Why Is Faith So Feeble?
A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, MAY 22, 1887,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"And He said unto them, Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have
no faith?" Mark 4:40.
LAST Lord's-Day morning our music was pitched upon a high key. We
sought after great faith in the Master's name [Sermon #1963, Volume
33–The Search for Faith.] It struck me that I might, perhaps, have
discouraged some of the feebler sort and that, therefore, it would be
right, this morning, to follow up that sermon by endeavoring to
encourage those of weak faith to exercise it until it becomes
stronger–and also to invite those who, as yet have no faith, to
venture in the direction of childlike trust.
With this brief introduction, let us come at once to our subject.
I should not wonder if the disciples considered that they had much
faith in Jesus, their Master and Lord. They had been with Him all day,
listening to His teaching, believing it even when they did not
understand it. They had afterwards gathered about Him in private to
listen to His fuller explanations and they were thankful to be favored
with those expositions in which their Lord became their private Tutor.
I do not question that they, each one of them, esteemed himself a firm
believer in Jesus. How could he tolerate a doubt? But, my Brothers and
Sisters, we have, none of us, any idea how scanty our faith really is.
When trial comes, the heap from the threshing floor becomes very small
beneath the influence of the winnowing fan. After a day of calm service
with Jesus, a storm came on and that storm tested their faith and left
so little of it that Jesus said to them, "Why are you so fearful? How
is it that you have no faith?" Remember that we have no more faith at
any time than we have in the hour of trial. All that which will not
bear to be tested is mere carnal confidence. Fair-weather faith is no
faith–the only real faith in Jesus Christ is that which can trust Him
when it cannot trace Him–and believe Him when it cannot see Him.
This storm was a special trial to the disciples because it was so
exceedingly severe. They had often been tossed upon that lake, but this
time the elements were moved to an excessive tumult–the winds poured
down in all their force and fury. The war of Nature raged around their
devoted boat. When tribulation is heavier than usual, it is a serious
test to faith. When we appear to be tried above the common measure of
men, the weak ones are full of trembling and even the strong fall upon
their knees and cry, "Lord, I believe! Help You my unbelief."
The storm was the more trying because it came upon them when they were
in the path of duty. Their Master had bid them cross the sea–they were
not upon a holiday trip. They had not even followed the suggestion of a
Brother who had said, "I go a-fishing," but they were steering under
their great Captain's orders. They were doing right and suffering
trouble in consequence. This has often perplexed good men. I have heard
a Believer say, "I prospered more before I was a Christian than I have
since. Things went smoothly with me before I knew the Lord. How can
these things be? The very fact of my endeavoring to do what is right
and laboring to maintain my integrity has become the cause of my
severest trial." This is no new thing upon the earth! The living child
of God will have to swim against the stream. Not without fighting will
he win his crown!
Moreover, it was an item which helped to try their faith, that the
storm assailed them when Jesus was in the ship. Had the Lord been
absent, they could have understood it–but He was in the vessel with
them! How could the sea be so boisterous with Christ in the vessel? If
I am out of communion with Christ, I can understand why I am chastened.
But if I am walking in conscious nearness and fellowship with Him and I
am even then tried and perplexed, how can I account for it? Herein is
the test of faith! "Whom the Lord loves, He chastens, and scourges
every son whom He receives." This we forget and fancy that trials must
mean anger, when, indeed, they may be tokens and tests of love!
