Abel,
Enoch, Noah, Abraham. Many men die in their sins. They
don't die in faith. They die in unbelief. They die
in rebellion. They die in their sins. And this
is a dreadful thought. Our Lord said in John 8, 24,
I said therefore unto you, Ye shall die in your sins. And if
you believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. What
a terrible thought, what a wretched thought, to die in my sins. But these men didn't die in their
sins. They didn't die in unbelief.
They didn't die in uncertainty. They died in faith. These, all
of them, died in faith. Now there are many distinctions
among men. which God pays no attention to at all. We have
old and young, we have rich and poor, we have black and white,
we have learned and ignorant, we have male and female, we have
Jew and Gentile, and all these many distinctions, there are
thousands of them, that are important to men, but they're not important
to God at all, for God says There's neither Jew nor Greek, there's
neither bond nor free, there's neither male nor female, you're
all one in Christ. But there is a distinction to
which men pay very little attention, but God pays a whole lot of attention
to it, and that is this distinction, those who believe and those who
do not believe. Our Lord told his disciples,
he said, now you go into all the world, And you preach the
gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. But he that believeth not shall
be damned. That's the distinction. They
tell me when the old Titanic left the shores of the port from
which it departed, There were all kinds of people on board.
There were all classes. There were rich people and poor
people. There were old people and young people. There were
educated people and folks who couldn't even write their names.
And there were black people and white people. And there were
leaders and followers. But when that old ship went down
and the report was posted back at the port, there were only
two classes, saved and lost. That's all, just saved and lost.
And really, and truly, I know pride fills a lot of hearts. Pride goes before destruction
and a haughty spirit before the fall. And pride is the granddaddy
of all sin. And I know folks just won't let
it die. They won't let it lie down and be buried. But there
are no distinctions that mount to a hill of beans but one. Do
you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God? And believing,
do you have life through his name? These. That's all. Abraham, Abel, Enoch, Noah. These. Here are men that their
lives span the time of 1,500 years and yet God just says these.
These. But believers are in a clash
by themselves and the Holy Spirit singles them out from among men
and the Holy Spirit speaks of them all together as these. These
men. These brethren. These jewels.
These children. These stones. These are the people
that believe God created the world by the word of His power. There's one God, Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit, three in one, who created all things by the
word of His power. These believe. These all believe
that through one man, sin entered this world, and death by sin,
and so death passed upon all men, for all had sinned. Adam
were died in Christ were made alive these believe that they
have seen and come short of God's glory these believe and These
also believe that God Almighty is plenteous and mercy and God
has determined by his grace and his mercy to redeem the people
Through Jesus Christ through the merits and righteousness
and blood of his own son Yes, sir. They believe that they believe
this hope and that hopes in Christ They believe there's mercy, and
that mercy's in Christ. And they believe that there's
grace, and that grace is in Christ. They believe there's life eternal,
and that life's in Christ. Yes, there's forgiveness. Is
there forgiveness with God? Yes, there's forgiveness with
God. It's in Christ. These believe that. These believe
that all who receive Christ receive mercy. That they are a chosen
generation, and a royal priesthood, and a holy nation, and a peculiar
people, these. The second word, all, all, these
all, without exception. Now my friends, in this matter
of salvation, when it comes to acceptance with God, there are
no exceptions. All are redeemed by Christ and
Christ alone, whether it be Moses or Matthew. And Moses lived in
that old dispensation and Matthew in the days of Christ. But they're
saved the same way. Christ said, Moses wrote of me.
Moses wasn't saved by keeping the law because Moses did not
perfectly keep the law. Moses was saved by believing
on him who did keep the law. That's Christ. Moses wrote of
me, Christ said. Abraham was not saved because
he was circumcised and because he was the father of a great
nation. He was saved because Christ loved him and died for
his sins. Abraham saw my day and was glad.
And Abraham is saved the same way that Apollos is saved, and
Joshua is saved the same way that John is saved. Christ said,
I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man, no man,
whatever his dispensation, whatever his generation, no man cometh
to the Father but by me. There's none other name unto
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved except the name
of Christ. Other foundation can no man lay
than that which is laid, Christ the Lord. These all died in faith,
not in works, in faith. They had one common fault in
Adam, all men died. They had one common fault, they
were all sinners. That's right, they were all sinners.
Noah failed miserably. Abraham failed miserably. David, under every dispensation
the creature has fallen. You go back to the angels in
heaven. And they rebelled, and Adam in the perfect garden, Noah
after the flood, Abraham under the direct guidance of God, David
as the powerful, the most powerful king, Solomon the wisest man,
Judas, one of Christ's own disciples. These all, they all have one
common fall, and one common fault, and they had one common faith.
This is the record. God has given us eternal life,
and this life in his son. He that hath the Son of God hath
life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. You
see, the people before the cross were redeemed looking to the
cross. These animal sacrifices that they brought, and that were
slain on these Jewish altars, these days of atonement, they
didn't put away sin. Paul wrote in Hebrews 10, 4,
it is impossible, it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats
to put away sin. These are pictures and types
and symbols that point to the cross. These things are patterns that
teach us about him who is to come. And these men died believing
that the one who fulfilled these things would come and be their
savior. And on this side of the cross,
we believe, and we are saved by looking back to what Christ
did. You see what I'm saying? We all
have one common fall, and that's in Adam, one common fall, that's
sin, one common faith, and that's Christ, and one common mediator. Now, if Christ is not Moses'
mediator, then he can't come to God, for there's one God and
one mediator between God and man. It's Christ. It's not Aaron. It's Christ. It's not Mary. It's
Christ. And then we have one common hope.
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us, that
we should be called the sons of God. It doth not yet appear
what we shall believe. But this we know, when he shall
appear, we shall see him and be like him. And he that hath
this hope in him purifies himself. What hope? There's just one hope.
