Faith–What Is It? How Can It Be Obtained?

DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, JULY 17, 1881,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"By Grace are you saved through faith." Ephesians 2:8.

I MEAN to dwell mainly upon that expression, "Through faith." I call
attention, however, first of all, to the foun-tainhead of our
salvation, which is the Grace of God. "By Grace are you saved." Because
God is gracious, therefore sinful men are forgiven, converted, purified
and saved. It is not because of anything in them, or that ever can be
in them, that they are saved, but because of the boundless love,
goodness, pity, compassion, mercy and Grace of God. Tarry a moment,
then, at the wellhead. Behold the pure river of Water of Life as it
proceeds out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb. What an abyss is the
Grace of God! Who can fathom it? Like all the rest of the Divine
attributes, it is infinite! God is full of love, for "God is love." God
is full of goodness–the very name, "God," is but short for, "good."

Unbounded goodness and love enter into the very essence of the Godhead.
It is because, "His mercy endures forever," that men are not destroyed.
It is because, "His compassions fail not," that sinners are brought to
Himself and forgiven. Right well remember this, for otherwise you may
fall into error by fixing your minds so much upon the faith which is
the channel of salvation as to forget the Grace which is the fountain
and source of faith itself! Faith is the work of God's Grace in us. No
man can say that Jesus is the Christ but by the Holy Spirit. "No man
comes unto Me," says Christ, "except the Father which has sent Me draw
him." So that faith, which is coming to Christ, is the result of Divine
drawing!

Grace is the first and last moving cause of salvation and faith,
important as it is, is only an important part of the machinery which
Grace employs. We are saved "through faith," but it is "by Grace."
Sound forth those words as with the archangel's trumpet–"By Grace are
you saved!" Faith occupies the position of a channel or conduit. Grace
is the fountain and the stream–faith is the aqueduct along which the
flood of mercy flows down to refresh the thirsty sons of men. It is a
great pity when the aqueduct is broken. It is a sad sight to see,
around Rome, the many noble aqueducts which no longer convey water into
the city because the arches are broken and the marvelous structures are
in ruins.

The aqueduct must be kept in tact to convey the current and, even so,
faith must be true and sound, leading right up to God and coming right
down to ourselves, that it may become a serviceable channel of mercy to
our souls. Still, I again remind you that faith is the channel or
aqueduct and not the fountainhead. We must not look so much to faith as
to exalt it above the Divine source of all blessings which lie in the
Grace of God. Never make a Christ out of your faith, nor think of it as
if it were the independent source of your salvation. Our life is found
in "looking unto Jesus," not in looking to our own faith. By faith all
things become possible to us, yet the power is not in the faith, but in
the God upon whom faith relies.

Grace is the locomotive and faith is the chain by which the carriage of
the soul is attached to the great motive power. The righteousness of
faith is not the moral excellence of faith, but the righteousness of
Jesus Christ which faith grasps and appropriates. The peace within the
soul is not derived from the contemplation of our own faith–it comes
to us from Him who is our peace, the hem of whose garment faith
touches–and virtue comes out of Him into the soul. However, it is a
very important thing that we look well to the channel and, therefore,
at this time we will consider it, as God, the Holy Spirit, shall enable
us. Faith. What is it? Faith. Why is it selected as the channel of
blessing? Faith. How can it be obtained and increased?

I. FAITH, WHAT IS IT? What is this faith concerning which it is said,
"By Grace are you saved through faith"? There are many descriptions of
faith, but almost all the definitions I have met with have made me
understand it less than I did before I saw them! The Negro said, when
he read the chapter, that he would confound it, and it is very likely
that he did so, though he meant to expound it. So, Brethren, we may
explain faith till nobody understands it. I hope I shall not

be guilty of that fault. Faith is the simplest of all things and,
perhaps, because of its simplicity it is the more difficult to explain.

