If someone says “My faith is strong”, what does he mean? What is Faith? I ask you to consider this because I was asked this question by a member of the congregation.

Often, the response is “Faith is believing something you cannot prove is true.”

I have always found that to be a poor answer as it seems to imply that there is somewhere in the universe a person who does not know that God made, did, does, and will do everything that happens. The question arises also as to why you should want to prove it true. Are you more likely to go to heaven if you know that all Polar Bears are left-handed?

I have never been to Australia but I am quite willing to accept that there is an Australia — there are Australians (e.g. Ray Comfort). I therefore cannot have any “faith” in their being an Australia as I have proof.

No, my friends, “Faith” is much more than believing something you cannot prove is true. Let us take The Holy Trinity as an example. “Three in One”. It is not a statement: it is a revelation of God Himself. Or Jesus walking on water. He cured the dead; He Himself was dead and became alive. All apparently impossible to understand or believe. Who can prove these and, more to the point, why would anyone want to? All you have to do is believe them.

Arguments rage in the unintelligent, atheists, demoncrats, catlicks, and others possessed by demons about the level of proof that there is a God (or indeed, any gods) but as God says, and here I agree with Him – Job:21:18: They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.

Simple.

We can see from learned books that the human, unintroduced to Christ and His Magnificence, may have difficulties accepting things if he his allowed to insist on “proof.” Among the list of “Approved books” in Landover Christian Library, (despite there being no mention of God in it), there is a copy of George Orwell’s “1984”. (For those who do not know, Orwell was a life-long Republican living in England. The book is a prediction of life under mild Socialism, or what American would be like under a Democratic government. Atheists are in charge and they have no moral compass.)

There is one passage that stands out. Our Hero, Winston Smith, has been arrested on unspecified charges and is being interrogated with the aid of an electric shock machine:

Quote:

‘How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?’ ‘Four.’ ‘And if the party says that it is not four but five–then how many?’ ‘Four.’ The word ended in a gasp of pain. The needle of the dial had shot up to fifty-five. The sweat had sprung out all over Winston’s body. The air tore into his lungs and issued again in deep groans which even by clenching his teeth he could not stop. O’Brien watched him, the four fingers still extended. He drew back the lever. This time the pain was only slightly eased. ‘How many fingers, Winston?’ ‘Four.’ The needle went up to sixty. ‘How many fingers, Winston?’ ‘Four! Four! What else can I say? Four!’ The needle must have risen again, but he did not look at it. The heavy, stern face and the four fingers filled his vision. The fingers stood up before his eyes like pillars, enormous, blurry, and seeming to vibrate, but unmistakably four. ‘How many fingers, Winston?’ ‘Four! Stop it, stop it! How can you go on? Four! Four!’ ‘How many fingers, Winston?’ ‘Five! Five! Five!’ ‘No, Winston, that is no use. You are lying. You still think there are four. How many fingers, please?’ ‘Four! five! Four! Anything you like. Only stop it, stop the pain!’ ‘Sometimes, Winston. Sometimes they are five. Sometimes they are three. Sometimes they are all of them at once. You must try harder. It is not easy to become sane.’ ‘Again,’ said O’Brien. The pain flowed into Winston’s body. The needle must be at seventy, seventy-five. He had shut his eyes this time. He knew that the fingers were still there, and still four. ‘How many fingers, Winston?’ ‘Four. I suppose there are four. I would see five if I could. I am trying to see five.’ ‘Which do you wish: to persuade me that you see five, or really to see them?’ ‘Really to see them.’ ‘Again,’ said O’Brien. Perhaps the needle was eighty–ninety. Winston could not intermittently remember why the pain as happening. Behind his screwed-up eyelids a forest of fingers seemed to be moving in a sort of dance, weaving in and out, disappearing behind one another and reappearing again. ‘How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?’ ‘I don’t know. I don’t know. You will kill me if you do that again. Four, five, six–in all honesty I don’t know.’ ‘Better,’ said O’Brien.

The puzzle of the book is, of course, why Winston Smith was so insistent on believing such a minor point as “’How many fingers am I holding up?” Does it matter? Is there any point in being stubborn? Insisting that you are right and know everything?

The story ends with Winston Smith realising that not everything needs an explanation – some things are simply “the way things are” if you have faith.

All Smith was being asked to do was to have a little faith on such a small matter. Of course, the number of fingers is quite unimportant when compared to the significance and truth of the many miracles and wondrous happenings of the Bible.

And so when we ask, “What is Faith?”, we must ask ourselves “What does God ask as far as faith is concerned?”

Before I answer that, it is worth remarking that Faith contains within it all supernatural realities in a remarkable richness and variety. Knowing this, we can say that God asks that we approach Faith in particular with humility and reverence, and most importantly that we do not rely on human reasoning, which ought to be set to one side, but rather we should simply firmly hold to divine Revelation.

In short, “Faith is what God says it is.”

All God asks is that you accept what He said, and give Him the love that asks no questions. And that avoids all the trouble of an eternal afterlife being tortured and roasted which puts Winston Smith’s problems with thinking into some sort of perspective.

Replies:
WWJDnow (11-10-2020 03:19 AM): Thank you Pastor Bathfire for another inspiring sermon. Although I completely agree that no proof is needed to justify faith, for those who insist, they can find all of the proof they want in the Holy ...
Elmer G. White (11-10-2020 05:03 AM): Indeed, an inspired sermon that resonates in the bosoms of all True Christians�. What about those who are of other religions: Hindoos, Catholicks and other Muslims, evolutionists, the Prince Phillip cult ...
Martha Chump (14-10-2020 10:46 PM): True Faith isn't just a gaudy 80's pop song. It's unwavering, unquestioning loyalty to Our Savior, Jesus Christ. Luke 9:57-62 And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said ...
Isabella White (15-10-2020 01:35 AM): True Faith isn't just a gaudy 80's pop song. It's unwavering, unquestioning loyalty to Our Savior, Jesus Christ. I have three loves in my life - My family, my President, and my God, and Jesus always ...
Martha Chump (15-10-2020 01:43 AM): Dear Miss Martha: If the :savior-fancy: :jesus-fancy: :christ-fancy: comes first in your life, then why have you placed :him-fancy: after your family and the President? I hope that this has been just ...
MitzaLizalor (15-10-2020 06:58 AM): Hello dear Mrs. White. I put God on the end of my sentence to emphasize His importance; that the last is certainly not least, in fact, comes first in leaving a lingering residue of importance on the mind ...
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