How Do You Get Faith?

By John Foll, Finished 01/21/2018.
© Copyright 2018 John Foll

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Faith is produced by God's love for you.

When you learn how much He loves you and believe it, this changes you! Therefore your faith in God or not, shows how much you love Him. Like any child who learns to love their earthly loving parents, their faith in their parents grow as they learn that their parents love them, if their parents take good care of them. The child’s faith in their parents is a product of their parents love for them, as their love for them grows. This is how it is with every soul, if they learn more and more of His love, their faith and trust in Him grows! Are you ready dear reader for your love and faith in God to grow? Then read on!

Abraham was called the friend of God:

“And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.” James 2:23 KJV. Genesis 15:6.  If you read the story about Abraham from Genesis 12 to 24, you will see that he was on a journey with God from where he grew up and lived, to where his wanderings would later take him to that would later be called the Promised Land! God was teaching Abraham to trust Him through the time Abraham spent with God, and through the trials and circumstances God tested him with.

Abraham was not chosen to be a friend of God or promised God’s blessings because he deserved it, but because of God’s great love for him and the world. It was God’s desire to save the world and use Abraham and his descendants to do it. “For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.” Romans 4:13 NASB. See also Romans 4:9. “BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT. Is this blessing then upon the circumcised, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say, ‘FAITH WAS RECKONED TO ABRAHAM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.’  How then was it reckoned? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised; and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be reckoned to them, *** but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised.” Romans 4:9-12 NASB. Yes, how blessed is he or she whose sin the Lord does not take into account! God made this promise to Abraham before their covenant of circumcision. The point Paul is making here is that the promises that God was making to Abraham were not just for Abraham and his descendants, but were for the whole world to be saved as well! God took pity on everybody in the world, including the gentiles and provided for their salvation through Abraham too, because of His great love. As gentiles we also do not deserve to be chosen by God either, but through the promises made to Abraham we can also be partakers of the Heavenly promises and Heavenly gifts!

Why was Abraham called the friend of God? What does it mean to be called a friend of God?

Think about what you would want in a friend: Love, respect, caring, helpfulness, self-sacrifice, and unselfishness. So if you want to be a friend of God you will do these things for Him too. But that is not all – God is your Heavenly Father too. How should you treat your human Father? Love, respect, and obey him. Then you should also love, respect and obey God too, since He is your Creator, Provider, Heavenly Father and God! Why are we bringing all this up about Abraham and what we should do? So that you can be a friend of God too. Why not? God will be your friend if you will let Him. Don’t you want Him as your friend?

Jesus declared what it means to be a friend of God:

“You are My friends if you do what I command you.” John 15:14 NASB. Let us contemplate again what it takes to be someone’s friend: you must love them. Therefore Abraham loved God, because He was his friend. From this one statement by Jesus in John 15:14 you can be sure that Abraham obeyed God, because James 2:23 says that Abraham was called the friend of God. The Bible in Genesis also records Abraham’s life story, and while it wasn’t perfect, it showed someone who was learning to love and obey God and eventually to have great faith in Him too! (As when he was asked to sacrifice his only son. Genesis 22:12 – read the whole chapter.)

Jesus also said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever;” John 14:15-16 KJV. “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” John 15:10-11 NASB. And: “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.’” John 14:23 NASB. Meditate on Jesus’ words here. You could write many sermons, and yes a whole book on any one of these statements by Jesus, they are quite powerful! What Jesus said here is not for the timid, the doubtful, the fearful or those who don’t want to love Jesus and His Father all the way.

