Characteristics of THE WORD OF FAITH-- by Poul Madsen

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WORD OF FAITH [Poul Madsen]"I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted: I said in my haste, All men are liars" (Psalm 116.10, 11)."We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you" (2 Corinthians 4.13-14).LAST time [http://www.oscar51.net/wat/wat49-1.html] we considered the spirit of faith that links us with eternal reality, and most real of all realities is the fact that Jesus was raised from the grave. Sin, Satan and death have been conquered, and, as we have already heard, the argument that that cannot be proved is without any basis at all. It is so real that it does not fit into this unreal world.The first person to proclaim the resurrection was Peter on the Day of Pentecost, and he did not try to prove it. He just said that it was impossible that death should hold the Lord Jesus, and no further argument was needed in the world of truth and reality. Jesus Christ is risen, and the implications are glorious! Because of that, all things work together for good for us who belong to Him, and even the most difficult things serve His purpose for us. Also, all things work together for good for the work that He has given us to do, for it lives on in eternity. He is actually the One who has done the work through us, and so all things work together and make a glorious weight of eternal values for us all.

THE CHARACTERISTIC EXEMPLIFIED BY THE LORD JESUSNow we are going to consider what are the characteristics of this word of faith, and first we will go to our Lord Jesus Himself. After His resurrection we see Him, full of the spirit of faith and of the spirit of reality, meeting His friends. Having conquered Satan He stands there amongst them -- and what does He not say? What He does not say is not the word of faith: "I had a remarkable experience in Hades!" Well, did the Lord not miss His opportunity? What material He had about which to speak! What a lot of stories He could have told! That could have been the best-seller of all times, far surpassing the Bible, for no one would read the Bible if stories of the Lord in Hades were available! The very idea of the Lord doing such a thing is ridiculous, it has nothing to do with the word of truth and the spirit of faith. Yet so many have small experiences -- nothing compared with a visit to Hades -- and make a lot out of them. If you say to them: 'Don't do it, brother!', they answer: "Well, it draws the people and gives them the Gospel." They think they are drawing people to the Lord, but they are not.That was the first thing the Lord did not speak about after His resurrection, and no one who has the spirit and the word of faith would do so.

AMEN

What He does not say is not the word of faith: "I had a remarkable experience in Hades!"Actually, during His 40 days on earth after His resurrection, it is likely that He did, for the writings of the apostles mention briefly the things He did in hell.If you say to them: 'Don't do it, brother!', they answer: "Well, it draws the people and gives them the Gospel." They think they are drawing people to the Lord, but they are not.I personally cannot relate to the story you are telling.

3.Another remarkable thing was that the Lord did not go to the disciples and say: “Here I am, risen from the dead. What more do you need?” But what did He do? We will find the answer in Luke's Gospel, chapter 24:"Then he said to them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.... And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms concerning me. Then opened he their understanding that they might understand the scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day"(verses 25-27, 44-46).The Lord was risen and stood in the midst of His disciples -- and he took time to expound the Scriptures. This is very remarkable, and quite contrary to what we would do. We would have said: “Well, here I am! All discussions are ended. Just have a look at me, and what more do you need?” No, He did not do that. Why not? Because He understood that they needed more than the fact of His resurrection, and so He did not give them the resurrection as an historic fact alone, but as an historic fact understood in the light of all the Scriptures. That is, He gave them the meaning of His resurrection, and showed them what God intended it to mean. So after His resurrection He worked hard to make them understand. He did not give them stories, treating them like children. He did not even give them the facts alone, but He started with Moses, went through the Prophets and through the Psalms. He had the "spirit of faith, according as it is written", and therefore He spoke from the Scriptures. By expounding those Scriptures He made those disciples men of God. He knew that if He did not give them all that the Scriptures told about His resurrection they would never become men of God, even though they knew that He was risen.(to be continued)

4. This is the spirit of faith, which is quite contrary to what we would think and feel. We think that the spirit of faith means that we must tell stories: 'I was healed ... I was baptized in the Spirit. I spoke with tongues ...' It does not take very much of a spirit of faith to do all that, and it certainly does not need the word of faith to say it! It is only in the realm of illusions that this is called the spirit and the word of faith. But with Christ it was totally different. He expounded the Scriptures, hour after hour, for you cannot go through the Old Testament from Moses in just five minutes.The word of faith is not what we might call a 'little' word. Sometimes when I visit a home in the evening and we have had coffee, my hostess will give me a Bible and say: 'Will you give us a little word?' My answer is always: 'I cannot find a little word in the Bible.' In the Bible we only find eternal words of abiding value, and they give a full and total revelation of enormous depth. The spirit of faith links us with that wonderful revelation and makes it possible for us to do as Christ did -- to take of the Father and give unto others.Christ wanted to make real men out of His disciples, as I want my son to become a man some day, a man who understands me, a man with intelligence, a man lifted out of pettiness and smallness. Therefore Jesus did not draw the attention of His disciples to Hades and to all the things He experienced there. It takes very much faith to keep quiet about such things, and we have to be filled with the spirit of faith not to speak as perhaps we would feel inclined to do. We must know the Lord so well, and know the real need of men so well, that we speak out from God in Christ before God.* It does not appeal to the flesh. It is not popular and does not draw thousands of people to big halls. After His resurrection the Lord was satisfied with one hundred and twenty people.*2 Corinthians 12:19

