Faith Versus Sight
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"For we walk by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7.
I THINK the Apostle is explaining here how it was he could say that
while he was at home in the body, he was absent from the Lord–and
through what means he felt that this was not the state in which he
wished to be forever. Having been possessed, and actuated, and moved by
the principle of faith, he was not content to tabernacle in a body
which could only be dwelt in satisfactorily through the influence of
the faculty of sight. The Apostle, however, mentions here a great
general principle–"We walk by faith, not by sight." In talking upon
this text this evening, we shall–without pretending to go into it
fully–speak, first of all, upon the posture mentioned. Then upon the
two principles contrasted, and finally upon a certain caution which is
here implied.
I. First, a word or two about THE POSTURE MENTIONED. Paul, speaking of
Believers, says: "We walk by faith, not by sight." Walking is, of
course, a posture which implies the possession of life. You can make a
dead man sit in a certain position, or even stand in a chosen
attitude–but to walk necessitates the possession of inward life. It
becomes with us, therefore, a question, in the first place, whether we
have the life of God within us.
In the sense in which the term "walk" is here used, the ungodly man
does not walk at all. He hastens after his own lusts and he treads in
the way of the flesh. But in a spiritual sense he is, and always must
be a stranger to "walking" until God has quickened him. When we see
corpses walking along our roads and pass them at eventide in our
streets, then shall we expect to see Christian feelings, Christian
emotions, and Christian character exhibited by unconverted men–but not
till then! There must first be an inward life before there can be the
outwardsign of it.
Walking is a position which also signifies activity. You would suppose,
from the way in which some Christians deport themselves, that their
whole life was spent in meditation. It is a blessed thing to sit–
" With Mary at the Master's feet," but we walk as well as sit. We do
not merely learn, but we practice what we know. We are not simply
scholars, but, having been taught as scholars, we go on to show our
scholarship by working in the vineyard or wherever else the Master may
be pleased to place us. The quietists and mystics are a class of people
who have a peculiar attraction for my mind, and I suppose the mention
of such a name as that of Madame Guyon, who, among females, stands at
the very head of the school, will awaken in many of you many sweet
remembrances of times enjoyed in reading her blessed hymns and of her
sweet and admirable life.
But, after all, it is not the highest style of Christian living to be a
mystic or a quietist. "We walk." Some Christians seem as if they always
sit, but, "we walk." You would gather, indeed, from what others say,
that the whole life of a Christian is to be spent in prayer. Prayer, it
is true, is the vitality of the secret parts of Christian life, but we
are not always on our knees! We are not constantly engaged in seeking
blessings from Heaven. We do, "continue in prayer," but we are also
engaged in showing forth to others the blessings which we have
received, and in exhibiting in our daily actions the fruits which we
have gathered on the mountaintop of communion with God. "We walk," and
this implies activity.
Oh, I would that some Christians would pay a little attention to their
legs instead of paying it all to their heads! When children's heads
grow too fast it is a sign of disease and they get the rickets or water
on the brain. And there are some very sound Brethren who seem to me to
have got some kind of disease–and when they try to walk, they
straightway make a tumble of it–because they have paid so much
attention to perplexing doctrinal views instead of looking, as they
ought to have done, to the practical part of Christianity.
By all means let us have doctrine! But by all means let us have
precepts, too. By all means let us have inward experience, but by all
means let us also have outward "holiness, without which no man can see
the Lord." "We walk." This is more than some can say. They can
affirm–"We talk. We think. We experience. We feel"–but true
Christians can say, with the Apostle Paul, "We walk." Oh that we may
ever be able to say it, too! Here, then, is the activity of the
Christian life.
In the posture of walking there is also implied progress. A man does
not walk unless he makes some headway. We are not always practicing the
goose-step. We are not always lifting our foot and then putting it down
in the same place. This may do very well for the beginners in the
awkward squad at drill, and I am afraid that a great many of us are
still in that squad–but the Christian who has got through his
childhood, and has grown somewhat, makes progress. There are some who
will tell you that they do not know that they have made any progress,
or, if they do not say this, you can see that they have made none.
