III. Its origin
III. Its origin
Faith can not exist in any form without evidence. The ground of saving faith is the written Word of the Lord promising salvation. As saving faith and faith in its fullness are given sufficient testimony on which to rest, so also faith as an endowment is provided a sure foundation by the illumination of the soul through the Holy Spirit, assuring it by the Word that God will do a given thing to, for, or by it. There are several conditions under which the gift of faith is bestowed.
1. When Praying.
He who is a man of prayer, lives much in the closet, takes every thing to the Lord in prayer, most frequently receives the gift of faith at some times and in some degrees. Many of the marked cases of healing, providential deliverances, and unexpected conversions which have occurred, came as the culmination of much submissive supplication, the Holy Spirit at last saying: According to your faith be it unto you.
2. When doing the Lords work.
Those who are abundant in labors for God, who are faithfully executing divine missions, are not infrequently given a faith that is wonderful in its assurances and realizations. He who lives wholly consecrated to God will not be left long without works of faith. There will break in upon such a soul at times divine illuminations of Gods purpose to use it as will beget a faith that shall achieve more than the removal of mountains.
3. When in great emergencies.
There come soul crises, providential straits, imminent perils, urgent necessities, and glorious possibilities, which make us cry out: Who is sufficient for these things? It is at such junctures that the gift of faith is often imparted, and what hitherto seemed impossible, presumptuous, and irrational becomes credible and easy.
4. When living in the fullness of the Spirit.
The normal method of the operation of the Holy Spirit in the distribution of his gifts is to confer them upon those who are saved and baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Doubtless, as the Church advances in spirituality, and the number of the fully saved multiply, the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the gift of faith will become more frequent. This is not an uncommon endowment now, as some suppose. This gift has not been withdrawn from the Church. Every day is eventful in some as veritable works of faith as in the apostolic times, and these marvels of faith are to increase as the dispensation of the Spirit advances toward its high noon of millennial glory. Praise the Lord !
The gift of faith, like every other work of the Holy Spirit, has its own witness in the human consciousness. They who have never felt it can easily deny it, theorize against it, and decry it, and be very good people too. But it is a real experience; it is a white stone which no man knoweth but he that receiveth it. Let us live for God; pray without ceasing, keep our hearts fully saved, and then, if God may choose, he will work in us the endowment of faith; for The gift of faith is all divine.