It may have seemed to them, also, that the storm was very untimely
since there were with Jesus many other little ships–and all those
boats were caught in the same storm. We are always anxious for those
who come to hear the Gospel, lest anything should prejudice them
against it. The disciples may have feared that such ill weather would
drive away from Christ those hearers who might otherwise have become
converts. If they met with a storm so soon after rowing close to Jesus,
they might judge Him to be another Jonah and resolve to give the
Galilean Preacher a wide berth next time. I know how I like to see fine
weather at an open-air service and a continuance of it till the country
people can get home. And I suspect that the disciples felt much the
same. They did not wish their Lord to be looked upon as a stormy sea
bird, or a man of evil omen–and you know that superstition was strong
in those days. Had you and I been there, we would have said, "Gracious
Lord, let us have a calm, that those who have come to You in their
boats may get home in comfort. Cause this wonderful service by the sea
to end pleasantly, that the next time You come this way, the people may
gather in still larger numbers to hear You." Sometimes the strange
occasion of the trial makes it harder to bear. Trial is never welcome
and sometimes it is peculiarly disagreeable.
See, my Brothers and Sisters, how these disciples came out of the
tempest! They went into the trial well enough, but they were in an evil
plight before long. We have seen a bird of glossy plumage, bearing half
the colors of the rainbow on its breast, glorifying itself in the
sunlight–and we have admired its beauty. But soon the heavens have
poured down pitiless showers and we have seen our brave bird in quite
another form. Dripping and draggled, he has sought ignominious shelter.
You would hardly have known him to be the same creature, whose crowing
challenged all his fellows! Truly his glory had departed. Such are we,
as a rule, after severe trial. We make a fair show in the flesh till we
are tried–and then our feathers cling around us and we droop and hide
till our Master has to say to us–"Why are you so fearful? How is it
that you have no faith?"
These two questions of the Master we will use, this morning, with a
view to spiritual profit–may the Spirit of God make it so! First, we
shall view the text as the exclamation of pity– "Why are you so
fearful?" Secondly, we shall regard it as the censure of love– "How is
it that you have no faith?" And, thirdly, we shall consider it as the
enquiry of wisdom– "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no
faith?" May our threefold meditation richly profit us all!
I. We will first use the questions as THE EXCLAMATION OF PITY. The dear
Master waking up from His sleep, calm as if it were a bright summer's
morning, though it was the dead of night and the midst of a storm,
looks upon them with wonder, finding them so strangely different from
Himself. He asks, in all the calmness of His own brave spirit, "Why are
you so fearful?" He pitied them and He pitied them, I think, for
several reasons.
First, that their fears had made them so unlike Himself. They were His
servants and they should have been as their Master. They were learning
of Him and they should have put in practice the lessons of His example.
He was delightfully quiet and the contagion of His peace ought to have
affected them. He was always restful in Himself and, therefore, He gave
rest to those who came to Him–yet these were missing the blessing–and
so He compassionately cried, "Why are you so fearful?" He marveled not
that they were fearful in such a hurricane, but He was sorry that they
were so fearful as to act as if they had no faith. They were little
like Him as yet, although the great design of all His teaching was to
make them like Himself. Our blessed Master must often look upon us,
dear Friends, with much pity and grieve over us, that after being with
Him so long–for some of us are getting gray in His service–we still
fall so far short of His Glory! We are predestinated to be conformed to
His image, but the process is a slow one. After copying His
handwriting, our own writing is still greatly marred with crooks and
turns. Each page of the copybook of life is marred with errors and
blots and, therefore, the great Teacher pities His poor scholars. How
is it that we are so fearful when Christ is so calm? Is this our
imitation of Jesus? Our doubts, fears, alarms and mistrusts of God–are
these such as a follower of Jesus should exhibit?
He pitied them, next, because it made them so unlike themselves. They
were men, but their fears unmanned them. They were fishermen, but you
would have thought them mere landsmen if you observed their fears. Like
frightened children, they cried, "Master, care You not that we perish?"
They were by no means overly wise, but now they were at their wits'
end. When you and I get fearful, how foolishly we think and speak and
act! We could have done well enough if faith had steadied us, but
unbelief makes us stagger and reel to and fro. We could have weathered
the storm had we not given way upon the point of confidence in God.
But, failing there, we became weak as water. How are the mighty fallen!
