Faith Believing Obedience: The Courage to Count on Salvation

"These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect." -Hebrews 11:39-40

True faith has the courage to count on Salvation, this is why it is the pinnacle of all of faith. From Able to all the great prophets of old never received salvation, or the new covenant. They never knew personally, THE Messiah, but they believed in the promise of a Redeemer, the promise of Jesus, and of a new covenant. What makes them courageous? What put these great men and women on faith into the hall of fame? Faith believing Salvation. 1 Peter 1:10-12 tells us:

Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.

These generations never had full access to God, there was that veil that was between them. They never had the freedom of conscience that comes with TOTAL forgiveness, because they had to sacrifice over, and over, and over, and over, and over...
They never found the perfect high priest, because their priests kept dying.
Their perfection had to wait on us...the new covenant gave them what the old covenant couldn't give. (God Pursues You: Covenant) They looked to something in the future, as we look to something in the past. You see we are on the other side of the cross. It's almost like us looking to the rapture, and the prophecy that Revelation shows us. We believe it, we have faith that it is going to happen. These prophets and great men of faith had faith and believed in the Messiah's first coming, and the Salvation He would bring. Jesus said in His ministry here on earth, "Blessed are they which have not seen, yet believe." What a glorious chapter Hebrews 11 is!
Oh dear Christian, I pray we all come to have this kind of faith! Where people will read about our lives and say, wow, their lives were faithful to God, they lived for Him, they believed Him even though they did not see. Hebrews 11:1 says that faith is the CONFIDENT assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see. There is so much we understand and obey by faith. We must look at today, and tomorrow, and into what is to be and claim the promises of each day that God has in store for us. Claim the promise of his return, claim the promise of his love, his care, his salvation, forgiveness, new life, needs being met..it all comes through faith. I have said this many times, "the promises of God are more about the promiser than the promise itself. It's all about Jesus, and we could die tomorrow without receiving all God has promised us, but I'd rather have Jesus than anything. The people of faith listed died without receiving all that God had promised, but they never lost their vision of Heaven. Many Christian's today become frustrated and defeated because their needs, wants, expectations, and demands are not met immediately. We must continue to believe, dear Christian! We must maintain a right view of who God is, as well as the right attitude toward Him. God will reward us for our faith, and faith begins with sacrifice. When God gives an assignment it requires faith, and faith willingly obeys.