IT is generally admitted that at the present time, reasoning and credulity are making rapid strides, and are dividing between them the great masses in Christendom.
It is not then out of season, to consider what is the nature of that faith which God gives, by which the sinner is justified, and without which it is impossible for the saint to please Him.
It is a solemn fact, and the world cannot get rid of it, and of the consequent responsibility, that the word of God has been given, and that it is before the eyes, and even in the hands of men. In Christendom God's word is acknowledged, more or less, as the basis of every form of' religious belief; but as man by nature and in -the flesh cannot be subject to God, and to His word, he: does with it (as with everything else with which God has entrusted him) that which seemeth good in his own eyes, and wrests the expressions and words of Scripture to his own meaning. Thus, for instance, such words as " Faith," '' Religion," " Church," '' Regeneration," "Eternal Life or Death," etc., are taken up and interpreted according to the peculiar views of schools or of individuals, and are made to mean just what each one pleases.
It is written that "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God," but experience shows us that the natural man is exceedingly ready to take up the letter of God's word, and this is very markedly the case in our time.
Men will not let God and His revelation alone. Religion is the order of the day. There is a sort of itching after religiousness. Men do not and dare not believe nothing. They must have what they call " a faith" of some sort. Natural conscience appears to be aroused, and men of every degree, and character of mind, the most worldly, and the most intellectual, make time and opportunity for religious profession, and many even seek to flavor their very worldliness by their religiousness.
And Satan is busy in the midst of this scene presenting this and that error to men's minds for them to rest on. Every shade of superstition and infidelity may be traced within a very limited sphere in Christendom, and the assent given to each of these is called by men their " faith.' Thus that which man calls faith, is his assent to, and belief in such doctrine, creed, or system as he has received either on the evidence of his own reason or senses, or on such external authority as he may please to submit his mind to:-and under these two heads may be ranged every form of rationalism wherein man by searching thinks to find out God; and of superstition, in which he rests his soul for its eternal salvation on the traditions and doctrines of men.
Now in such a world, such a scene of unbounded con' fusion, how important for the soul to examine itself, whether it be in the faith, and prove the reality and virtue of that which it possesses; and it need not go astray, for the faith which is of God has its own characteristics, in which it differs from all that reason, sense, or flesh in its best and fairest forms can show.
Divine faith is, in a special sense, " the gift of God." It is imparted by Him, the work of His own Spirit. It is something in addition to nature, and it is not one of what men call " nature's gifts." Its possession is evidenced in crediting God rather than man. The natural mind credits natural facts, but by divine faith the mind of man credits God. Whenever the word of man, or the judgment of sight and sense come into collision with the word and revelation of God, divine faith sides with God, and says, " Let GOD be true " (Rom. 3:44God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged. (Romans 3:4)).
" All men have not faith." Faith is not the mere natural belief of the mind of man, though faith acts through the mind. It is not the same thing to believe man or the evidence of my senses, as to believe God.
It is sometimes said by teachers of the gospel and others that God and His word are to be believed just as men believe one another, or the facts of nature and of history. But this is, not so. The action of the natural mind is, no doubt, the same; but the power is totally different: in one case it is a natural, in the other it is a spiritual power, and this is proved not only by the word of God (1 Cor. 2:1414But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14)), but in the experience of all true believers. For instance, they know that no mere effort of their minds could have enabled them to receive the simple statements of the gospel as to the value of the work of Christ, until "faith came." Though the facts were not disputed; the value of His atoning work, though equally set forth in the Scriptures, was not apprehended, and never can be except " by faith."
But the question arises, how is the action of the natural mind to be distinguished from divine faith, as up to a certain point both acknowledge and agree to the same truths? This may be explained if it be remembered that the letter of the Scriptures of God being historically true, and better attested than any other facts, the natural mind receives and assents to that which is thus presented to it on unquestionable evidence, altogether apart from divine faith.
Men do not and cannot deny the leading facts and doctrines of Scripture, but giving to them a mental assent, form upon them systems of religious belief.
