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Hope
Unlimited
Chapter
8: 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 Jesus 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 Jesus's
heir; He has given Himself and all that He has to faith. Take, O
friend, that which grace has provided for you. 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 Jesus. 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 Jesus 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 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 Jesus; 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
neighbour, 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 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; rest,
therefore, in the knowledge that He
"became for us wisdom from God - 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 Jesus, 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 Jesus. 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
out of
growth in grace, and is the faith which believes Jesus because it
knows Him, and trusts Him because it has proved Himself to be infallibly
faithful. An old believer 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 loosens 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 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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