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CHAPTER TEN
Faith and Miracles
The Gift of Faith
THE BIBLE speaks twice about Faith as something which is a mark of a Christian. In Gal. 5:22, it is the faith which is the result of the New Birth, a natural growth from the spirit which has been quickened by the Spirit of God. This New Birth opens up the spiritual world to the child of God, and enables him to believe whatever the Bible says about the world, so that the wonderful stories of Old and New Testaments alike are easily accepted as facts.
In 1 Cor. 12:9, however, the Word speaks of a faith which is only possible to one who is not only quickened but also baptized in the Holy Spirit. There is the same contrast between the healing of James 5:15 and that of 1 Cor. 12:9. The former is open to any Christian, the latter only to one who has been baptized in the Holy Spirit. In the same way knowledge of all Christian truth, and wisdom to apply it, is open to all those who are born again, but "words" of knowledge or wisdom as mentioned in 1 Cor. 12, are only possible to one who has received the Spirit after his regeneration (Acts 19:6). In the same way, every Christian is enabled by his living spirit to believe all that is in the Revealed Word of God, but only one to whom the Spirit can impart a gift
— end of page 58 — of Faith can believe what is not stated in the Bible. To illustrate: Moses was enabled by a gift of faith to believe that the Red Sea would part asunder, and Joshua to believe that the walls of Jericho would fall down. In both cases there was nothing in the Book of Genesis to enable them to believe what He said at the time. So in the New Testament there was nothing in the Old Testament to state (a), that water could be turned into wine; but Our Lord was enabled by the Spirit to believe that this particular water would be turned into wine, and (b), that He could walk across the Lake of Galilee at that particular time. At other times He went by boat, but on this occasion He believed, what Peter failed to believe fully, that the sea would sustain His weight.
The fruit of faith is then the God-given ability through the New Birth to believe all that is in the Bible. The unregenerate find this to be impossible. The Gift of Faith is, however, the God-given ability to believe something which the Spirit has said to you, which is not in the written word; for instance, when Paul believed what the Angel of God said to him about the shipwreck, in spite of the fact that all human hope was gone. As he said, "I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me."
There are then those universal Truths which all Christians are enabled to believe by their own living spirit. To these revealed Truths, there is to be no addition or subtraction. The doctrine of the New Testament was laid down once for all by the Lord and His Apostles and Prophets (Eph. 2:20 - 3:10; 4:11-16). Our Lord was the Truth, and nothing is to be added to or subtracted from
— end of page 59 — what He said. The gift of Faith has nothing to do with Christian doctrine.
But in the course of the Christian life, circumstances may arise which necessitate the revelation of God's will. Was it not a gift of Faith which enabled Peter to sleep soundly in prison the night before his intended execution? Had not the Lord told him that he would die an old man, and enabled him to believe it in spite of such threatening circumstances? This God-given ability to believe for the humanly speaking impossible runs right through the Bible from Noah's Flood and Elijah's fire from Heaven to Our Lord's coin in the fish's mouth and Peter's sheet from Heaven, which alone enabled him to preach the Gospel to the uncircumcised centurion (Acts 10:28-29). So in modern days Holy Ann took her bucket to the dry well, while those around were mocking her, and pulled it up full of water; and Hudson Taylor took some hundreds of missionaries to China, which had only just been locked against all foreigners by the Dowager Empress, in full faith, against all the reasonings of his friends, that when he would arrive there it would be re-opened—as indeed it was! God is able to speak to the Spirit-filled Christian and enable him to believe what He has said and act upon it.
The fruit of faith is then the ability through the new Birth to believe what is in the Bible. The Gift of Faith is the ability to believe what the Spirit has said to one in whose body He is resident.
Workings of Miracles
The word translated "miracles" literally means acts of Power: and it seems to speak of Power
— end of page 60 — to overcome natural Laws. While, with a Gift of Faith, you only believe what is said by the Spirit, with a gift of a miracle you act and bring Divine power to bear upon the situation. Thus for Elijah to believe that fire would fall from Heaven was faith, but for Samson to carry off the gates of Gaza or pull down the Temple of Dagon was an act of supernatural power, as was the calling forth of Lazarus from the Tomb by Our Lord. A miracle is really an act of Divine Power which supersedes the natural laws upon which our world depends. Of themselves the milch kine of the Philistines would never have left their calves behind and taken the road to Bethshemesh; nor would the ravens of Cherith have dropped their daily meal for Elijah! God is able to have His own way with all natural laws and countermand them by His own desires, and, if it seems good to him, enable His servants to do the impossible. So for Elijah to believe that ravens would behave in such a manner, or that the oil and flour would not diminish, was a gift of Faith; while on the other hand for him to raise the dead by lying upon him was a miracle or act of power; yet in both cases natural laws were set aside and the impossible took place. We might think that the Lord's ability to ride an unbroken colt to Jerusalem in the midst of shouting crowds was an outstanding example either of unmiraculous Faith in Zech. 9:9, or of a miraculous Gift of Power. It is at times difficult to decide into which category a gift of the Spirit may fall. But we are exhorted to desire earnestly the greater gifts, since these have the greatest influence upon the unbeliever, and enable him to cast away his doubts as did Naaman, or the crowd at the Gate Beautiful. It is not an
— end of page 61 — absolutely correct definition of each gift that is of first importance; it is its possession and use that is vital. It does not matter whether Lazarus came out of the tomb by a gift of a healing, or a miracle, or a word of Faith. What does matter is that he came out! The mourners did not try to place the miracle in its exact category; they believed on Jesus, and their lives were changed by the companion miracle of Jesus leaving His tomb.
These papers have been written not simply as an addition to the Theology of Spiritual Gifts, but as a spur to us all not to rest until we possess the actual Gifts themselves, and set the Holy Spirit at liberty to play His part in His Churches. To have an absolutely accurate definition of every Gift, to be able to quote chapter and verse, to put to silence the ignorance of foolish men who deny their possibility, are all equally useless, unless the gifts themselves are in operation! "The Kingdom of God is not in word, but in power." It was the actual possession and use of these gifts which cut Pentecostals off from their fellow-believers in the beginning of our movement. Theologians could and did argue about the speaking in tongues in their commentaries without rebuke from their fellows: it was those who actually spoke in tongues that were ostracised and forced to begin their own churches!
So today, different ways of looking at the Gifts will be of no importance, but the Gifts themselves in operation are moving men in great masses. It was not theories, however correct, about demon possession that moved the Philippines, but the actual freeing of Clarita Villanueva from the two demons, who tormented and bit her, through
— end of page 62 — God's gift to His minister, Leslie Sumrall. That changed the whole atmosphere and was part of that work of the Holy Spirit which has led to the great Pentecostal Revival there now. It was not theology, however correct, that moved Holland lately, but the Holy Spirit adding His powers to the words of His minister, T. L. Osborn.
It is a good thing to study the Bible to see therein the great works of the Spirit through the ages, but no degree of accuracy of exposition will avail unless the actual Gifts are in operation.
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