Living by Signs vs. Living by Faith (Rewritten)

Why looking for signs can quietly undermine faith

While we consider life of faith we need to clearly address a common tendency among Christians: the desire for signs, tokens, or special manifestations as a kind of foundation for peace with God and for holy living. This impulse shows up again and again. Sometimes it comes from lack of understanding. But more often, it grows out of something deeper and more troubling — the sin of unbelief.

However it begins, this habit of looking for signs is wrong in principle and harmful in its results.

The Prayer of Faith Leads Us Aright

It is the prayer of faith, therefore, involving, of course, an act of an entire consecration to God, which possesses the wonderful prerogative of leading us into the right, without knowledge, and even against knowledge. And hence it is, on the principles which have been laid down, that God, who always requires us to do what is right, so often shuts up the avenues of knowledge in particular cases of conduct, that we may do right by faith without knowledge. Faith is God’s light in the soul; and he may be said, in a multitude of cases, to extinguish the light of knowledge, that he may kindle up the light of faith.

We are aware, that it may appear extraordinary to some persons, to speak of doing right by faith without knowledge. But delay a moment, and notice the precise import of these expressions, which obviously convey a great truth. What, then, is their true meaning? It is precisely this. In those cases, where we are destitute of positive knowledge, we must form the best judgment we are able, looking to God with sincerity and singleness of purpose and in full faith also, that he will guide us aright. And the judgment which is formed under such circumstances, although it rests upon faith, and never in itself ascends above probability, yet becomes practically, and in the moral sense, KNOWLEDGE. That is to say, it answers the purpose of knowledge; and without being knowledge really, it is knowledge virtually.

Remarks on Holy Living

Reflections on
the Life of
Madame Jeanne de la Mothe Guyon.

---

Inquiries on holy living

---

There is but one way for the Christian to walk in. It is not possible that there should be any other. "A strait and narrow way" it is true; but still, properly speaking, not a difficult way. Undoubtedly it is difficult to a heart naturally averse to it, to enter into it, and to become entirely naturalized to it. Sometimes the difficulty is very great; but when once the process is fairly begun, and the influence of old habits is broken, the difficulty is, in a great degree, removed; and it becomes true, as the Saviour has said, that His "yoke is easy, and His burden is light." 

A Visit to St. Cloud

Reflections on
the Life of
Madame Jeanne de la Mothe Guyon.

---

Visit to St. Cloud — Sorrow

---

If, under the impulse of an unsanctified curiosity, she gave an unguarded look, — if in a moment of temptation she uttered a hasty reply to the rebukes and accusations of others, (moral delinquencies which some might not regard as very great,) — she found that it cost her bitter tears. Even when she dispensed her munificent charity; which brought consolation to the poor and suffering, she sometimes found, with sorrow of heart, that the donation which ought to have been made with "a single  eye," was corrupted by a glance at the rewards of self-complacency and of worldly applause.

Living by the Moment

We see, further, that the doctrine of LIVING BY THE MOMENT, which is the doctrine generally adopted by persons who have had deep experience in holy living, has a real and permanent foundation and ought to be universally received and put in practice. No man lives well, who lives out of the will of God. No man lives in the will of God, who anticipates the divine moment or moment of actual duty, by making up a positive decision before it arrives, or by delaying a decision until after its departure. We must meet God there, and stand in his will there, or meet him no where, and stand out of his will every where. If, therefore, we would live in the will of God, we must conform to that beautiful and sacred order, in which his will is made known. In other words, if it is our sincere desire to live in the divine will, it seems to follow that we must live by the moment.

— from The Life of Faith (1852)

Further Reflections on Receiving by Faith

It is well understood that we must pray in faith.

The next inquiry is, How are we to receive the answer? By sight or by FAITH? It seems to us that it must be by faith. The life of the just is represented as a life of faith; and we should naturally conclude the life of faith would include the answer to prayer, as well as prayer itself.

It is very evident that the just live, as subjects of the divine Sovereign, not only by praying but by being answered. And in either case, according to the Scripture representation, the principle or inspiring element of the inward life, whether a person prays or is answered in prayer, is faith. Any other view will probably be found, on close examination, to be inconsistent with the doctrine of living by faith. Accordingly, on the true doctrine of holy living, viz., by faith, we go to God in the exercise of faith, believing that he will hear; and we return from him in the exercise of the same faith, believing that he has heard; and that the answer exists and is registered in the divine mind, although we do not know what it is, and perhaps shall never be permitted to know.

