The Christian warfare--Assurance--Love to Christ

John Newton's Letters 

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September, 1764.

My dear Madam--Your welfare I rejoice in; your warfare I understand something of. Paul describes his own case in a few words, "Without were fightings; within were fears." Does not this comprehend all you would say? And how are you to know experimentally either your own weakness--or the power, wisdom, and grace of God, seasonably and sufficiently afforded--but by frequent and various trials? How are the graces of patience, resignation, meekness, and faith, to be discovered and increased--but by exercise? The Lord has chosen, called, and armed us for the fight; and shall we wish to be excused? Shall we not rather rejoice that we have the honor to appear in such a cause, under such a Captain, such a banner, and in such company? A complete suit of armor is provided, irresistible weapons, and precious balm to heal us if perchance we receive a wound, and precious cordials to revive us when we are in danger of fainting.

Further, we are assured of the victory beforehand; and oh what a crown is prepared for every conqueror, which Jesus, the righteous Judge, the gracious Savior, shall place upon every faithful head with his own hand! Then let us not be weary and faint, for in due season we shall reap. The time is short; yet a little while, and the struggle of indwelling sin, and the contradiction of surrounding sinners--shall be known no more.

You are blessed, because you hunger and thirst after righteousness. He whose name is Amen, has said you shall be filled. To claim the promise is to make it our own; yet it is befitting us to practice submission and patience, not in temporals only--but also in spirituals. We should be ashamed and grieved at our slow progress, so far as it is properly chargeable to our remissness and miscarriage; yet we must not expect to receive everything at once--but wait for a gradual increase. Nor should we forget to be thankful for what we may account a little--in comparison of the much we suppose others have received. 

A little grace, a spark of true love to God, a grain of living faith, though small as mustard-seed--is worth a thousand worlds! One drop of the water of life gives interest in and pledge, of the whole fountain. It befits the Lord's people to be thankful. To acknowledge his goodness in what we have received--is the surest as well as the pleasantest method of obtaining more. Nor should the grief, arising from what we know and feel of our own hearts--rob us of the honor, comfort and joy, which the word of God designs us, in what is there recorded of the person, offices, and grace of Jesus, and the relations He is pleased to stand in to his people. . . .

Though the believer is nothing in himself--yet having all in Jesus--he may rejoice in his name all the day. May the Lord enable us so to do. The joy of the Lord is the strength of his people: whereas unbelief makes our hands hang down, and our knees feeble, dispirits ourselves, and discourages others; and though it steals upon us under a semblance of humility--it is indeed the very essence of pride. By inward and outward exercises, the Lord is promoting the best desire of your heart, and answering your daily prayers. Would you have assurance? The true solid assurance is to be obtained no other way.

When young Christians are greatly comforted with the Lord's love and presence, their doubts and fears are for that season, at an end. But this is not assurance; so soon as the Lord hides his face--they are troubled, and ready to question the very foundation of hope. Assurance grows by repeated conflict, by our repeated experimental proof of the Lord's power and goodness to save; when we have been brought very low and helped, sorely wounded and healed, cast down and raised again, have given up all hope--and been suddenly snatched from danger, and placed in safety; and when these things have been repeated to us and in us a thousand times over, we begin to learn to trust simply to the word and power of God, beyond and against appearances; and this trust, when habitual and strong, bears the name of assurance; for even assurance has degrees.

You have good reason, madam, to suppose that the love of the best Christians to an unseen Savior--is far short of what it ought to be. If your heart is like mine, and you examine your love to Christ by the warmth and frequency of your emotions towards him--you will often be in a sad suspense, whether or not you love him at all. The best mark to judge by, and which He has given us for that purpose--is to inquire if his word and will have a prevailing, governing influence upon our lives and temper. If we love him--we do endeavor to keep his commandments. And if we have a desire to please him--we undoubtedly love him. 

Obedience is the best test; and when, amidst all our imperfections, we can humbly appeal concerning the sincerity of our desires--this is a mercy for which we ought to be greatly thankful. He who has brought us to will--will likewise enable us to do according to his good pleasure. I doubt not but the Lord whom you love, and on whom you depend, will lead you in a sure way, and establish, and strengthen, and settle you in his love and grace. Indeed He has done great things for you already. . . .

As to daily occurrences, it is best to believe that a daily portion of both comforts and crosses, each one the most suitable to our case, is adjusted and appointed by the hand which was once nailed to the cross for us! Where the path of duty and prudence leads--there is the best situation we could possibly be in at that juncture. We are not required to afflict ourselves immoderately for what is not in our power to prevent, nor should anything that affords occasions for mortifying the spirit of self be accounted unnecessary.

