Bible Study Guides – Genuine Faith

September 25, 2011 – October 1, 2011

Faith of Our Fathers

Key Text

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1.

Study Help: Testimonies, vol. 8, 255–264; Patriarchs and Prophets, 44, 45, 112–116.

Introduction

“To depend upon what we can see is not faith. Faith depends upon God’s promises.” Sabbath-School Worker, July 1, 1895.

1 LIVING BY THE INVISIBLE

  • What simple definition does the Bible give for faith? Hebrews 11:1. How is faith in God to affect us in a practical way?

Note: “Faith is trusting God—believing that He loves us and knows best what is for our good. Thus, instead of our own, it leads us to choose His way.” Education, 253.

“All things are possible with God, and by faith we may lay hold on His power. But faith is not sight; faith is not feeling; faith is not reality. ‘Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen’ [Hebrews 11:1]. To abide in faith is to put aside feeling and selfish desires, to walk humbly with the Lord, to appropriate His promises, and apply them to all occasions, believing that God will work out His own plans and purposes in your heart and life by the sanctification of your character; it is to rely entirely, to trust implicitly, upon the faithfulness of God.” Special Testimonies on Education, 115. (Emphasis author’s.)

  • Why can we be inspired by the faith of our forefathers? Hebrews 11:2.

Note: “Although the patriarchs and apostles were subject to human frailties, yet through faith they obtained a good report, fought their battles in the strength of the Lord, and conquered gloriously. Thus may we trust in the virtue of the atoning sacrifice and be overcomers in the name of Jesus.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 15.

2 MARVELS OF GOD’S CREATION

  • Describe the marvelous way by which our God both creates and sustains. Hebrews 11:3; Psalm 33:8, 9; Acts 17:28, first part.

Note: “God is perpetually at work in nature. She is His servant, directed as He pleases. Nature in her work testifies of the intelligent presence and active agency of a being who moves in all His works according to His will. It is not by an original power inherent in nature that year by year the earth yields its bounties and continues its march around the sun. The hand of infinite power is perpetually at work guiding this planet. It is God’s power momentarily exercised that keeps it in position in its rotation.

“The God of heaven is constantly at work. It is by His power that vegetation is caused to flourish, that every leaf appears and every flower blooms. Every drop of rain or flake of snow, every spire of grass, every leaf and flower and shrub, testifies of God. These little things so common around us teach the lesson that nothing is beneath the notice of the infinite God, nothing is too small for His attention.

“The mechanism of the human body cannot be fully understood; it presents mysteries that baffle the most intelligent. It is not as the result of a mechanism, which, once set in motion, continues its work, that the pulse beats and breath follows breath. In God we live and move and have our being. Every breath, every throb of the heart, is a continual evidence of the power of an ever-present God.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 259, 260.

  • How can God’s creative power change our lives? Psalm 51:10; Ezekiel 36:26, 27.

Note: “One of the most earnest prayers recorded in the Word of God is that of David when he pleaded, ‘Create in me a clean heart, O God’ [Psalm 51:10]. God’s response to such a prayer is, A new heart will I give you. This is a work that no finite man can do. Men and women are to begin at the beginning, seeking God most earnestly for a true Christian experience. They are to feel the creative power of the Holy Spirit. They are to receive the new heart, that is kept soft and tender by the grace of heaven.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 4, 1165.

3 SEEK IN ORDER TO FIND

  • What is needed in order to please God, and how only can we be truly blessed in seeking Him? Hebrews 11:6.

Note: “Should you become alarmed for your own souls, should you seek God diligently, He will be found of you; but He will accept no halfhearted repentance. If you will forsake your sins, He is ever ready to forgive. Will you just now surrender to Him? Will you look to Calvary and inquire: ‘Did Jesus make this sacrifice for me? Did He endure humiliation, shame, and reproach, and suffer the cruel death of the cross because He desired to save me from the sufferings of guilt and the horror of despair, and make me unspeakably happy in His kingdom?’ Look upon Him whom your sins have pierced, and resolve: ‘The Lord shall have the service of my life. I will no longer unite with His enemies; I will no longer lend my influence to the rebels against His government. All I have and am is too little to devote to Him who so loved me that He gave His life for me—His whole divine self for one so sinful and erring.’ Separate from the world, be wholly on the Lord’s side, press the battle to the gates, and you will win glorious victories.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 438, 439.

  • Describe the way we are to seek God. Psalm 119:2, 145; 1 Chronicles 16:10–13.

