The text is an abridgement of our Lord’s last instructions to His apostles before His ascension. Other parts of the same discourse are to be found in Mat_28:18-20; Joh_20:21. See also Luk_24:45. By comparing these passages with this, it will appear that by “believing and being baptized,” St. Mark plainly means, “believing, repenting, and obeying the gospel”-three things which cannot be separated from each other. He who believes the doctrine of the gospel when preached to him, and by baptism enters into an obligation to live suitably to that belief, and verifies that obligation by his practice, in a life of virtue, righteousness, and charity-shall be saved; but he who rejects the doctrine of the gospel, when duly and reasonably proposed to him, or pretending to embrace it, yet obeys it not-shall be damned.
I. The subjectmatter of the belief necessary to salvation.
1. A doctrine of practice, virtue, and righteousness, within the comprehension of all men.
2. It is to be found in our very nature and reason.
3. It is delivered to us, over and over again, in the Scriptures.
4. It is briefly, but sufficiently, stated in the creeds of the Church.
II. The nature and extent of the act of believing.
1. A firm persuasion, founded upon reasonable and good grounds. Not such a careless credulity as, like a foundation in the sand, quickly suffers whatever is built upon it to fall to the ground (Pro_14:14; Act_17:11). Wise believers will-
(1) Consider the parity and excellence of the doctrine itself, and its accordance with reason, and the nature and attributes of God.
(2) Ponder the evidence of the miracles wrought by Christ.
(3) Examine the prophecies which went before concerning Him, and compare the actions of His life therewith.
(4) Consider also the prophecies that He Himself delivered, and His apostles after Him, and compare them with the whole series of events from that time to this. Thus they will work in themselves a firm persuasion, founded upon reasonable and good grounds.
2. Such a persuasion of mind as produces suitable and proper effects. (S. Clarke, D. D.)
The necessity of believing
I.Objections which have been made to the fact that, in the great concern of man’s salvation, so much stress is laid upon faith.
1. Objections respecting persons. Many have never heard of Christ or His gospel. True; therefore they cannot be included in the statement of the text. They are in the hands of a gracious God, who may bestow on them the mercies of a redemption of which they never heard, The same will apply to infants, idiots, insane persons, and those of defective understanding. God will not exact the tale of bricks, where He has not thought proper to furnish straw. We may conclude, in like manner, concerning what is called invincible ignorance, or ignorance so circumstanced as to admit of no remedy. Where nothing is taught, nothing can be learned. But let a man be very cautious how he attempts to shelter himself under this plea. At the great day it will be inquired very minutely, not only what we did know, but also what we might have known had we so pleased-had we been in earnest and taken due pains. However it may fare with the heathen and others, in a state, really destitute of information, we shall in vain attempt to excuse our unbelief, or misbelief, by our ignorance.
2. Objections respecting doctrines.
(1) They are mysterious; they relate to persons and things in another world, which are therefore hidden from us. What, then, is to be done? Why, certainly, we must believe what God has been pleased to reveal concerning them; and we must form our notions of them, as well as we can, by comparison with those things which are the objects of our senses. Our state, with regard to God and the glories of His heavenly kingdom, is exactly like the state of a blind man, with regard to the sun, and the light thereof. He cannot see the sun, or the light that issues from it; yet he would be unreasonable, should he refuse to believe what his friends, who do see it, tell him concerning it; though, after all, they can but give him a very poor, imperfect idea of it. If it pleased God to open his eyes, and bestow on him the blessing of sight, he would know more of the matter in one single moment, than description, study, and meditation could have taught him in ten thousand years. Such is our case. We cannot see God-the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit-we cannot see how they are three, and yet one. But shall we therefore, in opposition to the authority and word of God Himself, deny that they are so? We may reason and dispute upon the subject for ages; but in that instant when we are admitted to His presence, and see Him as He is, every doubt and difficulty will vanish at once; and we shall know how little we did know, or possibly could know, before.
(2) Learned men have been engaged in controversies about these doctrines for many hundred years, and are not yet agreed; what, therefore, must the unlearned do?
(i) Learned men have carried on controversies about everything. If we waited till they were agreed among themselves, we should believe nothing, and do nothing.
(ii) All the disputes concerning the Trinity, have been owing to the vain, idle, and presumptuous curiosity of men, who, instead of believing what God has revealed will ever be prying into that which He has not revealed.