They are as bad-tempered as when they first joined the Church. They are
as changing, as narrow-minded, as critical, as easily "carried about
with every wind of doctrine" as they were at first. Such persons give
some cause for suspicion as to whether they know much about the Divine
life at all–because they who have the Divine life truly in them can
say– "We walk." They go from strength to strength. Every one of them
appears in Zion before God. They are not satisfied with being in the
Way–they desire also to walk in the Way. God does not say to us–"This
is the Way," and then stop–He says, "This is the Way, walkin it."
We are always to be making advances. We are to be going from faith in
its beginnings to faith in its perfections– from faith to
assurance–from assurance to full assurance. And from there we are to
go to the full assurance of hope to the full assurance of
understanding–always forward, waxing stronger and stronger. There is a
progress to be made in every Christian Grace and he who carefully marks
the terms used about Christian Graces will discover that there are
degrees in all of them, while each of them are degrees one above the
other. Walking implies progress and the genuine Christian, when he is
in a healthy state, may truthfully say–"We walk."
Walking also implies perseverance. When a man goes along a step or two
and then stops, or returns, we do not call that walking. The motion of
the planets, as seen by the eye have been described by the poet as
"progressive, retrograde, and standing still." I am afraid there are
many people of whom this would be a true description, but the true
Christian keeps on. And though there may often appear to be times when
he stops, and seasons when he goes back, yet the Scripture is not
broken where it says that, "The path of the just is as the shining
light, that shines more and more unto the perfect day."
The Christian's motto is, "Upward and onward." Not as though he had
already attained, either was already perfect–he presses forward to the
mark for the prize of his high calling in Christ Jesus. We are not true
Christians if we stop, or start, or turn aside. As an arrow from a bow
that is drawn by some mighty archer speeds straightway towards its
goal, such is the Christian life as it is and such is it as it always
should be. We make progress, and we persevere in so doing.
I think, however, that by the term "walk" the Apostle meant to signify
that, in the ordinary and customary actions of life we are actuated by
faith. You know walking is the common way of moving. You do not often
talk of a child's walking. You do speak of it, of course, but you
generally say, "There are the little ones running about the house." You
do not say that they are "walking about the house," because the way of
moving with the young is generally running, inasmuch as they have a
great deal of extra energy and have not yet got into the wear and tear
of life.
You do not find lambs walking at all in the ordinary way in which sheep
do. Now, it is very easy, in the beginning of the Christian life, to
run in the ways of the Lord with rejoicing–but running, after all, is
not the most manly form of progress–it is not that which can be kept
up for long! Running fatigues and tires you– walkingis that kind of
progress in which a man continues hour after hour. And after his
night's rest he rises again to walk on as before until he reaches his
goal.
In Scripture we often read of men who, by faith, did great exploits.
"By my God I have broken through a troop. By my God I will leap over a
wall." Now this is a very great thing to do, and some Christians are
always fixing their eyes upon exploits of faith. The Apostle Paul cut
through troops and did leap over walls, but in this place he speaks of
the common actions of life. It is as if he said–"I not only leap walls
by faith, but I walk by faith! I not only break through troops by
faith, but I go and do my business by faith."
That man has not yet learned the true spirit of Christianity who is
always saying, "I can preach a sermon by faith." Yes, Sir, but can you
make a coat by faith? "I can distribute tracts, and visit the district
by faith." Can you cook a dinner by faith? I mean, can you perform the
common actions of the household, and the daily duties which fall to
your lot in the spirit of faith? This is what the Apostle means. He
does not speak about running, or jumping or fighting, but about
walking–and he means to tell you that the ordinary life of a Christian
is different from the life of another man–that he has learned to
introduce faith into everythinghe does. It was not a bad saying of one
who said that he, "did eat and drink, and sleep eternal life." We want
not a home-spun religion, but a religion that was spun in Heaven and
that will do to wear at home and about the house. "We walk by faith."
