But whilst I would lay the foundation thus broad, thus simple, do not
forget, dear brethren, what I was saying about a definite historical
act. You will hear people say, 'Oh, I trust in Christ!' What do you
trust in Christ? You will hear people say, 'Oh, I look to the goodness
of God.' Be it so. God forbid I should say a word to prevent that; but
what I would insist upon is that a mere vague regard to a vague Christ
is not the faith that is equivalent to drawing from the fountain of
salvation. There must be a further object in a faith that saves. It
must lay hold of the definite historical act in which Christ has become
the salvation of the world.
Do not take it upon my words, take it upon His own. He once said to His
fellow-countrymen in His lifetime, 'I am the living bread'; and many of
our modern teachers would go that length heartily. Was that where
Christ stopped? By no means. Was His Gospel a gospel of incarnation
only? Certainly not. 'I am the living bread that came down from
heaven.' Anything more? Yes; this more, 'and the bread which I will
give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. He that
eateth Me he shall live by Me.' 'Well,' say some people, 'that means
following His example, accepting His teaching, being loyal to His
Person, absorbing His Spirit.' Yes, it means all that; but is that all
it means? Take His own commentary: 'He that eateth My flesh and
drinketh My blood, hath eternal life.' Yes, brethren, a Christ
incarnate, blessed be God! A Christ crucified, blessed be God! And not
the one but _both_ must be the basis of our faith and our hope.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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