THE TRUE
CHRISTIAN
By John Angell James, 1846
LIFE OF FAITH
"We live by faith, not by sight." 2 Cor. 5:7
My Dear Friends,
The subject on which I now address you, is of vital importance to your
safety as sinners, and to your comfort as Christians; I mean the Life of
Faith. It is a subject constantly recurring in your conversation and
prayers, yet I fear too little understood—still less felt—and, in some
cases, mischievously perverted.
I shall begin by removing a gross and grievous
misconception, which some have taken up on this momentous topic. To live and
walk by faith means, with such people, nothing more than living in an
habitual persuasion that they are Christians. This view rests, of course,
upon the notion, that faith is a confidence of their own personal interest
in Christ. It is common, therefore, for them to speak of a life of faith, as
opposed to a life of frames and feelings. Those times in which we have the
most spiritual discernment of God's glory, sensible communion with
him, and feel our love most ardently drawn out to him, are thought by them
to have the least exercise of faith. "There is no need," say they, "for
faith then; at such times we live by sense—but that when all our
graces seem dead, and we can see no evidence whence to draw the favorable
conclusion, that we are the children of God—then is the time to walk by
faith." Their meaning is, "then is the time to believe all is well, and so
rest easy, whether we have the evidence that it is so or not." It is not
infrequently, that the language of the prophet is brought forward to support
this false view of the subject, "Who among you fears the Lord and obeys his
servant? If you are walking in darkness, without a ray of light, trust in
the Lord and rely on your God." Isaiah 50:10. The darkness here, however,
does not mean that which is spiritual, or a lack of discernment of
our being a child of God—but providential darkness, or a lack of external
prosperity—in which season it is our duty, of course, to trust in God.
There cannot be a more pernicious or unscriptural notion;
one that is more dangerous to the individual who entertains it, nor more
discreditable to religion, than to resolve the life of faith into a going
forward with the persuasion that we are justified in the sight of God, and
advancing to glory, notwithstanding the coldness and carnality of our
hearts, and the absence of all right frames and feelings toward God and
eternal things. That some people live upon frames and feelings, and put this
in place of the life of faith is very true. If, instead of keeping the eye
of the mind fixed on Christ, it is always turned inward upon the mind
itself, pleased with beholding some supposed excellencies there; if our
consolation is derived from the good we see in ourselves, rather than from
the fullness there is in the Savior; if we imagine that the purposes and
dispositions of the divine mind toward us, are as variable as our own
emotions; or if, while we profess to place all our dependence on Christ, our
religious peace and consolation are regulated more by the amount of actual
emotion, than by our perception of the work of the Redeemer—this is living
upon frames and feelings, and is of course opposed to the life of faith.
There are two passages of the apostle in reference to the
subject now before us, which deserve attention; the first is this, "I have
been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The
life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and
gave himself for me." Gal. 2:20. The other is this, "We walk by faith, not
by sight." 2 Cor. 5:7. Between the life of faith, and the walk of faith,
there is no other difference than what lies between a principle and its
operations. This is pointed out in another passage, where the apostle says,
"If we live in the spirit let us also walk in the spirit."
Gal. 5:25. The life of faith refers to the principle; the walk,
to its acts and exercises. Both taken together mean, our being habitually
influenced in the state of our minds and conduct, not by visible but
invisible objects; the objects which are revealed in the word of God; and of
the nature and reality of which we have no evidence but this divine
testimony. Faith is a cordial and practical belief of this testimony,
and to live and walk by it, must of course mean our being habitually
influenced by those objects which that testimony reveals. It is opposed to
physical sight, to the discoveries of mere reason, and to the ultimate
vision of Christ in glory.
The life of faith may be considered in reference to the
various OBJECTS which the
Scripture reveals.
1. To GOD. "Without faith
it is impossible to please God. He who comes to God, must believe that he
is, and that he is the rewarder of all those who diligently seek him." Heb.