All this was implied when Abraham was called the friend of God: it was because he loved God! Where there is little love for God, there is also little faith and little obedience to Him. This is why so many are ready to excuse themselves from obeying God, because they love Him only but little. Are not all who are Christians forgiven by Him and helped by Him? Why then are there not more who love Him all the way? Aren’t they grateful for what He’s done for them? Haven’t they been helped tremendously by Him? Or do they take His love, help and mercy for granted? Why is it then that there are so few who have much love for God and faith in Him? Jesus declared: ‘But to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.’ Luke 7:47 KJV. This may be the problem or part of it! There are many teachers ready and willing to teach people that obedience is not required by God, because they are saved by grace (which is true by itself, except that it is leaving out other essential truths), and little or nothing is mentioned about the need to obey God, or it is stated that this is works if you try to obey Him. And some even say or imply that it is wrong to obey God. Where have we heard this before? Listen carefully to what Isaiah the prophet says here: “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” Isaiah 5:20 KJV. This is a deadly deception! It can NEVER be wrong to want to obey God, even if someone is not born again! Only those who have power from God will be able to obey Him. Yes it is works to try to obey God in your own strength! But we believe that God takes into consideration the desire of every honest soul who wants to obey Him. But He is not pleased with those who do not want to obey Him, or say that they can’t obey Him, or say that they do not need to obey Him, etc. (because they are saved by grace and teach that it is works to obey Him). But God is also not completely pleased with those who are not born again either, because He longs to help everyone have the wonderful peace, love, joy and contentment that all will have who yield to Him all the way. Those who are not born again cannot please God all the way because they do not have the power to obey Him, which only comes to those who yield to Him all the way, love and trust Him. “Because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Romans 8:7-8 NASB.

And God will try to work in their heart before it’s too late, if only they would yield to Him. But He will always hear the prayer of those who confess their sins to Him, even if they have not yielded completely to Him yet. Those who think that they are saved because they are trying to obey Him are gravely mistaken. But if they had it in their heart to obey Him, and failed, then confessed these sins to Him, He will forgive them of this, since *He is always ready and willing to forgive.

* From the Song HE.

In contrast to the above spiritual “non-sense,” stated and believed by many, the soul who is the friend of God and “knows” Him, will have a deep love for Him and would never want to hurt or disappoint Him, and would always want to obey Him! And if they sin or fail Him, they would confess these sins to Him, and get a clean slate with Him again. Amen! Those that love Him will not indulge themselves in sinful doubting that He can do what He clearly declares that He can do in the Holy Bible; they will understand the many precious promises in the Bible for them, and His power and desire to save to the uttermost all who turn to Him from their sins.

So true faith is produced in the hearts of those who have learned to love God as their Heavenly Father, believing in His mighty power to save, as they have followed His guiding voice step-by-step through the Holy Spirit. This is wholly the work of God that He wants to do for every soul who would want it and believe it, but they must choose to humble their heart to Him, confess, and yield to Him all the way, and obey Him in everything He wants them to do.

It is not those who are mighty in will power, mental decision and skill and will, or human belief that will have this true faith in God, but just those who have learned to love Him. This is the work of the Holy Spirit on all who truly co-operate with God; which is those who want to co-operate with Him, and pray for the help and strength to please Him.

If you are having difficulty believing in Him or His desire to save you and do good things for you, then you have not fully learned to love Him yet, because faith in God is the natural result of learning to love Him. Faith is the natural outcome of God’s love, if you receive it into your heart. God’s love provides all that you need to be His child if you will receive it. When your heart fully decides that it loves Him, then you will be born again, born of Heaven! When this happens you will have great faith in Him, like Abraham did, and you would do anything for Him, whom your soul loves. And then you will be flooded with peace, love, and joy, and your life will take on a whole new meaning! This is what it means to be a new creature and to walk in the Spirit.

Only those who have learned to love God (allowed Him to save them) have this saving faith. This is how you can get the faith to please God!

May the grace of God be with you! May you learn to love Him more and more, as you spend much time with Him. As your love for Him grows, so will your faith and your obedience to Him grow too! Amen.

Concluding Statement:

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6 KJV.

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He is Faithful!

By John Foll
© Copyright 2017 John Foll

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"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9 KJV.

The key here is that ‘He is faithful’. Who is faithful? God is faithful. Our salvation and all the good things now and forever depend on the love and faithfulness of God to keep His promises to us, to forgive us and to help cleanse us from all unrighteousness and to provide all the other gifts that He wants to give us. Yes, God is faithful and can be trusted to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, if we confess our sins! It does not depend on us, because we are not faithful by ourselves. Only God can help us to be faithful. But if we will just confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, and will save us, as long as we continue to allow Him to work in our life! Yes, He is faithful! God alone is faithful and righteous. And you can have all the blessings of love and eternal life, if you will just choose to confess your sins, because He will take care of you, if you will do this and continue with Him. God always keeps His promises!

