Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties and Roots

The strength of the soul's desires after spiritual riches doth often take away the very sense of growing spiritually rich. Many covetous men's desires are so strongly carried forth after earthly riches that though they do grow rich, yet they cannot perceive it, they cannot believe it. It is just so with many a precious Christian. His desires after spiritual riches are so strong that they take away the sense of his growing rich in spirituals. Many Christians have much worth within them, but they see it not. It was a good man that said, The Lord was in this place, and I knew it not. Again, this arises sometimes from men neglecting to cast up their accounts. Many men thrive and grow rich, and yet by neglecting to cast up their accounts, they cannot tell whether they go forward or backward. It is so with many precious souls. Again, this arises sometimes from the soul's too frequent casting up of its accounts. If a man should cast up his accounts once a week or once a month, he may not be able to discern that he doth grow rich, and yet he may grow rich. But let him compare one year with another, and he shall clearly see that he doth grow rich. Again, this sometimes arises from the soul's mistakes in casting up its accounts. The soul many times mistakes. It is in a hurry, and then it puts down ten for a hundred, and a hundred for a thousand. Look as hypocrites put down their counters for gold, their pence for pounds, and always prize themselves above the market. So sincere souls do often put down their pounds for pence, their thousands for hundreds, and still prize themselves below the market. Footnote from Thomas Brooks, 1661, in his book Unsearchable Riches. The end of the footnote. Like Moses, when he came down from the mount, from communing with God, their faces shine. And yet, like Moses, they are not aware of it. Ecclesiastes 34.29 Such Christians I grant freely are not common, but here and there such are to be found. Like angels' visits, they are few and far between. Happy is the neighborhood where such growing Christians live. To meet them and see them, and be in their company, is like meeting and seeing a bit of heaven. Now what shall I say to such people? What can I say? What ought I to say? Shall I bid them awake to a consciousness of their growth and be pleased with it? I will do nothing of the kind. Shall I tell them to plumb themselves on their own attainments and look at their own superiority to others? God forbid. I will do nothing of the kind. To tell them such things would do them no good. To tell them such things, above all, would be useless waste of time. If there is any one feature about a growing soul which specially marks him, it is his deep sense of his own unworthiness. He never sees anything to be praised in himself. He only feels that he is an unprofitable servant and the chief of sinners. It is the righteous in the picture of the judgment day who say, Lord, when saw we thee and hungered and fed thee? Matthew 25.37 Extremes do indeed meet strangely sometimes. The conscience-hardened sinner and the eminent saint are in one respect singularly alike. Neither of them fully realizes his own condition. The one does not see his own sin, nor the other his own grace. But shall I say nothing to growing Christians? Is there no word of counsel I can address to them? The sum and substance of all that I can say is to be found in two sentences. Go forward. Go on. We can never have too much humility, too much faith in Christ, too much holiness, too much spirituality of mind, too much charity, too much zeal in doing good to others. Then let us be continually forgetting the things behind and reaching forth unto the things before. Philippians 3.13 The best of Christians in these matters is infinitely below the perfect pattern of his Lord. Whatever the world may please to say, we may be sure there is no danger of any of us becoming too good. Let us cast to the winds as idle talk the common notion that it is possible to be extreme and go too far in religion. This is a favorite lie of the devil and one which he circulates with vast industry. No doubt there are enthusiasts and fanatics to be found who bring evil report upon Christianity by their extravagances and follies. But if anyone means to say that a mortal man can be too humble, too charitable, too holy, or too diligent in doing good, he must either be an infidel or a fool. In serving pleasure and money, it is easy to go too far. But in following the things which make up true religion and in serving Christ, there can be no extreme. Let us never measure our religion by that of others and think we are doing enough if we have gone beyond our neighbors. This is another snare of the devil. Let us mind our own business. What is that to thee, said our Master on a certain occasion? Follow thou me. Let us follow on aiming at nothing short of perfection. Let us follow on making Christ's life and character our only pattern and example. Let us follow on remembering daily that at our best we are miserable sinners. Let us follow on and never forget that it signifies nothing whether we are better than others or not. At our very best we are far worse than we ought to be. There will always be room for improvement in us. We shall be debtors to Christ's mercy