The Mohammedan worships his god at the "holy hour." The true Christian
calls all hours "holy," and worships always. Some set apart the seventh
day of the week, and therein do well, but in setting apart allthe seven
days, and living to God, and entering into rest throughout them all, we
do better still. Our souls should not keep our religion for the
Tabernacle and the pew, and the closet, and the open Bible, and the
bended knee. Our religion must become the atmospherein which we live,
the element in which our soul breathes! Our God must dwell in us, and
we dwell in Him. We must feed upon Christ, not as a special dainty, but
as "the bread of Heaven," and drink of Him, not as a luxury, but as
"the water of life." We must wear our piety, not as some holiday
garment, but as our everyday dress and then it is that we get into the
spirit of true religion.
Summing up all, then, the whole of the Christian life which is implied
in the term, "walk," is here spoken of, and it is influenced by the
principle of faith which we are now about to speak.
II. And now, secondly, in the text we have TWO PRINCIPLES CONTRASTED.
There is walking by faith, and there is walking by sight. The most of
men, all men, indeed, naturally walk by sight. They have a proverb
that, "Seeing is believing," and they are wise men, for they trust
people as far as they can see them, and no further. The world thinks
itself uncommonly knowing in always depending upon its own sight.
The highest degree of worldly wisdom seems to be just this–see
everything for yourself and do not be taken in. Do not be led by the
nose by anybody, but follow your own understanding. This is the text
which the world's Solomons always preach from–"Self-made Men"–that is
the title of their book! Self-reliance–that is the name of their
principle, and, according to the world, the best and grandest thing
that a man can do is to have faith in himself! Their maxim is, "Know
things for yourself. Look after the main chance. Make money–make it
honestly if you can, and honorably if possible, but, if not, make it
anyhow, by hook or by crook." "Take care of Number One"–this is the
world' s learned dictum.
Now the Christian is the very opposite of this. He says–"I do not care
about looking after the things that are seen and are temporal. They are
like dissolving views, or the scenes from a child's magic
lantern–there is nothing in them– they are but phantoms and shadows.
The things that are not seen influence me because they are eternal They
endure, remain, abide, and therefore they affect a creature which has
learned that it has, not mortality alone, but immortality, and who,
expecting to live forever, therefore seeks for things which will be
like his own existence."
Now, since the world thinks itself so very wise for holding everything
it can, and thinks the Christian such a great fool for giving up what
he can see for what he cannot see, in contradiction to the world's
proverb, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush"–let us see
where the wisdom of this matter is, and where it is not. In the first
place, we notice that walking by sight is a very childish thing. Any
child can walk by sight, and so can any fool, too. We know how a child
feels when it looks at a mountain, and we have all felt the same when
we have gone to Switzerland and other places.
I had a friend with me, who said of a certain mountain–"I will
undertake to be at the top in half-an-hour." It took us five and a half
hours steady toiling, and we did not go slowly either! Of course my
friend judged by his sight, and not being accustomed to mountains, and
not knowing that sight is a very different thing when it comes to deal
with different landscapes–not knowing that a judgment which would be
pretty accurate in England would be totally wrong in the mountains of
Wales, and still more erroneous in Switzerland–not knowing all this, I
dare say he would be startled at eventide, expecting to find himself at
the top before the sun went down, whereas he would not have reached it
till the middle of the night!
A child always judges everything by what he sees. You give him a number
of coins. They are all counterfeit, but he is so pleased with them that
he does not care about having real sovereigns–he is just as glad to
have those he has, for they look quite as good. You offer him sixpence
and when he is yet a youngster he will give you your sixpence back for
a penny because the penny is the larger of the two. He judges by sight,
which, you see, is a childish principle altogether. When a man grows up
he no longer judges so much by sight. He has learned a great many
things in this world and he has discovered that his eyes may be very
greatly mistaken at times.
