Now, what is Faith? It is "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen:" that is to say, it is a full and assured trust and confidence in Christ, that the things hoped for will be finally obtained, and the things not seen will be fully manifested to our senses. It is such a trust and confidence as realises the immediate possession of them to our minds, so that we regard not any pain or difficulty we meet with in the pursuit, resting upon an Omnipotent God, by whose strength in us every obstacle will be gradually removed, and a complete victory at length secured. Why then, O Christian, shouldst thou despair of success? If thou hast hitherto been striving in thine own strength, and depended upon the power of thine own weak resolution, it is no wonder thou hast made such small advances. "Without me, ye can do nothing," says our Blessed Redeemer. "I can do all things through Christ strengthening me," says his experienced Apostle.
When we repose so much confidence in a friend, as to entrust him with the whole management of our temporal affairs, looking to him in every instance, and upon the least appearance of difficulty or embarrassment, running to him for counsel, and implicitly following his directions, from a thorough conviction of our own ignorance, of his superior skill in business, and his known regard and attachment to us; we are then said to have faith in such a friend.
And canst thou not, O Christian, have as much Faith in thy Saviour, as one frail mortal has in another? When temptations rise, when dangers threaten, when enemies attack us from within and from without, so that our souls are hard beset, and we know not how to extricate ourselves from the perilous situation; can we not fly with confidence to our Heavenly Friend, ask his counsel, and entreat his powerful interposition in our behalf? He is ever ready and willing to come to our succour. Nothing is wanting but Faith on our part; and "according to our Faith, so shall it be done unto us."
We are not, however, to expect that this Victory will be easily or speedily obtained. The Canaanites were suffered to keep possession of the land of promise for a considerable time, lest the Children of Israel, instead of ascribing the glory of the conquest solely to the Lord of Hosts, should vainly arrogate it to themselves, and, in consequence of this, lose all sense of their dependence upon him. Many strong and powerful temptations may be permitted to remain unsubdued, to exercise the Christian's Faith, to keep him humble, and duly sensible of his own weakness and inability.
Besides, there is a wonderful analogy betwixt natural and spiritual things. The Child of Grace, as well as the Child of Nature, must have a gradual growth, during which many an anxious interval, many a severe pang, many an arduous conflict, must be endured. For let this truth be ever present to our minds, that the Inward Man increases in strength, in proportion as the outward man weakens and decays; and the earthly nature must be totally subdued, before "the Born of God" can attain the "measure of the stature of the fulness, which is in Christ."
Nor let what hath been said discourage those sincere and upright minds, who have but lately turned their backs upon the world, and entered into the school of Christ. Our trials are always suited to our strength: "GOD will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able to bear." The Child, the Young Man, and the Father in Christ, have exercises proper to their different states; they are led on to glory by an unerring hand, which supports them by its invisible, but powerful influence, through the most rugged thorny paths of the Christian course.
There is no spiritual adversary too strong for the Christian, that engages in the Strength of his Redeemer. David, though a stripling, vanquished with ease the giant of Gath, because "he went out against him," not in his own strength, but in "the Name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel." The world, with all its temptations and allurements, will be as easily overcome by him, who is truly "born of God," as the uncircumcised Philistine was by the hand of David.
To conclude: A worldly spirit is one of the greatest enemies we have to encounter, because it insinuates itself into our hearts under as many different forms, as there are different earthly desires predominant. The man of business, according to the more common acceptation of the phrase, hath obtained the name of a worldly man. But the truth is, wherever a worldly temper prevails, whether it manifests itself in the pursuit of wealth, or honour, or pleasure, or literary applause, or indeed of any object, interest, or end, that is confined merely to this transient state of things; there is the Worldly Spirit, the foe to our real happiness, the "man of sin, the son of perdition;" from which may God of his infinite mercy deliver us, for the sake of the Son of his Love, Christ Jesus our Saviour!