SAVING FAITH by J. O. Corliss

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 12, 1876

SAVING FAITH.

By J. O. Corliss

BY ELD. J. O. CORLISS.

TEXT: “Have faith in God.” Mark 11:22.

Faith is an attribute of the mind capable of being exercised toward different objects or enterprises, and is defined by Paul to be the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. To illustrate: A gentleman calls on me and says, “I am come to bear good tidings to you. From an entailed estate in England, there has been deposited in the national bank at London fifty thousand dollars subject to your order,” and he names the deceased donor. With great surprise I reply: “Sir, I never saw the man whose name you mention, and did not dream that my name was known outside of my limited acquaintance; therefore, I conclude you must be altogether mistaken in the person. In short, I have no faith whatever in the message, but consider it an idle tale.” “But,” he replies, “I will convince you that I am not mistaken;” and he passes me papers with the same statement officially signed and sealed by the president of the bank. But before I can have faith, even in the document presented, I must be persuaded that it is genuine; I therefore make inquiry; and by so doing I learn that there is in London such a bank, the president of which bears the identical name attached to the writing.

This is all plain, yet I am not satisfied. Not being acquainted with the signature and seal used by the bank, I fear it may be a forgery; but upon getting a description of the seal of that corporation, and faithfully comparing it with the one on the paper, I find they agree in every particular, which is satisfactory evidence of its genuineness. Now, although I have not seen the money, nor even the bank where it is on deposit, yet I have good evidence it is there for me; and so exercise enough faith in the enterprise to say to my friends with a great deal of confidence, “I have a large sum of money in London which I soon expect to receive;” and I undertake the journey with a well-grounded hope of receiving the stipulated “substance.”

No one fails to see that just as soon as I have acquired genuine faith in the one who holds the deposit, I must of necessity have faith in the one through whom it came. Furthermore, it was impossible for me to gain faith in the latter without first having secured it in the former, and through his statement received evidence which generated faith in the latter.

So it is in divine things. God sends to us a message through his word that a large deposit has been left with him through the death of Christ for our benefit, subject to our will and order. But before we can be induced to apply to him for that benefit, we must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him; for no one would think of calling on another for a favor in whose existence he had no faith. But we have never seen God at any time, and how do we know that he exists?

David says: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge.” Ps. 19:1, 2. Day and night, if we take time to consider the heavens, they will reveal to us that there is a first Great Cause. By day we behold the sun, independent of us, performing his regular circuit, reflecting light and heat upon all the world; while at night we may view the numberless fixed stars, which, we are told, are suns like our own, the centers of their respective systems. These, all moving in perfect order and harmony through the great ocean of space, declare to us the handiwork and glory of One infinitely above us in power and wisdom. They also reveal to a thoughtful mind that the law which holds them there, and governs them in their course year after year, is perfect, and could emanate only from a mind of the highest type of perfection; hence, law to govern the course of man, issuing from the same source, cannot be otherwise than perfect.

My watch lies before me. I take it in my hand to examine; and the first thing that excites my admiration is its peculiar construction, which adapts it to be carried in any position without affecting its motion. I examine the fine mechanism of its wheels, that gives it that regularity and precision of movement which mark with accuracy the exact minute, or even second; and I say, the man who made This had a fine mind, and was very ingenious. I see his handiwork, which reveals this, and I admire his skill and ingenuity; yet, because his name is not attached to his work, I have no possible way to ascertain it.

So by turning our eyes in the direction indicated by the psalmist, we see everything bearing the stamp of an all-wise, omnipotent, and pre-existent Creator. We admire his supreme wisdom and skill, and feel that he is worthy of our most profound love, and long to prostrate ourselves in adoration and worship before him. But as yet he is unknown to us by name, and we anxiously look about for that which will reveal his true title, with a firm resolution to offer him the entire service of our after life.

In the first three commands of the decalogue, the supreme majesty of just such a Being is proclaimed. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” is the injunction of the first commandment. The second forbids bowing to graven images to worship them. The third would guard the sacredness of his high and holy name, and forbids the irreverent or common use of it. But lest any should fail to know that name and its legal possessor, he utters the fourth, enjoining an institution which would point out each week his regal title and jurisdiction, and thus reveal the superiority of his claim over all others.

