264 SERMON CXII. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WALKING BY SIGHT, AND WALKING BY FAITH. "We walk by faith, not by sight.”—2 COR. v. 7. 1. How short is this description of real Christians! And yet how exceeding full! It comprehends, it sums up, the whole experience of those that are truly such, from the time they are born of God till they remove into Abraham's bosom. For, who are the we that are here spoken of? All that are true Christian believers. I say Christian, not Jewish, believers. All that are not only servants, but children, of God. All that have "the Spirit of adoption, crying in their hearts, Abba, Father." All that have "the Spirit of God witnessing with their spirits, that they are the sons of God." 2. All these, and these alone, can say, "We walk by faith, and not by sight." But before we can possibly "walk by faith," we must live by faith, and not by sight. And to all real Christians our Lord saith, "Because I live, ye live also:" ye live a life which the world, whether learned or unlearned, "know not of." "You that," like the world, "were dead in trespasses and sins, hath he quickened," and made alive; given you new senses,-spiritual senses, senses exercised to discern spiritual good and evil." 3. In order thoroughly to understand this important truth, it may be proper to consider the whole matter. All the children of men that are not born of God "walk by sight," having no higher principle. By sight, that is, by sense; a part being put for the whole; the sight for all the senses; the rather, because it is more noble and more extensive than any, or all the rest. There are but few objects which we can discern by the three inferior senses of taste, smell, and feeling; and none of these can take any cognisance of its object, unless it be brought into a direct contact with it. Hearing, it is true, has a larger sphere of action, and gives us some knowledge of things that are distant. But how small is that distance, suppose it were fifty or a hundred miles, compared to that between the earth and the sun! And what is even this in comparison of the distance of the sun, and moon, and the fixed stars! Yet the sight continually takes knowledge of objects even at this amazing distance. 4. By sight we take knowledge of the visible world, from the surface of the earth to the region of the fixed stars. But what is the world visible to us, but " a speck of creation," compared to the whole universe? to the invisible world?-that part of the creation which we cannot see at all, by reason of its distance; in the place of which, through the imperfection of our senses, we are presented with a universal blank. 5. But beside these innumerable objects which we cannot see by reason of their distance, have we not sufficient ground to believe that there are innumerable others of too delicate a nature to be discerned by any of our senses? Do not all men of unprejudiced reason allow the same thing, (the small number of materialists, or atheists, I cannot term men of reason,) that there is an invisible world, naturally such, as well as a visible one? But which of our senses is fine enough to take the least knowledge of this? We can no more perceive any part of this by our sight, than by our feeling Should we allow, with the ancient poet, that "Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth Unseen, both when we wake, and when we sleep;" should we allow, that the great Spirit, the Father of all, filleth both heaven and earth; yet is the finest of our senses utterly incapable of perceiving either Him or them. 6. All our external senses are evidently adapted to 4 IV.--X this external, visible world. They are designed to serve us only while we sojourn here,-while we dwell in these houses of clay. They have nothing to do with the invisible world; they are not adapted to it. And they can take no more cognisance of the eternal than of the invisible world; although we are as fully assured of the existence of this, as of any thing in the present world. We cannot think death puts a period to our being. The body indeed returns to dust; but the soul, being of a nobler nature, is not affected thereby. There is, therefore, an eternal world, of what kind soever it be. But how shall we attain the knowledge of this? What will teach us to draw aside the veil "that hangs 'twixt mortal and immortal being?" We all know, "the vast, the unbounded prospect lies before us;" but we are constrained to add, "Yet clouds, alas! and darkness rest upon it." " 7. The most excellent of our senses, it is undeniably plain, can give us no assistance herein. And what can our boasted reason do? It is now universally allowed, Nihil est in intellectu quod non fuit prius in sensu : "Nothing is in the understanding, which was not first perceived by some of the senses.' Consequently, the understanding, having here nothing to work upon, can afford us no help at all. So that, in spite of all the information we can gain, either from sense or reason, both the invisible and eternal world are unknown to all that "walk by sight." 8. But is there no help? Must they remain in total darkness concerning the invisible and the eternal world? We cannot affirm this: even the heathens did not all remain in total darkness concerning them. Some few rays of light have, in all ages and nations, gleamed through the shade. Some light they derived from various fountains touching the invisible world. "The heavens declared the glory of God," though not to their outward sight: "the firmament showed," to the eyes of their understanding, the existence of their Maker. From the creation they inferred the being of a Creator, power ful and wise, just and merciful. And hence they concluded, there must be an eternal world, a future state, to commence after the present; wherein the justice of God in punishing wicked men, and his mercy in rewarding the righteous, will be openly and undeniably displayed in the sight of all intelligent creatures. 9. We may likewise reasonably suppose, that some traces of knowledge, both with regard to the invisible and the eternal world, were delivered down from Noah and his children, both to their immediate and remote descendants. And however these were obscured or disguised by the addition of numberless fables, yet something of truth was still mingled with them, and these streaks of light prevented utter darkness. Add to this that God never, in any age or nation, "left himself” quite "without a witness in the" hearts of men; but while he gave them rain and fruitful seasons," imparted some imperfect knowledge of the Giver. "He is the true Light that" still, in some degree, "enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world." 10. But all these lights put together availed no further than to produce a faint twilight. It gave them, even the most enlightened of them, no exɛyxos, no demonstration, no demonstrative conviction, either of the invisible or of the eternal world. Our philosophical poet justly terms Socrates "the wisest of all moral men;" that is, of all that were not favoured with Divine revelation. Yet what evidence had he of another world when he addressed those that had condemned him to death ?—" And now, O ye judges, ye are going to live, and I am going to die. Which of these is best, God knows; but I suppose no man does." Alas! what a confession is this! Is this all the evidence that poor dying Socrates had, either of an invisible or an eternal world? And yet even this is preferable to the light of the great and good Emperor Adrian. Remember, ye modern heathens, and copy after, his pathetic address to his parting soul. For fear I should puzzle you with Latin, I give it you in Prior's fine translation:- "Poor, little, pretty, fluttering thing, Must we no longer live together? And dost thou prune thy trembling wing To take thy flight thou know'st not whither? Lies all neglected, all forgot! And pensive, wavering, melancholy, Thou hopest and fear'st, thou know'st not what." 11. "Thou know'st not what!" True, there was no knowledge of what was to be hoped or feared after death, till "the Sun of Righteousness" arose, to dispel all their vain conjectures, and brought life and immortality," that is, immortal life, "to light, through the gospel." Then (and not till then, unless in some rare instances) God revealed, unveiled the invisible world. He then revealed himself to the children of men. "The Father revealed the Son" in their hearts; and the Son revealed the Father. He that of old time "commanded light to shine out of darkness shined in their hearts, and enlightened them with the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." 12. It is where sense can be of no further use, that faith comes in to our help; it is the grand desideratum; it does what none of the senses can; no, not with all the helps that art hath invented. however improved by the skill and succeeding ages, do not enable us to covery of these unknown regions. the occasions for which they were formed in the present visible world. All our instruments, labour of so many make the least disThey barely serve 13. How different is the case, how vast the pre-eminence, of them that "walk by faith!" God, having "opened the eyes of their understanding," pours divine light into their soul; whereby they are enabled to "see Him that is invisible," to see God and the things of God. What their "eye had not seen, nor their ear heard, neither had it entered into the heart to conceive," God from time to time reveals to them by the "unction of the Holy One, which teacheth them of all things." Having "entered into the holiest by the blood of Jesus," |