Everywhere I look, there is a crisis of faith spreading like cancer across our land. The shortage of faith has reached epidemic proportions.

Outside the church, people no longer have an interest in spiritual things. The outer trappings of a Biblically-shaped heritage are still there, but it’s nothing but a hollow shell. Real believers in the God of the Bible are rare.

Even in the Lord’s church, this want of faith is seen in congregations folding, brethren apathetically trying to hold their own, and a general feeling of resignation. Jesus might well say to us, as He said to His disciples, "Where is your faith?"

The Bible says much about faith. What exactly is it? H. L. Mencken, an unbeliever, said that "faith may be defined briefly as an illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable"

One of my favorite definitions is found in an old Bible encyclopedia. It says faith is "more than a mere assent to the doctrines of the gospel, which leave the heart unmoved and unaffected... or assent of our sinful condition... or assent of the mind to the method by which God justifies the ungodly... but a hearty concurrence of the will and affections with this plan of salvation, which implies a renunciation of every other refuge, and an actual trust in the Savior... to commit the keeping of our souls into his hands, in humble confidence of his ability and his willingness to save us." (Popular and Critical Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. II, pp. 646-7)

The definition cited, as well as the Biblical evidence that supports it, implies that faith involves three components: 1) conviction of the mind; 2) trust of the heart; and 3) surrender of the will.

Faith involves the total engagement of the soul: intellect, emotions and will. It’s important for you to know what faith is, both for your own benefit and for the benefit of others....

Furthermore, as we shall see, each of these constituent parts of faith is supported by a Lord whose trustworthiness is well-earned.

I. CONVICTION

A. Many people define faith as wishful thinking to compensate for a lack of evidence.

1. For them, faith is a blind leap into the dark.

2. Others treat faith as if it is nothing more than intuition, an impulse of their own making, which they may falsely attribute to the "leading of the Holy Spirit."

B. Biblical faith, however, rests on a solid intellectual foundation.

1. God has given us a Savior in whom to believe (II Tim. 1:12)

2. Evidence to support our faith.

a. "Many other signs..." (John 20:30-31).

b. "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ" (Rom.10:17).

3. The estimate of the power of the evidence has a whole lot to do with the receptiveness of those who weigh it -- Lk. 16:29-31 (Ornish quote)

C. Faith in Christ does involve a degree of movement from the known to the unknown (Heb. 11:1; II Cor. 5:7). However, it is not at all a blind leap into the dark. It is rather a small step of unwavering assurance off a mountain of evidence into the arms of a loving Savior.

II. TRUST

A. Of course, this step requires a great deal of trust, in addition conviction. The doubter will not have confidence in the Lord’s "ability and willingness" to save him. The object of your trust ought to be trustworthy.

B. God is able to do what He says He will do. Rom. 4:19-21

"And without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what He had promised, He was able also to perform"

Lk. 5:1-11

Mk. 9:22-23

C. God’s ability is one thing, but what of His willingness to act on our behalf?

1. Like the disciples in the storm, we may say, "Master, Master, we are perishing!" And His answer would be, "Where is your faith?" (Lk. 8:25)

2. Luke 5:12-13

D. I have known people who want to stand firm on God’s promises with one foot, while positioning the other foot on some other foundation, just in case the Lord won’t come through for them. That is not faith. It is doubt.

1. The faith that God requires is one that renounces every other refuge.

2. "God is faithful" (I Cor. 1:9). He will never let you down. You can count on him.

3. He has a long track record of reliably supporting His saints in every trial. His promises never fail.

4. "Standing on the promises..."

III. SURRENDER

A. The stubborn fellow may acknowledge faith in Christ, but he doesn’t want to obey, so long as God is the One dictating the terms of compliance.

B. Is obedience essential to faith?

1. The epistle of Romans opens and closes on a note extolling "the obedience of faith" (1:5; 16:26).

2. John 3:36 says, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." 3. Saving faith must be active: "Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead" (James 2:17).

C. Once again, the Lord has not left us without the necessary tools.

1. Even though God’s judgments are "unsearchable" and His ways "unfathomable" (Rom. 11:33), He has not left us to our own devices. He’s given us clear-cut terms of pardon in the New Testament.

2. People who really believe don’t argue with God’s requirements. They obey them.

The person who really believes in Jesus learns to trust Him without question.

He follows the prescriptions of the Great Physician because no one else has "the words of eternal life" (John 6:68).

He modifies his cherished beliefs and practices to fit the direction of Scripture, even if the changes he must make are painful.

Instead of building his life on the shifting sands of conventional human wisdom, he builds his life on the Rock (Matthew 7:21-27).

In the end, he knows he will be saved eternally, not because he deserves to be, but because the whole course of his life rests firmly on the gracious promises of God.

Not very many people have this kind of faith, but it is the only kind that will save your soul.

Illustration:

The following story is told by Jack Cottrell in 13 Lessons on Grace, Joplin: College Press, 1988, p. 12.

An illustration which expresses very well the distinction between assent and trust is the story of the French tight-rope artist who performed some decades ago. One day, it is reported, he was giving an exhibition at Niagara Falls. He walked a rope strung across the gorge, doing all sorts of unusual and breath-taking stunts.

Finally he pushed a wheelbarrow across the rope. Returning to solid ground, he walked up to a small boy who was watching, spellbound. The acrobat was obviously a hero to the lad, so he asked him, "Young fellow, you think I’m pretty good on this rope, don’t you?"

"Yes, sir!"

"You probably believe I can do just about anything on this rope, don’t you?"

"Yes, sir! I believe you really can!"

"Do you believe that I could even put a person in this wheelbarrow and wheel him across the rope to the other side?"

"Indeed I do, sir!"

"All right. Hop in!"

But the boy, who had expressed his assent with such conviction, could not muster the personal trust required for that step. He refused to surrender himself into the acrobat’s hands.