It is impossible for us to come near to the Lord except as we shall exercise faith and trust in Him, in His goodness, in His power, in His wisdom, in His love. Faith is a matter of cultivation, of development. The same Apostles who cried out in terror when the storm was upon the Sea of Galilee gradually grew stronger and stronger in faith until, as the records show, they could and did trust the Lord in His absence and where they could not trace Him. Similarly it should be a part of our daily lesson to cultivate trust in the Lord, and to think of the experiences in the past in our lives and all these lessons in His Word, that thus our faith in Him may become rooted and grounded.
To be faithless implies that one does not exercise a mental appreciation of, and heart's reliance upon, God and Christ with respect to Their persons, characters, words and works, while to be believing implies that one exercises a mental appreciation of, and heart's reliance upon, God and Christ in respect to Their persons, characters, words and works. They do not deserve unbelief, and no child of God should insult Them therewith; for unbelief in act tells God and Christ that They are unreliable. On the contrary, we should be very zealous to prove to Them in acts that we rely implicitly upon Them as dependable in Their persons, characters, words and works. Thus we will be pleasing to Them.
REPRINTS
Ex. 4:1; Num. 20:12; Psa. 78:19, 21, 22, 32; 95:8-11; 106:7, 24; Isa. 7:9; 53:1-3; Matt. 17:17, 19, 20; Mark 6:2-6; 9:24; Mark 16:14, 16; Luke 8:12, 18; 24:11, 21, 25, 26; John 16:8, 9; Rom. 3:3; 10:6, 7, 14.
