Do they really expect that we are to answer, on the spur of the moment, every objection that they are pleased to raise? He knew not the road that he had to take, nor the place to which his journey would conduct him: it was enough for him that the Lord had given him the summons. As for you that believe not in God, may you be led to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as in your Redeemer, and afterwards to trust your God, and leave al your concerns in his hands. Noah had a very humble distrust of himself. He lived in God, and on God, and with God. That pettifogging king of Sodom wanted to make a bargain with him, but the grand old man replied, "I will not take from a thread even to a shoe-latchet, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abraham rich." "Why, I'm prophesying, sir." Men have confessed their sins, and have not been saved. In the one hand he gives pardon; but in the other hand he always gives holiness; and no man can have the one unless he has the other. Remember, upon whomsoever it shall fall it will grind him to powder. Opportunities to return you have now; but ah! For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. you have a father, and he hates the Saviour. These two spent their lives in such constant communion with the Most High that they could be fully described as walking with God. That is the one business of your life; and I believe that if you have faith in the Lord as to your family, your beloved ones shall be given you as a prey. No, wherever God in his providence guides you, let it be your joy to know that he is too wise to err too good to be unkind. I turned to the good father and remarked that I was not quite sure about the truth of the last remark, for I believed he would love him if he were ever so bad. By "these all" we understand Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Jacob. It is here that your strength lies. Opportunities to return as long as you are in this body will be with you to the very edge of Jordan. said one who heard it, "the Lord have mercy on your miserable stingy soul, for if you had been saved you would not have been con tent with a cent a year"--a halfpenny per annum! Our prayer is that God of his grace may give you to imitate the example of Abraham, who, when he was called, obeyed at once. You look to those who agree with you, and they are lukewarm; you turn to old associates, and they do not share your concern. That our meditation may be profitable, we will first think a little of the kind of faith which produces obedience ; and then, secondly, we will treat of the kind of obedience which faith produces ; and then we will advance another step, and consider the kind of life which comes out of this faith and obedience . The world has been trying all manner of processes to reform men: there is but one thing that ever will reform them, and that is, faith in the preached gospel. But by the preaching of God's word, foolishness though it seem to some, harlots are reformed, thieves are made honest, and the worst of men brought to the Saviour. Henceforth, in this world we have no home, no true home for our spirits; our home is beyond the flood; we are looking for it amongst the unseen things; we are strangers and sojourners as all our fathers were, dwellers in this wilderness, passing through it to reach the Canaan which is to be the land of our perpetual inheritance. I think they were mistaken in the notion that they would be despised. Obedience which is not cheerfully rendered is not the obedience of the heart, and consequently is of little worth before God. A little have l read of it, and somewhat has been revested by the Spirit to my soul; but how little do we know of the realms of the future! If then, we be right in saying that to please God is to be happy, the one important question is, how can I please God? We have had opportunities to have returned. More than that, there were messages exchanged; servants were sometimes sent. Now, in this book you have the call "Come ye out from among them, be ye separate, touch not the unclean thing; and I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters." I felt greatly encouraged when I read this, "Now they desire a better"--The word "country" has been inserted by our translators. Poor souls! take comfort. That faith is a dead faith, a corrupt faith, which lives in sin that grace may abound. It seems too, in the text, that God looks to what he had prepared for these poor people. Fix it in your mind, "This is God's Book. Give thyself up to him, and thou shalt yet sing of his lovingkindness and tender mercies. I. There was also a natural relationship kept up. I said, "I am glad to hear it." Of your secret martyrdom angels will be spectators, and Christ will suffer in you--wherefore, fear not. The Christian's Condition In This World Hebrews 11:13, 14 W. Jones These all died in faith, not having received the promises, etc. Faith is to be exercised about the commandments; for David says, "I have believed thy commandments." True faith exclaims, "The thing is unlikely, yet I believe it." How much of character is revealed in our desires. Meanwhile, the more fully we obey at this present, the nearer we shall be to his temple-gate. To pray without faith is formality; nay, it is vanity. He went out and preached to them; but many would not hear him, for they thought him mad. These men were fed on substantial meat, and they became sturdy old fellows, able to cope with the world, and fight their way. Friends tell you that you are making much ado about nothing, or that you are uncharitable, narrow-minded, and bigoted. I charge you who profess to be the Lord's not to be unbelieving with regard to the terrible threatenings of God to the ungodly. "Thy statutes," said David, "have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage." This woman's faith was A SYMPATHISING FAITH. Why, if grace was a sort of chain that manacled you so that you could not leave your Lord, if it had become a physical impossibility for you to forsake your Saviour, there would be no credit in your abiding faithful to him. It must be sooner