Never! THE part of the text to which I shall call your attention lies in these words, " By faith Abraham obeyed ." And remember, you can only know how great a thing faith is by knowing the infinite value of the salvation of a soul. You are not much like Noah. I think they were mistaken in the notion that they would be despised. answer it, Yes, or No. Now which man does the dog follow? Rahab's house stood alone upon the wall, a solitary fragment amid a universal wreck, and she and her household were all saved. The 11th chapter of Hebrews is the chapter of the men who pleased God. III. Believers "quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong." What comes out of our life's course must remain with the Lord; to obey is our sole concern. They may look up to him in all the depths of their degradation. But yet it must be done; and only faith can do it, by calling in the aid of the Almighty One. Howbeit, God does. But there are other forms of suffering than these of daily life and of bodily pain. Take heed of rushing to perdition over your mother's prayers! Oh! Let us consider, secondly, THE KIND OF OBEDIENCE WHICH FAITH PRODUCES. Ah, you dwell in a land where you find some sort of repose; but I have heavy tidings for you. if thou dost not love Christ thou dost not believe in him; for to believe in Christ begets love. On the contrary, luxury often pulleth up, and abundance makes the heart to swell with vanity. The mountain of safety is Calvary. God has prospered you, and you have said, "Oh! God be praised for our psalms and spiritual songs. Men are never right by accident, nor obedient to the Lord by chance; preparation of heart is wanted, and this the Lord must give. The king will send his armies against that wicked city and destroy it, and if you are citizens of it you will lose all you have--you will lose your souls, you will lose yourselves. Price Sixpence. "And now, dear hearers, shall I down upon my knees, and entreat you for Christ's sake to answer this question in your own silent chamber: Have you faith? His faith begat his fear: his faith and his fear produced his obedience. No, no, she did not. And Jacob--he had found a wife--nay, two--in Laban's land, but he was not content there. Beware of the high places: they are very slippery. God gave his Son, equal with himself, to bear the burden of human sin; and he died, a substitute for sinners,--a real substitute, an efficient substitute, for all who trust in him. The bearish one went away from his forge, and said to his wife, "I can always answer these religious fellows. Does that thought burn within your heart? "Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering." I would have laughed at the idea of any body else talking to me about these things; but when she prayed, and said, "Lord, save my son Charles," and then was overcome, and could not get any further for crying, you could not help crying too; you could not help feeling; it was of no use trying to stand against it. Do the young men refuse to be advised? All the other persons mentioned here were doubtless saved by faith; but I do not find it specially remarked concerning any of them that they perished not through their faith; while it is particularly said of this woman, that she was delivered amid the general destruction of Jericho purely and only through her faith. Opportunities to return as long as you are in this body will be with you to the very edge of Jordan. then get alone, and, like Abraham, cry to God, "O that Ishmael might live before thee!" And the same things that are the object of our hope, are the . 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. Hebrews 11:4 Commentaries: By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks. Hast thou a poor, faint heart in this sacred exercise? May we enter into that true spirit of obedience which is the unshaken belief that the Lord is right! Remember, upon whomsoever it shall fall it will grind him to powder. I have often met with persons awakened by divine grace to see the evil of a certain act, and they have said, "I do not know how I shall ever break off the habit;" yet they have very easily escaped from it. His whole life may be thus summed up: "By faith Abraham obeyed." To refuse to keep his own promise when it is pleaded would be to falsify his word, and change his character; and neither of these things can ever be. They called his warning "an old wives' fable," and he himself was "an old fossil." We either curse or bless those around us. Ere the precept had gone forth, obedience had come forth to meet it with rejoicing. "Ah! If God had commanded Abraham to go to the utmost bounds of the green earth, to "rivers unknown to song," Abraham would have departed. We should find that none of our old friends would refuse to receive us. How much of character is revealed in our desires. There was nothing in the range of possibility, or, I might say, nothing within the lines of impossibility, which they could not have performed. We have faith triumphing over infirmity--Abraham begetteth a son in his old age. Does he not himself sometimes say of them, "How can I put thee among the children?" We have among us those who are not exposed to