This is taken from my book: Love of God, God’s Plan To Save You – How to Have Righteousness By Faith, in the Chapter: Become White as Snow: Confession and Forgiveness. In this book we show how to get closer to God, how to get the Holy Spirit, and the fruits of the Spirit. We will show you in this book how to have righteousness by faith. We think that you would be blessed if you would read this book. http://www.whiteraimentevangelism.com/love-of-god-part-1

May the grace of God be with you.

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A Letter to a Friend: How to Overcome Doubt and Discouragement

Dear Friend:

I see you have had a lot of trouble since you became a Christian. You have had great trouble and were wondering why God wasn’t helping you. You haven’t had an easy life, and the enemy of humanity has been greatly troubling you and trying to put you down, and to steal your new life away from you. You don’t know why you can’t have an easier time, and not have so many problems.

I would like to tell you about my special friend whom you are starting to get to know. His name is Jesus. He knows what you are going through, the problems you inherited, and knows the battles that you are fighting. But He has won the battle for you at the cross and has been given all power and authority. Matthew 28:18. Just let Him fight your battles for you and rest in His strength. He is pleading on your behalf to the Father.

Sometimes you have felt like you were ready to give up. Are you ready to give up yet? Then let God take care of you. Then allow Him to save you from your doubts and fears. Are you ready to let Him do this? Believe it or not your life will get better when you totally give up, and fall into the loving hands of God. Giving up is not such a bad thing, if you will just rest totally in God’s love. In fact, giving up is the best thing you could ever do! Providing you trust in God totally. There is no room for doubts or fears when you give up and fall into His hands! When you fall into His loving hands, He will then take care of you, no more fear.

Gather up the fragments that remain of the good things and blessings God has given you. John 6:12. Don’t talk through your doubts, fears and mistakes, or the mistakes of others. Don’t dwell on them either. If you mention them aloud your ears hear them, reinforcing them in your brain. Don’t gather up all of your problems, doubts and fears and dwell on them or present them to others. Instead, gather up what Jesus and His Father have done for you, and do not lose any of these blessings. Think about what God has done for you, and the joy you felt when you were baptized and gave your heart to the Lord. Think about how far God has taken you from where you were, and the battles He has helped you to win! Think of all the changes for the better that God has helped you to do. Think about all the blessings you have received, and all the knowledge about God and the truth that you have acquired. Instead of thinking of all of your troubles, trials and fears, think about what God wants to do for you and for all the blessings He is giving you and wants to give you. Gather all of these up and thank Him for it! Gather up all of these and praise Him to others of what He has done for you. The antidote to doubt is to praise God and thank Him for all of His marvelous works.

How do you get rid of doubt or discouragement you may ask? You must get faith. How? Do what Paul declares here: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17 KJV. Where does faith come from? It comes from hearing. Hearing what? The word of God. What does it mean to hear the word of God? It means to read it, listen to it, receive it into your heart, and to do it by His grace. It means you don’t turn away from what God is telling you to do in the Bible. Is it really that simple to get faith? Is it really that simple to get rid of doubt? Yes! It really is that simple! There is power in the word of God. When God spoke and said, ‘Let there be light’, there was light. Genesis 1:3. And for each day of the week when God spoke and said something, His word created what He said. Genesis chapter 1. So how do you get faith? By hearing the words of God that He speaks, believing them and doing them. In God’s word is contained the power to perform what He asks, this is how you get faith.

But how this and how that? Stop asking how and start hearing His voice. Stop asking how, and start reading His word and believing. Stop asking how, and start really listening to His word and desire to keep it. I know that you want to keep His word, but listening to His word is the secret to how you can get rid of doubt and discouragement and to have faith! The power to get rid of all your doubts are contained in His words.