or later exercised. By E. D. Jones, A. M., St. Louis. It is a good key, but you have broken it." God honoured his faith, and he condemned the world. Brethren, we desire something better than this world. Trust him. "Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city." He was beaten. But is it so with all of you? The timid Israelites would always have been afraid that Pharaoh would follow them and capture them; but when the forces of Egypt and all her chosen captains were drowned beneath the waves, all fear of them was gone for ever. Abraham had a call, so have we, but here was the difference, Abraham obeyed. Even when he does not realize as yet, or actually enjoy, that infinite good, which is something better than creature comfort or worldly ambition, the desires themselves become mighty bonds that keep him from returning to his former state. Suppose that you are called to testify for truth in the midst of those who doubt, disbelieve, or even deride it. "Ah," says she, "I do not care about the Jordan; my faith can believe across the Jordan, or else it were only a dry-land faith." So the text says, "Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God." You must have a paramount faith in God, or else the will of God will not be a paramount rule to you. You know that very particular, superfine sort--the gospel, a gospel, the spirit of which consists in bad temper, carnal security, arrogance, and a seared conscience. a. The words of the Lord are like fine gold, pure, precious, and weighty not ono of them may be neglected. The faith that makes us obey is alone the faith which marks the children of God. Sunday School Addresses. 445. Thou art no intruder! For ever and for ever shall the tenderness and mercy of God be thus despised? This is our inn, not our home. Notice the text, "Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city." My brethren, we have such opportunities in our daily calling. The gospel has about it a divine authority, and is not to be trilled with. If we are really Christ's Christians, let us say,"It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good." Book excerpt: Get ready to make the book of Hebrews your new favorite book of the Bible with the help of Looking to Christ, an . Again, there is another thing; you have joined yourself to an ancient fraternity that has something more than rules to guide or legends to captivate; for it has a combination of both, seeing it is rich in poetic lore. He will pray, "Refine me from the dross of rebellion, and let the furnace be as fierce as thou wilt." This woman's faith was A SELF-DENYING FAITH. Hebrews 11:1. Yes, and Christ did not find fault with them for doing so; what he found fault with them for was this--"When ye have found him ye make him tenfold more the child of hell than yourselves.". Your sins will be forgiven, your transgressions cast away, and you shall henceforth go and sin no more, God having renewed you, and he will keep you even to the end. I believe she has sons too, and she loves them. God does not create useless things: he intends that the faith he gives should have its test, should glorify his name. Update: 2023-04-16. Only a reigning faith will make us subject to its power, so as to be in all things obedient to the Lord. Christ, in his suffering members, has conquered Caesar and pagan Rome; for out of weakness believers were made strong. Hebrews 11:8 . What! I will rehearse no stories of Christian women with jeering husbands, nor of godly youths who endure scoffing, and far worse; but many a house is still a place of martyrdom. We may hunt the world through, and say, 'This looks like a little paradise," but there is no paradise this side of the skies--for a child of God at any rate. When the created streams are dry, go to this eternal fountain, and find it ever springing up. Alas! Now, have you ever felt that it is a very hard thing to have a singular faith? We are to be strangers and foreigners in the land wherein we sojourn. The old fable speaks of the Augean stable, foul enough to have poisoned a nation, which Hercules cleansed; but our sins were fouler than that. And how frequently will even solitude have temptations as severe as publicity could possibly bring! More than that, if ever the child of God gets entangled, for a while he is uneasy in it. Ah, you dwell in a land where you find some sort of repose; but I have heavy tidings for you. The men of that generation mocked him. If we should mount upon the wings of the wind, could we find "a lodge in some vast wilderness" where we could be quite clear from all the opportunities to go back to the old sins in which we once indulged? There is no heaven for us hereafter, let us make the best of the present." Don't come here with your cant." Believe for yourself, because God has said it; and speak as the Lord guides you. Unless we desire others to taste the benefits we have enjoyed, we are either inhuman monsters or outrageous hypocrites; I think the last is most likely. Indeed there is, unless faith is strong; and then the bullets turn to pellets, and the stones are soft as sponges. Out of this weakness in prayer you can only be made strong by faith. It is one of the choicest fruits of the Spirit, and is seldom found on newly-planted trees. Next, obedience should be exact . That is to say, do what you may, strive as earnestly as you can, live as excellently as you please, make what sacrifices you choose, be as eminent as you can for everything that is lovely and of good repute, yet none of these things can be pleasing to God unless they be mixed with faith. But we find that Jesus Christ, however low his people may sink, and however poor they may be, is not ashamed to call them brethren, nor to let them look up to him in all the depths of their degradation and call him "brother born for adversity." You have to question in your inmost soul whether you can conscientiously do as your employer requires. But one of his neighbors felt forced to go to him very early in the morning, and to say to him, "I beg your pardon for intruding so early, but I lay awake all last night thinking about you; and