I am, my dear madam,

Your obliged and affectionate servant,

John Newton

John Newton - Scriptural views of sin--Looking to Jesus - Sinless Perfection

July, 1764.

My dear Madam--The complaints you make are inseparable from a spiritual acquaintance with our own hearts: I would not wish you to be less affected with a sense of indwelling sin. It befits us to be humbled into the dust; yet our grief, though it cannot be too great--may be under a wrong direction; and if it leads us to impatience or distrust, it certainly is so.

Sin is the sickness of the soul, in itself mortal and incurable, as to any power in heaven or earth, but that of the Lord Jesus only. 

But He is the great, the infallible Physician. Have we the privilege to know his name? Have we been enabled to put ourselves into his hand? We have then no more to do but to attend his prescriptions, to be satisfied with his methods, and to wait his time. It is lawful to wish we were well; it is natural to groan, being burdened; but still He must and will take his own course with us; and however dissatisfied with ourselves, we ought still to be thankful that He has begun his work in us, and to believe that He will also make an end.

Therefore, while we mourn--we should likewise rejoice; we should encourage ourselves to expect all that He has promised; and we should limit our expectations by his promises. We are sure, that when the Lord delivers us from the guilt and dominion of sin--He could with equal ease free us entirely from sin if He pleased. 

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The doctrine of sinless perfection is not to be rejected, as though it were a thing simply impossible in itself, for nothing is too hard for the Lord--but because it is contrary to that method which He has chosen to proceed by. He has appointed that sanctification should be effected, and sin mortified, not at once completely--but by little and little; and doubtless He has wise reasons for it. Therefore, though we are to desire a growth in grace--we should at the same time acquiesce in his appointment, and not be discouraged nor despond, because we know that conflict will surely terminate with our lives on earth.

Again, some of the first prayers which the Spirit of God teaches us to put up--are for a clearer sense of the sinfulness of sin, and our vileness on account of it. Now, if the Lord is pleased to answer your prayers in this respect, though it will afford you cause enough for humiliation--yet it should be received likewise with thankfulness, as a token for good. Your heart is not worse than it was formerly, only your spiritual knowledge is increased. And this is no small part of the growth in grace which you are thirsting after--to be truly humbled, and emptied, and made little in your own eyes.

Further, the examples of the saints recorded in Scripture prove (and indeed of the saints in general), that the greater measure any person has of the grace of God in truth--the more conscientious and lively they have been; and the more they have been favored with assurances of the divine favor, so much the more deep and sensible their perception of indwelling sin and infirmity has always been. So it was with Job, Isaiah, Daniel, and Paul.

It is likewise common to overcharge ourselves. Indeed, we cannot think ourselves worse than we really are; yet some things which abate the comfort and alacrity of our Christian profession are rather impediments than properly sinful, and will not be imputed to us by him who knows our frame, and remembers that we are but dust. Thus, to have an infirm memory, to be subject to disordered, irregular, or low spirits--are faults of the constitution, in which the will has no share, though they are all burdensome and oppressive, and sometimes needlessly so by our charging ourselves with guilt on their account.

The same may be observed of the unspeakable and fierce suggestions of Satan, with which some people are pestered--but which shall be laid to him from whom they proceed, and not to those who are troubled and terrified, because they are forced to feel them.

Lastly, it is by the experience of these evils within ourselves, and by feeling our utter insufficiency, either to perform duty, or to withstand our enemies--that the Lord takes occasion to show us the suitableness, the sufficiency, the freeness, the unchangeableness of his power and grace. This is the inference Paul draws from his illness, Romans 7:25, and he learned it upon a trying occasion from the Lord's own mouth, 2 Cor. 12:8, 9.

Let us, then, dear madam, be thankful and cheerful, and, while we take shame to ourselves--let us glorify God, by giving Jesus the honor due to his name. Though we are poor--He is rich; though we are weak--He is strong; though we have nothing--He possesses all things. He suffered for us; He calls us to be conformed to him in suffering. He conquered in his own person, and He will make each of his members more than conquerors in due season. 

It is good to have one eye upon ourselves--but the other should ever be fixed on him who stands in the relation of Savior, Husband, Head, and Shepherd: in him we have righteousness, peace, and power. He can control all that we fear; so that, if our path should be through the fire or through the water--neither the flood shall drown us, nor the flame kindle upon us, and before long He will cut short our conflicts, and say, Come up hither! "Then shall our grateful songs abound, and every tear be wiped away." Having such promises and assurances, let us lift up our banner in his name, and press on through every discouragement. . . .