Faith, however, acts differently, and on another principle. It is indeed the " gift of God." It is a power of which nature knows nothing. When "faith is come" a new and living link is formed between the soul and God, by which God is apprehended as the "living God," and as the One from whom everything is to be expected (Heb. 11:66But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6); Psa. 62).
God becomes the object of the soul by faith; and His word has the first and highest authority over it. Faith neither staggers at the word of God, nor seeks to qualify it. We read " Abraham believed God," and this is the action -of faith. It is not only that he believed God's word, but firstly, he believed God Himself, and thus His word of course.
I may believe the word of one, because the word itself is worthy of credit, and either meets my need, or commends itself to my mind as true, and this without a due apprehension of, or respect for, the one who speaks. It is the apprehension of the person, however, which is the essential point, and then His word derives its authority, not merely from my sense of its truth, or its suitability to my own or others' needs, but from Himself, and this is especially the character of Divine faith. It apprehends and believes God.
Faith in every age and dispensation has thus acted. God being its object, His word or revelation has always by it been received. What Be has spoken, faith has bowed to and believed, and the justification which is by faith has followed. God's mind too has -been apprehended and His will done by those to whom this gift has been vouchsafed, in a way which nothing but faith could accomplish. The eleventh of Hebrews tells us somewhat of this in its wonderful summary of the saints of old.
That men naturally know and believe both in God and His revelation up to a certain point is unquestionable, and even." the devils believe and tremble." That it was so from the beginning we learn from God's own Word, as also that ignorance of God has followed because men, " did not like to retain God in their knowledge " (Rom. 1)
In Israel, as a people, we know that God and His Word were acknowledged and believed apart from divine faith. Their character, indeed, is recorded as that of " children in whom is no faith " (Deut. 32:2020And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith. (Deuteronomy 32:20)), and a people who sought not righteousness by faith (Rom. 9:3232Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; (Romans 9:32)). God revealed Himself to them in such a way as to leave no possibility of question as to His being or His will, but apart from faith He was neither known, trusted, or enjoyed, and at last, as we know, He was rejected by them. But all through God was owned and believed in by a remnant on the ground of faith. Before law, and under law, we find the record of their faith, and if we trace their histories shall see that it is evidenced by actions and works very contrary in their character to what nature or sense would dictate. Again, in this dispensation, men have mentally assented to the up.- questionable facts connected with the manifestation of God in the flesh.." The thing was not done in a corner." Christ most surely came, lived in the flesh, is died and rose again, and men know it, cannot deny it. They own it, presented to them as it is on evidence which cannot be disputed, and then, by their natural assent to the leading facts and doctrines of Christianity, they form the outward mass of profession, called " Christendom."
Here again, however, nature is at fault, and while adopting the letter, fails to apprehend the very life and essence of Christianity. It is by faith alone that the Christ of God is known and apprehended, and His finished work for sinners valued in the soul. By natural assent to facts and doctrines Christendom is formed as we have said, but by divine faith God and in revelation in Christ, the sinner is justified,:peace is obtained, the heart of man is satisfied, and the believer is separated forever from the world and from the power of him who rules it. Nature can apprehend facts and doctrines and form upon them a variety of religious systems and beliefs according to the character of the mind that deals with them. It is reserved for faith " the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen," to enter into And appropriate the mind and purpose of God in Christ, and find its rest in Faith, then, is not " religion" so called, It is a divine gift, a new and living power to lay hold on God, -His Word, His mind, His purpose, and His will. " Pure religion and undefiled " must follow faith, for " faith without works is dead, being alone," but, according to God, religion is not a system of belief or practice by which the soul is saved, but the fruits of His own grace in a soul saved and satisfied by the knowledge of His love through faith—" faith which worketh by love."
