Dear Friends,
There is hardly another thing that more puts the reality of our spiritual life to the test than the inner conflicts of temptation that arise within us, due to the outward circumstances that sometimes surround us. Very often we miss this point, and we are inclined to imagine that the outward evil of a situation in which we find ourselves is the great issue with which we must contend; and yet, most often this is not the case at all. Generally speaking, the real issue in a trial, or circumstance, or situation, is not the outward aspects of it, but the inward reactions that it is going to produce on our hearts and minds, and, therefore, on our spiritual well-being and existence. Thus, as we say, in fact, the reality of our spiritual life is put to the test, not by the outward things that surround us, but by our inward reactions to those things.
This area of the Christian life is beautifully borne out in that famous eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews. We all readily recognise the chapter as setting forth the great conquests of faith wrought at the hands of those gallant Old Testament saints. And, indeed, it is all that. How it should ever inspire the Church of Christ to realise that it is surrounded by “so great a cloud of witnesses” those, whom John Calvin says, “were guided to heaven by only a shaft of light”. But, as we read of them being “stoned,” and “sawn asunder,” and “slain with the sword;” and being “destitute,” “scourged,” and “afflicted,” let us never forget that they were flesh and blood, just as we are. They were not “paper people!” – the creation of some talented author; they were the people of God, under persecution for the sake of the things of God.
Once we remember that, then we readily see that area of the Christian life that we have mentioned; for, tucked away in the 37th verse of that Hebrews chapter 11 is one very telling wee phrase. Says Paul, “they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted …” That’s the phrase; “they were tempted”. In other words, the outward aspect of the stonings and everything else was one thing, but there was something else, as well: - there was an inner conflict and crisis of faith as they were forced to weigh-up what was happening to them. And because they were flesh and blood, then, says the apostle Paul aright, “they were tempted”. The stones beat down upon their bodies, the swords made great gashes in their flesh; but there was another conflict, capable of inflicting deeper wounds, and it was being fought out in their innermost souls, and they could only gain the victory through their faith beholding “the evidence of things not seen”.
In this country today, we have no stakes, or bonds, or imprisonments for the sake of the gospel, but we do have temptations. We are faced with issues, and pressures, and accepted standards which can cause a turmoil in our hearts and minds; and it is, so often, within our hearts and minds that we are first called to be martyrs for the faith. How often we must fight against the temptation to follow that which is most easy and pleasing to the self-life; and how many arguments our natures can set before us to do just that. “The cause makes the martyr,” we say, and although we can’t all be “stoned,” or “sawn asunder” for the cause of the gospel, we can all be tempted for the cause, and therein lies the battle for true spirituality. Circumstances may change, but no matter how they change, they will still react on the inner life of the child of God. And there – in that inner life – the child of God is tempted and must learn not to “yield” to the temptations. Noah had to fight the temptation of running contrary to public opinion as he laboured away on the ark; Abraham, Moses, and all the other valiants fought inward struggles as they faced outward situations. Before those old saints overcame the sword, or the stone, or the rack, they first of all, had to overcome the heart and the mind, the emotions and the flesh, the thoughts, and the feelings; they were tempted. One of the fiercest battles that John Bunyan had to win was, not the thought of the bars on the windows of Bedford’s jail, but the thought of the poor blind daughter that he was leaving behind on the other side of those bars.
We may settle it in our hearts, whatever else the Lord’s people will know until Christ shall come, they will know temptation. So, it is ever-important to know that there is a victory that overcometh the world (in all its fashions and workings), even your faith. It is no wonder, then, that we read that all those who were stoned, and sawn asunder, and scourged and tempted, did all that they did, “by faith”. It was faith that worked within, ultimately dealt with the temptation that raised its head there and then, learnt to view aright that which appeared before their eyes. Let our faith ever interpret our circumstances; God forbid that our circumstances should misinterpret our faith.