Chapter X. Lack Of Faith.
CHAPTER X. LACK OF FAITH.
The Baptist Missionary Society was raised up based on two simple ideas, suggested by Dr. Carey in a sermon on Isaiah 54.2-3, shortly before he embarked for India—‘Expect great things; attempt great things.’ This expectation is the life of faith—the vitality of the Ministry—it is what honours God, and is honoured by God. All our failures may be ultimately traced to a defect of faith. We ask only for a little, we expect only a little, we are satisfied with only a little; and therefore we gain and do only a little.721 Our Saviour called this principle into exercise in almost all his miracles; and his almighty power appeared (so to speak) to be fettered only by the influence of unbelief.722 This power of faith in outward miracles seems intended to encourage its exercise with respect to the greatest of all miracles—the conversion of the soul. Indeed no limit, except the
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sovereign will of God, bounds the warranted expectation of believing prayer.723 The dispensations of grace are established on this rule—“According to your faith, so be it unto to you.” 724 The life of faith, therefore, is the life of the Minister’s work, and the spring of his success.
A confidence, indeed, that has no foundation in the Divine promise, is not faith, but fancy. But the ground of Ministerial faith is the engagement, purpose, and promise of God—“The zeal of the Lord of Hosts shall perform this.” 725 Much would be expected from this determined and fervid principle in human hearts, though it is so often misguided, disproportionate, and uncertain. But the thought is overwhelming, of this affection possessing the heart of God —of the deep interest of his infinite mind in the progress of the kingdom of his dear Son—his thoughts being engaged in it—his unsearchable plans embracing it, and controlling all the mighty movements of the world to subserve this main design! How solid, therefore, is the rock, on which the Christian Ministry rests as the grand engine for the accomplishment of the purposes and promises of God! 726
The extreme difficulty of the exercise of faith is not, however, readily apprehended. Sometimes we see a faint and sinking heart, where better things might have been expected. Jeremiah’s case is most instructive to young Ministers—it is bold in public, but it gives way in secret; it is full of compassionate weepings over the misery of his people, but it is “pressed above measure” under the power of his unbelief.727
Self-dependence is the grand hindrance to our efficiency. Our glorious Head “has the residue of the Spirit,” as the fountain and grand repository for his Ministers.728 But apart from the constant supply from his fulness, who are we to call the dead to arise to a new and spiritual life? Where is the quickening virtue innate in our agency? To lean upon human instrumentality, instead of the Almighty power—is like Elisha trusting in his staff instead of his Master 729— it is presumption, which will bring us under the humbling rebuke of our jealous God. Again, a lack of godly simplicity shows itself in trusting hopeful appearances, rather than trusting the full and faithful promises of our God. We are ready to say of some bright momentary prospect—“This will
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comfort us concerning our work.” 730 So that when “we do not see our signs,” 731 or when, “as the morning cloud and the early dew,” they have “gone away,”732 we are on the verge of despondency. Now if the promises were the ground, and favourable appearances were only the encouragements of our hope, then our minds would be preserved in an equipoise733 of faith; dependent and sustained under every variation of circumstance: “rejoicing in hope” amid the withering blasts of disappointment—even “against hope, believing in hope, strong in faith, giving glory to God.” But the lack of due recollection makes it easier to exercise a personal rather than a Ministerial faith, though the warrant in both cases is the same; though the principle of faith has equal power in its application to every exigency; and though the training for the discipline of the Ministerial warfare is the fruitful result of our personal trials.
