The Believer's Epitaph

Chapter 11, verse 13. Hebrews 11, 13. Our subject tonight is the believer's
epitaph. And our text is verse 13, Hebrews
11. Just five words, these all died
in faith. These all died in faith. Now it used to be the custom,
much more than it is now, to write an inscription on the tombstone
in memory of the life of the person who had died. I always
enjoy walking through an old cemetery and reading what has
been written on the tombstone. You may not enjoy that, I do.
One of the greatest thrills that I've had in my life is visiting
the old church in Williamsburg, Virginia, and reading the tombstones. And almost every one of them
have something written on the stone in memory of the person
who died. One I read one time went something
like this. This is true. I read this on
the tombstone of a departed individual. please view my tomb as you pass
by, for as you are, once was I, and as I am, soon must you
be. So make your plans to follow
me." That was on the tombstone. In Job chapter 19, Job requested
that they write this on his marker. In the nineteenth chapter of
Job, beginning with verse twenty-three, he said, or that my words were
now written, or that they were printed in a book, that they
might be graven with an iron pin, and laid in the rock forever."
Spurgeon said, he's saying, I want this written on my tombstone.
"'For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand
at the latter day upon the earth, and though after my skin worms
destroy this body, Yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I
shall see for myself. And mine eyes shall behold not
another, though my reins be consumed within me." One of the most beautiful
epitaphs, inscriptions, is found on the tombstone of old M.T. Martin. M.T. Martin was the father of T.T.
Martin, who was a good friend of Brother A.D. M. T. Martin was a Baptist preacher
in the state of Mississippi before and after the Civil War. He was
the founder and preserver of Mississippi College, Blue Mountain
College, one of those colleges down there. And when the old
man died, they buried him under a little pine tree, and on his
tombstone they put these words, a bond slave of Jesus Christ. M. T. Martin, a bond slave of
Jesus Christ. I read once that during a great
flood that the body of a small boy was found after the flood.
People were killed, they were drowned, their homes destroyed,
and they found the body of a little boy about three or four years
of age. He was never identified, he was
never And so they buried him, and they erected a little monument
over his grave, and they put on there two words. No name,
no date of birth, no date of death. They just wrote on that
little tombstone over the body of that little fellow who was
never identified, never claimed. God knows. God knows. The Lord God Almighty presides
over the death of His people, just as He presided over the
death of Moses. And He attends their burial,
and seems to erect here in our text a great, a giant mausoleum
in which their bodies sleep, awaiting the resurrection. And
he writes an epitaph across that giant mausoleum that, if it were
possible, would cover the body of every believer who has ever
died, and these are the words on that monument. These all died
in faith. These all died in faith. In the scripture which Brother
Huddle wrote, Red, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, these all
died in faith. We shall sleep, the hymn writer
wrote, but not forever. There will be a glorious dawn. We shall meet to part no never
on that resurrection morn. From the deepest caves of oceans,
from the desert and the plain, from the valley and the mountain,
all his sheep shall rise again. We shall sleep, but not forever,
in a lone and silent grave. Blessed be the Lord that taketh,
blessed be the Lord who gave. In that bright eternal city,
death can never, never come. In his own good time he'll take
me, from this earth to my home, sweet home. These all died in
faith. Brother Barnard told me one time
a very sad story. He said there was a lawyer who
lived in Memphis, Tennessee. He knew him personally, he knew
his pastor. His pastor was a liberal preacher, did not preach the
word of God as we feel it should be preached. as we're convinced
it ought to be preached. But this lawyer was a faithful
member of the Baptist Church, and he attended every service.
When he was out of town, sometimes he'd drive all night on Saturday
night to be there for the service on Sunday morning and Sunday
night. He had a serious and fatal heart attack when he was in intensive
care. In intensive care, only his wife
was permitted to see him, but they did send for his pastor.
Barnard said this is a true story, and the pastor came to see him.
They only allowed him in there for a few moments, but he was
allowed in long enough to hear these words. The man lying there
in intensive care, dying and knowing it, looked up at his
pastor when his pastor stood over him and greeted him. He
said, Preacher, I sent for you because I have a few words to
say to you. I've listened to you preach for
ten years. I would drive sometimes from distant assignments just
to get home on Sunday morning to attend the church. I'm dying,
Pastor. I didn't expect to die this soon.