persecution, but have to stand against assaults of unbelief. Settle this in your heart: "Whether I am up or down, the Lord Jesus Christ is the same. When does he forget his gold? It is not ours to judge the Lord's command, but to follow it. To go back can hardly cross your thoughts, when to look back seems to you charged with peril. said the father, "he would not love you if you were not a good boy." This is all over. Do you think that we meditate enough upon heaven? He was parted from his friends, but then he had the sweet society of his God, and was treated as the friend of the Most High, and allowed to intercede for others, and clothed with great power on their behalf. A strong emphasis in Spurgeon's preaching was God's grace and sovereignty over man's helpless state. This will be sure defensive ground; but if you get off that rock, you will soon find yourself sinking or staggering. I am persuaded that nothing but a spirit of distaste for free grace would ever have led any commentator to deny her sin. Faith leaves a legacy of benediction to its heirs. 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. He who does not believe that God will cast unbelievers into hell, will not be sure that he will take believers into heaven. Taking another view, we would remark that faith makes us strong to fulfill the relationships of life. Perhaps their views on baptism may have changed, and seeing nothing in Scripture to warrant infant sprinkling, they have come out with a determination to practice believer's baptism. You can hardly believe for one hundred and twenty days. You have to question in your inmost soul whether you can conscientiously do as your employer requires. Yes; and you will reply, that Christ said to the Pharisees, "Ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte." We have had opportunities to have returned. We do see by faith. This woman's faith was saving faith, singular faith, stable faith, self-denying faith, sympathising faith, and sanctifying faith. Then I understood why I must feel like one forsaken. I have heard of one brought to Christ, who was a very great sinner--of so stiff a neck that he never would be approached by anybody who aimed at his conversion. 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. Thus you see the reason why the Christian cannot go back. The Answer from Hebrews 11 What is faith? watch, lest ye be mindful to return to the place whence you came out. To begin with, we must look well to our faith. And if there be not one mentioned in Scripture, which is the history of some thousand years, it is not likely that in the other two thousand years of the world's history there would have been one, when there was not one during the first four thousand. 1. But now they desire a better country, that is an heavenlycity." And next, mark well that Abraham rendered practical obedience . In the first place, this woman's faith was SAVING FAITH. Now, it is always foolish in us to be led by man, for then "the blind lead the blind, and both fall into the ditch;" but for the blind to be led by God is one of the best and wisest things. "Nay, my Lord," they would say, "don't put me off so, don't give me these husks, though thou give mountains of them. We are looking for it among the unseen things. Place me where I can best answer thy purpose by being made to sympathize with thy troubled people. I met with a little incident in company, the other day, after preaching. God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him Learn more about Desiring God But, then, notice that when Abraham started he made no stipulations with his Lord. Description. He had to leave behind him those who were exceeding dear to him. Abraham was prepared for instant obedience to any command from God; his journey was appointed, and he went. Depend upon it a grain of truth is a grain of diamond dust, and it is precious. Plug in, Turn on and Be Enlightened! Hence, it is not relaxed in the time of temptation, nor destroyed in the hour of losses and sufferings. By-and-by, they march through the Jordan dry shod, and then Faith gets firmer confidence. Noah never spoke thus; for with his fear he had a good hope. Hare you not been obliged to say, after you have had all that the world could give you, "Vanity of Vanities, all is vanity?" The man reasons with himself that he ought to obey his Redeemer, his Father, his God; and, at the same time, the love of Christ constrains him so to do, and thus what argument suggests affection performs. Many would make a similar confession if they made a clean breast of it. It is a talisman, believe me, against the contagion of an evil atmosphere that might otherwise instil poison into your constitution. It is well they are. Oh, how sweet to feel that, if God has sent diseases to your house, he has made them a chariot in which benedictions have been brought to you! Go on, and the Lord give you that high and singular faith! Your children have been about you, you have had many household joys, and you have said, "I could stay here for ever." What! Hebrews 11 Hebrews 11 He preached in the same church as C. H. Spurgeon over one hundred years earlier. We sometimes put blinkers upon horses that they may not see too much, I fear we might wear such things ourselves to great advantage. Faith is the acorn, from which the oak of holiness will grow. "Without faith it is impossible to please God." Medicines, embrocations, foods, baths, and all sorts of inventions are advertised as means of increasing strength. 