I HAVE read these passages at some length, beloved friends, because I desire that the very words of Scripture should be fresh in our minds whilst considering the subjects of intense interest which they bring before us, and in the hope that the Lord will give blessing to His own word.
Faith in God, you will see at once, is the leading characteristic of these incidents; and it is of this I speak. I am specially anxious, however, that we should form the habit of examining more carefully that which sometimes assumes the appearance, and receives the name, of faith, when in reality it can claim to be nothing more than hope.
It is important, therefore, for us to inquire what faith is, and what it is not; to ascertain what it calls us to be, to do, and to suffer; to know what we become under its power, and what we are, and shall be, without it; especially when we remember that we are in a scene where all that is real and lasting is invisible, discernible only by faith. Not that faith of itself is enough.
The Spirit of God must be in it. For there is a natural faith which can do great things in a human way, without any divine power, motive, or object. Whereas a divine faith will be characterized by three things: it will be led by the Spirit of God, instructed by the word of God, and sustained by the power of God. It must, therefore, reach its end without fail. It is infallible and invincible.
And in this it differs from hope, with which fear it is sometimes confounded. Wrong labels are used, and what is really only hope in the soul is called faith, and much confusion brought in thereby. If I see something before me that I desire, I may have either faith or hope about it; but I ought to be clear as to which it is. If I am led by the Spirit of God to desire it, and am assured by the word of God that I may have it, and am sustained by the power of God in pursuing it, I may be sure I have faith; otherwise it is only hope.
"Have you faith for this?" is often asked. Before I answer, I ought surely to be clear that I may have faith for it. If the flesh has any part in my desire, or if the word of God does net authorize my counting upon it, on what ground can I say I have faith for it? I may have hope, and even reasonable hope, and the thing may come to pass too, yet I dare not say I have had faith about it; and the soul that ventures to say so is injured thereby. These three conditions, I maintain, must be fulfilled ere I am justified in saying I have faith.
We are saved by faith; we are justified by faith; we live by faith, &c.; and in all these it is faith. There are divine authority, guidance, and power. But where these are not present there can be only hope, as we find indeed to our sorrow too often. How many we meet who never even lay claim to more than hope, even in the matter of salvation! Why? Because they have never seen the ground for faith, namely, the work of the cross, the occupant of the throne, and the positive assurance of the word of God, that " He that believeth hath everlasting life;" that " By one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified," or set apart, as having life in Him. And this defect characterizes their creed and mars their whole course as Christians, crippling them continually. They do not go far enough; they only hope where they ought to believe; others go too far and profess to believe where they can only hope. A true perception of this distinction makes things wonderfully clear, and opens the door for much blessing. It prevents disappointment; it keeps things in their proper order; and it saves the character of God from dishonor, and the word of God from discredit.
I might add here also, for the sake of some who have overlooked it, that faith itself has two aspects: one, that of believing; the other, that of trusting. Believing is simply receiving something on the evidence or testimony of another. Having no evidence of your own, you receive that which some one else brings. Now trusting in that which is thus received ought always to follow, and generally does in worldly matters, because the witness of men is so readily accepted. But when the evidence of God's word is all men have to rest upon, alas! how feeble too often is their acceptance of it, and therefore how imperfect their confidence in it!
I fear that sometimes the activity of faith, that is trusting, is attempted before the truth on which it is to trust has been received; and hence unrest and uncertainty are the result. Faith that receives the word of God with a little child's belief, is a faith that trusts the Son of God with a little child's confidence. Faith that attempts to trust before receiving, is like one running in the dark over a dangerous and unknown ground, or like a mariner who steers across the pathless deep without an authentic chart or a trustworthy compass.
Evidently, therefore, " without faith it is impossible to please God," or even one's own soul, which ever craves the certainty of a complete and sufficient testimony: But with this what wonders faith can work! Yea, what wonders it has wrought, as the Scriptures testify from beginning to end. How strikingly Heb. 11 stands out as a record of what faith has done, encouraging and strengthening to the end the saints of God when cast exclusively upon Him!