and grace to the very last. Then let us leave off looking at others and comparing ourselves with others. We shall find enough to do if we look at our own hearts. Last but not least, if we know anything of growth in grace and desire to know more, let us not be surprised if we have to go through much trial and affliction in this world. I firmly believe it is the experience of nearly all the most eminent saints. Like their blessed Master they have been men of sorrows, acquainted with grief, and perfected through sufferings. Isaiah 53-3, Hebrews 2-10 It is a striking saying of our Lord, Every branch in me that beareth fruit, my Father purchased it, that it may bring forth more fruit. John 15-2 It is a melancholy fact that constant temporal prosperity, as a general rule, is injurious to a believer's soul. We cannot stand it. Sickness and losses and crosses and anxieties and disappointments seem absolutely needful to keep us humble, watchful, and spiritual-minded. They are as needful as the pruning knife to the vine and the refiner's furnace to the gold. They are not pleasant to flesh and blood. We do not like them and often do not see their meaning. No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness. Hebrews 12-11 We shall find that all worked for our good when we reach heaven. Let these thoughts abide in our minds if we love growth in grace. When days of darkness come upon us, let us not count it a strange thing. Rather, let us remember that lessons are learned on such days which would never have been learned in sunshine. Let us say to ourselves, This also is for my profit, that I may be a partaker of God's holiness. It is sent in love. I am in God's best school. Correction is instruction. This is meant to make me grow. I leave the subject of growth in grace here. I trust I have said enough to set some readers thinking about it. All things are growing older. The world is growing old. We ourselves are growing older. A few more summers, a few more winters, a few more sicknesses, a few more sorrows, a few more weddings, a few more funerals, a few more meetings, and a few more partings, and then what? Why, the grass will be growing over our graves. Now would it not be well to look within and put to our souls a simple question? In religion, in the things that concern our peace, in the great matter of personal holiness, are we getting on? Do we grow? Next chapter, chapter 7, on assurance, page 100. I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day. And not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. 2 Timothy 4, verses 6, 7, and 8. In the words of Scripture which head this page, we see the Apostle Paul looking three ways, downward, backward, forward. Downward to the grave, backward to his own ministry, forward to that great day, the day of judgment. It will do us good to stand by the Apostle's side a few minutes and mark the words he uses. Happy is that soul who can look where Paul looked and then speak as Paul spoke. A. He looks downward to the grave, and he does it without fear. Hear what he says. I am ready to be offered. I am like an animal brought to the place of sacrifice and bound with cords to the very horns of the altar. The drink offering, which generally accompanies the oblation, is already being poured out. The last ceremonies have been gone through. Every preparation has been made. It only remains to receive the death blow, and then all is over. The time of my departure is at hand. I am like a ship about to unmoor and put to sea. All on board is ready. I only wait to have the moorings cast off that fasten me to the shore, and I shall then set sail and begin my voyage. These are remarkable words to come from the lips of a child of Adam like ourselves. Death is a solemn thing, and never so much so as when we see it close at hand. The grave is a chilling, heart-sickening place, and it is vain to pretend it has no terrors. Yet here is a mortal man who can look calmly into the narrow house appointed for all living and say, while he stands upon the brink, I see it all, and am not afraid. B. Let us listen to him again. He looks backward to his ministerial life, and he does it without shame. Hear what he says. I have fought a good fight. There he speaks as a soldier. I have fought that good fight with the world, the flesh, and the devil, from which so many shrink and draw back. I have finished my course. There he speaks as one who has run for a prize. I have run the race marked out for me. I have gone over the ground appointed for me, however rough and steep. I have not turned aside because of difficulties, nor been discouraged by the length of the way. I am at last in sight of the goal. I have kept the faith. There he speaks as a steward. I have held fast that glorious gospel which was committed to my trust. I have not mingled it with man's traditions, nor spoiled its simplicity by adding my own inventions, nor allowed others to adulterate it without withstanding them to the faith. As a soldier, a runner, a steward, he seems to say, I am not ashamed. That Christian is happy who, as he quits the world, can leave such testimony behind him. A good conscience will save no man, wash away no sin, nor lift us one hair's breadth toward heaven. Yet a good conscience will be found a pleasant visitor at our bedside in a dying hour. There is a fine passage in Pilgrim's Progress which describes old Honest's passage across the river of death. The river, says Bunyan, at that time overflowed its banks in some places. But Mr. Honest in his lifetime had spoken to one good conscience to meet him there, to which he also did, and lent him his hand, and so helped him over. We may be sure there is a mine of truth in that passage. See, let us hear the apostle once more. He looks forward to the great day of reckoning, and he does it without doubt. Mark his words. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. A glorious reward, he seems to say, is ready and laid up in store for me, even that crown which is only given to the righteous. In the great day of judgment the Lord shall give this crown to me and to all beside me who have loved him as an unseen Savior and long to see him face to face. My work on earth is over. There is one thing now remains for me to look forward to, and nothing more. Let us observe that the apostle speaks without any hesitation or distrust. He regards the crown as a sure thing, as his already. He declares with unfaltering confidence his firm persuasion that the righteous judge will give it to him. Paul was no stranger to all the circumstances and accompaniments of that solemn day to which he referred. The great white throne, the assembled world, the open books, the revealing of all secrets, the listening angels, the awful sentence, the eternal separation of the lost and saved, all these were things with which he was well acquainted. But none of these things moved him. His strong faith overleaped them all, and he only saw Jesus, his all-prevailing advocate, and the blood of sprinkling and sin washed away. A crown, he says, is laid up for me. The Lord himself shall give it to me. He speaks as if he saw it all with his own eyes. Such are the main things which these verses contain. Of most of them I shall not speak, because I want to confine myself to the special subject of this paper. I shall only try to consider one point in the passage. That point is the strong assurance of hope with which the apostle looks forward to his own prospects in the day of judgment. I shall do this the more readily because of the great importance which attaches to the subject of assurance and the great neglect with which I humbly conceive it is often treated in this day. But I shall do it at the same time with fear and trembling. I feel that I am treading on very difficult ground and that it is easy to speak rashly and unscripturally in this matter. The road between truth and error is, especially here, a narrow passage. And if I shall be enabled to do good to some without doing harm to others, I shall be very thankful. There are four things I wish to bring forward in speaking of the subject of assurance, and it may clear our way if I name them at once. 1. First, then, I will try to show that an assured hope, such as Paul here expresses, is a true and scriptural thing. 2. Secondly, I will make this broad concession that a man may never arrive at this assured hope and yet be saved. 3. Thirdly, I will give some reasons why an assured hope is exceedingly to be desired. 4. Lastly, I will try to point out some causes why an assured hope is so seldom attained. I ask special attention of all who take an interest in the great subject of this volume. If I am not greatly mistaken, there is a very close connection between true holiness and assurance. Before I close this paper, I hope to show my readers the nature of that connection. At present, I content myself with saying that where there is the most holiness, there is generally the most assurance. 1. First, then, I will try to show that an assured hope is a true and scriptural thing. Assurance, such as Paul expresses in the verses which head this paper, is not a mere fancy or feeling. It is not the result of high animal spirit or the sanguine temperament of body. It is a positive gift of the Holy Ghost bestowed without reference to man's bodily frames or constitutions and a gift which every believer in Christ ought to aim at and seek after. In matters like these, the first question is this, What saith the Scripture? I answer that question without the least hesitation. The Word of God appears to me to teach distinctly that a believer may arrive at an assured confidence with regard to his own salvation. I lay it down fully and broadly as God's truth that a true Christian, a converted man, may reach such a comfortable degree of faith in Christ that in general he shall feel entirely confident as to the pardon and safety of his soul, shall seldom be troubled with doubts, seldom be distracted with fears, seldom be distressed by anxious questionings, and in short, though vexed by many an inward conflict with sin, shall look forward to death without trembling and to judgment without dismay. Footnote Full assurance that Christ hath delivered Paul from condemnation, yea, so full and real as produces thanksgiving and triumphing in Christ, may and doth consist with complaints and outcries of a wretched condition for the indwelling of the body of sin. From Rutherford's Triumph of Faith, 1645. End of footnote. This, I say, is the doctrine of the Bible. Such is my account of assurance. I will ask my readers to mark it well. I say neither less nor more than I have here laid down. Now such a