It is impossible for God to lie, therefore we have a strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. Hebrews 6:18. If you want to be happy and get rid of doubt study the many precious promises of God for you to claim, and ask Him to help you meet their requirements so that they become yours. Peter says, “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” 2 Peter 1:4 KJV. Peter ought to know about these things since he had walked and talked with Jesus, and been changed by His love. He had denied His Savior when Jesus was arrested and taken away to the priest’s house where Jesus was being accused, but Jesus forgave him. Luke 22:54-62. After the cross Jesus told him to feed His lambs, letting him know that he had been forgiven. John 21:15. Peter died as an overcomer. He personally knew of Jesus saving grace, and the many precious promises for the believer. Peter had had such a change from his impetuous and bragging nature before the cross, to the kind and humble evangelist, taking care of Jesus’ sheep. If Jesus can help the apostle Peter, He can help you too.

Keep reading and studying the faith building stories throughout the Bible and make them your own. These stories can be your life story in some ways too, did you know that? When you read these exciting stories of people who were faithful to God and served Him with joy and delight, this story of faithfulness can be yours too. The life of the faithful person in the Bible days doesn’t have to be something you just read about, it can be your story too! If you would want to take part in God’s plan of Salvation, He would be delighted to share a peace of the kingdom with you (Luke 12:32). When you give yourself to God, and hear His word and receive it into your heart, this will produce faith in your heart and help you get rid of doubt, because this is the power of God! Just believe it. It is not really as hard as many people want to make it, it is really quite easy! How can that be true? People say that it is hard. But it is not only hard, it is impossible for anyone to become a new creature, which is to live a righteous life, by themselves. But it is easy when you let God, who is mighty to save, do it for you! It is hard and impossible for you to do it, but easy if you let God do it for you.

Continue to yield yourself to your Heavenly Father, until you yield completely. Obey Him in all things; pray for the ability of obeying Him all the way. When this happens you will be given great joy, which will help you to win this battle against discouragement and doubt. When this happens you will know that He loves you and that your salvation is secure with Him, because you kept confessing your sins and have received His Spirit, who will help keep you from falling. And then your whole life will change for the better, and you will devote yourself to Him, the one you love.


The conclusion my dear friend:

Great and marvelous are the works of God! Make Him your focus, and give Him the praise of your voice and heart, and receive great joy in your heart, then you will not worry about discouragement anymore, because God will be your fortress and your strength, and enable you to become an overcomer. 

“And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God. And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, ‘Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; For ALL THE NATIONS WILL COME AND WORSHIP BEFORE YOU, FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS HAVE BEEN REVEALED.’” Revelation 15:2-4 NASB.

By John Foll, written between 8/11/2017 and 8/13/2017.
© Copyright 2017 John Foll
 

 

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God Will Never Allow the Righteous To Be Shaken! (Cast your burden upon the Lord)

By John Foll, Written between 04/30/2017 and 05/02/2017.
© Copyright 2017 John Foll

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“Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.” Psalm 55:22 NASB.

Who are the righteous? Those that cast there burdens upon the LORD. What burdens? All of their burdens, all their sins, worries and guilt. Anyone who does not cast all of their burdens upon the Lord hopes in vain for peace, hope, faith, joy, love and salvation, for they trust not completely in God. Those that continue on like this, casting not all of their burdens on Him will eventually get weighed down with guilt and worry and not be able to rise above it, or become too hardened to move. Think that we are reasoning in circles here? It may appear thus to those who are not schooled in the science of faith, but such is not the case. Our theme text from Psalms tells the whole story! It gives a simple formula for how you can be righteous and never be shaken; it contains the promise that if you cast your burden upon the Lord that He will sustain you.

The Bible declares cursed be the man or woman that trusts in their own strength. “Thus says the LORD, "Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the LORD.” Jeremiah 17:5 NASB. From this it is implied that those who trust in themselves or to mankind are really turning from God. Those whose heart turns away from the Lord, those who trust in their own strength, are turning away from God and will be cursed by Him unless they turn back to Him.

