Justification by Faith–Illustrated by Abram's Righteousness
A Sermon
(No. 844)
Delivered on Lord's-Day Morning, December 6th, 1868, by
C. H. SPURGEON,
At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington
"And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for
righteousness."–Genesis 15:6.
YOU will remember that last Lord's-day morning we spoke upon the
calling of Abram, and the faith by which he was enabled to enter upon
that separated life at the bidding of the Most High. We shall today
pass from the consideration of his calling to that of his
justification, that being most remarkably next in order in his history,
as it is in point of theology in the New Testament; for, "whom he
called, them he also justified."
Referring to the chapter before us for a preface to our subject, note
that after Abram's calling his faith proved to be of the most practical
kind. Being called to separate himself from his kindred and from his
country, he did not therefore become a recluse, a man of ascetic
habits, or a sentimentalist, unfit for the battles of ordinary
life–no; but in the noblest style of true manliness he showed himself
able to endure the household trouble and the public trial which awaited
him. Lot's herdsmen quarrelled with the servants of Abram, and Abram
with great disinterestedness gave his younger and far inferior relative
the choice of pasturage, and gave up the well-watered plain of Sodom,
which was the best of the land. A little while after, the grand old man
who trusted in his God showed that he could play the soldier, and fight
right gloriously against terrible odds. He gathered together his own
household servants, and accepted the help of his neighbours, and
pursued the conquering hosts of the allied kings, and smote them with
as heavy a hand as if from his youth up he had been a military man.
Brethren, this every-day life faith is the faith of God's elect. There
are persons who imagine saving faith to be a barren conviction of the
truth of certain abstract propositions, leading only to a quiet
contemplation upon certain delightful topics, or a separating ourselves
from all sympathy with our fellow creatures; but it is not so. Faith,
restricted merely to religious exercise, is not Christian faith, it
must show itself in everything. A merely religious faith may be the
choice of men whose heads are softer than their hearts, fitter for
cloisters than markets; but the manly faith which God would have us
cultivate, is a grand practical principle adapted for every day in the
week, helping us to rule our household in the fear of God, and to enter
upon life's rough conflicts in the warehouse, the farm, or the
exchange. I mention this at the commencement of this discourse, because
as this is the faith which came of Abram's calling, so also does it
shine in his justification, and is, indeed, that which God counted unto
him for righteousness.
Yet the first verse shows us that even such a believer as Abram needed
comfort. The Lord said to him, "Fear not." Why did Abram fear? Partly
because of the reaction which is always caused by excitement when it is
over. He had fought boldly and conquered gloriously, and now he fears.
Cowards tremble before the fight, and brave men after the victory.
Elias slew the priests of Baal without fear, but after all was over,
his spirit sank and he fled from the face of Jezebel. Abram's fear also
originated in an overwhelming awe in the presence of God. The word of
Jehovah came to him with power, and he felt that same prostration of
spirit which made the beloved John fall at the feet of his Lord in the
Isle of Patmos, and made Daniel feel, on banks of Hiddekel that there
was no strength in him. "Fear not," said the Lord to the patriarch. His
spirit was too deeply bowed. God would uplift his beloved servant into
the power of exercising sacred familiarity. Ah, brethren, this is a
blessed fear–let us cultivate it; for until it shall be cast out by
perfect love, which is better still, we may be content to let this good
thing rule our hearts. Should not a man, conscious of great
infirmities, sink low in his own esteem in proportion as he is honoured
with communion with the glorious Lord?
When he was comforted, Abram received on open declaration of his
justification. I take it, beloved friends, that our text does not
intend to teach us that Abram was not justified before this time. Faith
always justifies whenever it exists, and as soon as it is exercised;
its result follows immediately, and is not an aftergrowth needing
months of delay. The moment a man truly trusts his God he is justified.
