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CHRIST'S INTERCESSION
FOR TRIED FAITH
by
Octavius Winslow
And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has desired to have
you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for you, that your
faith fail not"—Luke 22:31-32.
There is not, perhaps, a single truth which occurs more frequently or
with greater clearness in the sacred writings, and which is more holy
in its tendency and effect, than the doctrine of the present security
and final glory of the saints of God. Standing as it does in the closest
relation to the Divine glory—every perfection of God being involved
in it—it is not surprising that the Holy Spirit of Truth should assign
to it a position so prominent, and should ascribe to it an influence so
mighty, in neutralizing the doubts, in soothing the fears, and in establishing
and stimulating the soul in all practical godliness.
He who imagines that the doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints
acts as a moral opiate to the soul, lulling it in a false security, soothing
it to a state of inglorious quietude, has, we fear, either rejected the
doctrine without investigation, or has studied it with a mind entangled
by error, or warped by prejudice. But the truth is revealed, and as such
we are bound to receive it. It is declared—written as with a sunbeam.
"The righteous shall hold on his way; and he that has clean hands
shall wax stronger and stronger." "The Lord does not forsake
not saints." "He keeps the feet of his saints." "Though
he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down for the Lord upholds him with
his hand." "You shall guide me with your counsel, and afterward
receive me to glory." "Being confident of this very thing, that
he who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus
Christ." "Kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation."
"They shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of
my hand."
It would be easy to multiply these proofs, so replete is the word of God
with them, but surely these Divine declarations and assertions place the
doctrine beyond the region of doubt. The holy influence of this truth
is equally revealed. After assuring the believer of the promises of God—that
He would dwell in His people, and walk in them, and that He would be their
God, and that they should be His people—thus affirming the final
salvation of the whole church—with what gracefulness of manner and
earnestness of spirit does the apostle then proceed to educe and enforce
the practical influence of the doctrine—"Having therefore these
promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness
of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."
It may at first glance be thought that the case which we have selected
for our present reflections—the fall of the apostle Peter—involves
a contradiction of the doctrine which we have just laid down. A minute
examination of each point, however, will decide the question, how far
it contains any warrant for believing that He who has commenced a good
work in the soul will be found, in any single instance, either incapable
or unwilling to complete it, or to have resembled the man who began to
build and was not able to finish. We trust, on the contrary, that its
spiritual investigation will be full of encouragement to those who are
weak in grace, establishing to those whose minds are unsettled and wavering,
sanctifying to the heart thirsting after deeper holiness, and tending
to endear to all, the person and work of God's beloved Son.
It suggests for our meditation two deeply important and interesting topics—first,
that the faith of the believer may be severely assailed, and, at times,
may greatly waver; and, second, that the great reason why tried faith
cannot absolutely and entirely fail is, the especial and ceaseless intercession
on its behalf, of Jesus the great High Priest. Descend, Holy Spirit, and
anoint, and teach, and guide us while endeavoring to unravel the mysteries
of the kingdom of God within the soul, and while attempting to penetrate
the glories of the kingdom of God within the veil.
That FAITH SHOULD BE MORE FREQUENTLY AND SEVERELY ASSAILED than any other
grace of the Holy Spirit, will cease to create surprise as we become acquainted
with the rank and position it occupies in the renewed soul. Placed in
the very front of the battle, itself the strongest, the most determined
and successful foe of the assailing powers of darkness and of sin, in
effecting its overthrow; all their force, and skill, and malignity are
marshaled and directed. But who is its chief and most formidable assailant?
It is Satan, the accuser of the brethren, the tempter, the sworn enemy
of God and man. It is he, the master spirit of darkness and woe, who,
without possessing a single attribute of Deity, yet approaches so near
in resemblance to the Divine, that in every place and at each moment of
time he is present, narrowly watching, and closely studying, and incessantly
working to deceive, and to overthrow, were it possible, the faith of the
very elect. By what power or agency he is enabled to prosecute the dark
designs of his gloomy intellect, and to effect the malignant purposes
of his depraved heart, we cannot now venture at any length to premise.
