Acts Of Faith: Examples From The Great Cloud Of Witnesses

Acts Of Faith

Examples from the Great Cloud of Witnesses

A Bible Study

David A. Todd

Copyright 2019

Copyright September 2019

By David A. Todd

All rights reserved. Copyright holder’s original work is copyrighted, however. Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Law at the time of publication, no part of these words may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without the prior, written permission of the copyright holder.

KDP e-book Edition

All Bible quotations are from the New International Version Copyright 1984 unless otherwise indicated.

Acknowledgements

I appreciate reviews of all or part of this book given me by Gary Boden, Jim Hughes, Aaron Matthews, and Carole Avila.

ACTS OF FAITH

Examples from the Great Cloud of Witnesses

Introduction

1 Faith For What Had Never Happened Before

Noah and the Ark, Gen 5:32-7:12

Martin Luther

2 Faith Unexpected, and Unrecognized

Thomas, John 20:24-29

John Wesley

3 Faith Challenged

Judah and Benjamin, Gen 43:1-14; 44:14-34

William Carey

4 Faith For Life Or Death

The Israelites and the Bronze Snake, Num 21:4-9

William Wilberforce

5 Faith To Face Death

Nathan and David, 2 Samuel 12:1-23

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

6 Difficult Faith

Hosea and his wife, Hosea 3:1-5

Polycarp

7 The Legacy Of Faith

Jeremiah and the Rekabites, Jeremiah 35:1-19

Harmon Schmelzenbach

8 Faith In Infirmity

Bartimaeus, Mark 10:46-52

Joni Eareckson Tada

9 Faith That Prompts Seeking

Zacchaeus, Luke 19:1-10

C.S. Lewis

10 Faith That Doesn’t Look Back

The Paralytic and his Friends, Mark 2:1-13

Rees Howells

11 Faith That Serves

The Good Samaritan, Luke 10:25-37

William Tyndale

12 Faith That Understands God and Listens

The Centurion, Luke 7:1-10

George Mueller

13 Faith For The Big Things

Peter and John Preaching, Acts 3:1-10; 4:1-22

Phineas Bresee

14 Faith In All Circumstances

Paul & Silas in Prison, Acts 16:16-40

Corrie ten Boom

15 Faith That Causes Action

Zachariah and Elizabeth, Luke 1:5-25; 57-79

Augustine

16 Faith Together

Joseph and Mary, Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-56

Jim Elliot

17 Faith That Proclaims

The Shepherds Luke 2:8-20

Billy Graham

For Further Reading

About the Author

Books by the Author

INTRODUCTION

In my responsibilities as an adult Life Group teacher, what to teach is always a concern. I’d say it was a struggle, except so much material is available, both in book form and as videos, the problem is searching enough places to find the next study that’s right for the class. I try to stay somewhat ahead of where we are, at least one series.

Good, old-fashioned Bible studies are part of the mix. Take a book, go through it, in some detail if a short book, hitting the highlights if a long book. Topical Bible studies are good, too. Pick a spiritual topic, find Bible passages that deal with that topic, and study them for however long you want. Usually there’s no shortage of Bible passages dealing with a topic.

And that’s what this book is, a topical Bible study dealing with acts of faith. What is an act of faith? Well, first of all, what is faith? Hebrews 11:1 defines it this way: Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. A modern dictionary definition is: complete trust or confidence in someone or something. Some dictionaries define faith in a religious context, such as confidence or trust in a particular system of religious belief.

But faith doesn’t have to have a religious meaning. Someone owes me money and said they would pay on Friday. I have faith (confidence) they will do as they said they will do. I climb a ladder to clean leaves out of the roof gutter. I trust (have faith) that the ladder and the eaves are strong enough to hold my weight and I won’t come tumbling to the ground or smash into the side of the house. I’m waiting to cross the street; the oncoming car’s turn signal is on, indicating it will turn before where I want to cross. Hmm, perhaps, in this situation, I don’t have faith and will wait until the car actually slows or begins turning.

As I pulled this study together, I found many, many acts of faith in the Bible—times when people stepped out of their normal routine and did something, said something, went somewhere, demonstrating they had faith. In my examples above, while waiting on payment, no act of faith is required: I simply wait. Unless, of course, I write a check to pay a bill and stick it in the mail, knowing I don’t have enough money in my account to cover the check but will have enough when the person pays me back, which should occur before the check reaches its destination. Now that would be an act of faith. In the case of the ladder, the act of faith is in the climbing, in the first step then in additional steps, higher and higher, to reach the height needed. In the case of crossing the street, the act of faith is actually stepping out into the street.

