I am anxious to obtain that faith without which it is impossible to please God; I want to know I possess it. "I say to myself," wrote one in similar mental straits, "that I do trust Him; that I know He can save me; that I know His blood was shed for me, etc., but still I am not sure if I fully realize it all." These words exactly describe the state of my mind in relation to my spiritual condition.
We are urged by the apostle to examine ourselves, whether we be in the faith. Faith, the Scriptures tell us, is the gift of God; and this gift I have prayed for, and I responded to the teaching of Romans 10:9: "If you shall confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and shall believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved;" but I am still without assurance essential to peace; I cannot say, "I know in whom I have believed."
This continuous seeking for light, and never emerging from darkness is painfully perplexing, and I find myself often in that state of mind reflected in the observation of Mark Rutherford. "Our temptation is to doubt whether it is of the smallest consequence whether we are or are not, and whether our being here is not an accident." I have prayed for forgiveness, but I do not feel that I am forgiven; while the fact that my cares, which I have cast oft and again upon the Lord, are increasing instead of diminishing, invests with a perplexing interest the promise, "I will deliver you."
I am told that feeling must not be made the test of our spiritual condition. "Don't mind your feelings," said the late Mr. Moody, "let feelings take care of themselves;" but on another occasion, in dealing with an anxious penitent, he said, "At ten tonight I will pray for you; and make up your mind you will not sleep until you know your sins are forgiven." How can these statements be reconciled? How can one be assured of the peace which the Lord gives to believers apart from feeling?
Before taking up this inquiry, let me say that it is just such a one as every Gospel worker is glad to be called upon to answer. It is of the kind that is specially desired for the "Corner,"- and inquiry as to what to do to be saved, and how to know that one is saved, rather than a curiosity to know the meaning of some peculiar text.
It was for the express purpose of coming into the closest personal touch with Present Truth readers that is possible without actually seeing them, that this Department was opened. While I am glad to expound any portion of Scripture, I wish to lead all to realize that the sole object of the Bible is to teach men the necessity and the way of personal salvation, and how to serve God.
Your questions and statements reveal a state of self-consciousness that is very common among professed Christians who have not yet become so well acquainted with God that he absorbs their thoughts, to the exclusion of themselves. It is true that we are exhorted, "Examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith;" (2 Corinthians 13:5) but this gives no warrant for the analysis of one's own mind, and the bringing of one's own self to the bar of Judgment, that is so common among certain very good and conscientious people. We have no more right to try ourselves before an Inquisition than we have to subject somebody else to it. We are simply to let ourselves alone, and allow God to deal with us in His way, which is not by any means the Inquisitorial method.
Praying for Faith
I have been waiting for many years for somebody to show me the place in the Bible where we are told to pray for faith. It is true that the disciples said, "Lord, increase our faith;" (Luke 17:5) but that is in itself no warrant; and the answer of Christ was a rebuke to their request, for He immediately said: "If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you might say unto this sycamine tree, Be plucked up by the root, and be planted in the sea; and it should obey you." (Luke 17:6)
That is, whoever has any real faith at all, has all the faith there is. Whoever has faith has it, and that is all there is to it. "God has dealt to every man the measure of faith." (Romans 12:3)
This you recognize, for you say that faith is the gift of God. Well, now, why should one pray for that which God has already given? and which, without respect of persons, He has dealt out to every man? It is true that we speak of "lack of faith," and the Bible itself speaks of men that have little faith; but this is not a contradiction of the truth that God has given it to them. Men often reject God's gifts, and otherwise allow them to lie unused; but the fact that one does not exercise the faith does not show that it has not been given him. When we speak of lack of faith on the part of some person, we mean that that person does not exercise the gift.