Whether with the subtlety and velocity which belong to light, there is
an incessant expansion of thought, imparting a kind of personal ubiquity
or omnipresence to the ruling mind of the infernal empire; or whether
without being personally present, we may account for the extent of his
agency, operating alike in every place, and at the same moment, by supposing
intelligence communicated to, and commands issued from, him through the
medium of that innumerable host of myrmidons who compose those 'principalities
and powers' over which Jesus triumphed, 'making a show of them openly,'
must, however strong the presumption, still remain points involved in
much doubt and obscurity.
But there is one fact respecting which we are not left to conjecture.
I allude to the eager and restless machinations of Satan to weaken, dishonor,
and destroy the faith of God's elect. "And the Lord said, Simon,
Simon, behold, Satan has desired to have you, that he may sift you as
wheat." Observe here, the limitation of Satanic power in reference
to the believer. "Satan has desired to have you." This is its
utmost extent. He has no power nor control over the redeemed, but that
which God permits. He can but 'desire,' and long, and plot; not a hand
can he lay upon them, by not a single temptation can he assail them, not
a hair of their head can he touch, until God bid him. "Satan has
desired to have you."—there stood the arch-foe waiting permission,
as in the case of Job, to destroy the apostle of Christ.
Dear reader, I need scarcely pause to remind you how consolatory is this
truth to the believing mind. You have often trembled at the power of Satan,
and perhaps well-near as often have been the involuntary object of his
implacable hatred and deep devices. But press now this animating thought
to your trembling heart—he has no control nor influence nor power
over a redeemed soul but that which God permits, and which Christ allows.
"Thus far shall you go, and no farther," are words which reveal
his inferiority, prescribe his limits, and stay the progress of the proud
fiend.
But let us inquire what is that which Satan desires to assault? It is
the work of God in the soul. Against his own kingdom not a weapon is raised.
It is his aim and his policy to keep all there undisturbed and peaceful.
The chaff he never thinks of winnowing. But against the work of the Holy
Spirit in the renewed mind, his battery is brought to bear; not a part
of this work escapes him. Every grace comes in for its share of malignant
attack; but especially the grace of faith. This he sifts and winnows to
the utmost. As this is the queen grace, it is against this the treason
plot is formed. When, for example, a repentant and believing soul approaches
Christ with lowliness and hesitancy, and with the tremulous hand of faith,
attempts to touch the border of His garment, or with a tearful eye looks
up to His cross, then comes the assault upon faith in the form of a suggestive
doubt of Christ's power and willingness to save—"Is Jesus able
to save me? Has He power to rescue my soul from hell? Can He blot out
my transgressions and redeem my life from destruction? Will He receive
a sinner so vile, so unworthy, so poor as I? Has He compassion, has He
love, has He mercy sufficient to meet my case?"
In this way Satan assails the earliest and the feeblest exercises of faith
in the soul. Does this page address itself to any such? Believer, it is
Satan's great effort to keep you from Jesus. By holding up to your view
a false picture of His character, from which everything loving, winning,
inviting, and attractive is excluded, by suggesting wrong views of His
work, in which everything gloomy, contracted and repulsive is foisted
upon the mind—by assailing the atonement, questioning the compassion,
and limiting the grace of Christ, he would persuade you that in that heart
which bled on Calvary there is no room for you, and that upon that work
which received the Father's seal, there is not breadth sufficient for
you to stand. All his endeavors are directed, and all his assaults are
shaped, with a view to keep your soul back from Christ. It is thus he
seeks to vent his wrath upon the Savior and his malignity upon you.
Nor does he less assail the more matured faith of the believer. The sturdy
oak is swept by the storm equally with the feeble sapling. Not unfrequently
the sharpest attacks and the fiercest onsets are made, and made successfully,
upon the strongest believers. Seizing upon powerful corruptions, taking
advantage of dark providences, and sometimes of bright ones, and never
allowing any position of influence, or usefulness, or gift, or grace,
that would give force, success, and brilliance to his exploit, to escape
his notice, he is perpetually on the alert to sift and winnow God's precious
wheat. His implacable hatred of God, the deep revenge he cherishes against
Jesus, his malignant opposition to the Holy Spirit, fit him for any dark
design and work implicating the holiness and happiness of the believer.
Therefore we find that the histories of the most eminent saints of God,
as written by the faithful pen of the Holy Spirit, are histories of the
severest temptations of faith, in the most of which there was a temporary
triumph of the enemy—the giant oak bending before the storm.
