Faith Rests upon the Character of God

    By A. W. Tozer

    . . .So now also Christ shall be magnified in my body.
    whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is
    Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:20,21

        The witness of the Christian church is most effective
    when she declares rather than explains, for the gospel is
    addressed not to reason but to faith. What can be proved
    requires no faith to accept and faith rests upon the
    character of God, not upon the demonstrations of
    laboratory or logic.

        The power of Christianity appears in its antipathy
    toward, never in its agreement with, the ways of fallen
    men. At the heart of the Christian system lies the cross
    of Christ with its divine paradox and the truth of the
    cross is revealed in its contradictions.

        The cross stands in bold opposition to the natural
    man. Its philosophy runs contrary to the processes of
    the unregenerate mind, so that Paul could say bluntly
    that the preaching of the cross is to them that perish
    foolishness. To try to find a common ground between
    the message of the cross and man's fallen reason can
    only result in an impaired reason, a meaningless cross
    and a powerless Christianity!

        Note this also about the cross-carrying Christian:
    when he looks at the cross he is a pessimist, for he knows
    that the same judgment that fell on the Lord of glory
    condemns in that one act all nature and all the world of
    men. He rejects every human hope out of Christ because
    he knows that man's noblest effort is only dust building
    on dust.

        Yet he is calmly, restfully optimistic, for the resurrec-
    tion of Christ guarantees the ultimate triumph of good
    throughout the universe.

        Through  Christ,  all  will  be  well  at  last  and  the
    Christian  waits  the  consummation!
    Yours in Christ,
    Paul N. F.