THE WORD IS NIGH THEE

"The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart; that is the word of faith which we preach, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth, the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." -Romans 10:8-10 [KJV]

My soul, behold the tenderness of God the Holy Ghost to His people, in order to prevent the possibility of error, in their knowledge and enjoyment of Christ. It is not difficult to attain a clear apprehension, whether a soul be in grace, or not; for here the point is most plainly set forth; "The word is nigh thee." What word? The word of faith. Christ in the word, Christ in the promise, Christ Himself the salvation of the sinner.  

And when a poor sinner hath been led to see who Christ is, and what He hath wrought, what He hath done for sinners, and what He is to them; the infinite glories of His person, the infinite perfection and completeness of His work, and the infinite suitableness of Jesus in every possible way that a poor sinner can need, by way of justification before God, and acceptance with God; then these blessed truths are so sweetly brought home to the heart and conscience of the enlightened sinner, by God the Holy Ghost, that he rests upon Christ as one perfectly satisfied with Christ, and neither seeks nor desires any other. So that by the lively actings of faith, the soul beholds Christ in the word, and in the promise, and takes Him with both into his very soul, until Christ is fully "formed there the hope of glory." Hence, both the outward confession of the mouth, and the inward enjoyment of the heart, have a beautiful correspondence; the one speaks what the other feels; "for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."  

My soul, is not this faith? And if so, what can dispossess thee of it? What shall stop thy joy or confidence in Jesus a single hour? If Jesus, the uncreated word, the promised word, the sum and substance of all the written word, be nigh thee, yea, in thy mouth and in thine heart; not only thine understanding knows Jesus, but thine heart lives upon Jesus; surely salvation is secure; yea, heaven itself is begun in the soul; for "This is life eternal, to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom He hath sent!" 

-Robert Hawker (1753-1827 A.D.)  

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