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SUBJECT: 04 GEN 15:6 Justification by Faith--Illustrated
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Justification by Faith--Illustrated by Abram's Righteousness
December 6th, 1868
by
C. H. SPURGEON
(1834-1892)
"And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for
righteousness."-- Gen_15:6.
You will remember that last Lord's-day morning we spoke upon the
calling of Abram, and the faith by which he was enabled to enter upon
that separated life at the bidding of the Most High. We shall today pass
from the consideration of his calling to that of his justification, that
being most remarkably next in order in his history, as it is in point of
theology in the New Testament; for, "whom he called, them he also
justified."
Referring to the chapter before us for a preface to our subject, note that
after Abram's calling his faith proved to be of the most practical kind.
Being called to separate himself from his kindred and from his country,
he did not therefore become a recluse, a man of ascetic habits, or a
sentimentalist, unfit for the battles of ordinary life--no; but in the noblest
style of true manliness he showed himself able to endure the household
trouble and the public trial which awaited him. Lot's herdsmen
quarrelled with the servants of Abram, and Abram with great
disinterestedness gave his younger and far inferior relative the choice of
pasturage, and gave up the well-watered plain of Sodom, which was the
best of the land. A little while after, the grand old man who trusted in his
God showed that he could play the soldier, and fight right gloriously
against terrible odds. He gathered together his own household servants,
and accepted the help of his neighbours, and pursued the conquering
hosts of the allied kings, and smote them with as heavy a hand as if from
his youth up he had been a military man. Brethren, this every-day life
faith is the faith of God's elect. There are persons who imagine saving
faith to be a barren conviction of the truth of certain abstract
propositions, leading only to a quiet contemplation upon certain
delightful topics, or a separating ourselves from all sympathy with our
fellow creatures; but it is not so. Faith, restricted merely to religious
exercise, is not Christian faith, it must show itself in everything. A
merely religious faith may be the choice of men whose heads are softer
than their hearts, fitter for cloisters than markets; but the manly faith
which God would have us cultivate, is a grand practical principle
adapted for every day in the week, helping us to rule our household in
the fear of God, and to enter upon life's rough conflicts in the
warehouse, the farm, or the exchange. I mention this at the
commencement of this discourse, because as this is the faith which came
of Abram's calling, so also does it shine in his justification, and is,
indeed, that which God counted unto him for righteousness.
Yet the first verse shows us that even such a believer as Abram needed
comfort. The Lord said to him, "Fear not." Why did Abram fear? Partly
because of the reaction which is always caused by excitement when it is
over. He had fought boldly and conquered gloriously, and now he fears.
Cowards tremble before the fight, and brave men after the victory. Elias slew
the priests of Baal without fear, but after all was over, his spirit sank
and he fled from the face of Jezebel. Abram's fear also originated in an
overwhelming awe in the presence of God. The word of Jehovah came to
him with power, and he felt that same prostration of spirit which made the
beloved John fall at the feet of his Lord in the Isle of Patmos, and made
Daniel feel, on banks of Hiddekel that there was no strength in him. "Fear
not," said the Lord to the patriarch. His spirit was too deeply bowed. God
would uplift his beloved servant into the power of exercising sacred
familiarity. Ah, brethren, this is a blessed fear--let us cultivate it; for
until it shall be cast out by perfect love, which is better still, we may be
content to let this good thing rule our hearts. Should not a man, conscious
of great infirmities, sink low in his own esteem in proportion as he is
honoured with communion with the glorious Lord?
When he was comforted, Abram received on open declaration of his
justification. I take it, beloved friends, that our text does not intend to
teach us that Abram was not justified before this time. Faith always
justifies whenever it exists, and as soon as it is exercised; its result
follows immediately, and is not an aftergrowth needing months of delay.