Alas, the children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turn back
in the day of battle! Those who once were patterns of
courage become cowards when faith fails. Fathers in Israel act like
babes in Grace when faith ebbs out! Our Lord is grieved for us when He
sees us fall so low that instead of being like He, we are not even like
ourselves!
Jesus pitied them, again, because their fears made them so unhappy.
Terror was depicted on their countenances. They were white as a sheet
when they saw that the boat could not be baled, but was evidently
filling and sinking. What caused their terror? Were they afraid of
death? Their fears were causing them more pain than death, itself,
could have cost them! We "feel a thousand deaths in fearing one." To
die is nothing compared with fearing to die. All the agony of death
lies in the foresight of it–death itself is the end of all agony!
Death is not the storm, but the quietus of the disturbing elements!
Through death souls enter into rest. The Apostles were made wretched by
their fears. I know some Christian people who suffer greatly from the
same cause. I know a man who lives where I live and stands in this
pulpit where I stand, who has to confess his own faults this day, for
he might enjoy unbroken peace were it not that in the care and labor of
this great Church and all its various agencies, he looks to the
difficulties and the necessities of the case–and to his own
weak-ness–and then fears rush in. Beloved, we must not forever be thus
childishly timorous. Let us strive after a courageous bearing. Let us
crush the eggs of our woes while they lie in the nest of our unbelief.
Our sorrows are mostly manufactured at home, beaten out upon the anvil
of unbelief with the hammer of our foreboding. May the Lord pardon us!
Jesus pities us that we should lacerate ourselves by our needless fears
and miss the joy of a restful faith.
Again, the Master felt pity for them because their fears made them so
unkind. Does unbelief make the timid unkind? I am sure it does. The
disciples were ungenerous to their sleeping Master. If they had only
considered a little, they would have said, "No, do not wake Him! He has
had so weary a day. The cares of the world rest on Him. He is a Man of
Sorrows and acquainted with grief. If He can sleep, let Him sleep. Let
us sooner suffer than disturb Him." If they must wake Him, might they
not have addressed Him in fitter words? To say, "Master, care You not
that we perish?" was fretful and wicked. It was enough to wound their
Lord's tender heart to be thus spoken to. Our unbelief also has a
tendency to make us unkind. We are not tender of others when we are
disturbed about ourselves.
Here let me digress to teach a lesson of pitying love. It is well to
recognize that sour speeches often proceed from a sad heart. It is wise
to view ungenerous language as one of the symptoms of disease and
rather pity the sufferer than become irritated with the offensive
speech. It is a pity to take much notice of what some sufferers say,
for they will be sorry for it soon enough. If we knew the real reason
for many a harsh word, our sympathy would prevent even momentary anger.
Our Lord overlooked the petulance of the Apostles, for He did not say,
"Why are you so unkind?" No, He enquired, "Why are you so fearful?" In
every case let us cure unkindness with double love. I heard, yesterday,
of a wise old Welsh minister of a generous spirit who was afflicted
with a horrible deacon–and if a deacon is unkind, he can wound
terribly. This deacon was most perverse and cruel–and tormented the
old gentleman in all sorts of ways.
At last the deacon fell sick, after having said certain dreadful things
which were more bitter than even his usual gall and wormwood. The
patient pastor soon went to see him and on the road he bought some of
the best oranges and took them with him. "Brother Jones," he said, "I
am sorry you are so ill. I have come to see you and I have brought you
a few oranges." Brother Jones was very much astonished at this kind act
and had not much to say on the matter. The minister gently talked on
and said, "I think it would refresh you to eat one of these. I will
peel you one." So he went on with peeling the orange and talked
pleasantly with him. Then he divided the fruit very neatly and handed
the sick man a nice tempting piece in the gentlest possible manner.