What is faith? It is made up of three things–knowledge, belief and
trust. Knowledge comes first. Romanist divines hold that a man can
believe what he does not know. Perhaps a Romanist can, but I cannot.
"How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?" I need to
be informed of a fact before I can possibly believe it. I believe this,
I believe that–but I cannot say that I believe a great many things of
which I have never heard. "Faith comes by hearing." We must first hear
in order that we may know what is to be believed. "They that know Your
name will put their trust in You" (Psa. 9:10). A measure of knowledge
is essential to faith and, therefore, the importance of getting
knowledge. "Incline your ear, and come unto Me; hear, and your soul
shall live"–such was the word of the ancient Prophet, and it is still
the Word of the Gospel!

Search the Scriptures and learn what the Holy Spirit teaches concerning
Christ and His salvation. Seek to know God–"that God is and is the
Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." May He give you "the spirit
of knowledge and the fear of the Lord." Know the Gospel! Know what the
Good News is, how it talks of free forgiveness, of change of heart, of
adoption into the family of God and of countless other blessings. Know
God, know His Gospel and know, especially, Christ Jesus the Son of God,
the Savior of men, united to us by His human Nature and united to God,
seeing He is Divine and thus able to act as Mediator between God and
man, able to lay His hands upon both and to be the connecting link
between the sinner and the Judge of all the earth!

Endeavor to know more and more of Christ. After Paul had been converted
more than 20 years, he tells the Philippi-ans that he desired to know
Christ and, depend upon it, the more we know of Jesus, the more we
shall wish to know of Him, so that our faith in Him may increase.
Endeavor, especially, to know the doctrine of the Sacrifice of Christ,
for that is the center of the target at which faith aims! That is the
point upon which saving faith mainly fixes itself, that, "God was in
Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their
trespasses unto them." Know that He was made a curse for us, as it is
written, "Cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree." Drink deep into the
doctrine of the substitutionary work of Christ, for therein lies the
sweetest possible comfort to the guilty sons of men since the Lord,
"made Him to be sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him." Faith begins with knowledge, therefore the value of being
taught in Divine Truth, for to know Christ is eternal life.

Then the mind goes on to believe that these things are true. The soul
believes that God is and that He hears the cries of sincere hearts;
that the Gospel is from God; that justification by faith is the grand
Truth that God has revealed in these last days by His Spirit more
clearly than before. Then the heart believes that Jesus is, verily and
in truth, our God and Savior, the Redeemer of men, the Prophet, Priest
and King unto His people. Dear Hearers, I pray that you may at once
come to the understanding of this. Get firmly to believe that "the
blood of Jesus Christ, God's dear Son, cleans us from all sin," that
His Sacrifice is complete and fully accepted of God on man's behalf so
that He that believes on Jesus is not condemned.

So far you have made an advance towards faith and one more ingredient
is needed to complete it, which is trust. Commit yourself to the
merciful God; rest your hope on the gracious Gospel; trust your soul on
the dying and living Savior; wash away your sins in the atoning blood;
accept His perfect righteousness and all is well! Trust is the
lifeblood of faith–there is no saving faith without it! The Puritans
were accustomed to explain faith by the word, "recumbency." You know
what it means. You see me leaning upon this rail, leaning with all my
weight upon it–even thus, lean upon Christ! It would be a better
illustration, still, if I were to stretch myself at full length and
rest my whole person upon a rock, lying flat upon it. Fall flat upon
Christ! Cast yourself upon Him, rest in Him, commit yourself to Him!
That done, you have exercised saving faith.

Faith is not a blind thing, for faith begins with knowledge. It is not
a speculative thing, for faith believes facts of which it is sure. It
is not an unpractical, dreamy thing, for faith trusts and stakes its
destiny upon the truth of Revelation. Faith ventures its all upon the
Truth of God. It is not a pleasant word to use, but the poet employed
it, and it suggests my meaning–

"Venture on Him, venture wholly. Let no other trust intrude."

