Let him drink
Charles Spurgeon once said in talking on Christ’ call to man the following; “You have no belief and no repentance, -come to him, and he will give them to you. Come just as you are, and take “Freely”“. It strikes me as just plain odd that Spurgeon the great preacher of his day would say such a thing as this. How counter to our own concept of all things “christian” does this saying seem to be to our modern interpretation? We so often think that the process of faith in which one must “come” in faith in order to be counted as faithful. More so we carry this into our walk as believers. We do not ask because we don not believe. We do not trust because well, we don’t trust. However, Spurgeon here would scold us. This great man would in short profain us to go inspire of our unbelieving hearts, Spurgeon would say continue on good Christian soldier knowing that in spite of your unbelief God will carry you through. William Cowper in one of his many hymns and poems wrote, “Decide this doubt for me”… Is that not more the faith that we should have? One in which we might acknowledge our own insufficient faith, doubting often, as Cowper proclaimed but all the while pleading with God to “decide” the issue for us. In our modern church we have come to see faith as a standardized test. We think so often that we must ask and answer, seek and find. However, is this the model which we see in our faithful fathers before us? Did Abraham know the land before God showed him? Did Joseph know the Pharaohs graces before his terrible imprisonment? Did Moses know the other side of the sea before it had been split? Furthermore, were those acts defined and sustained by their faith? I would say decidedly no! The fact is that the acts were sustained not by some symbiotic relationship between man and God but rather by Gods power and care. Gods ability to prosper us is not based on our ability to be faithful. We have no faith apart from that given us by God. We call in spite of our trembling voice, we walk in spite of our weak knees, we carry on only because we know in the end God will be glorified and sustain Himself. He has latched our well-being to His glorification, that is why there is a covenant. If He could (and I say that lightly) fail us than His own covenant would be worthless. The greatest grace God has ever given man is that he has bound Himself to us by His word and sealed it with the blood of His own son. If we fail He fails, that is not an option.
