The triumph of faith ...

Introduction

The author of this book is a representative man of the large class of lay evangelists, two thousand in number in Great Britain, it is said, who, aside from any official position, are every where proclaiming the Gospel of the grace of God. In streets, lanes, school-houses, halls, chapels, and aristocratic drawing-rooms, they are with great simplicity and earnestness preaching Christ as a present Saviour, and with no small success in winning souls. Noblemen of high rank, gentlemen of ease, bankers, merchants, tradesmen, even converted chimney sweeps, each first to his own class in life, and then to those beyond, are preaching the good news.

Once the leader of fashion in the court circles of London, the author of this book has become a leader in teaching not only grace, but its practical results of separation from the world. His influential social position, his unusual personal powers of attraction, his eloquence, and above all, his genuine consecration and deep humility, have given him a commanding influence. With decisive energy he has consecrated this influence to the advocacy of the highest standards of practical Christian

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IV INTRODUCTION.

life and teaching. As the presiding officer of the great central conferences of the evangelical portion of the Church, held at Mildmay Park, London, he has, with no uncertain sound, preached the responsibility and privilege of complete surrender to God and full trust in all of His promises, as the only true standard of Christian life.

" The Triumph of Faith " is the great need of churches which, but too often, are like battalions of defeated soldiers, dreading, and even expecting continued failure. Paul was able to say, "Thanks be unto God which always causeih us to triumph in Christ, " and his secret lies in the words, "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." While the children of Israel were in the place of unbelief, — the Scripture repeatedly calls the wilderness "the provocation," — they were constantly being defeated ; but when they crossed into the promised land, in the courage of faith , they took the victorious position. They learned to shout before the battle was fought, and l ' The Triumph of Faith " was in their own hearts before it was completed in the contest.

As long as Joshua lived, it was a career of uniform victory, so that on his death he was able to say to them, "Ye know in all your hearts, and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you ; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof. "

Joshua died, and then Israel departed from God and failed. But his great anti-type, Jesus, liveth forever. Trusting Him we shall never fail.

Many who have long been content to look upon a life of ailure and weariness, typified by the wilderness

INTRODUCTION. V

experience of Israel, as their inevitable condition in this life, are now beginning to realize that Jordan does not mean death, nor Canaan heaven. It was a grievous sin in Israel that they did not go into their inheritance at Kadesh Barnea, at once after they had passed the Red Sea. It is no sin in us that we do not go to heaven at once on conversion. We look for things in heaven far better than were ever found in Canaan with all its conflicts and ever rising enemies.

Alas ! that while so many take the distinctive name of 1 ' Believers/' so few are found to be believing believers in "the exceeding great and precious promises" of God, so that they ' ' might be partakers of the Divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the w r orld through lust"

We cordially commend this cheering, hopeful presentation of the available, practical privileges of faith, as a most serviceable contribution to the rapidly extending line of teaching as to the available possessions of the believer.

R. p. s.

Chapter I. Appropriation By Faith

The good land given— Must be claimed — God's promises blank cheques — Forty years instead of eleven days — Lessons of the wilderness — Coming short of the rest — Language of unbelief — End of the doubters — Faith in action — Peter on the water — A bird in the air — Faith's standpoint — Do not wait for feelings — The secret of victory — Trust for pardon, ......

Chapter II. The Obedience Of Faith

Justification by faith does not lead to sin — Believers in Christ dead to sin — Saved from power as well as penalty — The law a rule of life — Four arguments — No service of God until we are saved — Law only given then— A happy, holy, continuous service — In God's presence — Bonds loosed — Lazarus — The madman of Gadara — Brought into Canaan to keep the law -Cannot keep it in the wilderness — Must cross Jordan — Teaching of New Testament — The ten commandments repealed — The royal law — "The perfect law of liberty" — The example of Jesus— A life of obedience to the law — The law established, • •

CONTENTS. • CHAPTER III.

THE NOURISHMENT OF FAITH.