II. The grounds and reasons of faith. Little need be said as to this. For, to what purpose is the gospel preached, unless that it should be believed? When God, with so stupendous a preparation of prophecies and miracles, has published His Word, can it be a matter of indifference whether we believe it or not? No; the Divine Word is not an insignificant Word; it is set, like its Author, for the falling or rising of many. It is not without its effect in everyone to whom it is preached. A strange doctrine has of late years been diffused among us; that sincerity is everything, and that if a man be but sincere, it matters not what he believes, or what he does. If this principle be carried to its full extent, it must take away all distinction between truth and falsehood, right and wrong: it sets upon a level those who crucified Christ, and those who accepted Him as their Lord and Master; those who persecuted the Christians, and the Christians who were persecuted. Before a man can lay any claim to sincerity, in the full and proper sense of the word, he must be able to show, when God, to whom all things are known, and all hearts are open, shall call upon him, that he has not, through indolence, neglected to search after the truth; nor, through passion, prejudice, or interest, refused to receive it. This will go to the bottom of the dispute, and lay open the deception. It will enable us likewise to answer another plea sometimes urged in favour of infidelity, viz., that there can be no merit, or demerit, in believing, or disbelieving; that a man cannot believe as he pleases, but only as the evidence appears to him. Answer: If God have given, as He certainly has, good and sufficient evidence, it is at any man’s peril that he rejects it; and he rejects it, not because the evidence, is insufficient, but because his own heart is corrupt. (Bishop Horne.)
Christ’s last words
These words require as serious attention as any ever spoken. They are the words of the risen Christ, and His last words. They contain in them the sum of the gospel. Life and death, and the conditions of both; the terms of eternal happiness and misery. If a malefactor at the bar should see the judge going about to declare to him upon what he might expect life or death, how diligently he would attend. All sinners are malefactors. The Judge of heaven and earth declares here, upon what terms we may live, though we be cast out, found guilty, and condemned. It is not a matter of credit or estate, but a matter of life and death, of the life of our souls. It is no less than eternal life or eternal death that these words concern.
Faith and unbelief
Salvation or damnation depend upon faith and unbelief. No salvation but by faith. Nothing but damnation by unbelief. Faith is the principal saving grace, and unbelief the chief damning sin. No sin can damn without this, and this will damn without any other sin (Joh_3:18). Where there is not faith, the sentence of condemnation is in full force. Unbelief is the symptom of eternal death. There is nothing but death to be expected where this continues; no hope of eternal life for him who continues in unbelief. He is dead while he lives; in hell while on earth. This being so, it concerns us to know what it is to believe. Faith comprises-
1. Knowledge. If knowledge be not faith, yet there can be no faith without knowledge. Blind faith is good for nothing but to lead people into the ditch. That ignorance is the mother of devotion is one of the principles of the father of lies. Rather, it is the nurse of unbelief. The first step to conversion is to open the eyes, to scatter darkness (Act_26:18). The first thing God produces in the soul, as in the natural creation, is light. The convert must have a competent knowledge of the mysteries of the gospel-a knowledge more distinct, more convincing, more affecting, than that which he had in the state of unbelief.
2. Assent. As to the principles of the doctrine of Christ, so especially to the following truths.
(1) That he needs a Saviour. Scripture declares this upon three grounds-
(a) the sinfulness of a natural man;
(b) his misery;
(c) his inability to free himself from it.
(2) That Christ is the only all-sufficient Saviour.
3. Reliance upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Not to believe Him, but to believe on Him (Act_19:4; Rom_9:33; Gal_3:24; Eph_1:15; etc.)
Not to give credit to, but to rely on Him. This is the essence, the formality of saving faith. There cannot be justifying faith without knowledge and assent, though there may he knowledge and assent without it; these are as the body to faith, this relying is the soul; without this, knowledge and assent are but a carcase. The devils and hypocrites may have more knowledge, and they may have as firm an assent, but this act is above their reach, and they never attain it. (Bishop Horne.)
The nature of faith
1. To believe is to come to Christ; to betake ourselves to Him. In Heb_10:22, we are exhorted to come with full sail, with all haste, as a ship when it makes all its sail. There is no sanctuary for a guilty soul but Christ only; therefore the sinner must fly to the tabernacle of the Lord, and take hold of the horns of the altar.
2. To believe in Christ is to lean upon Him, to stay and rest on Him. None but Christ can stay the sinner’s soul from falling into everlasting burnings.
3. To believe in Christ is to adhere to him, to cleave to Him, cling about Him. A man that has suffered shipwreck is left to the mercy of the waves; has nothing in his reach to save him but some plank or mast. How will he cling to it! how fast will he clasp! He will hold it as if it were his life (2Ki_18:5; Deu_4:4). So Christ is our only security.