There is one point in connection with the reception of God's word which is important in our day. Faith needs no testimony from man as to the truth of God and of His word. There are those who will assert that the very existence of the Word, as well as the evidence of its divinity, depends on human instrumentality, as for instance on what they call " the Church," on whose authority they say it has been defined, and is accepted as of God. Now, this is true no doubt as to man, apart from faith. Man requires testimony to that which he is asked to believe, and will take it from his fellow man, even in the things of God. But divine faith needs no such evidence. It believes God, and bows to His word, because it is His word. The soul which possesses faith believes the message of God's grace and finds its peace and joy, not because man says it is God's message, but because it is God's message to it. " My sheep," says the Lord Jesus, " know my voice." " He that knoweth God heareth us," says John. This does not touch the fact that God, as a rule, uses man in testimony for Himself, as in the preaching of the Gospel, for " faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God," but the word of God it is that faith receives and not man's testimony of it (1 Thess. 2:1313For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe. (1 Thessalonians 2:13)).
Now, we have before alluded to the fact that it is by faith that God justifies the sinner (not holding the doctrine of " justification by faith," but having the thing itself), and every true believer in the Lord Jesus is thus justified. What is needed, however, in our souls is continuance in the exercise of the faith by which, as sinners, we first found peace with God. It is here that so many of God's children fail. Having been justified by faith they cease to exercise the power on which their every blessing hangs, and yet of them it is said as looked at in grace that they " walk by faith and not by sight."
The failure of God's people now-a-days in this respect may be more clearly seen if we compare the present with the past dispensation.
Under the law faith was not called for, but obedience. Man was under probation in the nation of Israel. The question was, could man obey and live Israel's failure, rejection, and judgment, is the answer. Man as man could not obey or keep the holy law of a holy God, and even under law, faith alone could apprehend its claims, or the inability of the flesh to meet them, as we read, " the just shall live by his faith " (Hab. 2:44Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith. (Habakkuk 2:4)). As we have said before, faith in every age apprehended God, and before or under law, in individuals it owned man's sin and failure, and " trusted in God," not on the ground of obedience, but of faith. Such for instance as Abel, Job, Moses, Jeremiah, Daniel, etc. Before Christ the character of God's dispensational dealings was however distinctly on the ground of a carnal obedience and faith so entirely exceptional that the very word occurs but twice in the Old Testament, yet on the other hand obedience was so unattainable by man in the flesh that Israel's very failure is attributed to their seeking righteousness on the around of law, and not of faith. (Rom. 9:31,3231But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. 32Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; (Romans 9:31‑32).)
But now all is changed. Man is no longer under trial; he has been proved, and proved to be unequal to the claims and requirements of God. Of Israel, with the light of the law of God in their midst, it is written " Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider." Christ, the light has come, and " his own received him not"; and, as to the world, " he was in the world, and the world knew him not " (John 1:10,1110He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11He came unto his own, and his own received him not. (John 1:10‑11)). The mission of the Son of God manifested in the fullest manner the character of man, and man's rejection of Him brought to a close the period of his probation.
With the " judgment of this world," however and its conviction of sin by the testimony of the Holy Ghost, to the death and resurrection of Christ, another state of things has been introduced. Whereas God did call for obedience; He now calls for faith. Man having been proved to be incapable of obedience, he is now in the Gospel called upon for faith-i.e. belief in God, and in God's ability (upon the ground of a perfect atonement for sin, made upon that cross, at which the sin of man and grace of God met, and the lesser was swallowed up in the greater) to be " just, and' the justifier of him that believeth in' Jesus" (Rom. 3:2626To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. (Romans 3:26)). Men, sinners, are besought to be reconciled to God, not on the ground of any work, religious system, or creed, of their own, but on the ground' of. God's own actings towards them in having sent his Son into the world to save the world;- on the ground that Christ has been " made sin," that sin has been laid on Him, that He has "once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust." In all this God will have it to be seen that He is the actor, and He alone. Man having been proved a sinner every mouth is stopped, and all the world has become guilty before God. Faith then is that by which alone man can now respond to the grace of God, or to the' call of God' upon him. It is a dispensation of faith; not as it once was when faith here and there in individuals trusted a God who yet dwelt in " thick darkness," but still trusted Him, though only able perhaps to say " though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him"; but a dispensation in which faith it called for towards a God who has come out to sinners in all the fullness of His grace; in which " the darkness has passed and the true light now shineth."