The moment a man truly trusts his God he is justified. Yet many are
justified who do not know their happy condition; to whom as yet the
blessing of justification has not been opened up in its excellency and
abundance of privilege. There may be some of you here today who have
been called by grace from darkness into marvellous light; you have been
led to look to Jesus, and you believe you have received pardon of your
sin, and yet, for want of knowledge, you know little of the sweet
meaning of such words as these, "Accepted in the Beloved," "Perfect in
Christ Jesus," "Complete in him." You are doubtless justified, though
you scarcely understand what justification means; and you are accepted,
though you have not realized your acceptance; and you are complete in
Jesus Christ, though you have today a far deeper sense of your personal
incompleteness than of the all-sufficiency of Jesus. A man may be
entitled to property though he cannot read the title-deeds, or has not as
yet heard of their existence; the law recognizes right and fact, not our
apprehension thereof. But there will come a time, beloved, when you
who are called will clearly realize your justification, and will rejoice in
it; it shall be intelligently understood by you, and shall become a matter
of transporting delight, lifting you to a higher platform of experience,
and enabling you to walk with a firmer step, sing with a merrier voice,
and triumph with an enlarged heart.
I intend now, as God may help me, first to note the means of Abram's
justification; then, secondly, the object of the faith which justified him;
and then, thirdly, the attendants of his justification.
I. First, brethren, HOW WAS ABRAM JUSTIFIED?
We see in the text the great truth, which Paul so clearly brings out in the
fourth chapter of his epistle to the Romans, that Abram was not justified
by his works. Many had been the good works of Abram. It was a good
work to leave his country and his father's house at God's bidding; it was
a good work to separate from Lot in so noble a spirit; it was a good work
to follow after the robber-kings with undaunted courage; it was a grand
work to refuse to take the spoils of Sodom, but to lift up his hand to God
that he would not take from a thread even to a shoe latchet; it was a holy
work to give to Melchisedec tithes of all that he possessed, and to
worship the Most High God; yet none of these are mentioned in the text,
nor is there a hint given of any other sacred duties as the ground or
cause, or part cause of his justification before God. No, it is said, "He
believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness." Surely,
brethren, if Abram, after years of holy living, is not justified by his
works, but is accepted before God on account of his faith, much more
must this be the case with the ungodly sinner who, having lived in
unrighteousness, yet believeth on Jesus and is saved. If there be
salvation for the dying thief, and others like him, it cannot be of debt,
but of grace, seeing they have no good works. If Abram, when full of
good works, is not justified by them, but by his faith, how much more
we, being full of imperfections, must come unto the throne of the
heavenly grace and ask that we may be justified by faith which is in
Christ Jesus, and saved by the free mercy of God!
Further, this justification came to Abram not by obedience to the
ceremonial law any more than by conformity to the moral law. As the
apostle has so plainly pointed out to us, Abram was justified before he
was circumcised. The initiatory step into the outward and visible
covenant, so far as it was ceremonial, had not yet been taken, and yet the
man was perfectly justified. All that follows after cannot contribute to a
thing which is already perfect. Abram, being already justified, cannot
owe that justification to his subsequent circumcision--this is clear
enough; and so, beloved, at this moment, if you and I are to be justified,
these two things are certain: it cannot be by the works of the moral law;
it cannot be by obedience to any ceremonial law, be it what it may--
whether the sacred ritual given to Aaron, or the superstitious ritual
which claims to have been ordained by gradual tradition in the Christian
church. If we be indeed the children of faithful Abraham, and are to be
justified in Abraham's way, it cannot be by submission to rites or
ceremonies of any kind. Hearken to this carefully, ye who would be
justified before God: baptism is in itself an excellent ordinance, but it
cannot justify nor help to justify us; confirmation is a mere figment of
men, and could not, even if commanded by God, assist in justification;
and the Lord's-supper, albeit that it is a divine institution, cannot in any
respect whatsoever minister to your acceptance or to your righteousness
before God. Abram had no ceremonial in which to rest; he was righteous
through his faith, and righteous only through his faith; and so must you
and I be if we are ever to stand as righteous before God at all. Faith in
Abram's case was the alone and unsupported cause of his being
accounted righteous, for note, although in other cases Abram's faith
produced works, and although in every case where faith is genuine it
produces good works, yet the particular instance of faith recorded in this
chapter was unattended by any works. For God brought him forth under
the star-lit heavens, and bade him look up. "So shall thy seed be," said
the sacred voice. Abram did what? Believed the promise--that was all. It
was before he had offered sacrifice, before he had said a holy word or
performed a single action of any kind that the word immediately and
instanter went forth, "He believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him
for righteousness." Always distinguish between the truth, that living
faith always produces works; and the lie, that faith and works co-operate
to justify the soul. We are made righteous only by an act of faith in the
work of Jesus Christ. That faith, if true, always produces holiness of life,
but our being righteous before God is not because of our holiness in life
in any degree or respect, but simply because of our faith in the divine
promise. Thus saith the inspired apostle: "His faith was imputed to him
for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was
imputed to him; but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we
believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was
delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification."