4. To believe in Christ is to roll, to cast ourselves upon Him (Psa_22:8; Psa_37:5; Psa_55:23). Sin is a heavy, a most grievous burden (Amo_2:13). The weight of sin, though Christ had none of His own, made Him sweat blood. It is burdened with the wrath and heavy indignation of God; it is clogged with the curses and threatenings of the law. No wonder if one sin be as a millstone about the neck of the soul, able to sink it into the bottom of hell. But though so burdensome, yet the sinner, before conversion, feels no weight in it. How can he, seeing he is dead? Cast rocks and mountains upon a dead man, and he feels them not. Ay, but when the Lord begins to work faith, and brings the sinner to Himself, then he feels it burdensome indeed, and groans under its weight. None can ease him but Christ; and Christ bids him Come, and lay his burden on Him. Glad tidings these; the sinner closes with Christ, rolls himself, casts his burdened soul upon Him, and so believes.
5. To believe in Christ is to apply Him. It is an intimate application, such as that of meat and drink by one pinched with hunger and fainting with thirst (Joh_6:51-56). Nothing can save the soul, but a draught of the water of life, a taste of Christ.
6. To believe in Christ is to receive Him. A condemned person upon the scaffold, all the instruments of death ready, and nothing wanting but one blow to separate soul and body, while he is possessed with sad apprehensions of death one unexpectedly comes and brings him a pardon. Oh, how will his heart welcome it! How will his hands receive it, as though his soul were in his hands! So here.
7. To believe in Christ is to apprehend Him, to lay hold of Him, to embrace Him. As in the case of Peter walking on the water to come to Christ: so, to walk in the ways of sin, is to walk as it were upon the waters; there is no sure footing, how bold soever sinners are to venture. If God’s patience were not infinite, we should sink every moment. The sensible sinner begins to see his danger, patience will ere long withdraw, it will not be always abused; a tempest of wrath will arise; nay, he finds it grow boisterous, it does already ruffle his conscience, he is as sure to sink as if he were walking upon the waves. Nay, he feels his soul already sinking; no wonder if he cry out as a lost man, as one ready to be swallowed up in a sea of wrath. But now Christ stretches out His hand in the gospel, and the soul stretches itself out and lays hold on the everlasting arm which alone can save it. This may be sufficient to discover the nature of faith. But for farther evidence, observe what is included in it, as appears by what has gone before.
(1) A sense of misery. It is a sensible dependence, therefore more than simple assent. A man who has read or heard much of the sad effects of war, may assent, believe that it is a great misery to be infected with war. Ay, but when the enemy is at his door, when they are driving his cattle and plundering his goods and firing his houses, he not only assents to it, he sees, he feels the miseries of it; he has more sensible, more affecting apprehensions of it than ever before. So a sinner who continues in unbelief, hearing the threatenings and wrath denounced against unbelievers, may assent to the statement that unbelievers are in a miserable condition; but when the Lord is working faith, he brings this home to himself, he sees justice ready to seize on him, he feels wrath kindling upon him. He now not only believes it, but has a quick sense of it.
(2) A rejecting of other supports. Dependence upon Christ alone. When the soul, feeling the flame of wrath kindling upon her, cries out as one already perishing, “None but Christ, none but Christ,” then he is on the highway to faith. But alas! so averse are we, naturally, to Christ, that He is the last thing a sinner looks after. Till he apprehend himself as an orphan, without strength, without counsel, all his supports dead which were a father to him, he will not betake himself to Christ as his only guardian; till he thus betakes himself to Christ, he believes not.
(3) Submission. Faith is a very submissive grace. Sin and wrath lie so heavy, that the soul bends itself gladly to whatever the Lord will. If the shipwrecked man can get to shore, can save himself from drowning, he regards not the wetting of his clothes, the spoiling of his goods; a greater matter is in danger. So it is with a sinner in whom faith is working. His soul is in a sea of wrath, and he is ready to sink. If he can but reach Christ, get to shore, he is content, though he come there naked, stripped of all that was otherwise dear to him.
(4) Resolution to persist in his dependence. When Satan or his own guilty soul tells him that he must come forth, there is no mercy for such a traitor, such a heinous offender; nay, says the believing soul, but if I must die, I will die here; if justice smite me, it shall smite me with Christ in my arms; though He kill me, yet will I rely on Him; here will I live or here will I die; I will not quit my hold, though I die for it.
(5) Support. He is on the Rock of Ages; he who stays on Him stands firm; he cannot but have some support for the present, though he has little confidence, no assurance.
