THE TRUE
CHRISTIAN
By John Angell James, 1846
ASSURANCE OF HOPE
My dear friends,
The subject on which I address you this month is of great importance to your
spiritual enjoyment, and, indeed, you cannot enter deeply into the
consolations of the Spirit, without an experimental acquaintance with it—I
mean, the Assurance of Hope. A Christian is, or might be, the
happiest man upon the earth; but in order to this, he must have some
satisfactory reason to conclude that he is a Christian. Christianity is
intended to make us happy, it is the overflowing of the felicity of the
blessed God, into the soul of man; the reflection of his smiling countenance
from the redeemed, regenerated spirit; and the communion of the finite mind,
in the fullness of the grace and glory belonging to the infinite one—but
then we must know that we have religion.
There are three kinds of assurance spoken of in
the Word of God–
1. "The assurance of understanding," Col.
2:2; which means, a clear, comprehensive, heart-establishing acquaintance
with divine truth.
2. "The assurance of faith," Heb. 10:22;
which signifies an entire persuasion of the truth of the gospel.
3. "The assurance of hope," Heb. 6:11;
which imports a confidence of personal saving interest in Christ. It is of
the latter I treat in this address. They are all three intimately related
to, and grow out of each other. In proportion as we fully know and are
spiritually taught the doctrines of the gospel, we shall be fully assured of
their truth, and have the assurance of faith. And in exact proportion as we
are fully assured of the divine person, mission, and work of Christ, we
shall be fully assured of our personal interest in them, faith being based
upon knowledge, and hope upon faith.
The assurance of knowledge and faith has reference to the
gospel in itself; the assurance of hope to the state of our heart in
reference to the gospel. The assurance of faith is called for in a man's
first profession of the gospel, in order to his being acknowledged as a
Christian. The assurance of hope, again, is an enjoyment proposed to those
who believe, and have already begun the Christian race, which they are
called to follow after, and to give all diligence to obtain.
It does not appear to be necessary to this state of mind,
that we should have such a persuasion as utterly and continually excludes
every shade of doubt; and which is so absolutely perfect as to admit of no
degrees or increase; for that is not the sense in which it seems to be
understood by the sacred writers, but rather as importing a prevailing
and satisfactory conclusion; a state in which the mind sees no reason to
question its sincerity and safety. Nor is it necessary to this blessed
condition that the person who enjoys it, should be able or disposed to use
bold, strong, confident affirmation, such as, "I am as certain I am a child
of God, as if a voice from heaven declared it; and as sure of arriving
safely in glory at last as if I were already there."
Many a modest humble believer, if the question were put
to him, "Are you a child of God?" would, perhaps, under the influence of
meekness and self-abasement, shrink from the positive, "I am! I am sure I
am!" and content himself with saying, "I hope and believe I am, having no
serious reason to doubt it, for I am deeply convinced of my fallen, sinful
state; I renounce every ground of dependence, but the righteousness of
Christ, and rest my hope of salvation on him. My faith has given me peace,
and led me to love God. And, conscious of this, I doubt not I have passed
from death unto life." This latter is the language of Scriptural assurance.
Such a prevailing and satisfactory conclusion as to our
state may be obtained. Had no injunction in reference to it been
given in the Scripture, nor any declaration made concerning it, still it
might have been fairly presumed, that a change so great as that of
regeneration could not have taken place without being its own evidence, to
him in whom it is wrought. The old and the new nature—the work and image of
Satan and of God—are not so like each other as not to be easily
distinguished. But, in fact, we ARE commanded to give all diligence to
obtain and preserve the full assurance of hope; and evidences are laid down
by which we may ascertain whether we are the children of God or not. Every
one of us may know this; the means of judging are within the reach of
us all.
If, then, we may know it, we ought
to know it. Assurance is in one sense our duty, as well as our privilege. If
it is our duty to believe, it is our duty to hope, and if to hope at all, to
hope even to assurance. Every man ought to know his spiritual condition. It
is a matter of too great importance to be allowed to remain undecided. We
ought not to be content to remain another hour in ignorance of our spiritual
state.
