3259. Faith’s Way of Approach

A Sermon Published On Thursday, July 20, 1911.

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. {Ro 10:17}

For other sermons on this text:

   {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 1031, “How Can I Obtain Faith?” 1022}

   {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 3259, “Faith’s Way of Approach” 3261}

   Exposition on Isa 42:1-17 43:18-25 Ro 10:1-19 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 3441, “God’s Memorial of His People” 3443 @@ "Exposition"}

   Exposition on Ro 10:1-20 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 3522, “Christ a Sanctuary” 3524 @@ "Exposition"}

   Exposition on Ro 10 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2327, “Whole Machinery of Salvation, The” 2328 @@ "Exposition"}

   Exposition on Ro 10 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2752, “Door, The” 2753 @@ "Exposition"}

   Exposition on Ro 10 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2932, “False Justification and True” 2933 @@ "Exposition"}

   Exposition on Ro 10 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 3051, “Lessons from a Dovecot” 3052 @@ "Exposition"}

   Exposition on Ro 10 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 3229, “Royal Saviour, The” 3230 @@ "Exposition"}

   Exposition on Ro 9:1-5 Ro 10 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 3397, “Timely Expostulation, A” 3399 @@ "Exposition"}

1. According to the Christian religion, faith is the great essential thing. “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” Whatever we may do or may be, we cannot be acceptable with the Most High unless we believe in him. Even prayer can only be a mockery if it is not the prayer of faith. “He who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him,” or else he does not really pray. The Lord Jesus Christ has died to save men; but it is certain that no man will be saved without faith. Even the blood of Jesus Christ does not save any except those who believe in it. “God so loved the world” is a very wide expression, but we must not make it wider than Scripture makes it, for remember how the verse goes on, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Without faith Christ is not ours. His blood cannot cleanse us; his life cannot quicken us. We must have faith to receive the blessings of salvation.

2. Suppose we could be brought into touch with Christ without faith for a while, yet, if we did not have continuous faith, we would not have a continued connection with the Saviour, and consequently would not continue in life eternal; for it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” They not only begin to live by faith, but continue to live in the same way. In our holy religion, everything is by faith, — faith for life, and faith for death. Even the first tears of repentance must be salted with faith, and the last song on earth shall be full of faith. You must have faith, or you must perish. “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he who does not believe shall be damned,” is the declaration of Jesus Christ the Saviour himself.

3. I. So, first, LET US DISCOVER WHAT FAITH IS.

4. We have seen that it is essential; it is very important to understand its nature. Well, faith with regard to God is the same as faith with regard to anything else. It is the same act of the mind, though it differs concerning its object. When I believe in God, it is the same kind of mental act as when I believe in my friend. I believe with the same mind. It is true that all saving faith is the work of the Holy Spirit in us; but always remember that we ourselves believe, and that the Holy Spirit does not believe for us. What has the Holy Spirit to believe about? It is not written that he is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. No, but we are to believe in him. He leads us to faith, but the faith is our own act and deed; and if there could be supposed to be a faith which was not our own act and deed, it could not possibly be the faith which saves the soul. If I understand properly the faith which saves, it is just this. God has revealed such and such truth, I believe it to be true, and I so believe it to be true that I act on it. God has said that he has laid sin on Christ; I believe he has done so. He tells me that, if I trust Christ, I may be assured that my sin was laid on Christ. I trust Christ, that is, I rely on him, and the reliance which springs out of belief is the essence of faith.

5. When a man believes a bank to be safe, he will put his money into it if he has need to do so; when a man believes in the honesty of another, the practical result is that he takes his word and trusts him. I believe in the truthfulness of God, in the truthfulness of certain narratives given by the four evangelists; I believe that Christ was born at Bethlehem, that he was the Son of God, and that he lived and died as the Saviour of men; I believe that his sufferings were expiatory, that he suffered in the place of sinners to take the punishment due to the justice of God for our sins; and, believing that, I trust my soul on his sacrifice, I rest on it; and that faith saves me.

6. Now, notice, if I do readily rest in Christ, I shall do what Christ tells me. Faith must lead to obedience. He tells me to forsake sin, and I shall do it by his help. He tells me to follow him, and I shall do it if I really believe in him. A doctor says, “Now, trust me, my man, and I will cure you.” Very good; I trust him. He sends me medicine, and I take it. But suppose I do not take the medicine; well, then, I never trusted him; my neglect proves that I cannot have done so.

7. The only trust that saves the soul is that practical trust which obeys Jesus Christ. Faith that does not obey is dead faith, — nominal faith. It is the outside of faith, the husk of faith, but it does not have the vital kernel of faith in it. Sinner, if you will be saved, you must give yourself up to Jesus Christ to be his servant, and to do all that he tells you. You must rely only on him; do not trust in fiction, but in reality, not merely by profession, but with your whole heart; and you must continue to lean, rest, and lie on him, only trusting in him. This is what saving faith is.

8. Now, there are some who say they wish they could get this faith; they declare that they would do anything to get it. They earnestly long to believe, but somehow they cannot get a grip on faith, cannot quite figure out what it is; or if they know what it is, they are still puzzled, they cannot exercise it.

9. Albeit faith is the gift of God, it is always the act of man; while faith is a privilege, it is always a natural duty; men are told to believe in Jesus, and are sinful if they do not believe in Jesus. Where faith exists, it is the gift of God; but where it does not exist, it is because men will not believe in him, but shut their eyes to his light. If they would only see it, that light would convince them.

10. II. LET US THEREFORE CLEAR AWAY SOME DIFFICULTIES WITH REFERENCE TO FAITH.

11. You want faith, you say. You are not a sceptic; you accept the Word of God. You are not one of those who are unsound about the deity of Christ, you receive that. Still, you say you cannot have faith in Jesus Christ. Then listen to these observations.

12. First, remember, that it will be your wisdom not to think so much about faith as about the object of faith. If I want to believe a thing that is in the newspaper, it is no use my sitting down, and reading it over, and saying, “I should like to believe it, and I will try to believe it.” My proper way is to begin to look into the matter, — not into my faith, but into the matter itself; and when I have looked into the matter itself, I shall see whether it is reasonable, — whether it looks true, and eventually, perceiving the truthfulness of it, faith will come to me as a matter of course.

13. You are to believe in Jesus. Now, forget the believing, and think only of Jesus. If I wanted to love a person, it would be useless for me to sit in my home, and say, “I shall try to love such and such a person.” You cannot pump love up out of your heart in that way. But suppose that person is very attractive, has a delightful character, and has lived a charming life; well, I gaze on that person’s face; I hear the story of his life; and I feel that, what I could not make myself do, I do without attempting to make myself do it. Love comes by itself. “If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be despised.” So it is with faith. Speaking naturally, it comes by itself, through the work of the Spirit of God, from the force of the evidence which is presented to the mind. “Faith comes by hearing.” Look, then, more at what is to be believed than at the mere act of believing.

14. And, next, be solemnly persuaded that what you need is faith, and that you must have it. Do not, therefore, begin confounding faith with something else. Some of you want an impression; you want a revelation; you want a feeling; you want a sensation. Now, that is not faith; it has nothing to do with faith. It is feeling, it is seeing, but it is not believing. What you really need is to believe in God, and if you do that, you shall be saved; but instead of that, you begin to cry, “Oh, that I felt as Mr. Bunyan felt on such an occasion!” That is not the matter in hand, and you are only turning aside from the point you should aim at when you look for those things instead of faith. All other good things will follow faith; but for you who are unsaved, the first, the only matter is faith in Jesus Christ.

15. Many people are anxious to be saved, which is a good thing; but they have mapped out the way in which they want God to save them, which is a bad thing. They have read the biographies of eminent Christians, and they have discovered that some of them, before they found Christ, were severely tried by horrible thoughts, doubts and fears, temptations to blaspheme, and so on. Possibly, they have read Bunyan’s Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, and have noted that he went through a very terrible time of distress before he found peace with God. Perhaps some of you, my dear friends, have fallen into the idea that, if ever you are to be saved, you must feel just as John Bunyan did; and although you have been told, over and over again, that simple faith in Jesus Christ will save you, and save you just as you are, yet you still think it cannot be so, but that you must have a deep law-work, and most dreadful feelings before you can come to the Saviour.

16. I would exhort you earnestly to pray for help in this matter of believing. Ask the Lord to give you faith, but I ask you to remember that prayer without faith will not save you, and that the gospel is not, “He who prays shall be saved,” but “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life.” Some have unbelievingly made a kind of saviour of their prayers and their tears; but that will not do. Away with your prayers if they stand in the place of Christ! It is not what you ask for, or feel, or do; it is what Christ suffered on the cross that is to save you; and the way you are to appropriate the merit of Christ is by faith; so stick with that. Know what it is you want, and press forward to get that.

17. Now we come even more closely to the text. Faith is the thing we want. We shall obtain it according to God’s order, and God’s order is this: “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Faith does not come by sacraments. No one ever obtained faith through a sacrament. It does not say, “Faith comes by seeing.” Those processions are very pretty, very pretty indeed; and very fine are those banners; and very sweet is the smoke of that incense; but faith does not come that way. Eye-gate is closed, and through Ear-gate eternal life comes into the soul of man. “Faith comes by hearing.”

18. The religion of Jesus Christ is not a religion of performances. It has its ordinances which belong to believers, but it never attempts to change the moral nature by mechanical acts. Eating and drinking and washing cannot possibly be the means by which men are reconciled to God and taught to love the Redeemer. There is a moral means needed, — a spiritual means, and the moral and spiritual means are as simple as possible: “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”

19. The text suggests two things, then, concerning faith’s way of approach. If I want to obtain faith I must hear, but I must be careful of what I hear; and I must be careful how I hear.

20. III. LET US REMEMBER, THEN, THAT FAITH COMES THROUGH THE WORD OF GOD.

21. Soul, would you have faith? Then be careful what it is that you hear, for the hearing must be “by the Word of God.” Faith comes by hearing, but not by hearing anything and everything. The hearing is “by the Word of God”; and only as the preaching is according to the Word of God will God bless it. God never blessed a falsehood to the creation of a new-born spirit. The truth has vitality in it; only the Word of God is the living seed in the soul.

22. “Well,” you say, “how am I to hear the Word of God, then?” I reply, first, hear the Word of God as you have it in the Bible. Reading is tantamount to hearing. Be sure, then, if you would find faith, to study much this priceless, matchless Book. Study it all; but if you would find Christ, dwell most on those four inestimably precious Books which tell us most about him. Read the story of his life and his death as given by the four evangelists; and if you would have a commentary on them, read the Epistles, and study them.

23. Remember, the point about the Word of God is this, — that God has spoken to men through this Book. Men wrote it, but they wrote as they were inspired and moved by the Holy Spirit. Especially about the Lord Jesus Christ, God has spoken to us by chosen witnesses. There were first the apostles who have written a considerable part of the New Testament. These men saw Christ, John says, “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory.” There were many of them, and they saw the miracles of Christ, so that they were sure he was divine. They saw his holy, guileless life; they saw him in his death; and what is best of all, and most to be remembered, is that they saw him risen again, they watched him at intervals during forty days, and they saw him until a cloud received him out of their sight.

24. They were simple-minded men who could not have invented the story; they were mostly unlettered men; and they and hundreds of others believed it so that they died for preaching what they believed. They gained nothing by the statement except scorn and shame. If there is a fact in human history which is verified beyond a doubt, it is the death and resurrection of the Son of God.

25. Does that not help you believe? “Ah!” you say, “I do believe these facts.” Well, if you do believe them in very deed and truth, what follows from your belief? Why, that you must hate God in your heart, or else you would be saved, because this glorious One of whom they speak came here to save men, and will save all who trust him. You perceive him to be a divine person; can you not trust him? If not, it must be because you have some hatred for him, and prefer to be damned rather than owe your salvation to the free grace of God.

26. Let it not be so! But rather, please, hear his Word by attentively reading it, until at last, as you read it, the glory of the inspired truth, which shines in the page, shall flame into your soul, and you shall say, “I do believe it; how could I have rejected it? It speaks for itself; the Deity is in the Word.”

27. Next to that, however, hear the preachers of God’s Word; for, though they are not inspired, yet they can do something for you. We can bear witness to what we have known and felt of the work of Jesus Christ in men’s hearts, and this will supplement the witness of the inspired men, and may help you to believe. As one has well said, “If you question a convert, you will generally find that he owes his conversion to a text of Scripture.” It is God’s Word, not man’s comment on God’s Word, that generally saves souls. If you long to be saved, go, therefore, to those who focus on the gospel, who focus on the real gospel, and have nothing else to say. That is what you need.

28. Seek also to hear the preacher who preaches from experience, one who can tell you that he knows he is a sinner, but that he has believed in Jesus, and is saved, and knows he is saved. For your healing, you want to have, not a surgeon who has never seen a case like yours before, but one who knows about it; and if he has gone through a similar experience himself, then he is the man for you. If a man has not had anything done for his soul, he cannot tell you about anything that has been done. If he has never seen himself to be a sinner, and has never passed from death to life, if he has never known the bitter pangs of soul-trouble, and has never looked to the precious Saviour on the cross, and leaped to find himself set free, why, what is the good of him as a preacher? Let him go and bake bread, or break stones on the road; but what has he to do with preaching a gospel of which he knows nothing? Therefore I say again to you, if you would obtain faith, hear that gospel that speaks to your soul, because he who preaches it speaks from his soul about something that he knows for himself.

29. And if you have your choice, hear one who speaks earnestly, for to hear a cold preacher is the best way of getting cold yourself. He who trifles with his ministry will make men trifle with their souls. If I am speaking to any who preach the gospel, I would say that, if we do not preach earnestly, people will conclude at once that there is nothing in what we preach, and their blood will lie at our door. We have a weighty theme, and we must speak with all our heart and soul.

30. To you, sinner, I would also say, hear the preacher who speaks pointedly. Do not feel vexed with one who exposes your faults. What do you go to a place of worship for but to have your heart laid bare? A doctor, who never makes an examination of his patient, or who, knowing that there is an evil somewhere, is too delicate to allude to it, is a disgrace to his profession. The man who desires to heal men will be plain and honest with them, and will not at all attempt to palliate an evil thing.

31. Take heed what you hear, for if you hear the Word of God preached in the power of the Spirit of God, then faith comes by such hearing.

32. IV. LET US BE ASSURED THAT FAITH WILL COME BY HEARING.

33. If we would obtain faith, we must take care how we hear as well as what we hear. The hearing is itself almost as important as the preaching. Faith does not come by every kind of hearing. There have been people who have heard the gospel for many years, but they have really heard nothing, for it has gone in at one ear, and out at the other. Faith does not come by such hearing.

34. Brethren, if we really seek faith, we ought to hear the gospel aiming at the sense of it first. It is what a preacher says, not how he says it, that is the vital thing. I am certain, however, that nine-tenths of our hearers are more taken up with how we say it than with what we say. Of course, we all hear a thing all the better if it is expressed well, but woe to the man who cares only about delicacy of diction, and lets his hearers go down to hell! Woe to him in the great day of account! If, however, the preacher preaches Christ, though he does not preach him as you would like to hear him preached, but somewhat uncouthly, still listen to him, whoever he may be, for it is the truth that he declares. Do not regard his manner so much as his matter, and pray that it may be blessed.

35. You who have not believed, hear every sermon with the desire to obtain faith through the sermon. I believe that our hearers generally get what they come for. If a man goes fishing, he will generally catch fish according to his bait. Some come expecting to get something to find fault with. Well, they are sure to find it. But when a man comes with this intention, “I want to find Jesus; I want to get good for my soul; I want to be saved,” then, if the preacher is what he should be, the man cannot go away disappointed. If the minister does not preach at all, but, only reads part of a chapter, there will be a blessing; if it is only a hymn that is sung, the seeking soul will lay hold of Christ in a hymn, especially if it is such a hymn as “Just as I am — without one plea,” or “Rock of ages, cleft for me,” or “Jesus, lover of my soul.” If you want faith, you need not be long wanting it if you really come anxiously desiring to obtain it.

36. Dear friends, the kind of hearing that brings faith is attentive hearing. I have heard of a child who used to always lean forward to catch every word the preacher said, and his mother asked him why he did so. He replied, “Because, mother, I heard the preacher say that, if there was anything in the sermon by which God meant to bless us, the devil would try to draw our attention some other way when it was being said, and I was so afraid that some good thing that would have blessed me might escape me if I was inattentive.” It is a great joy to preach to a house full of people like that, people who are praying as the preacher speaks, “Oh, for a blessing, Lord! Oh, that the Word might come with power to my soul!”

