Faith
A Sermon
(No. 107)
Delivered on Sabbath Morning, December 14, 1856, by the
REV. C.H. SPURGEON
at the Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens.
"Without faith it is impossible to please God."–Hebrews 11:6.
THE OLD Assembly's Catechism asks, "What is the chief end of man?" and
its answer is, "To glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever." The answer
is exceedingly correct; but it might have been equally truthful if it
had been shorter. The chief end of man is "to please God;" for in so
doing–we need not say it, because it is an undoubted fact–in so doing
he will please himself. The chief end of man, we believe, in this life
and in the next, is to please God his Maker. If any man pleases God, he
does that which conduces most to his own temporal and eternal welfare.
Man cannot please God without bringing to himself a great amount of
happiness; for if any man pleases God, it is because God accepts him as
his son, gives him the blessings of adoption, pours upon him the
bounties of his grace, makes him a blessed man in this life, and
insures him a crown of everlasting life, which he shall wear, and which
shall shine with unfading lustre when the wreaths of earth's glory have
all been melted away; while, on the other hand, if a man does not
please God, he inevitably brings upon himself sorrow and suffering in
this life; he puts a worm and a rottenness in the core of all his joys;
he fills his death-pillow with thorns, and he supplies the eternal fire
with faggots of flame which shall for ever consume him. He that pleases
God, is, through Divine grace, journeying onward to the ultimate reward
of all those that love and fear God; but he who is ill-pleasing to God,
must, for Scripture has declared it, be banished from the presence of
God, and consequently from the enjoyment of happiness. If then, we be
right in saying that to please God is to be happy, the one important
question is, how can I please God? And there is something very solemn
in the utterance of our text: "Without faith it is impossible to please
God." That is to say, do what you may, strive as earnestly as you can,
live as excellently as you please, make what sacrifices you choose, be
as eminent as you can for everything that is lovely and of good repute,
yet none of these things can be pleasing to God unless they be mixed
with faith. As the Lord said to the Jews, "With all your sacrifices you
must offer salt;" so he says to us, "With all your doings you must
bring faith, or else "without faith it is impossible to please God."
This is an old law; it is as old as the first man. No sooner were Cain
and Abel born into this world, and no sooner had they attained to
manhood, than God gave a practical proclamation of this law, that
"without faith it is impossible to please him." Cain and Abel, one
bright day, erected an altar side by side with each other. Cain fetched
of the fruits of the trees and of the abundance of the soil, and placed
them upon his altar; Abel brought of the firstlings of the flock, and
laid it upon his altar. It was to be decided which God would accept.
Cain had brought his best, but he brought it without faith; Abel
brought his sacrifice, but he brought it with faith in Christ. Now,
then, which shall best succeed? The offerings are equal in value; so
far as they themselves are concerned that are alike good. Upon which
will the heavenly fire descend? Which will the Lord God consume with
the fire of his pleasure? Oh! I see Abel's offering burning, and Cain's
countenance has fallen, for unto Abel and unto his offering the Lord
had respect, but unto Cain and his offering the Lord had no respect. It
shall be the same till the last man shall be gathered into heaven.
There shall never be an acceptable offering which has not been seasoned
with faith. Good though it may be, as apparently good in itself as that
which has faith, yet, unless faith be with it, God never can, and never
will, accept it, for he here declares, "Without faith it is impossible
to please God."
I shall endeavour to pack my thoughts closely this morning, and be as
brief as I can, consistently with a full explanation of the theme. I
shall first have an exposition of what is faith; secondly, I shall have
an argument, that without faith it is impossible to be saved; and
thirdly, I shall ask a question–Have you that faith which pleases God?
We shall have, then, an exposition, an argument, and a question.
I. First, for the EXPOSITION. What is faith?
The old writers, who are by far the most sensible–for you will notice
that the books that were written about two hundred years ago, by the
old Puritans, have more sense in one line than there is in a page of
our new books, and more in a page than there is in a whole volume of
our modern divinity–the old writers tell you, that faith is made up of
three things: first knowledge, then assent, and then what they call
affiance, or the laying hold of the knowledge to which we give assent,
and making it our own by trusting in it.
1. Let us begin, then, at the beginning. The first thing in faith is
knowledge. A man cannot believe what he does not know. That is a clear,
self-evident axiom. If I have never heard of a thing in all my life,
and do not know it, I cannot believe it. And yet there are some persons
who have a faith like that of the fuller, who when he was asked what he
believed, said, "I believe what the Church believes." "What does the
Church believe?" "The Church believes what I believe." "And pray what
do you and the Church believe?" "Why we both believe the same thing."
