“I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8
- DEFINING FAITH
“Feeling is not faith. Faith is simply to take God at His word.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, p. 620
DO WE?
“If we regard iniquity in our hearts, if we cling to any known sin, the Lord will not hear us; but the prayer of the penitent, contrite soul is always accepted. When all known wrongs are righted, we may believe that God will answer our petitions. Our own merit will never commend us to the favor of God; it is the worthiness of Jesus that will save us, His blood that will cleanse us; yet we have a work to do in complying with the condition of acceptance.
“Another element of prevailing prayer is faith. ‘He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.’ Hebrews 11:6. Jesus said to His disciples, ‘What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.’ Mark 11:24. Do we take Him at His word?” Steps to Christ, p. 95–96. Taking God at His word in faith is very rare (Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, p. 277–278).
THE ENEMY
“As a people we lack faith. In these days few would follow the directions given through God’s chosen servant as obediently as did the armies of Israel at the taking of Jericho. . . Faith is the living power that presses through every barrier, overrides all obstacles, and plants its banner in the heart of the enemy’s camp.
“Man builds his theories, loses the simplicity of true faith, becomes too self-important to believe the declaration of the Lord, and hedges himself in with his own conceits.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, p. 162–163
EXERCISE—NO CROSS, NO CROWN
“Faith will greatly increase by exercise! . . . Learn of Christ. Have faith in His power to help and save you. Faith is the very lifeblood of the soul. Its presence gives warmth, health, consistency, and sound judgment. Its vitality and vigor exert a powerful though unconscious influence. The life of Christ in the soul is as a well of water springing up unto everlasting life. It leads to a constant cultivation of the heavenly graces and to a kindly submission in all things to the Lord.” Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, p. 471. “To have strong faith, we must be placed in circumstances where our faith will be exercised. How can one be strong in the Lord without trials?” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 3, p. 67
EASY RELIGION
“The desire for an easy religion, that requires no striving, no self-denial, no divorce from the follies of the world, has made the doctrine of faith, and faith only, a popular doctrine; but what saith the word of God? Says the apostle James: ‘What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? . . . Wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? . . . Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.’ James 2:14–24. The testimony of the word of God is against this ensnaring doctrine of faith without works.” –The Great Controversy, p. 472
- GENUINE (REAL OR TRUE) FAITH
Genuine faith is rare in the last days (Spiritual Gifts, vol. 3, p. 94). “Genuine faith always works by love.” S.D.A. Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 1111
STEEL HEARTS
“Though the heavenly Merchantman displays before them the richest jewels of faith and love, though He invites them to buy of Him, ‘gold tried in the fire,’ and ‘white raiment’ that they may be clothed, and ‘eyesalve’ that they may see, they steel their hearts against Him, and fail to exchange their lukewarmness for love and zeal. While making a profession, they deny the power of godliness. If they continue in this state, God will reject them. They are unfitting themselves to be members of His family. . . . Wherein have they manifested a burden for souls? These persons need first to be taught and disciplined at home. True faith and love for Christ would create in them a most earnest desire to save souls right at home.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, p. 426–427
DEAD FAITH
“Do you believe that the end of all things is at hand, that the scenes of this earth’s history are fast closing? If so, show your faith by your works. A man will show all the faith he has. Some think they have a good degree of faith, when if they have any, it is dead, for it is not sustained by works. ‘Faith if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.’ Few have that genuine faith which works by love and purifies the soul.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, p. 704
TEST OF ABIDING IN CHRIST
“Christ changes the heart. He abides in your heart by faith. You are to maintain this connection with Christ by faith and the continual surrender of your will to Him; and so long as you do this, He will work in you to will and to do according to His good pleasure. So you may say, ‘The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.’ Galatians 2:20. So Jesus said to His disciples, ‘It is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.’ Matthew 10:20.” –Steps to Christ, p. 62
GRAPPLING HOOKS
“While God has given ample evidence for faith, He will never remove all excuse for unbelief. All who look for hooks to hang their doubts upon will find them. And those who refuse to accept and obey God’s word until every objection has been removed, and there is no longer an opportunity for doubt, will never come to the light.” –The Great Controversy, 527
“Faith is the spiritual hand that touches infinity.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, p. 467
- FAITH IN CHRIST
Faith in Christ is essential to salvation (The Desire of Ages, p. 347).
