Signs of the Times

Robert Clingan

The American Agriculturist

The Reverend Robert Clingan
in The American Agriculturist
Ithaca, New York

The scriptures tell us that Abraham was called out to venture in faith for God in a land he did not know. When Martin Luther stumbled upon the doctrine of "justification by faith" he became a firebrand, and initiated a whole series of events that shook the religious institutions of his day....

Faith sends men forth with a gleam in their eyes, a quiver in their voices, and an inner vision of creating a better community, a better nation, and a better world....

The most powerful expression of faith that Jesus is recorded as having given people in the Bible is the faith that overcomes their personal infirmities, disabilities, afflictions, and weaknesses. In almost every instance of spiritual healing, he asked the person to be healed to do something as an act of his own participation and faith. A blind person had his eyes packed with clay and was told to wash them and see. The crippled man was told to rise and walk. The bed patient carried to him was told to take up his bed and be on his way. The lepers were told to go to the authorities for proof of their healing and permission to return to their homes. In other words, "Go," "Do," "and be healed." This action affirmed their faith, proved it was there, and deepened it as they themselves moved toward its fulfillment.

All this suggests that faith is posture, direction, and movement rooted in the trust and confidence of those who will act out the promises of God. Faith is where the action is....

Perhaps the reason there is so little faith in the world today is because so few attempt to do very much for God, or to fulfill his will in their daily lives.

The great faith chapter in the Bible, Hebrews 11, begins with: "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" [Rev. Stand. Ver.]. It is concluded with the first verse of the following chapter, which contains the phrase: "Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us." Faith is where the action is!

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April 26, 1969

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