The faith for which it is worth to die ... is a faith that saves.
In the days of Noah they were all bad. All were sinners, feasting, getting drunk, and living in immoral luxury. Nobody paid attention to God.
Nobody cared about the commandments of God. Nobody ... except Noah. Noah was good. God spoke to Noah because Noah listened to him and believed him."By faith Noah, when he was warned by God about things that were not yet seen, with fear he prepared the ark in which his house was saved; and by that faith he condemned the world, and was made heir of the righteousness that comes by faith "(Hebrews 11.7).
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The world was bad and full of darkness. But Noah believed God, and he was saved.
After the flood, many descendants of Noah returned to idolatry. They made gods of stone and clay. The idolaters gathered in the plains of Shinar (present-day Iraq), until God scattered them "on the face of the whole earth" (Genesis 11.9). But in the midst of that idolatry in Shinar, there lived a righteous man: Abraham.
God spoke to Abraham because Abraham paid attention to him and believed him.
Because of his faith, Abraham obeyed God. By faith he lived as
foreigner in the promised land (Hebrews 11.8-9). "Abraham believed
God, and it was counted for righteousness "(Romans 4.3).
The world was bad and full of darkness.
But Abraham believed God, and he was saved.
The descendants of Abraham became the people of Israel.
Sometimes the Israelites believed God and walked in their ways. But more often than not they showed their disbelief with their sinful and rebellious lives. Filth, sorcery, lawsuits, and greed governed their lives until God himself (in the person of Jesus) came to earth to speak to them.
A few, the followers of Jesus, paid attention to God. They believed God, and because of their faith God adopted them as their children (Galatians 3:26). By faith they became children of God, and as children, also heirs; "Heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ" (Romans 8.16-17).
The world was bad and full of darkness.
But the followers of Jesus (the first Christians) believed God and were saved.
When the church of Jesus was still new, almost all of its members abandoned the faith and went back to sinning. In the name of Jesus, millions of false Christians killed their enemies, robbed the poor, persecuted the true Christians, blasphemed the truth, and finally flooded Europe into the barbarian Ages.
During that dark time, there were few who maintained their faith in God. There were few who brought the light of the gospel of generation to generation. But, thank God, there were some (maybe more than what we know). Finally, at the time of the Reformation, the church of Jesus flourished and grew again.
Those who believed God during the Reformation obeyed him as well. They lived holy lives, and baptized with water those who believed in Jesus. For this they received the nickname of Anabaptists (rebaptizers). The faith of the Anabaptists kept them firm in the midst of great persecutions. Because of their faith, the brothers were slaughtered, Burned alive, and quartered. The enemies of the faith drowned the Anabaptist sisters and buried them alive. But by faith these martyrs were delivered "from the wrath to come" (1 Thessalonians 1:10). Faith opened their eyes (Acts 26:18). Faith gave them an inheritance among the sanctified (Acts 26.18). Because of their faith, they never retreated to perdition, but obtained the result of faith, that is, the salvation of their soul (Hebrews 10.38-39 and 1 Peter 1.9).
The world was bad and full of darkness.
But the Anabaptists believed God, and they were saved.
More than four hundred years have passed since the Reformation. Many descendants of the Anabaptists along with the descendants of the "reformers" have become lukewarm and unconcerned about their religion. Many no longer believe in God. They walk proudly in the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. We live in a "barbaric age", in a very bad and very sinful time. Our generation is going to hell. But God speaks to us still. Do we believe what he is saying? Are we paying attention to him?
Do not forget this:
• Noah believed God and was saved.
• Abraham believed God and was saved.
• The first Christians believed God and were saved.
"He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but whoever does not believe,
he will be condemned "(Mark 16.16).
How can we show that we believe God?
The faith for which it is worth to die ... is a faith that works.
Abraham believed God and his faith was counted for justice (Romans 4.3). But Abraham not only believed. He demonstrated his faith by his works (James 2.21-22). We, if we believe God, are children of Abraham and heirs of the world with him (Romans 4.13, Galatians 3.28-29). Like Abraham, we demonstrate our faith by the works we do.
Many think that when you believe God, you can continue in the sin and be saved anyway. But this is a lie of the devil. If we believe God, we will no longer be in sin. God has said that all who sin go to hell. If we believe this, and if we believe there is a hell, we will not sin anymore.
The Bible says that the works we do can not save us (Ephesians 2: 8-9) But it also says that we are "created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10). "My brothers, what will it profit if someone says he has faith, and has no works? ... Was not Abraham our father justified by the works, when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? Do you not see that faith acted together with his works, and that faith was perfected by works? ...
You see, then, that man is justified by works, and not only by faith .... For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead "(James 2.14-26).
Noah demonstrated his faith in God by making the ark.
Abraham demonstrated his faith in God by sacrificing his son.
The first Christians demonstrated their faith in God by evangelizing the world.
How do we demonstrate our faith in God?
The faith for which it is worth to die ... is a faith for which it is worth living.
Nowadays it is very easy to say that one "believes". Because of this there are many false believers with a dead faith (James 2.26).
Four centuries ago, it was not easy to believe God. If one believed God and He obeyed, it was very likely that he lost his head or that he was burned alive. Back then no one said he "believed" if it was not true. The faith of then was more than a profession. Believers lived by faith and died by faith. Although the way of the faithful was dangerous, many believed God ... and the church of Jesus flourished in the midst of persecution. The faith for which it was worth dying is the faith for which it is worth living in our day.