And even in instances where there was no defeat of faith, there yet was
the sharp trial of faith. The case of Joseph, and that of his illustrious
antitype, the Lord Jesus, present examples of this. Fearful was the assault
upon the faith of both, sharp the conflict through which both passed,
yet both left the battle-field victorious. But still faith was not the
less really or severely sifted.
But there are trials of faith other than that which the case of Peter
illustrates; his may perhaps be more properly denominated the temptation
of faith. Faith has its trials as well as its temptations. Affliction
is a trial of faith; sorrow in any of its multitudinous forms is a trial
of faith; the delay of mercy is a trial of faith; the promise unfulfilled
is a trial of faith; the prayer unanswered is a trial of faith; painful
providences, mysterious dispensations, straitened circumstances, difficulties
and embarrassments, all are so many trials of faith, commissioned and
designed by God to place the gold in the crucible, and the wheat in the
sieve, that both may be purified and tried. Ah! is it no trial of the
believer's faith when the foundation upon which it rests is assailed?
Is it no trial of faith to have distorted representations of God presented
to its eye, dishonoring thoughts of God suggested to the mind, unbelieving
apprehensions of Jesus, and His love, and His grace, and His word, foisted
upon the heart? To entertain for one moment the idea that God is unfaithful
to His word, or that in His dealings He is arbitrary and unkind; that
Jesus is not what He represents Himself to be, an all-sufficient Savior
of the lost, the healer of the broken in heart, the tender, gentle Savior,
not breaking the bruised reed, but mending it, nor quenching the smoking
flax, but fanning it? Oh yes, these to a holy mind are painful trials
of faith, from which the tender conscience shrinks, and the sensitive
heart recoils.
But there is something deeply instructive, as well as most consolatory,
in one expressive word of our blessed Lord to His servant Peter, "Satan
has desired to have you, that he might sift you as wheat." Here was
that which marked the reality of his faith. It is only true grace that
is really tried. No man puts mere dross into his furnace, or mere chaff
into his sieve. All his toil and pains-taking would go for nothing, for
it would come forth in its nature unaltered and unchanged—the dross
would still be dross, and the chaff would still be chaff. Now the Lord
tries, and Satan tempts, nothing but genuine grace. It is the wheat, and
not the tares, that is made to pass through the fiery trial. Thus do afflictions
and trying dispensations prove tests of a man's religion. When there is
nothing but tinsel in a profession of Christianity, the fire will consume
it; when there is nothing but chaff, the wind will scatter it. The furnace
of temptation and the flail of affliction often prove a man's work of
what sort it is, long before the discovery is made in a world where no
errors can be corrected, and when it will be too late to rectify mistakes.
Thus it is that so many professors, who have not the root of the matter
in themselves, but endure for a while, are offended and fall away when
tribulation or persecution arises because of the word.
But the wheat—the pure faith of the soul—is tried. "Other
graces," remarks the holy Leighton, "are likewise tried in the
same furnace; but faith is named as the root of all the rest. Sharp afflictions
give the Christian a trial of his love to God, whether it be single and
for Himself or not; for then it will be the same when He strikes as when
He embraces, and in the fire of affliction will rather grow the hotter,
and be more taken off from the world, and set upon Him. Again, the grace
of patience is put particularly upon trial in distresses. And both of
these spring from faith; for love rises from a right and strong belief
of the goodness of God; and patience from a persuasion of the wisdom and
love of God, and the truth of His promises. He has said, I will not fail
you, and that we shall not be tempted above our strength, and He will
give the issue. Now the belief of these things causes patience. The trial
of faith works patience. For therefore does the Christian resign up himself,
and all that concerns him, his trials, the measure and length of them
all, unto God's disposal, because he knows that he is in the hands of
a wise and loving Father. Thus the trial of these and other particular
graces does still resolve into this, and is comprised under the trial
of faith."
And why is the 'wheat' thus sifted? why is so Divine and precious a grace
subjected to a process so humiliating and severe? Certainly not because
of any intrinsic impurity in the grace itself. All the graces of the Spirit
as they proceed from God, and are implanted in the heart, are pure and
holy; as essentially free from sin as the nature from where they flow.
