All of us sometimes wonder, “Am I really exercising faith?” Faith is not just some mystical acceptance in your mind of a Scripture or a promise, but it is actually an entity that is composed of several distinct parts or ingredients. These ingredients that make up faith have to be understood.
As long as you keep hanging on, you have faith. In a left-handed way you cannot say, “I have no faith,” even if you respond like Sarah of old who said, “Here, I’m going to bring Hagar into the picture and let her bear the child.” She was still believing that the child would be born. God did not need that help, but I don’t think Sarah was expressing unbelief as much as she was trying to work God’s plan out for Him. How dangerous that can be.
We must understand what faith is. I purposely chose Weymouth’s translation for this message because it is my favorite on passages affecting faith. The principle of faith is declared in James 2:14–26, which is illustrated by Hebrews 11, and they make one sound entity of faith.
What good is it, my brethren, if a man professes to have faith, and yet his actions do not correspond? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother and a sister are poorly clad or lack daily food, and one of you says to them, “Fair you well; keep yourselves warm and well fed,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs; What is the use of that? So also faith, if it is unaccompanied by obedience, is dead in itself (that kind of faith is dead). Nay, some one will say, ‘You have faith, I have actions: prove to me your faith apart from corresponding actions and I will prove mine to you by my actions.’ James 2:14–18. Actions then become the expression of faith if they are actions that correspond to faith. Actions are an outgrowth of faith or an effort to express faith—remember that. Actions that are an effort to express faith are honored by the Lord.
‘You believe that God is one, and you are quite right: evil spirits also believe this, and shudder.’ But, idle boaster, are you willing to be taught that faith apart from obedience is worthless? Was it not because of his actions that Abraham our father was declared to be righteous when he had offered up his son Isaac upon the altar? James 2:19–21. Notice that his faith was cooperating with his actions. His faith was cooperating with his actions. Faith then is not a mystical thing in your mind and in your spirit; it is more than that. Faith has to be expressed in actions that are related to that faith.
‘And Abraham believed God, and his faith was credited to him as righteousness,’ and he received the name of ‘God’s friend.’ You see that it is because of actions that a man is pronounced righteous, and not simply because of faith. In the same way also was not the harlot Rahab declared to be righteous because of her actions when she welcomed the spies and sent them off another way? For just as a human body without a spirit is lifeless, so also faith is lifeless without obedience. James 2:23–26.
Now we are getting down to something that is really important. How difficult it is for people to feel that they are really believers. They will not assess themselves as being believers. They say, “Well, I have too many doubts.” It makes no difference how many doubts you have. There can be all kinds of problems and doubts about many things, but when God gives a word, we must act accordingly. We cannot do anything more.
You can sit in a corner and pray for financial release, but the gold and silver aren’t going to jump up and fall into your pocket. There have to be some actions that correspond with what God said He will do. There have to be actions that correspond to the faith and the prophecies that God has given us about ourselves. We take an action on it; we step out, and we do not know whether anyone else will appreciate it or agree, but we have to express the faith.
There has to be some activity on our part that corresponds exactly with the faith that we believe. This does not mean that we are working it out ourselves. Our activity must correspond to faith, not to human ambition. It is not an aggressive, determined, ambitious action; it is far more than that. It is an action corresponding to faith. “Whatever He says unto you, do it,” the mother of the Lord said to the servants. Jesus told them, “Fill up those water jars and bear them to the governor of the feast.” “Hmmmm, where did this come from? The best wine to the last.”
“Whatever He says to you, you obey.” They could have argued, “Well, I have faith, so I’m going to run down to the corner store and get a couple of jugs of wine.” “Wouldn’t be enough.” “Where are we going to get the wine?” Our actions correspond to our faith in the Lord. Even if we do not understand and have questions, we do it. This is where faith comes in.
You may say, “Well, we have our doubts; I don’t know whether I have real faith or not, because I have doubts.” Everyone has doubts. Why do you think I have answers to give you people? because I have had all the questions first. I’ve been through it; I’ve been over the path. I know exactly what the questions are.