My faith concerning the ladder is strong, because I’ve done this exact same thing before. But concerning the oncoming car my faith is weak at first. Many people drive cars where the turn signal doesn’t turn off automatically. How do I know this driver really will turn? Sometimes drivers intend to turn but then change their mind and decide to stay on the road. My faith isn’t blind but requires something more to happen before I start across the street. Even then, until the car actually does turn to a point where it can’t continue straight, some measure of faith is involved.

Are acts of faith any different from boldness? A general marches out with Israel’s army to fight the Philistines or the Moabites, against an army numerically superior. Is that an act of faith or simply boldness? I’m not sure we can always tell the difference. Maybe boldness has come from faith, faith that God will do once again what He did before. Boldness and faith seem to go together. Maybe faith, when we have it, underpins everything we do for the kingdom of God.

When the apostle Paul wrote to his protégé, Timothy, he warned about certain men who taught false doctrines. These promote controversies rather than God’s work—which is by faith. [1 Timothy 1:4] So, in the broadest sense, all work for God is by faith. Sing in the choir or worship team, you’ve acted by faith. Direct traffic in the church parking lot, that’s an act of faith. Teach a children’s Sunday school class and you’ve done an act of faith.

Yet, other acts, outside of our routine, stand out as notable events, requiring specific faith based on specific understanding of what God wants us to do.

How important is it to have faith and act on it? Statements in Hebrews Chapter 11help us understand that. Hebrews 11:6 says, And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. So if we want to approach God in prayer, faith is essential.

It seems to me that acts of faith have consequences—or, perhaps better stated, acts of faith have results, typically good results. Someone acted in faith and the world (or whatever part of it) was changed. The person was changed also, for acting once on faith and seeing results strengthens faith. Hebrews 11 gives us a list of people who acted on their faith, and also the results of acting on faith: And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead. [See, for example, Hebrews 11:4] What a tribute! What a legacy!

Acts of faith are scattered throughout the Bible. But they are also scattered throughout Christian history. From the time immediately after the New Testament days until now, people have acted on faith and have changed something in the world. In every decade of every century since the beginning of the Christian era, in every nation on earth, in every denomination, men and women have taken acts of faith and made a difference. Some we’ve heard of, typically in passing. Others we know well, or think we do. Each of these, most of them dead, still speak through their faith and their acts on that faith.

This is a look at people in the Bible—the great cloud of witnesses referenced in Hebrews 12:1—who demonstrated their faith by what they did: blind Bartimaeus throwing aside his cloak, Noah building the ark, Zacchaeus climbing the sycamore tree, the paralytic’s friends dropping the ropes. As part of each chapter, someone from the post-Bible era who joined the great cloud of witnesses is also featured, someone who also demonstrated faith: Martin Luther standing firm, Rees Howell and the funds for ministry, William Wilberforce and his fight against slavery, Corrie ten Boom aiding Jews in World War 2.

The journey we are set to take will look at these people and their acts. Old Testament, New Testament, ancients, and moderns. They all speak to us, and have something to teach us, from their acts of faith.

Return to Table Of Contents

Chapter 1

Faith For What Had Never Before Happened

Noah and the Ark

Genesis 5:32-7:12

"But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord." Genesis 6:8

"By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family." Hebrews 11:7

Although a point came in human history when men began to call upon the name of the Lord [Gen 4:26], not all had. By the time of the life of Noah, God has seen how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. [Gen 6:5] This had become very bad in just a handful of generations. So bad that God decided he would destroy mankind and start all over again with the one man he found faithful: Noah.

This story is so well known I feel that I don’t have to write much about it. Noah, unlike the people around him, continued to seek to know God and to serve Him. He found favor in God’s sight. Even as society was crumbling all around him into animal-like sexual desires and then violence, Noah stayed true. When God came to the point where He decided to make a major change in his creation, He chose Noah and his family to perpetuate the gene pool, so to speak. Genesis tells us Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of this time, and he walked with God. [Gen 6:9] I hope someone can say that about me.

What is it that Noah did that God found acceptable, above the behavior of all those around him? Except for the couple of descriptions quoted above, the Bible doesn’t tell us. We can figure it out, however, from Noah’s later actions. He built an ark when God told him to. It took him years of continuous work, maybe even decades or as much as a century. He had only the barest of descriptions on how to go about it. The corrupt world watched him and probably laughed as he built this great ship.

This was truly an act of faith. To undertake perhaps a century of labor without seeing any evidence that the thing he was preparing for is going to come about, all because an invisible God told him to is, in short, truly amazing, truly inspiring.

Noah’s act of faith is