But in consequence of the impurity of the heart, and the defilement of
the nature in which they are deposited—the body of sin and death
by which they are incased—they become mixed with particles of earthliness
and carnality, the fine gold with dross, and the pure wheat with chaff.
To purify and separate the graces of the Holy Spirit from these things,
so foreign to their nature, the Lord permits these temptations, and sends
these trials of faith.
We have remarked, that not only may the faith of a child of God be severely
assailed, but that there are times when that faith may greatly waver.
Is this surprising? No, the greatest wonder is, that with all these severe
shocks, through which it passes, it does not entirely fail. Nothing but
the Divinity that dwells within that grace, keeps it. Were it not Divine
and incorruptible, it would entirely fail. Look at Abraham—on one
occasion in the strength of faith offering up his son, and on another
occasion in the weakness of faith denying his wife! Look at David—in
the strength of faith slaying Goliath, and in the weakness of faith fleeing
from Saul! Look at Job—in the strength of faith justifying God in
the severest of His dealings, and in the weakness of faith cursing the
day that be was born! Look at Peter—in the strength of faith drawing
his sword and smiting a servant of the high priest's, and in the weakness
of faith forced by a little maid to deny the Lord whom he had but just
defended! Oh! the wonder of wonders is, that there remains a single grain
in the sieve, or a particle of metal in the furnace, or a solitary spark
in the ocean—that all is not utterly scattered, consumed, and annihilated!
Nothing but the power of God, and its own incorruptible and imperishable
nature, preserve it.
This thought suggests our second topic—THE INTERCESSION OF THE LORD
JESUS IN BEHALF OF TRIED FAITH. "I have prayed for you that your
faith fail not." That any one grace of the Holy Spirit in the renewed
soul can ever utterly perish, would seem, from the nature of that grace,
to be an utter impossibility. Nothing that is really holy and spiritual
is ever destroyed. Divine principles, holy thoughts, spiritual desires,
and Godlike actions, survive the period and outlive the occasion which
called them forth, and gave to them an existence.
Nothing perishes
but the material and the fleshly. Upon these fleshly things, be they the
fairest and the purest, the most magnificent and refined, 'passing away'
is indelibly inscribed.
"Meanwhile,
heaven is attracting to itself whatever is congenial to its nature, is
enriching itself by the spoils of earth, and collecting within its capacious
bosom whatever is pure, permanent, and Divine, leaving nothing for the
last fire to consume but the objects and the slaves of concupiscence;
while everything which grace has prepared and beautified shall be gathered
and selected from the ruins of the world to adorn that eternal city, which
has no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it, for the glory
of God does enlighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." (Hall)
But we must not forget that the great preservative of faith, especially
of tried faith, is the intercession on its behalf of the great High Priest
within the veil. And yet no part of our Lord's mediatorial work is more
overlooked than this, while no part is fraught with richer and more varied
blessing to the Church of God. This work of intercession constituted an
essential and a delightful part of the priestly office of our Lord Jesus.
Not to atone only, but upon the ground of that atonement to base His office
of advocate, and with the plea of that atonement to appear in the presence
of God as an intercessor, equally entered into the engagements of Christ
in behalf of His people. A moment's reference to the Levitical type will
throw much light upon this part of the Savior's work. It will be recollected
that the high priest, on the day of expiation, was to slay and to offer
the sacrifice in the outer part of the tabernacle; after which he entered
within the sanctuary, bearing in his hands the blood of atonement, and
sprinkled it seven times upon and before the mercy-seat. He was then to
bring a censer full of burning coals from off the altar, and his hands
full of sweet incense beaten small, within the veil, and place it upon
the fire before the Lord, "that the cloud of the incense might cover
the mercy-seat."
All this was beautifully typical of the atonement and intercession of
Jesus our great High Priest. The basis of our Lord's intercessory work
is the great atonement of His own blood, with which He has fully met the
claims of Justice, paid to the law its extreme demands, and blotted out
the handwriting that was against His people in pronouncing their sins
entirely and forever cancelled. Upon His atonement Jesus takes His stand
as an Intercessor in heaven, within which He has gone to sprinkle His
blood upon the mercy-seat, and to present the incense of His infinite
and precious merits. Having purged our sins, He is forever sat down at
the right hand of God, not in a state of inglorious ease, nor cold forgetfulness
of His Church on earth, but to plead as its Advocate and to pray as its
Intercessor each moment with the Father, pressing His suit on the ground
of Justice, and resting His petition on the basis of merit. "For
Christ has not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are
the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the
presence of God for us." "He ever lives to make intercession."