It isn’t the fact that you have questions that makes you an unbeliever. It is whether or not you rise up and believe God. The real way of faith during the restoration will always be made known through those who are classed as heretics by the spiritually dead. The orthodox will classify you as a heretic. The real blessings of the Lord are born in the hearts of men who are classified as heretics because they want to find the truth. Their honest inquiry of unbelief is honored by God because in their searching, the Spirit of the Lord comes upon them and many of them come into a walk far superior to what orthodox people ever know.
How does it happen? Sometimes you have to face the questions first, yet that does not mean that you are not a man of faith; it means that you are trying to find your faith—the faith. Faith does not happen because you sit in a church and say, “Fine, now I have faith.” You contend earnestly for the faith that was once delivered to the saints. You contend for it and wind up a real believer. You are not a believer mentally assenting to a truth only. You have actions that correspond to it, and you are walking in it.
We have to understand that first, faith is an understanding or a grasp of what God has said. Second, faith is also actions that correspond to what God has said. Remember both of these points. Faith involves another ingredient which we will call obedience, or submission. Faith involves all of these things.
“Well, I’m submissive, but I don’t have much faith.” The very act of submission has to be a thing of faith. When you are being submissive to an elder, it does not mean that you do not see any faults in that elder; you are being submissive to what God said. That elder may have faults, but you are submissive in the name of the Lord. That means you have faith for him, and faith that God will meet him, and also meet you through him.
A wife gets the word of the Lord and says, “I’m going to believe for my husband and be submissive to him.” When she becomes submissive to him and he still is not much to be submissive to, she is doing that with faith. It is an expression of faith; it is a corresponding action to her faith. “Well, I don’t understand this but I’ll do it anyway.” That is faith. “I don’t understand it, I’ll do it.”
In Hebrews, chapter eleven, we have what is called the roll call of faith. It speaks about Able: … through this faith he had witness borne to him that he was righteous, God bearing witness by accepting his gifts. Hebrews 11:4. Your giving has a lot to do with the question of faith. When a man comes into this walk with God, many projects challenge him to give. One thing after another the Lord sets before him, and he is drawn into expressing his faith by giving. He backs it up, doing everything that he can. He gives of himself—his time, his efforts, and his money. God will bear witness, as he did for Able, that he was righteous because of his gifts. Way back in the beginning this man pleased God by the way he gave. So giving can be a part of faith.
Through faith Noah, being divinely warned about things as yet unseen, reverently gave heed and built an ark for the safety of his family, and by this act he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which depends on faith. Hebrews 11:7. What was there about Noah? He did not understand that flood. I don’t think he even understood too well the reasons for the flood; but by his act he condemned the world. By your being obedient in walking with God you are going to condemn the world and throw it into judgment. So it is very important that you see that it was an act.
Through faith Abraham, called to leave home and go into a land which he was to receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. Hebrews 11:8. You do not have to understand, Abraham did not know where he was going, he just started. That was his faith. Just keep walking; you do not know where you are going but it is the right direction. Abraham went out, not knowing where he was going. He obeyed.
Through faith he came and made his home for a time in a land which had been promised to him, as if in a foreign country … Hebrews 11:9. He was acting like a foreigner in a land that God said was going to be his.
Verse thirteen says, All these died sustained by faith. They had not received the promised blessings, but had seen them from a distance and had greeted them, and had acknowledged themselves to be foreigners and strangers here on earth.
In verse seventeen, we read more about Abraham. Through faith Abraham, when he was being put to the test, offered up Isaac. Yes, he who had joyfully welcomed the promises was ready to sacrifice his only son with regard to whom he had been told, “It is through Isaac that your posterity shall be traced.”
Do what Abraham did—take what God promised you and give it back to Him. Lay it on the altar; get rid of it. God gave it to you. You can struggle for it; you can have it, everything you’ve ever dreamed of, the whole blueprint fulfilled. Keep struggling, you can get it. But is it the best thing to struggle for? Sometimes give God your Isaac. Maybe God will put a knife in his heart. It is very difficult for people to lay their promises on the altar.
Every once in awhile without realizing it you get just a little bit greedy in your spirit; and feeling a little insecure, you start reaching for something. The Lord will kick it right out from under you so that you cannot lean on it anymore. Then you say, “Oh no, Lord, I wasn’t going to lean on that anyway, I’m leaning on You.” And that is what you really mean in your heart; you do not intend to follow those courses.