Yet many are justified who do not know their happy condition; to whom
as yet the blessing of justification has not been opened up in its
excellency and abundance of privilege. There may be some of you here
today who have been called by grace from darkness into marvellous
light; you have been led to look to Jesus, and you believe you have
received pardon of your sin, and yet, for want of knowledge, you know
little of the sweet meaning of such words as these, "Accepted in the
Beloved," "Perfect in Christ Jesus," "Complete in him." You are
doubtless justified, though you scarcely understand what justification
means; and you are accepted, though you have not realized your
acceptance; and you are complete in Jesus Christ, though you have today
a far deeper sense of your personal incompleteness than of the
all-sufficiency of Jesus. A man may be entitled to property though he
cannot read the title-deeds, or has not as yet heard of their
existence; the law recognizes right and fact, not our apprehension
thereof. But there will come a time, beloved, when you who are called
will clearly realize your justification, and will rejoice in it; it
shall be intelligently understood by you, and shall become a matter of
transporting delight, lifting you to a higher platform of experience,
and enabling you to walk with a firmer step, sing with a merrier voice,
and triumph with an enlarged heart.
I intend now, as God may help me, first to note the means of Abram's
justification; then, secondly, the object of the faith which justified
him; and then, thirdly, the attendants of his justification.
I. First, brethren, HOW WAS ABRAM JUSTIFIED?
We see in the text the great truth, which Paul so clearly brings out in
the fourth chapter of his epistle to the Romans, that Abram was not
justified by his works. Many had been the good works of Abram. It was a
good work to leave his country and his father's house at God's bidding;
it was a good work to separate from Lot in so noble a spirit; it was a
good work to follow after the robber-kings with undaunted courage; it
was a grand work to refuse to take the spoils of Sodom, but to lift up
his hand to God that he would not take from a thread even to a shoe
latchet; it was a holy work to give to Melchisedec tithes of all that
he possessed, and to worship the Most High God; yet none of these are
mentioned in the text, nor is there a hint given of any other sacred
duties as the ground or cause, or part cause of his justification
before God. No, it is said, "He believed in the Lord, and he counted it
to him for righteousness." Surely, brethren, if Abram, after years of
holy living, is not justified by his works, but is accepted before God
on account of his faith, much more must this be the case with the
ungodly sinner who, having lived in unrighteousness, yet believeth on
Jesus and is saved. If there be salvation for the dying thief, and
others like him, it cannot be of debt, but of grace, seeing they have
no good works. If Abram, when full of good works, is not justified by
them, but by his faith, how much more we, being full of imperfections,
must come unto the throne of the heavenly grace and ask that we may be
justified by faith which is in Christ Jesus, and saved by the free
mercy of God!
Further, this justification came to Abram not by obedience to the
ceremonial law any more than by conformity to the moral law. As the
apostle has so plainly pointed out to us, Abram was justified before he
was circumcised. The initiatory step into the outward and visible
covenant, so far as it was ceremonial, had not yet been taken, and yet
the man was perfectly justified. All that follows after cannot
contribute to a thing which is already perfect. Abram, being already
justified, cannot owe that justification to his subsequent
circumcision–this is clear enough; and so, beloved, at this moment, if
you and I are to be justified, these two things are certain: it cannot
be by the works of the moral law; it cannot be by obedience to any
ceremonial law, be it what it may–whether the sacred ritual given to
Aaron, or the superstitious ritual which claims to have been ordained
by gradual tradition in the Christian church. If we be indeed the
children of faithful Abraham, and are to be justified in Abraham's way,
it cannot be by submission to rites or ceremonies of any kind. Hearken
to this carefully, ye who would be justified before God: baptism is in
itself an excellent ordinance, but it cannot justify nor help to
justify us; confirmation is a mere figment of men, and could not, even
if commanded by God, assist in justification; and the Lord's-supper,
albeit that it is a divine institution, cannot in any respect
whatsoever minister to your acceptance or to your righteousness before
God. Abram had no ceremonial in which to rest; he was righteous through
his faith, and righteous only through his faith; and so must you and I
be if we are ever to stand as righteous before God at all. Faith in
Abram's case was the alone and unsupported cause of his being accounted
righteous, for note, although in other cases Abram's faith produced
works, and although in every case where faith is genuine it produces
good works, yet the particular instance of faith recorded in this
chapter was unattended by any works. For God brought him forth under
the star-lit heavens, and bade him look up. "So shall thy seed be,"
said the sacred voice. Abram did what? Believed the promise–that was
all. It was before he had offered sacrifice, before he had said a holy
word or performed a single action of any kind that the word immediately
and instanter went forth, "He believed in the Lord; and he counted it
to him for righteousness." Always distinguish between the truth, that
living faith always produces works; and the lie, that faith and works
co-operate to justify the soul. We are made righteous only by an act of
faith in the work of Jesus Christ. That faith, if true, always produces
holiness of life, but our being righteous before God is not because of
our holiness in life in any degree or respect, but simply because of
our faith in the divine promise. Thus saith the inspired apostle: "His
faith was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for
his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; but for us also, to whom it
shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord
from the dead; who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again
for our justification."