I would have you note that the faith which justified Abram was still an
imperfect faith, although it perfectly justified him. It was imperfect
beforehand, for he had prevaricated as to his wife, and bidden Sarai,
"Say thou art my sister." It was imperfect after it had justified him, for in
the next chapter we find him taking Hagar, his wife's handmaid, in order
to effect the divine purpose, and so showing a want of confidence in the
working of the Lord. It is a blessing for you and for me that we do not
need perfect faith to save us. "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed,
ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it
shall remove." If thou hast but the faith of a little child, it shall save
thee. Though thy faith be not always at the same pitch as the patriarch's
when he staggered not at the promise through unbelief, yet if it be simple
and true, if it confide alone in the promise of God--it is an unhappy thing
that it is no stronger, and thou oughtest daily to pray, "Lord, increase my
faith"--but still it shall justify thee through Christ Jesus. A trembling
hand may grasp the cup which bears a healing draught to the lip--the
weakness of the hand shall not lessen the power of the medicine.
So far, then, all is clear, Abram was not justified by works, nor by
ceremonies, nor partly by works, and partly by faith, nor by the
perfection of his faith--he is counted righteous simply because of his
faith in the divine promise.
I must confess that, looking more closely into it, this text is too deep for
me, and therefore I decline, at this present moment, to enter into the
controversy which rages around it; but one thing is clear to me, that if
faith be, as we are told, counted to us for righteousness, it is not because
faith in itself has merit which may make it a fitting substitute for a
perfect obedience to the law of God, nor can it be viewed as a substitute
for such obedience. For, brethren, all good acts are a duty: to trust God
is our duty, and he that hath believed to his utmost hath done no more
than it was his duty to have done. He who should believe without
imperfection, if this were possible, would even then have only given to
God a part of the obedience due; and if he should have failed, in love, or
reverence, or aught beside, his faith, as a virtue and a work, could not
stand him in any stead. In fact, according to the great principle of the
New Testament, even faith, as a work, does not justify the soul. We are
not saved by works at all or in any sense, but alone by grace, and the
way in which faith saves us is not by itself as a work, but in some other
way directly opposite thereto.
Faith cannot be its own righteousness, for it is of the very nature of faith
to look out of self to Christ. If any man should say, "My faith is my
righteousness," then it is evident that he is confiding in his faith; but this
is just the thing of all others which it would be unsafe to do, for we must
look altogether away from ourselves to Christ alone, or we have no true
faith at all. Faith must look to the atonement and work of Jesus, or else
she is not the faith of Scripture. Therefore to say that faith in and of
itself becomes our righteousness, is, it seems to me, to tear out the very
bowels of the gospel, and to deny the faith which has been once
delivered to the saints. Paul declares, contrary to certain sectaries who
rail against imputed righteousness--that we are justified and made
righteous by the righteousness of Christ; on this he is plain and positive.
He tells us (Rom_5:19) that, "as by one man's disobedience many
were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made
righteous." The Old Testament verse before us as a text this morning,
gives us but as it were the outward aspect of justification; it is brought to
us by faith, and the fact that a man has faith entitles him to be set down
as a righteous man; in this sense God accounts faith to a man as
righteousness, but the underlying and secret truth which the Old
Testament does not so clearly give us is found in the New Testament
declaration, that we are accepted in the Beloved, and justified because of
the obedience of Christ. Faith justifies, but not in and by itself, but
because it grasps the obedience of Christ. "As by the offence of one
judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the
righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of
life." To the same effect is that verse in the second epistle general of
Peter (first chapter, first verse), which runs in our version as follows:
"Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have
obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God
and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Now, everybody who is at all familiar
with the original knows that the correct translation is "through the
righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ." The righteousness
which belongs to the Christian is the righteousness of our God and
Saviour, who is "made of God unto us righteousness." Hence the beauty
of the old prophetic title of the Messiah, "The Lord our Righteousness."
