Faith is weakness clinging to strength, and becoming strong through so doing. and there you are young man! From an unit they had multiplied into a countless host. Poor souls! O that you were wise and would yield obedience to the truth! If you believe that God is the Rewarder of them that diligently seek him, you will persevere; but not else. There is not all the enjoyment that you may think to be gathered in retirement and in ease, but, on the contrary, luxury often puffeth up, and abundance makes the heart to swell with vanity. 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. At once, I say, he went. I do not find that he said, "Lord let me tarry till harvest be reaped." Hold you to God's Word by faith, and you will be strong. Oh, what a privilege it will be if you yourself and all your house are saved! 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. When people persecute you and slander you, no marvel. May he give me grace to go through the stream! He has locked it up tonight, and he goes to bed, but he is afraid he heard a footstep downstairs, and he goes to see. what a world of misery there is in this great city, among even good and gracious people! The call as given by the book of inspiration ought to have over your minds a masterly power, and if your hearts were right before God the word spoken in the Scriptures by the Holy Ghost would be at once obeyed. 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. I would entreat you each one to make an application of the text to yourself in every work of faith, and labor of love, in which you may be engaged. We either curse or bless those around us. Dost thou love Christ? He resides, seated on His throne in heaven, as our High Priest guaranteeing this right standing with God. We have, in one place, faith triumphing over death; Enoch entered not the gates of hades, but reached heaven by another road from that which is usual to men. Nevertheless, he left behind him all the associationof his youth, the house in which he had been trained, the family with which he had been nursed, all those whom he had known and with whom he had taken sweet counsel; and he must go forth into exile from the family of his love. They are poor now, but God, to whom things to come are things present, sees them in their fair white linen which is the righteousness of the saints. We have to rise superior to it. But a strong-minded man is one who does not try to be singular, but who dares to be singular, when he knows that to be singular is to be right. I almost envy Abraham. You will find, in one case, the thousand battles of a Napoleon recorded, and in another, you find the victories of a Nelson pictured. Descend, O sovereign love, descend, And melt that stubborn soul! The victory was complete. 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. But, believe me, you cannot have faith in the promise unless you are prepared to have faith in the threatening also. Well, now, that is a capital thing if a preacher preaches with his feet by walking with God, and with his hands by working for God. Abraham returned not; Isaac returned not; Jacob returned not. my sermon is a failure to those who so speak: if that be your answer, I am foiled again. And with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it also grew in numbers. Have you not sometimes heard of a man who has become rich and has risen in the world, who has had some poor brother or some distant relative. It was blotted out when he nailed the handwriting of ordinances that were against thee to his cross. Have you not been obliged to say, after you have had all that the world could give you, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity"? To be good we must be singular. If we believe for our whole house, the promise will be fulfilled to us and to our house; for it is made to faith. I do not know to whom that dog belongs, but I'll tell you directly. we answer, "We buy the truth." Acts 9:31 New Living Translation (NLT) 31 The church then had peace throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, and it became stronger as the believers lived in the fear of the Lord. I pause for your reply. Some sins cling to a man like the fabled tunic of Hercules, which could not be torn away, but burned into his flesh and bone, whatever he might do. WE HAVE FOR THIS REASON GREAT BLESSEDNESS. When it involves loss of money, or ease, or honor, what will you do then if you have no faith? So far as I have reason to fear that my task is hopeless it becomes a heavy one. The kind of faith which produces obedience is lord of the understanding, a royal faith. Trust him. You need not even appeal to friends for consolation. It is awful work when through disobedience to the command of the gospel it becomes a savor of death unto death instead of life unto life, and instead of a corner-stone it becomes a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. I thought it was a great nuisance to be had in at such a time to pray, and more especially to be made to cry, as my mother used to make me cry. Biblical Commentary (Bible Study) Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16 