(Spurgeon, All of Grace. part 3)
Jesus is verily and in truth our God and Saviour, the Redeemer of
men, the Prophet, Priest, and King of His people. All this is
accepted as sure truth, not to be called in question. I pray that
you may at once come to this. Get firmly to believe that "the
blood of Jesus Christ, God's dear Son, cleanseth us from all
sin"; that His sacrifice is complete and fully accepted of God on
man's behalf, so that he that believeth on Jesus is not
condemned. Believe these truths as you believe any other
statements; for the difference between common faith and saving
faith lies mainly in the subjects upon which it is exercised.
Believe the witness of God just as you believe the testimony of
your own father or friend. "If we receive the witness of men, the
witness of God is greater."
So far you have made an advance toward faith; only one more
ingredient is needed to complete it, which is trust. Commit
yourself to the merciful God; rest your hope on the gracious
gospel; trust your soul on the dying and living Saviour; wash
away your sins in the atoning blood; accept His perfect
righteousness, and all is well. Trust is the lifeblood of faith;
there is no saving faith without it. The Puritans were accustomed
to explain faith by the word "recumbency." It meant leaning upon
a thing. Lean with all your weight upon Christ. It would be a
better illustration still if I said, fall at full length, and lie
on the Rock of Ages. Cast yourself upon Jesus; rest in Him;
commit yourself to Him. That done, you have exercised saving
faith. Faith is not a blind thing; for faith begins with
knowledge. It is not a speculative thing; for faith believes
facts of which it is sure. It is not an unpractical, dreamy
thing; for faith trusts, and stakes its destiny upon the truth of
revelation. That is one way of describing what faith is.
Let me try again. Faith is believing that Christ is what He
is said to be, and that He will do what He has promised to do,
and then to expect this of Him. The Scriptures speak of Jesus
Christ as being God, God is human flesh; as being perfect in His
character; as being made of a sin-offering on our behalf; as
bearing our sins in His own body on the tree. The Scripture
speaks of Him as having finished transgression, made an end of
sin, and brought in everlasting righteousness. The sacred records
further tell us that He "rose again from the dead," that He "ever
liveth to make intercession for us," that He has gone up into the
glory, and has taken possession of Heaven on the behalf of His
people, and that He will shortly come again "to judge the world
in righteousness, and his people with equity." We are most firmly
to believe that it is even so; for this is the testimony of God
the Father when He said, "This is my beloved Son; hear ye him."
This also is testified by God the Holy Spirit; for the Spirit has
borne witness to Christ, both in the inspired Word and by divers
miracles, and by His working in the hearts of men. We are to
believe this testimony to be true.
Faith also believes that Christ will do what He has
promised; that since He has promised to cast out none that come
to Him, it is certain that He will not cast us out if we come to
Him. Faith believes that since Jesus said, "The water that I
shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into
everasting life, it must be true; and if we get this living Water
from Christ it will abide in us, and will well up within us in
streams of holy life. Whatever Christ has promised to do He will
do, and we must believe this, so as to look for pardon,
justification, preservation, and eternal glory from His hands,
according as He has promised them to believers in Him.
Then comes the next necessary step. Jesus is what He is said
to be, Jesus will do what He says He will do; therefore we must
each one trust Him, saying, "He will be to me what He says He is,
and He will do to me what He has promised to do; I leave myself
in the hands of Him who is appointed to save, that He may save
me. I rest upon His promise that He will do even as He has said."
This is a saving faith, and he that hath it hath everlasting
life. Whatever his dangers and difficulties, whatever his
darkness and depression, whatever his infirmities and sins, he
that believeth thus on Christ Jesus is not condemned, and shall
never come into condemnation.
May that explanation be of some service! I trust it may be
used by the Spirit of God to direct my reader into immediate
peace. "Be not afraid; only believe." Trust, and be at rest.
My fear is lest the reader should rest content with
understanding what is to be done, and yet never do it. Better the
poorest real faith actually at work, than the best ideal of it
left in the region of speculation. The great matter is to believe
on the Lord Jesus at once. Never mind distinctions and
definitions. A hungry man eats though he does not understand the
composition of his food, the anatomy of his mouth, or the process
of digestion: he lives because he eats. Another far more clever
person understands thoroughly the science of nutrition; but if he
does not eat he will die, with all his knowledge. There are, no
doubt, many at this hour in Hell who understood the doctrine of
faith, but did not believe. On the other hand, not one who has
trusted in the Lord Jesus has ever been cast out, though he may
never have been able intelligently to define his faith. Oh dear
reader, receive the Lord Jesus into your soul, and you shall live
forever! "He that believeth in Him hath everlasting life."
