TEXT: I John 5:13

SUBJECT: Christian's Great Interest #1

For the last year or so, we've spent our midweek service in the study of classic Puritan books. We began with Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices by Thomas Brooks; then we took up Communion with God by Matthew Henry; and just last week we finished John Owen's work, On the Mortification of Sin.

Tonight, we take up another Puritan book. It's called The Christian's Great Interest by William Guthrie. I use the word "Puritan" with some hesitation because Guthrie was Scottish, not English. To us, Scots and Englishmen are the same thing. But they don't feel that way! What's more, William Guthrie and John Owen were chaplains in armies at war with each other! Their politics were not the same. But their theology and care for God's people were identical.

What's the book about? You don't have to guess. The author spells it out,

In other words, the book is about assurance. It helps you to know if you're saved or not.

In Chapter One, Guthrie takes up

These "premises" are his starting-points. Unless you know these things, you can't even ask the question, "Am I saved?" No less answer it.

In other words, it is possible to know if you're saved or not. This certainty isn't meant for a handful of super-holy people, but should be enjoyed by all believers in Christ.

Guthrie provides many proofs for this, but the one I found most helpful was Isaiah 63:16: "Doubtless You are our Father, though Abraham was ignorant of us and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O LORD, are our Father, our Redeemer from everlasting is Your name".

Note the sureness of the language, "Doubtless, You are our Father..." These words were spoken by God's people under the Old Covenant, an age with a lot less light than we have. Yet even they knew they belonged to God. And so can we.

Our opening text makes the point even more clearly, I John 5:13: "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life..."

Roman Catholic theology calls this "a vain presumption". To this way of thinking, assurance must lead to a careless life (If you really knew you were saved, you'd kick back and do nothing). But anyone who has struggled with assurance knows better. Uncertainty doesn't quicken faith or holiness, but discourages them terribly. Daniel 11:32 says: "The people who know their God will be strong and do exploits".

Thus, you can know if you're saved or not. And it may not be as hard as you think. Guthrie says,

I won't labor this point. It just means: You need to be saved and need to know it.

If Guthrie ended his book on this point, it would be worth its weight in gold. How many people decide they're saved--or lost--on things outside the Bible? For example:

Does the Bible teach any of these things? Of course it doesn't. Maybe you thought them up yourself. If so, Proverbs 28:26 says: "He who trusts in his own heart is a fool". Maybe you took someone's word for it. If you did, Matthew 23:9 says, "Call no man on earth your father". Maybe Satan taught you these things. If so, remember John 8:44, "He is a liar". In any event, "Test the spirits whether they are of God", Check them against the Bible, Acts 17:11, "Search the Scriptures daily to see if these things are so".

I can't judge the state of your soul; books can't; you can't. Only God can do that. He does it with His Word. Isaiah 8:20, "To the Law and Testimony! If they do not speak according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them".

Why do so many believers lack assurance? Is there something missing in God? Or is the fault with the shaky believers? You know the answer to that one. Guthrie lists several faults which keep believers from obtaining a full and lasting assurance. I'll mention four of them.

The first is an ignorance of God and His ways.

Why does God save anyone? The Bible says, "Because of His great love with which He loved us" (Ephesians 2:4). Why does God love anyone? Does He find something lovable in us? No. The love is in Himself. "The LORD did not set His love upon you because you were more in number than other people, for you were the least of all people, but because the LORD loves you..." (Deuteronomy 7:7-8).

You know this is true. But do you know it when you're struggling with assurance? I bet you don't. For you're thinking of yourself--your sin, your unworthiness, your spiritual ugliness.

As though God loved you because of your good traits, rather than His overwhelming grace!

Another is an ignorance of the different degrees and ways of God working with His people.

This is very sharp. God doesn't deal with every believer in the same way. Thus, we must not measure our experience by someone else's. For example, maybe God put one man under years of heavy conviction before bringing him to faith. But you didn't feel that way. Does this mean you're unsaved? No. Or maybe your friend was flooded with joy and peace in believing. But you weren't. Does this mean you're unsaved? No.

God's ways are sovereign. One man He strikes down on the Road to Damascus; another He saves in the womb. Paul's experience wasn't John's. John's wasn't Paul's. Yours is not mine and mine is not yours.

Pilgrim's Progress is a great book. As long as you remember: It was God's way of dealing with John Bunyan--and not you! Not even the two main characters were saved in the same way. Christian's way was much longer and harder than his wife's. Yet they both ended up in the Celestial City.

I love Christian biography. As long as it doesn't become the standard for everyone else! Just as God made each of us differently, so He saves us differently, too.

The third reason we don't obtain assurance is "We have no fixed idea of what evidence would satisfy us".

This may be the best point in the whole book. Years ago, a woman told me she wasn't saved. I asked her why and she talked maybe two hours straight! At the end of it, I asked her a simple question: "What must God do to satisfy you?"

She had no idea.

I offered some suggestions: "Must He speak to you with an audible voice?" "Must He give you a peek into the Lamb's Book of Life?" "Must He make you sinless?" "Must He flood you with joy every waking moment?" "Must He give you a perfect love for all God's people?"

She wasn't looking for any of these things.

But, when pressed, she couldn't tell me what she was looking for.

Can you?

The fourth reason is a "dependence on changeable evidence". Rather than finding assurance in the unchanging God and His promises, we look to ourselves, our feelings, our prayers, our good works, and so on.

These things change. Anyone who looks to them for his assurance will never have it for long.

In this last heading, Guthrie corrects some errors we make about our assurance.

The first is this: "It is a mistake to think that everyone in Christ knows that he is in Him". Not every believer has assurance. Some struggle with it at times; others their whole life long.

This means you must not equate your lack of assurance with a lack of salvation. You can't say, "Because I don't know I'm saved, I must not be saved". A lack of assurance is no proof you're not saved.

The second is: "It is a mistake to think that all who come to the knowledge of their interest in Christ attain an equal certainty about it".

Again, you must not compare your experience to someone else's. Maybe the Lord has given your friend an infallible assurance of his salvation. But you haven't got that. Does this mean you're unsaved? No.

The third: "It is a mistake to think that everyone who attains a strong persuasion of his interest always holds onto it".

Remember, assurance may come and go. When it goes, that doesn't mean that your salvation has gone with it.

Number four: "It is also a mistake to think that everyone who attains a good knowledge of his gracious estate can formally answer all objections made to the contrary".

This is a good point. "Satan was the first lawyer" said Martin Luther. This means he can cross-examine your assurance in ways you have no answer for. He can twist Scripture; he can use well-meaning Christians; he can use lopsided books and other things to throw you into doubt.

But remember, assurance is not based on refuting the devil at every point, but in trusting Christ. You can't answer every objection, but you can still say,

The last mistake: "It is no less a mistake to imagine, that the vain, groundless confidence which many profane, ignorant [men] maintain, is the interest we plead for".

This is a little hard to understand. But here's what he means: Just because some people have assurance without any reason for it doesn't mean there isn't real assurance and that you may have it.

We all know people who made a profession of faith thirty years ago, have lived like the devil since, and just know they're going to heaven! We recoil from their shallowness and vanity. But we mustn't go too far the other way. We mustn't say, "If some assurance is phony, then all of it is". Or "If that's what assurance is, I want no part of it!"

There is a middle-ground between doubt and presumption. It's called faith. We mustn't be so afraid of doubt that we presume upon God. Or so afraid of presumption that we doubt God. No! We ought to fear both presumption and doubt. And simply believe in Christ for salvation and for assurance.