I would have you note that the faith which justified Abram was still an
imperfect faith, although it perfectly justified him. It was imperfect
beforehand, for he had prevaricated as to his wife, and bidden Sarai,
"Say thou art my sister." It was imperfect after it had justified him,
for in the next chapter we find him taking Hagar, his wife's handmaid,
in order to effect the divine purpose, and so showing a want of
confidence in the working of the Lord. It is a blessing for you and for
me that we do not need perfect faith to save us. "If ye have faith as a
grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to
yonder place; and it shall remove." If thou hast but the faith of a
little child, it shall save thee. Though thy faith be not always at the
same pitch as the patriarch's when he staggered not at the promise
through unbelief, yet if it be simple and true, if it confide alone in
the promise of God–it is an unhappy thing that it is no stronger, and
thou oughtest daily to pray, "Lord, increase my faith"–but still it
shall justify thee through Christ Jesus. A trembling hand may grasp the
cup which bears a healing draught to the lip–the weakness of the hand
shall not lessen the power of the medicine.
So far, then, all is clear, Abram was not justified by works, nor by
ceremonies, nor partly by works, and partly by faith, nor by the
perfection of his faith–he is counted righteous simply because of his
faith in the divine promise.
I must confess that, looking more closely into it, this text is too
deep for me, and therefore I decline, at this present moment, to enter
into the controversy which rages around it; but one thing is clear to
me, that if faith be, as we are told, counted to us for righteousness,
it is not because faith in itself has merit which may make it a fitting
substitute for a perfect obedience to the law of God, nor can it be
viewed as a substitute for such obedience. For, brethren, all good acts
are a duty: to trust God is our duty, and he that hath believed to his
utmost hath done no more than it was his duty to have done. He who
should believe without imperfection, if this were possible, would even
then have only given to God a part of the obedience due; and if he
should have failed, in love, or reverence, or aught beside, his faith,
as a virtue and a work, could not stand him in any stead. In fact,
according to the great principle of the New Testament, even faith, as a
work, does not justify the soul. We are not saved by works at all or in
any sense, but alone by grace, and the way in which faith saves us is
not by itself as a work, but in some other way directly opposite
thereto.
Faith cannot be its own righteousness, for it is of the very nature of
faith to look out of self to Christ. If any man should say, "My faith
is my righteousness," then it is evident that he is confiding in his
faith; but this is just the thing of all others which it would be
unsafe to do, for we must look altogether away from ourselves to Christ
alone, or we have no true faith at all. Faith must look to the
atonement and work of Jesus, or else she is not the faith of Scripture.
Therefore to say that faith in and of itself becomes our righteousness,
is, it seems to me, to tear out the very bowels of the gospel, and to
deny the faith which has been once delivered to the saints. Paul
declares, contrary to certain sectaries who rail against imputed
righteousness–that we are justified and made righteous by the
righteousness of Christ; on this he is plain and positive. He tells us
(Romans 5:19) that, "as by one man's disobedience many were made
sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." The
Old Testament verse before us as a text this morning, gives us but as
it were the outward aspect of justification; it is brought to us by
faith, and the fact that a man has faith entitles him to be set down as
a righteous man; in this sense God accounts faith to a man as
righteousness, but the underlying and secret truth which the Old
Testament does not so clearly give us is found in the New Testament
declaration, that we are accepted in the Beloved, and justified because
of the obedience of Christ. Faith justifies, but not in and by itself,
but because it grasps the obedience of Christ. "As by the offence of
one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the
righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification
of life." To the same effect is that verse in the second epistle
general of Peter (first chapter, first verse), which runs in our
version as follows: "Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus
Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through
the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Now, everybody
who is at all familiar with the original knows that the correct
translation is "through the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus
Christ." The righteousness which belongs to the Christian is the
righteousness of our God and Saviour, who is "made of God unto us
righteousness." Hence the beauty of the old prophetic title of the
Messiah, "The Lord our Righteousness." I do not wish to enter into
controversy as to imputed righteousness this morning, we may discuss
that doctrine another time; but we feel confident that this text cannot
mean that faith in itself, as a grace or a virtue, becomes the
righteousness of any man. The fact is, that faith is counted to us for
righteousness because she has Christ in her hand; she comes to God
resting upon what Christ has done, depending alone upon the
propitiation which God has set forth; and God, therefore, writes down
every believing man as being a righteous man, not because of what he is
in himself, but for what he is in Christ. He may have a thousand sins,
yet shall he be righteous if he have faith. He may painfully transgress
like Samson, he may be as much in the dark as Jephtha, he may fall as
David, he may slip like Noah; but, for all that, if he have a true and
living faith, he is written down among the justified, and God accepteth
him. While there be some who gloat over the faults of believers, God
spieth out the pure gem of faith gleaming on their breast; he takes
them for what they want to be, for what they are in heart, for what
they would be if they could; and covering their sins with the atoning
blood, and adorning their persons with the righteousness of the
Beloved, he accepts them, seeing he beholds in them the faith which is
the mark of the righteous man wherever it may be.
