WE WALK BY FAITH by Uriah Smith

Publishing Committee · Rochester, N. Y. · May 29, 1855

"WE WALK BY FAITH."

By Uriah Smith

"We walk by faith, not by sight," is the declaration of the Apostle. Thus the veil is raised and we are permitted to behold at once the secret of the Christian's life. From the days of Abel to the present, we have seen the people of God a peculiar people, shunning the broad road in which the world travels, disregarding the things of time and sense, moving in a different channel from the gay and heedless throng of sinners, in poverty and persecution always the same, overlooking the present, and resting on some glorious hope in the future. Here we find the secret motive which prompted their peculiar lives—they walked by faith, not by sight. They looked not at the things which are seen which are temporal, but at the things which are not seen which are eternal; and while contemplating the objects of their faith, we hear them burst forth in exclamations like these: Says Enoch, "Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints." Jude 14. Says David, "O how great is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee." Ps. xxxi, 19. And again he exclaims, "Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God." Ps. lxxxvii, 3. Says Isaiah, "Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away." Chap. li, 11. And again, "For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him." Chap. lxiv, 4. And Paul entering into the same spirit thus quotes the words of the Prophet: "But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." 1 Cor. ii, 9.

We walk by faith not by sight. Nor is this the rule of the christian's life for one age only, but for all ages. No sooner do we behold man by transgression sinking into the abyss of mortality, losing right to the tree of life, and wandering from the gate of Paradise, than the promise is given that the woman's seed shall bruise the serpent's head. The great plan of Salvation begins to be unfolded, and the eye of faith is permitted to look forward to the time, when the Second Adam shall raise his children again from the abyss into which they have fallen, shall lead them back through the gates of Paradise, shall find again the tree of life, and grant them a double restoration to all its glories. Till that day arrives, it remains the leading object of our faith. It is no less so to us than it was to the patriarchs of old. Did Abraham look for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God? So do we. Were the ancient worthies pilgrims and strangers on the earth? So are we. Did they look for a better country, even a heavenly? So do we. Between their hope and ours there is this difference only: They beheld the promises afar off, and were persuaded of them; while we behold them near at hand; for now God's salvation is near to come and his righteousness to be revealed. Isa. lvi, 1. But why did they consent to be thus pilgrims and strangers on the earth? Why did they endure tortures, and trials of cruel mockings and scourgings, of bonds and imprisonment? Why were they stoned and sawn asunder, tempted and slain with the sword, wandering about in sheep-skins and goatskins, destitute, afflicted, tormented, not accepting deliverance? It was that they might obtain a better resurrection; for they walked by faith, not by sight. Heb. xi. What then shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? shall death, or life, or angels, or principalities, or powers, or things present, or things to come, or height, or depth, or any other creature? for with Paul we are to consider that "our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory: while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal: but the things which are not seen are eternal."

We walk by faith, not by sight. This is our consolation in the darkest hours. It lets into our souls the light of the future world when the darkness of this becomes impenetrable. It points us to the joys and glories of the life which is to be revealed, when the sorrows of that which now is, press too heavily upon us. It brings to view the rest that remains for the people of God, when we are ready to faint by the toils of the way. And when, if we were dependent on outward appearances alone, for our encouragement, our hope would sink into entire oblivion, it animates us with new life and energy by bidding us remember the things that God in his eternal purpose of mercy and truth has reserved in store for those that love him.

We walk by faith, not by sight, is our answer to the doubt-suggesting Tempter, the allurements of the world and the mockeries of the wicked. Faith, says the Apostle, is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. We walk as seeing things which we do not see, but which God has promised, and we therefore believe.

The world may spread before us its most enticing allurements, it may raise in our ears its sweetest siren songs; but faith hears in the near future, that universal song of Jubilee, in which every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them shall be heard, saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever. And the four beasts shall say, Amen. And the four and twenty elders shall fall down and worship him that liveth for ever and ever; [Rev. v, 13, 14;] and earnestly longing to participate in that, she is contented to shut her ears to the present and patiently wait for the coming day.

Since then we walk by faith, not by sight, what is our duty? Says the Apostle, We are saved by hope; but hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Rom. viii, 24. Our duty then is to act out our faith, waiting patiently for its accomplishment looking unto Christ who is its author and finisher. "Here is the patience of the saints," says the Revelator; and our Saviour has told us, "In your patience possess ye your souls." And if the vision should seem to tarry, and the prophecies be tardy of fulfillment, and the deceiver of our souls should endeavor to make the duty of watching monotonous, wearisome and useless, then it is ours to remember that we walk by faith and not by sight, and that the great storm is surely though silently approaching. It is only the scoffers and the blind that say that all things continue as they were, and demand a promise of his coming. So must we hold ourselves waiting and watching, with our loins girded with truth, till that day comes—and behold it is not far distant—when we shall no longer walk by faith alone; when our prayer shall be turned to praise and our faith to sight.