1.—"I Find It so Hard to Believe.”
“But I find it so hard to believe!" "Indeed? And pray, whom do you find so hard to believe?”
“How you twist my words! I hope you don't think for a moment that I would be so presumptuous as to doubt the Lord?”
“Well, you must excuse my saying it, but that is just what you appear to me to do. The Lord says, 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me hath everlasting life' (John 6:4747Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. (John 6:47)). Do you believe that?”
“Strangely enough, that is just one of the Scriptures that I am not quite sure about.”
“But you believe on the Lord, do you not?”
“Indeed I do.”
“You believe on Him, and yet you don't believe Him. Now, if the Lord were still on earth, and, entering your house, as He so often entered houses of old, said to you, `Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me hath everlasting life,' would you believe Him?”
“Most certainly I would.”
“Well, then, let me tell you that He is unchanged, for He is 'the same yesterday, to-day, and forever,' and His words are as true for you to-day as when He walked the Galilean hills, and yet you say you 'find it so hard to believe, 'Whom don't you believe?'”
“Well, I never saw that before. Then my finding it 'so hard to believe' for all these years, has been really dishonoring the Lord by doubting His Word?”
“Exactly so; and that is why, though truly saved all these years, you have never had the joy of it. You have, however, unthinkingly, dishonored the Lord by doubting Him; and He would not, nay, could not, honor you with the joy which accompanies simple faith in Him and what He says.'”
2.—"I Haven't Perfect Faith.”
“Well, I think I can now say that I do believe, but I haven't perfect faith;-you see, my faith is so weak.”
“Possibly; but you might have strong faith and go to hell, and have weak faith and go to heaven; though you would, in the latter case, miss much of the joy down here.”
“Strong faith and go to hell? what can you mean?”
“Just this; your strong faith might be in the wrong person. Many a lost soul will be found to have had strong faith in himself. On the other hand, such is the worthiness of the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ that the weakest faith in Him saves, for salvation depends not on the amount of our faith, but on the worthiness of the Object. Let me give you an illustration. You remember the Glasgow bank failure? Well, up to the time of the announcement that the bank had stopped payment, thousands had implicitly trusted in its stability; but in a moment, despite all their confidence, they were overwhelmed in ruin. It was not confidence that was lacking on the part of its customers, but trustworthiness on the part of the bank. Conversely, if we put a feeble trust in Jesus, we have confided in One of perfect trustworthiness, whose failure is impossible; while if we trust ourselves, our failure is assured.”
But, blessedly true as it is, that to touch, as it were by faith, but the hem of Christ's garment, is to be made whole, let us rather seek to be like Stephen of old, "full of faith," "full of power," and "full of the Holy Ghost.”
3.—"I Fear I Haven't Believed Aright.”
“I am a good deal troubled sometimes with the thought that perhaps, after all, I haven't believed aright.”
“I see; you are analyzing your faith to see whether it is the right kind of faith.”
“Yes, that is just it.”
“Well, that is but an effort of Satan's to destroy your peace; and, just as some are upset by soul-analysis as to the amount of their faith, so you have been upset by soul-analysis as to the character of it; and the remedy in both cases is the same, viz., instead of analyzing your faith, analyze the Object on which your faith rests. Have you believed in the right Object? Is He worthy of your confidence and trust? If He be—and you know in your soul He is—you have believed aright.”
“Savior, the One Who knew no sin,
Made sin to make us just:
Worthy art Thou our love to win—
Our full confiding trust!”
4.—"I Don't Feel Saved.”
“But, somehow or other, even now, I don't feel saved, as you and so many others do.”
“Well, I can't speak for others; but I can say for myself that, though by God's grace I have now been saved for some twelve years, I never yet felt saved.”
“Never yet felt saved? you surprise me! Do please explain, for I have always looked upon you as such a happy Christian.”