Now this man believed nothing, except that the Church was right, but in
what he could not tell. It is idle for a man to say, "I am a believer,"
and yet not to know what he believes; but yet I have seen some persons
in this position. A violent sermon has been preached, which has stirred
up their blood; the minister has cried, "Believe! Believe! Believe!"
and the people on a sudden have got it into their heads that they were
believers, and have walked out of their place of worship and said, "I
am a believer." And if they were asked, "Pray what do you believe?"
they could not give a reason for the hope that was in them. They
believe they intend to go to chapel next Sunday; they intend to join
that class of people; they intend to be very violent in their singing
and very wonderful in their rant; therefore they believe they shall be
saved; but what they believe they cannot tell. Now, I hold no man's
faith to be sure faith unless he knows what he believes. If he says, "I
believe," and does not know what he believes, how can that be true
faith? The apostle has said, "How can they believe on him of whom they
have not heard? and how can they hear without a preacher? and how can
they preach except they be sent?" It is necessary, then, to true faith,
that a man should know something of the Bible. Believe me, this is an
age when the Bible is not so much thought of as it used to be. Some
hundred years ago the world was covered with bigotry, cruelty, and
superstition. We always run to extremes, and we have just gone to the
other extreme now. It was then said, "One faith is right, down with all
others by the rack and by the sword." now it is said, "However
contradictory our creeds may be, they are all right." If we did but use
our common sense we should know that it is not so. But some reply,
"Such-and-such a doctrine need not be preached and need not be
believed."' Then, sir, if it need not be preached, it need not be
revealed. You impugn the wisdom of God, when you say a doctrine is
unnecessary; for you do as much as say that God has revealed something
which was not necessary, and he would be as unwise to do more than was
necessary, as if he had done less than was necessary. We believe that
every doctrine of God's Word ought to be studied by men, and that their
faith should lay hold of the whole matter of the Sacred Scriptures, and
more especially upon all that part of Scripture which concerns the
person of our all-blessed Redeemer. There must be some degree of
knowledge before there can be faith. "Search the Scriptures," then,
"for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which
testify of Christ;" and by searching and reading cometh knowledge, and
by knowledge cometh faith, and through faith cometh salvation.
2. But a man may know a thing, and yet not have faith. I may know a
thing, and yet not believe it. Therefore assent must go with faith:
that is to say, what we know we must also agree unto, as being most
certainly the verity of God. Now, in order to faith, it is necessary
that I should not only read the Scriptures and understand them, but
that I should receive them in my soul as being the very truth of the
living God, and I should devoutly with my whole heart receive the whole
of the Scripture as being inspired of the Most High, and the whole of
the doctrine which he requires me to believe to my salvation. You are
not allowed to halve the Scriptures, and to believe what you please;
you are not allowed to believe the Scripture with a half-heartedness,
for if you do this wilfully, you have not the faith which looks alone
to Christ. True faith gives its full assent to the Scriptures; it takes
a page and says, "No matter what is in the page, I believe it;" it
turns over the next chapter ands says, "Herein are some things hard to
be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable do wrest, as
they do also the other Scriptures, to their destruction; but hard
though it be, I believe it." It sees the Trinity; it cannot understand
the Trinity in Unity, but it believes it. It sees an atoning sacrifice;
there is something difficult in the thought, but it believes it; and
whatever it be which it sees in revelation, it devoutly puts its lips
to the book, and says, "I love it all; I give my full, free and hearty
assent to every word of it, whether it be the threatening or the
promise, the proverb, the precept, or the blessing. I believe that
since it is all the Word of God it is all most assuredly true."
Whosoever would be saved must know the Scriptures, and must give full
assent unto them.