That is one way of describing what faith is–I wonder whether I have
"confounded" it already. Let me try again. Faith is believing that
Christ is what He is said to be, that He will do what He has promised
to do and expecting this of Him. The Scriptures speak of Jesus Christ
as being God, God in human flesh–as being perfect in His Character; as
being made a Sin Offering on our behalf–as bearing sin in His own body
on the tree. The Scripture speaks of Him as having finished
transgression, made an end of sin and brought in everlasting
righteousness.

The Scriptures further tell us that He "rose again," that He "ever
lives to make intercession for us," that He has gone up into Glory and
has taken possession of Heaven on the behalf of His people and that He
will shortly come again "to judge the world in righteousness and His
people with equity." We are most firmly to believe that it is even so,
for this is the testimony of God the Father when He said, "This is My
beloved Son; hear Him." This also is testified by God the Holy Spirit,
for the Spirit has borne witness to Christ, both by the Word and many
miracles and by His working in the hearts of men. We are to believe
this testimony to be true. Faith also believes that Christ will do what
He has promised– that if He has promised to cast out none that come to
Him, it is certain that He will not cast us out if we come to Him.

Faith believes that if Jesus said, "The water that I shall give him
shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life," it
must be true, and if we get this Living Water from Christ, it will
abide in us and will well up within us in streams of holy life.
Whatever Christ has promised to do, He will do, and we must believe
this so as to look for pardon, justification, preservation and eternal
glory from His hands according as He has promised.

Then comes the next necessary step. Jesus is what He is said to be.
Jesus will do what He says He will do. Therefore we must, each one,
trust Him, saying, "He will be to me what He says He is and He will do
to me what He has promised to do. I leave myself in the hands of Him
who is appointed to save, that He may save me. I rest upon His promise
that He will do even as He has said." This is a saving faith and he
that has it, has everlasting life! Whatever his dangers and
difficulties; whatever his darkness and depression; whatever his
infirmities and sins, he that believes thus on Christ Jesus is not
condemned and shall never come into condemnation. May that explanation
be of some service. I trust it may be used by the Spirit of God.

But now I think, as it is a very hot and heavy morning, that I had
better give you a number of illustrations, lest anybody should be
inclined to go to sleep. If anybody should be drowsy, will his neighbor
just nudge him a little, for it may be well, while we are here, to be
awake–especially with such a subject on hand as this! The
illustrations will be such as have been commonly used and perhaps I may
be able to give one or two of my own. Faith exists in various degrees,
according to the amount of knowledge, or other cause. Sometimes faith
is little more than a simple clinging to Christ–a sense of dependence
and a willingness to depend.

When you are down at the seaside, as we might, all of us, wish to be,
you will see the limpet sticking to the rocks. You walk with a soft
tread up to the rock with your walking stick and strike the limpet with
a rapid blow and off he comes! Try the next limpet in that way. You
have given him warning–he heard the blow with which you struck his
neighbor and he clings with all his might. You will never get him off,
not you! Strike and strike again, but you may as soon break the rock.
Our little friend, the limpet, does not know much, but he clings. He
cannot tell us much about what he is clinging to–he is not acquainted
with the geological formation of the rock–but he clings! He has found
something to cling to–that is his little bit of knowledge–and he uses
it by clinging to the rock of his salvation! It is the limpet's life to
cling!

Thousands of God's people have no more faith than this. They know
enough to cling to Jesus with all their heart and soul–and this
suffices. Jesus Christ is, to them, a Savior strong and mighty and like
a rock, immovable and immutable! They cleave to Him for dear life and
this clinging saves them! God gives to His people the propensity to
cling. Look at the sweet pea which grows in your garden. Perhaps it has
fallen down upon the gravel walk. Lift it up against the laurel or the
trellis, or put a stick near it and it catches hold directly, because
there are little hooks ready prepared with which it grasps anything
which comes in its way–it was meant to grow upwards–and so it is
provided with tendrils. Every child of God has his tendrils about
him–thoughts, desires and hopes with which he hooks on to Christ and
the promise.