I'm still a young man. But I want you to know before
I die, you have not prepared me for this hour. I'm a dying
man, and you have not prepared me for this hour. Pastor, you
failed me. And that's the last words his
pastor ever heard him say. You have failed me. You have
not prepared me for this hour. I don't want that said by any
of you tonight. Pastor, I've listened to you
for these years, and you've not prepared me for the most important
hour of my life, when I shall leave this earth to meet God
Almighty. I have not failed you. I hope
that I can say with the Apostle Paul, I have not shunned or declared
unto you the whole counsel of God. I've kept back nothing profitable
unto you. My hands are free from your blood.
I don't like to say that. I don't want your blood to be
shed. But if it is and when it is, my hands are clean. I want
you to see three things in this subject tonight. These all died
in faith. The first thing I want you to
see is this. They died. They died. It says these all died. Abel,
Abraham, Sarah, Noah, they died. Even though they had faith, they
died. Even though they believed, they died. Faith will not keep
you from dying. Faith will not keep you from
illness. The Apostle Paul suffered illness. Trophimus, his friend,
he said, I've left him. I need him, but I had to leave
him. He was sick. One of them, he said, sick unto
death. Moses died as well as Pharaoh. The unbeliever dies,
but so does the believer. David died as well as Saul. Jacob
died as well as Esau. Peter died, as well as Judas.
Saints die, as well as unbelievers. These all died. It's appointed
unto men once to die. After that, the judgment. I was
preaching in North Carolina two weeks ago. Pastor Len Ballantyne
asked me to have lunch with him one day, and we went to lunch,
and we were talking. And he said, I had an experience
somewhat akin to yours. I said, what was it, Len? He
said, last August, my boy, 21 years of age, came home from
the Army. We had great plans for him, great expectations.
We were glad he was home. He'd spent his time in the Army,
and now he was coming home to go back to school, take up his
occupation. We were all just delighted and
thrilled. He went over to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for a
vacation. Drove his car over there. When
he was supposed to come home, he never came home. He was missing
five days. Finally, a truck driver on a
CB radio, driving down the highway from Myrtle Beach on his way
back to Winston-Salem, saw what he thought was a car down in
a deep ravine. He got on his CB radio and he
called the nearest emergency station and said, I think I saw
an automobile at a certain mile marker on this highway. They
came out and they found that boy. He had missed one of those
S-curves on that road and plunged off into a ravine and was gone
for five days before they ever found him dead. He said, it was
a trying experience for me and for my wife, but it confirmed
one thing once again for me. We're all going to die. The instrument
of death is already prepared. These all died. All right, notice
another thing about this. These all died, but they died
in faith. Oh, here's the beauty. They died,
but they died in faith. Blessed are the dead who die
in the Lord. Listen to what Paul said over in 2 Timothy. Now this
is important. It's not the start of the race
that's important, it's the end of the race. It's not the profession
of Christianity, it's the possession, the continued possession. He
that endures to the end, the same shall be saved. That's what
Christ said. whose house we are if we continue in the faith,
whose house we are if we hold fast the profession of our faith.
These died, but they died in faith. They continued in the
faith. The righteous will hold his way,
and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.
The great object of saving faith is Christ, but the great mark
of saving faith is perseverance. The great object of faith is
Christ, but the great mark of saving faith is perseverance.