Receiving by Faith

How are we to receive the answer to our prayers? By sight or by FAITH? It seems to us that it must be by faith. The life of the just is represented as a life of faith; and we should naturally conclude the life of faith would include the answer to prayer, as well as prayer itself.

It is very evident that the just live, as subjects of the divine Sovereign, not only by praying but by being answered. And in either case, according to the Scripture representation, the principal or inspiring element of the inward life, whether a person prays or is answered in prayer, is faith. Any other view will probably be found, on close examination, to be inconsistent with the doctrine of living by faith.

Accordingly, on the true doctrine of holy living, viz. by faith, we go to God in the exercise of faith, believing that he will hear; and we return from him in the exercise of the same faith, believing that he has heard; and that the answer exists and is registered in the divine mind, although we do not know what it is, and perhaps shall never be permitted to know. And in accordance with these views, if, in a given case, we know from the word of God that the petition is agreeable to the divine will, and that it is also agreeable to the divine will that it should be granted now, then the doctrine of faith will require us to believe, that the divine decision is made up and is given, and that we do now have the things which we sought for, although they may come in a different way, and with a different appearance from what we anticipated.

And, on the other hand, if the word of God has not revealed to us the divine will, the doctrine of faith still requires us to believe that the true answer exists in the will of God; that the decision of God is made up as in the other case, whatever that decision may be, and whenever and wherever it may be visibly accomplished. In both cases we have need of faith; we believe that God is either now doing, or that he will do. So that the true answer to prayer, as it seems to us, is an answer resting upon the revealed declaration or word of God for its basis, and made available to us in any given case by an act of faith. God promises that he will answer. Faith, accepting the declaration, recognizes the answer, whether it be known or unknown, as actually given in every case, where it can justly be expected to be given.

— edited from The Interior or Hidden Life (2nd edition 1844) Part 3, Chapter 9.

Rest From Labor

The soul which is fully the Lord's may be said also to rest from labor.

This depends in part, however, upon the meaning which we attach to the term labor. As the term is commonly understood, it implies some degree, more or less according to the circumstances, of forethought and calculation, strivings of the will, and physical effort. But this is not all. It implies, also, not only effort, but pain. There is something unpleasant in it. In this view of the import of the term, God does not labor; angels do not labor; nor do glorified saints. There is obviously no such thing as labor of this sort in heaven. There is life; there is activity; everything is done which ought to be done; but all labor which involves pain ceases.

And, to a considerable extent, these views are true of the holy man in the present life. He does not cease to be active, and to do what the providence of God calls him to do; on the contrary, cooperating with God in the great work of redemption, he finds and knows no idle moments; but still, the work which he does, ceases so far to possess the ordinary attributes of labor, that he may be said, in a certain sense, to cease from labor.

It will be kept in mind by the reader, that this is not said of the sinful man, nor of the partially sanctified man, but of the man whose soul, freed from the separations of self, has passed into a state of entire union with God. Undoubtedly the rest, which is experienced even by such an one, is not so perfect, in consequence of the imperfections and hindrances of the body, as it will be hereafter; but still, it is so real and great, and besides, so naturally results from the principles involved in holy living, that it deserves to be noticed.

— edited from A Treatise on Divine Union (1851) Part 8, Chapter 7.

Distinguishing the True Movings of the Holy Spirit

The doctrine of present sanctification has much to fear from not accurately distinguishing natural and Satanic impulses from the true movings of the Holy Spirit upon the heart. Many, who ran well for a time, but who afterwards yielded themselves to impulsive influences which were not from the Spirit of God, have wandered into perplexed and divergent paths, to the injury of the cause of holiness and of their own souls. And we would just remark here, that the most interesting and satisfactory illustrations of holy living, which have come under our notice, are the cases of persons, who endeavor constantly to put themselves under the direction of a sanctified intellect; who are willing to do any thing and every thing for the glory of God; but who feel that they need and must have wisdom. These persons can testify, that they are guided by the Holy Spirit; but they can testify also, that the Holy Spirit does not require them to do any thing, which an enlightened and sanctified intellect does not appreciate and approve. And hence their course is marked by consistency and sound discretion. They are not different men at different times, on whom no dependence can be placed. They are always at their post; supporters of the ministry; pillars in the church; patient under opposition and rebuke; faithful in warning sinners; counselors in times of difficulty; mighty in the Scriptures; burning and shining lights in the world. It is such persons, that truly sustain and honor the blessed doctrine of Holiness; presenting before the world the mighty argument of consistent holy living, which unbelievers cannot confute, and which the wicked and the envious are unable to gainsay.

