Assurance

Based on ’Assurance’ in Holiness by J. C. Ryle, first edition 1877.

Adaptation © Matthias Media. All rights reserved. Except as may be permitted by the Copyright Act, no part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior permission from the publisher.

I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing (2 Tim 4:6-8).

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 judgement!

It will do us good to stand by the apostle’s side for 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!

He looks downward to the grave and he does it without fear. Hear what he says: “I am already being poured out like a drink offering”. 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 has come for my departure.” 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”.
Let us listen to him again. He looks backward to his life of service, and he does it without shame. Hear what he says: “I have fought the 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 the race.” 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 opposing them to their face. “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, not lift us one hair’s breadth towards 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; 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.
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: “There is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for 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 judgement the Lord shall give this crown to me, and to all beside me who have loved him as an unseen Saviour and longed to see him face to face. My work on earth is over. 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 own 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 only saw Jesus, his all-prevailing advocate, and the blood of sprinkling, and sin washed away. “A crown”, he says, “is in store for me”. “The Lord himself will award 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 judgement.

I shall do this readily because of the great importance which attaches to the subject of assurance, and the great neglect with which, I humbly state, 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 here especially a narrow pass; 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.

First, then, I will try to show that an assured hope, such as Paul here expresses, is a true and scriptural thing.
Secondly, I will make this broad concession: that a man may never arrive at this assured hope, and yet be saved.
Thirdly, I will give some reasons why an assured hope is greatly to be desired.
Lastly, I will try to point out some causes why an assured hope is so seldom attained.

I ask the special attention of all who take an interest in the great subject of holiness. 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. An assured hope is a true and scriptural thing

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 feeling in high spirits, or a relaxed temperament of body. It is a positive gift of the Holy Spirit, bestowed without reference to men’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 says 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. He shall seldom be troubled with doubts, seldom be distracted with fears, seldom be distressed by anxious questionings. In short, though he may be vexed by many an inward conflict with sin, he shall look forward to death without trembling, and to judgement without dismay. 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,¹ 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 felt 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, or shrink from it as a doctrine fraught with danger. They consider that 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 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.

My answer to all who deny the existence of real, well-grounded assurance, is simply this: “What says the Scripture?”. If assurance is not there, I have not another word to say.

But does not Job say, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth: and after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God” (Job 19:25, 26)?

Does not David say, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me” (Ps 23:4)?

Does not Isaiah say, “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you” (Isa 26:3)? And again, “The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence for ever” (Isa 32:17)?

Does not Paul say to the Romans, “I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:38, 39)?

Does he not say to the Corinthians, “We know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands” (2 Cor 5:1)? And again, “Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord” (2 Cor 5:6)?

Does he not say to Timothy, “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him” (2 Tim 1:12)? And does he not speak to the Colossians of “the full riches of complete understanding” (Col 2:2), and to the Hebrews of the “full assurance of faith”, and sure hope (Heb 10:22; 6:11)?

Does not Peter say expressly, “Be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure” (2 Peter 1:10)?

Does not John say, “We know that we have passed from death to life” (1 Jn 3:14)? And again, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 Jn 5:13)?

And again, “We know that we are children of God” (1 Jn 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 myself. 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—indeed, 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.

My answer, furthermore, is, that many have attained an assured hope such 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 “just says the word”, I am healed. Why then should I doubt (Matt 8:8)?

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 as the worst of sinners (1 Tim 1:15), had a deep sense of his own 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 could cry, “What a wretched man I am!” (Rom 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 God’s people” (Eph 3:8), had a lively and abiding feeling of his own weakness. But he had a still livelier feeling that Christ’s promise, “they shall never perish” (Jn 10:28), could not be broken. Paul knew, if ever man did, that he was a poor, frail boat, 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 anchor within the veil, which is both “firm and secure” (Heb 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, “the crown is in store for me, and the Lord will award it to me”, and to conclude so surely, “The Lord will preserve me: I shall never be confounded”.

I will not dwell any longer on this part of the subject. I think it will be acknowledged that I have shown some good ground for the assertion I made, that assurance is a true thing.