HOW MAY FAITH BE ILLUSTRATED ?
TO MAKE THE MATTER Of faith clearer still, I will give you a
few illustrations. Though the Holy Spirit alone can make my
reader see, it is my duty and my joy to furnish all the light I
can, and to pray the divine Lord to open blind eyes. Oh that my
reader would pray the same prayer for himself!
The faith which saves has its analogies in the human frame.
It is the eye which looks. By the eye we bring into the mind
that which is far away; we can bring the sun and the far-off
stars into the mind by a glance of the eye. So by trust we bring
the Lord Jesus near to us; and though He be far away in Heaven,
He enters into our heart. Only look to Jesus; for the hymn is
strictly true--
There is life in a look at the Crucified One,
There is life at this moment for thee.
Faith is the hand which grasps. When our hand takes hold of
anything for itself, it does precisely what faith does when it
appropriates Christ and the blessings of His redemption. Faith
says, "Jesus is mine." Faith hears of the pardoning blood, and
cries, "I accept it to pardon me." Faith calls the legacies of
the dying Jesus her own; and they are her own, for faith is
Christ's heir; He has given Himself and all that He has to faith.
Take, O friend, that which grace has provided for thee. You will
not be a thief, for you have a divine permit: "Whosoever will,
let him take the water of life freely." He who may have a
treasure simply by his grasping it will be foolish indeed if he
remains poor.
Faith is the mouth which feeds upon Christ. Before food can
nourish us, it must be received into us. This is a simple matter-
-this eating and drinking. We willingly receive into the mouth
that which is our food, and then we consent that it should pass
down into our inward parts, wherein it is taken up and absorbed
into our bodily frame. Paul says, in his Epistle to the Romans,
in the tenth chapter, "The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth."
Now then, all that is to be done is to swallow it, to suffer it
to go down into the soul. Oh that men had an appetite! For he who
is hungry and sees meat before him does not need to be taught how
to eat. "Give me," said one, "a knife and a fork and a chance."
He was fully prepared to do the rest. Truly, a heart which
hungers and thirsts after Christ has but to know that He is
freely given, and at once it will receive Him. If my reader is in
such a case, let him not hesitate to receive Jesus; for he may be
sure that he will never be blamed for doing so: for unto "as many
as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God." He never repulses one, but He authorizes all who come to
remain sons for ever.
The pursuits of life illustrate faith in many ways. The
farmer buries good seed in the earth, and expects it not only to
live but to be multiplied. He has faith in the covenant
arrangement, that "seed-time and harvest shall not cease," and he
is rewarded for his faith.
The merchant places his money in the care of a banker, and
trusts altogether to the honesty and soundness of the bank. He
entrusts his capital to another's hands, and feels far more at
ease than if he had the solid gold locked up in an iron safe.
The sailor trusts himself to the sea. When he swims he takes
his foot from the bottom and rests upon the buoyant ocean. He
could not swim if he did not wholly cast himself upon the water.
The goldsmith puts precious metal into the fire which seems
eager to consume it, but he receives it back again from the
furnace purified by the heat.
You cannot turn anywhere in life without seeing faith in
operation between man and man, or between man and natural law.
Now, just as we trust in daily life, even so are we to trust in
God as He is revealed in Christ Jesus.
Faith exists in different persons in various degrees,
according to the amount of their knowledge or growth in grace.
Sometimes faith is little more than a simple clinging to Christ;
a sense of dependence and a willingness so to depend. When you
are down at the seaside you will see limpets sticking to the
rock. You walk with a soft tread up to the rock; you strike the
mollusk a rapid blow with your walking-stick and off he comes.
Try the next limpet in that way. You have given him warning; he
heard the blow with which you struck his neighbor, and he clings
with all his might. You will never get him off; not you! Strike,
and strike again, but you may as soon break the rock. Our little
friend, the limpet, does not know much, but he clings. He is not
acquainted with the geological formation of the rock, but he
clings. He can cling, and he has found something to cling to:
this is all his stock of knowledge, and he uses it for his
security and salvation. It is the limpet's life to cling to the
rock, and it is the sinner's life to cling to Jesus. Thousands of
God's people have no more faith than this; they know enough to
cling to Jesus with all their heart and soul, and this suffices
for present peace and eternal safety. Jesus Christ is to them a
Saviour strong and mighty, a Rock immovable and immutable; they
cling to him for dear life, and this clinging saves them. Reader,
cannot you cling? Do so at once.
