9. How May Faith Be Illustrated?
To make the matter of faith even clearer, 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 that saves has its similarities in the human body.
It is the eye that looks. By the eye we bring into the mind those things that are far away; we can bring the sun and the distant stars into the mind by a glance of the eye. So by trust we bring the Lord Jesus near to us; and though He is far away in Heaven, He enters into our heart. Only look to Jesus; for the hymn is exactly true:
There is life in a look at the Crucified One,
There is life at this moment for thee.
Faith is the hand that grasps. When our hand takes hold of anything for itself, it does exactly what faith does when it grabs hold of Christ and the blessings of His redemption. Faith says, “Jesus is mine.” Faith hears of the pardoning blood, and cries, “I receive it to pardon me.” Faith calls the inheritance 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: “Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17). Anyone that can have a treasure simply by grabbing it will be foolish indeed if he remains poor.
Faith is the mouth that 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, where it is taken up and absorbed into our body. Paul says, in his Epistle to the Romans, in the tenth chapter, “The word is near you, in your mouth” (Romans 10:8). Now then, all that is to be done is to swallow it, to allow it to go down into the soul. Oh that men had an appetite! A hungry man that sees meat in front of him does not need to be taught how to eat. Someone once said, “Give me a knife and a fork and a chance.” He was fully prepared to do the rest. Truly, a heart that hungers and thirsts after Christ only needs to know that He is freely given, and at once it will receive Him. If this sounds like you, don’t 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 He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). He never rejects one, but He authorizes all who have come to remain sons forever.
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 also to be multiplied. He has faith in the covenant arrangement, that “seed-time and harvest shall not cease” (Genesis 8:22), and he is rewarded for his faith.
The merchant places his money in the care of a banker, and completely trusts the honesty and soundness of the bank. He entrusts his wealth to hands of another, 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 complete cast himself into 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, we are 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 to truly depend. When you are down at the seashore, you will see limpets sticking to the rock. You walk carefully up to the rock; you strike the mollusk using a rapid blow with a 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 is sufficient for the present peace and eternal safety. Jesus Christ is to them a Savior 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 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 his friend possesses it 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” (2 Corinthians 5:7). “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). This is as good an image of faith as can be; we know that Jesus has 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 “became for us wisdom from God-- and righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30).
Every boy that goes to school has to exert faith while learning. His teachers teach him geography, and instruct him as to the form of the earth, and the existence of certain great cities and empires. The boy himself does not know whether or not 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 famous, educated men, whose reputations are established. We have never made or seen their experiments, but we believe their witness. You must do likewise with regard to Jesus: because He teaches you certain truths if 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 loving kindness 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 Savior may be illustrated in this way: A lady is the wife of the most famous physician of the day. She suffers an attack from a dangerous illness, and is confined to bed 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 that 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 matters of life. When a captain trusts a pilot to steer his ship into port he manages the vessel according to his direction. When a traveler trusts a guide to lead him over a difficult pass, he follows the track that his guide points out. When a patient believes in a physician, he carefully follows his prescriptions and directions. Faith that refuses to obey the commands of the Savior 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. Don’t forget this: Trust Jesus, and prove your trust by doing whatever He requests of you.
A notable form of faith arises out of assured knowledge; this comes of growth in grace, and is the faith that 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 proven Savior! You cannot do this as yet, but you will. 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. His lines are cast off from the pier and he steams away from the land. For days, weeks, or even months, he never sees ship or shore; yet on he goes day and night without fear, until one morning he finds himself exactly opposite to the desired harbor toward which he has been steering. How did he find his way over the trackless deep? He has trusted in his compass, his nautical charts and almanac, his binoculars, and the stars at night; and obeying their guidance, without sighting land, he has steered so accurately that he didn’t need to change a single point to enter into port. It is a wonderful thing-- that sailing or steaming without sight. Spiritually it is a blessed thing to leave the shores of sight and feeling altogether, and to say, “Good-bye” 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 those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29); to them it shall be administered an abundant entrance at last, and a safe voyage on the way. Won’t you put your trust in God in Christ Jesus, my reader? There I rest with joyous confidence. Brother, come with me, and believe our Father and our Savior. Come at once.
[Charles Haddon Spurgeon’s classic, All of Grace, has been edited in Modern English by Jon Cardwell. A chapter or two will be posted each Friday.]
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