I do not wish to enter into controversy as to imputed righteousness this
morning, we may discuss that doctrine another time; but we feel
confident that this text cannot mean that faith in itself, as a grace or a
virtue, becomes the righteousness of any man. The fact is, that faith is
counted to us for righteousness because she has Christ in her hand; she
comes to God resting upon what Christ has done, depending alone upon
the propitiation which God has set forth; and God, therefore, writes
down every believing man as being a righteous man, not because of
what he is in himself, but for what he is in Christ. He may have a
thousand sins, yet shall he be righteous if he have faith. He may
painfully transgress like Samson, he may be as much in the dark as
Jephtha, he may fall as David, he may slip like Noah; but, for all that, if
he have a true and living faith, he is written down among the justified,
and God accepteth him. While there be some who gloat over the faults
of believers, God spieth out the pure gem of faith gleaming on their
breast; he takes them for what they want to be, for what they are in
heart, for what they would be if they could; and covering their sins with
the atoning blood, and adorning their persons with the righteousness of
the Beloved, he accepts them, seeing he beholds in them the faith which
is the mark of the righteous man wherever it may be.
II. Let us pass on to consider THE PROMISE UPON WHICH HIS FAITH RELIED when
Abram was justified.
Abram's faith, like ours, rested upon a promise received direct from
God. "This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of
thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad,
and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to
number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be." Had this
promise been spoken by any other, it would have been a subject of
ridicule to the patriarch; but, taking it as from the lip of God, he accepts
it, and relies upon it. Now, brethren, if you and I have true faith we
accept the promise, "He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved" as
being altogether divine. If such a declaration were made to us by the
priests of Rome, or by any human being on his own authority, we could
not think it true; but, inasmuch as it comes to us written in the sacred
word as having been spoken by Jesus Christ himself, we lean upon it as
not the word of man, but the word of God. Beloved, it may be a very
simple remark to make, but after all it is needful, that we must be careful
that our faith in the truth is fixed upon the fact that God has declared it
to be true, and not upon the oratory or persuasion of any of our most
honoured ministers or most respected acquaintances. If your faith
standeth in the wisdom of man, it is probably a faith in man; it is only
that faith which believes the promise because God spake it which is real
faith in God. Note that and try your faith thereby.
In the next place, Abram's faith was faith in a promise concerning the
seed. It was told him before that he should have a seed in whom all the
nations of the earth should be blessed. He recognized in this the
selfsame promise which was made to Eve at the gates of Paradise, "I
will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her
seed." "Abraham saw my day," says our Lord, "he saw it and was glad."
In this promise Abram saw the one seed, as saith the apostle in Gal_
3:16, "He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy
seed, which is Christ." He saw Christ by the eye of faith, and then he
saw the multitude that should believe in him, the seed of the father of
the faithful. The faith which justifies the soul concerns itself about
Christ and not concerning mere abstract truths. If your faith simply
believeth this dogma and that, it saveth you not; but when your faith
believes that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not
imputing unto them their trespasses; when your faith turns to God in
human flesh and rests in him with its entire confidence, then it justifies
you, for it is the faith of Abram. Dear hearer, have you such a faith as
this? Is it faith in the promise of God? Is it faith that deals with Christ
and looks alone to him?
Abram had faith in a promise which it seemed impossible could ever be
fulfilled. A child was to be born of his own loins, but he was nearly a
hundred years old, and Sarai also was said to be barren years before. His
own body was now dead as it were, and Sarai, so far as childbearing was
concerned, was equally so. The birth of a son could not happen unless
the laws of nature were reversed; but he considered not these things, he
put them all aside; he saw death written on the creature, but he accepted
the power of life in the Creator, and he believed without hesitation.
Now, beloved, the faith that justifies us must be of the same kind. It
seems impossible that I should ever be saved; I cannot save myself; I see
absolute death written upon the best hopes that spring of my holiest
resolutions; "In me, that is, in my flesh, there dwelleth no good thing;" I
can do nothing; I am slain under the law; I am corrupt through my
natural depravity; but yet for all this I believe that through the life of
Jesus I shall live, and inherit the promised blessing. It is small faith to
believe that God will save you when graces flourish in your heart, and
evidences of salvation abound, but it is a grand faith to trust in Jesus in
the teeth of all your sins, and notwithstanding the accusations of
conscience. To believe in him that justifieth not merely the godly but the
ungodly (Rom_4:5). To believe not in the Saviour of saints, but in the
Saviour of sinners; and to believe that if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous; this is precious,
and is counted unto us for righteousness.
