Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1347
Delivered on Lord’s-Day Morning, April 1, 1877
“Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by Grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the Law, but to that, also, which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all.” Romans 4:16.
WE shall turn during yet another Sabbath morning to one of the great vital Truths of the Gospel. I feel it to be more and more important to bring forward the fundamental doctrines since they are, in certain quarters, placed so much in the background. I met with a remark the other day that even the evangelical pulpit needs to be evangelized—I am afraid it is too true and, therefore, we will give such prominence to the Gospel and to its central Doctrine of Justification by Faith, that no such remark shall be applicable to us. We have heard it said that if an instrument could be invented which would serve the same purpose towards sermons as the lactometer does towards milk, you would, with great difficulty, be able to discover any trace of the unadulterated milk of the Word of God in large numbers of modern discourses.
I shall not subscribe to any sweeping censure, but I am afraid there is too much ground for the accusation. In abundance of sermons, the polish of the rhetoric is greatly in excess of the weight of the doctrine and “the wisdom of words” is far more conspicuous than the Cross of Christ. Besides, the Gospel is always needed. There are always some persons who urgently need it and will perish unless they receive it. It is a matter of hourly necessity! There may be finer and more artistic things to speak about than the simplicities of Christ, but there are certainly no more useful and requisite things.
The signposts at the crossroads bear very simple words, generally consisting of the names of the towns and villages to which the roads lead. But if these were painted out and their places supplied with stanzas from Byron, or stately lines from Milton, or deep thoughts from Cowper or Young, I am afraid there would be grievous complaints from persons losing their way! They would declare that however excellent the poetry might be, they thought it an impertinence to mock them with a verse when they needed plain directions as to the king’s highway! So let those who will, indulge in poetical thoughts and express them in high-flown language—it shall be ours to set up the signposts marking out the way of salvation and to keep them painted in letters large and plain—so that he who runs may read.
There is another reason for giving the Gospel over and over, again and again. It is the reason which makes the mother tell her child 20 times, namely, because 19 times are not enough! Men are so forgetful about the things of Christ and their minds are so apt to step aside from the Truth of God, that when they have learned the Gospel they are very easily bewitched by falsehood and are readily deceived by that “other gospel” which is not another! Therefore we need to give them “line upon line and precept upon precept.” I scarcely remember the old rustic rhyme, but I remember hearing it sung in my boyish days when the country people were planting beans according to the old plan of putting three into each hole—I think it ran thus—
“One for the worm and one for the crow, And let us hope the other will grow.” We must be content to plant many seeds in the hope that one will take root and bear fruit! The worm and crow are always at work and will be sure to get their full share of our sowing and, therefore, let us sow the more! Come we, then, to our text and to the Gospel of faith. Last Lord’s Day the theme was, “For whom is the Gospel meant?” And the reply was, for sinners. The question, today, is, “How is the Gospel received?” The answer is, by faith. Our first head shall be the fact— “it is of faith.” Secondly, the first reason for this— “that it might be by Grace.” And thirdly, the further reason— “to the end that the promise might be sure to all the seed.”
I. First, then, here is THE FACT—it is of faith. What does the “it” refer to? It is of faith. If you will read the context, I think you will consider that it refers to the promise, although some have said that the antecedent word or thought is, “the inheritance.” This matters very little, if at all—it may mean the inheritance, the Covenant, or the promise, for these are one. To give a wide word which will take in all—the blessedness which comes to a man in Christ, the blessedness promised by the Covenant of Grace is of faith—in one word, salvation is offaith!
And what is faith? It is believing the promise of God, taking God at His word and acting upon that belief by trusting in Him. Some of the Puritans used to divide faith improperly, but still instructively, into three parts. The first was self-renunciation, which is, perhaps, rather a preparation for faith than faith itself. In it a man confesses that he cannot trust in himself and so goes out of self and all confidence in his own good works. The second part of faith, they said, was reliance in which a man, believing the promise of God, trusts Him, depends upon Him and leaves his soul in the Savior’s hands. And then they said the third part of faith was appropriation by which a man takes to himself that which God presents in the promise to the Believer—he appropriates it as his own, feeds upon it and enjoys it.