The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1962-05-25
Tests Of Faith
Lesson for May ~, 1862

How do we know when a per-
sons faith is genuine I'VE"
means human beings - such as
other Christians. We don't know
this as God knows it. He looks
on the heart. as we cannot. God
knows everyone's faith as He
knows all things, directly. But
there is a great deal that we
human beings know only indi-
recently. such as the state of an
other persons mind and the sin
cerity of another's motives.
It is not. after all. other
peoples faith that most con-
Germs us. What about our own?
Do we really have faith or do
we only think we have? Some
people like bishops. pastors,
elders, parents do have the
great responsibility of deciding,
in all humility, whether the al
legged faith flor example) Of
candidates for membership in
the church or candidates for
baptism, is what it is claimed to
be. TO judge from the present
state of Christ's church. some
errors of judgment at this point
seem to have been made. Proba-
bly, not enough testing has been
done.)
Just Walk
by their fruits We shall know
them" Jesus said. God does not
need to wait till the fruit ripenS
to see what the tree will pro-
duce; but we do. Paul gives us
lin Gal. s. a list of fruits Of
the spirit" The Apostle John
had his own way of expressing
things. He would take a simple
word and make it hold many
meanings. One overall test
which he proposed really says
the same things Paul and Jesus
said, in other words. Johns test
was this: How does this person
walk? He uses walk" in the
Old Testament sense, the one
thing after another ness, the
every-day-ness of living. Life
can be likened to a race or to
a fight; but most of the time it
is Just walk. Not exciting. not
dramatic, just a little tedious,
monotonous and slow. Many a
man waits in vain for a great
crisis in which he can prove
himself a hero. But most lives
don't operate by crises, they
are pretty dull, when you come
right down to it. John makes
the point that it is Just this
everyday walking that is the
test Of the reality of faith.
Walking in Light
How do you walk. then John
speaks more than once Of
walking in light Cockroaches
and jackals walk in darkness.
Deer and humming- birds move
by daylight. Walking in light
means living with your shades
up and your windows clean. 1t
means living so that you will
have no skeletons to hide in
closets. It means a life like an
open book" clean paper and
clear type. 1t means you could
die on the street the next time
you go to the super-market and
not worry about what people
would find in the house after
you are gone. Walking in light
means being what you seem to
be. Walking in light also means
in Gods light. keeping close to
Him. remembering Him in love
and a thankful heart. It means
steering your boat by the great
lighthouse and not by the little
lights on the fishing-boats. It
means living in JOY and hope.
not in gloom and despair.
The Way He Walked
John has another way of put
ting this. Any one who claims
to be abiding in Christ" is us
ing language that was dear to
Christ and to His friend and
apostle John. But the test of
faith is not the beautiful Ian
guage that can be used about it..
The claim is a good claim; but
how do you test it? You can't
see a person abiding in Christ.
We have his word for it, yes.
but how do we know he is sin
cere? John has the answer in
words of one syllable: One who
claims to be abiding in Him
ought to walk in the same way
in which He walked. This means
nothing, of course, to one who
knows nothing of how our Lord
lived on earth. This calls for
ever-fresh, ever-renewed. ever
renewing study of the Gospel
records. There are those who
say it makes little difference
what manner of man Jesus was.
John could not agree to that. It
is of vital importance to know
as much as we can of how Jesus
met life. how he worked, taught,