When Men of Faith Die
Heb 11:21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons,
and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when
his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and
gave instructions about his bones.
It may seem a strange issue I want to consider this morning- and before we
get to it I would encourage us not to become nervous about it. My theme is:
‘When men of faith die.’
The first very obvious conclusion is that people of faith do in fact die. If it
seems unnecessary to point that out- I can tell you that church history reports
that just about every generation of the church has heard testimony by those
who’s claim was that they had reached a place in their faith where they were
beyond the power of death- they would never experience physical death.
Without fussing with that- I have a standard answer: ‘Time will tell.’ In each
of those cases time did tell and what it told was that they didn’t quite have
the measure of faith they thought they had.
According to the record people of faith die. But according to the same
record we discover something wonderful regarding how they die. By “how
they die” I am not referring to the method of their physical death but to their
attitude of heart- the disposition of soul or inner life in the face of death.
From these two verses in Hebrews 11 we can take away two or three
fundamental realities regarding what people of faith do in the face of their
physical passing.
First their definition of reality is still very much the faith to which they have
come. Secondly the focus of that faith is not their physical death; nor is the
focus of that faith their past or history. The focus of that faith is the future.
Thirdly the definition of that future is the next generation- and the final
expression of faith is to bless and instruct that emerging generation.
To sum this up it looks like this: Question- ‘How do people of faith die?’
Answer- ‘They die blessing the next generation.’ Question- ‘And what is
that blessing?’ Answer- ‘It is the reaffirmation of the word and promise of
the Spirit regarding the future.’
1
The greatest contribution I can make to the generation right at my heels is
that with and in my final breath I affirm the ongoingness of the purpose and
promise of God.
Let us take this back to an Old Testament story.
1Chronicles chapter 17 opens with a rather warm domestic scene. King
David and the prophet Nathan are sharing, in the comfortable setting of
David’s cedar house.
David looks around and absorbs the wonder, the warmth, and the comfort of
his house of cedar- which I suspect was quite elaborate and ornate. He
becomes aware of the fact that the Ark of the Covenant- this God ordained
object which quite literally defined the nation- was in a place of storage
behind curtains- which is to say, housed in a tent.
The inequality and injustice of this was more than his heart could handle;
here he was in this fine house of cedar while the Ark of God’s presence was
in a tent. And so he comes up with a good idea- even a great idea. He will
build a house for the Ark of the Lord. And Nathan, God’s very astute
prophet, jumps in and affirms this great idea and adds the Lord’s name to it.
So it’s all settled. Everybody is a happy camper. The plan is in place for the
future. And isn’t the Lord good? But then we read this: 1Ch 17:3 That night
the word of God came to Nathan, saying:
You know what happens to great ideas when the word of the Lord comes?
Great ideas of the natural mind become a mere shadow of their original
greatness in relation to the really great idea of the word of the Spirit.
God’s idea began with this: “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what
the LORD says: You are not the one to build me a house to dwell in.” This
seems easy enough. However, it was not exactly without serious risk in that
culture to tell a king he couldn’t do what he wanted to do.
But there is a great deal more to the prophecy than just that. At its very heart
is this astounding revelation reported at the end of verse 10: “Moreover, I
tell you that the LORD will build a house for you.”
I cannot even begin to tell you how profoundly relevant this is to where we
are as a fellowship right now in relation to what God has commissioned us
to do. David’s whole passion was to build a house for God. God’s whole
passion was to build David’s house. If we see this as two opposing ideas we
2
are missing the point entirely. The two are related- and in that relationship
there is order and sequence.
God is not saying- ‘I don’t want My house built.’ That becomes clear in the
rest of the story- beginning with verse 12, where God speaks concerning a
specific son of David- “He shall build for Me a house, and I will establish
his throne forever.
In essence God is saying to David: ‘I want My house built. But here is how I
am going to build it. I am going to build your house and then out of that My
house is going to get built.’
This makes total sense even to the rational mind. My house can only
contribute to the building of His house what He Himself has first built
into my house. Beyond the question of- ‘What has been built into my
house?’ is the far more challenging question of- ‘Why has God built this
into my house?’ And the even more challenging answer is- ‘That my house
would have something to contribute to His house.’
God made it clear to David why he was not the man to build this house.
Here it is: 1CH 22:8 “But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘ You have
shed much blood and have waged great wars; you shall not build a house to
My name, because you have shed so much blood on the earth before Me.
‘Behold, a son will be born to you, who shall be a man of rest;
God is not disqualifying David because he was a man of war. This is about
understanding roles and functions, giftings and callings. In these verses we
meet a warrior king and a man of rest. The warrior king cannot build the
house but the house can never be built without the warrior king; the man of
rest is resting in and building out of the victories of the warrior king.