(6) A consent to accept Christ on His own terms. The will is naturally closed against Christ, but consent opens it; and when the will is open to receive Him, it always receives Him; when it opens, it consents; when it consents, it receives, i.e., believes. (Bishop Horne.)
The misery of unbelievers
A dreadful representation of this here.
1. The unbeliever is without Christ, the fountain of life. His heart is the habitation of the devil. He has no rights in Christ. Nothing to do with the righteousness of Christ. Nor with the intercession of Christ. No life in him.
2. He is without the covenant, the evidence of life. The promises are not for him. Nothing is sealed to him but condemnation.
3. Without grace, the beginning of life. How finely soever the sepulchre is painted and beautified without, if faith be not within there is nothing but dead bones and rottenness; nothing but what is as loathsome in the eye of God as the rottenness of a dead carcase is to us.
4. He has no title to heaven, which is eternal life.
5. He is far from life; so far as never to come in sight of it, never see it.
6. The wrath of God abides on him.
(1) Wrath. Not anger or displeasure merely, though that were dreadful; but wrath-sublimated anger, anger blown up into a terrible flame. A consuming fire, the furnace made seven times hotter (Isa_33:14).
(2) The wrath of God. The wrath of all the kings of the earth and all the angels of heaven put together is as nothing compared with this. Theirs would but be as the breath of one’s nostrils; whereas the wrath of God is as a whirlwind that rends the rocks, and tears up the mountains, and shakes the foundations of the earth, and shrivels up the heavens like a scroll, and causes the whole fabric of heaven and earth to stagger like a drunken man. Oh, who knows the power of His wrath! Their wrath is but like a spark; His wrath is like a river, a sea of kindled brimstone. This wrath of God will be thy portion if thou believe not.
(3) It is the wrath of God on him. Not near, or coming towards, but on him. Not that all the wrath of God is on him already, for there are vials of wrath that will never be emptied, never emptier, though the Lord be pouring them forth to all eternity. It is compared to a river which is continually running; and when it has run some hundred years, there is as much to come as if there were none run by already; it will run on thee to eternity, unless by believing thou stop it, divert the course of it in time. The first fruits of wrath are reaped now, but a full harvest is coming; and the longer thou continuest in unbelief, the riper thou art for that dreadful harvest.
(4) It is abiding wrath. Not on and off, but always on without intermission. On him in every place, in every state, in every enjoyment, in every undertaking. (Bishop Horne.)
The difficulty of faith
Some have an idea that faith is a business of no great difficulty. They wonder why any should make such ado about believing: they think it an easy thing to believe, and so trouble not themselves much about it, do not make it their business to look after it. Those who think thus show plainly that they never did believe, that they do not so much as know what it is to believe.
1. Faith is the gift of God. Not the work of man’s hand, or head, or heart. Something without him, not in him naturally; something above him, out of the reach of nature. It must be reached down by the hand of God, or man can never come by it. Not a gift of nature, but of grace.
2. Man is naturally unwilling to receive it (Joh_5:40). Coming is believing, but men refuse to come.
3. This opposition is so strong that it requires an exceeding mighty power to overcome it. The power of nature cannot master it, but only the power of Divine grace put forth in a special manner for this very purpose. Such a power is required to raise sinners cut of the grave of unbelief, as was requisite to raise Christ from the dead (Eph_1:19-20). (Bishop Horne.)
Wesley’s improvement of infant baptism
Wesley’s teaching on this subject is instructive. He recommends to us all, and enjoins upon us all, to follow the example of Philip Henry. He had a method of improving infant baptism, superior to that of most divines, and decidedly better than I have at any time met with. He drew out what he called a form of the Baptismal Covenant, “I take God the Father to be my Father; I take God the Son to be my Saviour; I take God the Holy Ghost to be my Comforter, Teacher, Guide, and Sanctifier; I take the Word of God to be the rule of my actions; I take the people of God to be my people in all conditions: and all this I do deliberately, freely, and forever.” He taught all his children to say this to him every Sunday night: when they were able to write, he made every one of them write it, and sign it. “Now,” he said, “I shall keep this as a testimony against you.” And he did keep it. And there is found among his papers one of the most affecting documents in the English language-a copy of this covenant, signed by each of his children in succession. But he never had to produce it against them. By God’s grace, they kept it; and thus verified his own frequent adage, “Fast bind, fast find.” (Dr. Osborn.)
