for Lot to believe it and hurry out, even though it may have appeared to be a nice day.—Gen. 19:12-25.

These were all commendable acts of simple, childlike faith. But please note that in each case there were absolute grounds for that faith. There was a clear command from God. No foolish imagination or whim was the basis for this faith. Noah would have been foolish to build an ark and warn the people for so many years if he had only imagined a flood was coming. Abraham would have been guilty of a criminal act in attempting to offer up Isaac if he just imagined that God wanted him to do so. Lot would have been very simple-minded to run away from Sodom on a bright morning and declare the city about to be destroyed if he had no positive information about it. But in each case God gave clear evidence of his will. So today, we have clear evidence of God’s will in his Word. Also, we have this evidence strengthened by observing the fulfillment of Bible prophecy.

OBTAINING TRUE FAITH

How can we obtain this true faith, this “assured expectation,” like the assurance that comes by having a title deed to property? First of all, we must have the right heart attitude. We must be humble and we must want to cultivate faith. If we are proud and try to be independent of God, he will not bless our efforts. Next, we must acquire knowledge from the Bible to provide us with the evidence that will assure us of God’s ability to back up his word. As Romans 10:17 states: “Faith follows the thing heard,” which is the knowledge contained in God’s Word. Then we will want to associate with God’s people so we can be built up spiritually by them. Meeting with other more mature Christians will help us to understand what we study. An example of this is found at Acts, chapter 8, where the Ethiopian eunuch received assistance from the evangelizer Philip. Finally, we must continually pray for God’s holy spirit to aid us.—1 Cor. 2:9, 10.

Faith, then, is reasonable. Acting upon it is also reasonable. God, through the natural and written revelation of himself, appeals to the highest faculty of humans, our reason, and asks us to act upon the proper conclusions that result from the study of his works, words and ways.

True faith, this “assured expectation,” is necessary, because “without faith it is impossible to please [God] well, for he that approaches God must believe that he is and that he becomes the rewarder of those earnestly seeking him.”—Heb. 11:6.

Acting on that faith is also necessary, because, as the Bible writer James stated, “Faith, if it does not have works, is dead in itself.” Thus, one who exercises faith acts as one does who has a title deed to property.—Jas. 2:17.

In the very near future, those who properly exercise this faith will actually take possession of what Jehovah now promises. On a beautiful, productive, tax-free earth, “they will actually sit, each one under his vine and under his fig tree, and there will be no one making them tremble; for the very mouth of Jehovah of armies has spoken it.”—Mic. 4:4.

Unquestioning Obedience

Catholic priest James J. Navagh, bishop of the Ogdensburg Diocese, New York, told delegates to the 67th annual state convention of the Knights of Columbus that Catholics should obey church orders without question. Quoting a Catholic scholar, he said: “If you believe something is white and the church says it is black, believe it is black.”