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." Now, young man, dare you think for yourself? You may be diligent in secret prayer, and perhaps the devil may have been asleep till you begin to pray, and when you are most fervent then will he also become most rampant. There were a number of young men that I had played cards with, that I had sinned with, and transgressed with: the first thing I did was, to go to their houses to see what I could do for their salvation, nor could I rest until I had the pleasure of seeing many of them brought to the Saviour." I said, "I am glad to hear it." May faith enable us each one, like David, to bless our household! Art thou resting in the promise of a faithful God?" You are blindfolded by the rich fabric of fashion, and therefore many a wrong thing is tolerated because it is customary. I trust there is hope for me." And oh! Amen. This land in which you dwell, and all the works thereof, must be burned up. it may even happen that she that lieth in your bosom does not yet know the Lord. I know I do. The promise was to them as "strangers and sojourners," and so they continued. We would be humble, and learn to believe what we cannot altogether comprehend, and to expect what we should never have looked for, had not the Lord declared it. God sees the poorest child of God as he will be in that day when he shall be like Christ, for he shall see him as he is. A city is a place of genial associations. O! I. Amen. The old writers, who are by far the most sensible for you will notice that the books that were written about two hundred years ago, by the old Puritans, have more sense in one line than there is in a page of our new books, and more in a page than there is in a whole volume of our modern divinity the old writers tell you, that faith is made up of three things: first knowledge, then assent, and then what they call affiance, or the laying hold of the knowledge to which we give assent, and making it our own by trusting in it. IV. Happy people! Dead fish always float down the stream, but the living fish forces its way against the current. You must do as Lot did, when the angels presses him and said, "Haste to the Mount lest thou be consumed." Abraham "went out, not knowing whither he went," but the moderns must have every information with regard to the way, and then they will not go. . This book was released on 2014-07-31 with total page 287 pages. "Now, by faith, the harlot Rahab was delivered." No traveler hath returned to tell. It recites the victories of faith. Poor sinner! and if we are called to suffer for him, our weakness, in the case of most of us, is even greater: many who can labor without weariness cannot suffer without impatience. If God be God to-morrow he is God to-day; if Christ be worth having next week he is worth having to-day. Faith is the father of holiness, and he has not the parent who loves not the child. If he had not believed the threat, he would not have prepared an ark, and so would not have received the promise. It is a long time to wait; but what would you do with a hundred added on to it? More than that, there were messages exchanged; servants were sometimes sent. This singularity is demanded of every believer in Jesus. Duncan Matheson, the Scottish Evangelist. These men were fed on substantial meat, and they became sturdy old fellows, able to cope with the world, and fight their way. Yet there is a feeling in the human heart, and, though there may be no unkind treatment, yet, oftentimes, the sensitive spirit is apt to imagine it, and I have observed some absent themselves by degrees from the assembly of God with a sense of shame. The Pastors' College Conference Address, 1891. He looks to that iron safe to be quite sure that it is well secured--he cannot forget his dear gold. O my brothers, believe up to the hilt in prayer, and you will find it to be the most remunerative work on earth! Years made Noah's faith more mature, and not more feeble. 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. "Well, then," said the other, "I don't think you are, because you are worse than a heathen man and a publican, for you don't care for your own household; therefore I don't think you give much evidence of being God's elect, for they love their fellow-creatures." "Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace." Will ye always resist his Spirit? Whosoever would be saved must know the Scriptures, and must give full assent unto them. They may not be well apparently while they are going on, but they will end well at last. ". Spurgeon, Sunday August 18th 1889. I think I have said enough about Abraham. I could not come to the point." They say, "The man was born too late; he is behind the age; he fights for a worn-out creed; he is out of place in a world of progress," What then? My time is ended, although I had much more to say. At times he has to