FAITH
BY CHAS PARMELE
“Now faith is the ground, or confidence [margin](substance, a setting under, support), of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Heb. 11:1. Perhaps there is nothing so simple, and nothing so generally misunderstood, as “Faith.” The fact that it is so very simple, makes it very hard for some to grasp. To illustrate it:
A father says to his little son, “I will bring you home a little sled to-night:” All day the little fellow is very impatient, and when he sees his father coming at night, he runs to meet him, and receive the much-coveted sled. Perhaps the father, for the first time, has forgotten to fulfill his promise, and asks his son why he expected him to bring him a sled? The prompt reply is, “You said you would bring me one.” An earthly parent may forget the wants of his children, and even the children themselves, but God can never forget us. He said He would not, and it is “impossible for God to lie.” Heb. 6:18; Num. 23:19 We are told that the Lord has en-graven us upon the palms of his hands. Is. 49:16
Christ says: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”Jn 10:28,29 It seems that it should not require much faith to believe this, when we read that he died for us, and that through death he would “destroy him that had the power of death.” Heb. 2:14
But; returning to our first reference, verse three says: “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God.” Heb. 11:3 Even the creation has to be understood by faith. No wonder skeptics and infidels doubt the records of the creation in six days. God well knew our finite minds could not grasp the grand themes connected with his creative work, or he would have told us about it. And, again, in verse six, we read: “Without faith it is impossible to please Him.”Heb. 11:6 Then we may be sure that when we pray in a doubting manner, we are not pleasing Him; for He said: “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”Mark 11:24 The apostle John enlarges on this somewhat: “If we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us; and if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petition that we desired of Him;” 1 Jn. 5:15 That is, if we know that what we are asking for is according to His will, then we know we have the petition we desired of Him.
One of the grandest exhibitions of faith of which we have any record is found in the experience of Noah. Up to the time of Noah, there had never been a rain, much less a flood; and for Noah to work one hundred and twenty years in preparing a large boat on dry land, with not a cloud in sight all that time, was certainly an uncommon occurrence. But we read in Heb. 11 that he did it through faith, “By the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.” Heb. 11:7 Now we read in Matt. 24:37: “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Yes, we say they were “eating and drinking,” etc.; but is that all? What were the righteous doing? Building an ark; yes, and exhibiting the greatest amount of “faith” the world had ever seen. “So shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matt.24:24, 27, 39 Yes, dear brethren, those who go through to the kingdom must have a large amount of faith.
By turning to Heb. 10, we find that the latter part of that chapter is especially for those who have been looking for the second coming of Christ. The apostle, after speaking of the typical work in the earthly sanctuary (verse 11), then of the perfect sacrifice of Christ (verse 12), and of the heavenly sanctuary (verse 19), then of Christ as our high priest (verse 21), which position he took when he ascended up on high (Heb. 8:1, 2), then of the Judgment work (Heb. 10:30), which we believe began in 1844 (Dan. 8:13, 14,) then (Heb. 10:32-36) giving words of comfort for the disappointed believers who gave the first angel’s message, with the assurance that “yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry,”—says, “Now,” that is, after the passing of the last prophetic period, “the just shall live by faith.” (Hab. 2:4; Rm 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38) And just at this time, when men’s faith is being tested, the apostle intimates that some will give up their faith. 1 Tim. 4:1 He also shows that some will go on with the grand themes of truth, and “believe to the saving of the soul.” Heb. 10:39 And now, for the benefit of this class of believers, Paul gives the definition of the word faith, and some remarkable examples of it.
Dear brethren and sisters, are we ready to exercise the amount of faith that we should? Could we march around a high-walled city seven days, expecting the Lord to give it into our hand when we, at the command of the leader, should shout? Would we, by the direction of God, begin the erection of a large boat on dry ground? Or, to bring the thought nearer home, would we, by the express command of God, begin to cut down our possessions, and put the money into his cause? Are we, dear brethren, like Stephen, full of faith and the Holy Ghost? If not, God grant that we may be!
The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald – June 29, 1886