Lesson 3: Four Things Necessary to a Good Life: (3) Faith
By G.R. Balleine
By G.R. Balleine
[Warning: Balleine was writing in the 1920s and 1930s, and his views reflect the beliefs of many at that time. However, as a time capsule of the prevailing beliefs, this can be very useful for the historians of that period.]
LESSON FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT.
PASSAGES TO BE READ: Numbers xvl. 26—xiv. 10.
TEXT TO BE LEARNT : " According to your faith be it unto you " (St. Matt. ix. 29).
HYMNS: “Oft in danger, oft in woe," and " Fight the good fight."
COLLECTS for Third Sunday in Advent and Fifth Sunday after Easter.
AIM : To make the class realize the important part that Faith must play if life is to be victorious.
I. HAVE FAITH IN YOURSELF.
(a) What would happen to a wild-beast tamer who went into a cage of lions for the first time full of fear and doubt and uncertainty, thinking, " I will try to conquer these animals, but I don't believe I can do it ; there may be men who could succeed, but I very much doubt whether I can " ? If he faced wild beasts in such a fashion, he would soon be torn to pieces. No one can tame lions without self-confidence.
(a) And it is not only lion-tamers who need faith in their own powers. The Israelites had come out of Egypt (Lesson I). They had been well taught at Sinai (Lesson II). , They had reached the edge of the Promised Land. But at the critical moment their courage began to ooze away, and cowardice disguised as prudence began to call for " further information." " We will send men before us, and they shall search out the land " (Deut. i. 22). So Moses chose twelve spies, one from each tribe. He felt sure that when they came back with reports of the beauty and richness of the land, the people would be eager to advance. After six weeks they returned, carrying on a pole an enormous bunch of grapes to show how fertile the land was. But most of them returned frightened and discouraged. " The people is greater and taller than we ; the cities are great, and walled up to heaven, and moreover we have seen giants there " (Deut. i. 28). One of them, Caleb, spoke up boldly, " Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able " ; and Joshua backed him up. But the others contradicted. " We be not able to go up, for the people are stronger than we ; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers " (Num. xiii. 33). Then the Israelites began to cry like babies. " They wept all that night." They said, " Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt ! Let us make a captain and return into Egypt." They gave up the prize that was within their reach. In such a frame of mind victory was impossible. They had to wander in the Wilderness for another forty years, till the cowards had died off, and a new generation had grown up to take their place. " They could not enter in because of unbelief " (Heb. iii. 19). Read Passage.
(c) The commander of an American man-of-war was being court-martialled for failing to capture a town that he had been ordered to take. He made all sorts of excuses, but the stern old admiral said, " You have not mentioned the chief reason: you did not believe you could do it."
(d) Some shops sell a motto to pin on the wall : " He can who thinks he can." This is not always true. Often we overestimate our powers. But, if we turn it into the negative, it is true every time without exception : " He can't who thinks he can't." No one can rise higher than his faith. No one can do a greater thing than he believes he can.
(a) So part of the secret of being good is to have more confidence in oneself. A fable says that a little lion-cub got lost in the forest. A sheep found him, and brought him up with her own lambs. For long he had no idea that he was anything but a sheep. If he saw a wolf or a dog, he fled for his life. But one day a lion's roar echoed through the hills. The cub pricked up his ears. Some chord awoke in his nature that had never been touched before. He found that he could roar too. He felt that he had it in him to become King of the Forest. Now, if he saw a dog or wolf, he chased them, and it was they who fled. So long as he thought himself a sheep, he behaved like a sheep. As soon as he discovered that he was a lion, he behaved like a king.
II. HAVE FAITH IN YOUR FELLOWS.
(a) Some of those Israelites may have said, " I should not mind going up myself, if I could be sure of the others. But they are such a feeble lot. They would be sure to run away at the first battle. If I had companions whom I could trust, I would invade the land eagerly." I do not know whether the Israelites actually said this, but many people to-day fail to do anything fine, because they cannot bring themselves to have faith in their fellows.
(b) Yet the only way to get the best out of people is to trust them. Remember the story of the boy King Richard II. London was in the hands of rioters who had followed Wat Tyler from Kent. The Tower had been captured. The Archbishop of Canterbury had been murdered. Then the young King, a boy of thirteen, rode alone into the ranks of the rioters. " Let me be your leader," he said. " Follow me into the fields, and we will discuss your grievances." His bold act of faith was entirely successful. The dangerous rioters proved to be decent reasonable Englishmen. A few charters were given, a few grievances were removed, and all the trouble was over.
(c) Think how our Lord trusted His cause to twelve quite ordinary working-men. They were far from perfect. They were not very brilliant or eloquent. One of them proved a traitor. Yet Christ trusted them. He went away, and left the whole future of His cause in their hands ; and in the long run His faith was justified.