11:6. It is said of Moses, "He persevered because he saw him who is
invisible." This is the life and walk of faith with respect to God; a
realizing sense of his invisible presence—such a persuasion, derived from
the word of God, of his existence, and of his natural and moral perfections,
as leads us to all that conduct which he requires. Perhaps this acting of
faith toward God, could not be more appropriately described, than by the
word used in reference to Enoch, and Noah, where it is said they "walked
with God." Gen. 5:24; 6:9. The expression is striking, and signifies
such a habitual sense of the presence of God, and such a reference to him,
as a man has of the friend who is walking at his side. This then is the life
of faith, to believe that we are ever surrounded by an all-seeing, holy, and
merciful God, and to conduct ourselves toward him accordingly.
2. See the life of faith in reference to CHRIST.
"I live by faith in the son of God," said the apostle. Christ is the great
object of justifying, saving faith. Look unto me, believe in
me, come to me, is the reiterated, constant invitation and
command of Christ as speaking to us in the Gospel. His person, as God-man,
Mediator; his offices, as Prophet, Priest, and King; his perfect atonement,
justifying righteousness, and prevailing intercession; his spotless example,
holy commands, and gracious promises; his government and kingdom, as
revealed in the New Testament, are the glorious objects of our contemplation
and belief.
To live and walk by faith, is to come daily to Jesus in
the exercise of fresh dependence, fresh expectations, and fresh devotedness;
it is still to renounce all and everything but Christ as the basis of our
hope; it is to see more of his glory and grace continually, and to rejoice
with more joy in his unsearchable riches, and inexhaustible fullness. To
live and walk by faith, is to confess that as time rolls on, and eternity
advances, he is all our righteousness and strength; it is to feel that as
knowledge increases, and grace grows, still we have nothing but Christ, as a
ground of confidence. To live and walk by faith, is in all our conflicts,
sins, fears, weaknesses, and woes—to resort afresh to him, and just as we
came at first, with a full persuasion that we are welcome, and thus ever to
derive strength and courage from him. This is a life of faith in Christ—to
be assured and to feel that as the branch has no life apart from the vine,
nor the members from the head, so we have no spiritual life, but as we abide
in him.
3. See the life of faith in reference to PROVIDENTIAL
DISPENSATIONS. Christ has told us once for
all, that "all power in heaven and earth is in his hands." Matthew 28:18.
The apostle has repeated the declaration, "And God has put all things under
the authority of Christ, and he gave him this authority for the benefit of
the church." Ephes. 1:22. So minute is the superintendence of his care over
his people, that "the very hairs of their head are all numbered." Again and
again we are assured, that "those who fear the Lord shall not lack any good
thing." Psalm 34, 37. That "he who spared not his own Son, but freely
delivered him up for us all, shall with him also freely give us all things."
Rom. 8:32. "That all things shall work together for good to those who love
God, and who are the called according to his purpose." Rom. 8:28. "That our
light afflictions which are but for a moment, work out for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory." 2 Cor. 4:17.
These are the true and comfortable words of Holy
Scripture, and the life of faith consists in believing they are true, and in
applying them to all the varying events and occurrences and circumstances of
our own individual and humble history. Faith believes that in what ever
straits and difficulties we may be found God will never abandon us. It says,
amid seeming destitution, "God is my shepherd, I shall not be in need." It
replies when all things appear against us, "it is well." It believes that
love is at the bottom of all dispensations, however confounding to our
wisdom, or disappointing to our hopes. It hushes the murmur, wipes the tear,
and suppresses the complaint, by the persuasion that all will end well. It
sings, as did good Habakkuk, "Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,
and there are no grapes on the vine; even though the olive crop fails, and
the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields,
and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be
joyful in the God of my salvation!" Habakkuk 3:17-18
4. See the life of faith in reference to THE SECOND
COMING OF CHRIST. "You turned to God from
dumb idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his son from
heaven." 1 Thess. 1:9, 10. Such was the apostle's description of the
habitual frame of the mind of believers in his day. A similar representation
we find in another place, "while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious
appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ." Titus 2:13. As if it
were the one great object of their expectation, to wait for the second
advent of the Savior.
If the Millenarians run into one extreme in the
prominence they give to this great event in their meditations and
discourses, so as to make it predominate even over the first coming
of Christ; the great bulk of professing Christians run into the opposite
extreme of leaving the second coming out too much. Oh, what are all the
future events of time; what are the changes that are to take place in the
history of our country, or the world, compared with the advent of Christ,
when he shall come a second time—not as a sin-offering, but unto salvation?
