ON FAITH.
Liverpool, June 1, 1847.
Reverend and Dear Sir,—The next subject to which I will invite your careful consideration, is that of FAITH.
Do not be surprised that I should attempt the investigation of a subject so common-place, with the view of imparting any new or useful instruction. The numerous elaborate treatises that have heretofore been bestowed upon this subject, have, I boldly aver, been like Goliath's armour against David—massive and imposing, but, at the same time, alike inapplicable and ineffectual to the case at issue.
In order that you may be apprised of my position, without needless circumlocution, I here distinctly observe, that there neither is, nor ever was, any gospel or saving faith, in former or latter days, but the faith of miracles, or the faith of immediate revelation. Can any man know God without faith? Certainly not. The gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation. To whom? To the unbelieving? No! but to them that have faith. The gospel of Christ is, then, brought only to such as have faith. But what faith are they to have in order to receive it? The answer, is the faith of immediate revelation, or of the supernatural agency of the Holy Spirit.
Now, sir, I ask you to listen a moment, and hear what the voice of God says to you and me on this subject. The righteousness of God is revealed from FAITH to FAITH. Here, it is conceived, my position is invincibly fortified beyond the power of rational conquest. God's righteous will is revealed to FAITH. It is written, "The just shall live by faith." By what faith shall the just live? Surely, nothing less than the faith of immediate revelation. The fact that God's will was revealed to the faith of the Saints anciently, does not supersede the necessity of his will being revealed to your faith and to my faith now.
The ancients could not believe for us; or, in other words, their faith could not be a substitute for our faith. "He that believeth not," for himself, "shall be damned." Neither could a revelation to them be necessarily a revelation to us. A revelation to Noah to build an ark, is not suited to Abraham, or Peter, or Francis Wayland, or Dr. Chalmers. No man, in this day, can know that God ever revealed himself to Noah, or Abraham, unless it is now revealed to him from heaven; and he cannot know that it is revealed from heaven to him now, unless he has faith unto himself before God; and this faith which he must exercise for himself, is the faith of revelation, or the faith of miracles.
What ailed the Judaic churches in Christ's day? They certainly believed on Moses and Abraham, and made habitual sacrifices in support of their faith. Paul was a bright example of sincerity and fidelity in support of the Judaic faith. He verily thought that he ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. But was the faith of Paul, and of the Judaic church generally, the faith of immediate revelation or the faith of miracles? By no means. Paul originally, and his associates in the ministry, believed the Mosaic scriptures from tradition and education, and not from immediate revelation. They, indeed, believed that Abraham, and Moses, and Samuel, and Noah, had the faith of miracles, and enjoyed immediate revelation, and the spirit of prophecy, &c. They believed that such an high order of faith as prevailed in the Mosaic and prophetic days was no longer necessary. (But, afterwards, Paul concedes that one in his own state was one in ignorance and unbelief.)
Hence the spirit of prophecy, spoken of by Joel, as poured out in the apostolic day, was, in their estimation uncalled for. They supposed the canon of scripture was sufficiently full, when the prophet Malachi finished his testimony, and closed up the age of miracles! Men may sincerely believe the Bible, as many of the sects do believe it, without having it revealed from heaven that the Bible is true, and it will never save them. They may believe the Bible even without knowing God; for the simple reason, that no man can know God without God reveals himself to him. This was the condition of the Judaic church. Many of them sincerely believed the Mosaic writings, but detested and rejected the principle of immediate revelation, by which alone they could know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he had sent. If they had believed heartily in the doctrine of immediate revelation to all believers, in all ages, they would have known Jesus Christ to be the Messiah, as well as Moses, or Abraham, who saw his day, and was glad. On the same principle, dear sir. Christian denominations, in this day, believe the apostolic scriptures sincerely, and do many things accordingly; but rejecting the principle of immediate revelation to them-ward, they neither know Jesus Christ nor his prophet Joseph, nor the power of God, as it is revealed from faith to faith in our day.
We, sir, contend for the faith of miracles in our own day; but you and your associates contend against it. The disciples of Jesus contended for it, in their day; but the professed followers of Moses and Abraham contended against it. Now, sir, to which of these sides do you belong? Can you find that any people, who ever contended against the faith of immediate revelation and miracles, such as was maintained by Samuel, Abraham, Barak, Daniel, and Noah, ever prospered. Is there a single instance in scripture, from Genesis to Revelations, where God manifests any fellowship for any faith short of a faith of miracles and immediate revelation? If an inferior kind of faith has been got up since the New Testament age, is it not well to inquire from whence it has sprung, and what is the scriptural basis of its support? If such an inferior faith is not revealed from heaven, it must certainly be from beneath, and, consequently earthly, and sensual, and devilish. If it springs from the precepts of men, and not from the direct and positive revelation of God, it ought surely to be abandoned and forsaken at once. When men believe the Old and New Testament scriptures from tradition, and the lips of a ministry that is not sent out and called by immediate revelation from heaven, their faith is dead; and all such as float in this broad stream of traditionary faith, are not and cannot be built up as lively stones to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God.