LIVING FAITH by Thos. H. Nelson

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Aug 6, 1902

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 28, No. 32.

LIVING FAITH.

By Thos. H. Nelson

[Thos. H. Nelson, in Pentecost Herald.]

To-day, as in the days of old, faith heals the withered hands of indolence, opens the "blind eyes" of ignorance, cleanses the "leprosy" of superstition, infuses "new strength" into the impotence of discouragement, "casts out the devils" of dirt and disease, stops the "funeral march" of infidelity, and "touching the bier" of withered hopes, makes the corpse to sing for joy in the very presence of its pall-bearers. Faith reads the combination of the treasure chests of the Almighty, and calls to its assistance the resources of the Infinite mind and muscles. This was the way with the old worthies in the wars of the past for God and right.

Descriptions of the heroes of faith form the brightest passages on the pages of inspiration. Faith is the seed of heroism. It inspires resolution, laughs at danger, animates the heart, fires the blood, nerves the arm, and, as God has said, it "endures the cross, despising the shame" till it sits down a conqueror at the right hand of victory. The dark pages of history are made glorious by the accounts of men of faith who, in spite of their ignorance, rise and bless the world by accomplishing what was dubbed impossibility by their learned and wealthy, but unbelieving, contemporaries.

It was Daniel's fearless faith that brought the angels to the den to give the lions the lockjaw. It was their intrepid trust in God that enabled Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to face the flames and say, "Be it known unto Thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods;" and the same faith robbed the fire of its power to burn. It was faith that created the glorious galaxy of heroes, that cloud of witnesses, whose photographs appear in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews.