As gold is the most precious among the metals, so is faith among the graces. Faith cuts us off from the wild olive of nature, and grafts us into Christ. Faith is the vital artery of the soul: “The just shall live by his faith” (Hab. 2:4). Such as are destitute of faith may breathe, but they lack life. Faith enlivens the graces; not a grace stirs till faith sets it working.
Faith is to the soul what the animal spirits are to the body, exciting lively activity in it. Faith excites repentance. When I believe God’s love to me, this makes me weep that I should sin against so good a God. Faith is the mother of hope; first we believe the promise, then we hope for it. Faith is the oil which feeds the lamp of hope. Faith and hope are two turtle-dove graces; take away one, and the other languishes.
If the sinews are cut, the body is lame; if this sinew of faith is cut, hope is lame. Faith is the ground of patience; he who believes that God is his God, and that all providences work for his good, patiently yields himself to the will of God. Thus faith is a living principle.
And the life of a saint is nothing but a life of faith. His prayer is the breathing of faith (Jas. 5:15). His obedience is the result of faith (Rom. 16:26). A godly man by faith lives in Christ, as the beam lives in the sun: “I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Gal. 2:20). A Christian by the power of faith sees above reason, trades above the moon (2 Cor. 4:18). By faith his heart is lively quietened; he trusts himself and all his affairs to God (Psa. 112:7). As in a time of war, men get into a garrison and trust themselves and their treasures there, so “the name of the Lord is a strong tower” (Prov. 18:10), and a believer trusts all that ever he is worth in this garrison. “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day” (2 Tim. 1:12). God trusted Paul with his gospel, and Paul trusted God with his soul.
Faith is a catholicon—a remedy against all troubles. It is a godly man’s sheet-anchor that he casts out into the sea of God’s mercy, and is kept from sinking in despair. “If only faith is firm, no ruin harms.”
Use: Let us test ourselves by this characteristic. Alas, how far from being godly are those who are destitute of faith! Such are altogether drowned in sense. Most men are spiritually purblind; they can only see just before them (2 Pet. 1:9). I have read of a people who are born with one eye. Such are they who are born with the eye of reason, but lack the eye of faith, who, because they do not see God with bodily eyes, do not believe in a god. They may as well not believe they have souls, because being spirits they cannot be seen.
Oh, where is he who lives in the heights, who has gone into the upper region and sees “things not seen” (Heb. 11:27)? “If men lived by faith, would they use sinful means for a livelihood?” (Chrysostom). If there were faith, would there be so much fraud? If theirs were living faith, would men, like dead fish, swim downstream? In this age there is scarcely so much faith to be found among men as there is among the devils, “for they believe and tremble”(Jas. 2:19).
It was a grave and serious comment of Mr. Greenham, that he feared not papism, but atheism would be England’s ruin. But I shall not expatiate, having written at greater length on this head in another discourse.
Faith and love are the two poles on which all religion turns. A true saint is carried in that chariot, “the midst whereof is paved with love” (Song 3:10). As faith enlivens, so love sweetens every duty. The sun mellows the fruit, so love mellows the services of religion, and gives them a better relish. A godly man is sick of love: “Lord, thou knowest that I love thee” (John 21:16). “Though, dear Savior, I denied thee, yet it was for lack of strength, not for lack of love.” God is the fountain and quintessence of goodness. His beauty and sweetness lay constraints of love upon a gracious heart. God is the saint’s portion (Psa. 119:57). And what more loved than a portion? “I would hate my own soul,” says Augustine, “if I found it not loving God.” A godly man loves God and therefore delights to be in his presence; he loves God and therefore takes comfort in nothing without him.
“Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?” (Song 3:3). The pious soul loves God and therefore thirsts for him. The more he has of God, the more still he desires. A sip of the wine of the Spirit whets the appetite for more. The soul loves God and therefore rejoices to think “of his appearing” (2 Tim. 4:8). He loves him and therefore longs to be with him. Christ was in Paul’s heart, and Paul would be in Christ’s bosom (Phil. 1:23). When the soul is once like God, it would gladly be with God. A gracious heart cries out, “Oh that I had wings,” that I might fly away, and he with my love, Christ. The bird desires to be out of the cage, though it is hung with pearl.
A godly man loves God, though he is reduced to straits. A mother and her nine-year-old child were about to die of hunger. The child looked at its mother and said, “Mother, do you think God will starve us?” “No, child,” said the mother, “he will not.” The child replied, “But if he does, we must love him, and serve him.”
Use: Let us test our godliness by this touch-stone: Do we love God? Is he our treasure and center? Can we, with David, call God our “joy”, yes, our “exceeding joy” (Psa. 43:4)? Do we delight in drawing near to him, and “come before his presence with singing”(Psa. 100:2)? Do we love him for his beauty more than his jewels? Do we love him, when he seems not to love us?
If this be the sign of a godly man, how few will be found in the number! Where is the man whose heart is dilated in love to God? Many court him, but few love him. People are for the most part eaten up with self-love; they love their ease, their worldly profit, their lusts, but they do not have a drop of love to God. If they loved God, would they he so willing to be rid of him? “They say unto God, Depart from us” (Job 21:14). If they loved God, would they tear his name by their oaths? Does he who shoots his father in the heart love him? Though they worship God, they do not love him;they are like the soldiers who bowed the knee to Christ, and mocked him” (Matt. 27:29). He whose heart is a grave in which the love of God is buried, deserves to have that curse written upon his tombstone, “Let him be Anathema Maranatha” (I Cor. 16:22). A soul devoid of divine love is a temper that best suits damned spirits. But I shall waive this, and pass to the next.
Excerpted and edited from The Godly Man’s Picture.
Copyright Jim Ehrhard, 1999. You are permitted to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that: (1) you credit the author; (2) any modifications are clearly marked; (3) you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction; and (4) you do not make more than 100 copies without permission. If you would like to post this material to your web site or make any use other than as defined above, please contact Teaching Resources International
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