No one ever entered heaven who didn't die in faith. Paul said in 2 Timothy 4, verse
6, I'm now ready to be offered. The time of my departure, my
death, is at hand. I fought a good fight, I finished
my course. I've kept the faith. I've kept
the faith. Henceforth is laid up for me
a crown of righteousness. Sure, I've done some preaching,
29 years of it, but there may be 29 years to go. Sure, we've
been saved, we've confessed Christ 15, 20 years, but there may be
15, 20 years to go. The race isn't over. You may
be at the quarter pole, or the half pole, or the three-quarter
pole, but you haven't crossed the finish line until you die
in faith. Listen to 1 John 2, verse 19. They went out from us, but they
were not of us. He doesn't say how long they
were there. One year, two years, three years, five years, ten
years, twenty years. Demas hath forsaken me, having
loved this present world. But they went out from us, but
they were not of us. If there had been of us, here
is the mark." They would no doubt have continued
with us. But they went out, that they might be made manifest,
they were not all of us. I hold out no hope for a man
who does not die in the faith. I hold no hope for a man who
does not continue in the faith of Christ Jesus. And you can
say that does away with eternal security, you can say that does
away with the once saved, always saved, once in grace, always
in grace. I don't know about that, but
I do know what Scripture says. I do know what the Word of God
says. Whose house we are if we continue in the faith. We have
no right to claim to be of the household of faith if we don't
die in the faith. We have no right to claim to
be of the household of Christ if we do not continue in that
household till God takes us home. These all died. These all died,
but they died in faith. Let me die! Balaam said, the
death of the righteous. Let my latter end be like his. Oh God! Not how I start, how
I finish. How I finish. If I've got to
have my ups and downs and trials and doubts and fears, let me
have them now, but I don't want them when I come to the end of
the road. I want to die in faith. I want to die in faith. I want
to die the death of the righteous. These all died in faith. Let
me show you something else about this. These all died. They died even though they had
faith. And you may die. You may die tonight. Your faith's
not going to keep you from illness. Your faith's not going to keep
you from death. Your faith is not going to keep you from departing
from this world when God says your life's over. When your journey
is finished, and when your race is run, when your course is complete,
and when the number of your months have reached their determined
end, you're going to die just like that. But oh, may God grant that you
die in faith, whatever it costs you. If it costs you everything
you have, God's going to burn it up anyway. If it costs you
every friend you've got, if it costs you everything you've accomplished
thus far in life, Lay it on the altar and let it be burned for
Christ's sake, but die in faith. And then the third thing, they
died in faith and they never got beyond faith. These all died. Abraham, I don't know how old
he was, two or three hundred. Noah, Abel, they died in faith. Now I'm suspicious of those people
who talk about anything that takes the place of faith. I'm
suspicious of people who talk about visions and dreams and
signs and revelations that take the place of faith. These men
of God lived their life in faith and they died in faith. Abel,
Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Sarah, all lived by faith in the promises
of God. And they died that way. They
never got beyond trusting God. They never got beyond looking
to Him by faith. The Scripture says we walk by
faith, not by sight the entire journey. The Scripture says the
just shall live by faith the entire journey. Someday I'll
see Him face to face, but now I see through a glass dimly. And He'll always be that way.
I've been preaching the gospel almost 30 years, and the only
foundation and proof I have of my part in the kingdom of God
is this Word. It started out that way, it's
that way now, and it's going to be that way when I die. Oh,
I know we grow in grace. Sometimes we don't, we can't
measure much growth. I know we have the witness of
the Spirit within. I know sometimes we feel so wonderful,
but I can't rest in my feelings sometimes I don't feel so wonderful. Someday I shall know as I know,
but now I know in part, and I live by faith. Someday the silver
cord will break, and I know more is now shall sing, but oh, the
joy when I shall wake in the palace of the king, and I shall
see him face to face, and tell this story saved by grace. I'll
see him then face to face, but now faith to faith. Can't get beyond it. Don't try
to get beyond faith. Don't ask for anything more than
faith. God's notâ€”if He wouldn't give
it to Abraham, He's not going to give it to you. Our Lord said, this sinful and
adulterous generation seeketh a sign, and no sign shall be
given. We walk by faith the whole journey. We live by faith the whole journey,
and we die in faith. And it's wrong to ask for anything
more than what God gave these. Abel, Abraham, Noah, Sarah, they
died in faith! They didn't die with a telegram
in their hands from God saying everything's alright, they died
with the Word of God. The Word of God. Died in faith. The second thing that I want
you to look at is this. What was the faith in which they
died? What was the faith in which they
died? Let's look at this. It says they
all died in faith, not having received the promises. Not having
received the promises. And what they're saying is this.