The bitter-spirited man ate it and began to melt a little–the
conversation became hearty and the prayer was pleasant. Brother Jones
was getting better in more ways than one! An outsider, who knew all
about Brother Jones and his ill-humor, could hardly believe that the
minister had acted thus to one who had constantly opposed and slandered
him so foully. And so he asked, "Did you really go and see that cruel
old Jones?" "Oh yes," he said, "I went to see him. I was bound to do
so." "And did you take him some oranges?" "Oh yes, I took him some
oranges. I was glad to do so." "And did you sit down by his bedside and
peel him an orange?" "Yes, I peeled him an orange and I was pleased to
see him enjoy it, for I have learned, Brother, that when a man is
afflicted with a very bad temper, an orange is a good thing for him to
take. At any rate, it is a good thing for me to give."
The lesson is–if you wish to cure a man of ill-feeling, be very kind
to him. View unkind and petulant speeches as symptoms of a disease for
which the best medicine is not a dose of bitters, but an orange! Yet,
Beloved, if you have used such speeches, yourself, do not repeat them.
Cease from being so fearful–that you may cease from being so
ill-humored.
Our blessed Master did not find fault with the unkindness of His
disciples, but He went to the root of the evil by silencing their
fears. He said to them, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you
have no faith?"
Here you perceive our Lord's pity. I wish I could speak the words as He
spoke them–then you would wonder at their surprising tenderness!
II. But now, secondly, these words were spoken, also, as THE CENSURE OF
LOVE. They were intended to convey a measure of gentle rebuke to their
mistrustful hearts.
Their unbelief was grievous to the Lord Jesus. They ought to have
believed Him and it was an injury to His perfect love that they should
so readily mistrust Him, or even mistrust Him at all. How could they
think that He would let them sink? He was in the vessel with them–did
they suppose that, after all, He was a mere pretender to Deity and that
the ship would go down with Him on board? Beloved, let us smite upon
our breasts to think that we should ever have caused a pang of heart to
that dear Lord who yielded up His life for our salvation! He must not
be doubted any more–it is wanton cruelty! What if I call it "a
superfluity of naughtiness" to doubt Him whose life and death are
crowded with Infallible proofs of His unchanging love to us?
Our Lord questioned His Apostles thus, not only because their unbelief
grieved Him, but because it was most unreasonable. The most
unreasonable thing in the world is to doubt God! Faith is pure reason.
That may seem a strange paradox, but it is literally true–nothing is
so reasonable as to believe the Word of God–who cannot err or lie.
The fears of the tempest-tossed disciples were unreasonable because
they were contrary to their own belief. They believed that Jesus was
sent of God upon a glorious mission–how could that mission be
accomplished if He was drowned? If they sank in the sea, He must sink,
too, for they were embarked in the same boat. Ought not the faith they
had in His Divine mission to have kept them hopeful even in the worst
moment of the storm? My Brothers and Sisters, be not inconsistent with
what you believe. Do not deny your own creed, however slender it may
be, for that is irrational!
Moreover, their fears were opposed to their own experience–they had
seen their Lord work miracles–and miracles for them, too. They had
already beheld abundant proofs of His power, Godhead and of His care on
their behalf. Is not this true of us, also? Has the Lord ever failed
us? Has He not helped us to this day? Are you going to fly in the teeth
of all your past experience? Is all that you have ever believed of God
a fiction? Have you been under a gross delusion up to this day? You
that are advanced in years, how can you doubt? With so many Ebenezers
to look back upon, you ought to rise above all fear.
Their fears were altogether inconsistent with their observation. They
had seen Jesus heal the sick and feed the multitudes. I am not quite
sure how many of His miracles had already been worked before them, but
certainly enough for their observation to compel them to believe that
He was able to save them from death. How, then, could they doubt? But
have not we, also, seen enough of the finger of God to be confident in
the day of trouble? If we believe not, we dare not lay the blame upon
the lack of evidence. To mistrust is irrational because it is contrary
to all the experience of our hearts and the observation of our eyes.