Though this is a very simple sort of faith, it is a very complete and
effectual form of it and, in fact, it is the heart of all faith and
that to which we are often driven when we are in deep trouble, or when
our mind is somewhat befuddled by our being sickly or depressed in
spirit. We can cling when we can do nothing else and that is the very
soul of faith! O poor Heart, if you do not yet know as much about the
Gospel as we wish you to know, cling to what you do know! If as yet

you are only like a lamb that wades a little into the River of Life,
and not like leviathan who stirs the mighty deep to the bottom, yet
drink, for it is drinking–not diving–that will save you! Cling, then!
Cling to Jesus, for that is faith.

Another form of faith is when a man depends upon another from a
knowledge of the superiority of that other and follows him. I do not
think the limpet knows much about the rock, but in this next phase of
faith there is more knowledge. A blind man trusts himself with his
guide because he knows that his friend can see and, trusting him, he
walks where his guide conducts him. If the poor man is born blind, he
does not know what sight is, but he knows that there is such a thing as
sight and that it is possessed by his friend and, therefore, he freely
puts his hand into the hand of the seeing one and follows his
leadership. This is as good an image of faith as we can have–we know
that Jesus has about Him merit, power and blessing which we do not
possess and, therefore, we gladly trust ourselves to Him and He never
betrays our confidence.

Every boy that goes to school has to exert faith while learning. His
schoolmaster teaches him geography and instructs him as to the form of
the earth and the existence of certain great cities and empires. The
boy does not, himself, know that these things are true except that he
believes his teacher and the books put into his hands. That is what you
will have to do with Christ if you are to be saved–you must know just
because He tells you and believe because He assures you it is so–and
trust yourself with Him because He promises you that salvation will be
the result. Almost all that you and I know has come to us by faith. A
scientific discovery has been made and we are sure of it. On what
ground do we believe it? On the authority of certain well-known men of
learning whose reputations are established! We have never made or seen
their experiments, but we believe their witness.

Just so you are to do with regard to Christ. Because He teaches you
certain Truths of God you are to be His disciple, believe His Words and
trust yourself with Him. He is infinitely superior to you and presents
Himself to your confidence as your Master and Lord. If you will receive
Him and His Words, you shall be saved. Another and a higher form of
faith is that faith which grows out of love. Why does a boy trust his
father? You and I know a little more about his father than he does and
we do not rely upon him quite so implicitly. But the reason why the
child trusts his father is because he loves him. Blessed and happy are
they who have a sweet faith in Jesus intertwined with deep affection
for Him! They are charmed with His Character and delighted with His
mission. They are carried away by the loving kindness that He has
manifested and now they cannot help trusting Him because they so much
admire, revere and love Him.

It is hard to make you doubt a person whom you love. If you are, at
last, driven to it, then comes the awful passion of jealousy which is
strong as death and cruel as the grave–but till such a crushing of the
heart shall come, love is all trust and confidence. The way of loving
trust in the Savior may thus be illustrated. A lady is the wife of the
most eminent physician of the day. She is seized with a dangerous
illness and is struck down by its power. Yet she is wonderfully calm
and quiet, for her husband has made this disease his special study and
has healed thousands similarly afflicted. She is not in the least
troubled, for she feels perfectly safe in the hands of one so dear to
her, in whom skill and love are blended in their highest forms. Her
faith is reasonable and natural–her husband from every point of view
deserves it of her.

This is the kind of faith which the happiest of Believers exercise
towards Christ! There is no physician like He! None can save as He can!
We love Him and He loves us and, therefore, we put ourselves into His
hands, accept whatever He prescribes and do whatever He bids. We feel
that nothing can be wrongly ordered while He is the director of our
affairs, for He loves us too much to let us perish, or suffer a single
needless pang! Faith also realizes the Presence of the living God and
Savior and thus it breeds in the soul a beautiful calm and quiet like
that which was seen in a little child in the time of tempest. Her
mother was alarmed, but the sweet girl was pleased. She clapped her
hands with delight. Standing at the window when the flashes came most
vividly, she cried in childish accents, "Look, mamma! How beautiful!
How beautiful!"