I cannot rest till I tell you something." We desire something better. Had they been mindful of the place from whence they came out, they might have found opportunities to return. Did not you find very soon that there was a thorn in the flesh? ( Hebrews 11:1) A definition of faith. Thus we have Abraham before us; may the Holy Spirit make us like him. Bible Study Tools Language Tools Obedience has become as much his rule as self-will is the rule of others. "Why, it is ridiculous. Faith, then, is an union with Christ. Amen. Could he not have kept us from temptation?" He answered all appeals very coarsely. How long a wolf-beloved habit lingers at the door after the heart has given it a bill of divorce! If any of you are prospered in this world, oh! I had a good deal sooner people would say, "There, now, we do not believe in God nor in his Christ," and speak out straightforwardly, than go on for ever behind this mud wall of "We will by-and-by," and "We hope it will be so one day." And then, as though the greatest victory should be recorded last, we have faith entering the lists with sin, holding a tournament with iniquity, and coming off more than a conqueror. But there is no praying without believing. What do they know about your inward sorrow? He did not know where his way would take him, but he knew that the Lord had bidden him go. "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob," and while he calls himself their God he never forbids them to call him their God; and in the presence of the great ones of the earth they may call him their God--anywhere. Some years ago, I preached a sermon to you from the text, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" You may resolve to overcome a sin, and, perhaps, any one sin you may conquer for a time; but sin itself, as a force, in all its armies, is never to be overcome, save through the blood of the Lamb. Ah! If a man has been sunk down in black waters full of filth, a thousand fathoms deep, and if he has been long imprisoned in dark caves where no light has come, what a wondrous power would that be which should raise him to the sunlight! Have a thorough, and entire, and childlike faith in the revelation of the Most High, and you will be made strong in those mental conflicts for which in yourself you are so weak. "But," said the other, "it is my own business. For by it the elders obtained a good report. It is a wonder of wonders that we have not gone back to the world, with its sinful pleasures and its idolatrous customs. It were quite a new thing in warfare to hear of men taking a city by blowing rams' horns." I should do so altogether if I did not know that all the saints are permitted to enjoy the same privileges. Sermon. WE HAVE FOR THIS REASON GREAT BLESSEDNESS. Hebrews:2:9. Revelation 3:7-13 Philadelphia: The church that was taken! Every truth is essential. "Ah! He might be. But, the peril is as instant every whit in adversity. Review them often: refresh your memory with them frequently; recur to them and renew them in every time of trial and temptation. By faith alone can you bear persecution, and turn it to account for the good of others. Many of us may never have to brave the fiery stake, nor to bow our necks upon the block, to die as Paul did; but if we have grace enough to be out of weakness made strong, we shall not be left out of the roll of the nobles of faith, and God's name shall not fail to be glorified in our persons. Hebrews 11:6 . Where Jesus died, there you shall live. Perhaps it is a doctrinal change; they have imbibed the orthodox faith from the pure fountain of revelation itself, unalloyed by the traditions and qualifications of men; they have cast away all the heterodox glossary of man, and have determined to believe nothing but the sovereign grace of God. Take that, and every blow will tell, but no other instrument will avail. Oh! the Spirit of God comes to many when they are in much the same condition; and what a work it is to bring up from the horrible midnight, and to give strength to rise out of the inky waters! The Tempter he is, the Destroyer he would be, if we were not delivered from his snares. But note what it is. But when our heirship shall be fully manifested, and we shall come to the full ripe age--oh, then shall we come into our inheritance, to our wealth, to the mansions, and to the glory, and to the presence of Jesus Christ our Lord. It may be that this entails the scoff and scorn of all who know them. Beginning in 11:13 and summarizing his discussion thus far, the writer of Hebrews points out that people can still be living by faith when they die, even if they don't receive the things promised by the time of their passing. In fact, they are not at an consistent therewith. "he hath prepared for them"--"them." Man of business, dare you do the right thing in business, and play the Christian, though around you the various methods of trading render it hard for you to be unflinchingly honest? Well, be it so; but he that endureth to the end shall be saved; and all those that die in faith are gathered with the great cloud of witnesses. To be a burgess of the City of London is thought to be a great honor, and upon princes is it sometimes conferred; but, we shall have the highest honor that can be given, when we shall be citizens of the city which God has prepared. One reason for this seems to me to be, because he does not judge of them according to their present circumstances, but much rather according to their pleasant prospects. Five or six families, attending that despised ministry, learned to believe what they did believe, and to live upon it. But yet it must be done; and only faith can do it, by calling in the aid of the Almighty One. Most probably he heard a voice from heaven speaking audibly to him and saying, "Get thee out from thy kindred and from thy father's house." "But," says one, "I know if I were to try to speak to any of my neighbors, I should break down." I suppose you think you are poor yourselves, though you have got some thousand pounds odd a year, and so you keep it yourself, under the notion that "he that giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord." A dead world may satisfy a dead heart, but ever since you have known something of better things have you ever been contented with the world? Notwithstanding that grace is its main characteristic it has all the authority of a command. If they do, be afraid. Trust thou in thy God, in his love to thee, in his care of thee, and then thou shalt be as the lilies, which toil not, and spin not, and yet are clothed; or as the ravens, which have no store, and yet are fed. The obedience of faith springs from a principle within, and not from compulsion without. Orders are given you which cause you great searchings of heart. Ah! I would to God that we had more men to-day who would maintain truth at all hazards. You, dear hearers, are not good hearers so long as you are only hearers; but when the heart is affected by the ear, and the hand follows the heart, then your faith is proved. You don't need no baggage, you just get on board. It is a great thing to be desirous. God had scarcely spoken ere Abraham replied. It is very interesting to read about their faithfulness, and the faith that they had. Having commenced the separated life, Abraham continued to dwell in tents, and sojourn in the land which was far from the place of his birth. You must endure, "as seeing him who is invisible." If thou puttest one atom of trust in thyself thou hast no faith; if thou dost place even a particle of reliance upon anything else but what Christ did, thou hast no faith. He does well who glorifies God by where he goes, and by what he does; he will excel fifty others who only preach religion with their tongues. There are snares in company, but there are snares in our loneliness. January 1, 1970. By the time of Christ, many thought God chose Abraham because he was a righteous man in a godless world. In the parlour, pleasantly conversing, or in the kitchen, perhaps, occupied with the day's work--toiling in the field, or trading on the mart, busy on the land or tossed about on the sea, there are critical seasons on which destiny itself might appear to hang contingent. Shall I help you to answer that question? Men come not to their perfect stature except by years of growth. Northampton Press - 2022. d.w. 176pp. He was the favourite of the ballroom once; he was the wit that set the table on a roar; he was the man who, above all, was courted when he moved in the circle of the vain and frivolous; glad enough would they be to see him come back. A sermon delivered by C.H. 'The Pilgrim's Longings ' and 'Go Back? God grant it may be now! When you have opportunity to return, if you do not return, that shall prove you are his. If they do go out, they must know where they are going, and how much is to be picked up in the new country. And there is something very solemn in the utterance of our text: "Without faith it is impossible to please God." Not now do I see, standing in the middle, a man and his wife and children, all unarmed. Entrenched in your nature though your sins may be, you will drive out these Canaanites, and free your heart from their dominion. We sometimes put blinkers upon horses that they may not see too much, I fear we might wear such things ourselves to great advantage. Separation from the world shall endear you to the Saviour, and bring you conscious enjoyment of his presence; but opportunities to return I have shown you now are plentiful enough. "Now, by faith, the harlot Rahab was delivered." You can never know how great it is unless you have stood in the capacity of a saviour to other men. That which believers in past ages have accepted as truth, is not believed in many places nowadays; and so it comes to pass that one brings to us a bit of sceptical science which he has picked up from Huxley or Tyndall; another comes with a criticism that he has found in some of the modern divines, who are the devil's instruments for spreading infidelity; and a third appears with a vile blasphemy from one of the coarser assailants of religion, and each one demands an immediate answer to his quibble, or his difficulty. "No," they say; "the walls of Jericho are strong; can the feeble host resist us? I could not come to the point." Hold you to God's Word by faith, and you will be strong. Ah me! Faith is the acorn, from which the oak of holiness will grow. And O! Well, young man, will you kick against love like that--love that will bear your kicks, and will not turn round against you, but love you straight on still? To believe is to be holy. We must keep back none, but follow the Lord wholly; let this be your song, "Through floods and flames, if Jesus lead, I'll follow where he goes, 'Hinder me not,' shall be my cry, Though earth and hell oppose.". Do are not read of those who "stumbled at the word, being disobedient"; surely there must be a command and a duty, or else there could not be disobedience. And because we desire this better thing, we cannot go back and be content with things which gratified us once. We have faith triumphing over infirmity--Abraham begetteth a son in his old age. There is an old woman weeping--do you know why? Both in doing and in suffering, if we are earnest and observant, we soon discover our own weakness. One goes to the right, and other goes to the left. And said a minister at the table, "I had an instance of that yesterday. If they had been, they would not have required faith in God; but being men of like passions with ourselves, they needed to trust in the Lord, and they did so. PASSMORE & ALABASTER, Paternoster Buildings; and all Booksellers. Abraham then went on his way obedient to the Lord's command. His faith in God has become to him the crown of all his believings; the most assured of all his confidences. Without faith thou art out of the kingdom of grace, a stranger to the commonwealth of Israel. Now, beloved friends, suffer me a few words upon the other cheering fact, namely, that FAITH MAKES MEN STRONG FOR PATIENT SUFFERING. She was disappointed, expecting that everyone would have some keys. Doubtless he was the frequent subject of sarcastic remark.
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