The main difficulty, therefore, is not in our work, but in ourselves; in the conflict with our own unbelief in the form either of indolence or of self-dependence. When faith is really brought into action, the extent and aggravation of the difficulty (even if it were increased a hundred-fold) is a matter of little comparative moment. Difficulties heaped upon difficulties can never rise to the level of the promise of God. To meet the trembling apprehensions—“Who is sufficient for these things?” the answer is ready—“Our sufficiency is of God.” 734 There is a link in the chain of moral causes and effects, which connects the helplessness of the creature with the Omnipotence of God, and encourages the creature to attempt everything in the conscious inability to do anything: and thus “in weakness” thoroughly felt, Divine “strength is made perfect.” 735 It is equally important to feel our abasement, and to maintain it with a corresponding and proportionate exercise of faith. Let us lie low, but let us look high; let us realize our weakness and strength at the same moment; let there be a remembrance, as well as a present exercise of faith. The Apostle supported his mind under the pressure of his responsibilities, not merely by his general interest in his Master’s all-sufficiency, but by the recollection of what it had worked in him.736 This recollection will assure us of the sufficiency of Almighty grace; and that, though the work immensely exceeds all human resources, the power and promise of God are fully equal, and faithfully pledged, to the exigency. No difficulty is therefore insurmountable. Our Lord has
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invested the principle of faith with his own Omnipotence.737 The least grain will remove a mountain from its place.738 What then would not a large grain do? What would not many grains do? If the weakest exercise is so mighty, then what might not be expected from the habit of faith? May we always send up the disciples’ prayer—“Increase our faith!” 739
But to apply its operations to the different departments of our Work: If the Ministry is a spiritual employment, then it must be conducted on spiritual principles. Faith, therefore, belongs to every part of it. It is the mainspring and the regulator: it enters into every wheel and pivot of the machine. The power or the lack of it is felt at every single point, enlivening or paralyzing the work. Thus in preaching—how encouraging are the recollections that we are nothing, but we hold the rod of God’s power in our hand—that his presence is pledged to bless our word—and that our poor Ministrations of his all-powerful Gospel are the appointed means of gathering and edifying his Church! 740 It is faith also, that gives a tone of boldness to our public addresses.741 We cease to fear the face of man, when we realize the power and presence of God. Men of faith are the most successful preachers. Whitfield is said to have seldom preached without the seal of conversion to his message—Such is the effect of a simple reliance on the power of God! On the other hand, a formal preaching of Evangelical truth, being without faith, is wholly unproductive. And may we not also trace the barrenness even of an earnest Ministry to the same source—a lack of practical conviction that the work is of God? Does not sometimes relying on our accurate expositions, forcible illustrations, or powerful and persuasive arguments, lead us to forget “that the excellence of the power is of God, and not of us?” 742 Do we never feel as if our light must open our people’s eyes—as if they must see, be convinced, and persuaded? The use of means honours the work of the Spirit. But dependance on means obscures his glory, and therefore issues in unprofitableness. Again—in our parochial visitation—how much more natural it is to speak from our own mouth than from God’s! How hard it is to maintain the habitual simplicity of faith—looking for the “wisdom that is profitable to direct” the word of seasonable doctrine, reproof, or consolation to the several cases of our
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people! In our Sunday Schools also—how quickly our hands hang down “in the work!” We “cast our bread upon the waters” with only faint hope of “finding it after many days.” 743 We are ready to think that nothing is done, because we do not see all that we want in immediate fruit, visible progress, or thankful returns. In discouraging instances in our visitation of the sick—how grievously we fail in the recollection of the sovereign freeness of Divine grace, to resist despondency, and keep alive expectation; to go on waiting—pleading—hoping to the last! And is the secret of our lack of success not found here? As we “walk”—so must we work,—“by faith, not by sight;” in diligence, improving what is already given, and in expectation, looking for a larger blessing.
As to some departments of our work, however (such as visiting the sick, or instructing the young) we are apt to say—‘I have no gift, no talent for it.’ But surely dependance on the promise of heavenly wisdom would obtain a competent measure to meet the demand.744 Or even it were to be withheld, how profitable would that humbling exercise of faith be —“most gladly to glory in our infirmities, so that the power of Christ may rest upon us!” 745 But nothing is more paralyzing to faith—nothing more clogs the wheels of exertion—than repining indolence indulged under the cover of humility. Sometimes in seasons of despondency we feel as if we had been of no use in the work, because no present fruit springs up before us. But does the promise of God not warrant us to make the greatest attempts with the fullest assurance of ultimate success? The thought of the breath of a worm instrumentally saving an immortal soul (a work of far higher consideration in the eye of God than the temporal welfare of the universe) proves the Divinely-appointed means (independent of Almighty agency) to be as inadequate to the proposed effect as the rod of Moses, the bronze serpent, the trumpets of Joshua, the pitchers of Gideon, or the prophesying of Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones. But their very weakness was the display of the power of God, and the excitement to exercise faith. And the neglect of the means in the cases referred to, would have been fatal to their effects. The Scripture, therefore, speaks of discouragements as “the trials of faith.” And when has God ever put honour upon the faith which he has not first tried? Or when has he failed to honour it in, or after the trial.746 And thus—as mementos of our weakness, and excitements
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of our faith—discouragements when properly sustained,747 have proved the channels of spiritual strength to ourselves, and of abundant spiritual blessings to our people.