Look up, O you of tried faith, and behold within the veil your Savior
there, clothed in His sacerdotal robes, the great High Priest of heaven's
temple, the glorious Advocate of heaven's chancery, representing His Church,
and for each individual as for the whole body, praying the Father that
the weak and tried faith of His saints might not fail. This is no image
of the imagination. This is no picture of the fancy. It is a blessed and
glorious reality, that our once atoning and now risen and exalted Redeemer
is in heaven, bearing the breastplate upon His heart and the ephod upon
His shoulder, in which each name is set of all the tribes of Israel. Yes,
poor tried and suffering believer, your name is there, written not only
in the Lamb's book of life, but written in the Lamb's heart of love.
In approaching God in any spiritual service, why is it that your person
is an object of His complacent delight? Because Jesus presents it. Why
do your prayers, imperfectly framed and faintly breathed, come up before
the altar with acceptance and power? Because Jesus is in heaven, and as
your pleading Advocate separates your petition from all its flaws, and
as your interceding Priest purifies it from all its sin, and presents
it as a 'golden vial full of aroma' to His Father. And when in pensive
sadness you have trodden your lonely path, the spirit chafed, the heart
wounded, the world desolate, and a thousand images of terror and of gloom
filling the vast void, O little did you think that within that veil, so
awfully mysterious to you, there stood one—your Friend and Brother,
your Advocate and Priest—who knew your secret sorrow, and who at
that moment was pouring out His full heart, His whole soul, in powerful
and prevalent intercession, that your tried and wavering faith might not
fail.
Nor must we overlook the individuality of our Lord's intercession. This
is one of its most interesting features: "I have prayed for you."
As if forgetting for that moment the whole Church, and regarding Peter
as representing in his person each tempted believer, Jesus makes him the
especial object of his prayer. How much comfort do we lose in overlooking
this truth—in not more distinctly recognizing the personal interest
which each believer has in the love of Christ! "My grace is sufficient
for you." "I have prayed for you" are the gracious words
with which Jesus would meet each individual case.
Think not, then, O believer, that you are alone, unloved, uncared for,
unthought of; Jesus bears you upon His heart; and if loved and cared for,
and remembered by Him, you can afford to part with some creature stream,
however loved and valued that stream may be. Keep your eye intently fixed
upon your Lord's intercession. In every tribulation look unto Jesus, mark
His gracious hand directing the scourge and mingling the bitter cup; tempering
its proper degree of severity, appointing the limit of its continuance,
and converting seeming disasters into occasions of real good. In every
infirmity and failing look unto Jesus, your merciful High Priest, pleading
His atoning blood, and on its ground making intercession for you. In every
prayer look unto Jesus, your prevailing Advocate, bearing the iniquity
of your holy things, and recommending your broken petitions. In every
temptation look unto Jesus, the author of your faith, the source of your
strength, and the captain of your salvation, who alone is able to lift
up the hands that hang down, to teach the fingers to fight, and eventually
to make you more than conqueror over all your foes.
We too much lose ourselves in the crowd; and merge ourselves in the mass.
We forget alike our individual interest in the covenant, and our personal
obligation to glorify God in our different walks of life. But it is the
especial privilege of the believer to concentrate upon himself, as in
focal power, every thought and affection of God, just as the eye of a
well-painted portrait may be said to fasten itself exclusively upon each
individual in the room. "I have prayed for you." O cheering
declaration! Christian reader, lose not sight of it. Come and lay your
hand of faith upon the covenant of grace, and say, "the fulness of
the covenant is mine." Lay your hand upon the covenant of God, and
say, "the God of the covenant is mine; Jesus its Mediator is my Savior.