— edited from The Interior or Hidden Life (2nd edition 1844) Part 3, Chapter 4.

The Life of God in the Soul Makes a Person Holy

Man is restored from death just in proportion as he begins to live in and from God. And when, by exercising that consent which God allows him, he lives wholly from God by choosing to live wholly from him, and by exercising faith to that effect, then he is a whole or holy man. Taking the common definition, that holiness is entire conformity to God's law, still it is not the definition which makes a man holy, but the life of God in the soul. It is God within, that makes the definition available. Who properly understands God's law, and knows what it is, unless he is first taught of God? Who loves God's law, unless love is first inspired within him by the breath of God himself? Who obeys God's law by bringing his will into conformity with it, except by the constant aids of divine grace?

Let it ever be remembered that there is only one that is holy in the higher and original sense. And that is God. All other beings, whatever position they may sustain in the universe, are holy only as they are holy in and by him. If there is anything at variance with the Scriptures, unsound in philosophy, and pernicious in practice, it is the idea of right or holy living from one's self; that is to say, by means of the elements of strength and of guidance which he has in himself. It is no more philosophical than the doctrine of effect without a cause. Sooner shall the flower grow without the earth and rains to nourish it, or the mighty oak spring from the surface of the barren rock, than the soul of man live without having its roots struck, if we may so express it, in the bosom of the Infinite; and deriving, not a partnership of nourishment, but the whole of its nourishment from God.

— edited from A Treatise on Divine Union (1851) Part 7, Chapter 10.

Living by the Moment

It is the providences of God, taken undoubtedly in connection with other sources of information, which indicate, in particular, the will of God; and those providences are revealed, and can be revealed, only moment by moment. The doctrine of living in the present moment, therefore, or in the state of momentary inward recollection, is founded not only on the necessity of watching against temptation, which is one reason for it, but on the fixed and immutable relation existing between the providences of God and the claims of God upon the human soul. If we are bound to obey the will of God, and if we can know his present will, which is necessarily the source of present obligation, only in connection with his providences, it is very obvious that there can be no other mode of holy living than that of living by the moment.

— Religious Maxims (1846) CXLIII.

The Crucifixion of Natural Desires, Purposes, and Aims

If we would be what the Lord would have us to be, we must be willing, in the spirit of inward crucifixion, to renounce and reject all other natural desires, and all our own purposes and aims. We do not mean to imply in this remark, that we must be so far lost to feeling and action as to be absolutely without all desires, purposes, and aims whatever; but that there must be a crucifixion and excision of all desires and purposes, which spring from the life of nature, and not from the Spirit of God. In other words, it is our duty, as those who would glorify God in all things, to check every natural desire and to delay every contemplated plan of action, until we can learn the will of God, and put ourselves under a divine guidance. Every desire must so far lose its natural character as to become spiritually baptized and sanctified, before it can be acceptable to God; and every plan of action also must, in like manner, have a divine origin.

Living Well and Praying Well

It was a saying among the fathers of the Christian church, "NOVIT RECTE VIVERE, QUI NOVIT RECTE ORARE." In English, "he knows how to live well, who knows how to pray well." And it will always be found, that he who does not live a holy life, either prays amiss, or does not pray at all.

— Religious Maxims (1846) XCVI.

The Need for Patience

One of the most important requisites of a holy life is PATIENCE. And by this, we do not mean merely a meek and quiet temper, when one is personally assaulted and injured; but a like meekness and quietness of temper in relation to the moral and religious progress of the world. We may be deeply afflicted in view of the desolations of Zion; but let us ever remember and rejoice, that the cause of truth and holiness is lodged safely in the hands of God. With Him a thousand years are as one day. And in the darkest moments when Satan seems to be let loose with ten-fold fury, let us thank God and take courage, because the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.

— Religious Maxims (1846) XXI.