By Faith, Not by Sight

There are certain great principles of life in which the Christian is led to walk to the glory of God. One of these is, "We walk by faith, not by sight." In this we are at once brought to the sacred Scriptures, and to Christ of whom they testify. We have the Holy Spirit by whom the holy men of God were moved of old, by whom testimony is given to Christ who dwells in us forever. It does not say, we walk by faith, and by sight, but, we walk by faith, and not by sight.
When the rich man in hell entreated that one might be sent from the dead to his five brethren, that they might be kept from coming to that place of torment, he was refused his request. He was told, "They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.... If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." Luke 16:29, 31. The sight of one rising from the dead would do them no good if they would not hear Moses and the prophets, for faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. (Rom. 10:17.)
While Christ walked with His disciples in the flesh, they had much of the sight of Christ, and so did the people of the world. But the disciples were blessed by the word of Christ and those who were not blessed by His word, were not blessed at all. In this we see the ignorance of Christ's disciples drawing out much of His compassion to them. They were willing to walk by sight, but He could not allow them to do so. They were very slow to walk by faith, but He could not conduct them in any other course.