there is in reality no room for boasting; and he who boasts is an unfaithful steward, for he takes to himself that glory which belongs alone to his Master, and to him the rebuke of the Apostle applies "Who maketh thee to differ from another ?"1 This applies to the unfaithful steward, but not to the man who is making his boast in God, and who thus indirectly asserts his own faithfulness. There is a clear distinction between the talents entrusted to us and our faithfulness or unfaithfulness in the use of them, and St. Paul, in 1 Cor. iv. 1-5, fully recognises this distinction, and he there shows that although any difference in the talents entrusted was to be attributed not to the steward but to his Lord, yet there was in each recipient good ground for praise or blame in respect of the mode in which their gifts were exercised. So, in writing to the Galatians, the same Apostle marks the operation of the human power with the Spirit to produce good works. "Whatsoever," says he, "a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, and he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." To guard against the second danger of which we have spoken above, that of relying too greatly on our own efforts, we must remember the Apostle's warning, "Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." It is only as we know our nothingness, and as we walk in obedience and humility, that "we can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth us." The Spirit of dependence on God was the principle which our first parents violated, and this has been the temptation of the natural man ever since. We cannot even pray to God acceptably without His Holy Spirit guiding us to His footstool, and leading upwards our aspirations to the throne of grace. The Psalmist, with spiritual insight, knew this truth, and therefore sang "Quicken us, and we will call upon Thy Name"; and again, "Lord, Thou hast heard the desire of the humble: Thou wilt prepare their heart, Thou wilt cause Thine ear to hear."6 It is an unquestionable principle that no step in spiritual progress can be taken by our own unaided strength, and that all our efforts are in vain without the assistance of God. Whenever the attempt is made in proud reliance on self, the result will be failure and bitter humiliation. We are called upon to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, to yield ourselves to Him as clay in the hands of the potter, that the natural which is devoted to the service of Satan may be taken to pieces, and the spiritual, which is devoted to the service of God, may be formed to the glory of His Holy Name. It is only as we submit in humility to be thus fashioned, as we 11 Cor. iv. 7. 2 Gal. vi. 7; see also 1 Tim. vi. 19. 31 Cor. x. 12. acknowledge our inability of ourselves and out of Christ to perform any work or service which can be acceptable to the Father, and proclaim our entire dependence on His aid and implore His assistance, that we can hope to be kept from the paths of the destroyer and uplifted on the path of righteousness and true holiness. But with this humility and dependence there must be no denial of the true position in which by the grace of God we have been placed; neither must the certainty of His Divine assistance induce us to relax our efforts or our vigilance. The evil one goeth about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, and we require not only all the weapons of active and defensive warfare of which the Apostle Paul speaks,' but to have them ever at hand, and to be strengthened by the Spirit of God in the successful use of them during our time of trial and probation here. No exact line of demarcation can be drawn between the Divine influence and the effects of human exertion. It would be absurd to attempt it, for the operation of God's Holy Spirit is revealed to faith and not to sight. We know of His operation because it is revealed; but how and in what way He acts (which it would be necessary to know in order to define the exact limits of His action) is not revealed. Our fields could no more bring forth their fruit without the sustaining power of the Almighty than our hearts could bring forth the fruit of good living without the aid of God's Holy Spirit. But who would consider this a good reason for the husbandman to abstain from ploughing and sowing. He is active first, and then, as S. James says, he "waiteth for the precious fruits of the earth, and hath long patience for it." Though God is the giver, and His power produces the harvest, yet it is produced in accordance with His own wise laws. And the same principle holds good in spiritual life which results in the spiritual harvest, and it would be equally absurd were we to neglect the ordinary means grace and attempt to stand still because we properly acknowledge the necessity of Divine aid in our walking aright. of There is, moreover, nothing inconsistent in this mode of cooperation, nothing but what is clearly warranted by the whole tenor of Scripture, nothing which detracts from the glorious and mighty attributes of God, or which destroys the freedom of the human will, or the moral responsibility of the creature. Nothing is required from man but what he is able to give. God requires of him not "according to what he hath not," but according to that with which he has been endowed. The Holy Spirit rouses the exertions of the individual, keeps him in a state of spiritual activity, and makes it possible for him to make daily progress in spiritual life. The same Spirit encourages the Elect of God to seek continually at the fountain head for those perennial streams which make glad the city of God, and to look at every step of his progress to the Divine aid to sustain and support him in his daily warfare. The knowledge that the co-operation of the Holy Spirit is necessary encourages humility and vigilance, watchfulness and prayer. And, on the other hand, it discourages pride, self-reliance and independency of God. The Saviour is pointed to as the source of all life, strength, and growth-as the sustainer of all His creatures, and the light and joy of all His children. The Elect of God are led onward, ever onward, in patience, hope, and joy, until even by the hand of God Himself they pass into His own Paradise, where "they shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the Throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of water," and shall "satisfy them abundantly with the fatness of His house, and shall make them drink of the river of His pleasures." 