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Not saved by obedience — But blessings of the saved depend on obedience — The will of God declared in His Word — The Word must be retained — " Fowls of the air " — Word written that it may be remembered — Job's wish granted — Must be meditated upon — Digestion of food — Otherwise injurious — " Gospel hardened " — Cause of weakness — Blessedness of meditation — No bondage — Must be obeyed — All that is written — Promises of prosperity given by Moses — Elihu — Isaiah — Jesus — Instances, . 45

Chapter IV. The Warfare Of Faith

Position of Israel on borders of the land — Coming short of the rest — Double aspect of Jericho — Stronghold of Satan in the world — " High things " in believers' hearts — Jericho a pleasant spot — Usurped — To be attacked and won for God — But strictly guarded — Character of Christian warfare — Power of the enemy — " Seven nations" should be recognised — The purpose and the promise — The purpose : — Expulsion of evil — " Cast out devils" — Nothing less — The promise -Victory given beforehand — Jehovah and Jericho — Triumphs of Paul — The Lord on our side — "The priwce of this world judged" — "Be strong" — "More than conquerors," .... 69

Chapter V. The Triumph Of Faith

God uses means — Human instrumentality not for salvation — Christ the only ; ' means of grace " — But for service — Workers with God — God's plan of work — The ark lifted up — Christ exalted — Blowing of the trumpets —

CONTENTS.

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Preaching of the Gospel — Curious procession — Order of attack — Feelings of dwellers in Jericho — Seventh trumpet — "The foolish things of the world" — Instances — " The preaching of the Cross " — Shook the world — The daily walk — Work in faith — Walk in faith — Shout in faith — Work in patience — Seven days — Be not discouraged — Delays not denials — Abraham's patience — "In due season" — The inward warfare, . . 96

Chapter VI. Destruction Without Faith

Further teaching in Jericho — They " believed not " — Notorious sinners — In spite of long-suffering — In spite of judgment — Four hundred years — Rumours of coming judgment — Of escape of Israel — Miracle of Red Sea — Terror of Canaanites — Passage of Jordan — Faith of devils — Enmity to the spies — Confidence in their own works — Sudden destruction — A complete picture — The lost perish because of their sins — Notwithstanding mercy — In spite of knowledge — Because convictions are stifled — They trust in themselves — In their religion — "The best I can" — They perish "without remedy " — "The last trump," 127

Chapter VII. Saved By Faith

One family in Jericho saved — The "scarlet cord" — " Rahab the harlot" — Was a sinner — Salvation for the lost — " This Man receiveth sinners " — She gave herself up — The only way — David — Isaiah — The publican — The prodigal — Joshua the high priest — She heard about God — Took the way of salvation — Did not stifle her convictions — Rahab' s lie — Not content with feelings — Must have certainty— Obtained it — The two-fold token

CONTENTS.

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— The blood of Christ seen by God — The only mark — Apparently insignificant — The Word of God the token to the believer — The ground of assurance — The links in the chain — Cannot break — " God would lose His character " — Salvation received at once — " A more convenient season " — Trust now, 159

Chapter VIII. The Works Of Faith

Rahab saved by faith only — Raised to glory — " The generation of Jesus Christ " — The grace of God — Place of good works — Teaching of Paul and James — Not contradictory — But supplementary — Rahab's works — Her treatment o God's servants — Her faith proved by her works — "Faith made perfect" — " Abraham justified by works" — Two ways in which faith is manifested — By self-sacrifice, as with Abraham — By love of the brethren, as with Rahab — Experience of believers — One family — Paul — The jailer at Philippi — Concern for salvation of others — First thought — Rahab's relations — All saved — Instances — Natural love — Abraham's desire — Moses' cry — Paul's prayer — Conclusion, ..... 189

APPROPRIATION BY FAITH.

" Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses." — Joshua i. 3.

The land was given to the Israelites ; but to be enjoyed, it must be appropriated. Unless their feet trod its soil, it was useless to them. Every inch that they claimed became their own ; unclaimed, its value could not be realised.

And it is just so with regard to the " spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ," which " are freely given us of God." We must claim them if we want to enjoy them ; unclaimed, they are like a possession which its owner never visits — an accumulation of treasure which the hand never touches. Many complain of want of realisation of peace and joy, liberty and power. The secret of their dearth of soul lies in this — that they do not step out upon the promises in childlike simplicity

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Z APPROPRIATION BY FAITH.

of faith — they do not claim and accept what God has already given them ; and thus, while " kings' sons/' they are " lean from day to day."