He obeyed, suffered, bled, and expired, all for me. He has loved me, and
has given himself for me. Lord! do You think of me? does my case come
up before Your notice? do You bear any burden upon Your arm, my sorrow
upon Your heart, my name upon Your lip; and do You pray for my poor, assaulted,
and trembling faith? Yes, Lord, You do. I believe it, because You have
said it—press the precious truth so rich in consolation to my trembling,
grateful heart."
It is another beautiful view of our subject—the anticipative intercession
of Christ. "I have prayed for you." The Lord as its shepherd
goes before His flock. He precedes it every step, not only to map its
path, but also to provide for all the circumstances, the most trivial
and minute, of its history. To Him nothing can be unforeseen, from Him
nothing can be concealed. No event can surprise Him, no contingency can
thwart Him, no difficulty can embarrass Him. The entire history of the
individual saint of God, from his first to his last breath, is written
in His book, when as yet it had no existence, as minutely and as accurately,
as though it were a record of the past. In anticipation of each developed
circumstance, of each temptation and trial, difficulty and need—Jesus
prays for His people: "I have prayed." It would seem as if the
sorrow had reached His heart, before it touched our own; as if the assault
had fallen upon Him before it fell upon us; and that, knowing what would
transpire, seeing in what critical and painful circumstances His child
would be placed, He anticipates his case by especial intercession on his
behalf: "I have prayed for you."
Can the mind of the tried believer repose upon a truth more sustaining
and soothing than this? It is a glorious unfolding of the love of Jesus,
to know that when the sifting came, when faith was actually tried, that
then Jesus prayed for the sufferer. But to be assured that before a dart
was winged, or a shock was felt, or even a suspicion was awakened that
the tempter was approaching, and that danger was near; Jesus, robed in
His priestly garments and bearing the golden censer in His hand, had entered
within the veil to make especial intercession for that trial of faith!
Oh, it is a view of His love, which to the mind of the tempted believer
would seem to overtop and outshine all others!
And for what does Jesus pray? That the temptation might not come? that
faith may not be tried? O no! He asks not the Father in behalf of His
people for their entire exemption from temptation and trial. Full well
does He know that if conformed to Him their Head, they must through much
tribulation enter the kingdom. Pure and sinless though He was, needing
no sifting and no refining, He yet passed through each process as if there
were in Him the chaff to scatter and the dross to consume. How much more
needful does Jesus see that His people, in whom there is such a mixture
of the precious with the vile, so much indwelling sin, so much powerful
corruption perpetually seeking to destroy indwelling grace, should not
be exempted from the process which, painful though it be, is absolutely
needful and eternally good!
But Jesus prays that in the actual trial of faith it might not fail. And
mark how signally the prayer was answered in the case of Peter. His faith
did not fail. Trace his subsequent history. "When you are restored",
said his Divine Master, "strengthen your brethren." He was restored.
One look from Jesus, of painful remembrance, of gentle reproof, and of
loving forgiveness, broke his heart, "and he went out and wept bitterly."
Deep and sincere was his repentance. 'He went out,' apart from others,
and sought some retired spot, where, alone with God, he might with tears
acknowledge his transgression, and in faith seek the forgiveness of his
sin. I repeat—trace his subsequent history. What a loving disciple,
what a zealous apostle, what a vigilant pastor, what a useful preacher,
what a valiant soldier of the cross, did he afterwards become! The chaff
of self-confidence, and false zeal, and light views of sin, was now scattered
in the sifting of his faith, and that faith was now purer and stronger
than ever. Peter stood more firmly after he had lamented his fall, than
before he fell; insomuch, that he found more grace than he lost grace.
Listen to the words with which, at his Master's bidding, he strengthens
his brethren after his recovery. He reminds them that they are "kept
by the power of God, through faith, unto salvation. Wherein you greatly
rejoice, though now for a season (if need be), you are in heaviness through
manifold temptations, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious
than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found
unto praise, and honor, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ."
Now, why is it, O believing soul, that your tried faith has not failed?
Why have you passed through the sifting, with not one precious grain fallen
to the ground? Because your great High Priest prayed for you before the
trial, and prayed for you in the trial, and has not ceased to pray for
you since the trial. All upholding grace, all restraining grace, all restoring
grace, all establishing grace, has been meted out to you through the channel
of your Lord's perpetual and ever-prevalent intercession. O how should
this truth endear the Savior to your heart! With what holy contrition
should it fill your spirit, and with what sweet affection should it constrain
your soul to a simple and an unreserved surrender to God!