5. THE CHARACTERISTIC EXEMPLIFIED BY PETERLet us think about Peter on the Day of Pentecost, and notice what he did not say to the people: 'When this flame of fire came upon my head I had a wonderful experience! It was like a current of wonderful joy through my body, and, I tell you, when I started speaking in tongues it was just heaven upon earth!' He did not say that at all. In Acts 2:40 we read that 'with many other words he testified', and, of course, when we hear that word 'testimony' we know exactly what he said: 'I am so happy. This is my testimony. I have now found what true happiness and joy are, and I love everyone!' [Madsen is using irony here. The literal meaning of his statement is the opposite of what he intends.]We have a dear brother in Denmark who always gives his testimony thus: 'I am happy and I love everyone.' I am sorry to say that he tells a lie every time he gives his testimony! I know him very well; he is not always happy, and he has many battles with other people. However, people like his testimony very much -- and it does not help them a bit!Peter testified here, but he did not say one word along that line. He could have said: 'I am happy', but why say so when everybody could see it? Why speak about love when it can be seen that we love everyone? We only speak about it when it is not true! Peter did not say: 'I am drunk, not with wine, but with the happiness, the fullness and the joy of God, and I want you to be drunk in that way also.' There was not a word along that line! What did he say? He had the spirit of faith, he spoke the word of faith "according as it is written", so he did exactly what His Master did after the resurrection. He said: 'This is what Joel has written about; this is what David saw, and this is what all the Prophets saw.' The word of faith is not magic, nor some mystical word coming in a flash of fire and doing the thing without the hearer being aware of what is happening. Because it is the word of truth it enlightens, it throws the light of truth into the hearts of men, and whenever the spirit of truth gives light into the hearts of men a work of abiding value is accomplished. We take of Him and give to others.Not even the giver of the Word, the Lord Jesus Himself, allowed Himself to interpret His resurrection apart from the Scriptures. He is the giver of all the Scriptures, so He could have put them aside, but He interpreted His own resurrection, the mightiest reality in history, from the Scriptures.We go to people and say: 'I have true joy, happiness and peace.' If you meet a modern young man he will say: 'LSD also gives joy, peace and love.' We are unfaithful to the word of truth if, when we give a message, we concentrate on ourselves, in that way we never help other people. If we think that is the power of the Spirit, then we do not know what the Spirit is.

Quote:“The word of faith is not what we might call a 'little' word. Sometimes when I visit a home in the evening and we have had coffee, my hostess will give me a Bible and say: 'Will you give us a little word?' My answer is always: 'I cannot find a little word in the Bible.' In the Bible we only find eternal words of abiding value, and they give a full and total revelation of enormous depth. The spirit of faith links us with that wonderful revelation and makes it possible for us to do as Christ did -- to take of the Father and give unto others.” P.M.And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals: for we are here in a desert place. But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people. For they were about five thousand men (Luke 9:12-14).And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another, “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?” And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread (Luke 24:27-35) Break Thou the Bread of LifeBreak Thou the bread of life, dear Lord, to me,As Thou didst break the loaves beside the sea;Beyond the sacred page I seek Thee, Lord;My spirit pants for Thee, O living Word!Bless Thou the truth, dear Lord, to me, to me,As Thou didst bless the bread by Galilee;Then shall all bondage cease, all fetters fall;And I shall find my peace, my all in all.Thou art the bread of life, O Lord, to me,Thy holy Word the truth that saveth me;Give me to eat and live with Thee above;Teach me to love Thy truth, for Thou art love.O send Thy Spirit, Lord, now unto me,That He may touch my eyes, and make me see:Show me the truth concealed within Thy Word,And in Thy Book revealed I see the Lord.--Mary A. Lathbury “ .... He said to them, ‘You give them something to eat’”.R.P.