2. A believer may never arrive at this assured hope, and yet be saved

I pass on to the second thing I spoke of. I said, a believer may never arrive at experiencing this assured hope, which Paul expresses, but still 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, unless 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 great and good 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 think any other view than that I have given, is a most uncomfortable gospel to preach, and one very likely to keep souls back a long time from the gate of life. 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 unless they can say with Paul, “I know and am persuaded there is a crown in store 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 hint of mercy, except through Christ. A man must feel his sins and lost state, 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 say from Scripture that 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 strait and the way more narrow than pride and the love of sin have made it already. The Lord Jesus is full of pity, 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. “Whoever comes to me”, he says, “I will never drive away” (Jn 6:37).

Yes! Even if a man’s faith is 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: “Anyone who trusts in him”, not whoever has a strong and mighty faith, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame” (Rom 10:11).

But all this time, let it be 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 guarantee, I repeat, that bare simple faith in Christ will save a man, even if he never reaches assurance; but I will not guarantee it will bring him to heaven with strong and great comfort. I will guarantee it will land him safe in harbour; but I will not guarantee he will enter that harbour in full sail, confident and rejoicing. I will not be surprised if he reaches his desired haven weather-beaten and tossed by storm, scarcely realizing his own safety, until 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 crowd, and touched the hem of his garment (Mk 5:25ff). Assurance is Stephen standing calmly in the midst of his murderers and saying, “I see heaven open, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56).

Faith is the penitent thief, crying, “Jesus, remember me” (Lk 23:42). Assurance is Job, sitting in the dust, covered with sores, and saying, “I know that my Redeemer lives” (Job 19:25); “though he slay me, yet will I hope in him” (Job 13:15).

Faith is Peter’s drowning cry, as he began to sink: “Lord, save me” (Matt 14:30). Assurance is that same Peter declaring before the council in later times, “He is the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone. Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:11, 12).

Faith is the anxious, trembling voice: “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mk 9:24). Assurance is the confident challenge: “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? Who is he that condemns?” (Rom 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 in store for me” (2 Tim 1:12, 4:8).

Faith is life. How great the blessing! Who can describe or realise the gulf between life and death? “Even a live dog is better off than a dead lion” (Eccl 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, vigour, 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, three times blessed are those who 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 who has assurance does far better—sees more, feels more, knows more, enjoys more, has more days like those spoken of in Deuteronomy, the days of heaven upon the earth (Deut 11:21).

3. Reasons why an assured hope is greatly to be desired

I pass on to the third thing of which I spoke. I will give some reasons why an assured hope is greatly to be desired.

I ask special attention for this point. I heartily wish that assurance was more sought after than it is. Too many among those who believe begin doubting and go on doubting, live doubting and die doubting, and go to heaven in a kind of mist.

It would not do for me to speak in a slighting way of ‘hopes’ and ‘trusts’. But I fear many of us rest content with them, and go no further. I should like to see fewer ‘perhapses’ in the Lord’s family, and more who could say, “I know and am persuaded”. Oh, that all believers would covet the best gifts, and not be content with less! Many miss the full tide of blessedness the gospel was meant to convey. Many keep themselves in a low and starved condition of soul, while their Lord is saying, “Eat and drink abundantly, O beloved”, “Ask and receive, that your joy may be full” (Song 5:1; Jn 16:24).

1. Let us remember then, for one thing, that assurance is to be desired, because of the present comfort and peace it gives.

Doubts and fears have power to spoil much of the happiness of a true believer in Christ. Uncertainty and suspense are bad enough in any condition—in the matter of our health, our property, our families, our affections, our earthly callings—but never so bad as in the affairs of our souls. And so long as a believer cannot get beyond “I hope” and “I trust”, he clearly feels a degree of uncertainty about his spiritual state. The very words imply as much. He says, “I hope”, because he dares not say, “I know”. Now assurance sets a child of God free from this painful kind of bondage, and so ministers mightily to his comfort. It enables him to feel that the great business of life is settled business, the great debt a paid debt, the great disease a healed disease, and the great work a finished work; and all other business, diseases, debts and works are then small by comparison. In this way assurance makes him patient in tribulation, calm under bereavements, unmoved in sorrow, not afraid of evil tidings, in every condition content, for it gives him a fixedness of heart. It sweetens his bitter cups; it lessens the burden of his crosses; it smooths the rough places over which he travels; it lightens the valley of the shadow of death. It makes him always feel that he has something solid beneath his feet and something firm under his hands—a sure friend by the way, and a sure home at the end.