What an " exceedingly great and precious promise " is that which stands at the head of this chapter ! It extends and deepens and heightens and widens as we look at it. It seems, we might almost say, were it not God's blessed word, too good to be true. Is it, can it be possible, that the extent of realisation is only limited by the extent of our faith ? — that God only stops giving when we stop receiving ? — that everything the hand of faith touches becomes its own? — that vast possessions yet unexplored, boundless as the fulness of God, are placed at our disposal, and only await our grasp ? Yes, blessed be His holy name, it is so; He giveth liberally, He giveth royally, He giveth divinely. He saith, " It is more blessed to give;" and, as He is the source, centre, and sum of all blessedness, He " waiteth to be gracious." He spreads before us an heavenly Canaan, full of " precious things of heaven, of the dew, and of the deep that coucheth beneath, and of the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and of the precious things put forth by the moon, and of the chief things of the ancient mountains, and of the precious things of the lasting hills, and of the precious things of the earth, and fulness thereof, and of the good-will of Him that dwelt in the bush"(Deut. xxxiii. 13-16). He bids us appropriate them. He puts, as has been said, a blank cheque-book into the hands of His people, telling us that the treasures in His vaults are inexhaustible, and bids us fill in the amount we want, and sign our names.

Sign our names, did I say? Yet not so. The name in which we are authorised to draw upon the divine treasury is already signed — it is the name of JESUS ; the promises are " payable to bearer : " faith presents them. The draft must be honoured, for it is the promise of " God, that cannot lie; " and the word is fulfilled, " Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, He will give it you."

Old and New Testaments agree that this is the secret of realisation of blessing, this the principle of joyful success, — appropriation by faith. The first volume of G-od's book says, " Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you " (Josh. i. 3). The second volume says, " According unto your faith, be it unto you " (Matt. ix. 29).

Let us then dwell for a short time on this glorious promise, recalling the circumstances under which it was given,* and endeavouring to understand its application to ourselves, for whose learning it was written aforetime (Rom. xv. 4).

* The opening chapters of the book of Joshua have formed the subject of a previous volume (" Heavenly Places "), in which the death of Moses, the transfer of leadership to Joshua, the passage of the Jordan, the burial of the twelve stones in its bed, the erection

Although uttered on the wilderness side of Jordan, the promise had reference mainly to the other side, the land flowing with milk and honey, which was to be the dwelling-place of the people of God, and the scene of the manifestation of His glory. It was spoken on the eve of their passage through the Jordan, and regarded them as already in the land of Canaan.

The people had now been for forty years pilgrims in the wilderness, and the faithless generation that had refused to go up at the bidding of the Lord from Kadeshbarnea had all died out. Only Caleb and Joshua remained of the men of war. The believing men lived still, but only they ; for faith alone inherits the promises.

How fearful were the consequences of the unbelief manifested at Kadeshbarnea! (Num. xiv.) What disappointment and sorrow it brought upon the people ! Forty weary years were occupied in a journey which, we learn from Deut. i. 2, 3, need only have taken eleven days — years that are described afterwards as u the provocation, the day

of the other twelve stones in the land, the second circumcision, the passover in the plains of Jericho, the exchange of corn for manna, and the assumption of command by the angel of the Lord, are used to illustrate the death of the believer to the law, his burial with and resurrection in Christ, together with the consequences that result from these facts, and the steps that precede his conquest and enjoyment of the land of promise here below. I shall therefore only recur to the scenes there described, and the lessons they teach, so far as may be necessary for the completeness of the subject of the present volume.

APPROPRIATION BY FAITH.

of temptation in the wilderness," and of which it is said in the same place by God, " Forty years long was I grieved with this generation " (Ps. xcv. 8, 10).

Might not these forty years have been spared? Was the weary wandering in " that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents and scorpions and drought, where there was no water," absolutely necessary? Was it God's purpose when He brought the people out of Egypt, to keep them in such a place for forty years ? To all this we must answer, Nay. God " brought them out " that He might " bring them m" to the land (Exod. vi. 6, 8). The journeying to and fro without making any progress, the hunger and the thirst, were brought upon the people by their own unbelief. True, those forty years were used by God t to teach them wondrous lessons. Israel learned much concerning themselves and much concerning God, that their dull hearts could have learned in no other way. Their own utter inability to keep His commandments, their obstinacy, pride, and perverseness, were all brought out to the full ; they were humbled, and taught their dependence upon God ; and at the same time they learned the marvellous grace and love and wisdom and power of Him who " suffered their manners in the wilderness," " forsook them not," " fed them according to the integrity of His heart, and guided them with the skilfnluess of His hand" (Ps.