Saved
You remember that fearful shipwreck of the steamer Atlantic, which took place some years ago on the coast of Halifax. Hundreds of lives were lost, and dreadful scenes were witnessed on that occasion. Among the passengers on board that steamer was a merchant from Boston, who was a Christian man. When his family heard of the wreck they were in great distress. How anxiously they waited to hear from him! How eagerly they examined the newspapers, and read over the list of the lost to see if his name was among them! But God ordered it so that this gentleman was permitted to get safe to shore. As soon as he could reach the telegraph office he sent a telegram home to his family. There was but a single word in that telegram; but, O, it was worth more to his distressed family than all the world. It was the word Saved. And when that merchant returned home, he had that telegram framed, and hung up in his office with that important word-Saved-in it, so that he might see it every day, and be reminded of God’s great goodness in sparing his life. Yet it was only that merchant’s body that was saved then. And this is nothing compared to the soul. But when we become the sheep of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, He engages to save our souls in heaven forever. (Dr. Talmage.)
The sin of unbelief
One is sometimes asked, What is the use of preaching about infidelity in church? So that all may be able to give an intelligent explanation of their grounds for belief, to any who demand it of them. We cannot fail to notice that religion is, in our day, more generally and freely discussed than it has been for some preceding generations; and so long as this is done in an honest, thoughtful, truth seeking, kindly spirit, we may be thankful and hope.
I. What are the causes of unbelief?
1. A wrong bias in the heart. Ever since the Fall, it has been natural for us to dislike religion, and to shirk its obligations if possible. Satan persuades us that his service is the easiest, and pays the best; so we prefer it.
2. The power of things seen over the natural man. The novel and the newspaper interest us more than the Bible: we neglect the latter: and then comes the suggestion, Perhaps the Bible is not God’s book after all, etc.
3. Selfishness. Religion thwarts, opposes, reproves; so we naturally hate it.
4. Pride-desiring the praises of men rather than the favour of God, and exalting itself against His revealed will. Does not the pride of intellect say, “I will not believe what I cannot understand. I am much too clever to take things on hearsay: give me facts and proof.” And does not the pride of society, money, health, high spirits, exalt itself against the spirit of Christianity, and refuse to believe that God is no respecter of persons.
5. Fear of the world. Young people, especially, find it very hard in society, or in an irreligious home, always to stand up for truth and God. Ridicule possesses a cruel and often fatal power: if those exposed to it do not pray for strength to resist, it will overcome them little by little: the pain which they feel, the shame which is a glory and grace, which troubles them when they hear sacred things lightly spoken of, will gradually cease; their spiritual sight will lose its keenness: the ears of the soul will become dull of hearing; and they will learn at last to mistake the false for the true, and to enjoy that which once they despised and abhorred.
6. The false notion that religion is impracticable.
7. Evil lives of professing Christians. Remember, as to this, the question is not whether men or women calling themselves Christians are honest or hypocritical, but whether Christianity is true. Do you take care not to behave so inconsistently as to cause any brother to offend.
II. The result of unbelief. As the causes of unbelief are contemptible, so the process is miserable, and the result is vile. In most cases, before a man can be an infidel, he must set himself against the witness of history, and his forefathers’ faith; he must regard as lies the lessons of his childhood, and must erase from his memory the prayers learnt at his mother’s knee; he must teach himself to regard those cravings for happiness, for life, for beauty, and for truth, as fond and hopeless desires; he must learn to feel, when his father or mother, wife or child, dies, “there is an end of everything, we shall meet no more.” And when he has surrendered himself wholly into the power of God’s enemy, what sort of a creature is the devil’s masterpiece, after all?
1. See the result in communities. Look at him, first, with full scope to do his best and worst; give him multitudes of companions, who think as he thinks, and place a great city in his power. Look at infidel Paris, in our days, shooting down an archbishop in her streets. What follows?-fire, and sword, and famine-defeat, and degradation, and death. Would the result be different, do you suppose, in our land, if all were permitted to do what seems right in their own eyes-would life or property be safe?
2. Or look at the individual man. Who would trust an infidel? Who would make him a guardian or trustee? What motive has he to keep him from betraying his trust? Follow him to the end. His heart may grow harder, his assertions of unbelief may be louder; but what of him when his health and strength begin to fail? It was easy, when spirits were high, to say that clever profanity to applauding friends, easy to sneer at Church and Bible, to raise the ringing laughter of his boon companions; but what are his thoughts, now that he must spend long dreary days and nights alone,-alone, for his old mates are not the men to seek the society of the aged, or to watch by the sick; what if he should discover that he has not, after all, become that which he tried to be, and thought that he was, an infidel?