This justifying faith was faith which dealt with a wonderful promise,
vase and sublime. I imagine the patriarch standing beneath the starry
sky, looking up to those innumerable orbs. He cannot count them. To his
outward eye, long accustomed in the land of the Chaldees to midnight
observation, the stars appeared more numerous than they would to an
ordinary observer. He looked and looked again with elevated gaze, and
the voice said, "So shall thy seed be." Now he did not say, "Lord, if I
may be the father of a clan, the progenitor of a tribe, I shall be well
content; but it is not credible that countless hosts can ever come of my
barren body." No, he believed the promise; he believed it just as it stood.
I do not hear him saying, "It is too good to be true." No; God hath said
it--and nothing is too good for God to do. The greater the grace of the
promise, the more likely it is to have come from him, for good and
perfect gifts come from the Father of Lights. Beloved, does your faith
take the promise as it stands in its vastness, in its height, and depth, and
length, and breadth? Canst thou believe that thou, a sinner, art
nevertheless a child, a son, an heir, an heir of God, joint-heir with Christ
Jesus? Canst thou believe that heaven is thine, with all its ecstacies of
joy, eternity with its infinity of bliss, God with all his attributes of
glory? Oh! This is the faith that justifies, far-reaching, wide-grasping
faith, that diminishes not the word of promise, but accepts it as it stands.
May we have more and more of this large-handed faith!
Once more, Abram showed faith in the promise as made to himself. Out
of his own bowels a seed should come, and it was in him and in his seed
that the whole world should be blessed. I can believe all the promises in
regard to other people. I find faith in regard to my dear friend to be a
very easy matter, but oh! When it comes to close grips, and to laying
hold for yourself, here is the difficulty. I could see my friend in ten
troubles, and believe that the Lord would not forsake him. I could read a
saintly biography, and finding that the Lord never failed his servant
when he went through fire and through water, I do not wonder at it; but
when it comes to one's own self, the wonder begins. Our heart cries,
"Whence is this to me? What am I, and what my father's house, that such
mercy should be mine? I washed in blood and made whiter than snow
today! Is it so? Can it be? I made righteous, through my faith in Jesus
Christ, perfectly righteous! O can it be? What! For me the everlasting
love of God, streaming from its perennial fountain? For me the
protection of a special providence in this life, and the provision of a
prepared heaven in the life to come? For me a harp, a crown, a palm
branch, a throne! For me the bliss of for ever beholding the face of
Jesus, and being made like to him, and reigning with him! It seems
impossible. And yet this is the faith that we must have, the faith which
lays on Christ Jesus for itself, saying with the apostle, "He loved me,
and gave himself for me." This is the faith which justifies; let us seek
more and more of it, and God shall have glory through it.
III. In the third place, let us notice THE ATTENDANTS OF ABRAM'S
JUSTIFICATION.
With your Bibles open, kindly observe that after it is written his faith
was counted to him for righteousness, it is recorded that the Lord said to
him, "I am Jehovah that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give
thee this land to inherit it." When the soul is graciously enabled to
perceive its complete justification by faith, then it more distinctly
discerns its calling. Now, the believer perceives his privileged
separation and discerns why he was convinced of sin, why he was led
away from self-righteousness and the pleasures of this world, to live the
life of faith; now he sees his high calling and the prize of it, and from
the one blessing of justification he argues the blessedness of all the
inheritance to which he is called. The more clear a man is about his
justification the more will he prize his calling, and the more earnestly
will he seek to make it sure by perfecting his separation from the world
and his conformity to his Lord. Am I a justified man? Then will I not go
back to that bondage in which I once was held. Am I now accepted of
God through faith? Then will I live no longer by sight, as I once did as a
carnal man, when I understood not the power of trusting in the unseen
God. One Christian grace helps another, and one act of divine grace
casts a refulgence upon another. Calling gleams with double glory side
by side with the twin star of justification.
