EVEN WHEN NONE ACCOMPANY YOU, KEEP CLIMBING
“The solitary way is appointed to Believers who rise to eminence (1. a piece of rising ground; 2. rank, statue, station, caliber) of faith. In these days, the common- run of Christians have but struggling faith. Should you sift the great mountain of visible Christianity very carefully; will you find so much as ten grains of faith in the whole? When the Son of Man comes, keen as His eyes are to discover faith, shall He find it on the earth? Here and there we meet a man to whom it is given to believe in God with mighty faith. As soon as such a man strikes out on a project and sets about a work which none but men of his mold would venture upon, straightway there arises a clamor, “The man is overzealous!” Or he will be charged with an innovating spirit, rashness, fanaticism, or absurdity. Should the work go on, the opposers whisper together, “Wait a little while and you’ll see the end of all this wildfire.” Have we not heard them criticize an earnest Evangelist by saying, “His preaching is mere excitement, the result of it is spasmodic”? At another time, “The enterprise which he carries out is Quixotic. His designs are Utopian”? What said the sober semi-faith of men to Luther? Luther had read this passage, “By the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight.” He went to a venerable Divine about it and complained of the enormities of Rome. What was the good but weak brother’s reply? “Go you to your cell and pray and study for yourself, and leave these weighty matters alone.” Here it would have ended had the brave Reformer continued to consult with flesh and blood! But his faith enabled him to go alone, if none would accompany him! He nailed up his theses on the church door and showed that one man, at least, had faith in the Gospel and in its God! Then trouble came, but Luther minded it not because the Father was with him! We also must be prepared, if God gives us strong faith, to ride far ahead like spiritual Uhlans who bravely pioneer the way for the rank and file of the army. It were well if the Church of God had more sons swifter than eagles and bolder than lions in God’s service—men who can do and dare alone—till laggards gain courage from them and follow in their track. These ‘Valiant-for-Truths full’ often pursue a solitary path, but let them console themselves with this word of the solitary Savior, “Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.” If we can but believe in God, He will never desert us! If we can dare, God will do! If we can trust, God will never allow us to be confounded, world without end! It is sweet beyond expression to climb where only God can lead and plant the standard on the highest towers of the foe!” (Spurgeon)
Can you commit to believing in My promises simply because I have asked you to, even if for no other reason I’ve given you? Can you commit to putting faith in the keys, praising Me for them, and being an advocate of the keys, even if you never see one single manifestation of their power?