6 APPEOPKIATION BY FAITH.

lxxviii. 72). Lessons to be remembered for ever were taught them there ; for they were bidden to " remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep His commandments, or no. And He humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know ; that He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live" (Deut. viii. 2, 3). But it was their unbelief and obstinacy that made this painful instruction necessary. The deliverance at the Red Sea, the sweetening of the waters at Marah, the supply of the manna near Elim, and of the waters at Rephidim, should have sufficed to teach, had they had. the grace to learn them, all the lessons which the wilderness-pilgrimage alone availed to burn into their minds.

But at length the painful discipline was over, every doubting one had perished in the wilderness. Unbelief had, for a time at least, died out, and the nation approached the land of promise an army of believers. By faith they pass through Jordan, there are no shrinkings and doubtings; and under the leadership of Joshua they stand prepared to enter upon possession of the " glorious land."

But now, with the Jordan behind them and the

APPKOPRIATION BY FAITH. 7

wilderness lost sight of, they are reminded that all their enjoyment of the land depends on the continued exercise of that faith which had at length been put forth. The land was occupied by mighty enemies, who had held undisputed possession. for hundreds of years. Giants were among them, and their cities were " walled up to heaven." How were they to be dispossessed ? By the faith of Israel. They only had to tread upon the land to make the spot thus touched their own. Trust in God must be exercised; they must step personally in the strength of faith upon the land that owned another's sway, and each step made the territory thus claimed their own.

If they had shrunk from this exercise of faith, if questionings, reasonings, doubtings, had been allowed to keep them back, not an inch would have been theirs, and the land which was given to them by Jehovah would have yielded them no enjoyment. It was only by a bold yet simple trust that they could realise the blessings in store for them, and become the joyful possessors of the portion that God had in store for them.

The application of all this to ourselves is simple. The unbelief which arises in the heart when on the very verge of the rest and enjoyment of all the promises, the consequent weary wanderings, failures, and discipline entailed, are, alas ! facts which few, if any, have been unacquainted with. Is it not true with many a reader of these pages, that although on the first apprehension of deliverance from condemnation by faith in the precious blood of Christ, and of further deliverance by the same Almighty Saviour, from the power of the # world which hindered our progress, the song which Israel sang on the shore of the Red Sea has found its echo in our hearts, and that while uttering its triumphant tones we thought not of defeat or failure, but saw all future obstacles melting away, and ourselves entering with joy upon the inheritance of peace provided for us, these songs of praise were ere long exchanged for cries of unbelief and fear, as one trial of faith after another was permitted to come upon us ?

Murmurings and reproaches have often filled the hearts, if they have not escaped the lips, of those who, in the first burst of spiritual joy, trusted God fully to do as much for them in the future as He had done in the past. And though each fresh exhibition of impatience and distrust has called forth fresh manifestations of the forbearance and power and grace of God, His goodness has not quelled their unbelief, nor shamed them into faith.

And then at last, when they have stood within full view of all the " spiritual blessings in heavenly places " which have been provided for them, when some savour of the goodness of the land of promise has reached them, and they have actually handled and tasted its rich fruit, unbelief has again risen up, as giants and walls were thought upon and magnified — yes, magnified; for unbelief ever exaggerates difficulties, and makes them out far greater than they really are.

How strikingly this appears from the account given by the spies of the obstacles in the land. They said the sons of Anak were so great that they themselves were but " as grasshoppers in their sight," and that the cities were 4i walled up to heaven." What gross exaggerations ! For the Israelites to be as grasshoppers compared with the sons of Anak, the latter would need to have been fifty times as tall as they really were ; and as for the cities being walled up to heaven, the statement was, on the very face of it, absurd. But the trembling spies said so in their wretched unbelief, and craven, doubting Israel took up the cry. And so it always is. To unbelief difficulties seem always much greater than they really are, for it leaves God out of sight, who is alone the true standard whereby to measure all things; whereas faith, comparing the giants with Jehovah, and the high walls with the omnipotence of heaven, thinks nothing of the obstacles, and steadfastly pursues its way.

