The Faith of Jesus by A. R. Bell

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 5, 1914

The Faith of Jesus

By A. R. Bell

A. R. BELL

"HERE is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Rev. 14:12. This scripture points to a faith developed beyond that manifested at any other period. The people having that faith live at a definite time, and that time immediately precedes the coming of the King of kings. Verse 14. But what does the Scripture say about that time? It tells us, in the words of the Saviour: "As the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Matt. 24:37. The verses following show that God is not at all in their thoughts.

Again: the Lord, looking down through the centuries to the time of his second coming, asks: "When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:8. The apostle Paul spoke of a time when men would "turn away their ears from the truth," and would "be turned unto fables." 2 Tim. 4:4. These conditions are everywhere present today. We are living in the very time to which they have pointed for nearly two millenniums.

Another scripture reads, "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Rom. 10:17. It is God who speaks to men in his Word. If men turn away their ears from the truth, they turn away from the Word (for the Word is truth, John 17:17), and in turning away from the Word, they turn away from the only agency that ministers faith to men. No wonder, then, that the Saviour asks the question, "When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?"

And yet, just before the Lord comes, in the fearful time of apostasy which is pointed forward to in the Scriptures, and in spite of it, a faith is developed above that of any other time or people, God himself takes note of it in a very marked manner. He says: "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."

In the language found in Heb. 11:1, faith is represented as practically grasping as an accomplished fact what God has promised. But if faith is practically grasping God's promise as an accomplished fact, are we to understand that to have faith means for us to sit down and with folded arms wait for the working out of the purposes of God? Some valuable lessons are given us in Heb. 11:32-34. We are told of men who "subdued kingdoms," who "waxed valiant in fight," who "turned to flight the armies of the aliens." How did they subdue kingdoms? How did they wax valiant in flight?—Why, by faith. But they fought. Theirs was a real fight. But real indeed as it was, it was "the good fight of faith," for verse 39 tells us, "And these all . . . obtained a good report through faith." It is very plain, then, from the Scripture that a man who has faith is a man who works; and the greater his faith the harder he works.

If we are to understand Rev. 14:12, as speaking of the remarkable faith possessed by the people to whom it refers,—a faith seemingly greater than that of any other time or people,—then surely it must mean that God is pointing out a people who are to do a work greater than that of any other time or people. Let us look upon the situation as it is. Rev. 14:12 points to us as a people. To this people has been given the mightiest work ever committed to men. To this people it is given to fight the most tremendous fight that can ever be fought. That mighty work, hard and trying though it is, is the work of faith. That tremendous fight is a fight of faith. And, thank God, we are going to finish that work; we are going to fight that battle to a finish.

In our own personal, individual experience, when God in his goodness sent us this blessed truth, the work and fight of faith began. The great blessing we have known through keeping God's commandments did not come without a struggle. The victory that overcometh the world in us is a hard-fought victory. But having taken our stand, taking God at his word, grasping as already accomplished the promises he has made, we became in the very nature of things inseparably lined up with that people marked out in the scripture we have been considering; and under the same mighty influence and power that first wrought in us as individuals, we go forth to work the works of him that hath sent us.

We cannot rest, we will not rest, until the whole host of the redeemed, saved out of "every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people," shall sing, when the great work is finished, "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith," and the Lord omnipotent can declare in all fullness and completeness, as the King of kings is about to ride forth upon the great white cloud: "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."