A moment's consideration will suffice to show that faith is the one thing that cannot be prayed for. We are to "pray in faith, nothing wavering," (James 1:6) if we would receive. It is only when we believe that we receive the things we ask for, that we do indeed receive them. (Mark 11:24) Nothing but the prayer of faith is real prayer; therefore without faith one could not really pray. "He that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6)
How could it be thought necessary to ask God for faith, when without it we could not come to God, nor ask for anything? Faith is the one thing that we do not need to ask for; for if we have enough of it to enable us to receive it in asking for it, we have enough for anything else.
What Faith Is, and How It Comes
"Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:10)
Faith in God is the simple, unquestioning reception of His Word, the acceptance of it as the final and absolute authority, and the resting in it as free from fear that it will fail as are the worlds which it sustains. To ask God for faith, when we have His Word, is to insult Him to His face, calling Him a liar; for when we hear Him speak, and then ask Him to help us to believe what He says, we virtually ask Him to act in such a manner that we can have confidence in His honesty and sincerity. We tell Him that we do not regard Him as trustworthy; for: "he that believes not God has made Him a liar." (1 John 5:10)
Think how it would be to treat a man as God is ordinarily treated. Suppose a man promises you something which you would like to receive, and you look at Him steadily, and say, "I wish I could believe you; I wish I could have faith in your promise;" you see at once what that would imply. He might well ask, "What have I done to cause you to lose confidence in me? When had you known me to break my word?" and if you could not point to a single breach of faith on his part, he would tell you that you are bound to believe him until you have found him untrustworthy. Even in courts of law, a man is always given "the benefit of the doubt;" but men do not deal as fairly as that with God, whom they have not the slightest reason even to doubt.
The Full Assurance of Faith
You say that you are "still without assurance essential to peace."
Well, be so no longer. I will give you all the assurance you need, and tell you where you can find many times more. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you; not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27) "I, even I, am He that blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and will not remember your sins." (Isaiah 43:25) "I have blotted out as a thick cloud your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins; return unto me; for I have redeemed you." (Isaiah 44:22) "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." (1 Timothy 2:15) "He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him," (Hebrews 7:25) and He assures us, "Him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out." (John 6:37) "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16)
We can hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, "for He is faithful that promised." (Hebrews 10:23) "God is faithful, by whom you were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord." (1 Corinthians 1:9)
He has sworn by himself, (Hebrews 6:13)--by His own existence,--and as long as we know that He lives,--that He is,--we know that pardon and peace and righteousness are ours. This, His word, is our assurance. It is all that can possibly be asked or given. Nothing else could possibly be assurance, for everything else is liable to fail. Only "the Word of our God abides for ever. And this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you." (1 Peter 1:25)
Feeling Is Not Assurance
You already have the assurance; the trouble is that you do not recognize it, and are trying to manufacture it yourself, out of yourself. You are looking for emotion in yourself, a happy feeling, and you think that this will be assurance to you.
But feeling is not and cannot be assurance of pardon, and righteousness, and peace. The assurance must come from God, in order to be of any value, and He gives it in His sacred Word. Your feeling is only something springing from yourself; and it is self-evident that you cannot give yourself assurance that God has fulfilled or will fulfill His promises.
All the emotion is simply the response of one's being to something that affects it; and any genuine feeling that you may have will be simply the result of your acceptance of the assurance that God gives. When you believe that God has forgiven your sins, you cannot help being glad, but that gladness will not always take the form of exuberance of spirits. The peace of God is superior to any circumstance or condition. It exists when the soul is in the deepest trouble, buffeted on all sides, just as surely as in the clearest sunlight and the most perfect calm.
There are times when one has almost no feeling at all,--when the senses are benumbed, as, for instance, by intense cold, or when one is ill; how sad it would be if one could not at such times have the full assurance of acceptance with God. But it is not so. At times when one is too weak to feel, when one merely exists, and cannot even think,--one can quietly and sweetly rest without thought in the everlasting arms, fully persuaded that what He has promised He is able to perform. "In returning and rest shall you be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength." (Isaiah 30:15)
Our Place in God's Plan
It is most unfortunate that so many good men have seemed to think that the world at large would be interested in reading their doubts. So they have most religiously recorded all the unbelief which came to them in unguarded moments, and people read it as though it were necessary for them to have the same experience.