Through faith Joseph, when he was near his end, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave orders about his own body. Hebrews 11:22. He said, “When you leave this land, dig up my bones and take them with you.”
Moses is mentioned in verse twenty-seven: … for he held on his course as seeing the unseen One.
Verse thirty tells about the sixth chapter of Joshua: Through faith the walls of Jericho fell to the ground after being surrounded for seven days.
Then we read about Rahab: “Through faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with the disobedient because she had welcomed the spies and had sheltered them. Hebrews 11:30, 31. The situation might have been questionable, but the thing that overwhelmed every other consideration was that Rahab expressed faith. She expressed faith and what happened to her? In the New Testament genealogies you will find that she is in the ancestry of Jesus Christ. Whatever it was that she had been, she forsook, and became a virtuous woman walking with God. Her faith places her right in this chapter with Abraham, Moses, and the rest of these people who had faith.
Paul says, “What shall I say more?” and goes down the line about what faith really is.… men who, through faith, conquered whole kingdoms, executed true justice, obtained promises … What does this mean, “Obtained promises?” They said, “Let’s see, I need a promise from God.” So they went to God and said, “God, you never said this, but You should have said it, and I’m looking for You to say it to me now.” They obtained promises from the Lord. That is real faith. You could dig through the Scriptures to find a promise, but what if it wasn’t there? What if you had to go to the Lord and find a word and get Him to give you one?
Men of faith, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put to flight foreign armies. Women received back their dear ones alive from the dead; and others were put to death with torture, refusing the deliverance offered to them—that they might secure a better resurrection. Others again were tested by cruel mockery and by scourging; yes, and by chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tried by temptation, they were killed with the sword. They went from place to place in sheepskins, or goatskins, enduring want, oppression, and cruelty—men of whom the world was not worthy: they wandered across deserts and mountains, or hid themselves in caves or holes in the ground.
And although by their faith they all won God’s approval, none of them received the fulfillment of His promise; because God had provided for us something better, so that apart from us they were not to be perfected. Therefore, surrounded as we are by such a vast cloud of witnesses, let us fling aside every encumbrance and the sin that so readily entangles our feet. And let us run with patient endurance the race that lies before us, simply fixing our gaze upon Jesus, the Leader and Perfector of faith. Hebrews 11:33–12:2a.
Faith is a wonderful thing, and it is not understood clearly. Faith actually becomes an activity—it is an action—it is an active word. It leads you to make preparations for an answer. Faith leads you to prepare your heart for what is going to come. Do you believe it is going to rain? If you pray for rain, take your umbrella to church. Then you have an action that corresponds to that faith. If you are praying for a trip, get out the suitcase and start packing long before you have any answer. When you hear the word of the Lord that you are going to be a prophet, start searching the Scriptures and opening your heart, because you know what a prophet will have to know. You know what he will have to be and the preparation of heart that must be wrought within. You sense all of these things that are coming and you have an action that corresponds to it. Sometimes it seems like it is not very much, but you still take that step. You get ready for something.
Where there is real faith you are never caught unaware when the answer comes. You are prepared for it. When the Lord starts raining gold out upon you, you have a sack open and ready for it. Do you believe that the Lord is going to bring water out of the rock? Take your jug along with you to the prayer meeting so that you can get the water. Faith has corresponding actions; if you believe, even with fear, act upon it. This is action upon faith. Someone yells, “Fire, fire” and you believe it so you run out the nearest door. That is the corresponding action. You could not do anything else but respond. When you know that guests are coming, you go to the store and buy some food so that when they come you will be ready for them. Because you are going to go to church on Sunday morning, you fill the tank with gasoline on Saturday night, and you make sure that suits and clothes are ready. It is corresponding action that prepares for what you are believing to come.
You can say, “Well I’m not going to put any gas in the car because tomorrow morning I may be sick; and I won’t get any good clothes ready because you never can tell what might happen in the middle of the night. We might have some visitors from another state come to see us.” A lot of things could happen, but you still anticipate and prepare for the thing that is going to happen. Do you understand what can happen to you in the next few days? Why don’t you exercise faith? Prepare your heart for what you are going to do. Prepare your heart for other things that are going to come.