III. HAVE FAITH IN GOD.
(a) But the chief reason why the Israelites ought to have gone bravely forward was because they should have felt that God would be with them, if they did their duty. " The Lord is with us," said Caleb and Joshua, " fear them not " (Num. xiv. 9). But they would not believe it. And many people fail to-day for the same reason.
(b) The story of Ezra gives a fine example of faith in God. He obtained permission from the King to lead a large band of Jewish captives back from Babylon to Palestine. They had before them a long march of four months across the desert. They knew that the desert was full of robber tribes of Arabs. A large part of their company consisted of women and little children. If the King had been asked, he would have granted an escort of horsemen to protect them. But Ezra would not ask. Why ? " I was ashamed to ask of the King a band of soldiers and horsemen, because we had spoken unto the King saying, The hand of our God is upon all them that seek Him " (Ezra viii. 22). They started on that journey with no protection but their trust in God, and they arrived safely.
(c) A great English statesman was once so worried over the condition of the country that he could not sleep at night. His man-servant noticed this, and plucked up courage to speak to him about it. " Excuse me, sir," he said, " but don't you think that God governed the world well before you came into it ? " " Undoubtedly He did." " And don't you think that He will govern it well when you are taken out of it ? " " Certainly He will." " Then don't you think you could trust Him to govern it while you are in it ? " To this he could give no answer. But the question had a good effect upon him. He stopped worrying. He cast away his fear. He trusted the country to God's keeping, and slept soundly every night.
(d) Two little boys were standing looking at a stained-glass window of Elijah in the chariot of fire. " My ! Charlie," one was overheard to say, " wouldn't you be afraid to ride in a chariot like that ! " " No," said Charlie, " I shouldn't be afraid, if I knew that the Lord was driving." He knew what Faith meant.
(e) Sometimes God cannot do for us what He wants to do, because we will not let Him. When the Indian Mutiny broke out, all white people had to fly for their lives to places of safety. One English officer suddenly remembered a little English girl, whose parents were away, and who was all alone in a house with native servants. At peril of his life he cut his way to the house to rescue her. He snatched her away from her black nurse, flung her on his horse, and fought his way out of the town. But his greatest difficulty came from the child herself. She did not believe in his good intentions. She fought, she kicked, she wriggled, she bit his hand and arm. Several times he almost had to drop her, because she would not believe in him. Sometimes we are like that child, through lack of Faith, doing all we can to thwart God's plans to save us.
(f) We are trying to learn some of the things that we need in order to be good. We have seen that we need to come out from all that we know to be wrong ; that we need to be educated in all that is right and true. To-day we have learnt that we need Faith—Faith in ourselves, Faith in our fellows, above all Faith in God. Let all repeat Text.
LESSON FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT.
PASSAGES TO BE READ: Numbers xvl. 26—xiv. 10.
TEXT TO BE LEARNT : " According to your faith be it unto you " (St. Matt. ix. 29).
HYMNS: “Oft in danger, oft in woe," and " Fight the good fight."
COLLECTS for Third Sunday in Advent and Fifth Sunday after Easter.
AIM : To make the class realize the important part that Faith must play if life is to be victorious.
I. HAVE FAITH IN YOURSELF.
(a) What would happen to a wild-beast tamer who went into a cage of lions for the first time full of fear and doubt and uncertainty, thinking, " I will try to conquer these animals, but I don't believe I can do it ; there may be men who could succeed, but I very much doubt whether I can " ? If he faced wild beasts in such a fashion, he would soon be torn to pieces. No one can tame lions without self-confidence.
(a) And it is not only lion-tamers who need faith in their own powers. The Israelites had come out of Egypt (Lesson I). They had been well taught at Sinai (Lesson II). , They had reached the edge of the Promised Land. But at the critical moment their courage began to ooze away, and cowardice disguised as prudence began to call for " further information." " We will send men before us, and they shall search out the land " (Deut. i. 22). So Moses chose twelve spies, one from each tribe. He felt sure that when they came back with reports of the beauty and richness of the land, the people would be eager to advance. After six weeks they returned, carrying on a pole an enormous bunch of grapes to show how fertile the land was. But most of them returned frightened and discouraged. " The people is greater and taller than we ; the cities are great, and walled up to heaven, and moreover we have seen giants there " (Deut. i. 28). One of them, Caleb, spoke up boldly, " Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able " ; and Joshua backed him up. But the others contradicted. " We be not able to go up, for the people are stronger than we ; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers " (Num. xiii. 33). Then the Israelites began to cry like babies. " They wept all that night." They said, " Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt ! Let us make a captain and return into Egypt." They gave up the prize that was within their reach. In such a frame of mind victory was impossible. They had to wander in the Wilderness for another forty years, till the cowards had died off, and a new generation had grown up to take their place. " They could not enter in because of unbelief " (Heb. iii. 19). Read Passage.
(c) The commander of an American man-of-war was being court-martialled for failing to capture a town that he had been ordered to take. He made all sorts of excuses, but the stern old admiral said, " You have not mentioned the chief reason: you did not believe you could do it."