The child says–"How quickly these stars move! How fast the moon
hastens through the clouds!" The man says– "No, no. It is the clouds
that are moving." The child says that the sun rises in the morning and
sets in the evening, and admires its motion. But the man knows that the
sun does not move at all, and that it is the earth that is moving. He
believes this, and thus in a certain degree he has faith because he
cannot see the world move. Hodge once said he would not believe the
world moved at all because he found that his house still stood in the
same place, and Hodge proved himself to have been thus only a big
child. But it is a very manly thing to believe something which you
cannot see. Even in common philosophy it is so.
The children all sat at home in England, and in Spain, and in France
and they said–"Oh, this is all the world, this is," and they had their
Mediterranean Sea in the middle of the earth. But there was a man among
them who said he did not believe it but thought the world was round,
and that there was another half to it. "You are a fool," they said.
"Fool or not," he replied, "I believe it." And Columbus stood up, head
and shoulders taller than the rest of his fellows and got a few to go
with him and started–a company of fools they were called. They could
not see anything!
They sailed on, and on, and on, for many weary days, and the
unbelievers said they had better go back. There were several pieces of
seaweed floating about which looked as if they came from some other
shore, or had been washed down some not far distant river. Columbus did
not care much for these seaweeds because he believed, and believed
firmly, that there was another half of the globe. And when the land
birds came and lighted on his ship, though they gladdened his heart,
yet they did not make him believe any the more. And when he saw
America, and stood on the strand of the land of gold, he still only had
to keep on as he had done. He had walked by faith before, and he could
continue in the same course now. When he came back everybody
said–"What a wonderful man is Columbus!" Just 50 and all the rest were
children–he was the only true man among them.
Now the Christian is a man! I mean to say he is "a man" in the
Scriptural sense of the term. He has become a full-grown man in Christ
Jesus, and while the worldling says–"This is all the world. Let us eat
and drink, for tomorrow we die. Let us make money and spend it and
enjoy ourselves, for this is the end of the world"–the Christian says,
"No, there must be another half to the world! I am sure there must be
another land beyond the sea, so I will loose my anchor and turn my
helm, and try to find it. I will leave this world to you children and
will seek another and a more heavenly one."
So we sail away and by-and-by we see the bits of seaweed. And when at
last the angelic messengers come, like birds of Paradise, and light
upon the masts of our vessels, then we thank God that we were ever
enabled, with true manly courage, to loose our anchor, to set out upon
our voyage and to turn our helm towards the sea! We thank Him that we
believed in God and were actuated by a noble principle of faith,
compared with which the world's wisdom is but the folly of the child.
This, then, is the first thing we have to say about these two
principles–that the one is childish while the other is manly.
Again, the one is groveling while the other is noble. I think the world
must be pretty well ashamed of itself if it still considers this poor
earth to be all that a soul has to live for. I feel as if I could not
talk upon the matter. Solomon tried everything there was in this
world–riches, power, pleasure–every sort of delicacy and delight he
had, beyond the point of satisfaction–and what was his verdict upon it
all? "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!" A man earning his bread all
day long–what is he? Is he better than the donkey that I saw a little
while ago at Carisbrook Castle, pumping up water and always going
round? What more is he than that?
"Well, but he makes money and acquires houses and land." Yes, and there
is only so much more probate tax to be paid when he dies, and I suppose
the worms know no difference between a man who died worth three hundred
thousand pounds and a poor wretch who was buried by the parish! It does
not come to anything more than that! The children go to the seaside
with their little wooden spades and build up a pier of sand, but the
tide comes and washes it away–and this is just what men do–they build
with heavier stuff, which gives them more care and not half so much
merriment in piling up as the youngsters have in digging up their sand.