Her mother said, "My dear, come away, the lightning is terrible!" But
she begged to be allowed to look out and see the lovely light which God
was making all over the sky, for she was sure God would not do His
little child any harm. "But listen to the terrible thunder," said her
mother. "Did you not say, Mamma, that God was speaking in the thunder?"
"Yes," said her trembling parent. "O," said the darling, "how nice it
is to hear Him! He talks very loud, but I think it is because He wants
the deaf people to hear Him. Is it not so, Mamma?" Thus she went
talking on, as merry as a bird, was she, for God was real to her and
she trusted Him! To her, the lightning was God's beautiful light and
the thun-

der was God's wonderful voice, and she was happy. I dare say her mother
knew a good deal about the laws of Nature and the energy of
electricity–and little was the comfort which her knowledge brought
her!

The child's knowledge was less showy, but it was far more certain and
precious. We are so conceited, nowadays, that we are too proud to be
comforted by self-evident Truths of God and prefer to make ourselves
wretched with questionable theories. Hood sang a deep spiritual truth
when he merrily said–

"I remember, I remember,

The fir trees dark and high.

I used to think their slender tops

Were close against the sky.

It was a childish ignorance,

But now 'tis little joy

To know I'm further off from Hea ven

Than when I was a boy."

For my own part I would rather be a child, again, than grow perversely
wise. Faith is to be a child towards Christ– believing in Him as a
real and present Person–at this very moment near us and ready to bless
us. This may seem to be a childish fancy, but it is such childishness
we must all come to if we would be happy in the Lord. "Except you be
converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the
Kingdom of Heaven." Faith takes Christ at His word, as a child believes
his father, and trusts Him in all simplicity with past, present and
future. God give us such faith!

A firm form of faith arises out of assured knowledge. This comes of
growth in Grace and is the faith which believes Christ because it knows
Him. It trusts Him because it has proven Him to be Infallibly faithful.
This faith asks not for signs and tokens, but bravely believes! Look at
the faith of the master mariner–I have often been amazed at it! He
looses his cable; he steams away from the shore. For days, weeks, or
even months he never sees sail or shore, yet on he goes, day and night,
without fear, till one morning he finds himself just opposite the
desired haven towards which he has been steering! How has he found his
way over the trackless deep? He has trusted in his compass, his
nautical almanac, his glass and the heavenly bodies! And obeying their
guidance, without sighting shore, he has steered so accurately that he
has not to change a point to get into port. It is a wonderful thing,
that sailing without sight!

Spiritually it is a blessed thing to leave the shores of sight and say,
"Good-bye to inward feelings, cheering providences, signs, tokens and
so forth! I believe in God and I steer for Heaven straight away."
"Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed"–to them
shall be administered an abundant entrance, at the last, and a safe
voyage on the way. This is the faith which makes it easy to commit our
soul and all its eternal interests into the Savior's keeping. One man
goes to the bank and puts his money into it with a measure of
confidence, but another has looked into the bank's accounts and has
been behind the scenes and made sure of its having a large reserve of
well-invested capital–he puts in his money with the utmost assurance!
He knows and is established in his faith and so he cheerfully commits
his all to the bank.

Even so, we who know Christ are glad to place our whole being in His
hands, knowing that He is able to keep us even unto the end. God give
us more and more an assured confidence in Jesus until it comes to be an
unwavering faith, so that we never doubt, but unquestioningly believe!
Look at the farmer–he labors with his plow in the wintry months, when
there is not a leaf on the tree nor a bird that sings to cheer him and
after he has plowed, he takes the precious corn from the granary, of
which, perhaps, he has very little, and he buries it in the furrows,
assured that it will come up again! Because he has seen a harvest 50
times, already, he looks for another and in faith he scatters the
precious grain. To all appearances, the most absurd thing that ever was
done by mortal man is to throw away good corn, burying it in the
ground!

