2003-0

Real Faith
By George Muller

"Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not
seen. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word
of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do
appear" (Hebrews 11:1).

FIRST: WHAT IS FAITH? In the simplest manner in which I am able to express
it, I answer: Faith is the assurance that the thing which God has said in
His Word is true, and that God will act according to what He has said in
His Word. This assurance, this reliance on God's Word, this confidence is
FAITH.

NO IMPRESSIONS (Eindruck / Vermutung) ARE TO BE TAKEN IN CONNECTION WITH FAITH. Impressions have neither one thing nor the other to do with faith. Faith has to do with the Word of God. It is not impressions, strong or weak, which will make any
difference. We have to do with the written Word and not ourselves or our impressions.

PROBABILITIES (Wahrscheinlichkeiten) ARE NOT TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT. Many people are willing to
believe regarding those things that seem probable to them. Faith has
nothing to do with probabilities. The province (Bereich) of FAITH begins where
probabilities cease (aufhören) and sight and sense fail. A great many of God's
children are cast down and lament their want of Faith. They write to me and
say that they have no impressions, no feeling, they see no probability that
the thing they wish will come to pass. APPEARANCES (Sichtbares) ARE NOT TO BE TAKEN INTO
ACCOUNT. The question is - whether God has spoken it in His Word.

And now, beloved Christian friends, you are in great need to ask yourselves
whether you are in the habit of thus confiding (vertrauen), in your inmost soul, in
what God has said, and whether you are in earnest in seeking to find
whether the thing you want is in accordance with what He has said in His Word.

SECOND: HOW FAITH MAY BE INCREASED. God delights to increase the Faith of
His children. Our Faith which is feeble at first, is developed and
strengthened more and more by us. We ought, instead of wanting no trials
before victory, no exercise for patience, to be willing to take them from
God's hand as a means. I say - and say it deliberately - trials, obstacles,
difficulties, and sometimes defeats, are the very food of Faith. I get
letters from so many of God's dear children who say: "Dear Brother Muller,
I'm writing this because I am so weak in faith." Just so surely as we ask
to have our Faith strengthened, we must feel a willingness to take from
God's hand the means for strengthening it. We must allow Him to educate us
through trials and bereavements and troubles. It is through trials that
Faith is exercised and developed more and more. God affectionately permits
difficulties, that He may develop unceasingly that which He is willing to
do for us, and to this end we should not shrink, but if He gives us sorrow
and hindrances and losses and afflictions, we should take them out of His
hands as evidences of His love and care for us in developing more and more
that Faith which He is seeking to strengthen in us.

The Church of God is not aroused (erweckt) to see God as the beautiful and lovable
One He is, and hence (daraus ergibt sich) the littleness of blessedness (Gesegnetsein / Seligkeit) . Oh, beloved brothers
and sisters in Christ, seek to learn for yourselves, for I cannot tell you
the blessedness! In the darkest moments I am able to confide in Him, for I
know what a beautiful and kind and lovable Being He is, and, if it be the
will of God to put us in the furnace (Ofen), let Him do it, that so we may
acquaint ourselves with Him as He will reveal Himself, and that we may know
Him better. We come then to the conclusion that God is a lovable Being, and
we are satisfied with Him, and say: "It is my Father, let Him do as He
pleases."

When I first began to allow God to deal with me, relying on Him, taking Him
at His Word, and set out fifty years ago simply relying on Him for myself,
family, taxes, travelling expenses and every other need, I rested on the
simple promises I found in the sixth chapter of Matthew. Read Matthew
6:25-34 carefully. I believed the Word, I rested on it and practiced it. I
took God at His word. A stranger, a foreigner in England, I knew seven
languages and might have used them perhaps as a means of remunerative (einträglich)
employment but I had consecrated myself to labor for the Lord, I put my
reliance in the God who has promised, and He has acted according to His
Word. I've lacked nothing - nothing. I have had my trials, my difficulties,
and my purse empty, but my receipts have aggregated thousands of dollars,
while the work has gone on these 51 years. Then, with regard to my pastoral
work; for the past 51 years I have had great difficulties, great trials and
perplexities. There will always be difficulties, always trials. But God has
sustained me under them and delivered now out of them, and the work has
gone on. Now, this is not, as some have said, because I am a man of great
mental power, or endowed with energy and perseverance - these are not the
reasons. It is because I have confided in God; because I have sought God,
and He has cared for the Institution, which, under His direction, has 100
schools, with masters and mistresses and other departments which I have
told you before.

I do not carry the burden. And now in my 67th year, I have physical
strength and mental vigor for as much work as when I was a young man in the
university, studying and preparing Latin orations. I am just as vigorous as
at that time. How comes this? Because in the last half century of labor
I've been able, with the simplicity of a child, to rely upon God. I have
had my trials, but I have laid hold upon God, and so it has come to pass
that I have been sustained. It is not only permission, but positive command
that He gives, to cast the burdens upon Him. Oh, let us do it! My beloved
brothers and sisters in Christ, "Cast thy burden upon the Lord and He shall
sustain thee." Day by day I do it. This morning sixty matters in connection
with the church of which I am pastor, I brought before the Lord, and thus
it is, day by day I do it, and year by year; ten years, thirty years, forty
years.

Do not, however, expect to obtain full Faith at once. All such things as
jumping into full exercise of Faith in such things I discountenance (nicht schätzen - mit Vorsicht genießen). I do
not believe in it. I do not believe in it. I DO NOT BELIEVE IN IT, AND I
WISH YOU PLAINLY TO UNDERSTAND I DO NOT BELIEVE IN IT. All such things go
on in a natural way. The little I did obtain, I did not obtain all at once.
All this I say particularly, because letters come to me full of questions
from those who seek to have their Faith strengthened. Begin over again,
staying your soul on the Word of God, and you will have an increase of your
Faith as you exercise it.

One thing more. Some say, "Oh, I shall never have the gift of Faith Mr.
Muller has got." This is a mistake - it is the greatest error - there is
not a particle of truth in it. My Faith is the same kind of Faith that all
of God's children have had. It is the same kind that Simon Peter had, and
all Christians may obtain the like Faith. My Faith is their Faith, though
there may be more of it because my Faith has been a little more developed
by exercise then theirs; but their Faith is precisely the Faith I exercise,
only, with regard to degree, mine may be more strongly exercised.

Now, my beloved brothers and sisters, begin in a little way.
At first I was able to trust the Lord for ten dollars, then for a hundred
dollars, then for a thousand dollars, and now, with the greatest ease, I
could trust Him for a million dollars, if there was occasion. But first, I
should quietly, carefully, deliberately examine and see whether what I was
trusting for, was something in accordance with His promises in His written
Word.

"As laborers together with Him" (2 Corinthians 6:1).

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(George Muller finally died in his 90's having established 5 Orphanages in
the Bristol area of England entirely on faith. Muller always refused to
make any public appeals for money - quite different to the practises of too
many 'Christian charities' today. He wanted to be sure that every penny
which was contributed to the Orphanages truly was the result of prayer
alone. God abundantly rewarded his faith and a huge amount of money came in
as the result of the prayers of Muller and his prayer labourers).