What should be so interesting to our hopes as "the revelation of the Lord
Jesus Christ from heaven, with his mighty angels, when he shall come to be
glorified in his saints, and admired in all those who believe." 2 Thess.
1:7-10. Illustrious day! Glorious scene! Here is the life of faith, in
contemplating these, and giving rise to the most lively and animated hopes;
and setting the Christian in the attitude of expectation, and the work of
preparation.
5. Contemplate the life of faith in reference to
ETERNITY, and the glory of HEAVEN. How
concisely, yet how beautifully is this expressed by the apostle, "We look
not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for
the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen
are eternal." 2 Cor. 4:18. Oh, what simplicity, and yet what sublimity of
language! It was as if he had said, "Eternity is so clearly revealed to us
in all its wonders and glories, and is so vast and magnificent a scene, and
also so near, that we scarcely seem to see the things of time, and have no
inclination to turn away from the boundless prospect of immortality, to look
after earthly trifles. In all our estimates, our feelings, and our pursuits,
we are guided and controlled by a regard to things eternal." This is the
acting of faith, to believe in glory, honor, and immortality; and the
life of faith is to let eternity give the stamp and form of our
character. It is to treat heaven as a reality, and to let it mold our
very spirit and disposition. If this divine principle is in our souls, we
shall enter into the apostle's beautiful language and say, "Now we know that
if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an
eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan,
longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are
clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan
and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed
with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by
life. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us
the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. Therefore we are
always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are
away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight." 2 Cor. 5:1-7
This, my dear friends, is the new, and spiritual, and
heavenly life you are called by your profession to lead—this is in fact
the Christian life. It is to this the apostle refers when he says, "You
are dead and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our
life, shall appear—then shall you also appear with him in glory!" Col. 3:3,
4. How different to all this is the way of the multitude, "who are walking
according to the course of this world." "They mind earthly things." Their
whole frame and disposition of mind is expressed in the inquiry, "Who will
show us any good?" This present world is their region, and they never
rise out of it. Their only converse is with the visible world. Beyond this
they have no objects, either of hope or fear; no springs of happiness; no
sources of interest.
And even among those who make a profession of religion,
how little is this subject understood and felt. How low is this heavenly
life, how feeble is the pulse of faith. Do not the great bulk of those who
call themselves Christians appear to be living far too much by sight—and not
by faith in eternal realities? Not indeed that they are immersed in vice or
amusing gaieties; but how deeply sunk in worldly care, how taken up with
worldly comforts! No matter how pure, and how innocent the things may be
in themselves, if they hide scriptural objects from the eye of faith—they
are unlawful, as to their influence, when they do this. Our profession
implies a disposition, and a habit of seeking our highest objects of
interest and delight in things unseen and eternal; a daily converse of the
soul with God and Christ; with heaven and eternity. He who is thus walking
will not allow himself to be long out of sight of the cross; will not wander
far from God in quest of happiness. He will not shut himself up amid
terrestrial scenes, however rational or innocent. He has a new principle in
his nature, beside sense and reason—for he has faith. And faith is an
active, powerful, and craving principle, which aspires after something
higher, and better, and more enduring—than anything he can see, or touch, or
taste!
He is the subject of wants and woes, which only faith can
relieve and mitigate. Neither sense nor reason can assist him to throw off
his load of guilt, or give satisfaction to desires, which the world is too
poor to gratify. Here, therefore, on this terrestrial globe, he finds
himself a prisoner, sighing for escape from the dark and limited region
which he inhabits—and it is only faith that can open for him the doors, and
make way for his excursion into the invisible realities of eternity!
Alas! how small are our attainments in this divine life
of faith—how much are we occupied and engrossed by things of time and sense.
It is well worth while to ask, what do you know of this? You are all living
by faith or sight; either upon heavenly things, or earthly things. On what
is your soul living? What is it that supplies your comfort?
Where does your spirit go daily to quench her thirst after
happiness—to the breaking cisterns of 'earthly good', or to the fountains of
living waters? Sooner or later, the fullest store of the joys of earthly
delights will be exhausted. All the dear delights of earth are but the
offspring of time—an offspring that will soon take to themselves wings, and,
with him who cherished them, fly away.