If you want to devote more time to the Lord, then get rid of all the encumbrances. Tell your friends, “Don’t bother me anymore. I’m going to be busy for the Lord. I don’t want to go out for coffee and donuts, or anything; I’m getting ready to really work for the Lord.” Get rid of every encumbrance. These are actions that are corresponding to what you are believing God to do for you. Take a step of faith in the direction of everything that you are believing God for. Act like you really believe it.
Instead of acting in faith, believers are still trudging up the hill with their arms full of spices, ready to anoint a body that isn’t there. We are still ministering something that belongs to unbelief and death, muttering as we go up, “Who’s going to roll the stone away? Who’s going to roll it? Oh woe, who’s going to roll the stone away?” When we get up there, we find the stone has already been rolled away, the napkin is neatly folded, and nothing is there but the wrappings, like an old empty cocoon. The Son of God has left—hallelujah!
Why can’t we begin to believe? Our unbelief anticipates and we take actions according to unbelief. Can we take actions according to faith? We are being rebuked; we are being stricken in our heart to be believers and act accordingly with obedience and actions that correspond to faith. If we believe this walk and the things that are coming to pass upon the earth, we cannot do anything more than just pursue the way we are going, minister the living word to as many as we can and give ourselves wholly to it. The world is on fire; it is ready to explode, and we have the word of God for the people. Let’s act upon it, let’s prepare our hearts. Let’s begin to make long-range plans toward the day in which there will be ten thousand ministers—ten thousand churches ready to move. Let’s begin to think concerning the need in all the different languages, a center to translate everything into every language. Let’s think concerning large rotary presses that will turn out books by the millions. Let’s get busy and loose the things that are going to come. Let’s have the vision!
We have faith, we know we are in God’s last effort for this age and His first effort to bring forth the Kingdom. God is wrapping up the old, and ripping off the veil of the future. He is saying, “Come, walk with Me in the Kingdom.” We have to think like that; our actions and attitudes have to correspond to it. Everything within us must be obedient and corresponding to the day that is before us.
Look into your heart. There is faith there, more faith than you know. You may say, “Well, I don’t know, I don’t seem to have much faith.” But if you are still plugging in there, that means your actions are right. “I have doubts.” So what’s new? “I have fears.” So what’s new?
We are going to walk on a tightrope right down through the end of one age and into the next. It will not be easy, but who said it would be? What will we do about it? Not a thing, just believe and go on. A lot of things could happen to us, but we will not anticipate evil; we will anticipate good. We will anticipate this walk with God.
Let not your heart be filled with fear; look not upon even your own heart and be condemned because of the things that you see yet wanting in your life. But look unto the Lord who is able to perform and perfect that which concerneth thee. Having begun the good work within thee, is He not able to perform it unto the day of the Lord?
Be not discouraged nor dismayed at the many things that you see wanting and lacking. It is right that you should walk humbly before the Lord, with full awareness of all of these things that are yet to be wrought within thee; but it is not right that thy heart should be discouraged, for the hand that moldeth thee and shapeth thee into a vessel of honor is the hand of the Lord Himself. He shall not fail nor be discouraged until He hath set judgment in the earth. Behold, He shall be with thee to deliver thee; He shall be with thee to help thee, and perfect thee, and He shall bring thee forth into the things that are yet wanting in thy life.
Let faith be within thy heart, that thou shalt not be cast down in thine own heart, in thine own thought saying, “Behold, I am nothing; behold, I am nothing.” Thou shalt not despise thyself when thou are the handiwork of God, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.
Ye are His workmanship; yea, God hath brought thee forth that He should cause thee to be to His praise and His glory and His honor. Respect yourself as a channel and a vessel that the Lord hath raised up, and let thy heart be diligent to pursue after all those things which the Lord shall yet finish within thee. If thou art like a vessel marred upon the potter’s wheel, He shall mold thee and shape thee into another vessel, He shall make thee over into what thou should be.
Let there be that within thee which shall cleave unto righteousness, and abhor evil, and despise not the blessings of God that are worked within thy life. Amen.