But the end is just the same!
Only the children live to build again, while these big children, these
grovelers, are washed out to sea with all their works and perish
everlastingly. You have walked upon the beach, I dare say, when the sea
has gone down. I do not mean the beach at Ramsgate where everybody
goes, but a long way out in some quiet spot. If you have, you will have
seen what hundreds of little mounds there are all over the beach, where
the worms have come up and made a number of small heaps. That is all we
do, and it is all that the world is–just a big place covered all over
with little heaps of dirt that we have all piled up.
But where have we gone? If there is not another world to live for, I
must say that this life is a most unutterably empty kind of thing! It
is not worthy of a man! But oh, to believe what God tells me–that
there is a God–that God became flesh to bear me up to Himself! To
believe that I am God's son–that I have an immortality within myself
which will outlast the stars–that I shall one day see His face and
sing His praise forever with cherubim and seraphim! Why, there is
something herd. The man who believes this feels as if he begins to
grow! He bursts the poor engrossments of his flesh and expands into
something worthy of a man who is made in the image of the Most High!
The principle of seeing everything, and of liking only to get what I
can see, and touch, and handle is the poor instinct of beasts and
birds, but the principle of living upon what I cannot see, and upon
something that I can believe, is one worthy of a man. As much as man is
higher than the beast, so much and yet more a thousand-fold is the life
of faith superior to that of mere sight and feeling.
Again–there is something exceedingly ignorant about believing only
what I can see. What, then, shall I believe? Even in common life the
man who walks by sight must necessarily be a fool–I say necessarily
because nine out of ten things in the world that are the most wonderful
and potent cannotbe seen–at least not by the eyes. A man who will not
believe in electricity–well, what can you make of him in these days?
Such a man will believe in the vapor that puffs from the steam engine,
but since nobody ever did or could see steam, inasmuch as it is an
invisible agent, he cannot ever believe in that!
He lives in the midst of a great world and he cannot account for most
things in it because he will not believe in anything beyond what he
sees. If he carries this principle out–the marvels of other countries,
and the wonders of other ages are all shut out from his poor dull mind.
And this is most decidedly the case with regard to spiritual things. If
you only walk by sight, and only believe what you see, what do you
believe? You believe that while you are living here it is a good thing
to make the best you can of it. And that then you will die and be
buried, and that will be the end of you! What a poor, miserable,
ignorant belief this is!
But when you believe in what God reveals and come to walk by faith, how
your information expands! Now riddles are all solved, and the
inexplicable is understood! Now you begin to comprehend things in a way
which you never could have done had you walked only by sight. Now you
can understand those trials and troubles that come to you! Now you can
understand the complexity of your nature and the inward conflicts that
you feel within you. You could never have done this on the principle of
sight–but believing what God says you have got into a state in which
you shall be educated and taught till you become wise–and able to have
fellowship with the only wise God!
Let me say, again, that walking by sight is such a very deceptive way
of walking. After all, the eyes do not see anything–it is the mind
that sees through the eyes. The eyes in every man have some sort of
defect in them–they need to be educated for a long time before they
tell the truth! And even then there are a thousand things about which
they do not always speak truly. The man who walks by his eyes will be
deceived in many ways. The angler baits his hook and casts his fly upon
the water, and the silly fish, which jumps by sight, has the hook in
its jaws in a moment. You can evermore, if you will, go from bad to
worse in unseen danger if you will judge according to the sight of the
eyes.
The world is wise enough to say that, "Honesty is the best policy." The
world was not quite itself when it said that, for mostly it is present
gain that Satan sets before us, and present pleasure. "Snatch the hour
as it passes," says Satan. "These things are sure–you do not know what
may come afterwards." And so is the poor soul deceived by judging
according to what he thinkshe sees, whereas the man who has a God to go
to, and to believe in, is never deceived. The promise to him always
stands fast. The Person of Christ is always his sure refuge, and God
Himself is his perpetual inheritance.