ENABLES US TO KEEP GOD’S LAW
A “dangerous error is that belief in Christ releases men from keeping the law of God; that since by faith alone we become partakers of the grace of Christ, our works have nothing to do with our redemption.
“But notice here that obedience is not a mere outward compliance, but the service of love. The law of God is an expression of His very nature; it is an embodiment of the great principle of love, and hence is the foundation of His government in heaven and earth. If our hearts are renewed in the likeness of God, if the divine love is implanted in the soul, will not the law of God be carried out in the life?” –Steps to Christ, p. 60
PEACEMAKER
“When the principle of love is implanted in the heart, when man is renewed after the image of Him that created him, the new-covenant promise is fulfilled, ‘I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them.’ Hebrews 10:16. And if the law is written in the heart, will it not shape the life?
“Obedience—the service and allegiance of love—is the true sign of discipleship. Thus the Scripture says, ‘This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.’ ‘He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.’ 1 John 5:3; 2:4. Instead of releasing man from obedience, it is faith, and faith only, that makes us partakers of the grace of Christ, which enables us to render obedience.” –Steps to Christ, p. 60
Strength to obey God’s law can be obtained only by faith in Christ (Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 524).
REFORMATION
“Luther’s teachings attracted the attention of thoughtful minds throughout all Germany. . . . A living faith was taking the place of the dead formalism in which the church had so long been held. The people were daily losing confidence in the superstitions of Romanism. The barriers of prejudice were giving way. The word of God, by which Luther tested every doctrine and every claim, was like a two-edged sword, cutting its way to the hearts of the people. Everywhere there was awakening a desire for spiritual progress. Everywhere was such a hungering and thirsting after righteousness as had not been known for ages. The eyes of the people, so long directed to human rites and earthly mediators, were now turning in penitence and faith to Christ and Him crucified.” –The Great Controversy, p. 133
Christ alone can heal the sting of sin (Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 430–432); and supplies the deficiencies of character through faith (Messages To Young People, p. 252).
- KINDS OF FAITH – Desirable
“Christian faith will never harmonize with worldly principles.” Beware of the evil heart of unbelief. “Watch, pray, work—this is the true life of faith.” –Testimonies For The Church, vol. 5, p. 235
THE SCIENCE TO BE MASTERED
“There is a science of Christianity to be mastered,—a science as much deeper, broader, higher than any human science as the heavens are higher than the earth. The mind is to be disciplined, educated, trained; for we are to do service for God in ways that are not in harmony with inborn inclination. There are hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil that must be overcome. Often the training and education of a lifetime must be discarded, that one may become a learner in the school of Christ. . . .
“The precious graces of the Holy Spirit are not developed in a moment. Courage, fortitude, meekness, faith, unwavering trust in God’s power to save, are acquired by the experience of years. By a life of holy endeavor and firm adherence to the right the children of God are to seal their destiny.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8, p. 314
CHRISTLIKE—TO BE CHERISHED
“There is among us as a people an idolatry of human instrumentalities and mere human talent, and these even of a superficial character. We must die to self and cherish humble, childlike faith. God’s people have departed from their simplicity. They have not made God their strength, and they are weak and faint, spiritually.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 75
STEADY—SOUND—INCREASING FAITH
“God has ordained that in order to grow in grace and in a knowledge of Christ, men must follow His example and work as He worked. It will often require a struggle to control our own feelings and to refrain from speaking in a manner to discourage those who are laboring under temptation. A life of daily prayer and praise, a life which will shed light upon the path of others, cannot be maintained without earnest effort. But such effort will yield precious fruit, blessing not only the receiver, but the giver. The spirit of unselfish labor for others gives depth, stability, and Christlike loveliness to the character and brings peace and happiness to its possessor. The aspirations are elevated. There is no room for sloth or selfishness. Those who exercise the Christian graces will grow. . . . They will have clear spiritual perceptions, a steady, increasing faith, and prevailing power in prayer.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 605–606
SINCERE—UNCORRUPTED
Faith is to be sincere and uncorrupted , as gold and frankincense and myrrh to Christ (Counsels To Parents, Teachers, and Students, p. 60).
