Dear friends:
 
The other day I shared some insights on faith from the late A. B. Simpson, founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, and one of the spiritual giants of the past.
 
One of quotes jumped out at me so much so that it burned a hole in my brain.  It is still sizzling.  Here is the quote:

"I understood what a solemn and awful thing it was to keep faith with God. . . I saw that when a thing was settled with God, it was never to be unsettled. . . . I was as much helped by a holy fear of doubting God as by any of the joys and raptures of His presence or promises."

“Settled… never to be unsettled?  This truth is unsettling in itself, but also reassuring.
 
“Holy fear of doubting?”  I never thought about it this way.  I was immediately convicted when I remembered the many times I had doubted God, or doubted that He would do what He had promised.  God forgive me.  Most people think of that “holy fear” as only applicable when they have done something bad.  But the Bible reveals that doubting God is about the “baddest” thing you can do!
 
Doubting God is saying that He is not trustworthy, that He has no integrity.  Let’s be honest -- doubting God is really calling Him a liar!  That is not a good idea -- calling the omnipotent, omniscient Creator of the universe a liar.  The Bible says that He cannot lie.  He is holy.
 
Then I realized two stark and shocking truths: 

1.  It is incredible but true: Most of the whole world doubts God!  Most of the world rejects His Word as Divine truth, and most reject His Son.  That is mostly what is wrong with the world.  Can you imagine how God feels when He looks upon His creation, seeing how they reject and do not believe Him?

2.  Worse, most professing Christians do not believe Him!  They generally accept the Bible as a “guidebook” of general principles, but do not accept the total authority of His inerrant Word.  I know.  I have sat in denominational Sunday Schools when the Bible’s truth was questioned without challenge.  One pastor’s wife once to me, “Well, you can take what Paul wrote with a grain of salt.”  Such things surely grieve the Holy Spirit. They are like lost sheep.  If they cannot trust all of it, they cannot trust any of it.

But on God’s list of priorities, faith is at or near the top.  Consider:
 
One cannot please God without faith.  (Hebrews 11:6.)  Don’t try.
We are saved by faith.  (Ephesians 2:8-9.)  Plus nothing.
Whatever is not of faith is sin.  (Romans 14:23.)  This convicts us all.
 
Many Christians believe faith is only applicable to salvation and not to God’s many other promises.  Yet studies have shown that most Christians even doubt their own salvation!  They don’t even have faith for that.
 
The late Smith Wigglesworth was another giant of the faith who repeatedly witnessed God’s miracle-working power, even raising from the dead.  He said:

“There is something about believing God that will cause Him to pass over a million people to get to you because of your faith.”

  What Wigglesworth said is scriptural, because the Bible says:  

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him (2 Chronicles 16:9).

Faith and loyalty are two sides of the same coin.  You cannot have loyalty without faith, and faith without loyalty is dead.
 
Imagine the great Creator of the universe constantly scanning the human race and the world looking for the person of faith.  Then He sees you!  Out of the sea of humanity, your faith beams upward toward heaven like a laser light, and you catch His eye.  He smiles.  He listens to and heeds your words, because you are praying, speaking, and acting according to His own words, to which He is faithful, which you believe, and to which you are loyal.  God will not deny His own words and promises.
 
David Wilkerson observes:

 “When God says to humankind, ‘Believe,’ He demands something that is wholly beyond reason.  Faith is totally illogical. Its very definition has to do with something unreasonable.”

Even though illogical from a human standpoint, faith is very real and transcends human logic as well as the physical world of the senses.  Yet most Christians are bound by the physical world of the senses and do not allow God to transcend that world through their faith in His Word.  For example, God gives the prescription for physical healing when he says:

“Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church  to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up" (James 5:14-15). 

But when sick, most people ignore what God says and with their natural mind reword that to say, “Is any one of you sick? He should call the doctor to prescribe him drugs….”

(Admittedly, in today’s church it might be difficult to find elders who can pray such a prayer of faith!)  

One of the greatest hindrances to faith is thinking like the world thinks.  The Bible says, “Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2).
 
Faith is invisible, yet it has substance.  God says: 

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).

Faith gives actual substance to what we hope for (which becomes real), and in itself is the evidence of results not yet seen.
 
Faith is the ingenious invention of the Creator that makes sure every person in the world is treated equally.  It is an equal-opportunity phenomenon.  An amazing thing about faith is that anyone can possess it, no matter how young or how old, no matter how strong or how weak, no matter how high or how low one’s intelligence, no matter how rich or how poor, no matter how much education one has, and no matter what race or nationality. 
 
Faith cuts across all lines equally.  Its potential is a common denominator of all human beings.
 
Faith is so important to God and the operation of His kingdom that it infuriates Satan.  It is no wonder that Satan levels his most vicious attacks against those preachers and teachers who emphasis a radical faith in God’s Word.  Such attacks are plentiful on the Internet, but it is interesting that there are few if any attacks against those preachers and teachers who do not believe the Bible is totally inspired by God.  Satan gives them a pass because they are no threat to him.  It is the faith people who undo his kingdom and disrupt his work.  Thank God for faith people.
 
Faith is the door to the invisible, supernatural world.
 
The source of faith.  What is the source of this mysterious but essential ingredient?  Where does faith come from?  God gives the answer in Romans 10:17:

“Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”

Faith comes from God’s Word, the Bible.  Faith originates in the heart of God, who makes it available to us through His Word.  As we prayerfully read and meditate on the Word, faith is transmitted to us. It becomes part of us.  We become people of faith.
 
Believe the Word.  Speak the Word.  Act on the Word.
 
Jesus said:
 
“Only believe” (Mark 5:36).
 
“Have faith in God” (Mark 11:22).
 
“Do not doubt” (Matthew 21:21).
 
Jim

(P.S.  Do not doubt!)

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