DISCOURSE: 1988
FAITH, HOPE, AND CHARITY, COMPARED
1 Corinthians 13:13. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
THE scope of the whole chapter is, to shew the superiority of Christian love or charity to all the gifts that were so erroneously estimated, and so ostentatiously displayed, in the Church of Corinth. In the course of his argument, the Apostle enumerates the principal offices of charity, and marks with singular accuracy and minuteness its proper qualities. The last of the properties which he mentions is, that it “never faileth;” whilst all miraculous powers, of whatever kind they be, are but for the short period of this present life. They, he observes, will soon vanish; but this, instead of disappearing, will endure in uninterrupted exercise, and be continued in undeviating perfection for evermore. Thus incidentally he is led to speak of the whole experience of Christians in relation to the objects of their faith and hope: they view them all but indistinctly, and know them very imperfectly; having little better conception of them than of a riddle, or enigma [Note: See the original, and the marginal translation of ver. 12.], in which some leading particulars only are set forth; and the rest is left, as it were, as matter of conjecture. In short, Christians, not excepting the Apostle himself, are but children, in relation to the deep things of God; and, when they shall be exalted to heaven, they will discard all their puerile notions respecting them, just as they now do the weaknesses of childhood on their arrival at man’s estate [Note: ver. 11.]. The Apostle having thus, unintentionally as it were, been drawn from the consideration of miraculous gifts to the mention of Christian graces, proceeds to assert the superiority of love among the sister graces of faith and hope, as he had before shewn its superiority to all the miraculous powers that ever were possessed: “There now remain” (for constant use and exercise) “faith, hope, and charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”
To confirm this declaration, we will shew,
I. The distinguishing excellencies of faith and hope—
These, with love, form the cardinal graces of a Christian: and they are indispensable to his happiness, both in this world and in the world to come. That we may know how to appreciate their value, we will distinctly notice the excellencies,
1. Of faith—
[This, when infused into the soul by the Spirit of God, and called forth into exercise according to the will of God, is a principle truly wonderful. It beholds things that are invisible; and presents to the eye of the mind all the perfections and purposes of God himself. It is conversant with all that God has ever revealed; and especially with that stupendous mystery, the redemption of the world by God’s only dear Son, and the restoration of men to the Divine image by the influence and operation of the Holy Ghost. It goes farther still; and apprehends all that God has ever promised, and appropriates to itself all the blessings of his everlasting covenant. It seizes by a holy violence [Note: Matthew 11:12.] all that God is, and all that God has, even all his glory; and invests the soul with all of it, as its present and everlasting portion. It brings Christ himself down into the soul [Note: Ephesians 3:17.]; fills it with his love, and enriches it with all his fulness [Note: Ephesians 3:18-19.]. As for difficulties they all vanish, and are dispelled by the power of faith. There is a kind of omnipotence in this grace. No enemy can withstand it: “All things are possible to him that believeth.” The more dark our way is, the more scope there is for the exercise of this grace, and the more it triumphs. In this point of view, it, far beyond any other grace, reflects honour on God: it fixes on the Divine perfections, and calls every one of them to its aid: it presses even justice itself into its service; and never will let go its claims upon God’s mercy and truth: it finds quite sufficient encouragement in a single promise. See it in Abraham: he assured himself, that though Isaac should be slain and reduced to ashes, he should be raised again from the dead, and the promises should be fulfilled in him. And thus does faith operate in the hearts of all; and, in proportion as it operates, secures to us a victory over all the enemies of our salvation.]
2. Of hope—
[This is a less comprehensive grace than faith: for faith has respect to every thing that is revealed, whether past, present, or future; and to things evil, as well as good: whereas hope respects futurity only, and only that which is either really, or in its own conception, good. It is also a less honourable grace than faith: for its existence is derived from faith, and altogether dependent on it; and it has respect only to our own personal happiness, whilst faith rises above self, and seeks to advance the glory of God.
Still however it is a grace of vast importance; and the entire absence of it is the most striking character of hell, where all are immersed in darkness and despair. This is the grace which encourages and supports the soul in all its conflicts with sin and Satan. In the panoply of God it holds a most conspicuous place: it is the helmet that protects the head, and the breast-plate that defends the heart: so that, where hope is kept in exercise, Satan cannot inflict any deadly wound. True, he may raise storms and tempests around the soul, and menace it with instant destruction: but hope casts “its anchor within the vail;” and, deriving thence “a sure and steadfast” support, defies the utmost efforts of our great adversary [Note: Hebrews 6:19.]. How often would the strongest believer have failed, if he had not received succour from this grace! “I should have fainted,” says David, “unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living [Note: Psalms 27:13.].” It was no less by this grace, than by faith itself, that the saints of old were enabled to endure the great fight of afflictions which they were called to sustain [Note: Hebrews 11:26; Hebrews 11:35.]. On this account hope is said to save us, no less than faith [Note: Romans 8:24-25.]: for though faith brings us into the way of salvation, it is hope that enables us to endure unto the end [Note: 1 Corinthians 15:58; Galatians 6:9.]