“And so, thank God, I am, and that because I know I am saved because God says so, and knowing this I feel happy; but let me repeat that I never yet felt saved. Numbers judge of their salvation by their feelings. Now, that is, in plain English, to make a savior of your feelings! God does not do this; He makes a Savior of Christ. They look to feelings within themselves. He looks to One outside themselves. In fact, I have met with many Christians whose sense of salvation on this account seemed to depend on the state of their digestions! They will go into the glory as certainly as I will, but they lose a great deal of enjoyment in the meanwhile; and, besides, being in bondage to their feelings, they are unable to serve the Lord Christ; for where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
“Once, when preaching the Gospel at Stornoway, I met a man just in your state. He said he loved the Lord, but he could not say he was saved, as he hadn't the feelings within. 'Well,' I said, 'I've just come from the quay; herrings are selling to-day at eleven-and-three pence a basket' (a very high price); 'do you believe it?' I asked. 'Yes, Because you say it,' he answered. 'Oh,' I said, 'then you don't believe because you feel the basket of herrings inside you?' Of course I don't,' he replied, 'Yet that's just the foolish way in which you are treating God. You say, in effect, that you'll believe Him when you have certain feelings within. God's order is, believe His Word, and the happy feelings will follow in due course-but even then the feelings have nothing to do with salvation. They are but the natural result of taking God without question at His Word.'”
Struck with the vastness of the number of believers who are in bondage to their feelings, I once took the trouble to ascertain how often feelings were mentioned in the New Testament, and found that the word occurs but twice; once in connection with the Lord Jesus (Heb. 4:1515For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15)), and once in connection with unregenerate man (Eph. 4:1919Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. (Ephesians 4:19)); but never in connection with believers at all; while to enumerate the occasions on which the word "faith" is used would be to write a volume. I next turned to the Old Testament, and there I could only find one man who trusted to his feelings, and that was Isaac (Gen. 27:2121And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not. (Genesis 27:21)); and he, poor man, as we all know, was terribly deluded by them.
How many believers are gloomy and joyless because they are occupied with their feelings instead of God's Christ!
5.—"I Haven't Perfect Peace.”
“I haven't perfect peace; indeed, I am sometimes not quite sure whether I have really made my peace with God at all.”
“Well, for my part, I am quite clear on that point, for I am certain that I never have.”
“But how can that be? You always seem so confident.”
“Yes, for that confidence flows out from my knowledge of the fact that God Himself has made the peace; if I had to make the peace I should, no doubt, like yourself, be harassed with doubts as to whether it was effectually done.”
“But surely we all have to make our peace with God.”
“Pardon me, we have not; that is, if we take Scripture instead of theology as our guide, for in Col. 1:2020And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. (Colossians 1:20), I read of God's `having made peace through the blood of His (Christ's) cross.' And now let us dissect this text for a moment:—
Peace has been made.
It has been made by God.
It has been made 1900 years ago.
It has been made at the Cross
It has been made by the blood of Jesus.
Now what had you or I to do with making it?”
“Well, I must own that that Scripture has rather upset my view. But if we are not to make our peace with God, what are we to do?”
“We are to be 'peace-takers,' not 'peace-makers.' Let me give you an illustration. You remember the Indian Mutiny? When the English began to get the upper hand over the mutineers, it became evident that the only way to bring matters to a satisfactory conclusion was to proclaim an amnesty for all rebels who would lay down their arms, and to inflict summary punishment upon all taken with arms in their hands; and this was accordingly done. Now, let us suppose that some time after the proclamation of the amnesty a rebel prince sets sail for England in order to make his peace with the Queen, and on his arrival hastens to Buckingham Palace, and asks for an interview with Her Majesty. Questioned as to his reason for desiring to see her, he replies that, having taken part in the mutiny, he desires to make his peace with the Queen. We can imagine how he would at once be met with the reply that peace had been made for all that would accept it, and that a free pardon was his, even in India, the very moment when he laid down his arms. Just so with ourselves; God has made peace, for all who will accept it, by the blood of Christ's Cross: we who were the rebels have but to lay down our arms and accept it.