So with the children of the captivity in Daniel. There it is faith, without any doubt; no mere hoping, but sublime and godlike faith. Oh that such faith may be displayed now, and that, in these last days, the Lord may have those in testimony for Himself who shall possess the same unswerving, uncompromising faith which we love to admire in these captives of Babylon! It is indeed a solemn moment for us. Ancient landmarks are being removed, and the saints of God, exposed to many curious and subtle wiles, are tempted on every hand to depart from the narrow path, to concede, to amalgamate, to tolerate evil, so that a pleasant and easy (but unholy) fellowship may be maintained in the very place of professed separation!
Let us look at these illustrious captives for a moment. In Dan. 1, four men, chosen for their natural attractions, their birth, their beauty, their education, are appointed to be fed with the king's meat in a place, and at a time, when positive separation from the world and exclusive dependence upon God are demanded. This would be defilement, and they refuse. Daniel, acting for the rest, "purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank." Moreover God had to be honored among these uncircumcised; and to feed and fatten on the king's meat would be but poor testimony for Him! It would be in reality to enrich the king at His expense; to transfer to him the honor due alone to God. Yea more, it would be to take that which was specially devoted to God in the land of exile, wherewith to adorn the retinue of an earthly court and of the conqueror of God's people in that land; robbing God in order to enrich and exalt man!
And is not this the very thing men seek to do now? How plausible the guise, how specious the reasoning by which a saint may be persuaded to abandon the ground of testimony, and connect himself pleasantly and affably with the enemies of God! But " Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God," under whatever name it goes?
What powerful arguments could have been used by these four men for concession and submission to the ruler's decree! How forcibly the plea of necessity could have been urged; and the assurance, too, that it was not in heart but only in form, and for a time, and under constraint! But this was a language unknown to faith. In meekness and gentleness; certainly, let us obey the powers that be; but always in harmony with the word of God, as in Acts 4, when " Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye." These four men listened to no such pleas, kept the eye single and fixed above, and, despite all that could be said in favor of it, they refused fellowship with the world.
Yes, beloved, this it is that has to be discerned now, by us, as our special danger. How manifold are the forms of seduction! We must be on our guard indeed, and " Forasmuch as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind, for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God." (1 Peter 4.) We need surely to " abound yet more and more in the full knowledge and all intelligence," (or fine perception) of Phil. 1:9,9And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; (Philippians 1:9) " that we may judge of and approve the things that are more excellent;" that we may keep ourselves unspotted from the world, our hearts weaned, and our hands clean, and clear from all fellowship with it, however plausible its claims, however tempting its rewards, however painful its penalties; ever purposing in our heart not to defile ourselves with the king's meat.
Then in Dan. 3, we have another scene, where three men, under tremendous pressure, resolutely refuse conformity to the world. This is another point for us now, though approaching us, it may be, in a different manner. The three faithful witnesses of God at that time were required to do homage to the idolatrous image which king, lords and commons, with one consent had lifted into Jehovah's place. No, say they, we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up, not even under the threat of the burning fiery furnace. And when defied by the impious question: " Who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?" they calmly answered: " O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." What confidence in God! What obedience is this! What a bold and decided stand for God, under the severest strain to which faith can be exposed!
But was there no skilful reservation that would enable them to escape the difficulty? Could they not conform outwardly, whilst inwardly retaining allegiance to Jehovah? Would it do Him any harm? or any one else in fact? Nay, if they appeared to be contumacious, might it not bring dishonor on Jehovah's name, and endanger the whole body of captives, bringing unnecessary suffering on thousands? And for what purpose? What end would be gained by persistent refusal? And then think of the penalty! Think of the furnace roaring with sevenfold fury, presenting a death of the most horrible, appalling, excruciating character! Will it not really partake more of self-will and obstinacy than of faithful allegiance to God if we refuse?
