WHEN the Emperor Napoleon the First was one day reviewing his troops, he let go the bridle of his horse, and in a moment the high-spirited animal galloped away with him.
A private in the ranks saw the danger, sprang from his place, and seized the bridle of the runaway, thus saving the limbs, and perhaps the life also, of the emperor, who said to him, "Thank you, captain," and rode on.
“Of what regiment, sire?" asked the soldier.
“Of my guards," was the reply.
Going back to his regiment, he put dowry his gun, and said, “Whoever likes may take care of that," and, walking across the review ground, joined the staff.
A general, looking round at him, said,
“What does that fellow want?”
“' That fellow ' is a captain of the guard,” said the man, and gave the military salute.
“You are mad, friend!”
“I am not mad; I am a captain of the guard.”
“Who said so?”
“He said so," pointing to the emperor riding along.
“I beg your pardon," replied the general, and recognized him at once in his new office.
“If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater "; and the foregoing story is recorded for the sake of those who, while truly anxious about the salvation of their souls, have not received the " testimony of God "about" Jesus Christ, and Him crucified,” and who, consequently, cannot say, “We know that His testimony is true." The Holy Ghost has convinced you of sin, and, in the depths of your souls, you own that you are "guilty before God." You may have groaned beneath the load of your guilt, watered your couch with your tears; and when, in broken accents, you have tried to pray, it may have been as though Satan were standing at your right hand to resist you.
You may, too, have searched the Scriptures again and again, and frequently listened to the preaching of the gospel; and yet, when you have heard that there is full and free salvation in Christ for the very vilest sinners who believe in His name, if you had expressed the thoughts of your hearts, it would have been, in the language of a weary, heavy laden sinner we once met with: "I do not know what you mean by believing "; and who, when the finished work of Christ was again put before her, replied, " Oh, if I could believe!
But I don't know how.”
Now, does it seem strange to you that when the subject of our story heard the emperor call dim "Captain," he should so simply and fully take him at his word as to ask immediately of what regiment he was to be the captain? Or wonderful that, when he was called “That fellow," charged with being "mad,” and deridingly asked, "Who said so?" he should point at once to the emperor, and triumphantly reply, "He said so"?
“Certainly not," you say; “any other mode of action on the part of the soldier would have plainly declared that he had no faith in the imperial word that had been spoken to him.”
Well, then, dear reader, how is it that when “God, who cannot lie," declares in His word that He “sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins"; that "The atoning work is done"; and that He has shown His satisfaction therewith by raising Him from the dead, and setting Him at His own right hand, you do not as readily believe His testimony as the man believed the saving of the Emperor Napoleon?
Ah, why? Because you have supposed that faith is something more than simple reliance upon the plain statements of the word of God, and you have looked for that supposed something in yourselves, and tried to find the ground of your confidence in your convictions of sin, or in the depth and extent of your feelings and evidences.
But this is to reverse God's order altogether.
What evidence had the soldier that he was a captain before he believed it? None whatever. No gold lace adorned his clothes; he had not received a single farthing of a captain's pay; his commission even was not signed by the proper authorities. Doubtless, after he had passed through the ceremonies of the War Office, he soon wore a captain's uniform; but this followed his faith, not went before it. And so, dear reader, true faith is always followed by internal and external evidences; but until you have believed “the true sayings of God," you will neither possess the one nor manifest the other. But the instant you listen to " the words of eternal life," and drink in the wondrous truth that “Christ died for the ungodly," and that you are welcome to Him without self-preparation or any worthiness to plead, the full and simple belief of this precious fact will bring immediate peace to your sin-troubled soul; you will have power to silence, not only the accusations of Satan, but the ignorance of those who will seek to persuade you that it is presumption to say that you are saved; and when challenged to give " a reason of the hope that is in you," you will point heavenward and reply, "The mouth of the Lord hash spoken it.”
Such, dear reader, is ever the language of faith, and oh! that from henceforth you may believe "the faithful saying," that " Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,” as unhesitatingly as the man believed the word of the Emperor Napoleon! True, the daring act of the soldier well deserved the honor which was bestowed upon him; whereas, were you to receive the due reward of your deeds, you could not “escape the judgment of God";. But this should only enhance (and were it not for the pride of your hearts it would do so) “the gospel of the grace of God” in your estimation, and cause you to give a willing ear to “the joyful sound “of present and eternal salvation in and by the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the finished and accepted work of the Son of His love, God presents you a solid and an immovable rock upon which you may repose "in perfect peace," the word which declares that it is nigh you is worthy of all your confidence. Ground your faith simply and solely thereon, and you shall not be ashamed nor confounded, world without end.
How happy it is to be debtors to grace!
How happy to take when God is glorified in giving! When MAN is in question, it is infinitely better to dig than to beg; but when GOD is in question, the case is the very reverse.