1. Men are hardly believers in the fullest sense until they have been mastered and subjugated by their faith.
2. History, secular and sacred, is full of examples of men who have not only had faith, but have belonged to faith.
The true believer--
1. Acts on faith’s impulse;
2. Follows faith’s guidance as a good servant
(1) unquestionably;
(2) fully;
(3) cheerfully.
II. Faith as a possession--“Faithful.”
1. There is a partial faith
(1) of the intellect;
(2) of the affections;
(3) of the will;
(4) of the life.
Of these one may act without the other. We may believe in Christ
(1) historically;
(2) doctrinally;
(3)emotionally;
(4) ethically.
2. There is a fulness of faith which embraces all.
III. Faith as a bond of union, “Blessed with Abraham.”
1. This bond unites all classes, Jew and Gentile.
2. Unites all ages.
3. Unites all classes and ages in a common blessedness.
Believers are saved
I recollect the lesson which I learned from my Sunday school class, Though yet a youth, I was teaching the gospel to boys, and I said, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” One of them asked somewhat earnestly, “Teacher, are you saved?” I answered, “I hope so.” As if he had been sent to push the matter home to me the boy replied, “Teacher, don’t you know?” and further inquired, “Teacher, have you believed?” I said, “Yes.” “Have you been baptized?” I said “Yes.” Well, then, he argued, “You’re saved.” I was happy to answer, “Yes, I am,” but I had hardly dared to say that before. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
God’s people blessed in faithful Abraham
I. Observe, then, in the first place--Abraham is declared to be faithful and blessed. Truly he may well be called faithful Abraham; for though there are some evident marks of want of faith in Abraham, yet this is saying no more of him than of any one of God’s people. Inthose the most excellent--standing forth the most prominently in God’s Word--it is remarkable, that in the very point in which the Holy Ghost made them peculiarly excellent--gave a peculiar beauty in their character--you will find in that very point are they distinguished, in some few stages of their journey, for that which is the direct opposite; and if that teaches us no more than this, than Abraham was not saved for his faith’s sake--that Job was not saved for his patience” sake--that David was not saved for his courage’ sake--it leads us to this, to say that by grace they were saved, and not by anything wrought in them or done by them. When we look at the character of this eminent servant of God, truly he was distinguished for this most excellent gift--the faith of God’s elect. But observe: the passage also asserts that faithful Abraham was “blessed,” Faithful Abraham hadtemporal blessings. That’s one proof, among many, why I cannot think that Abraham’s covenant is the same with our gospel covenant. There was the act of circumcision that entitled him to a blessing; and there was the promised land--the temporal good. Surely this does not savour of the unearthly gospel. The gospel covenant gives no promise of any temporal blessing, except, indeed, in this way”Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these shall be added unto you.” All these things shall be thrown in. Ye shall find riches in your poverty, and health in your sickness. Ye shall find that God, who worketh by contraries, shall give you real good even out of evil. But His covenant gives no assurance of earthly blessings, though the covenant of Abraham did; and that’s one reason, among ten thousand, why I never could consider it the same with the gospel covenant. But besides this, Abraham was especially blessed in spiritual things. He inherited the promise--the great promise. He inherited the promise of Isaac, and saw through him the Messiah that was to be cut off, but not for Himself.
II. But now observe, secondly, that “they which be of faith are blessed with him.” When it is said that “they which be of faith,” we are not to understand that they have the same measure of faith as Abraham. My dear friends, we are oftentimes accused of laying too great stress on faith. I never heard a believer think we laid too much stress upon faith. I hear of those who talk of faith as a blind man talks of colours, unable to describe or truly to understand that of which he speaks. I have heard them saying we lay too much stress upon faith; but the Apostle Paul wrote two whole Epistles especially on this subject; and you will find, throughout the whole of the Romans, and throughout the whole of the Galatians, how great and how continued a stress he lays on this most important point; and how is that? He knew well this grand subject of faith sinks everything else. As faith is strong, so every thing is strong. When our views of faith rise, so our views of God rise; and when such is the case, obedience to the law of God flows as a stream, pervades the heart, and worketh by love--subjecteth the will, and leadeth a man upwards to his salvation. All the blessings are received by faith. They are as much received by faith as I receive the bread I eat. That bread becomes mine as I eat it, it becomes mine by appropriation, as it were--it becomes my own, to nutrify and sustain me; and so, by faith, Christ becomes the support of my spiritual frame. I now come to that part of the subject which opens a great and glorious prospect: “they are blessed.” They who have Christ are blessed; they inherit the promise--the great promise--Christ--Jehovah--Jesus the Saviour. They have Him in the glory of His person, the perfection of His work, and all the fulness of His grace. Oh I what a blessing has that man who has Christ for his portion. Does any one doubt it? They are blessed because they are hastening to that world where they shall be superlatively blessed. (J. H. Evans.)