Faith is seen when one man relies upon another from a
knowledge of the superiority of the other. This is a higher
faith; the faith which knows the reason for its dependence, and
acts upon it. I do not think the limpet knows much about the
rock: but as faith grows it becomes more and more intelligent. A
blind man trusts himself with his guide because he knows that his
friend can see, and, trusting, he walks where his guide conducts
him. If the poor man is born blind he does not know what sight
is; but he knows that there is such a thing as sight, and that it
is possessed by his friend and therefore he freely puts his hand
into the hand of the seeing one, and follows his leadership. "We
walk by faith, not by sight." "Blessed are they which have not
seen, and yet have believed." This is as good an image of faith
as well can be; we know that Jesus has about Him merit, and
power, and blessing, which we do not possess, and therefore we
gladly trust ourselves to Him to be to us what we cannot be to
ourselves. We trust Him as the blind man trusts his guide. He
never betrays our confidence; but He "is made of God unto us
wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption."
Every boy that goes to school has to exert faith while
learning. His schoolmaster teaches him geography, and instructs
him as to the form of the earth, and the existence of certain
great cities and empires. The boy does not himself know that
these things are true, except that he believes his teacher, and
the books put into his hands. That is what you will have to do
with Christ, if you are to be saved; you must simply know because
He tells you, believe because He assures you it is even so, and
trust yourself with Him because He promises you that salvation
will be the result. Almost all that you and I know has come to us
by faith. A scientific discovery has been made, and we are sure
of it. On what grounds do we believe it? On the authority of
certain well-known men of learning, whose reputations are
established. We have never made or seen their experiments, but we
believe their witness. You must do the like with regard to Jesus:
because He teaches you certain truths you are to be His disciple,
and believe His words; because He has performed certain acts you
are to be His client, and trust yourself with Him. He is
infinitely superior to you, and presents himself to your
confidence as your Master and Lord. If you will receive Him and
His words you shall be saved.
Another and a higher form of faith is that faith which grows
out of love. Why does a boy trust his father? The reason why the
child trusts his father is because he loves him. Blessed and
happy are they who have a sweet faith in Jesus, intertwined with
deep affection for Him, for this is a restful confidence. These
lovers of Jesus are charmed with His character, and delighted
with His mission, they are carried away by the lovingkindness
that He has manifested, and therefore they cannot help trusting
Him, because they so much admire, revere, and love Him.
The way of loving trust in the Saviour may thus be
illustrated. A lady is the wife of the most eminent physician of
the day. She is seized with a dangerous illness, and is smitten
down by its power; yet she is wonderfully calm and quiet, for her
husband has made this disease his special study, and has healed
thousands who were similarly afflicted. She is not in the least
troubled, for she feels perfectly safe in the hands of one so
dear to her, and in whom skill and love are blended in their
highest forms. Her faith is reasonable and natural; her husband,
from every point of view, deserves it of her. This is the kind of
faith which the happiest of believers exercise toward Christ.
There is no physician like Him, none can save as He can; we love
Him, and He loves us, and therefore we put ourselves into His
hands, accept whatever He prescribes, and do whatever He bids. We
feel that nothing can be wrongly ordered while He is the director
of our affairs; for He loves us too well to let us perish, or
suffer a single needless pang.
Faith is the root of obedience, and this may be clearly seen
in the affairs of life. When a captain trusts a pilot to steer
his vessel into port he manages the vessel according to his
direction. When a traveler trusts a guide to conduct him over a
difficult pass, he follows the track which his guide points out.
When a patient believes in a physician, he carefully follows his
prescriptions and directions. Faith which refuses to obey the
commands of the Saviour is a mere pretence, and will never save
the soul. We trust Jesus to save us; He gives us directions as to
the way of salvation; we follow those directions and are saved.
Let not my reader forget this. Trust Jesus, and prove your trust
by doing whatever He bids you.
A notable form of faith arises out of assured knowledge;
this comes of growth in grace, and is the faith which believes
Christ because it knows Him, and trusts Him because it has proved
Him to be infallibly faithful. An old Christian was in the habit
of writing T and P in the margin of her Bible whenever she had
tried and proved a promise. How easy it is to trust a tried and
proved Saviour! You cannot do this as yet, but you will do so.
