Street Meeting Twenty Fourth

We are but finite creatures, tethered to the testimony of our senses and dependent upon what our human faculties provide. Faith in the unseen is a concept foreign to our fallen nature; it is a seed planted in a soil that naturally rejects it. We find that we never possess enough of it, and while our days endure, we shall always stand in desperate need of more.

It is already difficulty enough to even trust in the things that we see and perceive, yet who among the sons of Adam truly believes in that which is beyond our sight, or in a promise that is yet to be fulfilled? Our sight is short, and our hearts are prone to demand evidence, yet the Lord Jesus calls us to follow that path He walked that defies the evidence of the flesh. To believe without seeing is a work not of man, but of a sovereign grace that sustains the soul when the world offers nothing but shadows.

What a man perceives as true concerning the future will inevitably govern how he walks in the present. If he holds no conviction for what lies ahead, he will find no reason to aspire toward it now; instead, he will squander his days, wasting his strength away upon the fleeting vanities of the moment while hiding behind religious formalities. 

Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

John 20:29

"To live without a view of the eternal is to be a man adrift, making the most of a meager pittance of time while the vast wealth of the promised future is ignored. He who sees nothing beyond the horizon of the grave will inevitably live a life that is small, centered only on the preservation of his own dust. But for the soul that believes in the unseen promise, the present becomes a theater of preparation. His life is no longer a frantic waste, but a deliberate advancement toward a sure destination. To a follower of the Christ, his hope in the promises of his Lord is the very rudder that steers his earthly course. He that would be saved must stand ready to surrender life itself, should the Lord require it, to lay hold of that eternal salvation. He must be willing to bury his affection for this world—with all its hollow riches, fleeting honors, and shadowed pleasures—resting in the absolute conviction that by such a sowing, he shall reap a harvest far more glorious, both in this present pilgrimage and in the life to come.

He who clings to the life that now is, loving it so intemperately that he cannot deny himself for the sake of his soul, shall wake at length to find he has lost all. He, on the contrary, who is prepared to cast aside every dear thing that obstructs the path of his soul will discover in the end that he is no loser. Indeed, his earthly losses shall prove to be but dust when weighed against his heavenly gains. To the eye of the world, he is a man who has poorly lost; to the eye of faith, he is a man truly enriched.

This brand of Christianity finds little favor among men; it is too narrow, too stark, and too heavy for the refined tastes of the age. To serve Christ with a mere tribute of words and the cold performance of routine is a light burden, and because it is easy, it suffices for the many. But to follow Him daily in a living faith demands a labor and a wrestling of the soul that the general populace is loath to endure. This path is a gauntlet of ridicule, of opposition, and at times, of persecution—oftentimes the only wages this world pays to those who truly bear the name of Christ. Yet, let the soul not be dismayed, for the world’s disdain is but a seal of the Master’s approval. ~J.C. Ryle

To be cast out by the city of man is to be brought closer to the city of God, and though the way be hard and the rewards of earth be none, the welcome of the King is a sufficient portion for those who had faith to believe.

The reason for God regenerating a soul to be a Christian is the same purpose He had in choosing Israel as His own peculiar treasure: that all the world might know that He alone is both LORD and God. He does not quicken the dead heart merely for the comfort of the individual, but to set a monument of His mercy in the sight of the nations.

The dire need of the day is faith. Faith on the word of God. Faith on His promises, and on His threatenings. Faith that there is a last day; a day of accountability and reckoning. Faith that there is a day of opening the record books and counting all the idle words, the idle time wasted, and the idle talents buried and unused, of waters kept from the thirsty, of food kept from the hungry, of salvation kept from the world, and of faith hidden under the veil of formal religion, but reeking of the stench of cowardice. 

Still one who commends himself will object, “but I have faith in Christ,” as a candle unused will argue in the same way that it is a candle. He does not understand that faith is not a treasure to be stored, but a life to be spent. Christ asks the church the same question he asked his followers then, “Where is your faith?” (Luke 8:25)

You say you have faith. But I ask: Does your neighbor know? Has he seen and heard the fruit of this thing you profess to possess? Faith is not a secret flame to be shielded in a private chamber; it is a city set upon a hill that cannot be hid. If the life of God has truly been breathed into your spirit, it will manifest in a holy difference that arrests the attention of those around you. To claim a living faith while remaining indistinguishable from the rest of the dead churches of the world is a great delusion. Can a man carry the Spirit of God in his soul without the heat of his devotion warming those who cross his path? If your faith has not yet spoken to those who dwell beside you, consider if it be faith at all, or merely a cold corpse of doctrine dressed in sophisticated profession.

To possess the truth and remain silent is to invite the swiftest of judgments. Let us then shake off this apathy and lethargy and walk as those who must shortly give an account, for the Judge stands even at the door. If you say, “But, we did not know this,” the sovereign Lord who weighs the heart will know you are lying. He who keeps watch over your soul knows it, and He will repay you, O man, according to your apathy (Proverbs 24:12).