Assurance helps a man to bear poverty and loss. It will teach him to say, “I know that I have in heaven a better and more enduring substance. Silver and gold have I none, but grace and glory are mine, and these can never make themselves wings and flee away. Though the fig tree shall not blossom, yet I will rejoice in the Lord” (Hab 3:17, 18).

Assurance will support a child of God under the heaviest bereavements, and assist him to feel “It is well”. An assured soul will say, “Though beloved ones are taken from me, yet Jesus is the same, and is alive for evermore. Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more. Though my house is not as flesh and blood could wish, yet I have an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure” (2 Ki 4:26; Heb 13:8; Rom 6:9; 2 Sam 23:5).

Assurance will enable a man to praise God, and be thankful, even in prison, like Paul and Silas at Philippi. It can give a believer songs even in the darkest night, and joy when all things seem to be going against him (Job 35:10; Ps 42:8).

Assurance will enable a man to sleep with the full prospect of death on the morrow, like Peter in Herod’s dungeon. It will teach him to say, “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety” (Ps 4:8).

Assurance can make a man rejoice to suffer shame for Christ’s sake, as the apostles did when put in prison at Jerusalem (Acts 5:41). It will remind him that he may “rejoice and be glad” (Matt 5:12), and there is in heaven a great weight of glory, that will make amends for all (2 Cor 4:17).

Assurance will enable a believer to meet a violent and painful death without fear, as Stephen did in the beginning of Christ’s church, and as Cranmer, Ridley, Hooper, Latimer, Rogers and Taylor did in our own land.² It will bring to his heart the texts: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more” (Lk 12:4); “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59).

Assurance will support a man in pain and sickness, make his bed comfortable and smooth down his dying pillow. It will enable him to say, “If the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God” (2 Cor 5:1); “I desire to depart and be with Christ” (Phil 1:23); “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Ps 73:26).

The strong consolation which assurance can give in the hour of death is a point of great importance. We may depend on it, we shall never think assurance so precious as when our turn comes to die. In that awful hour there are few believers who do not find out the value and privilege of an ‘assured hope’, whatever they may have thought about it during their lives. General ‘hopes’ and ‘trusts’ are all very well to live upon while the sun shines and the body is strong; but when we come to die, we shall want to be able to say, “I know” and “I feel”. The river of death is a cold stream, and we have to cross it alone. No earthly friend can help us. The last enemy, the king of terrors, is a strong foe. When our souls are departing, nothing gives us heart like the strong wine of assurance.

There is a beautiful expression in the Prayer Book service for the visitation of the sick: “The almighty Lord, who is a most strong tower to all them that put their trust in Him, be now and evermore your defence, and make you know and feel that there is no other name under heaven, through whom you may receive health and salvation, but only the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”. The compilers of that service showed great wisdom there. They saw that when the eyes grow dim, and the heart grows faint, and the spirit is on the eve of departing, there must then be knowing and feeling what Christ has done for us, or else there cannot be perfect peace.

2. Let us remember, for another thing, that assurance is to be desired, because it tends to make a Christian an active working Christian.

None, generally speaking, do so much for Christ on earth as those who enjoy the fullest confidence of a free entrance into heaven, and trust not in their own works, but in the finished work of Christ. That sounds strange, I dare say, but it is true.

A believer who lacks an assured hope will spend much of his time in inward searchings of heart about his own state. Like a nervous, hypochondriacal person, he will be full of his own ailments, his own doubtings and questionings, his own conflicts and corruptions. In short, you will often find he is so taken up with his internal warfare that he has little leisure for other things, and little time to work for God.

But a believer, who has, like Paul, an assured hope, is free from these harassing distractions. He does not vex his soul with doubts about his own pardon and acceptance. He looks at the everlasting covenant sealed with blood, at the finished work, and never-broken word of his Lord and Saviour, and therefore counts his salvation a settled thing. And thus he is able to give undivided attention to the work of the Lord, and so in the long run do more.