If Rutherford ever doubted whether he was of the slightest consequence, or thought that his existence was a mere accident, he ought to have known better than to write it down for others to read. He ought, indeed, to have known God better than ever to have entertained a thought so dishonoring to Him. Let us read some of the assurance on this point also. "You have formed my reins; You have knit me together in my mother's womb. I will give thanks unto You; For I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Wonderful are your works; And that my soul knows right well. My frame was not hidden from You, I was made in secret, And curiously wrought in the lowest part of the earth. Your eyes did see my unperfect substance, And in your book were all my members written, Which day by day were fashioned, When as yet there was none of them. How precious also are your thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand; When I awake I am still with You." (Psalm 139:13-18,RV & others) "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, ... In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who works all things after the counsel of His own will." (Ephesians 1:3-5,11) "[God] has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began." (2 Timothy 1:9) "Now to Him that is of power to stablish you according to my Gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith; To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen." (Romans 16:25-27)
Of what do all these texts assure us? Of this, that in the eternal ages of the past, "before the world began," God had us all, and each one of us individually, in His mind. In times eternal God had a plan for each one of us. God is never taken by surprise; everything is known to Him from the beginning; and from before any creature had existence He saw the place that everyone of us should occupy, and the work that each one of us was to perform. This is saying nothing more than that a wise builder knows just what he is going to make, and what it will be like, and what its use will be, before he begins it.
Now think what a marvelous ground for confidence and trust this is. Unnumbered ages before creation God had the whole plan of the universe, down to the smallest detail, in His mind. Ages rolled round, and no sign of anything appeared, but God did not forget. The powers in the heavens were created, and innumerable millions of beings worshiped before Him; but still no earth with its inhabitants appeared. Still God did not for a moment lose sight of His purpose. All things were as naked and open to His eyes than as now; but there was no indication of it to any other eye.
At last the earth was created, and in due course of time we came into being, for the purpose of filling the very place in creation that God appointed us ages upon ages ago. Can you not see that He who held us, and not us only, but the very sparrows, steadily in His mind to countless ages, never once swerving from His purpose, will not allow anything to interfere with His eternal purpose for us, if we are but willing that His will should be done in us? What more perfect assurance do you want than this?
Knowing Without Feeling
You find difficulty in reconciling two statements by Mr. Moody,- one to the effect that feelings are to be left to take care of themselves, and the other that a certain person should know that his sins were forgiven. Now it is a slight matter whether any two statements of Mr. Moody or any other man are reconciled or not; but the truth in this case is that they agree most perfectly, and I think that you can already see it. The promises of God are sufficient to enable anyone to know that he is forgiven.
Suppose you had in some way injured me, and apologize and ask for forgiveness; how would you know that you were forgiven? There could be but one way--by my word. If I said, "I forgive you freely," you would take that as a statement of the matter, provided you had confidence in my sincerity; and you would never once think that your feelings had anything to do with it. You would know, without feeling; whatever feeling you might have afterward would be the result of that knowledge.
Even so it must be between you and God. Get acquainted with Him through His Word. Learn first of all that the Bible contains no such text as: "I know in whom I have believed."
That would certainly be true, if one really believed, but it does not express the fullness of the truth. The verse reads, "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." (2 Timothy 1:12)
It is not enough to know who it is whom we believe, but we must know Him personally. Personal acquaintance with the Lord Jesus Christ will establish your confidence in Him, so that, instead of wondering if you are accepted by Him, nothing can cause you to doubt it for a moment.
Study His Word; remember that it is true from the beginning, for He cannot lie; hold fast to everything that He says to you, and all your difficulties will vanish like the mist before the rising sun. "They that know your name will put their trust in You; for You, Lord, have not forsaken them that seek You." (Psalm 9:10)--Present Truth, June 5, 1902.