BY JOHN L. WILLHOITE
Faith is the confident belief in the truth, value, and trustworthiness of God. It is a virtue defined as secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God’s will. The Scripture states in Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Hope is to wish for something with expectation of its fulfillment. It is the root of faith. Where hope dwells, the door is open to great faith that moves mountains.
The word substance has two meanings that fit into this passage of Scripture. Webster says that substance is that which has mass and occupies space. He also explains that it can be the essential nature of
and essence of something. I would rather choose the latter.
Faith is the essence of our search for future good. It penetrates the impossibilities of hope. It is like a holy perfume that ascends upward to heaven. God senses this essence and is moved to perform acts
for his people.
Atheists deny the existence of God, or gods and of any supernatural existence. The Bible tells us in Psalms 53:1, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.”
Atheists do not believe in the creation. They believe in a process of evolution in which the genetic makeup of a population changes over a long period of time by such means as mutation, the
results being the emergence of distinctive characteristics and new species. They believe that about 5 million years ago, humans and apes began to develop along separate lines. By about 1.6 million years ago, man had evolved into the large, robust, and larger-brained Homo Erectus. Their theory is that between 400,000 and 250,000 years ago the Neanderthal man had evolved and thirty five thousand years ago the Cro-magnon man had developed.
It is certain that man did not evolve from apes. Even if it were so that man did evolve from apes, where did the apes come from. Who made the world and placed the stars in the heavens that shone down on
the apes. Did the universe and all that is in it begin with a big bang?
God almighty is the creator of all that exists. We believe that he created everything. The Bible says it and we believe what the Bible says, in Hebrews 11:3, “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”
Faith pleases God. Hebrews 11:6 states, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” You
must believe that God exists to be able to please him. This means that you must believe in his natural attributes.
God has four natural attributes without which he would cease to be God.
1. The first natural attribute is omnipotence. This means that he is all powerful. He can do all things exceeding abundantly above all that you can think or ask. There is nothing that he cannot do. He placed the sun 93,000,000 miles away from the earth. If it had been 93,400,000 miles away from the earth, the planet would be covered with ice. If it had been 90,000,000 miles away, the earth would have been cremated. God placed the moon 240,000 miles away to control the tides. Have you ever looked up at night and viewed the splendor of the heavens? Millions of stars twinkle as tiny dots in the sky, but most of them are thousands of times larger than our earth. God created it all. That makes him omnipotent.
2. The second natural attribute of God is omnipresence. This means that he can be everywhere present all at the same time. John 4:24 states that “God is a Spirit.” As an omnipresent Spirit, he can be in
China, Cuba, South America, and the North Pole at the same time. God is everywhere. The atheist says, “God is no-where.” The Christian removes the dash and places the space between the w and the h. This now says “God is now here.”
The disciples were in the upper room. They were afraid and the door was shut. Jesus came walking through the wall. Praise God! He appeared in the mom.
Remember! When God is on the inside of your church building that he is also on the outside. We cannot have a corner on God. While Jesus visits a worship service inside the church, he is also visiting the
Mayor, the lawyer, the butcher, and the beggar in the area of your church. He cannot be limited by walls, boundaries, nor any other obstacle. God is omnipresent.
3. The third natural attribute is omniscience. This means that God knows everything. He knows the beginning and the end and all that is happening in-between. He knows the thoughts and intents of your
heart. He stands above the parade of history and can see from start to finish.
4. The fourth natural attribute is eternal. This means that he had no beginning and will have no ending. He was before all things and will exist forever. In eternity, he did not have a father, nor mother.
Before there was a star, planets, moon, and a universe, God existed. Praise God! He is forever.
The Bible says in Matthew 17:20; “And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove
hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”
How small is a mustard seed? It is smaller than a nickel or dime. From three feet away, it is so small that it is difficult to see it clearly. It doesn’t take a lot of faith to move the heart of God.
I ask you the question. Do you believe in the blood of Jesus? Does the blood cover true Christians? How many of you really believe that you are covered by the blood of Jesus. Take a look at your garments. Are they covered with blood? You are not covered with visible blood. However, by faith you know that you are covered by the blood of the lamb. This is plain simple faith. If you can believe in invisible blood, you can believe God for your healing.
I ask you another question. Do you believe in the resurrection of the dead? I am sure that all Christians believe in the resurrection. Just suppose a Christian was burned at the stake. His ashes were carried by the wind to the nations of the world and some fell in the sea. Do you believe that when the trumpet sounds that the ashes will come back together and form a body? If your answer is Yes, then you can
believe God for anything. Believing in the resurrection is faith and faith moves the heart of God.
The third and last question is this. Do you believe that God is beside you at this moment? Do you see God beside you? Is God visible or do we accept the fact that he is present by faith? If you believe in
the presence of God when you do not see him, you have faith. The faith as of a grain mustard seed will move mountains.
David went out to meet the giant. He crossed a little brook and picked up five stones. Each stone represents one letter in the word faith. David picked up F.A.I.T.H. He was able to kill the giant through
faith.
How many letters are there in the name Jesus. Of course, there are five. In type, David picked up the name of Jesus, which enabled him to kill the giant.
How many fingers do you have on your right hand? The answer is five if you are normal. How many fingers on your left hand? Shout five! How man toes are there on each of your feet? Certainly, there are five.
THE ABOVE MATERIAL WAS TAKEN FROM THE BOOKLET “AND THE DIRT CAME OUT” AND PUBLISHED BY JOHN L. WILLHOITE, 1996, PAGES 65-70. THIS MATERIAL IS COPYRIGHTED AND MAY BE USED FOR STUDY & RESEARCH PURPOSES ONLY.