6. THE CHARACTERISTIC EXEMPLIFIED BY PAULWe think about another brother, Paul. In 2 Corinthians 12 he says that he was caught up into the third heaven, into paradise. What a chance, dear friends! Here is material for evangelism! We would say: 'Let us have some pamphlets printed about that experience and distribute them by the thousand! If you speak about having been in the third heaven, people will be dumbfounded and sit admiring you!' What did Paul do? He had the "spirit of faith, according as it is written", and therefore for fourteen years he missed his opportunity. He did not use that wonderful material he had from the third heaven. What a discipline of faith! What a spirit of faith to look through all the illusions of men and all their illusionary expectations! Being so disciplined he would not feed illusionary expectations. Could you keep quiet about such an experience for fourteen days? Paul was capable of keeping quiet for fourteen years, and not until men made him a fool, as he says, was he forced to speak about it.So now we have advice from Paul: Whenever a man or woman comes to you saying that they are in the third, or the seventh heaven, you just -- with a Bible in your hand -- call him or her a fool! Then it will be discovered how humble they are! Perhaps you will not follow this advice, but at least you will not be influenced by such stories, for you do not need them. They do not help you, in fact, they do you harm, for they draw your attention from the essential thing, and draw you from the Lord to man. "We preach not ourselves", says Paul. 'We don't preach our experiences. They are always petty and small compared with the eternal plan of salvation revealed in the Scriptures. We do not preach our happiness, nor our emotions. We are not sentimental. We do not consider our small experiences of very much value to other people. We have the spirit of faith, so we take up our Father's words, revealed by the same spirit of faith in the Scriptures, and give them to you.' Wherever such a work is being done faithfully, something of eternity, of abiding value is being wrought. Out of such a word men and women are being created, men who do not waver, men who have true love and therefore do not speak about it, men who have deep-rooted joy and therefore do not testify about that, men who know that God is God, holy, exalted and mighty, men who walk consciously with Him as He moves through the history of mankind.This is the spirit of faith and the word of faith. It is foreign to this world, a stranger to the thoughts and ideas and philosophies of men, but it is needed more than anything else in the churches and in Christianity today.

7. THE CHARACTERISTIC EXEMPLIFIED BY MARYLet us turn to a simple woman of faith, Mary. In Luke 1 you hear Mary speak in this spirit of faith: "My soul doth magnify the Lord", and that wonderful song goes on until she finishes by saying: "He hath given help to his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; as he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever" (verses 46-55).Here we have an uneducated young woman speaking in the spirit of faith; what is it that is so wonderful about what she says? They are her own words, but, at the same time, they were the words [34/35] of Hannah in the Old Testament. It is God's word, and Mary's word, so it is the word of truth. There are not two fountains from which these words come, but they come from the same fountain. Through the spirit of faith God's words have become Mary's words, and that tells us how close Mary was to God. She was as the mouth of God. His words, through the spirit of faith, became, in a personal way, her words. How close to the Lord she must have been to be His mouth! That is the spirit of truth, which relates us to the Lord in the most personal way. The Lord speaks, therefore we speak. The Lord is quiet, therefore we are quiet. The Lord has His material. We have not got any material of our own, but we are one with the Lord.Thus Mary was used for a tremendous work. She was very weak in herself and an immense burden was put upon her, but through the spirit of faith she was one with her Lord and so was enabled to serve all generations. That is the work of faith, and it can never be undone.How weak we are in ourselves! But if we have this spirit of faith truly, and not a travesty of it, then, as God speaks, we speak. Perhaps only one or two hear that word, but it will have eternal values. It goes out of God's mouth through our mouth and will never return to Him void.So through that spirit of faith Mary overcame, although she was weighed down with burdens. I do not believe that anyone understood her. She hardly understood it all herself, but all things worked in God's way for good to that little woman. The Lord was ready to be alongside of her and to help her, and all things worked together for that work to which she was called. Jesus was born, and all things worked together for an eternal weight of glory to Mary."We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak, knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you" (2 Corinthians 4:13-14). What a word! What a spirit! What an honour to be called to be the mouthpiece of that spirit and of that word! There is nothing more important in the life of the Church than that kind of ministry, and it is the thing about which a great battle is being fought. Today we see in all four corners of the world a real onslaught upon that word of faith, that word based upon the Scriptures as a complete, wonderful unity; that word which does not meet the need of sensational man but goes much deeper down to the conscience, down to the deep fountains of the will and character of man inside himself, circumcises him in his heart, gives him a new heart, a new understanding, a new light, a new life, a new outlook, and makes him a real man, a man of God in these days.I ask you to pray very much that the Lord will keep that word of faith in the churches and raise up men of that stature. It could be called the prophetic word. Without it we will all degenerate. With it nothing can crush us, because that word is just as real as God Himself is real, and meets the real need of all of us in the most realistic, Divine way. - P. M.END