Abraham; or, the influence of faith
Let us consider:
I. The character of his faith. Few things are more talked about, and less understood, than this subject of faith. St. James teaches us in his second chapter and twenty-sixth verse, that there are two distinct kinds of faith--that, as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. There are those who possess what we may call a living faith amongst the heathen--a faith which indeed does not come down from the living Spirit--but it inspires the soul of the Hindoo mother when she is constrained to cast her own child beneath the wheels of the ponderous machine which carries the god called Juggernaut. Is it not so, also, where the Jew really trusts on his god--who, however, is not the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, but one of his own creation? Is it not equally so with the Mahommedan, who will imbrue his hands in the blood of those who deny that Mahomet was God’s prophet? Is it not so with those Roman Catholics who believe the Virgin Mary to be more tender and compassionate than Christ, who came into the world and suffered death to save us? They exercise a living faith, but its object is such as to render it nevertheless short of salvation. You will observe that the right object of faith is as essential as the living principle of faith. Here then is the one true and only object by which faith is made instrumental in saving the soul. I need not say that faith itself never saves a man--it is the object of that faith. Faith is the instrument--it is not the life which is brought into the soul, but it merely opens the soul to receive that life--it leads the thirsty soul to the waters of life, where it may be refreshed. Still, it may be asked, how can this be true as regards the Old Testament Saints? The text teaches us to take Abraham as a type of the whole of the Old Testament Saints, and that Abraham did believe in Jesus Christ; for you will find in verse 16--“Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, ‘and to seeds,’ as of many; but, as of one, ‘and to thy seed’--which is Christ.” He did believe. As you read in the first lesson of this evening’s service, you will remember that Abraham said unto his son--“My son, God will provide himself a Lamb for a burnt-offering.” Now this Lamb was no other than the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom it is said--“He was the Lamb which was slain from the foundation of the world.” He was regarded by all the Old Testament Saints as a Lamb slain for them. They looked forward to the sacrifice which was to be made, as we look back to it now it has been made. The promise made to Abraham is noticed in Gal_3:8. Now this does away with the notion that any faith in the abstract can possibly save. I know that there is a common notion amongst men in these latitudinarian days, by which they affirm and endeavour to maintain that it matters little what a man’s faith is, provided it be sincere. Now you will observe from this that it does matter altogether what his faith is; for it may be sincerely placed on a wrong object. We come, therefore, to the inevitable conclusion, that unless the object of your faith be one with the object of Abraham’s faith--i.e., the Lord Jesus Christ, His blessing cannot be yours.
II. The influence of his faith. They that be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham by righteousness imputed to their souls. Another point is, that through faith Abraham walked with God. St. James tells us that Abraham was a friend of God. What an exalted honour and privilege is this. Can there be any term more endearing to the believing soul than to be called the friend of God? And yet Jesus says to His people, “Ye are my friends”! Now, dear friends, those who be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. They have the same blessing, and they, too, are the friends of God. How do they prove they are His friends? They follow the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ, who says, “My sheep hear My voice, and they follow Me.” Through faith Abraham was supported in all his trials, and protected in all his dangers; and was there ever a friend of God left in an un-befriended state by God? No! Gen_15:1 --“Fear not, I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” He is a shield to ward off and protect. But not only was Abraham blessed: he was made a blessing to others. He was made a blessing to allthe families of the earth by being the father of the seed to whom the promises were made. He was also a blessing by his bright example of faith and holiness, and all who follow his example shall receive his blessing. He was made a blessing to others; and, dear friends, all who are “of faith” are “blessed with faithful Abraham” by being made a blessing to others. Suffer me, then, to ask you, brethren, whether you this night have the mark of the blessing of Abraham? Because, if you have not this mark, you have not his faith, and consequently are not blessed with him. There is, one thought more before we leave the subject, Abraham through faith realized the Lord as his portion. You will find in Gen_15:1 : “I am thy shield and exceeding great reward.” Dear friends, what a depth there is here! “I am thy exceeding great reward!” This is what we are all seeking for--a recompense for our labours, toils, and anxieties. But here--“All them that be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham”--they have the Lord as their “exceeding great reward.” He is their portion, their everlasting inheritance--He is their all in all in this world! But here is a blessing which reaches not only to the end of time, but to all eternity. (G. A. Rogers,M. A.)
The blessing in Abraham is like a stream
I. Full--of comfort and refreshment for guilty man--of promise for the world.
II. Flowing--first enjoyed by Abraham--it flows on through time.
III. Expansive--it reaches to all nations.
IV. Free--for every one that believeth.
V. Inexhaustible--for its source is Christ. (J. Lyth.)