37. Then take care to hear retentively. Lay hold on the Word. Keep it, treasure it. Perhaps you say, “I have a bad memory.” Well, the very best thing to do when you have a bad memory is to do as the man did who never could remember what he owed, so he took care always to pay as he went. If you cannot remember, go and do at once what you are told to do, and then you will not forget it. “Be doers of the Word, and not hearers only.” If you get the substance, never mind the words. If you have a bad habit, and it is preached against, never mind the sermon; go and break off the evil habit. If you have been neglectful of prayer, never mind the sermon; pray more. And if Jesus Christ is lifted up before you, and you cannot remember what the preacher says, never mind, look to Jesus. There is Christ on the cross, and if you look to him at this moment, you shall live for ever. What memory is needed if you look to him now? Now, poor sinner, turn your eye, and you shall have heard the gospel in a most retentive manner indeed.

   There is life for a look at the Crucified One;

      There is life at this moment for thee;

   Then look, sinner, — look unto him, and be saved,

      Unto him who was nail’d to the tree.

38. Lastly, hear the gospel with deep reverence and earnest prayer. It is no small matter that God should deal with your soul at all, but that he should condescend to speak to you on terms of love is an amazing thing. That his own Son should bleed and die for sinners, is this not a miracle of mercy? With such great themes under discussion in the pulpit you ought to be greatly reverent during the hearing of the Word. You should be, indeed, like the earth in the dry weather, that opens wide its mouth, chapped and parched as it is, to absorb in every drop of rain that falls. If you are sitting under the sound of the gospel like this, parched and dry, but opening your soul to receive it, and saying, “Drop from above, oh sacred dew; come out of heaven, oh showers of grace, and fall on me,” it will not be long that you will have to wait.

39. Your chief business is to believe, and my business is to ask you, in the name of the eternal God, whether you will believe him or whether you will make him a liar. It must be one of the two; he who makes God a liar involved himself in awful guilt, but he who believes in him has glorified him. God accepts the act of believing in him as one of the noblest acts of man, so great an act that he sees his own Spirit’s work in it wherever he perceives it. “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved.” Believe in him now. Our witness is that he does save; he saves from the guilt of sin; he saves from the dread and wrath of hell; he saves from the anger of God; he saves from despair; he saves at once; he saves all who come to him. Come to him.

40. Now we are going our separate ways; what report am I to carry back to my Master, whose message I have been trying to deliver?

   Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by,

   To you is it nothing that Jesus should die?

Young man over there, is it nothing to you that Jesus should die? I ask your heart, young woman, for my dear Lord and Master. And you, old friend, your life is drawing to its close; it would have been better if you had given Christ the morning of your days, yet he will accept you even now if you will come to him. May he give you the grace to rest on him now, to trust him this very hour! Then, where he is, there you shall be also, through the efficacy of his great atoning sacrifice. May God grant it, for Jesus’ sake! Amen.

Exposition By C. H. Spurgeon {Heb 11}

In this chapter we read of the wonders of faith; but I have never read a chapter describing the wonders of unbelief. Unbelief is barren, impotent, a mere negation, a dead and accursed thing; but faith bears fruit, faith produces good works, faith achieves marvels.

1. Now faith — 

That is, belief, trust in God, — 

1. Is the substance of things hoped for,

It gets a grip on them, and holds them firmly.

1. The evidence of things not seen.

The sight of what we cannot see with our mortal eyes.

2. For by it the elders obtained a good report.

Those who lived in the olden time gained fame and glory from God himself by faith.

3. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

By faith, we know more about the creation of the world than philosophy can ever teach us; it has invented the most remarkable and ridiculous theories of how the worlds were made and men produced. We have the truth here; the worlds were framed by the word of God, not made of things which existed previously, but spoken out of nothing by the voice of the Almighty.

4. By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead still speaks.

Faith teaches us how to worship God properly. Faith brings the appointed sacrifice, which is therefore accepted.

5, 6. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 107, “Faith” 102} {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2100, “Faith Essential to Pleasing God” 2101} {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2513, “How to Please God” 2514} {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2740, “What is Essential in Coming to God?” 2741}

The way to please God, then, is to believe in him; and if there is any possibility of entering heaven without seeing death, only faith can point the way. You cannot be Enochs unless you please God, and you cannot please God unless you have faith in him.

7. By faith Noah, being warned by God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household; by which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2147, “Noah’s Faith, Fear, Obedience and Salvation” 2148}

Noah was the second great father of men just as Adam was the first. In the flood, everyone died except Noah and his family. Faith made him build the great ship on dry land, into which he went, with his wife and family and all kinds of living creatures; and when the rest of mankind were destroyed, they outlived the flood.