HOW is assurance to be obtained? This is a most
momentous question. May God preserve me from error in giving an answer to
it. It is said by the apostle, "The Spirit himself bears witness with
our spirit, that we are the children of God." Rom. 8:16. Now as it is
witnessed, or testified by the Spirit, that we are the children of God, we
naturally ask, in what manner is this testimony borne? This must either be
in the way of a direct revelation to our mind; or by enabling us, on a
comparison of the Spirit's work in the heart, with the description of the
Spirit's work in the Word, to draw the conclusion that we are truly born
again.
Some believe that there is granted to each regenerated
soul a direct witness, in the way of suggestion, or impression, of its
spiritual birth. This, however, does not appear to me to be the meaning of
the apostle. It does not accord with the context, which is obviously
practical, and speaks of the influence of the Spirit as received for
mortification of sin, and for the productions of all the dispositions and
habits of the Christian life, especially the Spirit of adoption; it is
unsupported by any other passage where assurance is spoken of; it would, if
this were its meaning, come under the head of a revelation from God, and
seem to require something else to authenticate it; it would open a door for
mistake and self-deception; it has never been received by multitudes who
have been sincerely and eminently godly, and it is unnecessary, because,
without being supported by the inferential evidence, it is not to be
trusted.
It is much safer and more correct to consider the witness
of the Spirit as purely inferential. The case stands thus—"The Holy Spirit
speaks in the Word. The same Spirit operates in the heart. There must be a
correspondence between his testimony in the WORD, and his operation in the
HEART. The evidence lies in this congruity. We take the divine Word as
dictated by the Spirit, and containing a declaration of his mind—we see
there what he testifies—we see especially the description which he there
gives of the faith and character of God's children—of the principles and
dispositions, the affections and desires, the hopes and fears, and the
peculiar walk and lifestyle by which they are distinguished. If our spirits
in the court of conscience, and before the Father of our spirits, bears
witness to a correspondence between this description, and what has been
effected in us by the same Divine Agent, then there is a concurrence of the
testimonies; the testimony of God's Spirit and the testimony of our spirits
agree; the one witnesses with the other. What the Spirit of God has wrought
in us harmonizes with what the Spirit of God testifies in the Word; and in
proportion as our spirits have the inward consciousness of this harmony, do
we possess the witness of the Spirit to our being the children of God." (Wardlaw
on Assurance)
This is in strict accordance with what is said in other
places of Scripture. "These things," says the apostle John, "have I written
unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that
you have eternal life." 1 John, 5:13. We are to know that we have
eternal life, by the evidence of what is written, and of course by
the comparison of our heart and life with it.
In reply then to the question, how you may know that you
are a child of God, I answer, by a consciousness, and a comparison of your
state with the Word of God. The apostle says, "We are all the children of
God by faith in Jesus Christ," Gal. 3:26. "I am conscious," says an assured
Christian, "that I do believe, and therefore I know I am a child of
God." And suppose he were in any doubt about the reality of his faith,
he pursues the subject and says, "The Word of God says, in whom believing we
rejoice—I have peace and joy. To those who believe he is precious;
Christ is precious to me. Faith works by love—I love God,
Christ, his people, and holiness. This is the victory that overcomes the
world, even our faith—I have overcome the world. We know that we have
passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren—I love the
brethren, therefore I conclude I am a child of God. The fruits of my faith
which I discern in myself, answer to the description of them given in the
Word."