3. But a man may have all this, and yet not possess true faith; for the
chief part of faith lies in the last head, namely, in an affiance to
the truth; not the believing it merely, but the taking hold of it as
being ours, and in the resting on it for salvation. Recumbency on the
truth was the word which the old preachers used. You will understand
that word. Leaning on it; saying, "This is truth, I trust my salvation
on it." Now, true faith, in its very essence rests in this–a leaning
upon Christ. It will not save me to know that Christ is a Saviour; but
it will save me to trust him to be my Saviour. I shall not be delivered
from the wrath to come by believing that his atonement is sufficient,
but I shall be saved by making that atonement my trust, my refuge, and
my all. The pith, the essence of faith lies in this–a casting one-self
on the promise. It is not the lifebuoy on board the ship that saves the
man when he is drowning, nor is it his belief that it is an excellent
and successful invention. No! He must have it around his loins, or his
hand upon it, or else he will sink. To use an old and hackneyed
illustration: suppose a fire in the upper room of a house, and the
people gathered in the street. A child is in the upper story: how is he
to escape? He cannot leap down–that were to be dashed to pieces. A
strong man comes beneath, and cries, "Drop into my arms." It is a part
of faith to know that the man is there; it is another part of faith to
believe that the man is strong; but the essence of faith lies in the
dropping down into the man's arms. That is the proof of faith, and the
real pith and essence of it. So, sinner, thou art to know that Christ
died for sin; thou art also to understand that Christ is able to save,
and thou art to believe that; but thou art not saved, unless in
addition to that, thou puttest thy trust in him to be thy Saviour, and
to be thine for ever. As Hart says in his hymn, which really expresses
the gospel–
"Venture on him, venture wholly;
Let no other trust intrude;
None but Jesus
Can do helpless sinners good."
This is the faith which saves; and however unholy may have been your
lives up to this hour, this faith, if given to you at this moment, will
blot out all your sins, will change your nature, make you a new man in
Christ Jesus, lead you to live a holy life, and make your eternal
salvation as secure as if an angel should take you on his bright wings
this morning, and carry you immediately to heaven. Have you that faith?
That is the one all-important question; for while with faith men are
saved, without it men are damned. As Brooks hath said in one of his
admirable works, "He that believeth on the Lord Jesus Christ, shall be
saved, be his sins never so many; but he that believeth not in the Lord
Jesus must be damned, be his sins never so few." Hast thou faith? For
the text declares, "Without faith it is impossible to please God."
II. And now we come to the ARGUMENT,–why, without faith, we cannot be
saved.
Now there are some gentlemen present who are saying, "Now we shall see
whether Mr. Spurgeon has any logic in him." No, you won't, sirs,
because I never pretended to exercise it. I hope I have the logic which
can appeal to men's hearts; but I am not very prone to use the less
powerful logic of the head, when I can win the heart in another manner.
But if it were needful, I should not be afraid to prove that I know
more of logic and of many other things than the little men who
undertake to censure me. It were well if they knew how to hold their
tongues, which is at least a fine part of rhetoric. My argument shall
be such as I trust will appeal to the heart and conscience, although it
may not exactly please those who are always so fond of syllogistic
demonstration–
"Who could a hair divide
Between the west and north-west side."
1. "Without faith it is impossible to please God." And I gather it from
the fact that there never has been the case of a man recorded in
Scripture who did please God without faith. The 11th chapter of Hebrews
is the chapter of the men who pleased God. Listen to their names: "By
faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice;" "By faith
Enoch was translated;" "By faith Noah built an ark;" "By faith Abraham
went out into a place that he should afterwards receive;" "By faith he
sojourned in the land of promise;" "By faith Sarah bare Isaac;" "By
faith Abraham offered up Isaac;" "By faith Moses gave up the wealth of
Egypt;" "By faith Isaac blessed Jacob;" "By faith Jacob blessed the
sons of Joseph;" "By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the
departure of the children of Israel;" "By faith the Red Sea was dried
up;" "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down;" "By faith the harlot
Rahab was saved;" "And what more shall I say? for the time would fail
me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae, of
David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets." But all these were men of
faith. Others mentioned in Scripture, have done something; but God did
not accept them. Men have humbled themselves, and yet God has not saved
them. Ahab did, and yet his sins were never forgiven. Men have
repented, and yet have not been saved, because their's was the wrong
repentance. Juda repented, and went and hanged himself, and was not
saved. Men have confessed their sins, and have not been saved. Saul did
it. He said to David, "I have sinned against thee, my son David;" and
yet he went on as he did before. Multitudes have confessed the name of
Christ, and have done many marvellous things, and yet they have never
been pleasing to God, from this simple reason, that they had not faith.
And if there be not one mentioned in Scripture, which is the history of
some thousand years, it is not likely that in the other two thousand
years of the world's history there would have been one, when there was
not one during the first four thousand.
