Titus 3:12-15 When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or Tychicus, be diligent to come unto me to Nicopolis: for I have determined there to winter. Bring Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey diligently, that nothing be wanting unto them. And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful. All that are with me salute thee. Greet them that love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.
Faith has not the slightest relationship with feelings and sense-evidences. At the times when men think they have all the faith in the world because of feelings, they have the least in the world, and when they think they have the least, they have more than at any other time in their lives. Many people are surprised to get answers to prayer because when they prayed they thought their faith was nothing. People should not believe they are healed because the pain is gone, or that they are saved because they feel they are forgiven. They should not think that their prayers are answered because things are working out that way. Instead, they should always maintain faith because of what the Word of God says. The Word of God should have first place in their lives instead of the senses. All basing of faith upon what we have done, how well we live, or what experiences we have had will lead to failure in answered prayer. God does not answer on these grounds. He answers solely upon the grounds of grace and faith in Him and in His Word.
True faith is not trusting in the goodness and in the faith of another man. It must be personal faith in God and His Word. People continually go about seeking someone who has faith and who can get answers to prayer for them. This may work temporarily while one is learning about God and His Word, but if we do not properly learn and develop a personal faith that refuses to be denied, we shall eventually revert to failure and unbelief, and we shall have to be satisfied with the modern theory that answered prayer is not for everyone.
The true faith that will pay off is that of having personal faith in God, faith in Jesus Christ, faith in the Holy Spirit, faith in the Word of God, faith in the atonement, and total consecration personally to believe God regardless of anything that might happen to hinder prayer. The right program is not talking about faith or the need of it, but the actual exercise of it. Simple faith in the Word regardless of feelings and circumstances is never possible to the man who lives only in the realm of his senses, for he believes only what he can see, feel, hear, or understand to be possible. This was the kind of faith Thomas had when he declared that he would not believe until he had seen. It was the kind that Martha had when she could see nothing but the natural fact that Lazarus had been dead four days and “by this time he stinketh.” This is the kind of faith taught and encouraged by modern religious leaders, but it is not the kind required by the New Testament.
To be continued…
Living the Word 