statement as this is often disputed and denied. Many cannot see the truth of it at all. The Church of Rome denounces assurance in the most unmeasured terms. The Council of Trent declares roundly that a believer's assurance of the pardon of his sins is a vain and ungodly confidence. And Cardinal Bellarmine, the well-known champion of Romanism, calls it a prime error of heretics. The vast majority of the worldly and thoughtless Christians among ourselves oppose the doctrine of assurance. It offends and annoys them to hear of it. They do not like others to feel comfortable and sure because they never feel so themselves. Ask them whether their sins are forgiven and they will probably tell you they do not know. That they cannot receive the doctrine of assurance is certainly no marvel. But there are also some true believers who reject assurance and shrink from it as a doctrine fraught with danger. They consider it borders on presumption. They seem to think it a proper humility never to feel sure, never to be confident and to live in a certain degree of doubt and suspense about their souls. This is to be regretted and does much harm. I frankly allow that there are some presumptuous persons who profess to feel a confidence for which they have no scriptural warrant. There are always some people who think well of themselves when God thinks ill. Just as there are some who think ill of themselves when God thinks well. There always will be such. There never yet was a scriptural truth without abuses and counterfeits. God's election, man's impotence, salvation by grace all are alike abused. There will be fanatics and enthusiasts as long as the world stands. But for all this, assurance is a reality and a true thing and God's children must not let themselves be driven from the use of a truth merely because it is abused. Footnote We do not vindicate every vain pretender to the witness of the Spirit. We are aware that there are those in whose professions of religion we can see nothing but their forwardness and confidence to recommend them. But let us not reject any doctrine of revelation through an over-anxious fear of consequences. Quote from Robinson's Christian System True assurance is built upon a scripture basis. Presumption has no scripture to show for its warrant. It is like a will without seal and witnesses which is null and void in the law. Presumption wants both the witness of the word and the seal of the Spirit. Assurance always keeps the heart in a lowly posture but presumption is bread of pride. Feathers fly up but gold descends. He who hath this golden assurance, his heart descends in humility. From Watson's Body of Divinity, 1650 Presumption is joined with looseness of life, persuasion with a tender conscience that dares sin because it is sure. This dares not for fear of losing assurance. Persuasion will not sin because it costs her Savior so dear. Presumption will sin because grace doth abound. Humility is the way to heaven. They that are proudly secure of their going to heaven do not so often come thither as they that are afraid of going to hell. A quote from Adams on 2nd Epistle of Peter, 1633 End of the footnote. My answer to all who deny the existence of real well-grounded assurance is simply this, what saith the Scripture? If assurance be not there, I have not another word to say. But does not Job say, I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. Job 19, 26 Does not David say, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Psalm 23, 4 Does not Isaiah say, thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee. Isaiah 26, 3 And again, the work of righteousness shall be peace and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. Isaiah 32, 17 Does not Paul say to the Romans, I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8, 38, 39 Does he not say to the Corinthians, we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God and house not made with hands eternal in the heavens. 2 Corinthians 5, 1 And again, we are always confident knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5, 6 Does he not say to Timothy, I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him. 2 Timothy 1, 12 And does he not speak to the Colossians of the full assurance of understanding. Colossians 2, 2 And to the Hebrews of the full assurance of faith and the full assurance of hope. Hebrews 6, 11 And chapter 10, 22 Does not Peter say expressly, give diligence to make your calling and election sure. 2 Peter 1, 10 Does not John say, we know that we have passed from death unto life. 1 John 3, 14 And again, these things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that ye may know that ye have eternal life. 1 John 5, 13 And again, we know that we are of God. 1 John 5, 19 What shall we say to these things? I desire to speak with all humility on any controverted point. I feel that I am only a poor fallible child of Adam himself but I must say that in the passages I have just quoted I see something far higher than the mere hopes and trusts with which so many believers appear content in this day. I see the language of persuasion, confidence, knowledge nay, I may almost say, of certainty. And I feel for my own part if I may take these scriptures in their plain obvious meaning the doctrine of assurance is true. But my answer furthermore to all who dislike