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The Triumphs of Faith

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Sep 15, 1904

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 81, No. 37.

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The Triumphs of Faith

  • (Concluded)*
In every one of these cases, which are in themselves typical of our personal experience, the triumph of faith, the victory of faith, was shown in the pathway of obedience. Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out. Moses obeyed, and God sent him down to Egypt to deliver his people. Moses obeyed when God gave him command concerning his appearance before Pharaoh. Moses obeyed when God gave command concerning the plagues that came upon Egypt, and the plagues came according to the word of Moses and Aaron. The children of Israel obeyed when God told them to go forward, although the Red Sea stood in the way. And Joshua as captain, and the people, obeyed when God commanded them to make their march around Jericho, and to shout, because God had given them the city. And because of this obedience of faith, the victories of faith became facts in their experience.
I would like to call attention just briefly to two other experiences, in which nothing is said about faith, but yet these show in ordinary life what the victories of faith mean; the first being the call to the disciples:— “And walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brethren, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left the nets, and followed him.”
Only common fishermen by the lake; perhaps their whole possession being the boat and the nets in the boat. A man walking by the sea called to them, “Follow me,” and they left, not much, but all, and followed him. Not much to leave, we say. Truly, but they left all they had, and followed him. How were they to gain their daily bread after that, if they followed this man of Galilee? They had forsaken their employment. Shall we say they had lost their position? They gave up their position. Not much to give up, you say. But they gave up that which was to them their livelihood, and followed this man of Galilee.
And what was his promise?—Only this: Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men. But in that call, and promise to make them fishers of men, is involved his assurance that they should have his care over them. He knew that they needed daily food and clothing; he knew their temporal needs; and he knew his Father’s ability to supply them; and he called them to follow him, and they followed him.
That was a triumph of faith; that was a victory of faith; and there are many victories of faith in humble life that are never recorded, and yet they are turning-points in the lives of individuals, none the less real than was the case of the fishermen deciding the case of God’s call to obey him, when to obey him meant to leave all, and follow him.
Another case, very simple in the record:— “And he looked up, and saw the rich men that were casting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, This poor widow cast in more than they all: for all these did of their superfluity cast in unto the gifts: but she of her want did cast in all the living that she had.”
A very simple thing—a poor woman coming, with others, to the treasury where gifts were deposited. The rich were there, and the rich gave much; but they had much left after they had given much. The poor widow gave little, and having given little, she had nothing left. And He who sat over against the treasury and watched them come and go, leaving their gifts, saw in the poor widow with two mites a greater gift than any of the rich cast in. Why?—Because it was that gift of faith which included all, and trusted God for the future; because, though it added little to the treasury, it took everything from the poor widow; and he who measures acts, not as men measure them, who looks rather upon the heart than upon the outward deed, saw in the gift of the poor widow a greater gift than any that the rich cast into the treasury. And the widow’s two mites have been honored ever since in the record, as the example of that humble faith in private life which takes God at his word, and believes that he is able to provide for his children.
These instances of special experiences of faith are but lessons for us. The motto of the Christian day by day must be “By faith.” By faith he must live; by faith he must work. Faith must link him with the invisible things of the heavenly kingdom. Faith must bring into his actual experience, God, and the ministry of angels,—the future as being brought into the present by that faith which is the assurance of things hoped for; and so his daily walk is in obedience to God, rather than to men; he is daily listening to the voice of God, and ordering his steps according to God’s Word, rather than according to the traditions and the convictions of men.
This must be the life of faith; but that faith must be grounded in the Word of God. Faith can not rest upon mere imagination or mere sentiment; faith must have the sure foundation of the Word of God. When God commands, faith accepts God’s command. And when faith sees God in all, and obeys God in all, and thus brings God actually into the life, the life of faith is the life of victory; the life of faith is the life of triumph, although not always in outward appearance.
Remember the case of John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus. He who gathered throngs from the towns to hear him in the wilderness, through whose preaching conviction of sin fell upon many hearts and minds, when he saw Jesus, said, “He must increase; I must decrease.” And John was cast into prison, and he was beheaded in prison; and yet the life of John was a life of faith, and his death was the triumph of faith. In John’s death was victory. There has been no martyr to the truth of God in any age who did not die a victorious death; there has been no one who has suffered for Christ’s sake privations of any sort, inconvenience of any kind, loss of support, or loss of friends, who did not win a triumph in his apparent loss. Whoever goes through this experience gains a victory which far outweighs whatever may be lost; for the triumph of such a faith must triumph in victory throughout eternity.
In our common experiences it is not always the greatest things that present themselves to us that are the greatest tests of faith. It may sometimes be what may appear a very simple thing that comes to be the test of our faith. It may be that upon one simple thing we turn our whole Christian experience, whether or not after that time we shall live the life of faith, trusting ourselves with God and his ability to care for us.
Every day there come to us individually these tests of faith, and these opportunities for the victories of faith; and the same God has given us an inspiration (which he has given us here) that our faith may be equal to the test; and that, looking into the future with the eye of faith, and recognizing through God’s Word what he has provided for those who obey him, we may go forward in obedience to God’s commands, against all the temptations of the world, at the sacrifice, if necessary, of all riches, position, and earthly standing. Faith obeys, and the obedience of faith brings to every one the recompense of reward to which Moses looked, to which he had respect,—that recompense of reward which awaits the faithful, and to which they look with the eye of faith,—that reward soon to be given.
There are but few years that intervene now between us and the recompense of reward. And in this last generation God is gathering out a people who shallreveal in their experience the triumphs of faith, a people who will be willing to obey him at all costs, a people who will be willing to take his word as the foundation of their faith, and walk in the light of his Word, a people who will look to him, and to him only, when everything about them seems unfavorable, who will depend upon God and the power revealed through the gift of his Son Jesus Christ to save from sin, to provide temporal things, to deliver from all that man can do, and to bring safely through the experiences of this last generation to the eternal kingdom of our God.
“Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.” He said unto them, “According to your faith be it unto you.” I leave with you, as being the words of our Master, and the law of faith to the Christian, “According to your faith be it unto you.”