Everything must have a beginning. You will rise to strong faith
in due time. This matured faith asks not for signs and tokens,
but bravely believes. Look at the faith of the master mariner--I
have often wondered at it. He looses his cable, he steams away
from the land. For days, weeks, or even months, he never sees
sail or shore; yet on he goes day and night without fear, till
one morning he finds himself exactly opposite to the desired
haven toward which he has been steering. How has he found his way
over the trackless deep? He has trusted in his compass, his
nautical almanac, his glass, and the heavenly bodies; and obeying
their guidance, without sighting land, he has steered so
accurately that he has not to change a point to enter into port.
It is a wonderful thing--that sailing or steaming without sight.
Spiritually it is a blessed thing to leave altogether the shores
of sight and feeling, and to say, "Good-by" to inward feelings,
cheering providences, signs, tokens, and so forth. It is glorious
to be far out on the ocean of divine love, believing in God, and
steering for Heaven straight away by the direction of the Word of
God. "Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have
believed"; to them shall be administered an abundant entrance at
the last, and a safe voyage on the way. Will not my reader put
his trust in God in Christ Jesus. There I rest with joyous
confidence. Brother, come with me, and believe our Father and our
Saviour. Come at once.
WHY ARE WE SAVED BY FAITH?
WHY IS FAITH SELECTED as the channel of salvation? No doubt
this inquiry is often made. "By grace are ye saved through
faith," is assuredly the doctrine of Holy Scripture, and the
ordinance of God; but why is it so? Why is faith selected rather
than hope, or love, or patience?
It becomes us to be modest in answering such a question, for
God's ways are not always to be understood; nor are we allowed
presumptuously to question them. Humbly we would reply that, as
far as we can tell, faith has been selected as the channel of
grace, because there is a natural adaptation in faith to be used
as the receiver. Suppose that I am about to give a poor man an
alms: I put it into his hand--why? Well, it would hardly be
fitting to put it into his ear, or to lay it upon his foot; the
hand seems made on purpose to receive. So, in our mental frame,
faith is created on purpose to be a receiver: it is the hand of
the man, and there is a fitness in receiving grace by its means.
Do let me put this very plainly. Faith which receives Christ
is as simple an act as when your child receives an apple from
you, because you hold it out and promise to give him the apple if
he comes for it. The belief and the receiving relate only to an
apple; but they make up precisely the same act as the faith which
deals with eternal salvation. What the child's hand is to the
apple, that your faith is to the perfect salvation of Christ. The
child's hand does not make the apple, nor improve the apple, nor
deserve the apple; it only takes it; and faith is chosen by God
to be the receiver of salvation, because it does not pretend to
create salvation, nor to help in it, but it is content humbly to
receive it. "Faith is the tongue that begs pardon, the hand which
receives it, and the eye which sees it; but it is not the price
which buys it." Faith never makes herself her own plea, she rests
all her argument upon the blood of Christ. She becomes a good
servant to bring the riches of the Lord Jesus to the soul,
because she acknowledges whence she drew them, and owns that
grace alone entrusted her with them.
Faith, again, is doubtless selected because it gives all the
glory to God. It is of faith that it might be by grace, and it is
of grace that there might be no boasting; for God cannot endure
pride. "The proud he knoweth afar off," and He has no wish to
come nearer to them. He will not give salvation in a way which
will suggest or foster pride. Paul saith, "Not of works, lest any
man should boast." Now, faith excludes all boasting. The hand
which receives charity does not say, "I am to be thanked for
accepting the gift"; that would be absurd. When the hand conveys
bread to the mouth it does not say to the body, "Thank me; for I
feed you." It is a very simple thing that the hand does though a
very necessary thing; and it never arrogates glory to itself for
what it does. So God has selected faith to receive the
unspeakable gift of His grace, because it cannot take to itself
any credit, but must adore the gracious God who is the giver of
all good. Faith sets the crown upon the right head, and therefore
the Lord Jesus was wont to put the crown upon the head of faith,
saying, "Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace."