But what, my reader, if your religion should prove to be nothing but chaff?
Does the bare probability startle you? Ah! there are multitudes whom it
might well startle—for multitudes are thus deceived. Not a grain
of pure wheat is found in their souls. There is no vitality in their faith,
no solidity in their profession, no substance in their religion. Before
every wind of false doctrine they bend, and by each blast of temptation
they are carried away. The stubble of the field, and the chaff of the
threshing-floor (fit emblems of their Christianity), are not more unsubstantial
and fleeting than it. All is woeful deception. They have substituted a
form of godliness for its power; union to the church for union to Christ;
the baptism of water for the regeneration of the Spirit; gospel ordinances
for sanctifying grace; works of benevolence for faith in the Lord Jesus.
And thus their religion is hollow, unsubstantial, and unreal; possessing
a "name to live, they are dead."
And what will be the end of such? Departing into eternity in this state
of soul deception—building their hope of heaven upon this false foundation—in
their sad experience must be realized the awful description which the
evangelist gives of the judgment power of Christ; "whose fan is in
his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat
into his garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
Thus will perish all human religions, all false hopes, all hollow professions,
all soul-destroying doctrines—the 'wood, the hay, the stubble,' of
a form of godliness—destitute of the power. Unconverted reader, weigh
and consider this solemn statement—it is for your life. Examine the
nature and foundation of your hope. Let nothing be a substitute to you
for the new birth, for faith in Christ, or for love to God. The most beautiful
ritual, the most accurate creed, the most costly religion, the most splendid
profession, without Christ in the heart, is but as fuel preparing for
the final and eternal conflagration. To such the Savior pointedly and
solemnly refers, when He says, "Not every one that says unto me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the
will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have
cast out devils? and in your name have done many wonderful works? And
then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me."
But if, dear reader, you are in possession of real faith, even in the
smallest degree, expect its conflict and its trial. It is truly remarked
by the holy Leighton, that God never had but one Son without sin, and
never one without suffering. The existence of faith seems necessarily
to imply, the endurance of suffering. Not, as we have shown in another
part of this volume, because of any intrinsic defect in faith, but in
consequence of the impurity of the heart in which that faith is lodged,
its perpetual admixture with the dross of a mind but partially renewed,
its constant contact with the objects and scenes of sense and of earth,
render trial as essential to the purification of faith, as the flail to
the pure wheat, and as the crucible to the precious metal.
The trials and temptations, therefore, with which God visits His people,
are designed, as tests of faith. Without them we should lack some of the
strongest evidences of experimental Christianity. Who would wish the stubble
and the chaff to render doubtful the existence of the true grain, or the
tin and the dross to obscure the luster of the fine gold? Welcome, then,
every trial and test of your faith. Welcome whatever stamps its reality,
increases its strength, and heightens its luster.
Nor be surprised that this, above all the graces of the Holy Spirit, should
be a target for the great enemy of God. As faith is the grace which most
glorifies God, which brings the greatest degree of joy and peace unto
the soul, and which constitutes its mightiest shield in the conflict,
it becomes an especial object of Satan's malignant attack. The most Christ-exalting,
God-honoring, and sanctifying of all the Spirit's graces must not expect
to escape its fearful assaults. If this 'gold' was 'tried in the fire,'
in the sinless person of Jesus, is there not a greater necessity that
in our fallen and corrupt nature it should be subjected to a second process
of trial? It was tried in the Head to show that it was real gold; it is
tried in the members to separate it from the dross with which it becomes
mixed in its contact with our hearts. In the one case, the trial was to
stamp its divine nature; in the other case, the trial is to purify it
from the human nature. Thus are we honored to suffer in some small degree,
as our Lord and Master suffered. Therefore, beloved, "do not think
it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some
strange thing happened unto you; but rejoice, inasmuch as you are partakers
of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be revealed, you may
be glad also with exceeding joy."