It is not, then, by any such methods as by dreams, or the
suggestions of texts of Scripture to the mind, or visions, or impressions
upon the mind, or strong persuasions of our eternal election—that we are to
obtain this blessed hope of personal interest in the mercies of redemption,
but by comparing our hearts with the Word of God. I will here quote the
beautiful language of the celebrated Ralph Cudworth, in a sermon preached
before the House of Commons during the Commonwealth—"The way to obtain a
good assurance of our title to heaven, is not to climb up to it by a ladder
of our own ungrounded persuasions, but to dig as low as hell by humility and
self-denial in our own hearts—and though this may seem the farthest way—yet
it is indeed the nearest and safest way to it. We must 'ascend downward,
and descend upward,' if we would indeed come to heaven, or get any
true persuasion of our title to it. The most triumphant confidence of a
Christian rises safely and surely on this low foundation, which lies deeper
underground, and there stands firmly and steadfastly. When our heart is once
turned into a conformity with the Word of God, when we feel our will to
concur with his will, we shall then personally perceive a spirit of adoption
within ourselves, teaching us to say, Abba, Father. We shall not then
care for peeping into the hidden records of eternity, to see whether our
names be written there in golden characters. No! We shall find a copy of
God's thoughts concerning us written in our own bosoms. There we may read
the characters of his favor toward us—there we may feel an inward sense of
his love to us, flowing out of our hearty and sincere love to him. And we
shall be more undoubtedly persuaded of it, than if one of those winged
watchmen above, who are privy to heaven's secrets, would come and tell us
that they saw our names enrolled in those volumes of eternity."
In this way, and, as it appears to me, in this way only,
is our personal interest in the blessings of salvation to be ascertained. It
will be evident then, that our assurance will be more or less full,
according to the measure of our piety. It admits of degrees of
certainty, and these will be regulated by our degrees of vital, experimental
godliness. Hence the force of the apostolic exhortation, to give all
diligence to make our calling and our election sure—that is, sure
to ourselves, as a clear and well-attested fact, that we are called
according to the purpose of God.
It is an unquestionable fact, that many professors have
not yet attained to this comfortable persuasion of their personal saving
interest in Christ. Various reasons may be assigned for this. Some ought
not to have it, for they are professors only, and not
partakers of divine grace. In them it would be only a lie in their right
hand; and crying peace, peace, when they have no right to peace.
Others are kept in doubt by physical obstructions to joy
and hope—they are constitutionally gloomy and dejected. Little can be
said to them but to encourage them, if they are walking consistently, to
endeavor to distinguish between disordered nerves—and destitution of piety;
to hope against hope; and, if possible, to increase their joy by the
improvement of their health. It is dangerous advice, in most cases, to let
our friends judge for us of so important a matter as our spiritual condition
and safety; but in the case of those to whom I am now alluding, the opinion
of enlightened and judicious Christians, who think favorably of the state of
the dejected, should have weight.
Others, though not constitutionally depressed, are
timid, hesitating and anxiously cautious; and even in common matters,
find it difficult sometimes to decide an important question. This timidity
they carry into their religious matters, and are afraid of coming to the
conclusion that they are Christians, lest, after all, they should deceive
themselves. To their timorous minds it seems a kind of presumption for
them to conclude that they are the children of God—a rash and
unauthorized decision, from which they shrink back with trepidation and
alarm. They view it merely in the light of a privilege which is granted to a
favored few—but not an attainment within the reach of all; or a duty, the
obligation to which all ought to feel. How mistaken a view is this of the
whole subject.
It might surely be presumed that in every case of real
scriptural piety, the subject of it would be able to ascertain his
condition; that no child in the family of God need be ignorant of his divine
relationship. It must strike us as very strange that a renovation of
character so great as that effected in regeneration, should take place, and
the recipient of it be unable to certify it. It cannot, therefore, be an
unauthorized state of mind for any real and consistent Christian to arrive
at, to know his heavenly birth, but what he should attain.
Some, I fear, actually nourish doubts and fears as a
'mark of grace', and an evidence of humility—and consider themselves in a
more secure and salutary state for questioning their safety, than concluding
upon it. If, indeed, they have not the evidence of true conversion, they
ought to doubt, or ought rather to be assured that they are not
Christians. But I am now supposing the case of some good people, who, with
the marks of true grace, and a consistent walk—are cherishing the error that
it is safer to doubt than to decide. This is a sad mistake and a proof of
deplorable ignorance of the Word of God.
