The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-06-27

| lsfactorily; and hence that our resnonsihtt-
ny Is not Tor what we cannot avoid. but
Tor what We can avod-not for what we
cannot do, but for What we can do Ifa
tells US that the foundation for our uoblest
| ehdeaVors is confidence in Him. This
confidence He calls faith. He assures ms
that without faith it Is Impossible to
Please Him.-HeDrews 11:6.
Many mistake credulitv for raitt, Tn,
der this delusion they are ready to su,ai-
low anything Of a religious nature If onIv
hey are told that God SAYS so. Rnt tbis
is not the faith which the Bible eneour-
ages On the contrary, the Bible would
nave us know definitely what God has
promised, and give no heed whatever TO
the seductive cagares Of satan. Of our
ieIlowmen, or of our own Imagination.
| 1t Is not for us to quarrel With those
VINO take a different view. v no in the
name of faith bind their followers with
ignorance and superstition, and seek to
prevent them from using their reasoning
faculties. 1t is for us to address those
VINO are feeling after God, who are not
content with superstitions, but whose
hearts and minds cry out for the living
God and His infinite word.
The Faith Before Christ Came
| Let US look into the past and note the
| 1dethod by which God has sought His pe-
| crliar people. The first proclamation of
| Gods purposes respecting our race was
made to Abraham. After he had mani
| Tested some faith. God tested him. Abra-
| nam knew tnat there was q curse upon
humanity. Gods declaration to him was
| that because Of his faith lie would great
| ~ bless Abraham and his posterity SO
that eventually through him would come
children who would accomplish the great
work of blessing mankind, and of rescu-
hA - 10,
| The epitomized statement of all this
was In the words, I'm thee and in thy
seed shall all the families of the earth be
blessed" Assuredly faith in that promise
meant that thenceforth Abrahams mind
would take In a larger score-the whole
world of mankind: and that Abraham
would seek in everything to cooperate
with God and that great promise.
1t was the same with Isaac and Jacob.
That promise shaped their whole course
| IN life. Although they knew not how
| God would accomplish so great a blessing,
| yet their faith grasped the fact that from
their posterity God would raise up a holy
people TO be His agency for bringing
mankind back to all that was lost through
Adams disobedience.
What was 1t that impulsed the Jewish
people during all those centuries past?
Was it not faith that God would fulfill
the great promise made to Abraham? 1t
surely was God especially blessed all
lsraelites who shared Abraham's faith.
and who pleased God because OF their
faith, long centuries before Christ came.
These ancient worthless, although they
will not be the seed of blessing on the
earthly plane-the channel through which
the heavenly blessings will ultimately 10
, extended to all nations.
Faith Since Christ Came
The coming of Christ did not change the
Al alfp Af.d eIAN kfssr.. Al
change the faith of Gods people. Jesus
and the apostles believed and taught the
very gospel which, st. Paul says, God
preached in the beginning to Abraham.
| Galatians 3:SD The apostolic message
| also was that all the families OF the earth
are to be blessed through the seed of
| Abraham. But there was an additional
| feature then due to be proclaimed and
believed. namely, that God had begun
the work of providing that seed, the Mes
siah-that God had sent the Logos. His
Son. into the world. to become that seed
| on the spirit plane and eventually to full
| fill every feature of the original promise.
All Jews were in expectation of Mes
siah: but all were not 1sraelites indeed;
| they did not have the proper faith God
! therefore allowed some of diem to re-
main in measure of blindness on tho
! subject, while others were granted a spe-
| oial amounting of the eyes of their under
| standing To this class Jesus said, TO
you it is given to know the mysteries OF
| the kingdom of God"-the Messianc king
dom, through which the seed of Abraham
is to bless all the families of the earth.
The Mystery--"Christ in You"
| Through the apostles God declared that
| ''the faith once delivered to the saints
! was still the same, but that now unuer
| the guidance of the Holy Spirit they were
| to understand that the Messiah would
rot be one person, but many-not Jesus
alone would be the seed of Abraham, but
Jesus as the head of the church as the
bcdy would be that seed. st. Paul says,
1--WE. brethren, as Isaac was, are the
| children OF promise" 1t has taken the en-
| tire gospel age to develop the body of
| Christine church.
This is ''the faith once delivered to the
saints" "the hope set before us in the
| gcspel'-the faith that God win that
seed of Abraham TO bless all humanity.
and the hope that we may become joint
heirs with Jesus in His kingdom.
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