II. Let us pass on to consider THE PROMISE UPON WHICH HIS FAITH RELIED
when Abram was justified.
Abram's faith, like ours, rested upon a promise received direct from
God. "This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of
thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad,
and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able
to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be." Had this
promise been spoken by any other, it would have been a subject of
ridicule to the patriarch; but, taking it as from the lip of God, he
accepts it, and relies upon it. Now, brethren, if you and I have true
faith we accept the promise, "He that believeth and is baptized, shall
be saved" as being altogether divine. If such a declaration were made
to us by the priests of Rome, or by any human being on his own
authority, we could not think it true; but, inasmuch as it comes to us
written in the sacred word as having been spoken by Jesus Christ
himself, we lean upon it as not the word of man, but the word of God.
Beloved, it may be a very simple remark to make, but after all it is
needful, that we must be careful that our faith in the truth is fixed
upon the fact that God has declared it to be true, and not upon the
oratory or persuasion of any of our most honoured ministers or most
respected acquaintances. If your faith standeth in the wisdom of man,
it is probably a faith in man; it is only that faith which believes the
promise because God spake it which is real faith in God. Note that and
try your faith thereby.
In the next place, Abram's faith was faith in a promise concerning the
seed. It was told him before that he should have a seed in whom all the
nations of the earth should be blessed. He recognized in this the
selfsame promise which was made to Eve at the gates of Paradise, "I
will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her
seed." "Abraham saw my day," says our Lord, "he saw it and was glad."
In this promise Abram saw the one seed, as saith the apostle in
Galatians 3:16, "He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one,
and to thy seed, which is Christ." He saw Christ by the eye of faith,
and then he saw the multitude that should believe in him, the seed of
the father of the faithful. The faith which justifies the soul concerns
itself about Christ and not concerning mere abstract truths. If your
faith simply believeth this dogma and that, it saveth you not; but when
your faith believes that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto
himself, not imputing unto them their trespasses; when your faith turns
to God in human flesh and rests in him with its entire confidence, then
it justifies you, for it is the faith of Abram. Dear hearer, have you
such a faith as this? Is it faith in the promise of God? Is it faith
that deals with Christ and looks alone to him?
Abram had faith in a promise which it seemed impossible could ever be
fulfilled. A child was to be born of his own loins, but he was nearly a
hundred years old, and Sarai also was said to be barren years before.
His own body was now dead as it were, and Sarai, so far as childbearing
was concerned, was equally so. The birth of a son could not happen
unless the laws of nature were reversed; but he considered not these
things, he put them all aside; he saw death written on the creature,
but he accepted the power of life in the Creator, and he believed
without hesitation. Now, beloved, the faith that justifies us must be
of the same kind. It seems impossible that I should ever be saved; I
cannot save myself; I see absolute death written upon the best hopes
that spring of my holiest resolutions; "In me, that is, in my flesh,
there dwelleth no good thing;" I can do nothing; I am slain under the
law; I am corrupt through my natural depravity; but yet for all this I
believe that through the life of Jesus I shall live, and inherit the
promised blessing. It is small faith to believe that God will save you
when graces flourish in your heart, and evidences of salvation abound,
but it is a grand faith to trust in Jesus in the teeth of all your
sins, and notwithstanding the accusations of conscience. To believe in
him that justifieth not merely the godly but the ungodly (Romans 4:5).
