To attempt to do anything without either visible means, or faith in Him who is invisible, is foolish and uncomely.
The presence and use of visible means satisfy and assure the natural mind, and therefore self-reliance, however you may try to silence it, is acquired from the possession of means. It is plain that nothing can be done without one or the other. There must be either visible means to rest on, or there must be faith in the Invisible; and the tendency of every saint is to be so buoyed up by the possession of visible means, that the invisible is disregarded and overlooked. A man feels a self-confidence, and a sense of superiority in himself, when he is the possessor of effectual means; and, as he is, he is diverted from seeking or enjoying the invisible power. Faith counts on God when there is no such possession - no means. When Eve was influenced by what was visible, she had in heart given up God, for the influence of visible means emboldened her heart to turn from the word of God.
Now this is an influence which must ever address and ensnare the natural man; and hence faith in God, counting on Him who is invisible, was never connected with visible means; nay, it enabled the saint to act according to God, in spite of being opposed by the greatest visible means, thus showing that there was invisible power where there was no visible means; for visible means are a support to the possessor of them, and thus they take the place of faith. In every instance we see that when faith works, it is independent of visible means. Abram is called to break with all visible supports, and to come into the "land that I will shew thee". "And he went out, not knowing whither he went". No one will deny that faith acts independently of means; but what I desire to show is, that visible means hinder faith, when possessed and used by the saint; though, to the man of faith, they are as nothing, when in the hands of his opponent. The green fields of Sodom met the eye of Lot, when he turned from faith. The visible becomes the ready support and attraction of the heart that drops from faith.
The difficulty is to be superior to the visible thing; and yet the heart of man is ever seduced by it, and he acquires confidence and consequence as he possesses it, but possession of it obscures faith. Israel forfeited their highest favour, because in seeking visible support, they refused to keep the sabbatical year. When they were captives in Babylon, and all visible means were in the hands of their enemies, then the faithful realized and testified that the power was invisible - that God was for them. The great kings had fire and lions wherewith to torture them, and make their power felt; but notwithstanding all, the power was with the servants of God. Fire is the greatest natural force, the lion is the strongest and fiercest of animals, but both were ineffectual before the invisible power. Since man's departure from God originated in his being alienated from Him by visible things, it must be the greatest evidence of restoration and new life when it is not the visible but the invisible, which sways him. Hence "whatever is not of faith is sin". If we turn to the scene of the thief on the cross, there we find grace coming forth in all its beauty and strength, rescuing the one degraded among men, by disclosing to his heart the Lamb of God, even He who died "the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God". The thief was not only enlightened in soul by beholding his Saviour in the Man who had "done nothing amiss", but also assured in heart that he would be with Him that day in the paradise of God. Visible means, then and there, were in great combination to exterminate both, while the invisible was accomplishing the greatest and most wonderful results; even in man being righteously delivered from judgment and the polluted place. What a triumph of the invisible power! Here all the means at man's disposal are used against God; and they betray an accommodation to man's evil which stamps them with their true character. They not only suit the natural man, but they support him against God. When our Lord warned His disciples, on the eve of His rejection, to remember Lot's wife, Luke 17:32, He taught them, chapter 13, that helplessness of any kind - the absence of any visible means, would not be their hindrance. Suffering or distress, exemplified in the case of the widow, should not tend to make them like Lot's wife. The powerless one, the little child, was the only one sure to enter the kingdom of God. But the one with possession of things visible is the one who is really hindered from entering. However, if we surrender the hindrance, be it house, land, or anything else, verse 29, we shall have a present reward; but if we retain it, some day or other it will be our scourge. At all events, at our Lord's death, the question of visible means, and of invisible power, was settled for every awakened soul.
Man and all his force was against Christ, and it appeared to succeed according to his evil purpose, but God triumphed over it all, and secured eternal blessings for man, while he betrayed his full evil and venom in directing all the means given him of God to put His Son to death. This culminating act of man's evil ought to teach us how the power God gave man is subject to man, and used by him for the worst purposes. It was given to Noah to repress evil, and now man has disqualified himself for ever from holding power, seeing that he has used all he had, to crucify the Son of God. Next, when we turn to the scene of Stephen's martyrdom, we see how all visible forces were directed against him in vain.
Apparently he was left unsupported and friendless, and yet never was any man more sustained by the invisible power; "being full of the Holy Spirit, having fixed his eyes on heaven, he saw the glory of God, and Jesus". He is at ease in the heavenly glory. Neither the gnashing of the teeth of the solemn council - the great religious conclave - nor the pain inflicted by the stoning of his body, in the least overcame him; he was not only tranquil and composed, but able to act for others. He knelt down and prayed for them, so superior was he to all their fierce combination. As man had closed all hope for himself as a mere man at the cross, so now all hope for the Jew on earth is closed at the death of Stephen, and the mantle of Stephen must be worn by every true saint now; that is, he must see that there is nought but death here, but that there is the bright glory with Jesus above, apart from any earthly hope. Now, when I come to the close of Paul's life, I learn another thing. Again, all the visible means are against him, and all his friends forsake him.
"At my first answer", he writes, "no man stood with me, but all men forsook me ... Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever", 2 Timothy 4: 16-18. He was on trial before the Roman tribunal; the saints were so intimidated that they forsook him; he had no visible support, but the Lord stood by him, and strengthened him. This is the view we get of the apostle, and I believe that, according as we are faithful, his mantle, as he is seen in this juncture, will fall upon us. All visible means here against us, even the desertion of our brethren, but if truly for the Lord, He will stand beside us, and though with hearts sorrowing for those who forsake us, yet we shall be encouraged, and enabled to maintain the proclamation of the truth, in deep, unquestioning assurance that we shall be delivered from every evil work, and preserved unto His heavenly kingdom. It only remains for me to notice the close of the history of the assembly up to the Lord's coming.
Philadelphia and Laodicea run down to the end in parallel streams. The former is characterized by having a "little power", but it is invisible; the latter, by what is visible. It has a great deal to say for itself, but Christ is outside the visible thing; the possessions have diverted the heart from Christ, and they boast themselves of having property, while they have not divine power. In Babylon's day there will be, as we have seen, assertion and assumption of all power; but our privilege is that we have power superior to all visible means; and our greatest glory here is to maintain, that, like Moses of old, we can endure as seeing Him who is invisible, and that when there is nothing to support or prop up the natural mind, we are happily dependent upon the invisible power; and that it is easier to do so when there is nothing to tempt or delude us; for when we have nothing, we can trust the Lord for everything. May the Lord teach us, and lead us on in this most blessed exercise and privilege, for His name's sake.