When Jesus was in the wilderness and had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, the tempter tempted Him to turn the stones into bread: Then Jesus ‘answered and said, "It is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'”’ Matthew 4:4 NASB. Thus Jesus showed His true followers until the end of time that they were not to trust in the works of their hands or to their skill or ability to reason, to feed themselves and save themselves, but to wholly trust in God and obey all of His commands in the Bible. (The hands of those who trust in themselves fashion idols that they bow down to – Exodus 20:4-6; Isaiah 44:13-20). To trust in yourself is folly. It’s an illusion that you are able to get up in the morning, go to work, earn your living and pay for your own bread, clothing, lodging, and take care of yourself, family and loved ones by yourself apart from God. You could do none of these things without God. So why not remember your creator and redeemer, and praise Him for His marvelous works, as well as His mercy and blessings for you? You could not even have life and breath without Him. Ecclesiastes 12:1; Genesis 2:7. Doesn’t He deserve your praise, honor, and devotion? How can you not love Him? He has provided for all of your needs, salvation and happiness!

Say not that you are able to earn your own bread and your own salvation, for without God you can do nothing. While it is true that if you are a diligent worker you can earn your bread, you can not do it apart from God. Jesus said, ‘apart from Me you can do nothing.’ John 15:5 NASB. Do not fashion an idol out of your hands from your work or ability and bow down to them, saying that this is what you did and what you earned. Apart from God, His Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit you can literally do nothing. You owe everything to God. So why not give Him your heart, confess your sins, give Him your guilt, burdens, and worries, casting them all on Him. And He will never allow you to be shaken! Cast on Jesus all of your cares and worries. Let Him free you! “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” John 8:36 KJV.

Jesus died on the cross that He might bear your burdens. Why not take Him up on His offer? Of Jesus the Bible declares: “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.” Isaiah 53:4 NASB. And of Jesus, Peter declares: “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH;  and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.” 1 Peter 2:21-25 NASB. Yes, we were continually straying like sheep until He brought us back to the fold of the house of God again. If you would desire to stop straying from Him, then you must cast all of your burdens upon Him, and allow Him to carry all of your griefs, sorrow, worry, doubts, despair, shame, guilt, anger, unhappiness, and unfulfilled duties. The load is too heavy for you to bear and will destroy you if you do not cast them, all of them, on Jesus. So cast all of your burdens, cares and worries upon Him, and let Him free you! He will be happy to help you and bear your burdens for you! He says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 KJV. Yes, Jesus says, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 NASB. Just accept the yoke of His love, and let Him take the weight of all of your sins and burdens! For His yoke is easy and His burden is light! No need to carry the weight of any of your sins or worries anymore; worries that you are not good enough to be saved and that you are a failure. Cast on Him all of your burdens of whether your children and loved ones will be saved: He greatly loves them too and is doing His best to help them, without violating their power of choice. Casting your burdens upon the Lord is the secret of how to be righteous. This is the secret of how not to be shaken. There is no reason for you to stagger under the weight of your burdens anymore when He will gladly bear them for you! He loves you!

Jesus said, “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” Matthew 7:24-27 KJV. Those who continue to build their house upon the sand of their own devising, merit, and works, and trust to their own ability to earn their bread, when the rains come and the wind blows, they will be washed away, and great will be their fall. But those who heed Jesus invitation to cast their burdens upon Him, are building their house upon the rock, and when the floods come and the winds blow, their house will stand, as long as they keep casting their burdens upon Him and depending on Him alone for their salvation! Those that cast their burdens upon the Lord do not trust in vain; they never will be shaken, as long as they continue to trust in Him: For they have built on the rock, upon the word of God, Jesus. He is our pledge or surety that His Father will save us and supply all of our needs. Philippians 4:19; Hebrews 7:22. And it is impossible for God to lie. Hebrews 6:18. So you can be sure that He will keep all of His promises to you, if you keep casting your burdens upon Him.

Those who continue to cast their burdens upon Jesus will be given His righteousness, and at the end of time, when He comes back in the clouds with great power and great glory (Matthew 24:30) they will say, ‘This is our God who we have waited for, He has come back to save us just like He promised!’ as it tells us in Isaiah 25:9 KJV paraphrase. He has preserved us through “the shaking”, for He cannot lose His hold on His own!

Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand." John 10:27-29 NASB.

So cast all of your burdens upon the Lord! Amen! 