Take, for an illustration of this, two English emigrants, and suppose them set down side by side in New Zealand or Australia. Give each of them a piece of land to clear and cultivate. Let the portions allotted to them be the same both in quantity and quality. Secure that land to them by every needful legal instrument; let it be conveyed as freehold to them and theirs for ever; let the conveyance be publicly registered, and the property made sure to them by every deed and security that man’s ingenuity can devise.

Suppose then that one of them sets to work to clear his land and bring it into cultivation, and labours at it day after day without intermission or ceasing.

Suppose in the meanwhile that the other is continually leaving his work, and going repeatedly to the public registry to ask whether the land really is his own, whether there is not some mistake, whether after all there is not some flaw in the legal instruments which conveyed it to him.

The one shall never doubt his title, but just work diligently on. The other shall hardly ever feel sure of his ride, and spend half his time in going to Sydney or Melbourne or Auckland, with needless inquiries about it.

Which now of these two men will have made most progress in a year’s time? Who will have done the most for his land, got the greatest breadth of soil under tillage, have the best crops to show, be altogether the most prosperous?

Anyone of common sense can answer that question. I need not supply an answer. There can only be one reply. Undivided attention will always attain the greatest success.

It is much the same in the matter of our title to “mansions in the skies”. None will do so much for the Lord who bought him as the believer who sees his title clearly, and is not distracted by unbelieving doubts, questionings and hesitations. The joy of the Lord will be that man’s strength. “Restore to me”, says David, “the joy of your salvation, then will I teach transgressors your ways” (Ps 51:12,13).

Never were there such working Christians as the apostles. They seemed to live to labour. Christ’s work was truly their meat and drink. They did not count their lives dear to themselves; they gave and were given. They laid down ease, health and worldly comfort, at the foot of the cross. And one grand cause of this, I believe, was their assured hope.

They were men who could say, “We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one” (1 Jn 5:19).

3. Let us remember, for another thing, that assurance is to be desired, because it tends to make a Christian a decided Christian.

Indecision and doubt about our own state in God’s sight is a grievous evil, and the mother of many evils. It often produces a wavering and unstable walk in following the Lord. Assurance helps to cut many a knot, and to make the path of Christian duty clear and plain.

Many, of whom we feel hopes that they are God’s children and have true grace, however weak, are continually perplexed with doubts on points of practice. “Should we do such and such a thing? Shall we give up this family custom? Ought we to go into that company? How shall we draw the line about visiting? What is to be the measure of our dressing and our entertainments? Are we never, under any circumstances, to dance, never to touch a card, never to attend parties of pleasure?” These are the kind of questions which seem to give them constant trouble. And often, very often, the simple root of their perplexity is, that they do not feel assured they are themselves children of God. They have not yet settled the point which side of the gate they are on. They do not know whether they are inside the ark or not.

They feel that a child of God ought to act in a certain decided way; but the grand question is, “Are they children of God themselves?”. If they only felt they were so, they would go straight forward, and take a decided line. But not feeling sure about it, their conscience is forever hesitating and coming to a dead lock. The devil whispers, “Perhaps after all you are only a hypocrite: what right have you to take a decided course? Wait till you are really a Christian”. And this whisper too often turns the scale, and leads on to some miserable compromise, or wretched conformity to the world!

I believe we have here one chief reason why so many in this day are inconsistent, trimming, unsatisfactory and half-hearted in their conduct about the world. Their faith fails. They feel no assurance that they are Christ’s, and so feel a hesitancy about breaking with the world. They shrink from laying aside all the ways of the old man, because they are not quite confident they have put on the new. In short, I have little doubt that one secret cause of ‘halting between two opinions’ is want of assurance. When people can say decidedly, “The Lord, he is God” their course becomes very clear (1 Ki 18:39).

4. Let us remember, finally, that assurance is to be desired, because it tends to make the holiest Christians.

This, too, sounds peculiar and strange, and yet it is true. It is one of the paradoxes of the gospel, contrary at first sight to reason and common sense, and yet it is a fact. Cardinal Bellarmine was seldom more wide of the truth than when he said, “Assurance tends to carelessness and sloth”. He who is freely forgiven by Christ will always do much for Christ’s glory, and he who enjoys the fullest assurance of this forgiveness will ordinarily keep up the closest walk with God. It is a faithful saying and worthy to be remembered by all believers: “Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure” (1 Jn 3:3). A hope that does not purify is a mockery, a delusion and a snare.