“Now, this peace, once accepted, cannot be broken, for God Himself is the Author of it, and the blood of the everlasting covenant its basis. God knows no variableness or shadow of turning, and the peace He has made is settled and eternal, as we often say—
“'My love is ofttimes low,
My joy still ebbs and flows,
But peace with God remains the same;
No change Jehovah knows.”
“But while peace with God remains unchanged, the enjoyment of it on the part of many believers fluctuates, and that because the import of the resurrection is not fully apprehended. Thus, in the fourth chapter of the Romans, Paul draws a parallel between Abraham's justification and our own: Abraham believed that God would raise up from his dead body a son; we believe that God has raised up Jesus His Son from the dead. Let me quote the passage so far as it relates to ourselves. `Now it was not written for his (Abraham's) sake alone, that it (righteousness) was imputed to him; but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him Who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification.' And note that prominence is given to two great facts: the Lord Jesus has been (1) delivered for our offenses, and (2) raised again for our justification: and these two facts satisfy alike God and me, for the death of the Lord Jesus for my offenses satisfies God: and the life of the Lord Jesus the other side of death satisfies me. Let me make my meaning plain. I owe ten shillings at a shop, and look in to pay it. The shopkeeper thanks me, and puts the coins in his till. Observing that I still wait, he asks whether he can serve me with anything more, and, receiving a reply in the negative, he answers, `Ah, I see, sir, you are waiting for your receipt,' which he accordingly makes out and hands to me, and which I place in my pocket and leave the shop; and the shopkeeper and I are alike satisfied, for the payment of the ten shillings satisfied him, and the receipt satisfies me. So, too, the Lord Jesus, delivered by God to death for my offenses, has satisfied God about them, and the Lord Jesus, alive from the dead, has satisfied me that my offenses are put away; for God, since Jesus took the place of sin-bearer, and as such must perforce die, would never have raised Him from the dead unless He had satisfied Him about the whole question of sin.
“And now let me put you through a short catechism:—
“Is Jesus on the cross?—No.
“Is He in the grave?—No.
“Where is He, then?—He is in glory.
"Quite so. And He died for your sins?
—Yes.
“You are sure of that?—Quite sure.
"Then are your sins in the glory?—
No; they could not be there.
“But the One Who bore them is, and that is the proof that God is satisfied, and that your sins are forever blotted from His sight. If God were not satisfied with Christ's sacrifice for your sins, He would be still in the grave. He is not in the grave, but on the throne—the eternal proof to all that God is satisfied. Are you?
"And let me, in conclusion, warn you against a very common mistake, namely, confounding peace with communion. Peace has been made, and is maintained by God, and cannot, therefore, be broken: communion has to be maintained by us: and nothing is so easily lost. Let me give you an illustration. You know what an eclipse of the moon is? The world has intervened between the sun and the moon, and the latter, since it can only shine by borrowed light, is in darkness, though the sun itself has not ceased to shine. Just so the Father's smile of infinite complacency ever rests on us, His blood-bought children (Rom. 5:22By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:2)); but if the world, its lusts, its pleasures, and amusements, intervene—for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world (1 John 2:1616For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. (1 John 2:16))—the believer suffers a partial or total eclipse. The radiance of the Father's smile remains undimmed; but the believer, since he is not walking in communion with his Father, has lost the sense of his enjoyment of it. Let us never confound the two.”
6.—"I Haven't Perfect Love.”
Such was the sorrowful exclamation that fell from the lips of a lady with whom the writer recently met. She had been reading a book called "Perfect Love," one of a class of publications only too common nowadays, characterized by the presence of the so-called experiences of Mrs. Dash or Miss Blank (more especially of the latter lady, for family cares seem greatly to modify these views), but by the entire absence, or misapplication, of the Word of God, apart from which human experiences are dangerous and misleading. Accordingly, the natural result of perusing such a book had been to thoroughly upset the reader, and to cause her to sorrowfully exclaim, "I haven't perfect love.”
“Pardon me," I replied; "but indeed you have. But perhaps you are not looking for it in the right place. Where are you expecting to find it?”
“Well, of course, in my own heart.”