2. But the next argument is, faith is the stooping grace, and nothing
can make a man stoop without faith. Now, unless man does stoop, his
sacrifice cannot be accepted. The angels know this. When they praise
God, they do it veiling their faces with their wings. The redeemed know
it. When they praise God, they cast their crowns before his feet. Now,
a man who has not faith proves that he cannot stoop; for he has not
faith for this reason, because he is too proud to believe. He declares
he will not yield his intellect, he will not become a child and believe
meekly what God tells him to believe. He is too proud, and he cannot
enter heaven, because the door of heaven is so low that no one can
enter in by it unless they will bow their heads. There never was a man
who could walk into salvation erect. We must go to Christ on our bended
knees; for though he is a door big enough for the greatest sinner to
come in, he is a door so low that men must stoop if they would be
saved. Therefore it is that faith is necessary, because a want of faith
is certain evidence of absence of humility.
3. But now for other reasons. Faith is necessary to salvation, because
we are told in Scripture that works cannot save. To tell a very
familiar story, and even the poorest may not misunderstand what I say:
a minister was one day going to preach. He climbed a hill on his road.
Beneath him lay the villages, sleeping in their beauty, with the
corn-fields motionless in the sunshine; but he did not look at them,
for his attention was arrested by a woman standing at her door, and
who, upon seeing him, came up to him with the greatest anxiety, and
said, "O sir, have you any keys about you? I have broken the key of my
drawers, and there are some things I must get directly." Said he, "I
have no keys." She was disappointed, expecting that everyone would have
some keys. "But suppose," he said, "I had some keys, they might not fit
your lock, and therefore you could not get the articles you want. But
do not distress yourself, wait till some one else comes up. But," said
he, wishing to improve the occasion, "have you ever heard of the key of
heaven?" "Ah! yes," she said, "I have lived long enough, and I have
gone to Church long enough, to know that if we work hard and get our
bread by the sweat of our brow, and act well towards our neighbours,
and behave, as the catechism says, lowly and reverently to all our
betters, and if we do our duty in that station of life in which it has
pleased God to place us, and say our prayers regularly, we shall be
saved." "Ah!" said he, "my good woman, that is a broken key, for you
have broken the commandments, you have not fulfilled all your duties.
It is a good key, but you have broken it." "Pray, sir," said she,
believing that he understood the matter, and looking frightened, "What
have I left out?" "Why," said he, the key of heaven is at his girdle;
he openeth, and no man shutteth; he shutteth, and no man openeth?" And
explaining it more fully to her, he said, "It is Christ, and Christ
alone, that can open heaven to you, and not your good works." "What,
minister," said she, "are our good works useless then?" "No," said he,
"not after faith. If you believe first, you may have as many good works
as you please; but if you believe, you will never trust in them, for if
you trust in them you have spoilt them, and they are not good works any
longer. Have as many good works as you please, still put your trust
wholly in the Lord Jesus Christ, for if you do not, your key will never
unlock heaven's gate." So then, my hearers, we must have true faith,
because the old key of works is so broken by us all, that we never
shall enter Paradise by it. If any of you pretend that you have no
sins, to be very plain with you, you deceive yourselves, and the truth
is not in you. If you conceive that by your good works you shall enter
heaven, never was there a more fell delusion, and you shall find at the
last great day, that your hopes were worthless, and that, like sear
leaves from the autumn trees, your noblest doings shall be blown away,
or kindled into a flame within you yourselves must suffer for ever.
Take heed of your good works; get them after faith, but remember, the
way to be saved is simply to believe in Jesus Christ.