None are so likely to maintain a watchful guard over their own hearts and lives as those who know the comfort of living in close communion with God. They feel their privilege and will fear losing it. They will dread falling from the high estate, and marring their own comforts, by bringing clouds between themselves and Christ. He who goes on a journey with little money about him takes little thought of danger, and cares little how late he travels. He, on the contrary, who carries gold and jewels will be a cautious traveller. He will look well to his roads, his lodgings and his company, and run no risks. It is an old saying, however unscientific it may be, that the fixed stars are those which tremble most. The man that most fully enjoys the light of God’s reconciled countenance, will be a man tremblingly afraid of losing its blessed consolations, and jealously fearful of doing anything to grieve the Holy Spirit.

I commend these four points to the serious consideration of all professing Christians. Would you like to feel the everlasting arms around you, and to hear the voice of Jesus daily drawing nigh to your soul, and saying, “I am your salvation”? Would you like to be a useful labourer in the vineyard in your day and generation? Would you like to be known by all men as a bold, firm, decided, single-minded, uncompromising follower of Christ? Would you like to be eminently spiritually-minded and holy? I do not doubt some readers will say, “These are the very things our hearts admire. We long for them. We pant after them; but they seem far from us”.

Now, has it never struck you that your neglect of assurance may possibly be the main secret of all your failures, that the low measure of faith which satisfies you may be the cause of your low degree of peace? Can you think it a strange thing that your graces are faint and languishing, when faith, the root and mother of them all, is allowed to remain feeble and weak?

Take my advice this day. Seek an increase of faith. Seek an assured hope of salvation like the apostle Paul’s. Seek to obtain a simple, childlike confidence in God’s promises. Seek to be able to say with Paul, “I know whom I have believed: I am persuaded that he is mine, and I am his”.

You have very likely tried other ways and methods and completely failed. Change your plan. Go upon another tack. Lay aside your doubts. Lean more entirely on the Lord’s arm. Begin with implicit trusting. Cast aside your faithless reluctance to take the Lord at his word. Come and roll yourself, your soul and your sins, upon your gracious Saviour. Begin with simple believing, and all other things shall soon be added to you.

4. Some probable causes why an assured hope is so seldom attained

I come now to the last thing of which I spoke. I promised to point out some probable causes why an assured hope is so seldom attained. I will do it very briefly. >

This is a very serious question and ought to raise in all of us great searchings of heart. Few, certainly, of Christ’s people seem to reach up to this blessed spirit of assurance. Many believe to some extent, but few are persuaded. Many have saving faith to some extent, but few that glorious confidence which shines forth in the language of Paul. That such is the case, I think we must all allow.

Now, why is this so? Why is a thing, which two apostles have strongly enjoined us to seek after, a thing of which few believers have any concrete knowledge in these latter days? Why is an assured hope so rare?

I desire to offer a few suggestions at this point, with all humility. I know that many have never attained assurance, at whose feet I would gladly sit both in earth and heaven. Perhaps the Lord sees something in the natural temperament of some of his children, which makes assurance not good for them. Perhaps, in order to be kept in spiritual health, they need to be kept very low. God only knows. Still, after every allowance, I fear there are many believers without an assured hope, whose case may too often be explained by causes such as the following.

1. One most common cause, I suspect, is a defective view of the doctrine of justification.

I am inclined to think that justification and sanctification are unthinkingly confused together in the minds of many believers. They receive the gospel truth, that there must be something done in us as well as something done for us, if we are true members of Christ: and so far they are right. But then, without being aware of it, perhaps, they seem to imbibe the idea that their justification is, in some degree, affected by something within themselves. They do not clearly see that Christ’s work, not their own work—either in whole or in part, either directly or indirectly—is the only ground of our acceptance with God. They forget that justification is a thing entirely outside us, for which nothing whatever is needful on our part but simple faith, and that the weakest believer is as fully and completely justified as the strongest.

