THE K I NG ' S B U S I N E S S Out of th e verses given for th is les son, we should have had four or more lessons in order to touch th e fringes of th e garm ent of faith woven here in matchless fabric and HEART OF colored by th e Holy THE LESSON Spirit. This chapter is T. C. H orton one of th e wonders of the Word of God. Psalm 119 is the g reat chapter on the W ord of God; Isaiah 53, on the substi tu tio n ary w o rk of Jesu s; th e 13th of Corinthians on love, and th is is the g reat chapter on faith . W hat is faith ? W hat does the word mean? To be persisten t; to be con vinced; to be won over; td tru st; to rely upon; to confide in,— and when you have done all th is tow ard God, to Christ and th e Holy Spirit, you have Bible faith. F a ith has an eye to see with. She sees God in creative power, w ith a back w ard look to th e Lamb of God slain before th e foundation of the world, and forw ard beyond th e cross, onward to th e vision of the glorified Christ, and on and on th rough th e ages upon ages, she sees th e Church w ith and like th e glorified Christ w ith th e nail-printed hands, holding the sceptre, ru ling the universe. F a ith is th e assurance of unseen things, and it is th e evidence of unseen things. F a ith is such a big th ing th a t we cannot find words to express it a t all, and yet it is such a simple thing th a t a child can exercise it perfectly, w ithou t understanding it a t all. F a ith differs in some respects from belief. We believe in God and come to Him, bu t many have no faith in Him. You can believe w ithou t faith, b u t you cannot have faith w ithout belief. You can have an intellectual belief Without faith , bu t you cannot have faith w ith out belief. You can have an intellect u al belief in Jesus Christ w ithou t any faith in Him as Saviour and Lord. Belief is an act of the intellect, and faith an ac t of the soul.
535 F aith acts on w hat it believes. Our physical bodies have faculties, as eyes; ears, h earts,— and so has faith. It is by use of our faculties th a t we develop them . Now th e Word of God sets fo rth things for our sp iritu al eyes to see, for our sp iritu al ears to hear, and for our sp iritu al h earts to receive. In o rder to see we must have objects presented to us. Thus, th e value of God’s Word, in which unseen facts are presented and faith lays hold of them and believes them . We do not work up faith, b u t exer cise it. We develop it by use. The sailor on the lookout train s his eye, and so does th e astronom er. The twelve spies saw the same country, th e same people, the same fru it, bu t they saw it w ith different eyes. The ten saw no th ing good, th rough fear and unbelief. The two saw all th rough th e eyes of God, through faith, a goodly land, and were ready to go up and possess it. A carnal Christian does not see as a separated Christian does. ' The .higher critics are blind men. They cannot see from lack of faith . To th e believer, mere things grow sm aller and sm aller, and the unseen things grow in size and value as we m editate on them . Pharo ah said, “Who is God?” Job said, “ I know th a t my Redeemer liv- eth .” Columbus said, “When I passed through the w aters to find the land, men said it was only my fancy. Yet I had faith in God th a t He would pros per and guide my ship.” If you w ant to grow in faith , and see w ith clearer and clearer vision, lay aside every w eight and look into the face of Jesus the C reator and Developer of faith, and even though your faith be as bu t a grain of m u stard seed, it will enable you to' tumble mountains into th e sea. PRACTICAL POINTS (1) God furnishes faith freely to who soever wills.
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