EXEGESIS: THE CONTEXT: Hebrews 11 is the great faith chapter of the Bible, first defining faith (v. 1) and then using well-known Hebrew people to show faith in action. Not Yet a Member? Besides, we all know with what inconvenience Abraham must have removed. And I thought, while meditating upon this text, that the time must come to each of us, when, in a certain sense, we must go forth from this world, not knowing the place to which we are going. Give me thyself, and take these all away, if so it please thee, but do not, my Lord, do not think I can be content with Egypt since I have set forth for Canaan, or that I can settle down in the wilderness now that I am journeying to the land of promise. If we have faith in God, we shall bless our children, as Isaac and Jacob blessed their sons. If you will stand firm in Christ Jesus, even in your weakness you will be made strong. If I should never again have the pleasure of speaking for my Lord upon the face of this earth, I should like to deliver, as my last confession of faith, this testimony--that nothing but faith can save this nineteenth century; nothing but faith can save old England: nothing but faith can save the present unbelieving church: nothing but firm faith in the grand old doctrines of grace, and in the ever-living and unchanging God can bring back to the church again a full tide of prosperity, and make her to be the deliverer of the nations for Christ: nothing but faith in the Lord Jesus can save you or me. VI. The very meaning of a church is called out--by Christ; we have been separated. Let me ask you to note, first, faith makes men strong for holy doing; and, secondly, faith makes men strong for patient suffering. You dare not move in opposition to your brethren and sisters in the circle in which you move; and therefore you involve yourselves in difficulties. 445. However low his people may sink, he is not ashamed to call them brethren. "O sir," you say, "I cannot pray prevailingly." You can hardly believe for one hundred and twenty days. He that believeth hath everlasting life, and the joys which come of it. What poor people God's people are--poor, many of them, in circumstances, but how many of them I might very well call poor as to spiritual things. Now, perhaps, God is beginning some good thing in her heart. Where can we go to escape from these opportunities to return? Nothing in Noah is held up before us as an example, but that which grew out of his faith. By-and-by, they march through the Jordan dry shod, and then Faith gets firmer confidence. If thou wilt trust thy soul with Jesus, thou art saved. Noah had, in this case, received a promise; but, as the dark background to it, he had listened to the terrible threatening that God would destroy all living things with a flood: his faith believed both the warning and the promise. These opportunities to return are meant to try your faith, and they are sent to you to prove that you are a volunteer soldier. Commentary on Hebrews 11:1-3. The apostle tells us, however, that they were not forced so to continue; they did not remain because they could not return. "But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that comes to God must believe that . 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. I hope that many of us have the living faith which Folks by love, and if so we shall rejoice in the will of the Lord, let it be what it may; if we know anything to be right we shall delight to do it but as for doubtful or sinful deeds we renounce them. They desire a better country. There was a little boy at the corner of the table, and his father asked him, "Why does your father love you, John?" No, no child of God can be, whatever he may find in this world. If you are chosen to be a leader and a helper, or a mother in Israel, be satisfied to endure hardness with the full belief that it is all right, and that God will not only bring you through, but will also bless somebody else by the means of your tribulations. It is a city too possessing immunities, and conferring dignity upon its residents. Art thou literally one of Rahab's sisters in guilt? Men are seldom equally skilled in the use of the two hands of doing and bearing. Opportunities to return! "Where can I find comfort then, and security?" They are coming to a crossroad: one goes to the right, the other goes to the left. If you feel incapable, throw yourself upon the infinite capacity of God. That is his master. Hebrews 11:7 . Remember the Philippian jailer, to whom Paul said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." Therefore, in your heart of hearts you feel that you cannot go back. Beware of the poison-cup of despair. If any of you have only half obeyed, I pray that you may take heed of this, and do all that the Lord commands, carefully endeavouring to keep back no part of the revenue of obedience. The obedience which faith produces must be continuous . Have you faith? "His honor is engaged to save The meanest of his sheep; All that his heavenly Father gave His hands securely keep.". Prudent consideration of consequences is