Others are engaged in a microscopic analysis of their
feelings, and vary their opinion of their state with every vicissitude
of their feelings. A little more or a little less fluency in prayer; a
greater or a less degree of enjoyment of a sermon; a higher or lower measure
of elasticity of their emotions, produced by physical causes—raises or
depresses their hopes, elevating them to confidence, or sinking them to
despondency. Their opinions of their state are, therefore, in a state of
perpetual vacillation. Their religious enjoyment is at the mercy of
circumstances, over which they can exercise no control, and they are
strangers to settled peace. If such people would look less to themselves and
more to Christ, they would be far happier. In some instances this propensity
to be ever poring into the heart, is the remains of self-righteousness,
leading them to look for comfort in themselves, rather than to Christ. Let
them, by a calm, sober, impartial examination of their habitual past
conduct, come to a conclusion of their state, and not allow that conclusion
to be disturbed by every little variation of their feelings.
Neither our character nor our safety is altered, or
endangered, by all those minute changes of emotion which are ever
going on in the heart of a believer. A man does not doubt that he is alive,
or in general good health, every time his appetite is less keen, or his
sleep less sound than usual; nor does he doubt the sincerity of his
affection for his wife and children every time there is a less vivid sense
of it, than at other seasons. If in either case the symptoms of declension
remain or increase, and are attended with other signs of decay, he has cause
to take alarm. Thus should it be with believers as to those passing
varieties of frame which occur in the experience of the holiest and the best
of men. Permanent and increasing declension is alarming and should awaken
doubts—but not the occasional interruption of what is denominated, by not a
very felicitous expression, "sensible comfort."
There is, I am persuaded, often a neglect of
acknowledged duty, or the indulgence of known sin—at the bottom
of those doubts and fears with which some professing Christians are
troubled; some secret, beloved, and unmortified corruption, against which
conscience is raising its protesting voice, but from which the subject of it
refuses to part. It may be laid down as a settled point that willful sin
must lead to spiritual darkness. No sentiment can be more unscriptural, none
more irrational or more shocking, than that sin should never make a believer
doubt of his state; that whatever be the evils into which he falls, doubts
and fears are only additions to his guilt; that all his iniquities have been
atoned for in the blood of Christ, and that therefore no sin should at any
time trouble his spirit, or darken the light of his joy. This is the most
monstrous and miserable of all delusions. The man who comes to assurance,
and maintains it, while his conscience testifies of him that he is
habitually declining in religious affections, living in the habitual neglect
of known duty, or in the indulgence of actual sin, is one of the most
fearful instances of self-deception in our world!
But there is still another class of professing
Christians, who must confess, if they are asked, that they are strangers to
this assured hope of eternal life, and it is a very large class too—I mean
those whose piety, if admitted to be sincere, is so low and so lukewarm, as
to yield but equivocal testimony to the reality of their heavenly birth.
Swallowed up in business, personal or public; immersed in politics, national
or municipal; or devoted to worldly ease and domestic enjoyment—they are
living sadly below their principles, privileges, and professions. Who can
wonder that they know little of the blessedness of a persuasion that
they are interested in the great salvation. As a general description of
their state of mind, I would say they take it for granted they are
Christians; assume that they are born from above, and with this vague,
unsustained, and careless conclusion, pass on to the eternal world. But as
to the sweet and consolatory influence deduced from premises cautiously
examined, that they are the children of God, and have no reason to doubt the
momentous and delightful fact, they know nothing of this; and hence when
taken off from their usual pursuits, and shut up in the chamber of sickness,
or laid upon the bed of death, how dark is their mind, how numerous and
agitating are their doubts and fears, how distressing their solicitude!
It will not do, in such circumstances, to take it for
granted, and assume, without examination, that they are Christians; they
must have it proved, and they now call for evidence, and alas, how little
can they find! They pore into their hearts, they scrutinize their conduct,
and sometimes hope they can discern the marks of the Spirit's work,
the characters of regeneration, but, like a worn-out inscription, they are
scarcely discernible, much less clearly legible. Habitual worldly-mindedness
has almost effaced those holy and heavenly dispositions which are the
superscriptions of God's hand upon the human heart.
Now then, my dear friends, let me earnestly admonish you
to comply with the apostolic injunction, and give all diligence to the full
assurance of hope unto the end. It cannot be obtained without diligence.