Having been told in chapter 17 that he is not the one who will build the
vision of the house that is in his own heart- David does not retreat into a
corner of his cedar house and pout away the rest of his life. Chapter 18
presents a picture of him strapping on his sword and going into battle. And
then follows one battle and victory after another until each of the enemies of
Israel is subdued and the land is at peace.
And having accomplished this, the second thing this warrior king does is to
accumulate and store materials for the building he will not get to build. And
what we need to see in this is the attitude of true faith in the heart of the
3
warrior king. It was that faith regarding the vision of the house that
motivated and directed his warfare. It was that same faith that motivated
and defined his gathering for the house. In other words, in his gathering
he was not accumulating for himself but for the house that was in his
heart.
Having accomplished these two fundamental essentials regarding the
building of the house, we come to this vital and powerful and moving
dynamic in 1Chron.22:6- Then he called for his son Solomon…
With this we are back to the original question: ‘What do men of faith do
when they face death?’ The answer is they align themselves relationally
with the next generation and out of that proper relational alignment they
bless that generation.
That blessing consisted of the reaffirmation of the word, the promise, and
the vision of the Spirit of God regarding the future- and the role this new
generation will play in that. David shared with Solomon- the next
generation- everything the Spirit had already revealed to David regarding
Solomon’s role in the future realization and expression of the vision David
carried in his own heart.
The second factor of blessing the next generation has to do with instruction .
David did not just affirm the promise and the vision- he carefully instructed
the next generation with meticulous detail regarding the outworking of that
promise and vision.
In this the essential influence of people of faith is extended beyond their own
generation, and the vision they carry (the vision they warred for- the vision
they gathered for) gets established by and in generations yet to be born.
And over against this is the tragedy of men of faith who carried a right
vision, a sound truth, a correct doctrine but who became lost within an
obsessive attitude with the details of their focus and failed to align
themselves relationally with the next generation. The result being they left
no one to carry forth the vision.
This is the incredible glory of that powerful picture in Hebrews 11- of this
very old man leaning on the top of his staff and blessing generations in the
form of his son Joseph and his two sons. Whatever else we may see there,
we most certainly see a man of faith who refused to isolate within his faith
and thus die alone and carry his vision to the grave. Here was a man of faith
properly aligned with the generations coming behind him- and in that
4
alignment he was able to bless them with affirmation and instruction
regarding the future.
5
and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when
his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and
gave instructions about his bones.
It may seem a strange issue I want to consider this morning- and before we
get to it I would encourage us not to become nervous about it. My theme is:
‘When men of faith die.’
The first very obvious conclusion is that people of faith do in fact die. If it
seems unnecessary to point that out- I can tell you that church history reports
that just about every generation of the church has heard testimony by those
who’s claim was that they had reached a place in their faith where they were
beyond the power of death- they would never experience physical death.
Without fussing with that- I have a standard answer: ‘Time will tell.’ In each
of those cases time did tell and what it told was that they didn’t quite have
the measure of faith they thought they had.
According to the record people of faith die. But according to the same
record we discover something wonderful regarding how they die. By “how
they die” I am not referring to the method of their physical death but to their
attitude of heart- the disposition of soul or inner life in the face of death.
From these two verses in Hebrews 11 we can take away two or three
fundamental realities regarding what people of faith do in the face of their
physical passing.
First their definition of reality is still very much the faith to which they have
come. Secondly the focus of that faith is not their physical death; nor is the
focus of that faith their past or history. The focus of that faith is the future.
Thirdly the definition of that future is the next generation- and the final
expression of faith is to bless and instruct that emerging generation.
To sum this up it looks like this: Question- ‘How do people of faith die?’
Answer- ‘They die blessing the next generation.’ Question- ‘And what is
that blessing?’ Answer- ‘It is the reaffirmation of the word and promise of
the Spirit regarding the future.’
1
The greatest contribution I can make to the generation right at my heels is
that with and in my final breath I affirm the ongoingness of the purpose and
promise of God.
Let us take this back to an Old Testament story.
1Chronicles chapter 17 opens with a rather warm domestic scene. King
David and the prophet Nathan are sharing, in the comfortable setting of
David’s cedar house.
David looks around and absorbs the wonder, the warmth, and the comfort of
his house of cedar- which I suspect was quite elaborate and ornate. He
becomes aware of the fact that the Ark of the Covenant- this God ordained
object which quite literally defined the nation- was in a place of storage
behind curtains- which is to say, housed in a tent.
The inequality and injustice of this was more than his heart could handle;
here he was in this fine house of cedar while the Ark of God’s presence was
in a tent. And so he comes up with a good idea- even a great idea. He will
build a house for the Ark of the Lord. And Nathan, God’s very astute
prophet, jumps in and affirms this great idea and adds the Lord’s name to it.