Many appear to forget that we are saved and justified as sinners, and only sinners, and that we never can attain to anything higher, even if we live to the age of Methuselah. Redeemed sinners, justified sinners and renewed sinners doubtless we must be—but sinners, sinners, sinners, we shall be always to the very last. They do not seem to comprehend that there is a wide difference between our justification and our sanctification. Our justification is a perfect finished work and has no degrees. Our sanctification is imperfect and incomplete, and will be so to the last hour of our life. They appear to expect that a believer may at some period of his life be in a measure free from corruption, and attain to a kind of inward perfection. And not finding this angelic state of things in their own hearts, they at once conclude there must be something very wrong in their state. And so they go morning all their days, oppressed with fears that they have no part or lot in Christ, and refusing to be comforted.

Let us weigh this point well. If any believing soul desires assurance and has not got it, let him ask himself, first of all, if he is quite sure he is sound in the faith. He must ask if he knows how to distinguish things that differ, and if his eyes are thoroughly clear in the matter of justification. He must know what it is simply to believe and to be justified by faith before he can expect to feel assured.

In this matter, as well as in many others, the old Galatian heresy is the most fertile source of error, both in doctrine and in practice. People ought to seek clearer views of Christ and what Christ has done for them. Happy is the man who really understands “justification by faith without the deeds of the law”.

2. Another common cause of the absence of assurance is slothfulness about growth in grace.

I suspect many true believers hold dangerous and unscriptural views on this point; I do not, of course, mean intentionally, but they do hold them. Many appear to think that, once converted, they have little more to attend to, and that a state of salvation is a kind of easy chair, in which they may just sit still, lie back and be happy. They seem to fancy that grace is given them so that they may enjoy it. They forget that it is given, like a talent, to be used, employed and improved. Such persons lose sight of the many direct injunctions to increase, to grow, to abound more and more, to add to our faith, and the like; and in this little-doing condition, this sitting-still state of mind, I am not surprised that they miss assurance.

I believe it ought to be our continual aim and desire to go forward. Our watchword on every birthday and at the beginning of every year, should be “more and more” (1 Thess 4:1): more knowledge, more faith, more obedience, more love. If we have brought forth thirtyfold, we should seek to bring forth sixty; and if we have brought forth sixty, we should strive to bring forth a hundred. The will of the Lord is our sanctification, and it ought to be our will too (Matt 13:23; 1 Thess 4:3).

One thing, at all events, we may depend upon—there is an inseparable connection between diligence and assurance. “Be all the more eager”, says Peter, “to make your calling and election sure” (2 Pet 1:10). “We want each of you”, says Paul, “to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure” (Heb 6:11).³ “The desires of the diligent”, says Solomon, “are fully satisfied” (Prov 13:4). There is much truth in the old maxim of the Puritans: “Faith of adherence comes by hearing, but faith of assurance comes not without doing”.

Is any reader of this paper one of those who desires assurance, but has not got it? Mark my words. You will never get it without diligence, however much you may desire it. There are no gains without pains in spiritual things, any more than in temporal. “The sluggard craves and gets nothing” (Prov 13:4).

3. Another common cause of a want of assurance is an inconsistent walk in life.

With grief and sorrow I feel constrained to say that I fear nothing more frequently prevents men attaining an assured hope than this. The stream of professing Christianity in this day is far wider than it formerly was, and I am afraid we must admit at the same time it is much less deep.

Inconsistency of life is utterly destructive of peace of conscience. The two things are incompatible. They cannot and they will not go together. If you will have your besetting sins, and cannot make up your minds to give them up, if you will shrink from cutting off the right hand and plucking out the right eye when occasion requires it, I will guarantee you will have no assurance.

An indecisive walk, a backwardness to take a bold and decided line, a readiness to conform to the world, a hesitating witness for Christ, a lingering tone of religion, a withdrawing from a high standard of holiness and spiritual life, all these make up a sure recipe for bringing a blight upon the garden of your soul.

It is vain to suppose you will feel assured and persuaded of your own pardon and acceptance with God, unless you count all of God’s commandments concerning all things to be right, and hate every sin, whether great or small (Ps 119:128). One Achan⁴ allowed in the camp of your heart will weaken your hands, and lay your consolations low in the dust. You must be daily sowing to the Spirit, if you are to reap the witness of the Spirit. You will not find and feel that all the Lord’s ways are ways of pleasantness, unless you labour in all your ways to please the Lord.

