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"These all died in faith." - Hebrews 11:13
Behold the epitaph of all those blessed saints who fell asleep before the coming
of our Lord! It matters nothing how else they died, whether of old age, or by
violent means; this one point, in which they all agree, is the most worthy of
record, "they all died in faith." In faith they lived-it was their comfort,
their guide, their motive and their support; and in the same spiritual grace
they died, ending their life-song in the sweet strain in which they had so long
continued. They did not die resting in the flesh or upon their own attainments;
they made no advance from their first way of acceptance with God, but held to
the way of faith to the end. Faith is as precious to die by as to live by.
Dying in faith has distinct reference to the past. They believed the promises
which had gone before, and were assured that their sins were blotted out through
the mercy of God. Dying in faith has to do with the present. These saints were
confident of their acceptance with God, they enjoyed the beams of his love, and
rested in his faithfulness. Dying in faith looks into the future. They fell
asleep, affirming that the Messiah would surely come, and that when he would in
the last days appear upon the earth, they would rise from their graves to behold
him. To them the pains of death were but the birth-pangs of a better state. Take
courage, my soul, as thou readest this epitaph. Thy course, through grace, is
one of faith, and sight seldom cheers thee; this has also been the pathway of
the brightest and the best. Faith was the orbit in which these stars of the
first magnitude moved all the time of their shining here; and happy art thou
that it is thine. Look anew to-night to Jesus, the author and finisher of thy
faith, and thank him for giving thee like precious faith with souls now in
glory.
See Also:
Daily Devotional: Today With Jesus
Daily Devotional: My Utmost for His Highest
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