Great Cheer for God's people
" Now abideth faith, hope, charity." -I Corinthians 13:13 [KJV] Where do these graces abide? in regenerate hearts. What is faith? a precious grace, the gift of God to miserable sinners. Lord, give us the comfort of it to-night. Say some, ‘faith is an assurance that my sins are pardoned; that Christ loved me, and gave Himself for me.’ Indeed it is not. They further add, ‘No one has faith without this assurance: if they have it not, they are in a state of wrath.’ This is false: this notion has inflated many with a vain hope, while it has distressed sincere souls without reason. Many who contend for this assurance of faith, believe a lie with it; for they say, ‘Those whom Christ has so loved as to die for, and whose sins are now forgiven, may at last perish.’ Such an assurance is not worth a straw. This is not the faith of God’s elect; for it gives the lie to Jesus, Who is the Author and Finisher of our faith: it contradicts His double oath, “Verily, verily, I sa