SIMPLE
“Human strength is weakness, human wisdom is folly. Our success does not depend on our talents or learning, but on our living connection with God. The truth is shorn of its power when preached by men who are seeking to display their own learning and ability. Such men display also that they know very little of experimental religion, that they are unsanctified in heart and life and are filled with vain conceit. They do not learn of Jesus. They cannot present to others a Saviour with whom they themselves are not acquainted. . . . Some exalt self, and talk of self; they prepare sermons and write articles to call the attention of the people to the minister, fearing that he will not receive due honor. Had there been more lifting up of Jesus and less extolling the minister, more praise rendered to the Author of truth, and less to its messengers, we would occupy a more favorable position before God than we do today.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 158
“Simple faith . . . unites the believer to God.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, p. 147. By simple faith, healing and pardon was brought to the paralytic of Capernaum (The Desire Of Ages, p. 268).
MAN LOSES SIMPLICITY—VICTIM MENTALITY
“There are deep mysteries in the word of God, there are unexplainable mysteries in His providences; there are mysteries in the plan of salvation that man cannot fathom. But the finite mind, strong in its desire to satisfy its curiosity and solve the problems of infinity, neglects to follow the plain course indicated by the revealed will of God and pries into the secrets hidden since the foundation of the world. Man builds his theories, loses the simplicity of true faith, becomes too self-important to believe the declarations of the Lord and hedges himself in with his own conceits. Many who profess our faith are in this position. They are weak and powerless because they trust in their own strength.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, p. 163–164
- KINDS OF FAITH—UNDESIRABLE
A casual faith unto salvation, or a cheap faith, unsupported by works does not suffice for a spiritual life (Selected Messages, book 1, p. 137, 381, 392).
FANCY
An undesirable kind of faith is confounded with: blessing that comes through faith, and considered fancy, but is faint and feeble, and which produces a superficial experience which is not true faith (Selected Messages, Book 1, 156, 381, 392; Selected Messages, book 2, p. 14; S.D.A Bible Commentary, vol. 7, p. 936).
“Faith and love are golden treasures, elements that are greatly wanting among God’s people. I have been shown that unbelief in the testimonies of warning, encouragement, and reproof is shutting away the light from God’s people. Unbelief is closing their eyes so that they are ignorant of their true condition. The True Witness thus describes their blindness: ‘And knowest not that thou are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.’ (Revelation 3:16).” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 3, p. 255
STUPIDITY
“Faith in the soon coming of Christ is waning. ‘My lord delayeth His coming’ is not only said in the heart, but expressed in words and most decidedly in works. Stupidity in this watching time is sealing the senses of God’s people as to the signs of the times. The terrible iniquity which abounds calls for the greatest diligence and for the living testimony, to keep sin out of the church. Faith has been decreasing to a fearful degree, and it is only by exercise that it can increase.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 3, p. 255
FEARFUL
“Great sacrifices have been made and privations endured to place the truth in a clear light before you. Now God calls upon you, in your turn, to make great efforts and to sacrifice in order to place the truth before those who are in darkness. God requires this. You profess to believe the truth; let your works testify to the fact. Unless your faith works, it is dead. Nothing but a living faith will save you in the fearful scenes which are just before you.” –Testimonies For The Church, vol. 1, p. 191
APOSTASY, APOSTASY, APOSTASY
“The spirit of worldly conformity is invading the churches throughout Christendom. . . . When faithful teachers expound the word of God, there arise men of learning, ministers professing to understand the Scriptures, who denounce sound doctrine as heresy, and thus turn away inquirers after truth. Were it not that the world is hopelessly intoxicated with the wine of Babylon, multitudes would be convicted and converted by the plain cutting truths of the word of God. But religious faith appears so confused and discordant, that the people know not what to believe as truth. The sin of the world’s impenitence lies at the door of the church.