Let me add, again, that the principle of sight is a very changeable
one. You can see well enough, you know, in the day, but what will you
do in the night when you cannot see? It is well enough to talk of
walking by sight in the light, but what will you do when the darkness
comes on? It is very well to talk about living on time present while
you are here, but when you go upstairs and lie on your deathbed, what
about the principle of living for the present then? When you cannot
stay here any longer–when, notwithstanding all the ties which held you
to earth, Death begins to drag you away and you cry to him–"Stop! I
cannot leave wife, and children, and business just yet!" And when Death
remorselessly tears you away from all that is dear to you–how about
the principle of sight then? It is a strange principle to die with,
but, let me say, on the other hand, that the principle of faith does
best in the dark!
He who walks by faith can walk in the sunlight as well as you can, for
he walks with God–he has enlightened eyes, but he can walk in the dark
as you cannot, for his light is still shining upon him. He trusts in
the unseen and in the invisible–and his soul rejoices when present
things are passing away. We will not tarry longer upon this point
except to say one thing, namely, that those who walk by sight walk
alone. Walking by sight is just this–"I believe in myself." Whereas
walking by faith is–"I believe in God." If I walk by sight I walk by
myself. If I walk by faith then there are two of us, and the second
one–ah, how great, how glorious, how mighty is He!
He is the Great All-in-All! He is God All-Sufficient! Sight goes to war
at its own charges and becomes bankrupt and is defeated. Faith goes to
war at the charges of the King's Exchequer and there is no fear that
Faith's bank shall ever be broken. Sight builds the house from its own
quarry and on its own foundation, but it begins to build and is never
able to finish. And what it does build rests on sand and falls. But
Faith builds on the foundation laid in eternity–in the fair colors of
the Savior's blood–in the Covenant of Grace! It goes to God for every
stone to be used in the building and brings forth the top-stone with
shouts of, "Grace, Divine Grace unto it."
Beloved, when you say, "I will do so-and-so," you may be very proud.
But when you can say, "God will do so-and-so, and I believe it," then
you will be humble and yet you may glory and boast as much as you will
because there are two of you together. It is not "the sword of Gideon,"
but, "the sword of the Lord and of Gideon," and Jehovah cannot be
defeated. "The life that I live I live not, but Christ hides in me,"
and this is the grand advantage. In living by sight you have to get
your own wisdom, your own judgment, your own strength to guide you. And
when you get into trouble you must be your own deliverer, and your own
comforter, and your own helper or else you must run to somebody as weak
as yourselves who will only send you deeper down into the mire.
But when you walk by faith, should there seem to be a mistake you have
not made it. Should anything seem to go wrong, you did not steer the
ship. And if the ship should run aground, you are not answerable and
will not be blamed. It is yours to be watchful and careful, and to
believe that all things work together for the good of those who love
God and are the called according to His purpose. But besides this we
know that nothing can go wrong while God is in the vessel! Blessed be
God, when Christ is on Lake Gennesaret there may come a stormy night,
but every vessel gets safely to port and we can always sing–
"Begone unbelief, my Savor is near, And for my relief will surely
appear. By faith let me wrestle, and He will perform, With Christ in
the vessel I smile at the storm."
III. And now, having contrasted the two principles, I am about to close
by noticing THE CAUTION IMPLIED in the text. The Apostle says
positively, "We walk by faith," and then he adds negatively, "not by
sight." The caution, then, is–NEVER MIX THE TWO PRINCIPLES. Some of
you will not know what I am talking about but I will try to make you
understand it. Some of you are actuated in what you do by something
that you can see. You can see your children, and you will work for
them. You can see money–you will strive for that. You can see
such-and-such temporal good– you will seek after that.