To believe not in the Saviour of saints, but in the Saviour of sinners;
and to believe that if any man sin, we have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous; this is precious, and is counted
unto us for righteousness.
This justifying faith was faith which dealt with a wonderful promise,
vase and sublime. I imagine the patriarch standing beneath the starry
sky, looking up to those innumerable orbs. He cannot count them. To his
outward eye, long accustomed in the land of the Chaldees to midnight
observation, the stars appeared more numerous than they would to an
ordinary observer. He looked and looked again with elevated gaze, and
the voice said, "So shall thy seed be." Now he did not say, "Lord, if I
may be the father of a clan, the progenitor of a tribe, I shall be well
content; but it is not credible that countless hosts can ever come of
my barren body." No, he believed the promise; he believed it just as it
stood. I do not hear him saying, "It is too good to be true." No; God
hath said it–and nothing is too good for God to do. The greater the
grace of the promise, the more likely it is to have come from him, for
good and perfect gifts come from the Father of Lights. Beloved, does
your faith take the promise as it stands in its vastness, in its
height, and depth, and length, and breadth? Canst thou believe that
thou, a sinner, art nevertheless a child, a son, an heir, an heir of
God, joint-heir with Christ Jesus? Canst thou believe that heaven is
thine, with all its ecstacies of joy, eternity with its infinity of
bliss, God with all his attributes of glory? Oh! This is the faith that
justifies, far-reaching, wide-grasping faith, that diminishes not the
word of promise, but accepts it as it stands. May we have more and more
of this large-handed faith!
Once more, Abram showed faith in the promise as made to himself. Out of
his own bowels a seed should come, and it was in him and in his seed
that the whole world should be blessed. I can believe all the promises
in regard to other people. I find faith in regard to my dear friend to
be a very easy matter, but oh! When it comes to close grips, and to
laying hold for yourself, here is the difficulty. I could see my friend
in ten troubles, and believe that the Lord would not forsake him. I
could read a saintly biography, and finding that the Lord never failed
his servant when he went through fire and through water, I do not
wonder at it; but when it comes to one's own self, the wonder begins.
Our heart cries, "Whence is this to me? What am I, and what my father's
house, that such mercy should be mine? I washed in blood and made
whiter than snow today! Is it so? Can it be? I made righteous, through
my faith in Jesus Christ, perfectly righteous! O can it be? What! For
me the everlasting love of God, streaming from its perennial fountain?
For me the protection of a special providence in this life, and the
provision of a prepared heaven in the life to come? For me a harp, a
crown, a palm branch, a throne! For me the bliss of for ever beholding
the face of Jesus, and being made like to him, and reigning with him!
It seems impossible. And yet this is the faith that we must have, the
faith which lays on Christ Jesus for itself, saying with the apostle,
"He loved me, and gave himself for me." This is the faith which
justifies; let us seek more and more of it, and God shall have glory
through it.
III. In the third place, let us notice THE ATTENDANTS OF ABRAM'S
JUSTIFICATION.
With your Bibles open, kindly observe that after it is written his
faith was counted to him for righteousness, it is recorded that the
Lord said to him, "I am Jehovah that brought thee out of Ur of the
Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it." When the soul is
graciously enabled to perceive its complete justification by faith,
then it more distinctly discerns its calling. Now, the believer
perceives his privileged separation and discerns why he was convinced
of sin, why he was led away from self-righteousness and the pleasures
of this world, to live the life of faith; now he sees his high calling
and the prize of it, and from the one blessing of justification he
argues the blessedness of all the inheritance to which he is called.
The more clear a man is about his justification the more will he prize
his calling, and the more earnestly will he seek to make it sure by
perfecting his separation from the world and his conformity to his
Lord. Am I a justified man? Then will I not go back to that bondage in
which I once was held. Am I now accepted of God through faith? Then
will I live no longer by sight, as I once did as a carnal man, when I
understood not the power of trusting in the unseen God. One Christian
grace helps another, and one act of divine grace casts a refulgence
upon another. Calling gleams with double glory side by side with the
twin star of justification.
