While visiting with a brother one Sunday I heard the Lord speak. The brother was telling me that something I had said in my sermon on the Sabbath had impacted him, specifically, "We not only need to forgive others - we need to learn to forgive ourselves." He said this ministered to him. He went on to say that he becomes discouraged when he feels that he has let God down by his many failures. It was at that moment when I heard the Lord say, "Those who put their faith in Me cannot disappoint Me." The Father was plainly saying that this man had not disappointed Him - because he had persevered in faith and had not laid down his crown. I understood that God is well aware of our weaknesses.

Hebrews 11:6 immediately came to mind, -"And without faith it is impossible to please Him." I understood that just as it is impossible to please God without faith -it’s equally impossible to disappoint Him when we stand in faith. Another Scripture that came to mind was 1 John 5:4, -"For whoever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world -our faith." Our victory over the world is more about our faith in Christ than it is in our ability to produce righteous works. As Paul wrote in Galatians 2;20, -"The life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself up for me."

Paul placed his faith in Jesus, not in himself. He understood how weak he was in the flesh, but also how strong he was as a new creature in Christ. In Romans 7 he cries,- "For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. . .Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from this body of this death?" Paul hated his human condition but he trusted in his now righteous position in Christ. He opens Chapter 8 with "Therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Later in the Chapter Paul goes on to say that the Spirit is given to "help our weaknesses" and when we suffer tribulation and even martyrdom "we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us." We may be led through the Valley of the Shadow of Death but nothing can separate us from the love of God when we hold our faith in Him.

I began to consider the context of Hebrews 11:6. It is the story of the faithful from Abel forward. People who faced "impossible" situations and "unbearable" hardships. Many were persecuted, many suffered, and many were killed. "All these died in faith without receiving the promises." (Verse 13) Through it all this great cloud of witnesses remained steadfast in their faith. There can be no doubt that countless fervent prayers were offered by these saints for God to deliver them from their dire circumstances, yet God allowed many to suffer and die -and still they all died holding their faith in God. Hebrews 11 is more about enduring faith regardless of how trying the circumstances. God is looking more at who we trust than what we do. What we do is important, but we can never produce a righteousness worthy of His glory -for that we must rely on and trust in the Lord.

In his distress Job cried, "Though He slay me, yet I will trust in Him." and "When He has tried me I shall come forth as gold." and "Oh that You would set a limit for me and remember me! If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my struggle I will wait until my change comes. You will call, and I will answer You; You will long for the work of Your hands." Faithful Job understood that what mattered most was the final outcome -and he knew that his Creator would not forsake him in the grave.

We are saved by grace through faith. This means holding on to the belief that we abide in our Father’s grace because He sacrificed His beloved Son, and used His blood to ratify His Covenant with us. A Covenant in which our lawless deeds are remembered no more. A Covenant in which we are released from our shame. When Adam and Eve sinned they became aware of their nakedness and covered themselves in shame. In this Covenant of Grace through Faith, the Lord Himself endured our shame and has clothed us with His righteousness. We are not only cleansed from our iniquities but released from our shame.

While in a Roman prison Paul offered prayers for his release in order to continue the work of God. But his Heavenly Father had other plans, and soon the Apostle learned that he would suffer martyrdom. In his closing letter to his "son in the Lord" Timothy, he wrote, -"For the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the Righteous Judge, will award to me on that day." (2 Timothy 4:6-8)

The Skeleton in Every Sinner’s Closet

* "Death is a dreadful thing to those who love this present world. Perhaps if they could live forever they might be at peace. But that cannot be for God has appointed every person to die once and then face the Judgment. God will not give immortality to those who spend their life disregarding Him-like all, they must taste death. Those without Christ may put Jesus far from themselves, but they cannot put death far from themselves. They may avoid the cross but they cannot avoid the grave. The ungodly man frowns upon death because death frowns upon him. Death is the skeleton in his closet. The only answer to death is life in Christ." Larry R. Lasiter