Oh my friends, it is but too common for many to suppose
that those who live by faith in the enjoyments of the world to come, live
upon mere imaginations. But are they not mistaken? It is their
worldly enjoyments, and not those of believers, which are imaginary.
Pleasures, profits, honors, what are they? The whole form only a kind
of imaginary world, a sort of splendid show, like that in a
dream, which when you awake—all is gone! To grasp it, is to grasp a shadow;
and to feed upon it, is to feed upon the wind. Christ and his
salvation—heaven and eternity—are the only substantial realities! And these
are the objects for which faith lives, and toward which it is perpetually
walking.
Receive then, dear friends, the word of exhortation, and
seek to possess more and more of this divine life of faith. Understand
clearly the nature and operation of that great principle of faith, which is
the root of all true piety. It is not only as sinners, and for the purpose
of justification, that you need faith, but as Christians also for
sanctification, consolation, and perseverance. Every act of the spiritual
life is an act of faith; every step in the spiritual walk is a step of
faith. The Christian's course is not one of doing merely, but of
believing. His prayers are the breathings of faith; his works
are the actings of faith; his penitence is the tear of faith; his
joy is the smile of faith; his hopes are the anticipations of
faith; his fears are the tremblings of faith; his strength is
the confidence of faith; his submission is the acquiescence of faith.
Faith is the eye that looks at Christ; the foot
that moves to him; the hand that receives him; the mouth that
feeds upon him. It is not only by the activity of obedience, but by the
silent and passive power of dependence, that the Christian is strong and
victorious. Here is the reason why so many professors are so worldly and so
weak; why they make such little progress, and such small attainments; some
of them are so much under the dominion of sense, are so almost wholly given
up to a life of sight, that they have neither time nor inclination to look
at the things that are unseen and eternal. While others, though far more
solicitous and laborious about spiritual things, fix their attention, and
exhaust their energies, upon toilsome self-sustained struggles, to the
neglect of faith. There is in them no habitual looking to Christ, no abiding
in him, no vivid consciousness that all their springs are in him, and that
it is from his fullness they are to receive and grace for grace. Theirs is a
life of working, but not of believing; they are lamentably ignorant of the
astonishing mightiness, yes, the all-mightiness, there is in the simple act
of believing; for what is this, but to be strong in the Lord, and in the
power of his might?
Do not forget that it is not possible to carry on the
growth of the Christian life unto the measure of the stature of the fullness
of Christ, apart from a life of faith. "It is only when that life is
firmly-rooted and grounded in faith, that the straight stem of righteousness
will rise up, and branch out into the manifold ramifications of duty, and
that it will be crowned with the brightness and sweetness of the amaranthine
blossoms of love. When moral rectitude is disjoined from faith—it may
stiffen into pharisaical formality, or calcify into stoical severity; or it
may be withered by the blights and cankerworm of expediency; or it may
tumble into the stye of Epicureanism and rot there. When Christian
service is disjoined from faith—caprice may throw it to the winds;
chance may nip it in the bud; pride may blast it; vanity may eat away its
core; prosperity may parch it; distress may freeze it; lust may taint and
poison it; the slights and neglects which it experiences at times, in a
world of frailty and mutability—will assuredly sour and embitter it. Indeed,
according to the true idea of Christian love, and of righteousness, neither
the one nor the other can exist at all, except as springing out of faith.
Whereas, when faith is genuine and strong, in proportion to its genuineness
and strength, will it infallibly produce righteousness and love; a
righteousness and love which, having a living seed within them, will be
abiding."
A living faith, and living works must, and do, always go
together. They cannot live but in union with each other; cut them asunder,
and they both die. To think of growing in grace, increasing in love, and
abounding in the fruits of righteousness, in any other way than by faith,
and strong faith too—is as irrational as to cut off the branch from the
vine, and to expect it, in that state, to bear the rich, full clusters of
the parent-tree.
It is by "the life of faith," you will bring glory to
God. Confidence in the kindness, veracity, and ability of a fellow-creature,
affords a pleasure to his own mind, and does him honor before others. We
please God, and magnify him before the world, when we confide in him. For
this purpose we are placed where we are, and as we are, where
we can see nothing, hear nothing, touch nothing—but must believe
everything—and all this that we might glorify him as a God who is faithful
and cannot lie. We see not God, nor Christ, nor heaven, and know nothing
about them, but by the testimony of Scripture. How then is God honored, when
upon the credit of his simple word alone—we prefer the invisible realities
of eternity, to the visible things of time; and amid all that is dazzling to
sense, gratifying to appetite, and dear to passion—spend a life of
self-denial, mortification, and separation from the world; and in some
instances die the martyr's death.