Moreover, their unbelief was contrary to their common sense. Some
people make a great deal of common sense and well they may, for it is
the most uncommon of all the senses! Was it reasonable for these men to
think that He, who could foresee the future, would take them on board a
ship when He foreknew that a storm would wreck them? Would so kind a
Leader have taken them to sea to drown them? Was it reasonable to think
that He who was so favored of God would be left to perish? Would He
have gone to sleep if they had really been in danger? Was it reasonable
to believe that the King of Israel was about to be drowned, even He
whom they knew to be the Light of the world? Our unbelief, my Brethren,
seldom deserves to be reasoned with! Our fears are often intensely
silly and when we get over them and look back upon them, we are full of
shame that we should have been so foolish. Our Lord kindly censured
their unbelief because it was unreasonable.
In very truth their unbelief deserved censure because it sprang from
low views of the Lord Jesus. When they, afterwards ,saw what wonders He
worked upon the deep, they said one to another, "What manner of Man is
this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him!" Should they not have
known that beforehand? If they had remembered it, would they have been
so overwhelmed with fear? Oh that we thought more of Jesus! We cannot
think too much of Him. If we took Him to be what He really is–if we
regarded Him as most truly God–we would rest in Him and say farewell
to suspicions and complaints. If Jesus were greater in our esteem, our
lives would be far grander!
Jesus censured His friends because He foresaw that such unbelief as
theirs would make them unfit for their future lives. That ship was the
symbol of the Church of Christ and the crew of the ship were the
Apostles of Christ. The storm represented, in parable, the persecutions
which the Church would have to endure, and they, if they were cast down
as cowards in a storm on the paltry lake of Galilee, would be proving
themselves altogether unfit for those more tremendous spiritual storms
which, in later years, tossed the Church and mingled earth and Hell in
dire confusion. Peter and James and John and the rest of them were to
steer the ship of the Church of God through seas of blood and to stand
at the helm in the midst of hurricanes of error. And, therefore,
fearfulness was a sad evil because it would render them unfit for their
solemn task. Jesus might have said to them, "If you have run with the
footmen and they have wearied you, what will you do when you contend
with horses? If these winds and waves have been too much for you, what
will you do when you wrestle with principalities and powers and
spiritual wickednesses in high places? If natural causes destroy your
peace, how will spiritual influences distract you?"
Brothers and Sisters, our present trials may be a training ground for
more serious conflicts. We do not know what we have yet to endure! The
adversities of today are a preparatory school for the higher learning.
If we do not play the man now, what shall we do, by-and-by? If because
of some little domestic discomfort we are ready to give up, what shall
we do in the swellings of Jordan? If a little toil oppresses us, what
shall we do when the death sweat trickles from our brow? My Christian
Brothers, let us attentively hear our Lord as He lovingly rebukes us!
Let us shake off our fears and resolve that by His Grace we will have
no more of them, but will trust and not be afraid. Oh, for calm hope
and a childlike repose on the love which cannot fail! I have hurried
over ground where I might profitably have tarried because I want to
have an earnest word with you upon the third point.
III. We may now regard these words as ENQUIRY OF WISDOM. It is always
good to probe a sorrow to the bottom if there is any hope of finding
out its cause and putting it away. If you are in fear, you may rise
above it by removing its cause. If there is clearly no reason for fear,
you will cease to fear–but if there is a cause for fearfulness, you
can deal with it. My utterances will be as short as telegrams–please
enlarge on them at your leisure.
"How is it that you have no faith?" This is the enquiry. Is it lack of
knowledge? If the disciples had known Jesus better, they would have had
no fear, but would have exhibited firm faith. Is it so with any of you?
Are you badly taught in the Gospel? Do you as yet know only half the
doctrines? Have you a cloudy view of the Covenant of Grace and of the
great salvation which is wrapped up in the Person of your Lord? If it
is so, your quickest way to faith will be to read your Bible more, to
study it with greater attention and to hear the Gospel more often. Come
out to week-night services and commune more with Christ in private.