the doctrine of assurance as bordering on presumption is this. It can hardly be presumption to tread in the steps of Peter and Paul of Job and of John. They were all eminently humble and lowly-minded men if ever any were. And yet they all speak of their own state with an assured hope. Surely this should teach us that deep humility and strong assurance are perfectly compatible and that there is not any necessary connection between spiritual confidence and pride. Footnote They are quite mistaken that faith and humility are inconsistent. They not only agree well together but they cannot be parted. From Trail The end of the footnote. My answer furthermore is that many have attained to such an assured hope as our text expresses, even in modern times. I will not concede for a moment that it was a peculiar privilege confined to the apostolic day. There have been in our own land many believers who have appeared to walk in almost uninterrupted fellowship with the Father and the Son, who have seemed to enjoy an almost unceasing sense of the light of God's reconciled countenance shining down upon them and have left their experience on record. I could mention well-known names if space permitted. The thing has been and is and that is enough. My answer lastly is it cannot be wrong to feel confidently in a matter where God speaks unconditionally, to believe decidedly when God promises decidedly, to have a sure persuasion of pardon and peace when we rest on the word and oath of Him that never changes. It is an utter mistake to suppose that the believer who feels assurance is resting on anything he sees in himself. He simply leans on the mediator of the new covenant and the scripture of truth. He believes the Lord Jesus means what He says and takes Him at His word. Assurance, after all, is no more than a full-grown faith, a masculine faith that grasps Christ's promise with both hands, a faith that argues like the good centurion, If the Lord speak the word only, I am healed. Wherefore then should I doubt? Matthew 8, verse 8 Footnote To be assured of our salvation, Augustine saith, is no arrogant stoutness. It is our faith. It is no pride. It is devotion. It is no presumption. It is God's promise. From Bishop Jewel's Defense of the Apology, 1570 If the ground of our assurance rested in and on ourselves, it might justly be called presumption. But the Lord and the power of His might being grounded thereof, they either know not what is the might of His power, or else too lightly esteem it, who will count assured confidence thereon, presumption. From Gouge's Whole Armor of God, 1647 Upon what ground is this certainty built? Surely not upon anything that is in us. Our assurance of perseverance is grounded wholly upon God. If we look upon ourselves, we see cause of fear and doubting. But if we look up to God, we shall find cause enough for assurance. From Hildersam, on John, chapter 4, 1632 Our hope is not hung upon such an untwisted thread as, I imagine so, or it is likely. But the cable, the strong rope of our fastened anchor, is the oath and promise of Him who is eternal verity. Our salvation is fastened with God's own hand and Christ's own strength, to the strong stake of God's unchangeable nature. From Rutherford's Letters, 1637 End of the footnote. We may be sure that Paul was the last man in the world to build his assurance on anything of his own. He who could write himself down chief of sinners, 1 Timothy 1.15, had a deep sense of his guilt and corruption. But then he had a still deeper sense of the length and breadth of Christ's righteousness imputed to him. He who would cry, O wretched man that I am, Romans 7.24, had a clear view of the fountain of evil within his heart. But then he had a still clearer view of that other fountain which can remove all sin and uncleanness. He who thought himself less than the least of all saints, Ephesians 3.8, had a lively and abiding feeling of his own weakness. But he had a still livelier feeling that Christ's promise, My sheep shall never perish, John 10.28, could not be broken. Paul knew, if ever man did, that he was a poor, frail bark floating on a stormy ocean. He saw, if any did, the rolling waves and roaring tempest by which he was surrounded. But then he looked away from self to Jesus and was not afraid. He remembered that anger was in the veil which is both sure and steadfast. Hebrews 6.19, he remembered the word and work and constant intercession of him that loved him and gave himself for him. And this it was, and nothing else, that enabled him to say so boldly, A crown is laid up for me, and the Lord shall give it to me. And to conclude so surely, the Lord will preserve me. I shall never be confounded. Footnote. Never did a believer in Jesus Christ die or drown in his voyage to heaven. They will all be found safe and sound with the Lamb on Mount Zion. Christ loses none of them, yea, nothing of them. John 6.39. Not a bone of a believer is to be seen in the field of battle. They are all more than conquerors through him that loved them. Romans 8.37. From Traill. End of the footnote. I may not dwell longer on this part of my subject. I think it will be allowed I have shown some good ground for the assertion I made that assurance is a true thing. Number two. I pass on to the second thing I spoke of. I said a believer may never arrive at