I am, dear madam,

Your much obliged and affectionate servant,

John Newton

Seek God and Live!

James Smith, 1860 excerpt from: Fruit From the Tree of LifeFood and Medicine for the Soul

Life is generally prized, though existence is not always a blessing - for there are some for whom it had been good, if they had never been born; and others end their mortal life by their own hands.

But life as it comes from God, and as it is spent in the enjoyment of God, is always a blessing; because it is life with solid happiness. That such a life is attainable, is a great mercy - but it sometimes appears astonishing, that if it is to be had for seeking - that all do not seek it. But herein we discover the effect of sin - that it . . .

blinds man to his own best interests, 

hardens his heart against God, and 

impels him to seek death in the error of his way.

And herein we discover the work of the Holy Spirit - in opening man's eyes to his true interest, and stirring him up to seek this great blessing. But if I wish to obtain eternal life, life in the presence, favor, and enjoyment of God - can I? Yes, for here is the Lord's Word, "You who seek God - your hearts shall live!" Psalm 69:32.

Notice The NATURE of the life promised. "Your hearts shall live."

It is the life of the soul, and it embraces justification by God. To be justified is to be cleared of all charges, to be pronounced righteous, and to be treated as such. Now God justifies every soul that seeks him, by imputing to him the obedience of his beloved Son, and placing to his account all the merit of his life and death.

This promised life, includes reconciliation to God. God and man become friends. The enmity of the human heart is subdued. The love of God is revealed. The affections of man are won. The lawgiver and the lawbreaker meet and agree to terms of peace. God loves the sinner, and the sinner loves God. They join hands, and take the same course.

This promised life, includes communion with God. God meets man in a way of grace - and man meets God in a way of duty. Prayer becomes social converse. God pours his thoughts into our minds - and we pour out our desires, needs, and thanksgivings to God. Everything is carried to God, by man; and everything is made to work for man's good, by God.

This promised life, embraces communications from God. God gives . . .

grace to help in every time of need;

strength, to fit us for conflict and duty; 

light, to direct us in all seasons of perplexity; 

comfort, under all our sorrows and discouragements; 

and glory, to crown us at the end of our course.

This promised life, includes conformity to God.

We are changed into the same image.

We become godlike.

We think as God does.

We desire as God does.

We love as God does.

We hate as God does.

We aim at the same end that God does.

Our wills are ultimately lost in the will of God.

This promised life, includes also the exercise of all the Christian graces. Especially . . .

faith in the Word of God, 

hope in the mercy of God, 

and love to the Church of God.

To live, is to answer the great end of our creation, and to he happy in doing whatever God requires, and receiving whatever God imparts. This, this is life!

Reader, are you justified by God?

Are you reconciled to God?

Do you live in communion with God?

Do you receive gracious communications from God?

Are you growing into conformity to God?

Do you exercise . . .

faith in God's word;

hope in God's mercy;

and love to God's character?

If so, you have the life of God within you, and the prospect of eternal life before you!

To WHOM is this Life Promised? To those who seek God.

To those who seek to know him, as revealed in his Word.

To those who receive from him, as the fountain of living waters, the source and giver of all spiritual good.

To those who enjoy him, as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.

To those who seek to honor him, as the author and end of their existence; the object of love, confidence, and adoration.

To those who seek him . . . 

in his Word, where he is revealed;

in the house, where he meets his people;

on his throne, where he dispenses his favors;

and in his Son, who declares him.

All who seek him sincerely, earnestly, and with perseverance - find him, and obtain eternal life from him.

Their hearts live, for they receive his life-giving Spirit; 

they become united to his Son, who is the life; 

they receive his visits, which quicken and delight; 

and they enjoy his love, which is even better than life.

Our life is in God's favor. God's favor is to be sought by us, before, and beyond anything else. All who seek it in God's way - will surely find it. All who find it . . .

will enjoy peace with God, 

will become devoted to God, and 

will live a life of preparation for dwelling forever with God.

Separation from God, is death.

Union with God, is life.

The presence of God, is Heaven.

The absence of God, is Hell.

Reader, have you sought God? Have you found him? Have you the life of God in your soul? Are you seeking him now? David's words are still true, "If you seek him - he will be found by you." Seek him in his Word. Seek him in Jesus. So you will be sure to find him, and finding him, eternal life is yours. Rest not until you have received Christ, "for he who has the Son, has life; and he who has not the Son of God, has not life."

"You who seek God - your hearts shall live!"

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