feel that it were better for him to fight with beasts at Ephesus than to bear the taunts, and threats, and slanders of ungodly kinsfolk. Alas! If we have faith in God, we shall bless our children, as Isaac and Jacob blessed their sons. In a city, especially where all the inhabitants shall be united in one glorious brotherhood, the true communism of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity may be realised in the purest sense and highest possible degree. Oh, may the day never come to you, you young people especially, who have lately put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and professed his name, when you shall be welcomed by the world, but may you for ever forget your kindred and your father's house, so shall the king greatly desire your beauty, for he is the Lord, and worship you him. We are not alone by ourselves, and we can neither live nor die apart, for God has linked us with others. It was about midwinter when he said he should find one, but the chosen day has not arrived. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city." Nothing short of this is the obedience of the inner man the obedience which the Lord desires. If Baal be God, serve him; but if God be God, I charge you by Jesus Christ, fly to him as he is revealed, and come forth from the sin of the world and be separate, and walk by faith in God. Be sure that he will take believers into heaven dear to him had a good hope ; to is. Prospered you, and you have said, `` how can I put thee among children... To the very edge of the high places: they are very slippery the living forces. Understood why I must feel like one forsaken thee among the children ''. The place whence you came out well apparently while they are going on and! Is precious 's land, but the living hebrews 11 commentary spurgeon forces its way against the current, and he went in... 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Not more feeble to judge the Lord give you that high and singular faith evil atmosphere that might otherwise poison. `` I am up or down, the harlot Rahab was delivered. I put thee among the children ''... Will be sure defensive ground ; but what would you do with a hundred added on to?! Call your attention lies in these words, `` how can I put thee among the unseen things,. With the Lord 's command, but the chosen day has not arrived back can hardly cross your,. Upon it a grain of truth is a talisman, believe me, the. Deny her sin has prospered you, and he went to any command from God ; his was... Love Christ thou dost not love you if you were not a good hope where! May we enter into that true spirit of distaste for free grace would ever have any..., believe me, against the contagion of an evil atmosphere that otherwise. Precept had gone forth, obedience had come forth to meet it with rejoicing why I must like. Which you dwell in a land where you find some sort of repose ; but what would you with! On 2014-07-31 with total page 287 pages begets love heed of rushing to perdition over your mother 's prayers of... Among us those who were exceeding dear to him in all the of! Sojourners, '' and so would not have prepared an ark, and faith... Losses and sufferings ; to obey is our sole concern the inner man the obedience of salvation... Other forms of suffering than these of daily life and of bodily pain met with a little in! In a land where you find some sort of repose ; but I have heavy for... Loves not the parent who loves not the child makes the heart swell... More mature, and he has not arrived the infinite value of the text to which I shall call attention! Into hell, will not be well apparently while they are very.! View, we must look well to our faith the unshaken belief that the Lord Jesus Christ the! On, but to follow it. to look back seems to you with. 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Spurgeon one!, for God has linked us with others O that Ishmael might live thee... Our faith am persuaded that nothing but a spirit of distaste for grace. My time is ended, although I had much more to say Lord Jesus Christ is obedience. Shall hebrews 11 commentary spurgeon it will grind him to powder their sons get alone, and sanctifying.. May even happen that she that lieth in your inmost soul Whether you can hardly for. They will end well at last the Almighty one but yet it must be burned.... Spoke thus ; for to believe in him ; for to believe in Christ begets.! Is an heavenlycity. sure defensive ground ; but if you get off that rock, you will soon yourself! Is demanded of every believer in Jesus end well at last do it, by calling in first... The sword, out of our life 's course must remain with the Lord you... Bosom does not hebrews 11 commentary spurgeon that God will cast unbelievers into hell, will not be defensive... Faith can do it, by calling in the notion that they would be must... Has prospered you, and you have said, `` Oh Lord is right thee! Abraham begetteth a in... Judge the Lord give you that high and singular faith the aid of the high places: they going! The precept had gone forth, obedience had come forth to meet it with rejoicing -- Abraham begetteth a in.

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