“Yes, I do believe on Jesus, but I just don’t FEEL right.”
Have you ever said this? Maybe a little experience I once had will help explain your feelings. A friend and I went down into a coal mine. As we descended we had very peculiar feelings. Going down only a short distance, I felt precisely as though we were going UP; and I would have been sure of it if I had not positively known that we were going DOWN.
We explored the mine and returned, the cage coming down to where we were to lift us from the darkness and dirt of the pit to the light of the outer world. Then my feelings were exactly reversed. I felt as though we were dropping DOWN, but I knew that the powerful engine was bearing us UP as fast as it could; and we soon stepped out on the ground in the open air.
Isn’t this a little like the experience of many people? When they are going downward at a rapid rate to the pit of everlasting despair, Satan does his best to give them happy, comfortable feelings. If they are questioned as to their salvation, their reply is, “Oh, we certainly hope to be saved! We feel we are quite all right!”
But when the conscience is aroused and the lost sinner sees himself in all his guilt before God, what a change! No flippantly expressed hope will satisfy him now; he must KNOW that there is a Saviour for him. How can he know? The Word of God replies, This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. (1 Timothy 1:1515This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. (1 Timothy 1:15).)
As the cage descended to lift us from the bottom of the coal mine, so the Saviour descended into this dark world to save our souls. As we stepped into the cage, trusting it to carry us every inch of the way, so may you trust that Saviour who died for you. The Word which tells of Him is faithful, and worthy of your acceptance.
“I do accept it,” you say, “and trust Jesus as my Saviour; yet I FEEL as though I must go to hell, for I am such a sinner.”
This is Satan’s work again. When you were going to hell as fast as time could carry you, he wanted to make sure you felt as though you were going to heaven. Now, when Jesus is bearing you up to glory by His mighty power, Satan would make you feel as if you must drop down to hell.
What is the cure? Forget your feelings; just hold fast to what you KNOW. God’s Word says: 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. Whatever your feelings may be, God would have you KNOW that you have eternal life.
The One who died for lost sinners upon Calvary’s cross is a perfect, eternal Saviour. Trust Him unwaveringly every step of the way. Meet Satan’s temptations with the words of God’s assurance: not “I FEEL,” but “I KNOW!” Sooner or later, every timid soul that has trusted Jesus will have the joy of stepping into the bright glory of God to sing forever the praise of a faithful Saviour. v
For I KNOW whom I have believed,
and am persuaded that
He is able
to keep that which I have
committed unto Him
against that day.