Next, God selects faith as the channel of salvation because
it is a sure method, linking man with God. When man confides in
God, there is a point of union between them, and that union
guarantees blessing. Faith saves us because it makes us cling to
God, and so brings us into connection with Him. I have often used
the following illustration, but I must repeat it, because I
cannot think of a better. I am told that years ago a boat was
upset above the falls of Niagara, and two men were being carried
down the current, when persons on the shore managed to float a
rope out to them, which rope was seized by them both. One of them
held fast to it and was safely drawn to the bank; but the other,
seeing a great log come floating by, unwisely let go the rope and
clung to the log, for it was the bigger thing of the two, and
apparently better to cling to. Alas! the log with the man on it
went right over the vast abyss, because there was no union
between the log and the shore. The size of the log was no benefit
to him who grasped it; it needed a connection with the shore to
produce safety. So when a man trusts to his works, or to
sacraments, or to anything of that sort, he will not be saved,
because there is no junction between him and Christ; but faith,
though it may seem to be like a slender cord, is in the hands of
the great God on the shore side; infinite power pulls in the
connecting line, and thus draws the man from destruction. Oh the
blessedness of faith, because it unites us to God!
Faith is chosen again, because it touches the springs of
action. Even in common things faith of a certain sort lies at the
root of all. I wonder whether I shall be wrong if I say that we
never do anything except through faith of some sort. If I walk
across my study it is because I believe my legs will carry me. A
man eats because he believes in the necessity of food; he goes to
business because he believes in the value of money; he accepts a
check because he believes that the bank will honor it. Columbus
discovered America because he believed that there was another
continent beyond the ocean; and the Pilgrim Fathers colonized it
because they believed that God would be with them on those rocky
shores. Most grand deeds have been born of faith; for good or for
evil, faith works wonders by the man in whom it dwells. Faith in
its natural form is an all-prevailing force, which enters into
all manner of human actions. Possibly he who derides faith in God
is the man who in an evil form has the most of faith; indeed, he
usually falls into a credulity which would be ridiculous, if it
were not disgraceful. God gives salvation to faith, because by
creating faith in us He thus touches the real mainspring of our
emotions and actions. He has, so to speak, taken possession of
the battery and now He can send the sacred current to every part
of our nature. When we believe in Christ, and the heart has come
into the possession of God, then we are saved from sin, and are
moved toward repentance, holiness, zeal, prayer, consecration,
and every other gracious thing. "What oil is to the wheels, what
weights are to a clock, what wings are to a bird, what sails are
to a ship, that faith is to all holy duties and services." Have
faith, and all other graces will follow and continue to hold
their course.
Faith, again, has the power of working by love; it
influences the affections toward God, and draws the heart after
the best things. He that believes in God will beyond all question
love God. Faith is an act of the understanding; but it also
proceeds from the heart. "With the heart man believeth unto
righteousness"; and hence God gives salvation to faith because it
resides next door to the affections, and is near akin to love;
and love is the parent and the nurse of every holy feeling and
act. Love to God is obedience, love to God is holiness. To love
God and to love man is to be conformed to the image of Christ;
and this is salvation.
Moreover, faith creates peace and joy; he that hath it
rests, and is tranquil, is glad and joyous, and this is a
preparation for heaven. God gives all heavenly gifts to faith,
for this reason among others, that faith worketh in us the life
and spirit which are to be eternally manifested in the upper and
better world. Faith furnishes us with armor for this life, and
education for the life to come. It enables a man both to live and
to die without fear; it prepares both for action and for
suffering; and hence the Lord selects it as a most convenient
medium for conveying grace to us, and thereby securing us for
glory.
Certainly faith does for us what nothing else can do; it
gives us joy and peace, and causes us to enter into rest. Why do
men attempt to gain salvation by other means? An old preacher
says, "A silly servant who is bidden to open a door, sets his
shoulder to it and pushes with all his might; but the door stirs
not, and he cannot enter, use what strength he may. Another comes
with a key, and easily unlocks the door, and enters right
readily. Those who would be saved by works are pushing at
heaven's gate without result; but faith is the key which opens
the gate at once." Reader, will you not use that key? The Lord
commands you to believe in His dear Son, therefore you may do so;
and doing so you shall live. Is not this the promise of the
gospel, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved"? (Mark
16:16). What can be your objection to a way of salvation which
commends itself to the mercy and the wisdom of our gracious God?
ALAS! I CAN DO NOTHING!
AFTER THE ANXIOUS HEART has accepted the doctrine of
atonement, and learned the great truth that salvation is by faith
in the Lord Jesus, it is often sore troubled with a sense of
inability toward that which is good. Many are groaning, "I can do
nothing." They are not making this into an excuse, but they feel
it as a daily burden. They would if they could. They can each one
honestly say, "To will is present with me, but how to perform
that which I would I find not."
This feeling seems to make all the gospel null and void; for
what is the use of food to a hungry man if he cannot get at it?
