HOW MAY FAITH BE ILLUSTRATED?
TO MAKE THE MATTER Of faith clearer still, I will give you a
few illustrations. Though the Holy Spirit alone can make my
reader see, it is my duty and my joy to furnish all the light I
can, and to pray the divine Lord to open blind eyes. Oh that my
reader would pray the same prayer for himself!
The faith which saves has its analogies in the human frame.
It is the eye which looks. By the eye we bring into the mind
that which is far away; we can bring the sun and the far-off
stars into the mind by a glance of the eye. So by trust we bring
the Lord Jesus near to us; and though He be far away in Heaven,
He enters into our heart. Only look to Jesus; for the hymn is
strictly true--
There is life in a look at the Crucified One,
There is life at this moment for thee.
Faith is the hand which grasps. When our hand takes hold of
anything for itself, it does precisely what faith does when it
appropriates Christ and the blessings of His redemption. Faith
says, "Jesus is mine." Faith hears of the pardoning blood, and
cries, "I accept it to pardon me." Faith calls the legacies of
the dying Jesus her own; and they are her own, for faith is
Christ's heir; He has given Himself and all that He has to faith.
Take, O friend, that which grace has provided for thee. You will
not be a thief, for you have a divine permit: "Whosoever will,
let him take the water of life freely." He who may have a
treasure simply by his grasping it will be foolish indeed if he
remains poor.
Faith is the mouth which feeds upon Christ. Before food can
nourish us, it must be received into us. This is a simple matter-
-this eating and drinking. We willingly receive into the mouth
that which is our food, and then we consent that it should pass
down into our inward parts, wherein it is taken up and absorbed
into our bodily frame. Paul says, in his Epistle to the Romans,
in the tenth chapter, "The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth."
Now then, all that is to be done is to swallow it, to suffer it
to go down into the soul. Oh that men had an appetite! For he who
is hungry and sees meat before him does not need to be taught how
to eat. "Give me," said one, "a knife and a fork and a chance."
He was fully prepared to do the rest. Truly, a heart which
hungers and thirsts after Christ has but to know that He is
freely given, and at once it will receive Him. If my reader is in
such a case, let him not hesitate to receive Jesus; for he may be
sure that he will never be blamed for doing so: for unto "as many
as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God." He never repulses one, but He authorizes all who come to
remain sons for ever.
The pursuits of life illustrate faith in many ways. The
farmer buries good seed in the earth, and expects it not only to
live but to be multiplied. He has faith in the covenant
arrangement, that "seed-time and harvest shall not cease," and he
is rewarded for his faith.
The merchant places his money in the care of a banker, and
trusts altogether to the honesty and soundness of the bank. He
entrusts his capital to another's hands, and feels far more at
ease than if he had the solid gold locked up in an iron safe.
The sailor trusts himself to the sea. When he swims he takes
his foot from the bottom and rests upon the buoyant ocean. He
could not swim if he did not wholly cast himself upon the water.
The goldsmith puts precious metal into the fire which seems
eager to consume it, but he receives it back again from the
furnace purified by the heat.
You cannot turn anywhere in life without seeing faith in
operation between man and man, or between man and natural law.
Now, just as we trust in daily life, even so are we to trust in
God as He is revealed in Christ Jesus.
Faith exists in different persons in various degrees,
according to the amount of their knowledge or growth in grace.
Sometimes faith is little more than a simple clinging to Christ;
a sense of dependence and a willingness so to depend. When you
are down at the seaside you will see limpets sticking to the
rock. You walk with a soft tread up to the rock; you strike the
mollusk a rapid blow with your walking-stick 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 is not
acquainted with the geological formation of the rock, but he
clings. He can cling, and he has found something to cling to:
this is all his stock of knowledge, and he uses it for his
security and salvation. It is the limpet's life to cling to the
rock, and it is the sinner's life to cling to Jesus. 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
for present peace and eternal safety. Jesus Christ is to them a
Saviour strong and mighty, a Rock immovable and immutable; they
cling to him for dear life, and this clinging saves them. Reader,
cannot you cling? Do so at once.
Faith is seen when one man relies upon another from a
knowledge of the superiority of the other. This is a higher
faith; the faith which knows the reason for its dependence, and
acts upon it. I do not think the limpet knows much about the
rock: but as faith grows it becomes more and more intelligent. A
blind man trusts himself with his guide because he knows that his
friend can see, and, trusting, 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. "We
walk by faith, not by sight." "Blessed are they which have not
seen, and yet have believed." This is as good an image of faith
as well can be; we know that Jesus has about Him merit, and
power, and blessing, which we do not possess, and therefore we
gladly trust ourselves to Him to be to us what we cannot be to
ourselves. We trust Him as the blind man trusts his guide. He
never betrays our confidence; but He "is made of God unto us
wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption."
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 simply know because
He tells you, believe because He assures you it is even 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 grounds 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. You must do the like with regard to Jesus:
because He teaches you certain truths you are to be His disciple,
and believe His words; because He has performed certain acts you
are to be His client, 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? 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, for this is a restful confidence. These
lovers of Jesus are charmed with His character, and delighted
with His mission, they are carried away by the lovingkindness
that He has manifested, and therefore they cannot help trusting
Him, because they so much admire, revere, and love Him.
The way of loving trust in the Saviour 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 smitten
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 who were similarly afflicted. She is not in the least
troubled, for she feels perfectly safe in the hands of one so
dear to her, and 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 toward Christ.
There is no physician like Him, 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 well to let us perish, or
suffer a single needless pang.
Faith is the root of obedience, and this may be clearly seen
in the affairs of life. When a captain trusts a pilot to steer
his vessel into port he manages the vessel according to his
direction. When a traveler trusts a guide to conduct him over a
difficult pass, he follows the track which his guide points out.
When a patient believes in a physician, he carefully follows his
prescriptions and directions. Faith which refuses to obey the
commands of the Saviour is a mere pretence, and will never save
the soul. We trust Jesus to save us; He gives us directions as to
the way of salvation; we follow those directions and are saved.
Let not my reader forget this. Trust Jesus, and prove your trust
by doing whatever He bids you.
A notable 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, and trusts Him because it has proved
Him to be infallibly faithful. An old Christian was in the habit
of writing T and P in the margin of her Bible whenever she had
tried and proved a promise. How easy it is to trust a tried and
proved Saviour! You cannot do this as yet, but you will do so.
Everything must have a beginning. You will rise to strong faith
in due time. This matured faith asks not for signs and tokens,
but bravely believes. Look at the faith of the master mariner--I
have often wondered at it. He looses his cable, he steams away
from the land. 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 exactly opposite to the desired
haven toward 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 land, he has steered so
accurately that he has not to change a point to enter into port.
It is a wonderful thing--that sailing or steaming without sight.
Spiritually it is a blessed thing to leave altogether the shores
of sight and feeling, and to say, "Good-by" to inward feelings,
cheering providences, signs, tokens, and so forth. It is glorious
to be far out on the ocean of divine love, believing in God, and
steering for Heaven straight away by the direction of the Word of
God. "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. Will not my reader put
his trust in God in Christ Jesus. There I rest with joyous
confidence. Brother, come with me, and believe our Father and our
Saviour. Come at once.
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