8-18. By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should afterwards receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out not knowing where he was going. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: for he looked for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, and gave birth to a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good us dead, sprang so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea-shore innumerable. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from where they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is a heavenly; therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he has prepared for them a city. By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac: and he who had received the promises offered up his only-begotten son, of whom it was said, “In Isaac shall your seed be called”:

The great trouble for Abraham was not his fatherly instinct, hard as it was to overcome that, and to be the slayer of his only son; his great difficulty was, “How can God’s promise be kept? He has given me a promise that in Isaac my seed shall be called, yet he tells me to offer up my son, how can this be?” But by faith he did it, — 

19. Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead from where also he received him in a figurative sense.

The doctrine of the resurrection is a precious jewel that Faith wears as in a ring on her right hand. “God can raise the dead,” says Faith; and that is a most comforting truth. Oh you bereaved ones, wear that ring! Oh you who fear to die, wear that priceless jewel! It will be better than any amulet {a} or talisman that the ancients ever wore.

20, 21. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning on the top of his staff. {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 1401, “Jacob Worshipping on his Staff” 1392}

Faith can bless other people as well as the believer himself. It not only brings good cheer into a man’s own heart, but it enables him to speak words of love and consolation to his children. Dying Jacob pronounces living blessings on his sons, and on their sons’ generation after generation.

22. By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones. {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 966, “Joseph’s Bones” 957}

He would not have his bones buried away from those of his godly ancestors, for he never forgot that he belonged to the chosen nation.

23. By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment. {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 1421, “The Hiding of Moses by Faith” 1412}

They were not afraid to brave the consequences of disobeying Pharaoh’s command because of their faith.

24-26. By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect for the reward. {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 1063, “Moses’ Decision” 1054} {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2030, “Moses: His Faith and Decision” 2031}

Nothing but faith could have brought him to that decision.

27-29. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. Through faith he kept the Passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them. By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, which the Egyptians attempting to do were drowned.

For faith can do what unbelief must not attempt to do; and when unbelief tries to follow in the footsteps of faith, it becomes its own destroyer. You must have real faith in God, or you cannot go where faith would take you; but with faith you may go through the cloud or through the sea, and find yourself safe on the other side.

30. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were encircled for seven days.

You could not see faith at work on those solid walls. Those huge ramparts and battlements seemed to stand fast and firm, yet they “fell down, after they were encircled for seven days.” No battering-rams played on them, but faith can do better work than battering-rams or dynamite.

31-33. By faith the prostitute Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace. And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell about Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthath of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,

Remember Daniel in the lions’ den, and then ask yourself, “What is there that faith cannot do?”

34. Quenched the violence of fire,

Think of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and remember how the fierceness of Nebuchadnezzar’s fire was quenched for them.

34-36. Escaped the edge of the word, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women — 

For faith works equal wonders in women as in men: “Women” — 

30-38. Received the dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; so that they might obtain a better resurrection: and others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yes, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered around in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

This is the grandest roll of heroes that ever lived, and every one among them was a man or woman of faith. Faith made them so mighty. They were not greater, and in some respects not better than the rest of us, but they believed in God, they were firm in faith, and this became the basis of their conquering character, and so their names are imperishably recorded here. They did not win the Victoria cross, but they bore the cross for their Lord, and he has honoured them with an everlasting crown, which shall never be taken from them.

39. And all these, having obtained a good report through faith, did not receive the promise:

They passed away before Christ’s day, so they did not see the fulfilment of the promises concerning his coming.

40. God having provided some better thing for us, that they apart from us should not be made perfect.

They are waiting up there for us; the choirs of heaven cannot be completed without you and me. Heaven’s full complement, the perfect number of the divine family of love, can never be made up until we who have believed go up there to join all those who have had a similar precious faith. By God’s grace, we shall all be there so that they, with us, may be made perfect.

C. H. Spurgeon’s Useful Books at Reduced Prices.

“Good Tidings of Great Joy.” Christ’s Incarnation the Foundation of Christianity. “Central Truth Series.” Vol. 1. Cloth Boards. Published at 1s. 6d., offered at 1s.

{a} Amulet: Anything worn about the person as a charm or preventive against evil, mischief, disease, witchcraft, etc. OED.

The OCR quality of this sermon was poor and contained many spurious comas, italics and corrupted or missing words. Editor.