Of what avail is the river of the water of life if one cannot
drink? We recall the story of the doctor and the poor woman's
child. The sage practitioner told the mother that her little one
would soon be better under proper treatment, but it was
absolutely needful that her boy should regularly drink the best
wine, and that he should spend a season at one of the German
spas. This, to a widow who could hardly get bread to eat! Now, it
sometimes seems to the troubled heart that the simple gospel of
"Believe and live," is not, after all, so very simple; for it
asks the poor sinner to do what he cannot do. To the really
awakened, but half instructed, there appears to be a missing
link; yonder is the salvation of Jesus, but how is it to be
reached? The soul is without strength, and knows not what to do.
It lies within sight of the city of refuge, and cannot enter its
gate.
Is this want of strength provided for in the plan of
salvation? It is. The work of the Lord is perfect. It begins
where we are, and asks nothing of us in order to its completion.
When the good Samaritan saw the traveler lying wounded and half
dead, he did not bid him rise and come to him, and mount the ass
and ride off to the inn. No, "he came where he was," and
ministered to him, and lifted him upon the beast and bore him to
the inn. Thus doth the Lord Jesus deal with us in our low and
wretched estate.
We have seen that God justifieth, that He justifieth the
ungodly and that He justifies them through faith in the precious
blood of Jesus; we have now to see the condition these ungodly
ones are in when Jesus works out their salvation. Many awakened
persons are not only troubled about their sin, but about their
moral weakness. They have no strength with which to escape from
the mire into which they have fallen, nor to keep out of it in
after days. They not only lament over what they have done, but
over what they cannot do. They feel themselves to be powerless,
helpless, and spiritually lifeless. It may sound odd to say that
they feel dead, and yet it is even so. They are, in their own
esteem, to all good incapable. They cannot travel the road to
Heaven, for their bones are broken. "None of the men of strength
have found their hands;" in fact, they are "without strength."
Happily, it is written, as the commendation of God's love to us:
When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died
for the ungodly (Romans 5:6).
Here we see conscious helplessness succored--succored by the
interposition of the Lord Jesus. Our helplessness is extreme. It
is not written, "When we were comparatively weak Christ died for
us"; or, "When we had only a little strength"; but the
description is absolute and unrestricted; "When we were yet
without strength." We had no strength whatever which could aid in
our salvation; our Lord's words were emphatically true, "Without
me ye can do nothing." I may go further than the text, and remind
you of the great love wherewith the Lord loved us, "even when we
were dead in trespasses and sins." To be dead is even more than
to be without strength.
The one thing that the poor strengthless sinner has to fix
his mind upon, and firmly retain, as his one ground of hope, is
the divine assurance that "in due time Christ died for the
ungodly." Believe this, and all inability will disappear. As it
is fabled of Midas that he turned everything into gold by his
touch, so it is true of faith that it turns everything it touches
into good. Our very needs and weaknesses become blessings when
faith deals with them.
Let us dwell upon certain forms of this want of strength. To
begin with, one man will say, "Sir, I do not seem to have
strength to collect my thoughts, and keep them fixed upon those
solemn topics which concern my salvation; a short prayer is
almost too much for me. It is so partly, perhaps, through natural
weakness, partly because I have injured myself through
dissipation, and partly also because I worry myself with wordly
cares, so that I am not capable of those high thoughts which are
necessary ere a soul can be saved." This is a very common form of
sinful weakness. Note this! You are without strength on this
point; and there are many like you. They could not carry out a
train of consecutive thought to save their lives. Many poor men
and women are illiterate and untrained, and these would find deep
thought to be very heavy work. Others are so light and trifling
by nature, that they could no more follow out a long process of
argument and reasoning, than they could fly. They could never
attain to the knowledge of any profound mystery if they expended
their whole life in the effort. You need not, therefore, despair:
that which is necessary to salvation is not continuous thought,
but a simple reliance upon Jesus. Hold you on to this one fact--
"In due time Christ died for the ungodly." This truth will not
require from you any deep research or profound reasoning, or
convincing argument. There it stands: "In due time Christ died
for the ungodly." Fix your mind on that, and rest there.
Let this one great, gracious, glorious fact lie in your
spirit till it perfumes all your thoughts, and makes you rejoice
even though you are without strength, seeing the Lord Jesus has
become your strength and your song, yea, He has become your
salvation. According to the Scriptures it is a revealed fact,
that in due time Christ died for the ungodly when they were yet
(continued in part 4...)
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