Not having received the fulfillment of the promises. That's what
that's saying. They received the promises. That's
what their faith was based upon, the promises of God. Believing
that God would do all that he promised. But they did not receive
the fulfillment of the promises. Adam did not behold the seed
of woman. He heard about it. The prophecy
came from the lips of the father himself, the seed of woman shall
bruise the head of the serpent. But Adam never saw him. Abraham never did behold his
seed as the stars of the sky or the sands of the seashore,
but he believed God's promise. He never did behold that seed
of his that would bless all nations, and in whom all nations would
be blessed, but he had the promise. Jacob never did see Shiloh, who
should come, the Prince of Peace, the King of Peace, in whom all
nations would be blessed, but he had the promise. Isaiah never
did see him who was wounded for his transgressions, bruised for
his iniquities, and by whose stripes he was healed, but he
had the promise. That was their faith. They never
had the fulfillment of the promise, but they had the promise. And you and I, we have more life
than they had. We have more revelation than
they had. Christ has come, the fulfillment
of every sacrifice of every type. Our great high priest, our federal
head, our representative, bone of our bone and flesh of our
flesh, was in this world, dwelt among men. tempted in all points
as we are, yet without sin he met God's law, obeyed it, and
every jot and tittle in our place went to the cross. And there
he suffered and there he died, was buried and rose again, has
ascended back to the Father, and there he intercedes for us
and pleads for us and is our one mediator and our advocate.
But you and I have not seen him come back." We have the promise. We have not seen the resurrection
of the redeemed. We have the promise. We have
not seen the glory that shall be ours. We have the promise. And we're looking for these promises
to be fulfilled, and we die believing them. We die believing them. I believe What kind of faith did they die
in? Well, they died in a faith that rested on the promises of
God, though not having received the fulfillment. And we have
the same kind of faith. Somebody says, show me God. You've
never seen God. Somebody says, how do you know
that the redeemed will be raised? You've never seen anybody rise.
How do you know there's a city called heaven? You've never seen
it. nor talk to anyone who has seen it. We believe the word
of God. We believe the promises. That's
how these men die. That's the faith in which they
die. Not having received the fulfillment of the promises,
but watch this next line. But having seen them afar off,
Christ said, Abraham saw my day. He saw my day with eyes of faith. He saw my day with a heart of
faith. He saw my day believing that
Almighty God cannot lie. He saw my day. Moses wrote of me, if our faith
is the faith of God's elect, we will see by faith the promises
of God fulfilled in Christ as these men saw it right here. And I'll tell you this, actually,
did you know faith is better than sight? Because you can't
always trust your eyes, did you know that? Faith is better than
sight. Over in the book of Peter, Peter
says that. He says, we have a better, we
have a better foundation. Peter said, I was standing there
when the Lord was transfigured right before my eyes. But he
said, we have a more sure word of prophecy, that you do well
to take heed to it, for all scripture is given by inspiration of God.
Actually, faith is better than carnal sight, for we can doubt
our eyes, but we can't doubt God's word. You see what I'm
saying? Somebody said, I wish I could
have been in this world and seen Christ when he walked this earth.
Most of them that saw him didn't believe him. Most of them that saw him rejected
him. Most of them that saw him denied
him. I'll tell you what I'd rather have. I'd rather have the complete
full, the complete revelation of God's Word. Because I know
that I cannot trust my sight, I cannot trust my feelings, I
cannot trust what I think I might do, but I can trust God's Word
and believe it. It cannot fail. Watch this next
line here. The kind of faith they had. They
had a faith that though not having received the fulfillment of the
promise, but having seen them afar off, having believed them,
what'd they do? They were persuaded of them and
embraced them. And embraced them. Their faith
was more than mental ascent. It was a faith that led them
to act on the word and embrace it. It led Abel to offer a better
sacrifice than King. It led Noah to go out yondering
for 120 years to work on a boat while everybody laughed. He received
the promise and he saw it afar off and he embraced it. He was so persuaded that God
would send the flood, that he did what God told him to do.