Thus the enemy would parley, as indeed he does with all of us still, more or less. What can be more obvious than the same Satanic spirit at work amongst us at this moment? I need not enlarge. I feel how forcibly the case itself speaks, and how every sensitive conscience must acknowledge its power, and, I trust, surrender to it also. On every hand, in many a form, the enemy is enticing us to come down from an elevation which he seeks to degrade by holding it up to ridicule and contempt, representing it as Pharisaism, self-conceit, and assumed superiority. Only come, down a little, slightly bend and bow the head to the golden glittering image of peaceful pleasant conformity, and all will be well, and no harm done! Ali, yes; but the cloven foot is too visible in all this. The Lord preserve us all, young and old, from such insidious wiles, " Lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve by his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." (.2 Cor. 11.) No fellowship with the world; no conformity to the world. Let this be the ground on which, in all humility and dependence on God, but in unflinching fidelity, we take our stand now as these noble men did then!
Once more, in Dan. 6, we have another scene of similar import. One man now stands before us with all the calm holy dignity of a divine faith. He, too, has to refuse the world's claim, not for fellowship, nor for conformity, but for obedience to its prohibitory mandate: You shall not approach the presence of Jehovah in prayer! " Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime."
Mark these words, " as he did aforetime." Is not this exceedingly beautiful, presenting as it does such a lovely combination of power and gentleness, of grace and truth! Daniel would not yield for one moment to the pressure of the enemy without, and deny his God; nor would he 'listen to the whisperings of the enemy within, and make a parade of his faithfulness to God, displaying his devotions in a marked and ostentatious manner, and going beyond his customary habits as if defiantly to challenge persecution. No, it was simply " as he did aforetime." A word for us, on two points: neither on the one hand to cringe to a foe when a confession of faith has to be made; nor on the other to irritate him by needless and boastful parade. We need the wisdom of the serpent and the harmlessness of the dove; and these in union with that faith which staggered not even in view of the lion's den.
The king himself, we observe, quailed as he thought of it. For though on the previous evening he had confidently said, " Thy God will deliver thee," yet, after an anxious and sleepless night, he cried with a lamentable voice to Daniel, " O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?" Here we see the difference between faith and hope. With Daniel it was proved to be faith when he went into the den; with the king it was proved to be hope when he drew near and said, " Is thy God able to deliver thee?" It was labeled faith the night before; now it is discovered to be only hope. Is not the trying of our faith precious then, beloved, that we may know of a truth what is in our heart? Therefore we read that " no manner of hurt was found upon Daniel because he believed in his God."
It is not a little interesting, I think, to notice the similarity between Satan's plan of attack on our Lord when, in the wilderness, he assailed Him in person, and that which he pursued through the instrumentality of others when his object was to destroy the testimony of faithful witnesses in Babylon.
In both cases the temptation begins with food; the weakest point, the natural appetites, are assailed first. Act independently of God as to the nourishment of the body, is the demand; and in both it is refused. Our Lord said, " It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." And " Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat."
Then again, " Fall down and worship me," said the devil to Christ. " Fall down and worship the golden image," said Nebuchadnezzar. " Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve," replied the blessed and obedient Son of God. " We are not careful to answer thee in this matter," said the three faithful ones before the mouth of the furnace; He can deliver, and He will deliver. BUT IF NOT, we are ready to be offered up rather than dishonor and deny our God. Oh, this is faith, faith of the highest order! As with Job of old, " Though he slay me yet will I trust in him." Nothing can shake the confidence of Such men in their God. It is far above all circumstances. Whatsoever lie doeth is right and faithful and true, no matter what becomes of us; for " He is the faithful and true Witness," who Himself has said, " Whosoever will save his life shall lose it, but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it."
A third attempt is made in both eases; eliciting from the Lord the simple reply, " Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God;" and from Daniel the eloquent action which unequivocally refuses to tempt God by anything either more or less than that which " he did aforetime."
These are striking examples of faith, beloved, and for our admonition too, sheaving clearly what faith is and what it is not; and how, through the grace of God, it can make the unseen more real than the seen, and can shape a course on earth, though involving loss and shame and suffering, after the pattern of the will of God, and in the power of implicit confidence in Him.
The Lord in His rich mercy give such power to His own in these perilous times that they may refuse fellowship with the world, even in seemingly trifling and innocent things; refuse conformity to the world in any of its ways, whether ecclesiastical or secular; and refuse obedience to the world in its unholy demand, however presented, for a practical denial of the testimony committed to them. "
(T. L.)