this assured hope which Paul expresses and yet be saved. I grant this most freely. I do not dispute it for a moment. I would not desire to make one contrite heart sad that God has not made sad or to discourage one fainting child of God or to leave the impression that men have no part or lot in Christ except they feel assurance. A person may have saving faith in Christ and yet never enjoy an assured hope such as the apostle Paul enjoyed. To believe and have a glimmering hope of acceptance is one thing. To have joy and peace in our believing and abound in hope is quite another. All God's children have faith. Not all have assurance. I think this ought never to be forgotten. I know some good and great men have held a different opinion. I believe that many excellent ministers of the gospel at whose feet I would gladly sit do not allow the distinction I have stated but I desire to call no man master. I dread as much as anyone the idea of healing the wounds of conscience slightly but I should think any other view than that I have given a most uncomfortable gospel to preach and one very likely to keep souls back a long time from the gate of life. Footnote. The reader who would like to hear more about this point is referred to a note at the end of this paper in which he will find extracts from several well-known English divines supporting the view here maintained. The extracts are too long for insertion in this page. End of the footnote. I do not shrink from saying that by grace a man may have sufficient faith to flee to Christ sufficient faith really to lay hold on Him really to trust in Him really to be a child of God really to be saved and yet to His last day be never free from much anxiety, doubt and fear. A letter, says an old writer, may be written which is not sealed so grace may be written in the heart yet the spirit may not set the seal of assurance to it. A child may be born heir to a great fortune and yet never be aware of his riches may live childish, die childish and never know the greatness of his possessions And so also a man may be a babe in Christ's family think as a babe, speak as a babe and though saved never enjoy a lively hope or know the real privileges of his inheritance. Let no man mistake my meaning when I dwell strongly on the reality privilege and importance of assurance. Do not do me the injustice to say I teach that none are saved except such as can say with Paul I know and am persuaded there is a crown laid up for me I do not say so, I teach nothing of the kind. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ a man must have beyond all question if he is to be saved I know no other way of access to the Father I see no intimation of mercy excepting through Christ A man must feel his sins and lost estate must come to Jesus for pardon and salvation must rest his hope on Him and on Him alone. But if he only has faith to do this however weak and feeble that faith may be I will engage from Scripture warrants he shall not miss heaven. Never, never let us curtail the freeness of the glorious gospel or clip its fair proportions never let us make the gate more straight and the way more narrow than pride and the love of sin have made it already The Lord Jesus is very pitiful and of tender mercy He does not regard the quantity of faith but the quality He does not measure its degree but its truth He will not break any bruised reed nor quench any smoking flax He will never let it be said that any perished at the foot of the cross Him that cometh to me, He says, I will in no wise cast out. John 6, 37 Footnote He that believeth on Jesus shall never be confounded Never was any, neither shall you if you believe It was a great word of faith spoken by a dying man who had been converted in a singular way betwixt his condemnation and execution His last words were these spoken with a mighty shout Never a man perished with his faith towards Christ Jesus From Trail End of footnote Yes, though a man's faith be no bigger than a grain of mustard seed if it only brings him to Christ and enables him to touch the hem of his garment he shall be saved Saved as surely as the oldest saint in paradise Saved as completely and eternally as Peter or John or Paul There are degrees in our sanctification In our justification there are none What is written is written and shall never fail Whosoever believeth on him Not whosoever has a strong and mighty faith Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed Romans 10, 11 But all this time be it remembered The poor believing soul may have no full assurance of his pardon and acceptance with God He may be troubled with fear upon fear and doubt upon doubt He may have many an inward question and many an anxiety Many a struggle and many a misgiving Clouds and darkness, storm and tempest to the very end I will engage I repeat That bare simple faith in Christ shall save a man Though he may never attain to assurance But I will not engage it shall bring him to heaven with strong and abounding consolations I will engage it shall land him safe in the harbor But I will not engage he shall enter that harbor in full sail Confident and rejoicing I shall not be surprised if he reaches his desired haven Weather beaten and tempest tossed Scarcely realizing his own safety Till he opens his eyes in glory I believe it is of great importance to keep