He says: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt not do any work. . . . For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day. Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” In this he proclaims himself Creator of all things in heaven and earth, by virtue of which all come under his jurisdiction, and should therefore obey him; hence he gives the Sabbath to all who believe in him, as a sign or token of their faith in his creative power. Each week as the Sabbath comes to those who observe it, the reasons for its observance appear also; and God, in his true character of Creator of the heavens and the earth, is brought fresh to their mind; and thus the Sabbath is kept in remembrance of him.

Bible writers, in teaching a knowledge of the true God and distinguishing him from all others who claim that title, have invariably borrowed language from the words of God himself. Paul says: “There be gods many, and lords many; but to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things.” 1 Cor. 8:5, 6. See also Jer. 10:10–12; Acts 17:23, 24.

This commemorative institution was given to Adam in his innocence, that he and his posterity might keep their faith in God alive; but in his fall, the virus of that sting which caused his death was diffused through all the human family, and soon they had forgotten their Creator. The second time, God took one man with his family to raise up a people who would honor him, and destroyed the rest; but soon the descendants of Noah became idolaters, and Abraham was separated from among them as the only one who had retained faith in God; and his family were made the depositaries of God’s law.

God’s family have ever since borne the honored name of Israel; and the apostle, referring to the faith of Abraham, says: “Abraham believed God, and it was imputed to him for righteousness.” Rom. 4:3. His faith led him to implicit obedience to all God’s commands; and although he could not always fathom the design of his Heavenly Father, yet he believed his word because he had evidence that it was impossible for him to utter a falsehood.

All, therefore, who are of faith, are blessed with faithful Abraham; for to him and his seed were the promises made, which seed, Paul says, is Christ. Gal. 3:16. Again he says: “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Verse 29. Therefore we see that Abraham’s faith in God comprehended faith in Jesus Christ. In closing his letter to the Galatians, he calls them the Israel of God. Chap. 6:16.

To be a child of Abraham, and therefore an heir to the promises, is to be faithful in keeping all of God’s commandments, and to have faith in Jesus Christ. When those who claimed to be Abraham’s seed sought to kill Jesus, he tested them by saying, “If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.” John 8:39. We learn that Abraham’s works were to keep God’s commandments. Gen. 26:5.

By taking a survey of the world’s history, we find that all the way along, God has been forgotten by many; and in some cases entire nations have lost sight of him. At the present time, three-fourths of the entire population of the globe have no faith in God! Paul, in his first chapter to the Romans, says that such are without excuse; because when they knew God, they did not like to retain him in their mind, but gave the glory that belonged to him to the things that he had created, until their hearts were darkened by superstition and unbelief. God was entirely forgotten, and their worship given to dumb idols. All these, says the psalmist, shall be turned into hell. Ps. 9:17.

Thus we see that as works decline, faith wanes; this is true of all who do not keep God in their minds. Then to preserve a proper knowledge of God and his ways, we must have works that will demonstrate it. Says John: “And hereby we do know that we know Him if we keep his commandments.” 1 John 2:3. While the inanimate creation declares the infinite wisdom and glory of its Author by the perfection of the law that governs it, so man knows and declares the name of God by adhering to, and being governed by, his perfect law of ten commands.

When the first great object of faith is fully comprehended, then the mind becomes capable of receiving all its accessories; and by hearing the word of God, evidence is presented to our minds of the efficacy of the blood of Christ to remove our past sins. But, says the apostle James, “Faith without works is dead.” We cannot have faith in anything without some outward act to show it; therefore faith in Christ, to be a living one, must show itself by corresponding works. To have faith in the gospel is to believe that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again. The works accompanying such faith would be to die ourselves to sin, be buried in a watery grave, and rise again, thereby showing our faith in the operation of God, who raised him from the dead. Col. 2:12.

And lest any should forget the great work which Christ accomplished in his death, he shows them how to keep their faith in that great event alive. In referring to the communion instituted by him, Paul says, “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till he come.” 1 Cor. 11:26. Said the Saviour, “This do in remembrance of me.” Luke 22:19. In this memorial, two important things are secured,—to keep the death of the Lord in our own mind, and to show our faith in that event to others.

