“You may be
genuinely sincere but doubt persuades you otherwise. To you I have a few words
of counsel, and I trust God to give His blessings to each one.
Do not conclude
you are a hypocrite because you cannot now see evidence of your sincerity. The
patriarchs had money bundled up in their sacks and traveled all the way to the
inn, not knowing what they had until they opened them. There is a treasure of
sincerity hidden in many souls, but the time has not come for them to open the
sack and know their true riches. Thousands of saints whose voyage were marked
by fears about whether or not God's grace was truly in them have crossed the
gulf and safely landed in heaven. Faith unfeigned puts a believer into the ark
with Christ and shuts the door; but it does not necessarily keep him from
getting seasick in the ship.
It is the work of
Christ, which demonstrates itself in such a way that we can see and own it,
whereas the truth of our grace may not so clearly show itself. God has put the
Holy Spirit beside the truth of grace to lead the soul into the light and show
His children that truth. He alone is the great messenger who is able "to
show unto man his uprightness Job 33:23.
But even as the
eye, which cannot see anything in complete darkness, is still a seeing eye
where there is light, so there may be truth of grace where there is not a sense
of that truth present. So the person may hunt passionately from one church
service to another to get the sincerity he already has, as one who looks
frantically throughout the house to find his hat, when all the time it has been
on his head.
Mark this down as
real truth: "I may be upright even if I am not able to see it
clearly." Although this insight will not furnish full comfort, it can be
support until assurance comes.”
Remember we are upright by His grace and shed
blood, not by our own works.
Quoted material from, ”The Christian in Complete
Armour Daily Readings in Spiritual Warfare” by Gurnall and James S Bell.
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