But the Christian believes in God and he lives to God. He lives as if
there were a God, but you live as if there were no God. He believes in
a hereafter–you say you do, too–but you live as if there were no
hereafter, while the Christian lives as if there was one. He believes
in sin, and you say you do, and yet you never weep about it–while the
Christian lives as if sin were a real disease and he could not bear it.
You say you believe in Christ the Savior, but you live as if you did
not believe in Him. The Christian lives upon his belief that there is a
Savior. All that he does is affected and acted upon not by what he
sees, but by what he does notsee and yet believes! He walks according
to that faith.
Now, the thing that neither you nor I can understand is this–how is it
that the man who has once learned to walk by faith can be so stupid as
ever to mix the two principles together? You may go on a journey by
land, or you may go by water, but to try to swim and walk at the same
time would be rather stupid. A drunken man tries to walk on both sides
of the street at once–and there is a sort of intoxication that
sometimes seizes upon Christians which makes them also try to walk by
two principles. They cannot do it! It is like trying to go due east and
due west at the same time. The principles themselves are antagonistic
to one another and yet there are some Christians who attempt it.
Shall I show you what I mean by this? You say–"I believe God loves me.
I have prospered in business ever since I have been a Christian."
Yes–the first part of that is faith–but the second part of it is
sight. Suppose you had not prospered in business, what then? Why,
according to your way of reasoning, you would have said–"I do not
believe that God loves me, for I have not prospered in business since I
have been a Christian." So, you see, you would really be walking by
sight
Genuine Christian reasoning is this–"I have trusted in the Lord Jesus
Christ. He says that as many as receive Him are the sons of God. I have
received Him, and I am therefore a son of God. Now, whether my Father
kisses me or flogs me, I know that I am His son. I am not going to be
guided by my state and condition, but by my faith as to the promise of
the Word. He says that if I have received Christ I have the privilege
to be a child of God. Then, whether I am rich or poor–whether I am
sick or healthy–all these are matters of sight. I do not bring them
into the calculation. I take the naked Word of God as it stands–that I
am God's child. If He slays me I am His child. If He lets me go to
prison, if He should suffer me to rot in a dungeon, or to burn at the
stake, I am still His child! I do not look upon circumstances as at all
affecting my position."
Oh Beloved, if you once begin calculating your position before God
according to your temporal circumstances, where will you be? Do not
talk any more of believing–you have given it up–and you are really
walking by sight. Perhaps many of you do not make precisely this
mistake, but there is another way of doing it. "Now," says one, "I have
believed in Jesus Christ, but I am afraid I am not saved, for I feel
tonight so depressed in spirits, and so unhappy." "Oh," says another,
"you need not tell me that I have trusted in Jesus Christ, for I am
sure I am saved, because I feel so happy."
Now you are both wrong, as wrong as wrong can be! When you said you
trusted in Christ–so far, so good. But when you said you were afraid
you were not saved because you were so unhappy, or, on the other hand,
that you were sure you were saved because you were so happy–that,
also, is walking by sight! You see you are mixing up the two principles
which will no more go together than fire and water. If I have believed
in Jesus Christ, I may at this moment, through disease of body or some
other present temporal affliction, be very heavy in spirit–but I am
saved notwithstanding. "He that believe on Him is not condemned."
I may be very troubled. I may see a great deal in myself that may make
me distressed–but if I believe, I am not condemned, and cannot be. Or,
if I have strong faith and am possessed of great joy, that is no proof
of my being saved. It is my believing that is the proof of that. I do
not hang upon my feelings–I rely simply upon Christ! I must learn the
difference between feeling and believing or else I shall always be
blundering and making mistakes. You sometimes get taken by the Lord to
the mountaintop and you have such sweet communion with Him! And then
you say–"My mountain stands firm, I shall never be moved."
Ah, poor Simpleton, you do not know what you are saying, for in a short
time you may go down into the depths and cry–"All Your waves and Your
billows have gone over me." You think that God has forgotten to be
gracious and you begin to write bitter things against yourself–whereas
that is the very time to "have faith in God"–
" When we in darkness walk, Nor feel the heavenly flame, Then is the
time to trust the Lord, And wait upon His name."