Justifying faith receives more vividly the promises. "I have brought
thee," said the Lord, "into this land to inherit it." He was reminded
again of the promise God made him years before. Beloved, no man reads
the promises of God with such delight and with such a clear
understanding as the man who is justified by faith in Christ Jesus.
"For now," saith he, "this promise is mine, and made to me. I have the
pledge of its fulfillment in the fact that I walk in the favour of God.
I am no longer obnoxious to his wrath; none can lay anything to my
charge, for I am absolved through Jesus Christ; and, therefore, if when
I was a sinner he justified me, much more, being justified, will he
keep his promise to me. If when I was a rebel condemned, he
nevertheless in his eternal mercy called me and brought me into this
state of acceptance, much more will he preserve me from all my enemies,
and give me the heritage which he has promised by his covenant of
grace. A clear view of justification helps you much in grasping the
promise, therefore seek it earnestly for your soul's comfort.
Abram, after being justified by faith, was led more distinctly to
behold the power of sacrifice. By God's command he killed three
bullocks, three goats, three sheep, with turtle doves and pigeons,
being all the creatures ordained for sacrifice. The patriarch's hands
are stained with blood; he handles the butcher's knife, he divides the
beasts, he kills the birds he places them in an order revealed to him
by God's Spirit at the time; there they are. Abram learns that there is
no meeting with God except through sacrifice. God has shut every door
except that over which the blood is sprinkled. All acceptable
approaches to God must be through an atoning sacrifice, and Abram sees
this. While the promise is still in his ears, while the ink is yet wet
in the pen of the Holy Spirit, writing him down as justified, he must
see a sacrifice, and see it, too, in emblems which comprehend all the
revelation of sacrifice made to Aaron. So, brethren, it is a blessed
thing when your faith justifies you, if it helps you to obtain more
complete and vivid views of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The
purest and most bracing air for faith to breathe is on Calvary. I do
not wonder that your faith grows weak when you fail to consider well
the tremendous sacrifice which Jesus made for his people. Turn to the
annals of the Redeemer's sufferings given us in the Evangelists; bow
yourself in prayer before the Lamb of God, blush to think you should
have forgotten his death, which is the centre of all history;
contemplate the wondrous transaction of substitution once again, and
you will find your faith revived. It is not the study of theology, it
is not reading books upon points of controversy, it is not searching
into mysterious prophecy which will bless your soul, it is looking to
Jesus crucified. That is the essential nutriment of the life of faith,
and mind that you keep to it. As a man already justified, Abram looked
at the sacrifice, all day long and till the sun went down, chasing away
the birds of prey as you must drive off all disturbing thoughts. So
must you also study the Lord Jesus, and view him in all his characters
and offices, be not satisfied except you grow in grace and in the
knowledge of your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Perhaps even more important was the next lesson which Abram had to
learn. He was led to behold the covenant. I suppose that these pieces
of the bullock, the lamb, the ram, and the goat, were so placed that
Abram stood in the midst with a part on this side and a part on that.
So he stood as a worshipper all through the day, and towards nightfall,
when a horror of great darkness came over him, he fell into a deep
sleep. Who would not feel a horror passing over him as he sees the
great sacrifice for sin, and sees himself involved therein? There in
the midst of the sacrifice he saw, moving with solemn motion, a smoking
furnace and a burning lamp, answering to the pillar of cloud and fire,
which manifested the presence in later days to Israel in the
wilderness. In these emblems the Lord passed between the pieces of the
sacrifice to meet his servant, and enter into covenant with him. This
has always been the most solemn of all modes of covenanting; and has
even been adopted in heathen nations on occasions of unusual solemnity.
The sacrifice is divided and the covenanting parties meet between the
divided pieces. The profane interpretation was, that they imprecated
upon each other the curse that if they broke the covenant they might be
cut in pieces as these beasts had been; but this is not the
interpretation which our hearts delight in. It is this. It is only in
the midst of the sacrifice that God can enter into a covenant
relationship with sinful man. God cometh in his glory like a flame of
fire, but subdued and tempered to us as with a cloud of smoke in the
person of Jesus Christ; and he comes through the bloody sacrifice which
has been offered once for all through Jesus Christ on the tree. Man
meets with God in the midst of the sacrifice of Christ. Now, beloved,
you who are justified, try this morning to reach this privilege which
particularly belongs to you at this juncture of your spiritual history.