2 455 CHAPTER XII. THE ASSURANCE OF THE ELECT. "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."1 Cor. x. 12. The doctrine of the assurance of the Elect, as taught in Holy Scripture, is very comforting. We are taught that by baptism we have been numbered among the Elect, and that it is our Father's good pleasure to give us the Kingdom. No act of our own could have placed us among the Elect, no actions of our own can keep us there; but at the same time no angel, man or devil, can pluck us from the bosom of Jesus, in which His children have found their home. We must, however, be careful that we check not the operation of the Holy Spirit, that we hinder not His work which is to carry us onward in the purpose of God, until at length we attain unto the promised inheritance. By the assurance of the saints is usually understood the assurance or certainty of salvation. We must be careful when we admit this assurance as a truth of God that we do so in a qualified manner, so that we are not taken to admit that doctrine of personal assurance which by Calvin and his followers has been added to the gospel. Admitting it to be a criterion of a believer's actual enjoyment in God as applied to the present experience of the people of God, we must guard against the danger of presumptuous confidence and the drifting into the position of denying the possibility of finally falling from grace. Presumptuous confidence is abhorrent to the Lord, and the Apostle's rebuke is, "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall," 2 while, on the other hand, we are to have confidence in Him who maketh us to stand; for the same Apostle says, "Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba! Father! The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God." Here is the testimony of our own spirit responding to the Spirit of God. It is indeed the assurance of the saints-one of those good things which He will not withhold from them that walk uprightly. The office of the Holy Ghost is to assure us of our adoption as sons, 1 John x. 28, 29. 21 Cor. x. 12. 3 Rom. viii. 15. 8 to bring to us that love which children must have for their Father, to give to us, even under the veil of earthly things, the foretaste of the glory to follow, to bring to the heirs of the kingdom an earnest of their everlasting inheritance. As Bishop Pearson says, "As therefore we are born again by the Spirit, and receive from Him our regeneration, so we are also assured by the same Spirit of our adoption, and because, being sons, we are also heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, by the same Spirit we have the pledge or rather the earnest of our inheritance. For He which establisheth us is Christ, and hath anointed us is God, who hath also sealed us, and hath given the earnest of His Spirit in our hearts. So that we are sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession. The Spirit of God is given unto us in this life, though it have not the proper nature of a pledge, as in the gifts received here being no way equivalent to the promised reward, nor given in the stead of anything already due, yet is to be looked upon as an earnest, being part of that reward which is promised, and upon the condition of performance of the covenant which God hath made with us, certainly to be received." Arminius taught a much safer doctrine on this subject than Calvin, and enunciated it with his usual solemn modesty. He considered that it is possible for him who believes in Jesus Christ to be certain and persuaded, and if his heart condemn him not, he is in reality assured that he is a son of God, and stands in the grace of Jesus Christ. He thought that such a certainty is wrought in the mind as well by the action of the Holy Spirit inwardly actuating the believer and by the fruits of faith,-as from his own conscience and the testimony of God's Spirit witnessing together with his conscience. He thought also that it is possible for such a person with an assured confidence in the grace of God and His mercy in Christ, to depart out of this life, and to appear before the throne of grace without any anxious fear or terrific dread, and yet this person should constantly pray, 'O Lord enter not into judgment with Thy servant! And further, he considered that since 'God is greater than our hearts, and knoweth all things,' and since a man judges not his own self, this assurance could not be placed on an equality with that by which we know there is a God, and that Christ is the Saviour of the world. This is obvious; for faith in the existence of a God and in Christ as the Saviour of the world depend upon direct revelation apart from the application of any principle to any given condition of circumstances; but it is otherwise with the assurance of certainty of our individual salvation. Grotius gives an excellent history of the doctrine. From it we may take the following as throwing light on the different modes |