Justifying faith receives more vividly the promises. "I have brought
thee," said the Lord, "into this land to inherit it." He was reminded again
of the promise God made him years before. Beloved, no man reads the
promises of God with such delight and with such a clear understanding
as the man who is justified by faith in Christ Jesus. "For now," saith he,
"this promise is mine, and made to me. I have the pledge of its
fulfillment in the fact that I walk in the favour of God. I am no longer
obnoxious to his wrath; none can lay anything to my charge, for I am
absolved through Jesus Christ; and, therefore, if when I was a sinner he
justified me, much more, being justified, will he keep his promise to me.
If when I was a rebel condemned, he nevertheless in his eternal mercy
called me and brought me into this state of acceptance, much more will
he preserve me from all my enemies, and give me the heritage which he
has promised by his covenant of grace. A clear view of justification
helps you much in grasping the promise, therefore seek it earnestly for
your soul's comfort.
Abram, after being justified by faith, was led more distinctly to behold
the power of sacrifice. By God's command he killed three bullocks, three
goats, three sheep, with turtle doves and pigeons, being all the creatures
ordained for sacrifice. The patriarch's hands are stained with blood; he
handles the butcher's knife, he divides the beasts, he kills the birds he
places them in an order revealed to him by God's Spirit at the time; there
they are. Abram learns that there is no meeting with God except through
sacrifice. God has shut every door except that over which the blood is
sprinkled. All acceptable approaches to God must be through an atoning
sacrifice, and Abram sees this. While the promise is still in his ears,
while the ink is yet wet in the pen of the Holy Spirit, writing him down
as justified, he must see a sacrifice, and see it, too, in emblems which
comprehend all the revelation of sacrifice made to Aaron. So, brethren,
it is a blessed thing when your faith justifies you, if it helps you to
obtain more complete and vivid views of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus
Christ. The purest and most bracing air for faith to breathe is on
Calvary. I do not wonder that your faith grows weak when you fail to
consider well the tremendous sacrifice which Jesus made for his people.
Turn to the annals of the Redeemer's sufferings given us in the
Evangelists; bow yourself in prayer before the Lamb of God, blush to
think you should have forgotten his death, which is the centre of all
history; contemplate the wondrous transaction of substitution once
again, and you will find your faith revived. It is not the study of
theology, it is not reading books upon points of controversy, it is not
searching into mysterious prophecy which will bless your soul, it is
looking to Jesus crucified. That is the essential nutriment of the life of
faith, and mind that you keep to it. As a man already justified, Abram
looked at the sacrifice, all day long and till the sun went down, chasing
away the birds of prey as you must drive off all disturbing thoughts. So
must you also study the Lord Jesus, and view him in all his characters
and offices, be not satisfied except you grow in grace and in the
knowledge of your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Perhaps even more important was the next lesson which Abram had to
learn. He was led to behold the covenant. I suppose that these pieces of
the bullock, the lamb, the ram, and the goat, were so placed that Abram
stood in the midst with a part on this side and a part on that. So he stood
as a worshipper all through the day, and towards nightfall, when a
horror of great darkness came over him, he fell into a deep sleep. Who
would not feel a horror passing over him as he sees the great sacrifice
for sin, and sees himself involved therein? There in the midst of the
sacrifice he saw, moving with solemn motion, a smoking furnace and a
burning lamp, answering to the pillar of cloud and fire, which
manifested the presence in later days to Israel in the wilderness. In these
emblems the Lord passed between the pieces of the sacrifice to meet his
servant, and enter into covenant with him. This has always been the
most solemn of all modes of covenanting; and has even been adopted in
heathen nations on occasions of unusual solemnity. The sacrifice is
divided and the covenanting parties meet between the divided pieces.