Spend three, four, five times the amount of time you now do in
devotions and so draw nearer to your Lord, entreating the Holy Spirit
to lead you into all the Truths of God. If you kill your fears and
strengthen your faith, you will have invested your time admirably in
acquiring more knowledge. Remember the words– "Acquaint yourself with
God and be at peace: for thereby good shall come unto you." Learn more
of Jesus and when you know Him better, the main causes of your fear
will be removed.
Next, is it lack of thought? Did these good people know and yet forget?
Did they fail to consider? Were they superficial in their thinking? Is
that the reason why you, also, are so fearful and have so little faith?
Are you a skimmer and not a digger? Are you content with the surface
soil when nuggets of gold lie just below? Is it so? Do you think too
little of the invisible and the eternal? Are your thoughts incessantly
occupied with business–and is God thus shut out? Are you always using
the muckrake of greed and never using the telescope of faith? Are the
abiding treasures covered up and buried amidst the seeming and shadowy
things of time and sense? If so, mend your ways, my Brothers and
Sisters! Mend them at once! Have more thought, more prayer–much more
prayer, more praise–much more praise, more meditation, more calm
investigation of your own heart and more acquaintance with the things
of God. Do you not think that you often might find the remedy for your
fears in the direction of holy intimacy with unseen realities? Be these
more true to you and the troubles of this life will sink into their
proper places as light afflictions which are but for a moment!
The enquiry as to why we are so fearful may be helped by another
question–is it that our trials take us by surprise? Perhaps the
disciples reckoned that everything must be right since they had Christ
on board. Let us not indulge such a notion! Never let any affliction
surprise you, for your Lord has told you, "In the world you shall have
tribulation." If your children die, do not be surprised–shall mortal
parents bring forth immortal offspring? If your riches disappear, do
not be surprised–they always had wings–what wonder if they fly! If
any other adversity happens to you, be not sur-
prised, for, "man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward." The
Lord has told you before it comes to pass, so that when it is come to
pass, you may believe. Reckon upon tribulation and then you will not be
overtaken by surprise, nor fret as though some strange thing had
happened to you!
Why were they so full of fear? Was it lack of simplicity of confidence?
Did they trust in their good boat, or feel that they were safe because
of their seamanship? Perhaps not, but I am sure that we, too, often
mingle reliance upon self, or upon some other arm of flesh with our
reliance upon our Lord. Good, easy men, we whisper to ourselves, "We
can manage." Oh, yes, we have had trouble before and we are persons of
experience and shrewdness and, therefore, we can see our way. Brethren,
we are never so weak as when we feel strongest–and never so foolish as
when we dream that we are wise! When you are "up to the mark," you will
soon be down to the mark. When our confidence is partly in God and
partly in ourselves, our overthrow is not far off! That angel who stood
with one foot upon the sea and the other upon the earth would have been
drowned if he had not been an angel! As you are not an angel, take care
that you put both feet upon the terra firma of Divine Strength and
Truth! If you trust in yourself in the least degree, one link of the
chain is too weak to bear you and it is of no avail that the other
links are strong. Is this the reason why you are so fearful, that your
faith is alloyed with self-confidence?
Again, was it absorption in their trial which led to their excessive
fearfulness? If they had described their case, they would, no doubt,
have dwelt upon the darkness, the hideous "darkness which might be
felt." They would have bid us listen to the howling of the winds and
their terrific screams, like the neighing of wild horses maddened in
fight! Mark how the wind descends in cataracts from the hills and
forces the boat under water! And this, again, is resented by the sea
which hurls the frail vessel aloft and tosses it to and fro with watery
hands, as though it were a juggler's ball. The storm was very fierce
and the boat was very frail. Look how it is spun round and round in the
whirlwind! Suppose we had urged them to be trustful and quiet–might
they not have answered that we were not in their predicament, or we
would not find it quite so easy to be calm?
"Ah!" says one, "I have a wife and family at home who depend upon my
fishing. How can I be calm when I think of them as widow and orphans? A
man cannot afford to be drowned who has a household depending on him!