(d) Some shops sell a motto to pin on the wall : " He can who thinks he can." This is not always true. Often we overestimate our powers. But, if we turn it into the negative, it is true every time without exception : " He can't who thinks he can't." No one can rise higher than his faith. No one can do a greater thing than he believes he can.
(a) So part of the secret of being good is to have more confidence in oneself. A fable says that a little lion-cub got lost in the forest. A sheep found him, and brought him up with her own lambs. For long he had no idea that he was anything but a sheep. If he saw a wolf or a dog, he fled for his life. But one day a lion's roar echoed through the hills. The cub pricked up his ears. Some chord awoke in his nature that had never been touched before. He found that he could roar too. He felt that he had it in him to become King of the Forest. Now, if he saw a dog or wolf, he chased them, and it was they who fled. So long as he thought himself a sheep, he behaved like a sheep. As soon as he discovered that he was a lion, he behaved like a king.
II. HAVE FAITH IN YOUR FELLOWS.
(a) Some of those Israelites may have said, " I should not mind going up myself, if I could be sure of the others. But they are such a feeble lot. They would be sure to run away at the first battle. If I had companions whom I could trust, I would invade the land eagerly." I do not know whether the Israelites actually said this, but many people to-day fail to do anything fine, because they cannot bring themselves to have faith in their fellows.
(b) Yet the only way to get the best out of people is to trust them. Remember the story of the boy King Richard II. London was in the hands of rioters who had followed Wat Tyler from Kent. The Tower had been captured. The Archbishop of Canterbury had been murdered. Then the young King, a boy of thirteen, rode alone into the ranks of the rioters. " Let me be your leader," he said. " Follow me into the fields, and we will discuss your grievances." His bold act of faith was entirely successful. The dangerous rioters proved to be decent reasonable Englishmen. A few charters were given, a few grievances were removed, and all the trouble was over.
(c) Think how our Lord trusted His cause to twelve quite ordinary working-men. They were far from perfect. They were not very brilliant or eloquent. One of them proved a traitor. Yet Christ trusted them. He went away, and left the whole future of His cause in their hands ; and in the long run His faith was justified.
III. HAVE FAITH IN GOD.
(a) But the chief reason why the Israelites ought to have gone bravely forward was because they should have felt that God would be with them, if they did their duty. " The Lord is with us," said Caleb and Joshua, " fear them not " (Num. xiv. 9). But they would not believe it. And many people fail to-day for the same reason.
(b) The story of Ezra gives a fine example of faith in God. He obtained permission from the King to lead a large band of Jewish captives back from Babylon to Palestine. They had before them a long march of four months across the desert. They knew that the desert was full of robber tribes of Arabs. A large part of their company consisted of women and little children. If the King had been asked, he would have granted an escort of horsemen to protect them. But Ezra would not ask. Why ? " I was ashamed to ask of the King a band of soldiers and horsemen, because we had spoken unto the King saying, The hand of our God is upon all them that seek Him " (Ezra viii. 22). They started on that journey with no protection but their trust in God, and they arrived safely.
(c) A great English statesman was once so worried over the condition of the country that he could not sleep at night. His man-servant noticed this, and plucked up courage to speak to him about it. " Excuse me, sir," he said, " but don't you think that God governed the world well before you came into it ? " " Undoubtedly He did." " And don't you think that He will govern it well when you are taken out of it ? " " Certainly He will." " Then don't you think you could trust Him to govern it while you are in it ? " To this he could give no answer. But the question had a good effect upon him. He stopped worrying. He cast away his fear. He trusted the country to God's keeping, and slept soundly every night.
(d) Two little boys were standing looking at a stained-glass window of Elijah in the chariot of fire. " My ! Charlie," one was overheard to say, " wouldn't you be afraid to ride in a chariot like that ! " " No," said Charlie, " I shouldn't be afraid, if I knew that the Lord was driving." He knew what Faith meant.
(e) Sometimes God cannot do for us what He wants to do, because we will not let Him. When the Indian Mutiny broke out, all white people had to fly for their lives to places of safety. One English officer suddenly remembered a little English girl, whose parents were away, and who was all alone in a house with native servants. At peril of his life he cut his way to the house to rescue her. He snatched her away from her black nurse, flung her on his horse, and fought his way out of the town. But his greatest difficulty came from the child herself. She did not believe in his good intentions. She fought, she kicked, she wriggled, she bit his hand and arm. Several times he almost had to drop her, because she would not believe in him. Sometimes we are like that child, through lack of Faith, doing all we can to thwart God's plans to save us.
(f) We are trying to learn some of the things that we need in order to be good. We have seen that we need to come out from all that we know to be wrong ; that we need to be educated in all that is right and true. To-day we have learnt that we need Faith—Faith in ourselves, Faith in our fellows, above all Faith in God. Let all repeat Text.
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