If you had never seen or heard of its results, it would seem the way of
waste and not the work of farming, yet the farmer has no doubts–he
longs to be allowed to cast away his seed–in faith he even covets fair
weather that he may bury his corn! And if you tell him that he is doing
an absurd thing, he smiles at your ignorance and tells you that thus
harvests come. This is a fair picture of the faith which grows of
experience–it helps us to act in a manner contrary to appearances–it
leads us to commit our all to the keeping of Christ, burying our hopes
and our very lives with Him in joyful confidence that if we are dead
with Him, we shall also live with Him. Jesus Christ who rose from the
dead will raise us up through His death unto newness of life and give
us a harvest of joy and peace!

Give up everything into the hands of Christ and you shall have it back
with an abundant increase. May we get so strong a faith that, as we
have no doubt of the rising and setting of the sun, we may never doubt
the Savior's working for us in every hour of need! We have already
trusted in our Lord and have never been confounded, therefore let us go
on to rely upon Him more and more implicitly–for never shall our faith
in Him surpass the bounds of His deserving. Have faith in God and then
hear Jesus say, "You believe in God, believe also in Me."

II. Thus far I have done my best to answer what faith is. We shall now
enquire WHY FAITH IS SELECTED AS THE CHANNEL OF SALVATION "By Grace are
you saved through faith." It becomes us to be modest in answering such
a question, for God's ways are not always to be understood. But, as far
as we can tell, faith has been selected as the channel of Grace because
there is a natural adaptation in faith to be used as the receiver.
Suppose that I am about to give a poor man an alms. I put it into his
hand–why? Well, it would hardly be fitting to put it into his ear, or
to lay it upon his foot, the hand seems made on purpose to receive.

So faith in the mental body is created on purpose to be a receiver–it
is the hand of the man and there is a fitness in bestowing Grace by its
means. Let me put this very plainly. Faith which receives Christ is as
simple an act as when your child receives an apple from you because you
hold it out and promise to give it the apple if it comes for it. The
belief and the receiving relate only to an apple, but they make up
precisely the same act as the faith which deals with eternal salvation!
What the child's hand is to the apple, that is your faith to the
perfect salvation of Christ. The child's hand does not make the apple,
nor alter the apple–it only receives it. And faith is chosen, by God,
to be the receiver of salvation because it does not pretend to make
salvation, nor to help in it, but it receives it.

Faith, again, is no doubt selected because it gives all the credit to
God. It is of faith that it might be by Grace and it is of Grace that
there may be no boasting, for God cannot endure pride. Paul says, "Not
of works, lest any man should boast." The hand which receives charity
does not say, "I am to be thanked for accepting the gift"–that would
be absurd! When the hand conveys bread to the mouth, it does not say to
the body, "Thank me, for I fed you." It is a very simple thing that the
hand does, though a very necessary thing–but it never arrogates glory
to itself for what it does. So God has selected faith to receive the
unspeakable gift of His Grace because it cannot take to itself any
credit, but must adore the gracious God who is the Giver of all good.

Next, God selects faith as the channel of salvation because it is a
sure method, linking man with God. When man confides in God, there is a
point of union between them and that union guarantees blessing. Faith
saves us because it makes us cling to God and so brings us into union
with Him. I have used the following illustration before, but I must
repeat it because I cannot think of a better. I am told that years ago,
above the Falls of Niagara, a boat was upset and two men were being
carried down the current. Persons on the shore managed to float a rope
out to them, which rope was seized by them both. One of them held fast
to it and was safely drawn to the bank, but the other, seeing a great
log come floating by, unwisely let go of the rope and clung to the log,
for it was the bigger thing of the two and apparently better to cling
to.