We're going to be like Christ. And then we all have one common
goal. That's what we want to be. We want to be like Christ.
So these, all believers, all of them without exception, these
all died. Now this is a word we need to
dwell on for a few moments and we need to think about. Although
they had faith, they still died. Faith is not going to deliver
you from death. Not the death of the body. It'll
deliver you from eternal death, it'll deliver you from the death
of the soul, but it won't deliver you from the death of the body.
Although these men were believers, they died. Although they walked
with God, they died. Although they believed, they
died. Although they had faith, they died. King Saul died, but
so did King David, man after God's own heart. Judas died,
but so did John, who leaned on the Lord's breast at the Last
Supper. All men die. It's pointed unto
men who want to die. Faith does not keep a man from
dying. It may be God's will, and there's
thousands of people making so much money today, preying on
poor, helpless folks in this matter of healing. We call it
the health and wealth religion of today. Preachers are preaching
that if you have faith, you can have perfect health, and if you
have faith, you can have perfect finances. That's not so. Now,
where is truth in that? It may be God's will for you
to prosper. It may be God's will for you
to be poor. It may be God's will for you
to be healthy. It may be God's will for you
to be sick. If God healed everybody, nobody would die. In this world, you shall have
tribulation. In this world, you shall have
trial. In this world, you shall have sickness. In this world,
you're going to die. You're going to die. Young die
and old die. Little people die and big people
die. All men die. It's appointed unto
men what to die. And these men, they had faith.
These all had faith, but they died. died. And they didn't live the same
length of time. Noah lived 965 years. Abraham
didn't live but 175. That was a short life in his
day. Abel, I don't know how long Abel lived. Abel must have died
as a young man. He was never married. Never had
a family. He belonged to God. He was one
of God's own. And he was murdered. He was murdered
by his brother. Where was God? Somebody said,
where was God when my son died, preacher? Same place he was when
his son died, on the throne. God works with all things after
the counsel of his own will. And let me tell you this. Yes,
ask and you shall receive. Seek and you shall find. Knock
and it shall be opened. When you're sick, pray for the
sick. We're told in God's word, in the book of James, that if
anybody's sick, let them call for the elders of the church
and let them pray over him, anointing with oil. And the oil represents
the Holy Spirit. Way far. But my friend, bow to
the will of God. It may not be God's will to heal
that person. I've seen God heal some people
and I've seen God not heal folks. It doesn't mean that the people
didn't have faith because God didn't heal them. That's not
why God didn't heal them. God wants, is going to please
to take them home. But there are always folks ready to make
living on religion. There's money in religion. If you got a little enough conscience,
and if you're big enough feet, and if you're willing to make
merchandise of the souls of men, and if you're willing to damn
your own soul, yes, you can make a killing on religion, like many
folks are doing today, but under God, have mercy, and he won't. The only thing preachers need
to say is this, that God heals. All healing is of God. But these
men had faith and they died. And Abel died young. And Noah
died old. And Abraham died in the middle
of his life. And Enoch didn't die at all.
He just walked right on into heaven. God's sovereign. Even
so far as it seemed good in thy sight. Well, let's move on. Death for the believer, though,
is not a penalty, it's a promotion. Death for the believer is not
the end, it's the beginning. Death for the believer is not
loss, it's gain. Death for the believer is not
sorrow, it's joy. We sorrow not as those who have
no hope. Our hope is Christ. And I'll tell you this, my friend.
These men, I'd like to be in this company, wouldn't you? Abel,
Noah, Enoch, Abraham, and me. Wouldn't that be great? But they
died. They died. And they died, here's
the fourth word, in faith. Faith's not a creed, it's an
experience. Faith's not a doctrine, it's
a heart condition. That's right, faith is in me.
God revealed his Son in me. These men died in faith, out
of self, in Christ, in faith, in hope. They had faith before
they died. That's right. They had faith
before they died. Their faith was a living faith.
They didn't get this faith on their deathbed. They had this
faith in life. Now somebody, I know, I know
there's an illustration in the Bible of a man who was saved
just before he died. But remember this. There's only
one. Only one. There's only one man
in the Bible that was saved just before he died. in order that
no one may despair, but there's only one in order that no one
may presume. These men had this faith throughout
their lives, and these men persevered in this faith. They persevered
until they died. They continued in the faith.
They walked with God by faith. They held on to this faith. They
didn't deny this faith, and then they never got beyond faith.
They died in faith. They died where they started.
The Bible says four times, the just shall live by faith. That's how we start living, spiritually,
by faith. That's how we live, by faith. And that's how we live eternally,
by faith. We never get beyond faith. It's not faith perfected
by work, faith perfected by deeds, it's faith perfected in Christ. People who get beyond faith are
like the fellow that climbed the ladder and climbed so high,
he started down the other side. Christ is as high as you can
go. Faith's as high as you can go. That's it. When you have
faith, you have everything. When you have faith in Christ,
you have everything. At the cross, where I first saw the light,
and the burden of my heart rolled away, it's there by faith I received
my sight, and now I'm happy all the day. The just shall live
by faith. These men died in faith. They never got beyond faith.
965 years old Noah was, and he still
died in faith, resting in God, believing God. 175 years old was Abraham, and
he died in faith. Let me give you three things.
Faith has one foundation, the Word of God. That's it. Not feeling, not experience,
the Word of God. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing
by the Word of God. That's the only foundation of
faith. What God promised, He's able to perform. Faith has one
object, and that's Christ. Who he is, what he did, where
he is now. The one object of faith is Christ.
We don't put faith in preachers and faith in doctrines, but faith
in Christ. And then faith has one goal,
his glory. That in the ages to come, he
might show forth the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus. God saved us to the praise of
his glory.