It is most important to habitually contemplate our work in its proper character as a “work of faith.” As such, it can only be sustained by the active and persevering exercise of this principle. This is what makes it a means of grace to our own souls, as well as a grand medium of exalting our Divine Master.
It is faith that enlivens our work with perpetual cheerfulness. It commits every part of it to God in the hope that even mistakes will be overruled for his glory; and thus it relieves us from an oppressive anxiety that often attends a deep sense of our responsibility. The shortest way to peace will be found in casting ourselves on God for daily pardon of our deficiencies and for His supplies of grace, without looking too eagerly for present fruit. Hence our course of effort is unvarying, but more tranquil. It is peace—not slumber. It is rest in the work—not from the work. Faith also supports us under the trials of our Ministerial warfare with the clear view of the faithfulness of the covenant, and the stability of the church. And indeed, just as all the promises of God are made to faith, or to the grace springing from it, faith is the only spring of Christian courage and Christian hope. Unbelief looks at the difficulty. Faith regards the promise. Unbelief therefore makes our work into a service of bondage. Faith realizes it as a “labour of love.” Unbelief drags on in sullen despondency. Faith makes the patience which is content to wait for success, “the patience of hope.” 748 Just as every difficulty is the fruit of unbelief; so every difficulty will ultimately be overcome by the perseverance of faith. Therefore, to gain an active and powerful spring of renewed exertion, we must strike our roots deeper into the soil of faith. For the work will always prosper or decline, as we depend either upon an Almighty arm, or upon an arm of flesh.749 Few, probably, even of the most devoted servants of God, had duly counted the cost before they put their hand to the plough. And from the lack of these preparatory exercises of faith arises that oppressive faintness which gives the enemy
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such an advantage in distressing our peace, and enfeebling our exertions. But after all, the grand secret is to have our eye habitually on Christ. Peter—looking at the waves instead of the Saviour—“began to sink.” 750 We too—if we look at the difficulties of our work, and forget the upholding arm of our ever-present Head—will sink in despondency. Believe—wait—work—are the watchwords of the Ministry. Believing the promise, gives the power to wait. Waiting supplies strength for work, and such working “is not in vain in the Lord.”
We note also the supreme importance of the Ministerial exercise of faith in its own character and office, as substantiating unseen realities to the mind. The grand subjects of our commission have an immediate connection with the eternal world. The soul derives its value from its relation to eternity.751 The gift of the Saviour opens and assures to the Christian a blissful prospect of eternity.752 The sufferings of this present time are supported by a habitual contemplation of “things not seen,” 753 and by an estimate of the superior “glory that will be revealed in us.” 754 We realize the vanity of this transitory scene only by an accurate comparison with the enduring character of the heavenly state.755 Daily experience reminds us of the extreme difficulty of maintaining spiritual perceptions of eternal things. The surrounding objects of time and sense spread a thick film over the organs of spiritual vision; and the indistinct haziness in which they often appear, makes it as if they did not exist. Now a vivid apprehension of truth is the spring of a “full assurance of faith.” such as will infuse a tenderness, seriousness, and dignity into our discourses far beyond the power of the highest unassisted talents. ‘Faith is the master-spring of a Minister. Hell is before me, and thousands of souls are shut up there in everlasting agonies. Jesus Christ stands forth to save men from rushing into this bottomless abyss. He sends me to proclaim his ability and his love. I want no fourth idea! Every fourth idea is contemptible. Every fourth idea is a grand impertinence.756
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We must also note the personal assurance of faith as a spring of our effectiveness. “We are confident” (says the Apostle); “therefore we labour.” 757 The assured “knowledge “of Him, “whom he had believed,” was at once his support under sufferings, and his principle of perseverance.758 The persuasion of “whose he was”—enabled him to confess with greater confidence—“Whom I serve.” 759 And who does not find that “the joy of the Lord “—the joy of pardon, of acceptance, of communion, and of expectation—“is our strength,” 760 for our work in simple, affectionate, and devoted faith? The “spirit of adoption “converts toil into pleasure. What would be drudgery to a slave, is privilege to a child. Instead of being goaded by conscience, he is acted upon by faith, and constrained by love. “Labor ipse voluptas.”761 Thus faith is the principle, love is the enjoyment, and active devotedness is the habit of the work.