4. Again: without faith it is impossible to be saved, and to please
God, because without faith there is no union to Christ. Now, union to
Christ, is indispensable to our salvation. If I come before God's
throne with my prayers, I shall never get them answered, unless I bring
Christ with me. The Molossians of old, when they could not get a favour
from their king, adopted a singular expedient; they took the king's
only son in their arms, and falling on their knees cried, "O king, for
thy son's sake, grant our request." He smiled and said, "I deny nothing
to those who plead my son's name." It is so with God. He will deny
nothing to them man who comes, having Christ at his elbow; but if he
comes alone he must be cast away. Union to Christ is, after all, the
great point in salvation. Let me tell you a story to illustrate this:
the stupendous falls of Niagara have been spoken of in every part of
the world; but while they are marvellous to hear of, and wonderful as a
spectacle, they have been very destructive to human life, when by
accident any have been carried down the cataract. Some years ago, two
men, a bargeman and a collier, were in a boat, and found themselves
unable to manage it, it being carried so swiftly down the current that
they must both inevitably be borne down and dashed to pieces. Persons
on the shore saw them, but were unable to do much for their rescue. At
last, however, one man was saved by floating a rope to him, which he
grasped. The same instant that the rope came into his hand a log
floated by the other man. The thoughtless and confused bargeman instead
of seizing the rope laid hold on the log. It was a fatal mistake; they
were both in imminent peril, but the one was drawn to shore because he
had a connection with the people on the land, whilst the other,
clinging to the log, was borne irresistibly along, and never heard of
afterwards. Do you not see that here is a practical illustration? Faith
is a connection with Christ. Christ is on the shore, so to speak,
holding the rope of faith, and if we lay hold of it with the hand of
our confidence, he pulls us to shore; but our good works having no
connection with Christ, are drifted along down the gulf of fell
despair. Grapple them as tightly as we may, even with hooks of steel,
they cannot avail us in the least degree. You will see, I am sure, what
I wish to show to you. Some object to anecdotes; I shall use them till
they have done objecting to them. The truth is never more powerfully
set forth to men than by telling them, as Christ did, a story of a
certain man with two sons, or a certain householder who went a journey,
divided his substance, and gave to some ten talents, to another one.
Faith, then, is an union with Christ. Take care you have it; for if
not, cling to your works, and there you go floating down the stream!
Cling to your works, and there you go dashing down the gulf! Lost
because your works have no hold on Christ and no connection with the
blessed Redeemer! But thou, poor sinner, with all thy sin about thee,
if the rope is round thy loins, and Christ has hold of it, fear not!
"His honor is engaged to save
The meanest of his sheep;
All that his heavenly Father gave
His hands securely keep."
5. Just one more argument, and then I have done with it. "Without faith
it is impossible to please God," because it is impossible to persevere
in holiness without faith. What a multitude of fair-weather Christians
we have in this age! Many Christians resemble the nautilus, which in
fine smooth weather swims on the surface of the sea, in a splendid
little squadron, like the mighty ships; but the moment the first breath
of wind ruffles the waves, they take in their sails and sink into the
depths. Many Christians are the same. In good company, in evangelical
drawing-rooms, in pious parlors, in chapels and vestries, they are
tremendously religious; but if they are exposed to a little ridicule,
if some should smile at them and call them methodist, or presbyterian,
or some name of reproach, it is all over with their religion till the
next fine day. Then when it is fine weather, and religion will answer
their purpose, up go the sails again, and they are as pious as before.
Believe me, that kind of religion is worse than irreligion. I do like a
man to be thoroughly what he is–a downright man; and if a man does not
love God, do not let him say he does; but if he be a true Christian, a
follower of Jesus, let him say it and stand up for it; there is nothing
to be ashamed of in it; the only thing to be ashamed of is to be
hypocritical. Let us be honest to our profession, and it will be our
glory. Ah! what would you do without faith in times of persecution? You
good and pious people that have no faith, what would you do if the
stake were again erected in Smithfield, and if once more the fires
consumed the saints to ashes–if the Lollards' toward were again
opened, if the rack were again piled, or if even the stocks were used,
as they have been used by a Protestant Church as witness the
persecution of my predecessor, Benjamin Keach, who was once set in the
stocks at Aylesbury, for writing a book against infant baptism. If even
the mildest form of persecution were revived, how would the people be
scattered abroad! And some of the shepherds would be leaving their
flocks. Another anecdote now, and I hope it will lead you to see the
necessity of faith, while it may lead me on insensibly to the last part
of my discourse. A slaveholding American on one occasion buying a
slave, said to the person of whom he was purchasing him, "Tell me
honestly what are his faults." Said the seller, "He has no faults that
I am aware of but one, and that one is, he will pray." "Ah!" said the
purchaser, "I don't like that, but I know something that will cure him