After such a view of faith and hope, it will almost be thought, that no higher commendation can be bestowed on any other grace: but there is abundant scope yet left for shewing,
II.
The superior excellence of charity—
Of the three graces, the Apostle expressly asserts, that “the greatest is charity.” And its superiority will be found,
1. In its nature—
[Faith and hope, how excellent soever they be, derive all their value from the objects on which they terminate. If they had respect only to human testimony, and temporal objects, they would be of little worth: it is their connexion with God and with eternity, that so elevates them in the scale of Christian graces. But charity has an essential goodness in itself, irrespective of any objects toward whom it may be exercised. If we could suppose that the whole human race both in heaven and earth were swept away, so that we could never find a being towards whom the grace of charity could be exercised, still would the disposition itself be good. As God himself would have been good, even though no creature had ever existed towards whom his goodness should be displayed; so would the grace of charity be good, though there never should be found any scope for its exercise. It is the image of God upon the soul. God himself has no higher character than love: and, if in this character we resemble him, we have the highest excellence of which our nature is capable.
Only let us consider what the existence of charity in the soul supposes. It supposes the subjugation of all the evils that are opposed to love; as pride, envy, hatred, wrath, selfishness; and the presence of all the virtues which were in Christ Jesus. They were all comprehended in this single word, love; and consequently, the existence of this grace in the soul most assimilates us to Christ, “in whom was no sin, and in whom dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”
Nor should it be overlooked, that the production of love in the soul was the end for which all God’s other mercies were vouchsafed: for that even faith and hope were given; nor have they any value, any farther than they are conducive to this end: and consequently love, for which alone they are given, must be greater than they; just as health, for which alone medicine is given, is better than medicine, which is valuable only as it is subservient to the preservation, or re-establishment, of health. The end must of necessity be greater than the means.]
2. In its duration—
[Faith and hope must soon cease; the one terminating in sight, and the other being consummated in fruition. But not so the grace of love: that will endure to all eternity; the exercise of it being the one employment and blessedness of heaven. The other graces which have been instrumental to the formation of this, will be no longer wanted, when this is perfected in the soul: they will therefore be dismissed, as having no longer any scope for exercise.
But when the scaffolding is removed, the building will appear in all its glory, the most wonderful monument of the power and grace of Christ. Then indeed will Christ “be glorified in his saints, and admired in all them that believe;” for every one of them will then “be fully like him, when they shall see him as he is.”
Thus, how excellent soever the graces of faith and hope may be, that of charity far excels them both: for those will find no place in heaven; but this will remain an everlasting source of blessedness to man, and an eternal theme of honour to our God.]
Seeing, however, that during this present life “these three remain,” and are to be cultivated with incessant care, we will close the subject with some directions for the exercise of them:
1. Keep them ever united in your hearts—
[No one of them can be dispensed with: if one be wanting, we must perish. We must indeed keep each of them in its place, and assign to each its proper office. We must not think that faith can save us, if it do not “work by love;” or that hope can benefit us, if it do not “purify us as Christ is pure;” or that love can supersede the necessity of faith in the work of our justification before God. We can be justified by faith only: but by love we must prove the truth of our faith. We must not imagine, that, because love is greater than faith, we are therefore to be saved by love. The eye is more excellent than the ear; but it cannot on that account perform the office of the ear, nor supersede the necessity of hearing, in order to the perfection of our present state: faith, hope, and love, have all their distinct offices, and must all be exercised for their respective ends;—faith, to justify our souls; hope, to keep us steadfast in our spiritual course; and love, to form our meetness for the heavenly inheritance. Let all then be sought, and all be exercised, that God may be glorified in all.]
2. Let them all be held fast, whatever trials you may have to encounter in the exercise of them—
[No one of them can be maintained without much difficulty. Your great adversary will assault them all in their turn. In Adam he succeeded to destroy them all: and he would succeed to root them out of our hearts also, if the Lord Jesus did not secure, by his continual intercession, the establishment of them in our souls [Note: Luke 22:31-32.]. Not that they can be maintained without strenuous and unintermitted exertions on our part. We must “watch and pray that we enter not into temptation:” and when temptation comes, we must “not stagger at the promises through unbelief, but be strong in faith, giving glory to God.” We must also “hold fast the rejoicing of our hope firm unto the end [Note: Hebrews 3:6.].” Under the influence of love too, we must “let patience have its perfect work, that we may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing.” Thus shall we “grow up into Christ as our living Head;” thus shall we attain “the full measure of the stature” which he has ordained for us; and thus shall we be fitted for those regions of love, where we shall completely resemble Christ, and participate, with all the myriads of his redeemed, the glory and felicity of the God of love.]