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accept competent testimony, we can not know w hat others have discovered. F a ith is therefo re as indispensable in science as in religion. TUESDAY, May 27. Heb. 11:11-22. Examples of F aith . The pioneer in the life of faith in Scripture is Abraham . He was the first one to receive and obey th e Divine call to separation from country and kin dred and therefo re he is called the fath e r of the faithful. The life of Abra ham is like the course of a river wind ing in and out th rough a diversified country bu t ever deepening and g ath ering in force as it swe'eps onward tow ard the sea. He believed God and it was counted unto him for righteous ness. The name of Abraham is held in highest honor today by more people th a n th e name of any other human being who ever lived upon th e earth. Jews and Mohammedans as well as Christians honor his memory and. revere his name. God called and trained Abraham by a series of separations. While faith was the key to his life, his faith was manifested in his willingness to be separated from everything for the sake of God. He was separated from bis country Chaldea, from his fath er Terah, from Canaan, the land of prom ise, from Egypt, from Ishmael after th irte en years, from him self a t Gerar, from Isaac on Mt. Moriah, from Sarah a t Mackpelah, and finally from all his possessions. Gen. 25:5. These ten separations are climacteric. Each one cuts deeper and costs more. F inally what rem ained? Nothing b u t God. Abraham was content and counted all his loss bu t gain since God had said “ F ear not Abraham , I am thy shield and thy exceeding g reat rew ard .” WEDNESDAY, May 28. Heb. 11:23-40. Examples of F aith . The eleventh chapter of Hebrews has been called th e W estm inster Abbey chapter of the Bible and th e bead-roll of Hebrew heraldry. The name of Moses stands out conspicuously among th e illustrious heroes of faith. There is no h in t of faith or heroism in the Old T estam ent n arrativ e of Moses’ career. The plain unvarnished account proves conclusively th a t Moses him self is the au th o r of th e Old Testam ent story. It is said to be sure th a t he identified him self w ith th e oppressed people but it is told in such a way as to reveal his weakness ra th e r th an his streng th . Ex. 2:11-14. It is even said th a t he
“ feared ” while he is spoken of as “ not fearing the w rath of the king.” It is probable th a t in the form er case, Moses adm its a moment of weakness when his h e a rt really failed him, whereas in Hebrews it is the stead fast undaunted courage th a t m arked his whole career, th a t is referred to. The greatness of Moses’ sacrifice appears all th e g reater because he says nothing about it. He is indeed a g reat man who can sacrifice everything and never mention it. At an age when most men are in th eir dotage Moses undertook th e most colossal task of history. He carried two and a half m illions of people on his h ea rt for forty years. He bore th e ir burdens, solved th e ir problems, ad ju sted th e ir differences and adm inis tered th e ir affairs. We marvel a t his endurance. S cripture reveals the secret. “He endured as seeing him who is invisible.” This is faith, th e eye of th e soul fixed on God. THURSDAY, May 29. Matt. 8:5-13. The Centurion’s F aith . It is a noteworthy fact in connection w ith our Saviour’s m inistry of healing th a t whenever he healed a Jew he laid his hands upon him except when dealing w ith a demoniac. “He cast ou t the sp irits w ith his word.” In th e case of Gentiles th e physical contact was absent. Is th e re a dispensational rea son for th is? Does it explain in p art a t least why so few Jews are saved dur ing the present age, which is pre-em i nently one of faith? The Jew seems to have a constitutional difficulty in walk ing by faith. “Except I shall see in his hands the p rin t of the nails, and pu t my finger into th e p rin t of th e nails and th ru st my hand into his side, I will not believe.” There is a gracious conde scension on the p art of the Master to meet th is requirem ent and so he pro vides th e physical basis on which faith can rest. The nation itself will not be converted un til they look on Him Whom they have pierced. Jesus eulo gized the centurion’s faith which he never found m Israel because it was faith indeed, in no wise depending upon sight or touch bu t counting the thing th a t was not as though it was, on the word of th e living God. FRIDAY, May 30. Mark 9:14-26. Christ Developing F aith . It is useless to pray for faith since faith comes not by praying bu t by h ear ing and hearing by th e Word of God.
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