of it pretty soon." So the next night Cuffey was surprised by his
master in the plantation, while in earnest prayer, praying for his new
master, and his master's wife and family. The man stood and listened,
but said nothing at that time; but the next morning he called Cuffey,
and said, "I do not want to quarrel with you, my man, but I'll have no
praying on my premises: so you just drop it." "Massa," said he "me
canna leave off praying; me must pray." "I'll teach you to pray, if you
are going to keep on at it." "Massa, me must keep on." "Well, then,
I'll give you five-and-twenty lashes a day till you leave off." "Massa,
if you give me fifty, I must pray." "If that's the way you are saucy to
your master, you shall have it directly." So tying him up he gave him
five-and-twenty lashes, and asked him if he would pray again. "Yes,
massa, me must pray always, me canna leave off." The master look
astonished; he could not understand how a poor saint could keep on
praying, when it seemed to do no good, but only brought persecution
upon him. He told his wife of it. His wife said, "Why can't you let the
poor man pray? He does his work very well; you and I do not care about
praying, but there's no harm in letting him pray, if he gets on with
his work." "But I don't like it," said the master, "he almost
frightened me to death. You should see how he looked at me." "Was he
angry?" "No, I should not have minded that; but after I had beaten him,
he looked at me with tears in his eyes, but as if he pitied me more
than himself." That night the master could not sleep; he tossed to and
fro on his bed, his sins were brought to his remembrance; he remembered
he had persecuted a saint of God. Rising in his bed, he said, "Wife,
will you pray for me?" "I never prayed in my life," said she "I cannot
pray for you." "I am lost," he said, "if somebody does not pray for me;
I cannot pray for myself." "I don't know any one on the estate that
knows how to pray, except Cuffey," said his wife. The bell was rung,
and Cuffey was brought in. Taking hold of his black servant's hand, the
master said, "Cuffey, can you pray for your master?" "Massa," said he,
"me been praying for you eber since you flogged me, and me mean to pray
always for you." Down went Cuffey on his knees, and poured out his soul
in tears, and both husband and wife were converted. That negro could
not have done this without faith. Without faith he would have gone away
directly, and said, "Massa, me leave off praying; me no like de white
man's whip." But because he persevered through his faith, the Lord
honored him, and gave him his master's soul for his hire.
III. And now in conclusion, THE QUESTION, the vital question. Dear
hearer, have you faith? Dost thou believe on the Lord Jesus Christ with
all thy heart? If so, thou mayest hope to be saved. Ay, thou mayest
conclude with absolute certainty that thou shalt never see perdition.
Have you faith? Shall I help you to answer that question? I will give
you three tests, as briefly as ever I can, not to weary you, and then
farewell this morning. He that has faith has renounced his own
righteousness. If thou puttest one atom of trust in thyself thou hast
no faith; if thou dost place even a particle of reliance upon anything
else but what Christ did, thou hast no faith. If thou dost trust in thy
works, then thy works are anti-christ, and Christ and anti-christ can
never go together. Christ will have all or nothing; he must be a whole
Saviour, or none at all. If, then, you have faith, you can say,
"Nothing in my hands I bring,
Simply to the cross I cling."
The true faith may be known by this, that it begets a great esteem, for
the person of Christ. Dost thou love Christ? Couldst thou die for him?
Dost thou seek to serve him? Dost thou love his people? Canst thou say,
"Jesus, I love thy charming name,
'Tis music to my ear."
Oh! if thou dost not love Christ thou dost not believe in him; for to
believe in Christ begets love. And yet more: he that has true faith
will have true obedience. If a man says he has faith, and has no works,
he lies; if any man declares that he believes on Christ, and yet does
not lead a holy life, he makes a mistake; for while we do not trust in
good works, we know that faith always begets good works. Faith is the
father of holiness, and he has not the parent who loves not the child.
God's blessings are blessings with both his hands. In the one hand he
gives pardon; but in the other hand he always gives holiness; and no
man can have the one unless he has the other.
And now, dear hearers, shall I down upon my knees, and entreat you for
Christ's sake to answer this question in your own silent chamber: Have
you faith? Oh! answer it, Yes, or No. Leave off saying, "I do not
know," or "I do not care." Ah! you will care, one day, when the earth
is reeling, and the world is tossing to and fro; ye will care when God
shall summon you to judgment, and when he shall condemn the faithless
and the unbelieving. Oh! that ye were wise–that ye would care now, and
if any of you feel your need of Christ, let me beg of you, for Christ's
sake, now to seek faith in him who is exalted on high to give
repentance and remission, and who, if he has given you repentance, will
give you remission too. Oh sinners, who know your sins! "Believe on the
Lord Jesus, and ye shall be saved." Cast yourselves upon his love and
blood, his doing and his dying, his miseries and his merits; and if you
do this you shall never fall, but you shall be saved now, and saved in
that great day when not to be saved will be horrible indeed. "Turn ye,
turn ye; why will ye die, O house of Israel?" Lay hold on him, touch
the hem of his garment, and ye shall be healed. May God help you so to
do; for Christ's sake! Amen and Amen.