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Lessons on Faith: Part 6 of 14: The Faith of Abraham 2

By A. T. Jones

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When Abraham and Sarah had cleared themselves of all the scheme of unbelief which had produced Ishmael and had stood upon faith alone -- dependence on the word of God alone -- Isaac, the true child of the promise, was born. 

In harkening to the voice of Sarai (Gen. 16:1), Abram had swerved from the line of strict integrity to the word of God, from the strictness of true faith, and now that he had returned to the word only, to true faith, he must be tested before it could be certainly said of him that his faith was counted for righteousness. 

He had trusted the naked word of God as against Ishmael and had obtained Isaac, the true child of the promise of God. And now, having obtained Isaac, the question must be determined whether he would trust the naked word of God as against even Isaac himself. 

Accordingly, God said to Abraham, "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." 

Abraham had received Isaac from God by trusting the word of God only. Isaac alone was the seed promised by the word of the Lord. After Isaac was born, God had confirmed the word by declaring, "In Isaac shall thy seed be called." Gen. 21:12. And now came the word of God, Take thy son, thine only son Isaac, and offer him for a burnt offering. 

God had declared to Abraham, Thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven for multitude. "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." "In Isaac shall thy seed be called," and now, Offer Isaac for a burnt offering! 

But, if Isaac is offered for a burnt offering, if Isaac is burned up, what will become of the promise of the blessing of all nations in him? What will become of the promise, Thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven innumerable? Yet there stood the word, Offer Isaac for a burnt offering. Abraham had trusted the word of God only, as against Ishmael, but this is more than trusting the word of God as against Isaac -- it is trusting the word of God as against the word of God! 

And Abraham did it, hoping against hope. God had said: Thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven; In Isaac shall thy seed be called. Offer Isaac for a burnt offering. Abraham did not insist that God should "harmonize these passages." It was all sufficient for him to know that the statements were all the word of God. Knowing this, he would trust that word, would follow that word, and would let the Lord "harmonize these passages," or "explain these texts," if any such thing were needed. 

Said Abraham: God has said, Offer Isaac for a burnt offering. That I will do. God has said, "In Isaac shall thy seed be called." And, Thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven for multitude. I interfered once in the promise and hindered it till I repudiated all that I had done and came back to the word only. Then, by a miracle, God gave me Isaac, the promised seed. Now He says, Offer Isaac, the promised seed, for a burnt offering. I will do it. By a miracle God gave him at the first, and by a miracle God can restore him. Yet when I shall have offered him for a burnt offering, he will be dead, and the only miracle that can then restore him is a miracle that will bring him back from the dead. But God is able to do even that, and He will do it, for His word is spoken, Thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven for multitude, and In Isaac shall thy seed be called. And even the bringing back of Isaac from the dead will be to God no more than He has already done, for, as to offspring, both my body and Sarah's were as good as dead, and yet God brought forth Isaac from us. He can raise Isaac from the dead, and He will. Bless the Lord! 

It was settled. He arose and took his servants and Isaac and went three days' journey "unto the place of which God had told him." And when on the third day he "saw the place afar off," "Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you." Gen. 22:5.  Who will go? "I and the lad will go." And who will come again? "I and the lad will go . . . and come again to you." Abraham expected to have Isaac come back with him as certainly as that he went with him. 

Abraham expected to offer Isaac for a burnt offering and expected then to see Isaac rise from the ashes and go back with him. For the word of God had gone forth, In Isaac shall thy seed be called, and, Thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven for multitude. And Abraham would trust that word only, that it could never fail. Heb.  11:17-19. 

THIS IS FAITH. And thus "the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness." James 2:23. But yet above this, "It was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him, but for us also to whom it shall be imputed; if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification." Rom. 4:23-25. 

To trust the word of God only, to depend upon the word of God only, to depend upon the word of God, even as against the word of God -- this is FAITH. This is the faith which brings the righteousness of God.  

This is what it is to exercise faith. This is "what the Scripture means when urging upon us the necessity of exercising faith.” And "understanding how to exercise faith," this is the science of the gospel. And the science of the gospel is the science of sciences.  

RH Jan. 31, 1899 

By A. T. Jones in the Review and Herald periodical in 1899.

Blog Edited by John Foll.

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