So it’s all settled. Everybody is a happy camper. The plan is in place for the
future. And isn’t the Lord good? But then we read this: 1Ch 17:3 That night
the word of God came to Nathan, saying:
You know what happens to great ideas when the word of the Lord comes?
Great ideas of the natural mind become a mere shadow of their original
greatness in relation to the really great idea of the word of the Spirit.
God’s idea began with this: “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what
the LORD says: You are not the one to build me a house to dwell in.” This
seems easy enough. However, it was not exactly without serious risk in that
culture to tell a king he couldn’t do what he wanted to do.
But there is a great deal more to the prophecy than just that. At its very heart
is this astounding revelation reported at the end of verse 10: “Moreover, I
tell you that the LORD will build a house for you.”
I cannot even begin to tell you how profoundly relevant this is to where we
are as a fellowship right now in relation to what God has commissioned us
to do. David’s whole passion was to build a house for God. God’s whole
passion was to build David’s house. If we see this as two opposing ideas we
2
are missing the point entirely. The two are related- and in that relationship
there is order and sequence.
God is not saying- ‘I don’t want My house built.’ That becomes clear in the
rest of the story- beginning with verse 12, where God speaks concerning a
specific son of David- “He shall build for Me a house, and I will establish
his throne forever.
In essence God is saying to David: ‘I want My house built. But here is how I
am going to build it. I am going to build your house and then out of that My
house is going to get built.’
This makes total sense even to the rational mind. My house can only
contribute to the building of His house what He Himself has first built
into my house. Beyond the question of- ‘What has been built into my
house?’ is the far more challenging question of- ‘Why has God built this
into my house?’ And the even more challenging answer is- ‘That my house
would have something to contribute to His house.’
God made it clear to David why he was not the man to build this house.
Here it is: 1CH 22:8 “But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘ You have
shed much blood and have waged great wars; you shall not build a house to
My name, because you have shed so much blood on the earth before Me.
‘Behold, a son will be born to you, who shall be a man of rest;
God is not disqualifying David because he was a man of war. This is about
understanding roles and functions, giftings and callings. In these verses we
meet a warrior king and a man of rest. The warrior king cannot build the
house but the house can never be built without the warrior king; the man of
rest is resting in and building out of the victories of the warrior king.
Having been told in chapter 17 that he is not the one who will build the
vision of the house that is in his own heart- David does not retreat into a
corner of his cedar house and pout away the rest of his life. Chapter 18
presents a picture of him strapping on his sword and going into battle. And
then follows one battle and victory after another until each of the enemies of
Israel is subdued and the land is at peace.
And having accomplished this, the second thing this warrior king does is to
accumulate and store materials for the building he will not get to build. And
what we need to see in this is the attitude of true faith in the heart of the
3
warrior king. It was that faith regarding the vision of the house that
motivated and directed his warfare. It was that same faith that motivated
and defined his gathering for the house. In other words, in his gathering
he was not accumulating for himself but for the house that was in his
heart.
Having accomplished these two fundamental essentials regarding the
building of the house, we come to this vital and powerful and moving
dynamic in 1Chron.22:6- Then he called for his son Solomon…
With this we are back to the original question: ‘What do men of faith do
when they face death?’ The answer is they align themselves relationally
with the next generation and out of that proper relational alignment they
bless that generation.
That blessing consisted of the reaffirmation of the word, the promise, and
the vision of the Spirit of God regarding the future- and the role this new
generation will play in that. David shared with Solomon- the next
generation- everything the Spirit had already revealed to David regarding
Solomon’s role in the future realization and expression of the vision David
carried in his own heart.
The second factor of blessing the next generation has to do with instruction .
David did not just affirm the promise and the vision- he carefully instructed
the next generation with meticulous detail regarding the outworking of that
promise and vision.
In this the essential influence of people of faith is extended beyond their own
generation, and the vision they carry (the vision they warred for- the vision
they gathered for) gets established by and in generations yet to be born.
And over against this is the tragedy of men of faith who carried a right
vision, a sound truth, a correct doctrine but who became lost within an
obsessive attitude with the details of their focus and failed to align
themselves relationally with the next generation. The result being they left
no one to carry forth the vision.
This is the incredible glory of that powerful picture in Hebrews 11- of this
very old man leaning on the top of his staff and blessing generations in the
form of his son Joseph and his two sons. Whatever else we may see there,
we most certainly see a man of faith who refused to isolate within his faith
and thus die alone and carry his vision to the grave. Here was a man of faith
properly aligned with the generations coming behind him- and in that
4
alignment he was able to bless them with affirmation and instruction
regarding the future.
5