superabundant; but the spirit which obeys, and dares all things for Christ's sake where is it? Let us away from it. If God be God to-morrow he is God to-day; if Christ be worth having next week he is worth having to-day. This is our inn, not our home. The religion of mere brain and jaw does not amount to much. II. "Nay, my Lord," they would say, "don't put me off so, don't give me these husks, though thou give mountains of them. But is it so with all of you? Dear brethren, cultivate these desires more and more. What do they know about your inward sorrow? I stammered a good deal, and I said little that I thought to say, and some things which seemed to weaken what I did say. You shall hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk ye in it." Do not say that you would accept that call if it were spoken with a voice rather than written; you know that it is not so in daily life. It is a city, too, for dignity. "Is there a heart that will not bend To thy divine control? Now, if the grace of God helps you rightly to think for yourself, you will judge very differently from your ungodly friends; your views and theirs will differ, your motives will differ, the objects of your pursuit will differ. If we never give any thing to Christ's cause, work for Christ, deny ourselves for Christ, the root of the matter is not in us. If you go to school to the obedience of faith, you will be good teachers. Did it answer Abraham's purpose? Believers "quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong." Again, it may be that I am speaking to sad ones who suffer under mental depression. "And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. Faith is the father of holiness, and he has not the parent who loves not the child. Depend upon it a grain of truth is a grain of diamond dust, and it is precious. Such a wretched faith has no influence on the man's self, and it will have no influence upon others. But the speciality of the strangers and pilgrims is that they all died in faith. When I think of the strength of divine grace, I do not marvel that saints should persevere, but when I remember the weakness of their nature, it seems a miracle of miracles that there should be one Christian in the world a single hour. Not now do I see them lift up the great iron door, and let loose the monsters that come forth roaring, hungry for their prey. PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON Psalms 119:33-40 . I fear some of you will miss eternal life, for you trifle about it! Dost thou love his people? Ah, my dear friend! God does not need your strength: he has more than enough of power of his own. I need not repeat the accusations; they have been so often hurled at myself that I know them by heart. Do your own thinking, my friend, on such a business as this. And what know I of the journey? We have among us those who are not exposed to persecution, but have to stand against assaults of unbelief. This I shall illustrate from the whole of the verse. You have let your grandmother's religion come to you with the old arm chair and the antique china, as heirlooms of the family, and you go to a certain place of worship because your family have always attended there. While our voices blend, do not our very souls become more and more richly cemented? We Christians are to be equally distinct, not in meats, and drinks, and garments, and holy days, but as to spirituality of mind and holiness of life. 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. If they do, be afraid. O! All glory to his grace! This woman's faith was saving faith, singular faith, stable faith, self-denying faith, sympathising faith, and sanctifying faith. if you could forget the statutes, can you ever fail to remember the songs? If not, thou art nothing as to spiritual things. With solemn awe believe the bitter word of judgment, that the word of mercy may be sweet to you. They called his warning "an old wives' fable," and he himself was "an old fossil." I saw him afterwards, and I hope I conducted him from the verge of insanity into the open, healthy place of peace through believing. ONE IS STRUCK with the practical character of this verse. Remember that "without faith it is impossible to please God," so that you are displeasing to the Lord. I met with a little incident in company, the other day, after preaching. The men of that generation mocked him. We are not squabblers, itching to prove our superiority in reasoning, but we are children of light, worshipping our God by bowing our whole minds to the obedience of faith. It staggers us: we cannot make it out. no", said the man; "she never goes anywhere." saith one. There is no doubt he could, but it was never the Master's intention that we should all be hothouse plants. You are not much like Noah. There is enough out there in the farmyard for the hogs, but there is not for the children. Oh, have you not often strong inducements, if it were not for the grace of God, to become as they are? Here is one that can never be diminished, much less exhausted. To what mountain, say you, shall I go? 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