If one may say it, What could God do more than He has done, and declares in His gospel, to display the riches of His grace and of. His glory, and to speak to the necessities of men. He has indeed spoken by His Son -the Word, the incarnate Word, "the daysman," who can lay His hand upon God and man, and bring them both together.
This then is Christianity according to God: How different from that which the world presents to us. The world has indeed adopted Christianity, but has made of it a religion for the flesh. That which God jealously guarded, leaving really no place for flesh to act in, man has nevertheless wrested from the Spirit, and calling Christ the " Divine Founder of our religion," has sought to follow His teaching and instructions apart from faith. And God's own people, " children of God by faith in Christ Jesus," are carried with the stream:
Now we before have said that God, looking at His people in grace, can say of them that they " walk by faith not by sight"; and this is indeed what they are called to. That faith by which they once looked to Christ as their Savior, and learned that God had justified them, should never cease its operation in their souls. If God has been trusted for salvation, is He not worthy to be trusted for the smallest matter. If, however, we are honest we must admit that this is not so with us, and that so far from the walk of faith characterizing the people of God, their walk is often as much like men as the rest of the world. The saints of God do not stand out now as of old, as those of whom it was said the " world was not worthy," but mingled in the mass of profession they cannot be distinguished (except in rare instances) from that world which with all its outward form of godliness yet " lieth in wickedness."
Faith is the last thing which Christians often think of exercising, except in the one act by which they seek to get peace to their souls, and to escape from hell; and thus blessing to the soul and power against sin and the world are forfeited, and the name of Christ is dishonored. The portion of the saint of God now is only to be known and enjoyed by faith. Faith is God's gift to him for the present season, for the " little while," during which he is neither of the world, nor in the glory. God has given him nothing here below to rest in or to wait for. His every blessing, joy, and hope are linked with One who was rejected in the world and is now at the right hand of God, because rejected here. The assertion of a place or authority in the world, either by the saint or the Church, is therefore completely contrary to the mind of God as revealed in His word. Christ is the measure and pattern of His people, what His portion was here, theirs is here; what He is above they are even now in spirit, and are destined to be in body also. When He comes to the world again to judge, and to reign, they will be with Him sharers of His throne.
May the Lord awaken our hearts more to the exercise of faith, and having the "mind of Christ," to know more of practical fellowship with Him—to be able in our measure to say as one of old, " The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me" (Gal. 2:2020I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)). God has indeed given to us His Son wholly, and without reserve, not to be looked at once for life, and that attained, the eyes then turned to the world for present enjoyment. No, it is to be Christ all the way along, the heavenly manna: the " bread of God," as He said, "he that ' eateth me shall live by me." God has redeemed His people from an evil world to give them to another, and to give to them another object for their hearts, even the Son of His love; and true faith finds in the Son of God a better and a dearer object than all that this poor world can offer. " Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God " (1 John 5:55Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 5:5)). Who indeed? And what can give the victory over a world which presents such attractions to the heart of man, but faith which makes so present and so real the love stronger than death, and the abundance and power of that life out of death, which is in Jesus, the crucified and risen, and in Him alone.
Nothing can take the place of faith, knowledge in the things of God will not alone carry us along. Many of God's children now-a-days start on their course with knowledge, but whatever nature may say, in the things of God knowledge is not power apart from the exercise of faith. They thus fail to follow in the thoughts and ways of God, and make shipwreck of their testimony. Solemn is the word to such, "If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him:""
"There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen." Nature's highest flight, and keenest vision, discerns not the way of faith. God has a path for every one of His people, and faith rests in the certainty that that which He has laid out must be the surest and most blessed way to walk in. The end of it is the same for all; His presence for evermore, -and faith waits on Him to make plain every step, and even in the darkest passages can say " when my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then THOU knewest my path."
B.