Keep your eye intently fixed upon the intercession of Christ. Is it a
privilege to be borne upon the affectionate and believing prayers of a
Christian friend? Ah yes! precious channels of heavenly blessing are the
intercessions of the Lord's people on our behalf. But there is a Friend
still closer to the Fountain of Mercy, still nearer and dearer to the
Father, than your fondest earthly friend—it is JESUS, "who ever
lives to make intercession for those who come unto God by him." Oh
how precious is that declaration upon which in any assault, or trial,
or perplexity, you may calmly and confidently repose: "I have prayed
for you." Yes, when from confusion of thought, or pain of body, or
burning fever, you cannot pray for yourself, and no friend is near to
be your mouth to God, then there is one, the Friend of friends, the ever-skillful
Advocate, and never weary Intercessor—no invocating saint, nor interceding
angel—but the Son of God Himself, who appears in the presence of
God moment by moment for you. O keep, then, the eye of your faith immovably
fixed upon Christ's intercession; He intercedes for weak faith, for tried
faith, for tempted faith—yes, for him who thinks he has no faith.
There is not a believer who is not borne upon His heart, and whose prayers
and needs are not entwined in His ceaseless intercession.
When you deem yourself neglected and forgotten, a praying Savior in heaven
is thinking of you. When you are tried and cast down, tempted and stumble,
the interceding High Priest at that moment enters within the holiest,
to ask on your behalf strength, consolation, and upholding grace. And
when sin has wounded, and guilt distresses, and unbelief beclouds, who
is it that stands in the breach, that makes intercession, that removes
the darkness, and brings back the smile of a forgiving Father? The Lord
Jesus, the interceding Savior! Oh, look up, tried and assaulted believer!
you have a Friend at court, an Advocate in the chancery of heaven, an
Intercessor curtained within the holiest of holies, transacting all your
concerns, and through whom you may have access to God with boldness.
How sweet are the fruits of the Lord's restoring grace! In the case of
Peter, we read that "he went out and wept bitterly." He had
never wept such tears, nor sorrowed with such a sorrow before. It was
the look of the Savior's forgiving love which broke his heart, and dissolved
his whole soul into penitence and sweet contrition. We trace the same
in David: "I acknowledge my transgression, and my sin is ever before
me. Against you, you only have I sinned, and done this evil in your sight.
Restore unto me the joy of your salvation; and uphold me with your free
Spirit. Then will I teach transgressors your ways; and sinners shall be
converted unto you." Blessed and holy results of the Savior's intercession
in behalf of tried, and tempted, and staggering faith! May we, dear reader,
constantly taste the sweetness of the Lord's restorings. That restoring
we need day by day, and His upholding grace moment by moment. Let no consciousness
of departure from God keep us from returning to Him—seeing that Jesus
lives and prays for us.
Heart-melting is the language of our sin-pardoning and soul-restoring
God to His backsliding Church. "You have played the harlot with many
lovers; yet return again to Me, says the Lord." And again, "And
I said, after she had done all these things, Turn unto me." And yet
again, as if he would exhaust all the tenderness of language, "Return,
backsliding Israel, says the Lord; and I will not cause My anger to fall
upon you: for I am merciful, says the Lord, and I will not keep anger
forever. Only acknowledge your iniquity." Can we resist arguments,
and appeals, and persuasives like these? And oh, may the result of our
restoring be a closer, holier walk than ever! "The Lord will speak
peace to his people, but let them not turn again to folly."
Jesus, let Your pitying eye
Call back a wandering sheep;
False to You, like Peter, I
Would sincerely like Peter weep.
Let me be by grace restored,
On me be all its freeness shown;
Turn, and look upon me, Lord,
And break my heart of stone."
"Savior, Prince, enthroned above,
Repentance to impart;
Give me, through Your dying love,
The humble, contrite heart.
Give, what I have long implored,
A portion of Your love unknown;
Turn, and look upon me, Lord,
And break my heart of stone."
"See me, Savior, from above,
Nor suffer me to die;
Life, and happiness, and love,
Smile in Your gracious eye.
Speak the reconciling word,
And let Your mercy melt me down;
Turn, and look upon me, Lord,
And break my heart of stone."
"Look, as when Your pitying eye
Was closed that we might live;
'Father (at the point to die
My Savior gasped), forgive!'
Surely with that dying word,
He turns, and looks, and cries, 'tis done!'
O my loving, bleeding Lord,
This breaks my heart of stone!"
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