III. The cure for unbelief. The treatment must vary with the case. For some, books of evidence, appeals to history, logical reasoning, close analogies. But here are some golden rules, applicable to all.
1. Go home and do your duty. Never mind how mean the work is: the lower your place here, the higher it may be hereafter.
2. Pray.
3. Study the Scriptures.
4. Seek Christ in the humble, teachable spirit He has promised to bless.
5. Seek Him in His children, His poor, His sick. (S. R. Hole, M. A.)
Believing and salvation
There is no way under heaven to be interested in Christ, but by believing. He that believeth shall be saved, let his sins be ever so great; and he that believeth not shall be damned, let his sins be ever so little. (Thos. Brooks.)
Destiny determined by belief
There is the way of salvation, and thou must trust Christ or perish; and there is nothing hard in it that thou shouldst perish if thou dost not. Here is a man out at sea; he has got a chart which, if well studied, will, with the help of the compass, guide him to his journey’s end. The pole star gleams out amidst the cloud rifts, and that too will help him. “No,” says he, “I will have nothing to do with your stars; I do not believe in the North Pole; I shall not attend to that little thing inside the box; one needle is as good as another needle; I do not believe in your rubbish, and I will have nothing to do with it; it is only a lot of nonsense got up by people on purpose to make money, and I will have nothing to do with it.” The man does not get to shore anywhere; he drifts about, but never reaches port, and he says it is a very hard thing. I do not think so. Some of you say, “Well, I am not going to read your Bible; I am not going to listen to your talk about Jesus Christ; I do not believe in such things.” You will be damned then, sir. “That’s very hard,” say you. No it is not. It is not more so than the fact that if you reject the compass and the pole star you will not get to your journey’s end. If a man will not do the thing that is necessary to a certain end, I do not see how he can expect to gain that end. You have taken poison, and the physician brings an antidote, and says, “Take it quickly, or you will die; but if you take it quickly I will guarantee that the poison will be neutralized.” But you say, “No, doctor, I do not believe it; let everything take its course; let every tub stand on its own bottom; I will have nothing to do with you, doctor.” “Well, sir, you will die; and when the coroner’s inquest is held on your body, the verdict will be, ‘Served him right!’” So will it be with you if, having heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, you say, “Oh! pooh, pooh! I am too much of a common sense man to have anything to do with that, and I shall not attend to it.” Then, when you perish, the verdict given by your conscience, which will sit upon the King’s quest at last, will be a verdict of felo-de-se-he destroyed himself. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Rejection of grace
A man being sick and like to die, the physician, knowing his case, takes with him some preservative to comfort him, and coming to the door falls a-knocking. Now, if he either will not or be not able to let him in, he must of necessity perish, and the cause cannot properly lie at the physician’s door, who was ready and willing to relieve him; but in himself, that is not willing to be relieved. Thus it is that sin is a disease whereof we are all sick. We have all sinned. Now, Christ is the great Physician of our souls; He came down formerly from heaven on purpose to heal us, and He comes down daily to the door of our hearts, and there He knocks. If we but open the door of our hearts, He will come in and sup with us, as He did with Mary, and forgive all our sins; but if we will not let Him in, or, through long contagion of sin, be not able to let Him in, we must of necessity die in our sins; and the case is evident, not because He doth not offer grace, but because we receive it not when it is offered. (Inchinus.)
Christ’s sayings determined the destiny of all who heard them
And this peculiarity He specially pointed out as enduring forever. To have heard these sayings is to have incurred the gravest responsibility. A man ms: read the Ethics of Aristotle, and treat the reasoning with contempt without endangering his fate; but no man can read Christ’s sayings without finding saved upon one side and damned upon the other. Is this dogmatism on the part of Christ? Undoubtedly. God must be dogmatic. If God could hesitate, He would not be God. Do we stumble at the solemn words of the text? Why should we? An agriculturist says, practically, “Go ye into all the world, and say to every creature that there is a particular season for sowing seed: he that believeth shall be saved-shall have a harvest; he that believeth not shall be lost-shall have no harvest.” There is a gospel of agriculture: why not a gospel of salvation? Men’s disbelief of God will damn them in farming; why not in religion? Does God speak decisively in the one case, and hesitatingly in the other? There must be a climacteric point-a point of saving or damning-in all the declarations of God, because He has spoken the ultimate word on all the subjects which He has disclosed. The truth upon any matter, high or low, is the point of salvation or damnation. The man who merely points out the right road to a traveller is in a position (with proper modification of the terms) to say to that traveller, “He that believeth shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be damned:” in other words, “Go thus, and you will reach the object of your journey; but go so, and you will never reach it.” This is the position which Christ assumes,-“He that believeth Me hath life; he that believeth not Me hath not life.” Is such a projection of His personality consistent with His being imply one who spoke with the authoritative tone and earnestness of a Jew?(J. Parker, D. D.)