in view this distinction between faith and assurance It explains things which an inquirer in religion sometimes finds it hard to understand Faith let us remember is the root And assurance is the flower Doubtless you can never have the flower without the root But it is no less certain you may have the root and not the flower Faith is that poor trembling woman who came behind Jesus in the press And touched the hem of his garment Mark 5 25 Assurance is Stephen standing calmly in the midst of his murderers And saying I see the heavens opened And the son of man standing on the right hand of God Acts 7 56 Faith is the penitent thief crying Lord remember me Luke 23 42 Assurance is Job sitting in the dust covered with sores saying I know that my redeemer liveth Job 19 25 Though he slay me yet will I trust him Job 13 15 Faith is Peter's drowning cry as he began to sink Lord save me Matthew 14 30 Assurance is that same Peter declaring before the council in after times This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders Which is become the head of the corner Neither is there salvation in any other For there is none other name under heaven given among men Whereby we must be saved Acts 4 11 12 Faith is the anxious trembling voice Lord I believe help thou my unbelief Mark 9 24 Assurance is the confident challenge Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect Who is he that condemneth Romans 8 33 34 Faith is Saul praying in the house of Judas at Damascus Sorrowful blind and alone Acts 9 11 Assurance is Paul the aged prisoner looking calmly into the grave and saying I know whom I have believed There is a crown laid up for me 2 Timothy 1 12 4 8 Faith is life How great the blessing Who can describe or realize the gulf between life and death A living dog is better than a dead lion Ecclesiastes 9 4 And yet life may be weak, sickly, unhealthy, painful, trying, anxious, weary, burdensome, joyless, smileless to the very end Assurance is more than life It is health, strength, power, vigor, activity, energy, manliness, beauty It is not a question of saved or not saved that lies before us But of privilege or no privilege It is not a question of peace or no peace But of great peace or little peace It is not a question between the wanderers of this world and the school of Christ It is one that belongs only to the school It is between the first form and the last He that has faith does well Happy should I be if I thought all readers of this paper had it Blessed, thrice blessed are they that believe They are safe, they are washed, they are justified, they are beyond the power of hell Satan with all his malice shall never pluck them out of Christ's hand But he that has assurance does far better Sees more, feels more, knows more, enjoys more Has more days like those spoken of in Deuteronomy Even the days of heaven upon the earth Deuteronomy 11 verse 21 Footnote The greatest thing that we can desire next to the glory of God is our own salvation And the sweetest thing we can desire is the assurance of our salvation In this life we cannot get higher than to be assured of that which is in the next life to be enjoyed All saints shall enjoy a heaven when they leave this earth Some saints enjoy a heaven while they are here on earth From Joseph Carroll, 1653 This Reformation audio track is a production of Stillwater's Revival Books SWRB makes thousands of classic Reformation resources available free and for sale in audio, video, and printed formats Our many free resources, as well as our complete mail-order catalog containing thousands of classic and contemporary Puritan and Reform books tapes and videos at great discounts is on the web at www.swrb.com We can also be reached by email at swrb at swrb.com by phone at 780-450-3730 by fax at 780-468-1096 or by mail at 4710-37A Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6L3T5 You may also request a free printed catalog And remember that John Calvin, in defending the Reformation's regulative principle of worship or what is sometimes called the scriptural law of worship commenting on the words of God which I commanded them not, neither came into my heart from his commentary on Jeremiah 731 writes God here cuts off from men every occasion for making evasions since he condemns by this one phrase I have not commanded them, whatever the Jews devised There is then no other argument needed to condemn superstitions than that they are not commanded by God For when men allow themselves to worship God according to their own fancies and attend not to his commands they pervert true religion And if this principle was adopted by the Papists all those fictitious modes of worship in which they absurdly exercise themselves would fall to the ground It is indeed a horrible thing for the Papists to seek to discharge their duties towards God by performing their own superstitions There is an immense number of them as it is well known and as it manifestly appears Were they to admit this principle that we cannot rightly worship God except by obeying his word they would be delivered from their deep abyss of error The Prophet's words then are very important when he says that God had commanded no such thing and that it never came to his mind as though he had said that men assume too much wisdom when they devise what he never required nay, what he never knew