Alas, the log, with the man on it, went right over the vast abyss
because there was no union between the log and the shore. The size of
the log was no benefit to him who grasped it–it needed a connection
with the shore to produce safety. So when a man trusts to his works, or
to sacraments, or to anything of that sort, he will not be saved
because there is no connection between him and Christ. But faith,
though it may seem to be like a slender cord, is in the hands of the
great God on the shore! Infinite power pulls in the connecting line and
thus draws the man from destruction. Oh, the blessedness of faith
because it unites us to God! Faith is chosen, again, because it touches
the springs of action. I wonder whether I shall be wrong if I say that
we never do anything except through faith of some sort? If I walk
across this platform it is because I believe my legs will carry me.

A man eats because he believes in the necessity of food. Columbus
discovered America because he believed that there was another continent
beyond the ocean–many another grand deed has also been born of faith,
for faith works wonders. Common things are done on the same
principle–faith in its natural form is an all-prevailing force. God
gives salvation to our faith because He has thus touched the secret
spring of all our emotions and actions. He has, so to speak, taken
possession of the battery and now He can send the sacred current to
every part of our nature. When we believe in Christ–and the heart has
come into the possession of God–then are we saved from sin and are
moved towards repentance, holiness, zeal, prayer, consecration and
every other gracious thing!

Faith, again, has the power of working by love. It touches the secret
spring of the affections and draws the heart towards God. Faith is an
act of the understanding, but it also proceeds from the heart. With the
heart, man believes unto righteousness and, therefore, God gives
salvation to faith because it resides next door to the affections and
is near akin to love. And love, you know, is that which purifies the
soul. Love to God is obedience! Love is holiness! To love God and to
love man is to be conformed to the image of Christ–and this is
salvation!

Moreover, faith creates peace and joy. He that has it rests, is
tranquil, is glad and joyous–and this is a preparation for Heaven. God
gives all the heavenly gifts to faith because faith works in us the
very life and spirit which are to be eternally manifested in the upper
and better world. I have hastened over these points that I might not
weary you on a day when, however willing the spirit may be, the flesh
is weak.

III. We close with the third point–HOW CAN WE OBTAIN AND INCREASE OUR
FAITH? This is a very earnest question to many. They say they want to
believe but cannot. A great deal of nonsense is talked upon this
subject. Let us be practical in our dealing with it. "What am I to do
in order to believe?" The shortest way is to believe and if the Holy
Spirit has made you honest and candid, you will believe as soon as the
Truth of God is set before you. Anyway, the Gospel command is
clear–"Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved." But
still, if you have a difficulty, take it before God in prayer. Tell the
great Father exactly what it is that puzzles you and beg Him, by His
Holy Spirit, to solve the question. If I cannot believe a statement in
a book, I am glad to enquire of the author what he meant, and if he is
an honest man, his explanation will satisfy me. Much more will the
Divine explanation satisfy the heart of the true seeker! The Lord is
willing to make Himself known! Go to Him and see if it is not so!

Furthermore, if faith seems difficult, it is possible that God the Holy
Spirit will enable you to believe if you hear very frequently and
earnestly that which you are commanded to believe. We believe many
things because we have heard them so often. Do you not find it so in
common life, that if you hear a thing 50 times a day, at last you come
to believe it? Some men have come to believe that which is false by
this process, but I should not wonder but what God often blesses this
method in working faith concerning that which is true, for it is
written, "Faith comes by hearing." If I earnestly and attentively hear
the Gospel, it may be that one of these days I shall find myself
believing that which I hear, through the blessed operation of the
Spirit upon my mind.

If that, however, should seem poor advice, I would add, next, consider
the testimony of others. The Samaritans believed because of what the
woman told them concerning Jesus. Many of our beliefs arise out of the
testimony of others. I believe that there is such a country as Japan–I
never saw it and yet I believe that there is such a place because
others have been there. I believe I shall die–I have never died, but a
great many have done so whom I once knew–and I have a conviction that
I shall also die. The testimony of many convinces me of this fact.
Listen, then, to those who tell you how they were saved, how they were
pardoned, how they have been changed in character–if you will but
listen you will find that somebody just like yourself has been saved.

