No 6

(The Faith that continues, perseveres)

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God so that things which are seen were not made of things that do appear” (Hebrews 11 :1-3) This is the best definition of faith anywhere because this faith is in the holy God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and who provided a Way for us to come to Him; I speak of course, of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only way to eternal salvation and He is preparing a place for us right now in heaven (John 14 :6) and He intercedes for us until we get there (Romans 8 :34). But, we’re not there yet, are we? So what is one to do in the meantime? Stretch our faith so that it becomes stronger and stronger? Yes, exactly!! In the hall of fame of faith in Hebrews 11, we see the past patriots did just that because, in a way, there are two kinds of faith : there is the faith that saves (John 3 :16) and there is the faith that continues or persevers - “but he that endureth to the end shall be saved” (Matthew 10 :22). Some have wrongly used this verse to say that we persever the end to be saved but the right meaning is we persever to the end because we are saved. There are many examples in the Bible of this “continuing” faith but let us consider someone who is not in the Bible and has this type of faith.

She is a missionary in South America and upon arriving with her family to their new home in this faraway land they were met with a very hostile greeting; so hostile, that her husband was killed in the process. This person had every right to get up and go back to her home but she stayed on; she had faith that continues. The Lord blessed her faith some time later when her daughter married the son of the chief of the tribe who had killed her husband earlier; the chief even performed the ceremony ! This is not ordinary faith; this is faith that continues. This person is Elizabeth Elliot and we would do well to use her as an example for our faith in our over-indulgent society where we think that persecution is when a door is slammed in our face or we are ridiculed in front of our friends for standing up for Christ. Jesus died for us; are we ready to die for Him?