Know and understand that God is in covenant bonds with you. He has made
a covenant of grace with you which never can be broken: the sure
mercies of David are your portion. After this sort does that covenant
run, "A new heart also will I give them, and a right spirit will I put
within them. They shall be my people, and I will be their God." That
covenant is made with you over the slaughtered body of the Son of God.
God and you cross hands over him who sweat, as it were, great drops of
blood falling to the ground. The Lord accepts us, and we enter with him
into sacred league and amity, over the victim whose wounds and death
ratify the compact. Can God forget a covenant with such sanctions? Can
such a federal bond so solemnly sealed be ever broken? Impossible. Man
is sometimes faithful to his oath, but God is always so; and when that
oath is confirmed for the strengthening of our faith by the blood of
the Only-begotten, to doubt is treason and blasphemy. God help us,
being justified, to have faith in the covenant which is sealed and
ratified with blood.
Immediately after, God made to Abram (and here the analogy still holds)
a discovery, that all the blessing that was promised, though it was
surely his, would not come without an interval of trouble. "Thy seed
shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them;
and they shall afflict them four hundred years." When a man is first of
all brought to Christ he often is so ignorant as to think, "Now my
troubles are all over; I have come to Christ and I am saved: from this
day forward I shall have nothing to do but to sing the praises of God."
Alas! A conflict remains. We must know of a surety that the battle now
begins. How often does it happen that the Lord, in order to educate his
child for future trouble, makes the occasion when his justification is
most clear to him the season of informing him that he may expect to
meet with trouble! I was struck with that fact when I was reading for
my own comfort the other night the fifth chapter of Romans; it runs
thus– "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith
into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of
God." See how softly it flows, a justification sheds the oil of joy
upon the believer's head. But what is the next verse– "and not only
so, but we glory in tribulation also: knowing that tribulation worketh
patience," and so on. Justification ensures tribulation. Oh! Yes, the
covenant is yours; you shall possess the goodly land and Lebanon, but,
like all the seed of Abraham, you must go down into Egypt and groan,
being burdened. All the saints must smart before they sing; they must
carry the cross before they wear the crown. You are a justified man,
but you are not freed from trouble. Your sins were laid on Christ, but
you still have Christ's cross to carry. The Lord has exempted you from
the curse, but he has not exempted you from the chastisement. Learn
that you enter on the children's discipline on the very day in which
you enter upon their accepted condition.
To close the whole, the Lord gave to Abram an assurance of ultimate
success. He would bring his seed into the promised land, and the people
who had oppressed them he would judge. So let it come as a sweet
revelation to every believing man this morning, that at the end he
shall triumph, and those evils which now oppress him shall be cast
beneath his feet. The Lord shall bruise Satan under our feet shortly.
We may be slaves in Egypt for awhile, but we shall come up out of it
with great abundance of true riches, better than silver or gold. We
shall be prospered by our tribulations, and enriched by our trials.
Therefore, let us be of good cheer. If sin be pardoned, we may well
bear affliction. "Strike, Lord," said Luther, "now my sins are gone;
strike as hard as thou wilt if transgression be covered." These light
afflictions which are but for a moment, are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Let us make it the first
point of our care to be justified with Abraham's seed, and then whether
we sojourn in Egypt or enjoy the peace of Canaan, it little matters: we
are all safe if we are only justified by faith which is in Christ
Jesus. Dear friends, this last word, and I send you home. Have you
believed in God? Have you trusted Christ? O that you would do so today!
To believe that God speaks truth ought not to be hard; and if we were
not very wicked this would never need to be urged upon us, we should do
it naturally. To believe that Christ is able to save us seems to me to
be easy enough, and it would be if our hearts were not so hard. Believe
thy God, man, and think it no little thing to do so. May the Holy Ghost
lead thee to a true trust. This is the work of God, that ye believe on
Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent. Believe that the Son of God can save,
and confide thyself alone in him, and he will save thee. He asks
nothing but faith, and even this he gives thee; and if thou hast it,
all thy doubts and sins, thy trials and troubles put together, shall
not shut thee out of heaven. God shall fulfil his promise, and surely
bring thee in to possess the land which floweth with milk and honey.
PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON–Genesis 15 and Romans 4.
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Consecration to God–Illustrated by Abraham's Circumcision
A Sermon