The Enduring Faith – Hebrews 11:13-14

In the life of faith, how you finish matters. Starting is easy- as a young man of faith, you might feel confident to boldly face whatever lies ahead, but to actually fight the good fight, finish the course, and keep the faith requires an enduring faith that only God can endow. Every believer hopes to end well, but most presume their finish line is waiting for them many years ahead- too far to be visible to the eye. But the reality is, we don’t know what tomorrow holds, and for any of us, we may be crossing our finish line tomorrow. (James 4:14) Moreover, we don’t know how man can turn. The Bible says that some will fall away from the faith. (1Tim 4:1) Paul witnessed it himself when Demas, who labored alongside him, suddenly fell away from the faith to go after the world. We may have personally experienced it ourselves, when those whom we believed to be brothers and sisters in Christ abandoned the church and walked away from the faith. They proved that they did not have true faith that endures. Lest we become arrogant, the Bible says let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. (1Cor 10:12) We must all be watchful, and look to God alone who sustains our faith.

How then can we endure during these wicked times? What does enduring faith look like? Hebrews 11:13-14 speaks of the patriarchs- Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob- those who were promised a great nation of descendants who would be set apart for God. (Rom 4:16-17) They didn’t receive what was promised in their lifetimes, but they all died in faith, having only tasted the promise through the birth of their sons.

As descendants of the same faith, we face the same challenge as our forefathers. We read the wonderful promises of God, in His Word, but we don’t yet see them fulfilled today. As with the patriarchs, our greatest hope in God is the promise of our salvation. The Bible says we have been predestined, called, justified, and glorified, but we know that in our current state we are not yet glorified. We are in the process of sanctification, and we endure in faith and await our glorification. This is the nature of God’s eternal and immutable promises- it is already, but not yet.

Even though the patriarchs didn’t yet receive the promises, they endured because they knew that the One who promised was faithful. We have eternal life today, because God has promised it. Do you experience, enjoy, and give glory to God because He has given you eternal life? We- along with our forefathers of faith, and with all who have believed- have not yet received the fulfillment of salvation. But we are in the process of it, and as we experience it and enjoy it now, we will live by faith that endures to the end.