He was so convinced. He embraced it and he acted upon
it. Abraham left his father's house
to go to a place he knew not where, but he believed God. Abraham waited on a sermon in
his old age. He knew not how, but he believed
God. Abraham went to the top of a
mountain and strapped that only son, his heir, to an altar and
raised a knife to slay him, not knowing why. We believe God. That's what it means to embrace
the promise. That's the kind of faith. They
died in faith. They continued. Oh, my soul,
they had the trials. Think of the 120 years of building
that boat while people scoffed and mocked and laughed and ridiculed. Think of Abraham wandering out
yonder in the wilderness living in tents when he had had all
the riches that a man could want in an idolatrous country. Left
his home and his family and his father and his loved ones and
went out yonder not knowing where he's going. But he continued,
he embraced, Moses went down to Egypt, an eighty-year-old
man, to bring out two million people from under the heel of
a terrible tyrant and dictator, and led those people out yonder,
two and a half or three million of them out in, away from houses
and shelters and food and water and clothing, to walk right out
into a wilderness. right out into a wilderness,
going to a land sold incompletely on the Word of God. That's the
faith that saves. It is so persuasive of the promise
of life in Christ that it embraces the Word by action. These people
died in faith. What kind of faith? Not having
seen the fulfillment of the promise, but having the promise. and having
seen the promise fulfilled, not with natural eyes, but with eyes
of faith, and so persuaded of it that they embraced it." How in the world could these
martyrs over in Smithfield march so triumphantly to the flames
and die giving their lives? I'll tell you how. Though they
had not received the fulfillment of the promise they'd seen it
afar off, and they were so persuaded of the truth of God's Word, of
God's salvation in Christ, of God's redemption in the Beloved,
that they embraced it to the point of dying for it. Matthew, follow me! And there he sat. at the receipt
of customs, a respected man, an intelligent man, a prosperous
man. And here stood a carpenter, surrounded
by fishermen. Matthew, follow me! Scripture
says he arose and he left all and he followed him. That's faith. That's faith. That's faith that
God will honor. That's faith that God will bless.
But that's the faith in which these died. They died in faith,
not having received the fulfillment, only having seen them afar off.
But they were so persuaded of them, and they embraced them. Now here's the last point. How
did this faith affect their lives? How did it affect their lives?
And I'll tell you this, faith is not faith if it doesn't affect
your life. James says, you show me your
faith in words, I'll show you mine in deeds. First of all, they confessed
that they were strangers and pilgrims on this earth. They were strangers by nature.
They were born of God. You and I are citizens of His
kingdom. Christ said, you're not of this
world, even as I'm not of this world. What's that old song? Where does it go? This world
is not my home. I'm just a-passin' through. You
believe that? That's what these people believed.
They didn't believe this world was their home. They were citizens
of God's kingdom. They were sons of the heavenly
Father. They were just passing through
here. They were strangers by birth. They were strangers by
nature. They were born of God. They were
citizens of his kingdom. They weren't greatly alarmed
about the events of this world. I get a little bit concerned
about the Christians who are so up in the air about what the
Communists are going to do. I get a little bit disturbed
about the Christians that are so troubled and so upset and
so concerned about what's going to happen in this world. I'll
tell you what's going to happen in this world. I know. I read
it over in the book of Revelation. God's going to send it to hell.
God's going to destroy it. God's going to burn it up. God's
going to separate it from him someday. This world and all nations
and all governments and all thrones and all powers are going to be
ground under the heel of our Christ. They're going to be brought
into subjection. And they're going to glorify
God's justice in their damnation. We're not citizens of this world. That's what these people believed
here. They were strangers! They confessed
it! They were strangers. I'll tell
you something else, they were strangers not only by nature,
they were strangers in interest. I'll tell you this, you go right
on trying to be a millionaire, but most millionaires go to hell.
Christ said, how hardly shall they that be rich enter the kingdom
of God. It's harder for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom
of God. Now you set your sights on making
money, and you set your sights on getting the possessions of
this world and the material advantage, and you'll perish with this world.
