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A. The allusion to the body and its members, together with gifts, makes me
think of 1 Corinthians 12.
B. If we turn to that chapter we shall see more clearly this phase of faith
which is before us:
'But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit
withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom ...
knowledge ... faith ... healing ... miracles', etc. (1 Cor. 12:7 -10).
You will find also by reading Galatians 3:2 -5 that the same faith
which is associated with justification is also connected with working
miracles. It seems therefore that we must be prepared to find that faith may
mean:
(1)
That faith whereby the sinner believes unto salvation.
(2)
A spiritual gift exercised during the Acts period and spoken of
together with miracles, tongues and other gifts of the Spirit.
(3)
The fruit of the Spirit, which by being contrasted with the works
of the flesh indicates not so much a supernatural gift exercised
only by those endued, but the product of the new nature.
A. I notice that all our references keep within the period of the Acts.
Is
there anything parallel to these in the prison epistles?
B.
Oh yes.
Read the following:
'And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us -ward who
believe, according to the working (inworking) of His mighty power,
which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead' (Eph.
1:19,20).
'Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through
the faith of the operation (inworking) of God, Who hath raised Him from
the dead' (Col. 2:12).
While we have not 'the gift of faith' as in 1 Corinthians 12, we
certainly have an inwrought faith directly connected with the power of the
resurrection, which transcends all other manifestations of the Spirit. That
this faith may not be experienced and enjoyed as it should be is sadly true,
and because of this the apostle prayed, 'that we might know'. Let us then
pray along the lines marked out for us, and not vex ourselves because we do
not possess the 'gift of faith'. At the same time it should be a real
concern that the fruit of faith should take the place of the works of the
flesh.
A. I think I now see the distinction between faith unto salvation and faith
exercised thereafter; it is all a matter of 'right division'.
THE
PULPIT
OF
THE
OPENED
BOOK
As one reads the account of the experiences of Nehemiah and Ezra in
their endeavour to fulfil the will of the Lord in the rebuilding of Jerusalem
and the restoration of the Temple and follow the efforts of their successors,
one sees a repetition of those experiences right down the centuries, for,
while customs and manners change, humanity remains the same, and from one
generation to another the conflict between truth and error follows much the
same course. Those of us who sought to put into effect the will of the Lord