“The professors of religion of the present day, in every church, are lovers of the world, conformers to the world, lovers of creature comfort, and aspirers after respectability. They are called to suffer with Christ, but they shrink from even reproach . . . Apostasy, apostasy, apostasy, is engraven on the very front of every church; . . . they cry, ‘We are rich, and increased in goods, and stand in need of nothing.’ (Revelation 3:17).” –The Great Controversy, p. 388–389
- LACK OF FAITH
Lack of faith is alarming among God’s people and among Seventh Day Adventists (Testimonies For The Church, vol. 3, p.253; vol. 4, p. 162).
PAINFULLY HINDERED
“The upbuilding of the kingdom of God is retarded or urged forward according to the unfaithfulness or fidelity of human agencies. The work is hindered by the failure of the human to co-operate with the divine. Men may pray, ‘Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven;’ but if they fail of acting out this prayer in their lives, their petitions will be fruitless. . . . ‘Without Me,’ Christ said, ‘ye can do nothing. . . .’
“It is the righteousness of Christ that goes before us, and this is the glory of the Lord, which shall be our rearward.” Isaiah 58:8. Ye churches of the living God, study this promise, and consider how your lack of faith, of spirituality, of divine power, is hindering the coming of the kingdom of God. If you would go forth to do Christ’s work, angels of God would open the way before you, preparing hearts to receive the gospel. –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, p. 437–438
FATAL RESULTS
The results of lack of faith produce: carelessness, distressing fears, love of self, perplexity, surmising of evil, worldiness Testimonies for the Church, vol., 3, p. 475; vol. 2, p. 140; S.D.A. Bible Commentary, vol. 4, p. 1175). Every failure on the Christian’s part is due to lack of faith (Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 657).
Souls who feel a lack of faith, should throw themselves upon Christ’s mercy (The Desire of Ages, p. 429).
- LIVING FAITH
“Living faith in the merits of a crucified Redeemer will carry man through the fiery furnace of affliction and trial.” Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, p. 212. Living faith means an increase of vigor and energetic action (The Desire of Ages, p. 347; Christian Service, p. 177).
ESSENTIAL TO A CHRISTIAN’S SAFETY
“Those who profess the name of Christ should not, like the self-righteous Pharisee, find great pleasure in recounting their good deeds, but all should feel the necessity of keeping the moral nature braced by constant watchfulness. Like faithful sentinels they should guard the citadel of the soul, never feeling that they may relax their vigilance for a moment. In earnest prayer and living faith is their only safety.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, p. 575
CULTIVATE
“Again, I would urge that living faith in God be cultivated. There are those who, though thought to be serving God, are fast becoming girded about with infidelity. To them crooked paths seem straight; they are living in continual violation of God’s truth; corrupt principles are interwoven into their life practice, and wherever they go they sow seeds of evil. In the place of leading others to Christ their influence causes them to question and doubt. They unsettle minds in the truth by entering into speculative theories which draw them away from the truth. They help forge the fetters of doubt and unbelief.” –Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, P. 281
CONQUER THE ENEMY
“The habit of brooding over anticipated evils is unwise and unchristian. In thus doing we fail to enjoy the blessings and to improve the opportunities of the present. The Lord requires us to perform the duties of today and to endure its trials. We are today to watch that we offend not in word or deed. We must today praise and honor God. By the exercise of living faith today we are to conquer the enemy.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p.200
NO EXCUSE
“In order to fight successfully the battle against sin, you must keep close to Jesus. Do not talk unbelief; you have no excuse for doing this. Christ has made a complete sacrifice for you, that you might stand before God complete in Him. God is not pleased with our lack of faith. Unbelief always separates the soul from Christ.” –In Heavenly Places, p. 276
Amen. <><
John Theodorou
USA