You think that you will use your candle in the daytime, but candles
were made for the night! Faith is not meant for sweet frames and
feelings only–it is meant for dark frames and horrible feelings. Do
you think that the minister has no changes? If he had no changes within
he would know himself to be a Moabite and not an Israelite, for it is
Moab that is settled on his lees!
What, then, is the way to maintain peace when there are changes within
the soul? How can we be peaceful when we are sometimes taken up to
Heaven and are another time cast down? Why, the only way is never to be
unduly elated by prosperity without or within and never to be unduly
depressed by adversity or by doubts and fears! We must learn to live
neither upon things without nor upon things within, but upon things
abovewhich are the true food for a new-born spirit. What is your title
for Heaven, Christian? Every evidence will one day be taken from you
except that which is comprised in these three words: "It is written."
The genuine foundation upon which I may rest for salvation is this:
"God has said it." It is not, "I have experienced it," for there will
often be times when I shall be afraid that my experience is a delusion.
But if "God has said it," we can never be afraid! On the oath and
Covenant of the Most High we must, every one of us, come and build! If
we do that, all shall be well with us. But this is a work so far above
human nature that human nature does not even understand it, and though
I have tried to speak very plainly, I am conscious that I have spoken
in riddles to many of you. God Himself must open the eyes to understand
what living faith means, and then He must give that living faith and
perpetuate it or else, as Israel went back in their hearts to Egypt, so
shall we go back to the garlic and onions of the things that are seen
and have but little of the manna which comes from an unseen Heaven.
And now, in closing, I would affectionately bid you take heed of one
thing. You must be sure if you walk by faith, that you walk by the
rightfaith. I mean you must be sure that it is faith in Jesus Christ.
If you put faith in your dreams, as some of you still do–or in
anything you thought you saw when you were walking, or in a voice you
thought you heard from the clouds, or in texts of Scripture coming to
your mind–if you put faith in anything else but Christ–I do not care
how good it may be or how bad it may be–you must beware, for such a
faith as that will give way. You may have a very strong faith in
everything else but Christ and perish!
There was an architect who had a plan for building a lighthouse on the
Eddystone Rock. He was quite satisfied, and as he sat by the fire
looking at his plans he was quite sure that no storm that ever came
could shake the building. He applied for the contract to build the
lighthouse and did build it–and a very singular-looking place it was.
There were a great many flags about it and ornaments and it looked very
promising. Some shook their heads a little, but he was very, very firm
and said he should like to be in it himself in the worst wind that ever
blew. He was in it at the time he wanted to be–and he was never heard
of again–nor was anything more ever seen of his lighthouse. The whole
thing was swept away. He was a man of great faith, only it happened to
be founded on mistaken principles.
Now sometimes, because there is a way of talking which looks very much
like assurance, you may say, "I am not afraid. I never had a doubt or a
fear. I know it is all right with my soul. I am not afraid of the test
of the Day of Judgment." Well, whether you wish it or not, that test
for the labor of your lighthouse will come. And if it should prove that
you built it yourself, it will be swept away–and you with it. But if
your soul takes God's Word, and reading that Word, believes it and is
willing to be taught its inward meaning–if you take that Word as it
stands, and rest upon it, and act upon it with all your heart and
soul–the worst storm that ever blew shall never shake your rock and
refuge, nor you, either! And you shall be safe when earth' s old
columns bow and all her wheels shall go to wreck and confusion.
Rest in the Lord Jehovah! Depend on the blood and righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ for all that you need! Rest wholly in Him with the
whole weight of your soul and spirit and then there shall be no fear
that what you shall see is God's face with acceptance! May God teach us
faith on the right principle, and may we walk by it, and not by sight–
and then the Lord shall give us that reward which is given to those who
walk by faith in the living God!