Prove yourselves, then, the children of faithful Abraham,
and stagger not at the promises of God, through unbelief; but be strong
in faith, giving glory to God. Believer, if you are brought into dark
and difficult circumstances, instead of allowing yourself to think you may
stand excused for the indulgence of murmuring and unbelief, consider it
rather as an opportunity and a call for the exercise of faith, and for thus
glorifying God. The thicker the darkness through which he calls you to
pass—and the more entirely destitute you are of all help from every other
quarter—the greater is the opportunity for honoring him by trusting him with
all your concerns!
How blessed to its possessor is the life of faith.
"Believing in Christ, we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory."
"Because you have seen me," said Christ to Thomas, "you have believed;
blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed." How sweetly
does confidence even in an earthly friend, relieve the mind from distressing
fears and apprehensions; and this relief is in exact proportion to the
ability and willingness of this friend to assist us, and the benefits we
expect from his generosity. What then must be the relief afforded to the
agitated mind of the Christian—by confidence in God, reliance on Christ, and
the hope of glory.
"Great and wonderful is the consolation such a life
affords. In all the vicissitudes of life and horrors of death, nothing can
cheer and fortify the mind like this. By faith in Christ, and the unseen
world, we can endure—injuries without revenge, afflictions without fainting,
and losses without despair! Let the nations of the earth clash like
potsherds one against another; yes, let nature herself approach toward her
final dissolution; let her groan as being ready to expire, and sink into her
primitive nothing—still the believer lives! His all is not on board that
vessel! His chief inheritance lies in another soil."
"His hand the godly man fastens on the skies,
And bids earth roll, nor feels her idle whirl."
How obvious is this to the most superficial thinker!
Faith, when the report believed is a joyful one—must be productive of
delight. Who can believe glad tidings and not be made glad? Hence the
reasonableness of those exhortations which call upon us to rejoice in the
Lord. There is more real happiness in the believer's mind, when in the very
midst of poverty and trouble, he exercises a lively confidence in God—than
the richest worldling on earth enjoys, when surrounded by all his untold
wealth, and incalculable possessions. To feel our own poverty, emptiness,
nothingness, and yet at the same time to feel in all the confidence of
faith, our fullness in Christ and our title to that priceless inheritance,
which God has reserved for his children, which is kept in heaven for
them—pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay—is one of the
most felicitous states of mind we can attain to in this world! It unites the
deepest humility—with the most exalted and triumphant anticipations!
The life of faith will not last always—but will give way
to a life of eternal vision! We are walking by faith to see Jesus as he is,
and to be like him. "Your word," said the Psalmist, "is a light unto my
feet, a lamp unto my path," and faith is the hand that holds it, as we pass
through the darkness of this our earthly sojourn, and the deeper shadows of
the grave. But when our spirits emerge into the regions of glory and the
realms of immortality—we shall need the lamp no longer, for "there is no
night there!" Oh, what a moment will that be when the 'lamp of faith' will
be suddenly extinguished, not amid the darkness of eternal night, but amid
the splendors of everlasting day and the prospects of the heavenly world—and
its tiny spark shall be lost amid the blaze of glory pouring from the throne
of God! How will the soul endure the scene which shall then burst upon her
view?
Be this then your prayer, my dear friends, your sincere
and earnest prayer, "Lord, increase our faith!" Be willing to have the world
displaced from your soul, to make room for the objects of faith; and be ever
ready to come from the dazzling glare of earthly scenes, to feel the steady
illumination, and dwell in the calm and holy light that shines from heaven
on your path. Study as well as read the Scriptures, and meditate much upon
their contents. Frequent and devout converse with the objects of faith, is
the best way to have it increased. Watch diligently against the influence of
those objects which have a fatal tendency to eclipse faith's light, to
obstruct its operation, and enfeeble its life—namely, sensual pleasure;
eager pursuit of the world; and a too intimate converse with those who mind
earthly things!
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