There is a faith so strong, a love so fervent, and a hope
so lively, that they prove their own existence, both to those who possess
them, and to those who observe them. Shining substances need no other
evidence of their existence than their own radiance. A man in full health
needs no examination to demonstrate to him that he is alive and well—he is
conscious of it, for he feels it. So should it be with a Christian.
Self-examination for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not he is a
Christian, should be unnecessary for a child of God. But then, in order to
this, his religion must be in a high state of vigor and prosperity. He must
ever remember the great design of the gospel, which is to establish a
God-like frame and disposition of spirit, which consists in righteousness
and true holiness in the hearts of men.
"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared
to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions,
and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,
while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God
and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all
wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager
to do what is good." Titus 2:11-14. From this passage it is evident the
design of Christ in coming into our world, was not only to cast over us the
purple robe of his righteousness, and hide our wickedness and deformity from
the eye of God's avenging justice; but also, like a good physician, to cure
our moral diseases. And then may we be assured of our being in a state of
salvation, when we are at once conscious of a simple faith in his
righteousness, and equally conscious of the spirit of holiness in our
hearts, and the beauties of holiness in our character. "The least inward
lust, willingly continued in, will be like a worm gnawing at the root of the
gourd of our confidence. And though we strive to keep it alive, and
continually besprinkle it with some dews of our own, yet it will be always
dying and withering in our bosoms. But a good conscience will be always a
cordial to a Christian's heart—it will be softer to him than a bed of down,
and he may sleep securely on it in the midst of raging and tempestuous seas,
when the winds bluster, and the waves beat around him. A good conscience is
the best looking-glass of heaven, in which the soul may see God's thoughts
and purposes concerning it, as so many shining stars reflected from it."
Hereby we know Christ—hereby we know that Christ loves us—if we keep his
commandments.
The end of the gospel is to make us holy, happy, and
useful—and assurance contributes to all these. Hope is a purifying grace,
while despair is unholy, both in its nature, and in its tendency. He who has
the most confident persuasion of his being a Christian now, and of his going
on to heaven hereafter, and whose confidence rests on good ground, will be
the holiest man. His assurance, sustained by holiness, will increase that
which supports it.
Need I prove to you that assurance is the means of
happiness? The gospel is a system of joy, as its name imports—it was
thus announced by the angels at the birth of Christ, "behold I bring you
glad tidings of great joy!" It is thus recognized by the apostle, when he
says, "the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy
Spirit." This is implied, when we are so emphatically called upon "to
rejoice in the Lord always," which seems to import that the genuine right
temper and frame of a truly Christian mind and spirit, may be evidently
concluded to be an habitual joyfulness, prevailing over all the other
sources of human delight, and all the temporary causes of sorrow that occur
in the world. I want you to enter deeply into this view of Christianity. I
am anxious for you to be made happy by your religion. I am desirous that, as
you travel to heaven, you should go on your way rejoicing—that in
prosperity you should have a higher and holier source of enjoyment than
providential favors; and in adversity a spring of happiness, when the
cup of earthly comfort has been dashed from your lips. This is to be found
in assurance. Blessed state, to be a child of God, and to know
it too! to be going to heaven, and know it too! to be an heir of glory, and
have evidence of the fact! Well might the poet say–
When I can read my title clear
To mansions in the skies,
I bid farewell to every fear,
And wipe my weeping eyes.
What sorrow need depress us; what care need waste us;
what danger need daunt us; what loss need distress us—if assured of an
interest in the blessing of salvation! The man assured of heaven may look at
poverty, sickness, and persecution, without dismay, yes, may smile in the
face of death. Assurance has enabled the dying Christian to step without
shrinking, into the cold dark waters of Jordan; confessors to sing in their
dungeons, and martyrs to exult at the stake.
Be, then, diligent to make your calling and election
sure. If you are Christians, you may know and ought to
know it. Be satisfied with nothing less. Pray for it, pray earnestly,
constantly, believingly. Beseech the Spirit of God to work all his works in
you, and then to shine upon his own work, and enable you to draw the
conclusion, that you are indeed a child of God, an heir of heaven!