It is all very well for you to talk, but you do not know what it is to
be drenched to the skin and near to death." Well, Brother, perhaps we
do not. But this we do know, that when we fix our thoughts solely and
alone on the winds and the waves and the wives and all that, it is then
that we are troubled! If we could put the most important thought first,
it would be different. The thought which covers all is that Jesus is
with us! The winds blow, but Jesus is on board! The waves rage, but
Jesus is on board! These poor sailors will not perish, for Jesus is on
board! If they could have kept this cheering fact to the front, they
would have banished their alarms and, like their Lord, they would have
been grandly calm! Instead of that, their brooding upon the present
trial was too much for their faith and they became childishly fearful.
Have I yet hit the nail on the head? If you have not found out the
cause of your fearfulness I must leave you to look for it
yourselves–and I trust you may discover it and destroy it at once. We
must not continue to be of little faith! We must glorify our Lord by a
believing confidence in Him, such as neither storm of sorrow nor
tempest of temptation can shake.
I shall conclude by carrying this enquiry into another region for
another purpose. In this congregation there are a considerable number
of friends who are not yet Believers in Jesus Christ and I want to know
from them, this morning, why they have no faith? I entreat them to help
me in the enquiry, Why it is that they are still so fearful, still so
undecided? My dear Friend, you will soon need faith, for you will have
to die. Whether you live in Christ or not, you will have to die–and
dying is hard work to those who have no Savior! Perhaps before another
Sabbath you may be in the swellings of Jordan–and what will you do if
you have no faith in Christ? Do you say that you desire to have faith?
I am glad to hear it, but I should like to press this matter home and
to ascertain whether this desire is earnest, thorough, and hearty.
Do you know what it is that you desire? Are you in earnest to be saved?
I do not mean, are you in earnest to escape from Hell? That I should
think is very likely if you are in your senses–but are you in earnest
to escape from sin? Do you want to be saved from the power of evil? Do
you desire to be made good, obedient, true and pure in life? If you do,
then I would remind you that faith in Jesus is the only way of
salvation and I would eagerly press upon you to desire immediate faith.
Yes, I would urge you to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ with all your
heart, now!
"I want to believe," you say. Well, then, what is to hinder you? If you
cannot sit still in your seat and make yourself believe all at once,
yet there are ways to that end. If I were told that the King of Tartary
was dead and it was a matter of interest to me, I do not know whether I
would be able to believe it or not because I do not know anything about
the King of Tartary, nor even whether there is such a person! If I
wanted to believe the news, I would get the newspaper and read about it
and I dare say I should either believe it or disbelieve it within the
next ten minutes. Knowledge and evidence lead up to faith! It is just
the same with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith is the gift of God
and the work of the Holy Spirit, but it comes to us in a certain
manner. Consider a minute. Consider who the Savior is. He is God and
Man. He came down to earth on purpose to save sinners. Do you not think
that this Divine Person can save you? Is He not able? Do you not think
that this loving Man will receive you? Is He not willing to save? Well,
then, trust Him!
Next, consider what Jesus did. He lived a life of labor and sorrow on
earth–and He died on the Cross to make atonement for sin. Stand and
look at Him as crucified for men. "He Himself bore our sins in His own
body on the tree." The greatest source of faith is the contemplation of
the Cross of Christ! Look to His agonies and say to yourself, "I can
believe that by the merit of such a wondrous death, endured by such a
Person as this, God can justly forgive sin." Believe, then, for
yourself, and see your own sins put away by the death of Christ!
Will you also consider what Jesus Christ is doing now? He has risen
from the dead! He has gone up into Heaven! He is making intercession
for transgressors–even for such persons as you are! Trust Him, then!