“Ah, it is just as I thought, you are looking in the wrong place for it entirely! Neither you nor I, nor anyone else—Miss Blank's protestations notwithstanding—ever had, has, or will have, perfect love in our hearts this side of the grave, or till, if living at His coming, we are caught up to be with the Lord. Then, indeed, our love for Him will be perfect, and every pulse of ours beat in unison with the heart of Christ. Meanwhile, we have perfect love; but it is in God's heart, not ours. Let us turn to the chapter (1 John 4) which speaks of it—a chapter written by one who, while his theme is love, calls himself the disciple whom Jesus loved, but never for a moment ventures, like Miss Blank, to speak of his love for Jesus. Peter, as the beloved disciple records, once did this, and fell (John 21:15-1715So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. 16He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. 17He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. (John 21:15‑17)).
“Beginning, then, at the 16th verse, we read, 'We have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in Him. Herein is love with us (see margin) made perfect, that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment.' And why? 'Because as He (Christ) is, so are we in this world; that is to say, that we believers, even down here in this world, are as free from judgment as the exalted Christ Himself. The judgment which was our due has been meted out by God to Him; but He is not undergoing judgment now, but is exalted to God's right hand, in proof of the absolute acceptance by God of the work Christ wrought out at Calvary; and gazing on Him there by faith, we know that our sins are forever blotted from God's sight and memory (Heb. 10:1717And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. (Hebrews 10:17)). Well may we sing—
“Rise, my soul, behold, 'tis Jesus!
Jesus fills thy wondering eyes;
See Him now in glory seated
Where thy sins no more can rise!
For we can, not on the ground of some supposed experience, but on the authority of God's own Word, declare that, as free from judgment as He is up there, so free are we from it down here, and add, 'There is no fear in love.' Can I fear God, Who has given the measure of His love for me in the gift of His Son? Fear the One Who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all? Surely not. The perfect love welling from the great heart of God, so perfectly expressed in the gift of His Son, has cast out every guilty fear from mine. Hitherto I feared, and 'fear hath torment,' for I was not made perfect in love, i.e., God's love had not been fully manifested to my soul. Now I fear no longer. Fear is dispelled and love has taken its place. I love Him 'because He first loved me.'”
Well is it, indeed, for us to turn from what a lady (who had herself with difficulty escaped the toils) afterward described to me as, "making a Christ out of your own heart," to the heart of love of God, a source which never fails!
7.—"I Don't Always See the Fruits of the Spirit.”
“Well, I really do believe on the Lord and love Him, but what troubles me is that I don't always see the fruits of the Spirit within me.”
“Don't you? Then if I were you I would give up looking for them. Did you ever see an apple tree looking for the fruit on it?”
“No; I certainly never did.”
“Nor I neither. The tree bears the fruit, but others look for the fruit on it. So, too, in your case; give up self-occupation and get occupied with Christ, and the fruits of the Spirit will soon be seen by others. Surely, Moses did not get his face to shine by rubbing it, did he?”
“No; but by going into God's presence.”
“Quite so; and you'll get yours to shine, too, if you, with unveiled face, behold, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord; for you'll be changed into the same image from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3:1818But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:18)).
And another thing: 'Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone' (Ex. 34:2929And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. (Exodus 34:29)). The Israelites saw it readily enough, but he knew nothing about it, because he was occupied with God, and not his own face. Thus, you see that you, however unwittingly, have been making the fatal mistake of being occupied with your face, instead of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:66For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)), and have been rubbing your face to get it to shine, and then looking at it in the glass of introspection. Now, if I get occupied with myself, I am not in the current of God's thoughts, for I am making a center of myself; He makes a center of Christ, and well may I do likewise.”
“But, you know, it does say that we are to examine ourselves. See Second Corinthians, 13.”