If we take another survey of the world’s history with reference to God’s people, we shall find their faith in him and his word separating them from the world, and making them appear singular in its eyes. Take the case of Lot and his family retiring from Sodom. Their faith in God’s word was strong enough to make them leave all their earthly possessions behind, and flee, empty-handed, across the plain to save their lives. How singular their course must have seemed to others; yet Lot’s wife, after starting on the journey, dared to disobey one command of the angel, who said, “Look not behind thee,” and was left on the plain, a monument of her presumptive folly. “Remember Lot’s wife.” Luke 17:32.

Again, take the case of the three worthies in Babylonian captivity. When the golden image was set up in the plains of Dura, and at the command of an earthly monarch the assembled multitude fell down to worship it, these noble men refused. They revered the God of Heaven; and, to retain their integrity before him, they stood erect while every one around them was bowing before the image. Why not say, “This is a small matter; everybody else is doing so, and perhaps it will make no particular difference if I do the same”? Because they knew full well that God had forbidden it, and their faith in that word led them to implicit obedience, though it should be at the risk of losing their lives.

It is an easy matter to accept and do those things that every one else practices and believes; but when we dare to move out in duty in direct opposition to the multitude, it is done by virtue of faith in the superiority of that way over the ways of the world. In the time of our Saviour’s

first advent, nearly all the professed believers in God followed one beaten track, without exercising any particular faith in him. True, they worshiped, and had their forms and ceremonies; but these had become a dull, cold formality.

When Jesus healed the young man in their midst, he proclaimed his God-given authority among the Jews, while the young man in his ecstasy cried out, “Will ye also be his disciples?” They in a sneering tone replied, “Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses’ disciples. We know that God spoke unto Moses; as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is.” John 9:27–29.

It had been thoroughly demonstrated, centuries before, that God spoke by Moses, and it required no great exercise of faith to believe it then, however much it required to accept Moses in his day; but when God spoke through his Son directly to them, they had no faith in his word. So it is with many now. When God’s word is presented to them, they settle down on the faith their church once had, and point back, saying, “We know that God did work for and bless our church under its founders;” and then, as did the Pharisees, without further considering the matter, they fold their arms and give themselves up to be carried along by the popular current, to learn, when it is too late, that

“He struggles vainly to maintain a part, Who has not courage to contend for all.”

Said the Saviour, “Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8. How few to-day have faith to walk out upon God’s precepts! How many try to evade the plain teachings of his word! “I know,” they say, “it reads so, but I think it will make no particular difference; and then it is so inconvenient to obey;” or, “I know it seems to be plain there, but then who can tell just what it means?” And thus the word of God is made of no effect through unbelief.

But the world will say, We have faith in God. It is true, many have a kind of conventional faith in the existence of a being bearing that name; but they seem to act as though they thought him altogether such an one as themselves; for they deal with him as with their fellow men. Any obligation resting on them is discharged, if at all, in the easiest possible manner; and if it is to cost them any inconvenience whatever, it is entirely evaded. Yet such are tolerated in society, and even pass for good citizens. In this manner many apparently think to deal with the Supreme Ruler of the universe, who declares himself an unchangeable being.

Abraham’s strong faith in God led him confidently to expect a future substance,—“a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Heb. 11:10. And although he died in faith without receiving the promise, the time will come, and is not far in the future, when the city of God, the New Jerusalem with its twelve foundations of imperishable stones, will be revealed to his admiring eyes, and he, with all the faithful ones, will tread its golden streets, and walk in its glorious light. It will be for those alone who have had faith in God.

And when the good of every age and clime shall be gathered there, nothing can enter to mar their perfect peace and happiness. Loved ones restored can never be lost, for death is vanquished; sorrow and pain shall be no more, for they are passed away; the last trace of weeping is gone, for God’s own hand shall wipe away the tears from every eye. But that which will make the joy and happiness of every heart complete, will be to know that the tabernacle of God is there, and that he will dwell among them, and that they will be privileged to bask in the sunshine of his eternal glory forever. Reader, will you be there? Have faith in God.