I bless God that our salvation in no way depends on our own works. By grace we are saved—not by works of righteousness—through faith, without the deeds of the law. But I never would have any believer for a moment forget that our sense of salvation depends much on the manner of our living. Inconsistency will dim our eyes and bring clouds between us and the sun. The sun is the same behind the clouds, but you will not be able to see its brightness or enjoy its warmth, and your soul may be gloomy and cold. It is in the path of well-doing that the dayspring of assurance will visit you and shine down upon your heart.

“The Lord confides”, says David, “in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them” (Ps 25:14).

“He who sacrifices thank-offerings honours me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God” (Ps 50:23).

“Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble” (Ps 119:165).

“If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another” (1 Jn 1:7).

“Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence” (1 Jn 3:18, 19).

“We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands” (1 Jn 2:3).

Paul was a man who disciplined himself to have always a conscience free of offence towards God and towards man (Acts 24:16). He could say with boldness, “I have fought the good fight, I have kept the faith”. I do not therefore wonder that the Lord enabled him to add with confidence, “Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord will award to me on that day”.

If any believer in the Lord Jesus desires assurance, and has not got it, let him think over this point also. Let him look at his own heart, look at his own conscience, look at his own life, look at his own ways, look at his own home. And perhaps when he has done that, he will be able to say, “There is a cause why I have no assured hope”.

I leave the three matters I have just mentioned to the private consideration of every reader of this paper. I am sure they are worth examining. May we examine them honestly. And may the Lord give us understanding in all things.

1. And now in closing this important inquiry, let me speak first to those readers who have not yet given themselves to the Lord, who have not yet come out from the world, chosen the good part and followed Christ.

I ask you then to learn from this subject the privileges and comforts of a true Christian.

I would not have you judge the Lord Jesus Christ by his people. The best of servants can give you but a faint idea of that glorious Master. Neither would I have you judge the privileges of his kingdom by the measure of comfort to which many of his people attain. Alas, we are most of us poor creatures! We come short, very short, of the blessedness we might enjoy. But, depend upon it, there are glorious things in the city of our God, which they who have an assured hope taste, even in their lifetime. There are lengths and breadths of peace and consolation there, which it has not entered into your heart to conceive. There is bread enough and to spare in our Father’s house, though many of us certainly eat but little of it, and continue weak. But the fault must not be laid to our Master’s charge: it is all our own.

And, after all, the weakest child of God has a mine of comforts within him, of which you know nothing. You see the conflicts and tossings of the surface of his heart, but you see not the pearls of great price which are hidden in the depths below. The feeblest member of Christ would not change conditions with you. The believer who possesses the least assurance is far better off than you are. He has a hope, however faint, but you have none at all. He has a portion that will never be taken from him, a Saviour who will never forsake him, a treasure that does not fade away, however little he may realize it all at present. But, as for you, if you die as you are, your expectations will all perish. Oh, that you were wise! Oh, that you understood these things! Oh, that you would consider your latter end!

I feel deeply for you in these latter days of the world, if I ever did. I feel deeply for those whose treasure is all on earth, and whose hopes are all on this side of the grave. Yes! When I see old kingdoms and dynasties shaking to the very foundation; when I see, as we all saw a few years ago, kings and princes and rich men and great men fleeing for their lives, and scarce knowing where to hide their heads; when I see property dependent on public confidence melting like snow in spring, and public stocks and funds losing their value—when I see these things, I feel deeply for those who have no better portion than this world can give them, and no place in that kingdom which cannot be removed.

Take advice from a minister of Christ today. Seek durable riches, a treasure that cannot be taken from you, a city which has lasting foundations. Do as the apostle Paul did. Give yourself to the Lord Jesus Christ, and seek that incorruptible crown he is ready to bestow. Take his yoke upon you, and learn from him. Come away from a world which will never really satisfy you, and from sin which will bite like a serpent, if you cleave to it. At last, come to the Lord Jesus as lowly sinners, and he will receive you, pardon you, give you his renewing Spirit, fill you with peace. This shall give you more real comfort than the world has ever done. There is a gulf in your heart which nothing but the peace of Christ can fill. Enter in and share our privileges. Come with us, and sit down by our side.

