1 E. Hopkins, in The Keswick Week, 1900, p. 27. " Hudson Taylor.
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mouths of lious, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword. By faith Joseph exercised self-restraint, regarded sin as an offence to God, and said, " How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God ? " By faith men still overcome temptations, endure cruel mockings and scourgings, bear priva- tions and tortures, discharge duties, lay aside besetting sins, achieve the mastery over themselves and all their enemies.
^ Faith is not the mere sum of probabilities, conjecture, or reasonings of any kind. ... It implies the action of the affections and of the will, the exercise of all those inner powers of our being which the Hebrews called " the Heart." ^
^ Often enough our faith beforehand in an uncertified result is the only thiiig that makes the result come true. Suppose, for instance, that you are climbing a mountain, and have worked yourself into a position from which the only escape is by a terrible leap. Have faith that you can successfully make it, and your feet are nerved to its accomplishment. But mistrust yourself, and think of all the sweet things you have heard the scientists say of mayhes, and you will hesitate so long that, at last, all unstrung and trembling, and launching yourself in a moment of despair, you roll in the abyss.^
Yet over sorrow and over death Cometh at last a song that saith —
" This, this is the victory.
Even our faith." Love maketh all the crooked straight, And love bringeth love to all that wait, And laughter and light and dewy tear
To the hard, blind eyes of Fate. All shall look tenderly yet and free
Outside over the lea. And deep within the heart of me.
4. The Apostle speaks of the victory in the past tense, as if it were already accomplished. Our Lord Himself exclaimed, " In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." These words were uttered by Him in the Upper lloom in that hour when the burden of a great mystery rested upon Him, when He stood beneath the chilling shadow of the Cross itself before He descended into the valley of the
^ Edward King, 120. ' W. James, 2'hc frill to Believe, 59.
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Kidron, and crossing the brook, entered into Gethsemane, there amid the shadows of the Garden to pray more and more earnestly. Thus, before the conflict had as yet reached a deadly heat, [the note of victory was sounded. This was the joyous anticipation of One who knew that virtually the conflict was now over. That fact was the inspiring assurance which He gave to His disciples. They, too, would have very similar tribulations, though not in the same degree, but those troubles would not necessarily mean defeat to them. He had conquered the world, why need they therefore be dispirited ? The fact that He had conquered was the pledge of their final victory if they were His. He had supplied the great precedent. The world henceforth would be a conquered world. It would to the end of time have to acknowledge one total defeat at least. Christ, moreover, identified Himself with His followers, so that His conquering power should be also manifested in them.
5. The text does not say that faith is the means by which the world is overcome. It does not say that by faith the battle is fought and the victory is gained. It says that faith is the victory itself. It does not bid us marshal our forces against the world. It does not command us to contend with this or that evil. It does not require us to array on one side faith and on the other the world, and assure us that when the weary fight is done, through blood and toil and bitter contest, the latter shall be overcome. It draws us up into a higher plane. It leaves the world far below. It lets it move on for the time unheeded. It does not care for its hurried rush, its shout of defiance, its cry of victory. It places before the soul the eternal realities — heaven and hell, life and death, the power of the sacraments, the influence of prayer, the ministrations of the angels, the watchful love of an overruling Providence, and, above them all and in them all, the Incarnate Saviour uniting man and human nature to the Eternal God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Three in One and One in Three.
^ The one victory over the world is to bend it to serve me in the highest things — the attainment of a clearer vision of the Divine nature, the attainment of a deeper love to God Himself, and of a more glad consecration and service to Him. That is the victory — when you can make the world a ladder to lift you to
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God. That is its right use, that is victory, when all its tempting voices do not draw you away from listening to the Supreme Voice that bids you keep His commandments. When the world comes between you and God as an obscuring screen, it has conquered you. When the world comes between you and God as a transparent medium, you have conquered it. To win victory is to get it beneath your feet and stand upon it, and reach up thereby to God.^