Upon the whole, then, we may conclude this subject with the consolatory remembrance of the character of our gracious and faithful Master. Every faithful Minister has fellowship with Polycarp’s ground of support—‘that he, who was constituted an overseer of the church, was himself overseen by Jesus Christ.’ Our Blessed Master will make us sensible of our weakness; but he will not allow us to faint under it. Our store of sufficiency is treasured up in his inexhaustible fulness; while our insufficiency is covered in his compassionate acceptance. He engages to supply not only rules and directions, but ability and grace, for our momentous work. And if he enables us with a dependent spirit, a single eye, and a single heart, to make an unreserved surrender of ourselves and our talents to his service, he will overcome for us every apprehended difficulty, and we shall “go on our way rejoicing” in our work. But the power of unbelief will be a matter of daily conflict to the end. We shall probably find it our chief hindrance. It will induce faintness under a lack of success, or self-confidence under apparent usefulness—in either case, it inverts the Scripture order of life and comfort, and leads us to “walk” by sight, not “by faith;” so that the Saviour (as we hinted before) cannot do many mighty works among us, because of our unbelief.762
The Writer submits this extended detail to his brethren, with painful self-conviction, and with a deep sense of the injury resulting from the hindrances which have been specified. The most Scriptural church is materially weakened by mal-administration.
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Even the Jewish church, though framed by the hands of God, was paralyzed by the unfaithfulness of its Ministers. And who can tell the injury that our own admirable Establishment may sustain from hirelings entering into her service as the way to respectability or emolument, instead of being inwardly “moved by the Holy Ghost,” and supremely seeking the honour of their Master, and the interests of his church? Doubtless the main secret of success is to bring the spirit and unction of the Gospel into our public and private Ministrations. Let each of us, therefore, follow the excellent advice of Bishop Burnet—‘more particularly to examine himself, whether he has that soft and gentle, that meek and humble, and that charitable and compassionate temper, which the Gospel so much presses upon all Christians; that temper which shined so eminently through the whole life of its blessed Author and which he has so singularly recommended to all his followers; and that has in it so many charms and attractives, which not only commend those who have these amiable virtues, but (which is much more to be regarded) they give them vast advantages in recommending the doctrine of our Saviour to their people.’ 763 Indeed the lack of this Christian consistency obscures for our people the credentials of our commission. It is of little avail to confidently and successfully vindicate to them the lawfulness of our ecclesiastical call unless our faithfulness, humility, constancy, self-denial, and tenderness, lead them “to account us as the Ministers of Christ, and Stewards of the mysteries of God.” 764 It is vain to insist on the Apostolic succession of our Ministry unless we enlighten it with the combined glory of Apostolic doctrine and example. In this uniform consistency—not in any sacred antiquity, independent of this confirming seal—lies our spiritual power. The Bodies of Dissent, making no pretensions to Apostolic descent—yet preaching Apostolic doctrines, will maintain a moral influence in the land, which we can never hope to acquire unless our public and private work are cast in the same Scriptural mould. The church cannot now accredit “the blind, and the halt, and the lame.”765 The lives of her ministers must have the moral weight of holiness.
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Our people naturally “seek this proof of Christ speaking in us,” 766 to draw them to us with the impression, with which “A Master in Israel w approached his Divine Teacher—“We know that you are a Teacher come from God.” 767 Those Ministers whom we observe as specially honoured in their work, we will generally mark as distinguished by a consistent standard of profession and conduct. And doubtless with more spiritualized affections, with greater abstraction from the world, with more fervent love for the Saviour and zeal for his cause, with a higher estimate of the value of souls, and with a more habitual determination to live with and for God—we shall have a clearer and more effective testimony in the hearts of our people. We shall “magnify our office” 768 among them; and they will gladly “receive us as angels of God, even as Christ Jesus.” 769