“Does it? Well, let us turn to the passage. You will find that false teachers at Corinth had been calling in question Paul's apostleship, so he settles the matter in a very conclusive way. 'Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me,' he says (and thence on to the end of verse 4 is a parenthesis), 'examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith, prove yourselves (i.e., don't prove me as to my apostleship). Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?' Paul puts before them a dilemma, and invites them to impale themselves on whichever horn they pleased. If they were saved souls, he was an apostle, for he had been used to their conversion (1 Cor. 3:66I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. (1 Corinthians 3:6)). If he were no apostle, then were they reprobates! Self-judgment where failure has come in, is enjoined by the Word (1 Cor. 11:3131For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. (1 Corinthians 11:31)); self-occupation is quite another thing, and is never enjoined; in fact, the contrary is insisted on; and it is alike withering in its influence on the one indulging in it (for it is a selfish indulgence after all), and destructive of all service to others.”
I have been struck with the fact that, just as in Wales (where man's responsibility has been taught almost to the exclusion of God's sovereignty) one finds many uncertain about their salvation because they are trying to see the Blood without them; whereas God declares, "When I see the Blood I will pass over you," so in Scotland (where God's sovereignty has been pressed almost to the exclusion of man's responsibility) many are to be found afflicted with doubts because they judge of their salvation by the work of the Spirit within them-a plain proof of the danger of teaching only partial truths. This latter mistake arises from confounding the respective offices of the Substitute and the Comforter. It was the Substitute, not the Comforter, who died for me, and my salvation, therefore, depends on the past work of Christ outside me, while my joy and communion depend on the unhindered present operations of the Holy Ghost within.
8.—"I Fear I Have Committed the Unpardonable Sin.”
A formidable weapon in the hand of Satan, and one which he uses, not only against anxious souls, but oftentimes even against true believers without settled peace, is the suggestion that the individual has committed what is called "the unpardonable sin." One person, indeed, with whom the writer once conversed, was driven to the verge of suicide through this horrible dread, which the one who is a liar and a murderer from the beginning had instilled into his soul. It might, therefore, prove helpful to some if we briefly considered what this particular sin is. The passage referring to it may be found in Matt. 12:22-3222Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. 23And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? 24But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. 25And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: 26And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? 27And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. 28But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. 29Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. 30He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. 31Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. 32And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. (Matthew 12:22‑32). A person possessed with a demon, blind and dumb, had been brought to the Lord, who healed him. In amazement the people ask, "Is not this the Son of David?" And indeed, the Pharisees could not deny that supernatural power had been displayed by the Lord; but sooner than confess that it was David's Son who had wrought this miracle, they would ascribe it to Satanic agency, "This fellow doth not cast out demons, but by Beelzebub, the prince of the demons." The Lord proceeds to point out, first the folly, and then the sin of so vile a suggestion. As to the folly of it "If Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?" But, so far from this being the case, the Lord, as He explains, had first entered the strong man's (i.e., Satan's) house, had bound the strong man, and, by casting out the strong man, had spoiled his goods. Next the Lord deals with the terrible nature of the sin of thus attributing to Satan the manifest operations of the Holy Ghost, "Whosoever," He says, "speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world neither in the world to come;"—that is to blaspheme the Holy Ghost by willfully attributing His operations to Satanic agency, was a sin for which there was no forgiveness.
But some might find a difficulty in 1 John 5:1616If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. (1 John 5:16), and "sin unto death" therein referred to. The context, it will be noticed (verses 14, 15), deals with prayer, and the confidence which acts according to His will. Now, if we see a brother sin in such a manner that we have faith to go to God about him, and ask that the chastening which has, in consequence of his sin, befallen our brother, may not go on to his being taken out of this world (see 1 Cor. 11:3030For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. (1 Corinthians 11:30)), then, in such case, our prayer that his life may be spared will be answered, and "He shall give him life." But, on the other hand, "there is a sin unto death." Instinctively we feel what the result of such sin will be, and we have no confidence before God in praying for our brother's restoration, for "This is the confidence we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us.”
The so-called "unpardonable sin" is not, therefore, as Satan so often suggests, some sin or other, he knows not what, which a person may have committed at some time, he knows not when; but it is the willful and malicious attribution to Satanic agency of works manifestly wrought by the Holy Ghost.
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