Difference between penalty and consequence
It must not be forgotten that there is a broad distinction between a penalty and a consequence, as those terms are commonly understood. When Christ said, “He that believeth not shall be damned,” He announced a consequence. He did not threaten a penalty in the usual acceptation of the term. A consequence is the direct and inevitable result of certain processes, partaking of their very nature, and inseparable from them; but a penalty may possibly be something different, something arbitrarily superadded, regardless of adaptation or measure. Being chilled is a consequence of exposure to cold air, but being flogged for such exposure is a penalty. Eternal punishment is the consequence of rejecting the gospel, not a penalty (in the low sense of revenge) attached to a crime. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Saving faith
It is not the quantity of thy faith that shall save thee. A drop of water is as true water as the whole ocean. So a little faith is as true faith as the greatest. A child eight days old is as really a man as one of sixty years; a spark of fire is as true fire as a great flame; a sickly man is as truly living as a well man. So it is not the measure of thy faith that saves thee-it is the Blood that it grips to, that saves thee; as the weak hand of a child, that leads the spoon to the mouth, will feed as well as the strong arm of a man; for it is not the hand that feeds thee-albeit it puts the meat into thy mouth, but it is the meat carried into the stomach that feeds thee. So if thou canst grip Christ ever so weakly, He will not let thee perish. All that looked to the brazen serpent, ever so far off, they were healed of the sting of the fiery serpent, yet all saw not alike clearly, for some were near at hand, and some were far off. Those that were near at hand might see more clearly than those that were far off; nevertheless, those that were far off were as soon healed of the sting, when they looked to the serpent, as those that were near at hand; for it was not their look that made them whole, but He whom the serpent did represent. So if thou canst look to Christ ever so meanly, He can take away the sting of thy conscience, if thou believest; the weakest hands can take a gift, as well as the strongest. Now Christ is this gift, and weak faith may grip Him as well as strong faith, and Christ is as truly thine when thou hast weak faith, as when thou hast come to those triumphant joys through the strength of faith. (Welsh.)
A sailor’s definition of faith
A sailor who had been brought to trust in Christ for salvation, meeting a friend who was anxious to find rest for his soul, addressed him thus: “It was just so with myself once; I did not know what faith was, or how to obtain it; but I know now what it is, and I believe I possess it. I do not know that I can tell you what it is, or how to get it; but I can tell you what it is not; it is not knocking off swearing, and drinking, and such like; and it is not reading the Bible, nor praying, nor being good; it is none of these; for even if they would answer for the time to come, there is the old score still,-and how are you to get clear of that? It is not anything you have done, or can do; it is believing and trusting what Christ has done; then it is forsaking your sins, and looking for their pardon and the salvation of your soul, because He died and shed His blood for sin: it is that, and it is nothing else.” Where could we find a mere simple, and accurate, and telling definition of faith?
True faith
A good man was considerably harassed as to the nature of true faith, so resolved to ask the assistance of his minister. Going to the minister’s house, he stated that his fears had been great, that he had sinned beyond the reach of mercy; but that, while he was thinking on the subject, there was suggested to his mind this text of Scripture, “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin,” and that resting on this truth he had lost all his anxiety. The minister told him that this was nothing else than true faith.
Unbelief damning
It may be asked how it can be just in God to condemn men forever for not believing the gospel. I answer:
1. God has a right to appoint His own terms of mercy.
2. Man has no claim on Him for heaven.
3. The sinner rejects the terms of salvation knowingly, deliberately, and perseveringly.
4. He has a special disregard and contempt for the gospel.
5. His unbelief is produced by the love of sin.
6. He shows by this that he has no love of God, and His law, and for eternity.
7. He slights the objects dearest to God, and most like Him.
8. He must, therefore, be miserable.
He rejects God, and must go into eternity without a Father, etc. And he has no comfort in himself, and must die forever. There is no being in eternity but God that can make man happy; and without His favour the sinner must be wretched. (A. Barnes, D. D.)