That's so. You read the Bible. No man can
serve God in mammon. You can't have two masters. And
that mammon there is nothing in the world but riches. The
downfall of many men whom I personally know has been their covetousness
and lust after the things of this world. And I'll tell you, you'll be
better off if all you've got, if it'll keep you in tune with
Christ, is a fireside and an old rocker and a place to lie
down and some cornbread and beans. That's right. I'd rather have
that and have Christ than have all the possessions of this world
and not have the Lord. Now you think that over. I'll be faithful to your soul
if it costs me everything. But these people here, they were
not of this world in interest. What shall we eat? What shall
we drink? Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
Christ said, after these things the heathen seek. You seek the
kingdom of God and His righteousness, and He'll give you something
to eat, and He'll give you something to drink, and He'll give you
something to wear. It may not be as much as you
think you ought to have, but He'll give you what you need.
He'll give you what you need. That's so. These people confessed
they were strangers, they were pilgrims on this earth, and they were strangers not only
by birth and not only by interest, but they were strangers as to
continuance. What I mean by that, I meant
they didn't expect to be here too much longer. It says in verse 14, they that
say such things declare plainly that they're seeking another
home. They're seeking another country. It says in verse 16,
now they desire a better country. Oh, Paul said, I have a desire
to depart and be with Christ. Don't you? Brethren, let's think
for a moment. Let's get down to business here
for a moment. I came here to Ashton when I
was 20 years old. Next April it'll be 30 years
ago. 30 years. It seems like yesterday. Just like yesterday. When I stood
up old Pollard Baptist Church and led the first song I'd ever
led in my life, Close to Thee. close to thee. Daily through
this pilgrim journey let me walk close to thee. I'm fifty years
old. Maybe I have twenty more years. Maybe. Maybe just two-thirds
of the time I've been here. Now brethren, the time is drawing
near, isn't it? For some of you it's nearer than
that. Can you say truthfully with these who died in faith,
I'm not of this world. This world is not my interest. I seek a better country. I seek
a heavenly country. I desire to depart and be with
Christ. What shall it profit a man if
he gained the whole world and lose his soul? That's all I have. I don't have much body left.
It's getting weaker and weaker. And yours is too, getting frailer
and frailer. But I got a soul. I got a soul. I don't have a whole lot of time
left, but I've got a soul. And my soul needs to be fed.
Tear down your barns and build bigger ones. Tear them down. Build bigger ones. Fill those.
And tear those down. Build bigger ones and fill those.
And Christ said, tonight you'll die. And then who's all these
things going to be, you've accumulated? I wish we could get serious about
this thing. We will someday, too late. We
will someday. Now, I've been faithful to you,
I've I've tried to prepare. I can't prepare you for this
hour, but I can try. You and the Holy Ghost are going
to have to prepare you. Where you set your affections
and where you set your values and what your ambition is from
this moment on and what your desires are and what you seek
to accomplish and the path you seek to walk, that's up to you.
But I'll tell you this, as for me and my house, I got one desire. I want to know Christ. I want
to know Christ. I want to be found in Him. I
want to die in faith. I want to die in faith. Die in
faith. These all die in faith. Our Father in heaven, Bless the
message. You promised that your word would
not return void. It shall accomplish that whereunto
it's been sent. And we know the Apostle said
it's sometimes life unto life and sometimes death unto death.
Sometimes it's the light that lighteth a man, bringeth him
to genuine repentance and genuine faith. Sometimes it's death added
to the death adds to the condemnation. Thou hast said in thy word, thou
hast said it not my counsel and you would none of my reproof.
I called and you refused. I stretched out my hand and no
man regarded. I laugh when your fear cometh,
when your desolation cometh as the whirlwind. Then shall you
seek me and shall not find me. Then shall you call and I won't
answer. May it please thee to break down the walls of Jericho
tonight, the strong walls built up by prejudice and tradition
and lust, love for this world, desire to be like other men.
Break down those strong walls that Christ might enter in triumphantly
and raise his glorious banner of salvation over our hearts. Oh, that we may know him. and
the power of his resurrected life. Use the message for whatever
it pleases thee, for me, for the congregation. In Christ's
name we pray. Amen.

The Believer's Epitaph

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The Believer's Epitaph

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