Sermons and Biblical Studies

Faith in one of its aspects moves mountains; in another it gives patience to see the promises afar off and to wait quietly for their fulfillment. Insistence upon an immediate answer to every request of the soul is an evidence of religious infantilism. It takes God longer to grow an oak than to grow an … Continue reading “FAITH:
EXPECTATION; PATIENCE: GOD’S TIMING; PRAYER: UNANSWERED”

True faith is never found alone; it is always accompanied by expectation. The man who believes the promises of God expects to see them fulfilled. Where there is no expectation, there is no faith. Psalm 27:13; Romans 8:22–25; Hebrews 11:1–2 God Tells the Man Who Cares, 150.

In a dramatic story in the Book of Numbers (Numbers 21:4–9) faith is seen in action. Israel became discouraged and spoke against God, and the Lord sent fiery serpents among them. “And they bit the people; and much people of Israel died” (v. 6). Then Moses sought the Lord for them and He heard and … Continue reading “FAITH:
DEFINITION OF; SALVATION: BY FAITH ALONE”

Do you remember a rather comic character by the name of Sancho Panza in that well-known book, Don Quixote? There is an incident in the book in which Señor Panza clung to a window sill all night, afraid that if he let go he would plunge and die on the ground below. But when the … Continue reading “FAITH:
DEFECTIVE”

To many Christians Christ is little more than an idea, or at best an ideal; He is not a fact. Millions of professed believers talk as if He were real and act as if He were not. And always our actual position is to be discovered by the way we act, not by the way … Continue reading “FAITH:
DAILY WALK; FAITH: DEFECTIVE”

The book of Acts lays strong emphasis upon steadfastness in the faith, as do the Pauline epistles and the Book of Hebrews. Obviously the apostles conceived the Christian life to be a long tough journey, requiring a lot of faith and determination but ending in glory at last.… True faith is not an end; it … Continue reading “FAITH:
DAILY WALK; CHRISTIAN LIFE”

Faith is the least self-regarding of the virtues. It is by its very nature scarcely conscious of its own existence. Like the eye which sees everything in front of it and never sees itself, faith is occupied with the Object upon which it rests and pays no attention to itself at all. While we are … Continue reading “FAITH:
DAILY WALK”

The difficulty we modern Christians face is not misunderstanding the Bible, but persuading our untamed hearts to accept its plain instructions. Our problem is to get the consent of our world-loving minds to make Jesus Lord in fact as well as in word. For it is one thing to say, “Lord, Lord,” and quite another … Continue reading “FAITH:
CONFIRMATION OF; LORDSHIP OF CHRIST; OBEDIENCE: NEED FOR”

There is, however, one serious flaw in all this: it is that many—would I overstate the case if I said the majority?—of those who confess their faith in Christ and enter into association with the community of believers have little joy in their hearts, no peace in their minds, and from all external appearances are … Continue reading “FAITH:
CONFIRMATION OF; DISCIPLESHIP”

The difference between faith as it is found in the New Testament and faith as it is found now is that faith in the New Testament actually produced something—there was a confirmation of it. Faith now is a beginning and an end. We have faith in faith—but nothing happens. They had faith in a risen … Continue reading “FAITH:
CONFIRMATION OF”