And what has been the consequence ? Years, it may be, of wilderness life — backwards and forwards, but no real progress ; occasional mountings into a higher atmosphere, but as frequent relapses into the mists of doubt; the failures more numerous than the victories ; the presence of the " serpents " and the " scorpions," and the unsatisfied longing in the land wherein there is " no water." May not the life of many a Christian be described in these words ? They have not realised the blessedness they saw before them, and their experience is fitly described in the words of the well-known hymn : —

" Where is the blessedness I knew When first I saw the Lord ?

Where is the soul-refreshing view Of Jesus and His word ?

" What peaceful hours I once enjoyed ! How sweet their memory still !

But they have left an aching void The world can never fill."

Of course it cannot ; the wilderness never can be, and was never meant to be, the portion of Israel; and the life to which it corresponds was never meant to be the life of the children of the Lord God Almighty. The world can never fill the heart which has once realised peace with God, and tasted, however slightly, of the fulness of joy which is in His presence.

A wilderness life can never be a happy life ; and yet many Christians have ceased to expect anything better. True, in one sense we are in the wilderness as long as we are in this world ; for we must be dependent on the perpetual supplies of grace, be guided by the pillar of the Lord's presence, and be ever travelling. But though this is one aspect of the position of the believer, it is not the only one. In another he is regarded as being already in the promised land, " blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ " — the land where he may win constant victories, and while fighting, yet know what " rest in the Lord " means. And it is this which is the normal, the proper position of every Christian. If he has to pass through the wilderness, he need not be forty years about it. Eleven days was the necessary time, and the long years of failure, disappointment, and backsliding are attributable to unbelief alone. They are not necessary. They may be avoided. Nay, they ought to be avoided; for the apostle, after bringing before us the fearful consequences of doubt in the case of the Israelites, " whose carcases fell in the wilderness/' says, "Let us' labour " (literally, hasten^ i.e., not be forty years about it instead of eleven days) "to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief " (Heb. iv. 11). Israel's failure is recorded for our warning, not for our imitation ; to be avoided, not copied.

And yet can we not see, who are conscious that for long years, it may be, we have omitted to profit by their history, how a gracious God has used the years of wandering to teach us, as He taught them, lessons, which we might have learnt in an easier school had we not doubted, but which He has not failed in His patient care for His children to bring home to us in another way ? He has indeed dealt with us as sons ; not forsaking us in our backslidings, but graciously correcting us, that " we might be partakers of His holiness," and learn at length to " enter into His rest," and to dwell, even here below, in the good land, in the kingdom of u righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost,"

And, as at last with Israel, the men of war in whom they trusted all died out from among them (Deut. ii. 14), and the generation that believed not fell in the wilderness one by one ; so at length it comes, with some at least, that all their strength, the flesh in which they trusted, comes to an end, and the last vestige of that unbelief which feared the difficulties and doubted God's power to overcome them, dies away.

Then once more we stand upon the borders 'of the land of blessing, no longer trembling and doubting, but believing that God will bring us in, and realising that we have died, been buried, and raised with Christ (as typified by the passage through Jordan). We see the lovely prospect before us, the plains flowing with milk and honey, the vineyards and the cornfields, and though here and there we also see tremendous obstacles, " all the power of the enemy," we hear the divine voice saying unto us, " Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses " (Josh. i. 3).

The land must be appropriated by faith. Id no other way could the natural Israel obtain possession of the earthly Canaan ; in no other way can the spiritual Israel " inherit the promises. " Faith would have sufficed forty years before. Faith alone is needed now.

But it must be faith in action. It would not have been of any use for the people to have admired the land and heard the promise, and to have said that they believed it ; they would have been no richer as to enjoyment, as to actual possession, than if they had remained in Egypt. They must, in simple trust on Him who spake the word, step forward, plant their feet on the soil, and that very moment it became their own. . Neither will an inactive faith avail you, reader. Indeed, there is no such thing as an inactive faith. There is, it is true, such an intellectual assent to the reality of certain facts as devils are obliged to give — " Thou believest that there is one God, thou doest well : the devils also believe and tremble ; but wilt thou know, vain man, that faith without works is dead ? " A faith whose possessor never moves, acts, works, is a nonentity, a dead, a diabolical faith. It is of no use. It encashes none of heaven's cheques ; it wins no victories ; it brings no peace.

True, living trust steps forward; it turns promises into possessions; it claims their fulfilment, and is not disappointed. Look at Peter. He is bid — and