Note: “Let the soul be drawn out and upward, that God may grant us a breath of His heavenly atmosphere. Let the spirit groan after God, and mingle faith with fervent desire. We should encourage gratitude and praise, and always be found warring against every unholy impulse, crushing out of the soul every unclean lust. This is the warfare that must be accomplished. We may keep so near to God that in every unexpected trial our thoughts may turn to God as naturally as the flower turns to the sun. The sunflower keeps its face sunward. If it is turned from the light, it will twist itself on the stem, until it lifts up its petals to the bright beams of the sun. So let everyone who has given his heart to God, turn to the Sun of Righteousness, and eagerly look up to receive the bright beams of the glory that shine in the face of Jesus.” The Signs of the Times, December 16, 1889.

4 INTO A NEW REALM OF LIFE

  • How does the faithful person stand in contrast to the proud one? Habakkuk 2:4.

Note: “When the sinner, in view of all his transgressions, exercises faith in God, and believes that he is pardoned because Christ has died as his sacrifice, he will be filled with gratitude to God, and will have tender sympathy toward those who, like himself, have sinned and are in need of pardon. Pride will find no place in his heart. Such faith as this will be a death-blow to a revengeful spirit. How is it possible for one who finds forgiveness, and who is daily dependent upon the grace of Christ, to turn away in coldness from those who have been overtaken in a fault and to display to the sinner an unforgiving spirit? Every one who has real faith in God will crush pride under his feet. A view of the goodness and the mercy of God will lead to repentance, and will create a desire to possess the same spirit. He who receives the Spirit of God will have clear discernment to see the good there is in the characters of others, and will love those who need the tender, pitying sympathy of forgiveness. The repenting sinner sees in Christ a sin-pardoning Saviour, and contemplates with hope and confidence the pardon written over against his sin. He wants the same work to be done for his associates; for true faith brings the soul into sympathy with God.” The Review and Herald, May 7, 1895.

  • How is faith closely linked together with God’s law, a turning away from sin, and deliverance from it? Romans 14:23, last part; 1 John 3:4–6.

Note: “There must be a revival of the strait testimony. The path to heaven is no smoother now than in the days of our Saviour. All our sins must be put away. Every darling indulgence that hinders our religious life must be cut off. The right eye or the right hand must be sacrificed if it cause us to offend. Are we willing to renounce our own wisdom and to receive the kingdom of heaven as a little child? Are we willing to part with self-righteousness? Are we willing to give up our chosen worldly associates? Are we willing to sacrifice the approbation of men? The prize of eternal life is of infinite value. Will we put forth efforts and make sacrifices proportionate to the worth of the object to be attained?” Testimonies, vol. 5, 222.

5 A STREAM THAT NEVER RUNS DRY

  • How does the Lord explain the far-reaching extent to which our faith can be exercised? Mark 11:22–24; Luke 17:5, 6.

Note: “Faith takes God at His word, with or without feeling.” The Signs of the Times, May 15, 1884.

“If men will endure the necessary discipline, without complaining or fainting by the way, God will teach them hour by hour, and day by day. He longs to reveal His grace. If His people will remove the obstructions, He will pour forth the waters of salvation in abundant streams through the human channels.” The Desire of Ages, 251.

“There is no limit to the usefulness of one who, putting self aside, makes room for the working of the Holy Spirit upon his heart and lives a life wholly consecrated to God. All who consecrate body, soul, and spirit to His service will be constantly receiving a new endowment of physical, mental, and spiritual power. The inexhaustible supplies of heaven are at their command. Christ gives them the breath of His own Spirit, the life of His own life. The Holy Spirit puts forth its highest energies to work in mind and heart. Through the grace given us we may achieve victories that because of our own erroneous and preconceived opinions, our defects of character, our smallness of faith, have seemed impossible.

“To everyone who offers himself to the Lord for service, withholding nothing, is given power for the attainment of measureless results. For these God will do great things. He will work upon the minds of men so that, even in this world, there shall be seen in their lives a fulfillment of the promise of the future state.” The Ministry of Healing, 159, 160.

PERSONAL REVIEW QUESTIONS

1 What is faith?

2 How do doubts, which often can arise in conjunction with the theory of evolution, hinder one’s spiritual potential?

3 What are some key elements needed in order to search out God successfully?

4 In what ways should my life come more into harmony with genuine faith?

5 What are the secrets to victorious Christian life at its fullest?

© 2005 Reformation Herald Publishing Association, Roanoke, Virginia. Reprinted by permission.