The profane interpretation was, that they imprecated upon each other the
curse that if they broke the covenant they might be cut in pieces as these
beasts had been; but this is not the interpretation which our hearts
delight in. It is this. It is only in the midst of the sacrifice that God can
enter into a covenant relationship with sinful man. God cometh in his
glory like a flame of fire, but subdued and tempered to us as with a
cloud of smoke in the person of Jesus Christ; and he comes through the
bloody sacrifice which has been offered once for all through Jesus
Christ on the tree. Man meets with God in the midst of the sacrifice of
Christ. Now, beloved, you who are justified, try this morning to reach
this privilege which particularly belongs to you at this juncture of your
spiritual history. Know and understand that God is in covenant bonds
with you. He has made a covenant of grace with you which never can be
broken: the sure mercies of David are your portion. After this sort does
that covenant run, "A new heart also will I give them, and a right spirit
will I put within them. They shall be my people, and I will be their
God." That covenant is made with you over the slaughtered body of the
Son of God. God and you cross hands over him who sweat, as it were,
great drops of blood falling to the ground. The Lord accepts us, and we
enter with him into sacred league and amity, over the victim whose
wounds and death ratify the compact. Can God forget a covenant with
such sanctions? Can such a federal bond so solemnly sealed be ever
broken? Impossible. Man is sometimes faithful to his oath, but God is
always so; and when that oath is confirmed for the strengthening of our
faith by the blood of the Only-begotten, to doubt is treason and
blasphemy. God help us, being justified, to have faith in the covenant
which is sealed and ratified with blood.
Immediately after, God made to Abram (and here the analogy still
holds) a discovery, that all the blessing that was promised, though it was
surely his, would not come without an interval of trouble. "Thy seed
shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and
they shall afflict them four hundred years." When a man is first of all
brought to Christ he often is so ignorant as to think, "Now my troubles
are all over; I have come to Christ and I am saved: from this day
forward I shall have nothing to do but to sing the praises of God." Alas!
A conflict remains. We must know of a surety that the battle now
begins. How often does it happen that the Lord, in order to educate his
child for future trouble, makes the occasion when his justification is
most clear to him the season of informing him that he may expect to
meet with trouble! I was struck with that fact when I was reading for my
own comfort the other night the fifth chapter of Romans; it runs thus--
"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace
wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." See how
softly it flows, a justification sheds the oil of joy upon the believer's
head. But what is the next verse-- "and not only so, but we glory in
tribulation also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience," and so on.
Justification ensures tribulation. Oh! Yes, the covenant is yours; you
shall possess the goodly land and Lebanon, but, like all the seed of
Abraham, you must go down into Egypt and groan, being burdened. All
the saints must smart before they sing; they must carry the cross before
they wear the crown. You are a justified man, but you are not freed from
trouble. Your sins were laid on Christ, but you still have Christ's cross to
carry. The Lord has exempted you from the curse, but he has not
exempted you from the chastisement. Learn that you enter on the
children's discipline on the very day in which you enter upon their
accepted condition.
To close the whole, the Lord gave to Abram an assurance of ultimate
success. He would bring his seed into the promised land, and the people
who had oppressed them he would judge. So let it come as a sweet
revelation to every believing man this morning, that at the end he shall
triumph, and those evils which now oppress him shall be cast beneath
his feet. The Lord shall bruise Satan under our feet shortly. We may be
slaves in Egypt for awhile, but we shall come up out of it with great
abundance of true riches, better than silver or gold. We shall be
prospered by our tribulations, and enriched by our trials. Therefore, let
us be of good cheer. If sin be pardoned, we may well bear affliction.
"Strike, Lord," said Luther, "now my sins are gone; strike as hard as
thou wilt if transgression be covered." These light afflictions which are
but for a moment, are not worthy to be compared with the glory which
shall be revealed in us. Let us make it the first point of our care to be
justified with Abraham's seed, and then whether we sojourn in Egypt or
enjoy the peace of Canaan, it little matters: we are all safe if we are only
justified by faith which is in Christ Jesus. Dear friends, this last word,
and I send you home. Have you believed in God? Have you trusted
Christ? O that you would do so today! To believe that God speaks truth
ought not to be hard; and if we were not very wicked this would never
need to be urged upon us, we should do it naturally. To believe that
Christ is able to save us seems to me to be easy enough, and it would be
if our hearts were not so hard. Believe thy God, man, and think it no
little thing to do so. May the Holy Ghost lead thee to a true trust. This is
the work of God, that ye believe on Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent.
Believe that the Son of God can save, and confide thyself alone in him,
and he will save thee. He asks nothing but faith, and even this he gives
thee; and if thou hast it, all thy doubts and sins, thy trials and troubles
put together, shall not shut thee out of heaven. God shall fulfil his
promise, and surely bring thee in to possess the land which floweth with
milk and honey.
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