IN our February and March issues we spoke of the working of faith, as opened up in the first seven verses of the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. Let us follow this deeply interesting theme, as it is illustrated in the ways of Abraham.
We remind our reader, we are not now speaking of faith for the salvation of the soul, but faith in its effects in him who has believed to the saving of his soul. Being saved, we need to walk daily by faith in God for each hour's spiritual necessities.
We may speak of the qualities produced in the believer by faith. One excels in patience, another in energy—varied traits of faith are evident in different children of God—sameness and a dead level are not what we observe.
As we peruse from our chapter, the eighth to the tenth verse, we note that pilgrimage is the great lesson the Holy Spirit teaches in this His brief record of the father of the faithful; and the pilgrim character of Abraham's faith may be emphasized by these four characteristics—obedience—non-reasoning—persistence—and hope.
In the first place, God called Abraham, and he obeyed. Obedience to the call made him a pilgrim. Pilgrimage and salvation are quite distinct. God says to the troubled soul, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved;" and "by grace ye are saved through faith"; but a man may be saved, and yet not be a pilgrim. It is obedience to the call of God that makes His saved people pilgrims, In the patriarch's case, we read, “The God of glory appeared unto ... Abraham " (Acts 7:22And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, (Acts 7:2)), and bade him get him out of his country and kindred and father's house, and promised him great blessing. And as truly as Abraham was called, so is every saved soul called. Perhaps the young Christian is so overjoyed at the contemplation of what he is saved from, that he as yet hardly realizes what he is saved for. He is saved from wrath—he is saved for glory; and the God of all grace who has saved him is the God of glory who calls him.
Mark the title—God of glory. The world has its glories, God has His. He has an inheritance for us. No joys are too great, no prospects too splendid, for Him to spread before us. We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God! A heavenly portion is ours; we are partakers of the heavenly calling. (Heb. 3:11Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; (Hebrews 3:1).) As God is before us in this His character, and as the exceeding greatness of the reward He Himself is to us is present to us, we take the step of the pilgrim. Such is the working of faith.
There may be hesitation in at once fully obeying the call of God. It was so in the case of Abraham, for his natural ties, as we find by comparing Acts 7 with Gen. 12, hindered his prompt obedience. But the Spirit of God, when speaking of Abraham's faith in pilgrimage, does not refer to those years of hesitation. This omission is a solemn lesson, for that part of our life which is not spent in faith remains, as it were, unreckoned— a blank in the chronicles of heaven. As we think on this, how short will be the records of many lives— all the hours spent in self-trust going for nothing! Oh! for earnestness for glory.
As God will have His people pilgrims and obedient to His call, He sends them trial and disappointment, and writes death on the objects of their natural affection. This we see indicated in the firmness of step of Abraham after his father's death; —a solemn lesson to us not to set our hearts on the things of earth— but to fix them on God!
“I will bless thee" is the divine promise; and though we cannot see a trace of the inheritance which is ours, God's word suffices, and faith goes out in the energy of obedience. May our hearts be stayed on God! He has called us to glory: let this fill our souls, and we shall be pilgrims.
Non-reasoning is the successful manner by which the believer goes out. "He went out, not knowing whither he went." It was blind faith, that is, blind to circumstances and earth—but in no sense blind to God and heaven. Faith takes but one step at a time, does not calculate, but relies on God. Planning and contriving are not faith. It is all very well to say, "We are pilgrims, and walk by faith," and the while to mark off each stage, as it were, in our time-table! The great characteristic of faith's progress is simplicity as to what may be before us. Reason looks to what will happen, faith looks to God.
As to going out, some may inquire, What are we to go out to? what are we to go out from? We are to go out to God, who has called us to heavenly glory. If a man were leaving India for his home in England, his heart would be in his home, and the more he valued his home the greater would be the earnestness of his steps. In such a spirit we are truly pilgrims. We go out from the world. This is much more simple than many suppose. In every-day speech we hear that so-and-so has given up the world. What the world is to us our consciences tell us, and as we grow in grace we learn more deeply its character, so that in the true sense a believer is always going out. It is every-day work, and the business of a lifetime—indeed, until home is reached.
“Not knowing whither he went" is the happy simplicity of confidence in God. The parent takes his child's hand, and leads him along, and the child, having its father's hand, is happy. Let our care be to go where our God calls us; He will care for our circumstances, let us care for His word.
Persistence in faith's path is more difficult than the first step. Some affirm that the first step is the greatest, but if entering the pilgrim course be the greatest thing, it is going on in the course which tests the character of the pilgrim. "By faith he sojourned." Let us weigh these words. How few believers make a good middle who make a good start—how very many in advancing years are found settling down upon their lees!
Perhaps the call and the going out are more appropriate for the young believer; certainly the sojourning of faith appeals to those of riper years. How many a bright young life has grown into a dull, religious respectability! A kind of religious status is gained, a name for certain piety and goodness, but, alas! the true pilgrim character is lost. The secret is, the believer has failed to dwell in those heavenly hopes and prospects which once made him bright and vigorous for God. Abraham making the land of promise a place for pitching his tent in, is a fine example for us. There he brought up his son and grandson in tents, teaching them lessons of pilgrimage. He dwelt not in a city—no fixed habitation was his abode. Let our hearts ponder over this lesson, and seek for like grace. A Christian, surrounded with his family, teaching his children of heaven, is a lovely sight. No man can live for earth and truly teach of heaven at the same time. What a call is this to Christian parents, who are looking for glory and the coming of Jesus! Sojourning, dwelling in what we started with, is of all importance.
The secret of Abraham's persistency of faith is given in the next sentence: it lay in his powerful expectation," for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." The genuine pilgrim is he who looks for the solid glory of eternity.
Let this hope fill the breast, and life cannot be squandered on the world. Impossible!
No true believer, with a keen eye for eternal glory and a fixed gaze on its abiding might, can be a trifler with the fleeting moments of this brief lifetime.
Let us stir up our souls, fellow Christians, by looking for the city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. The world will thus become a plain, over which our feet speed; its glories and honors of no worth; its wealth and glitter mere baubles; we shall be people of purpose, and the world will recognize the power of the God of glory over us.
It is the power of God's call that draws us from the world, and the prospect of His glory that maintains us in our path. True pilgrimage is a simple question of faith, and obedience, and hope, God being the object of faith and hope, and His word the ground of obedience. H. F. W.