2. Lastly, let me turn to all believers who read these pages, and speak to them a few words of brotherly counsel.

The main thing that I urge upon you is this: if you have not got an assured hope of your own acceptance in Christ, resolve this day to seek it. Labour for it. Strive after it. Pray for it. Give the Lord no rest until you “know whom you have believed”.

I feel, indeed, that the small amount of assurance in this day, among those who are reckoned God’s children, is a shame and a reproach. “It is a thing to be heavily bewailed”, says one writer, “that many Christians have lived twenty or forty years since Christ called them by his grace, yet doubting in their life”. Let us call to mind the earnest desire Paul expresses, that every one of the Hebrews should seek for full assurance; and let us endeavour, by God’s blessing, to roll this reproach away (Heb 6:11).

Believing reader, do you really mean to say that you have no desire to exchange hope for confidence, trust for persuasion, uncertainty for knowledge? Because weak faith will save you, will you therefore rest content with it? Because assurance is not essential to your entrance into heaven, will you therefore be satisfied without it upon earth? Alas, this is not a healthy state of soul to be in; this is not the mind of the apostolic day! Arise at once and go forward. Do not stay at the foundations of religion: go on to perfection. Do not be content with a day of small things. Never despise it in others, but never be content with it yourself.

Believe me, believe me, assurance is worth the seeking. You forsake your own mercies when you rest content without it. The things I speak are for your peace. If it is good to be sure in earthly things, how much better is it to be sure in heavenly things! Your salvation is a fixed and certain thing. God knows it. Why should you not seek to know it too? There is nothing unscriptural in this. Paul never saw the book of life, and yet Paul says, “I know and am persuaded”.

Make it then your daily prayer that you may have an increase of faith. Your peace will be according to your faith. Cultivate that blessed root more, and sooner or later, by God’s blessing, you may hope to have the flower. You may not perhaps attain to full assurance all at once. It is good sometimes to be kept waiting; we do not value things which we get without trouble. But though it may tarry, wait for it. Seek on, and expect to find.

There is one thing, however, of which I would not have you ignorant: you must not be surprised if you have occasional doubts after you have assurance. You must not forget you are on earth, and not yet in heaven. You are still in the body, and have indwelling sin; the flesh will lust against the Spirit to the very end. The leprosy will never be out of the walls of the old house until death takes it down. And there is a devil, too, and a strong devil—a devil who tempted the Lord Jesus, and gave Peter a fall, and he will take care you know it. There will always be some doubts. He who never doubts has nothing to lose. He who never fears possesses nothing truly valuable. He who is never jealous knows little of deep love. But do not be discouraged: you shall be more than a conqueror through him that loved you.

Finally, do not forget that assurance is a thing which may be lost for a season, even by the brightest Christians, unless they take care.

Assurance is a most delicate plant. It needs daily, hourly watching, watering, tending, cherishing. So watch and pray the more when you have got it. Make much of assurance. Always be upon your guard. When Christian slept in the leafy glade, in Pilgrim’s Progress, he lost his certificate. Keep that in mind.

David lost assurance for many months by falling into transgression. Peter lost it when he denied his Lord. Each found it again undoubtedly, but not before bitter tears. Spiritual darkness comes on horseback, and goes away on foot. It is upon us before we know that it is coming. It leaves us slowly, gradually, and not for many days. It is easy to run downhill. It is hard work to climb up. So remember my caution when you have the joy of the Lord, watch and pray.

Above all, do not grieve the Spirit. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not vex the Spirit. Do not drive him to a distance, by tampering with small bad habits and little sins. Little jarrings between husbands and wives make unhappy homes, and petty inconsistencies, known and allowed, will bring in a strangeness between you and the Spirit.

Hear the conclusion of the whole matter.

The man who walks with God in Christ most closely will generally be kept in the greatest peace.

The believer who follows the Lord most fully and aims at the highest degree of holiness will ordinarily enjoy the most assured hope and have the clearest persuasion of his own salvation.

Endnotes

¹ Robert Bellarmine (1543-1621), a Jesuit theologian.

² English Reformers who were martyred for their beliefs.

³ It was widely thought in Ryle’s day that Paul was the author of Hebrews.

⁴ Achan, an Israelite, acted unfaithfully. See Joshua 7.