The perils of unbelief
This is speaking out plainly. He who thus spoke, had a right so to speak. To be a believer, as scripturally understood, is to give that kind of credit to Christianity, which is associated with, and supported by, a holy life,-not the faith right, and the life wrong; but the life and faith both in the right. We proceed, now, to show-
I. That Christianity presents sufficient evidence to warrant rational belief. The evidences which she has at her service may be presented in the form of answers to inquiries which may be instituted. Thus-
1. Was Christianity necessary? Could not the world have done without it? These questions we negative most emphatically. It could not. It had tried, etc.
2. Was such a revelation as that which Christianity professes to be possible? Certainly.
3. Was it probable? It was.
4. Is that which was quite possible, and very probable, now a reality-a fact? Has there ever been such a person as Jesus Christ? Did He do what He is said to have done? Our answer is in the affirmative. There are no facts that are better attested than those which relate to the history of the Author of the Christian religion.
5. Are any books now extant purporting to contain sketches of His life, and an account of the rise of His religion; and, if so, are there arguments sufficient to evidence their genuineness, and uncorrupted preservation? Our reply again is a positive one.
6. Is the Divine origin of Christianity indicated by its success, and the circumstances with which that success was associated? It is, etc.
7. Is there any evidence of the Divinity of Christ’s religion from human consciousness and experience? There is.
II. That the man who does not diligently search for, and cordially yield to, this evidence is highly censurable. Man is responsible for his belief. This will appear from the consideration that our belief is mainly influenced by the following circumstances:-
1. By the books which we read.
2. The company we keep.
3. The latitude we allow to our likings, irrespective of their nature or tendency.
As the religion of Christ presents to man sufficient proofs to warrant his credence, then, if that be refused, the results will be inconceivably perilous. “He that believeth not shall be condemned.” This supposes a trial, and a sentence. (J. Guttridge.)
Salvation through believing
I.Consider the importance of this declaration.
1. Because of the character of the Being who has given it. He is God; therefore He has power to perform what He has said.
2. None can escape His scrutiny, as He is all wise and omnipotent.
3. The declaration remains unchangeable forever, as He is a Being who possesses the attribute of truth.
II. Explain the grounds of which sinners are to be saved.
1. Faith in Christ is necessary to salvation.
2. Baptism is necessary.
III. The awful consequence of not believing.
1. If we do not believe, we remain in sin.
2. Guilt and misery of mind arise from this condition.
3. Temporal punishment in this life is also the result. Wherever the gospel of Christ is received in the love of it, there will be stability of principle, and an inculcation of purity of morals; where it is absent there will be, in a less or greater degree, an entire want of its holy effects. Intemperance produces sickness; extravagance leads to poverty, etc.
4. Our not believing will have an evil effect on society at large.
5. Eternal torment.
IV. The blessed effects of believing.
1. Deliverance from condemnation.
2. Emancipation from the dominion of sin.
3. Salvation from the fear of death and hell.
4. In proportion as our faith becomes strong, our spiritual wisdom will increase, as well as our happiness. (W. Blood.)
The indissoluble connection between faith and salvation
In order to illustrate this subject-consider-
I. What is faith?
1. The real Christian believes the pure unadulterated gospel; the substance of which is, “God is in Christ” (2Co_5:19). The ground on which he believes, is the testimony of God (1Jn_5:10).
2. The gospel which be thus believes he believes to be most important. It rouses his attention and calls all the powers of his soul to action. Like a man whose house is on fire, and is at his wit’s end till he has found means to extinguish it-or like one who has a large estate depending, and uses every effort to get his title confirmed.
3. This belief in the gospel is accompanied with a cordial approbation of its gracious proposals. We have heard the gospel. Have we believed it? Have we received it in the love of it? Are our hearts and lives influenced by it?
II. The salvation promised to them that believe. Here a scene the most delightful and transporting opens to our view. A scene, the contemplation of which fills the Christian with admiration and wonder.
1. It is a salvation from moral evil.
2. From natural evil.
3. From penal evidences (Rom_3:25; Gal_3:13). To these miseries are to be opposed the joys of heaven, but, oh! what tongue can describe (Psa_16:11).
III. The connection between faith and salvation. It is necessary in order to our being saved that we believe.
1. It is the Divine appointment (Joh_3:16; Mar_16:16). It is not a mere arbitrary command, but the result of infinite wisdom and goodness.
2. There is a fitness or suitableness in faith to the end of its appointment, so that the necessity arises out of the nature of things. The blessing of the gospel cannot be enjoyed without the medium of faith. Sin is atoned for-heaven opened-but the actual possession of the good thus procured is as necessary as a title to it. How is that good to be possessed without a suitable temper? How is this to be acquired but by believing? (Outlines of Sermons.)
