p. 164 | We Walk by Faith by R. F. COTTRELL

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 23, 1866

“We Walk by Faith.”

By R. F. COTTRELL

FAITH differs from credulity on the one hand, and skepticism on the other. Credulity believes without evidence, faith upon evidence, and skepticism doubts in the face of all evidence. The credulous person is fluctuating—now he believes this, and now he believes that. The skeptical person is constantly wavering—ever on the fence between faith and infidelity, sometimes inclining one way and sometimes the other; at one time almost believing, at another, full of doubt. But the person of faith, the believer, is constant, calm, and steadfast. His heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. While the credulous are carried about with every wind of doctrine, and the skeptical, though desiring to be established, dare not believe anything, the believer is decided and firm; he is the only person securely anchored, having rest to his soul.

To the credulous let me say, Feeling is not faith. Your impulses are a movable foundation. Faith must rest upon evidence. Examine carefully the testimony before you believe. Look before you leap.

But, my skeptical friend, faith is not sight. If you wait to see everything, you never will believe anything. That which purports to be divine revelation should be examined in all its leading features and tendencies. The strong points in the evidences should be weighed. And if it carries unmistakable evidences of truth as a whole system, accept it as a whole, though you may not be able to comprehend every particular part. Faith fixes upon the grand points, the overwhelming evidences of the great system of divine revelation, and no caviling in regard to minor points of a seemingly questionable character, can move it from its firm foundation. If you cannot see clearly every minute particular, turn your eyes to the main pillars. Do not cast away the whole beautiful structure, because you cannot comprehend the utility of each minutest part. Having satisfied yourself of the firmness of the foundation, the beauty and stability of the edifice, evincing the consummate knowledge and skill of the architect, conclude that it is right in every particular, had you the wisdom to understand it. The Lord has given you irrefragable proofs of the heavenly origin of revelation. He wants you to accept it as a whole, upon the evidences he has given, and those points you do not clearly comprehend, upon trust.

Do you say, That is “going it blind”? We reply, It is walking by faith. It would be the greatest, the most complete blindness, that would deny the beauty and glory of the whole creation, because we cannot discover its remotest spheres, or discern its minutest animalculæ, with the naked eye. So it is blindness indeed to reject the whole beautiful fabric of faith, because our darkened eyes cannot discern the beauty of all its parts. It is blindness to shut ourselves away from the light of day, and then deny that the sun shines. It is better to acknowledge and receive the light, that our weak eyes may be strengthened to see more and more clearly.

Abraham, the father of the faithful, walked by faith. He believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. After God had promised the great blessing to mankind, the blessing of the Messiah through his son Isaac, he said to him, Take your son, even Isaac, and go and kill him for a sacrifice. Did Abraham say, I can’t see it—that would be going it blind? No. He walked forward by obedient faith, trusting in God in whom he had believed; and the difficulty was cleared up to his entire satisfaction.

My friends, you who are troubled with doubts, either of the volume of inspiration, or of the present work of the Lord, grasp with steadfastness the firm and immovable pillars of the faith, and drive your doubts to the wind. Let not your pride of opinion brood over this objection or that, till it hatches a nest of vipers. Your salvation is depending. Settle it in your mind. Is God the author of revelation? Does he live? and is he leading his people? Is his downtrodden truth being restored? and is he thus preparing a people for translation? If every invulnerable argument, and every infallible test prove this to be so, venture your all upon it without reserve. If God has manifested his strong hand and his outstretched arm in bringing his people out of Egypt and to the border

of the sea, falter not at the command to move forward. A path will be opened to them that believe.

Oh, believe on the Lord; believe his word, believe his work. We have no new revelation, only what prophets and apostles and Jesus Christ himself declared should be; even that Christ would be with his people always, even to the end of the world. Learn to weigh evidence—learn to believe. Take fully the yoke of Christ and learn of him, and you will find rest to your soul. Walk by faith, and you will not walk in the darkness of doubt.

R. F. COTTRELL.