Trust Jesus because of what He is, what He has done and what He is
doing for sinners. Remember that this is the whole of the business, as
far as you are concerned. You are to accept what the Lord Jesus
presents to you. Accept Him. Yes, take Him to be your own! Look here. I
turn to this friend behind me and I say, "Will you take my hand?" [The
preacher suited the action to the word and his hand was readily grasped
by one of the deacons.] Look! He takes it freely. Jesus Christ is as
free to every sinner that feels his need of Him as my hand was to my
friend. He took my hand at once without question–will you not take
Jesus? Take Him now! If you take Him, He is yours forever. Take His
hand and He will not withdraw it from your grasp! Oh that you would cry
out, Lord I accept You!
Have you any doubts about the truth of the Gospel? If so, I want to
know what you think of us who preach to you. Do we deceive you? What do
you think of your mother's confidence in Christ–is she also deceived?
Those dear friends of yours who died so happy in the Lord–were they
all deceivers or deceived? No. You know that the Word of God is true!
Then believe it! Believe it for yourselves and it will be as true to
you as it has been true to us. You cannot, I am sure, deny the
Scriptures. You dare not say that the Gospel is a forgery–it bears its
own proof upon its forefront! Salvation by the Substitution of our Lord
is so grand an idea that no one could have invented it! It is
self-evidently a Divine fact. That God can be just and yet pass by our
sins is a marvel past the conception of men–it could only have come
from the heart of God! Believe it, then! Accept it as being free and
trust yourself to it. May the Spirit of God lead you so to do!
If you are not believing in Christ, I would like to know why not! Is it
that you are believing in yourself? If so, give up such folly! You
cannot trust yourself and trust Christ, too–away with all notion of
such a conjunction! Hang up self-confidence on a gallows high as that
whereon Haman was suspended, for it is an abominable thing!
Perhaps it is your great sin that leads you to despair of pardon. There
is no occasion for such unbelief, for God is abundant in mercy and the
blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin! If you have great sin,
remember that there is a great Savior. He that came to save us is the
Son of God and He laid down His life for us! And, therefore, He can
save to the uttermost! Instead of doubting, I pray you to glorify God
by believing in the greatness of His salvation.
It was a pleasure to me, in years past, to enjoy the friendship of Mr.
Brownlow North. Before conversion, he was a thorough man of the world
and, I suppose, about as frivolous and dissipated as men of his station
and character often are. After his conversion, he began to preach the
Gospel with great fervor–and certain of his old companions were full
of spite against him–probably considering him to be a hypocrite. One
day when he was about to address a large congregation, a stranger
passed him a letter, saying, "Read this before you preach." The letter
contained a statement of certain irregularities of conduct committed by
Brownlow North and it ended with words to this effect, "How dare you,
being conscious of the truth of all the above, pray and speak to the
people, this evening, when you are such a vile sinner?"
The preacher put the letter into his pocket, entered the pulpit and,
after prayer and praise, commenced his address to a very crowded
congregation. But before speaking on his text, he produced the letter
and informed the people of its contents. And then he added, "All that
is here said is true and it is a correct picture of the degraded sinner
that I once was.
And oh, how wonderful must the Grace of God be that could quicken and
raise me up from such a death in trespasses and sins and make me what I
appear before you tonight–a vessel of mercy–one who knows that all
his past sins have been cleansed away through the atoning blood of the
Lamb of God! It is of His redeeming love that I have now to tell you
and to entreat any here who are not yet reconciled to God, to come this
night in faith to Jesus, that He may take their sins away and heal
them."
Thus, instead of closing the preacher's mouth by this letter, the
enemy's attempt only opened the hearts of the people and the Word of
God was preached and heard with power! Oh that you, my dear Hearers,
would believe the Lord Jesus to be a real Savior of real sinners and
come to Him with all your sins about you! Do not hope because you think
yourselves pure, but come to Jesus because you are impure and need to
be cleansed by Him! Cast yourselves at His dear feet at once! Take The
Sinner's Friend to be your Friend because you are a sinner! Let the
Savior be your Savior because you need saving! God bless you, for
Christ's sake! Amen.