These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. (Hebrews 11:13)

They Died In Faith

Death is real. It is certain. Everyone dies. After 969 years, Methuselah died. The first man, Adam, lived 930 years and died. Cemeteries are filled with the stories of those who were born and died. Young and old die. Rich and poor are buried next to one another. Famous and infamous die. Some foolishly try to extend their lives in the belief that diet, exercise, and modern science can deny the toll of death. They fail. Living a quality life is important, but nothing will stop the sentence of death. Sin established death, and until sin is completely removed, death will be the fate of every man.

The question is not whether a man dies, but how he dies. There is no choice about the sentence of death, but the manner of death is what will determine the measure of life here and the hope of life after death. If a man lives to gain everything in this world, he will die a miserable soul. He can take nothing with him. All he has gained will be left for others. It is a vain and empty life to seek pleasures that will never last. When a man lives for himself without believing in life after death, he only has death in this world and the world to come. What matters is how a man dies.

The righteous have always suffered the abuse and ridicule of a cruel world. Satan has deceived the minds of most people on earth. He has them fully convinced happiness can only be found in this life. For the few saints who seek the glory of God, the struggle against sin becomes a lifelong struggle. Abel was killed by his brother. Enoch lived in a violently cruel and wicked world. Noah and his family were the only righteous in the entire world. Abraham lived in a pagan world. Moses grew up under the shadow of Egyptian gods and the temptation to possess all the glory of being a son of Pharaoh. He turned away from all those things to serve the true and living God.

The scriptures are filled with humble people who did not allow the allurements of the world to tempt them to follow evil. They were given promises from God that He would bless them beyond measure, and they believed Him. God promised to make of Abraham a great nation and that all nations would be blessed because of his son. Abraham saw the promise of a son realized in Isaac but never saw the fulfillment of the eternal blessings in Jesus Christ. Abraham died in faith, not having seen the completion of God’s plan, but saw the hope and promises of God afar off. He was assured of them; he embraced those promises as real, and he knew all that God said was true and life was nothing more than a short journey before eternity.

The only way to die is to die in faith. There is no hope if a man dies outside of faith. Hope must be believing in the promises of God whether all those promises are realized or not. The faithful die in faith, believing that whatever happens in life, and how it happens, works to the glory of God. Death is the affirmation for the Christian that faith in the promises of God is real, whether realized or not. To die in Christ is to live in eternity with God. It brings the sting of death to naught and gains the victory over Hades. Life is in death because God raised Jesus from the dead and He ever lives. Death is real. Faith is hope. Die in faith so that hope can be realized.