ABOUNDING IN
FAITH.
BY CARRIE F. JUDD
How many times
we hear the expression from professing Christians, “I wish I had more faith;
but it is natural for me to doubt, and I cannot get the living faith which some
possess.”
Now, because I
once stood in this very place myself, understanding how impossible it was to
please God without faith, and painfully realizing how little true faith I
possessed, I am able to appreciate the position of these longing but mistaken
souls, and I which by the light which God has since given me, to solve for them
their weight perplexities in regard to faith.
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| © khrawlings |
In the first
place no one has the right to excuse a lack of faith by saying that he was not born
with faith. It is not natural for any of us to believe God, for the heart
unrenewed by grace has that evil tendency of unbelief which was awakened in the
hearts of our first parents by the subtle suggestions of the enemy. It was
setting aside God’s word, and giving heed to Stan’s lies, which led them to
disobedience of God’s commands, and this sad disregard of God’s truth is
natural to any heart which has not been transformed by the Holy Ghost.
Since faith is
absolutely essential to us in approaching our Maker, we may be sure that He Who
has commanded us to “Have faith in God” has not left us powerless to secure
this faith.
A wonderful
flood of light is poured upon our souls by these words in Rom. x:17; “Faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” I recall a time in my own experience
when I was undergoing a severe trial, and when I felt the necessity of having
my faith strengthened and matured to meet the emergency. The text just quoted
came forcibly to my mind and with a depth of meaning which I had never
perceived in it before. Repeating the words slowly, I said: “I am not quite
sure what the ‘hearing’ means, but I do know what the word of God is,
and I will study it until I have the ‘haring,’ and then an increase of faith
will come.”
I took up my
Bible, feeling as though I now had the key to depths of spiritual riches
hitherto unknown to my soul, and I drank in each word, “not as the word of men,
but as it is, in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh in those
that believe.”
And coming thus
to God’s unchangeable Word, not in any spirit of human reasoning, but realizing
that every sentence was the very essence of truth and power, because given us
by the God of truth, I had my spiritual ears opened to hear more
distinctly the voice of the Holy Spirit, and to experience thereby an increase
of living faith.
Could we look
below the surface of the lives around us, would we not invariably find that
those who are strong in faith and in the power of the Lord, are those who most
diligently and meekly search the Word of God. This is the secret of vitality in
a Christian’s life.
When we remember
that, “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host
of them by the breath of His mouth” (Psalms, xxxiii:6), that “He spake and
it was done, He commanded and it stood fast,” we can see that it only
requires His word in our hearts to “divide the light from the darkness,” and to
fashion them after the new creation, in the image of Christ, our Redeemer.
“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word
of God, which liveth and abideth forever.”-(1 Pet. i:23.)
The Psalmist
says, “the entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding
unto the simple.” –(Psa. cxix:130.) Let us implore God to open our hearts by
His Holy Spirit, that His words may enter and abide forever. Our Saviour said, “If
ye abide in Me, and My words abide I you, ye shall ask what ye will and it
shall be done unto you;” and again He illustrates this abiding of His word in
His parable of Sower, sowing the Word of the Kingdom.
Some seed fell
by the wayside, some on the rock, and some among thorns, but none of these
brought forth fruit to perfection. “But he that received seed into the good
ground is he that heareth the world and understandeth it, which also
beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some
thirty.”
Not only must we
hear God’s word, but we must hear it with the understanding which only the Holy
Spirit can give, and God has promised His blessed Spirit to all who ask Him. “He
that hath ears to hear let him hear.”
The wise Preacher
said, “Where the world of a King is there is power” (Eccl. viii:4), and those
who meekly receive the word of our Heavenly King into their hearts shall indeed
know for themselves that “the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than
any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit,
and of the joints and marrow, and is discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart.” –(Heb iv:12.) To those of us who are really sincere in our desire
to be wholly the Lord’s the words just quoted have a most precious import, for
we know that if we “search the Scriptures,” God’s sharp, powerful words will
enter our souls and cut away all fleshy hindrances to our growth in grace.
And since man
must “live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God”
(Matt. Iv:4), we must no study alone those portions of the Bible which seem
most pleasing, but remember that all was given for our instruction in
the heavenly life.
Are we longing
to have the love of God dwelling more richly in our hearts? Then let us receive
this truth, “Whoso keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected.-(1
John. ii:5.)