If you have been a thief, you will find that a thief rejoiced to wash
away his sins in the fountain of Christ's blood! You that have been
unchaste in life, you will find that men who have fallen that way have
been cleansed and changed! If you are in despair, you have only to get
among God's people and inquire a little, and some who have been equally
in despair with yourself will tell you how He saved them! As you listen
to one after another of those who have tried the Word of God and proved
it, the Divine Spirit will lead you to believe. Have you not heard of
the African who was told by the missionary that water sometimes became
so hard that a man could walk on it? He declared that he believed a
great many things the missionary had told him but he would never
believe that.

When the African came to England it came to pass that one frosty day he
saw the river frozen, but he would not venture on it. He knew that it
was a river and he was certain that he would be drowned if he ventured
upon it. He could not be induced to walk the ice till his friend went
upon it. Then he was persuaded and trusted himself where others had
ventured. So, perhaps, while you see others believe and notice their
joy and peace, you will, yourself, be gently led to believe. It is one
of God's ways of helping us to faith. A still better plan is this–note
the Authority upon which you are commanded to believe and this will
greatly help you. The authority is not mine, or you might well reject
it. It is not even the pope's, or you might even reject that. But you
are commanded to believe upon the authority of God Himself! He bids you
believe in Jesus Christ and you must not refuse to obey your Maker!

The foreman of a certain works in the north had often heard the Gospel,
but he was troubled with the fear that he might not come to Christ. His
good employer, one day, sent a card round to the works–"Come to my
house immediately after work." The foreman appeared at his employer's
door and the man came out and said somewhat roughly, "What do you want,
John, troubling me at this hour? Work is done, what right have you
here?" "Sir," he said, "I had a card from you saying that I was to come
after work." "Do you mean to say that merely because you had a card
from me you are to come up to my house and call me out after business
hours?" "Well, Sir," replied the foreman, "I do not understand you, but
it seems to me that since you sent for me, I had a right to come."

"Come in, John," said his employer, "I have another message that I want
to read to you." And he sat down and read these words–"Come unto Me,
all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." "Do
you think after such a message from Christ that you can be wrong in
going to Him?" The poor man saw it all at once and believed because he
saw that he had good warrant and authority for believing! So have you,
poor Soul! You have good authority for coming to Christ, for the Lord,
Himself, bids you trust Him! If that does not settle you, think over
what it is that you have to believe–that the Lord Jesus Christ
suffered in the place of men and is able to save all who trust Him.
Why, this is the most blessed fact that ever men were told to believe!
It is the most suitable, the most comforting, the most Divine Truth of
God that was ever set before men!

I advise you to think much upon it and search out the Grace and love
which it contains. Study the four Evangelists. Study Paul's Epistles
and then see if the message is not such a credible one that you are
forced to believe it! If that does not do, then think upon the Person
of Jesus Christ–think of who He is and what He did–and where He is
now and what He is now. Think often and deeply. When He, even such an
one as He, bids you trust Him, surely your heart will be persuaded! How
can you doubt Him? If none of these things avail, then there is
something altogether wrong about you, and my last word is, submit
yourself to God! May the Spirit of God take away your enmity and make
you yield! You are a rebel, a proud rebel, and that is why you do not
believe your God. Give up your rebellion! Throw down your weapons!
Yield at discretion and surrender to your King!

I believe that never did a soul throw up its hands in self-despair and
cry, "Lord, I yield," but what faith became easy to it before long. It
is because you still have a quarrel with God and intend to have your
own will and your own way that you cannot believe. "How can you
believe," said Christ, "that have honor one of another?" Proud self
creates unbelief. Submit, O man! Yield to your God and then shall you
sweetly believe in your Savior. God bless you, for Christ's sake, and
bring you, at this very moment, to believe in the Lord Jesus. Amen.
__________________________________________________________________

A Miniature Portrait Of Joseph