Inward Impressions.

This is a subject which is rarely touched upon today—yet in certain quarters especially, there is a real need that it should be dealt with. By inward impressions we have reference to some passage of Scripture or some verse of a hymn being laid upon the mind with such force that it rivets the attention, absorbs the entire inner man and is accompanied by such an influence, that the partaker thereof is deeply affected.

For example: a person may have lived a most godless life, utterly unconcerned about spiritual things and eternal interests, when suddenly (perhaps while he was indulging the lusts of the flesh, his thoughts being entirely occupied with carnal objects), there sounded in his conscience the words, "Be sure your sin will find you out!" So forcibly is he impressed, that it seems as though someone must have audibly uttered those words, and he turns to discover the speaker, only to find he is alone. So deep is the impression, he cannot shake it off, and he is convicted of his lost condition, and made to seek the Savior.

No doubt each one who reads the above paragraph has heard or read some such case, perhaps many like it. And quite possibly a number of our readers are distressed in that there has been nothing in their own experience which corresponds thereto; and because there is not, they greatly fear they have never been truly converted. But such an inference is quite unwarranted. God does not act uniformly in the work of regeneration, any more than He does in creation or in providence; and we have met many who never had any such experience as we have described above—yet whose salvation we could not doubt for a moment. "The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound thereof—but can not tell whence it comes and where it goes: so is everyone that is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8). Sometimes the wind blows with great velocity, at other times very gently and almost imperceptibly. But how foolish I would be if, seeing the leaves moving in the breeze, I denied the wind was blowing at all, merely because it came not with hurricane intensity!

The blowing of the wind is to be ascertained by the effects produced. Necessarily so, for the wind is invisible. But though the wind is invisible, theresults it produces are not so: they can be seen and felt, and it is by the breeze on our face and the stirring of the leaves—that we perceive its actions, even though trees are not being uprooted thereby. "So is everyone that is born of the Spirit." The Holy Spirit is invisible—yet His presencemay be ascertained by the effects which He produces. Sometimes He comes to a soul as it were in gale force, striking terror into the heart and carrying everything before Him; sweeping away the refuge of lies in which we were sheltering, tearing down our self-righteousness at a single stroke, and bowing us in conscious fear and conviction before Him. Thus it was in the case of Saul of Tarsus. But He does not always act thus—to other souls He comes as the gentle dove, so that His operations are imperceptible at the time, like the cases of Nathaniel and Lydia.

A gardener sows his seed, and for a while knows not whether his effort is going to meet with any success. He scans his ground—but as yet sees no results. Perhaps he begins to worry, fearing that his soil is unsuited to such vegetables or flowers. But a little later his fears are dispelled: the appearing of green shoots above the earth is the proof that his seed has germinated. In like manner, here is one deeply exercised about his state. He has sat under the preaching of some faithful servant of Christ and has sought to appropriate unto himself the Word of Life. But into what kind of soil (heart) has that Seed found abode? Is he but a wayside, a stony, a thorny—or a good-ground hearer? (Matthew 13). That is the question which causes him so much concern. And rightly so, for there are very few good-ground hearers. And how is his problem to be solved? How is he to make sure whether he is a good-ground hearer? By the results, the fruits produced in his life.

But to return more directly to the point of inward impressions. After reading the last three paragraphs, probably some are inclined to say, Until I experience something like what you describe in the opening paragraph I shall be afraid to regard myself as genuinely converted: I must be sure that the Gospel has come to me not "in word only—but also in power and in the Holy Spirit" (1 Thessalonians 1:5). A very wise decision, my friend. But how are you going to determine whether the Gospel has come to you "in power and in the Holy Spirit?" By your senses? By your emotions? By some sentence of Scripture being deeply impressed on your mind? That is not the right way of ascertaining. It is easy to be deceived at this point, for Satan can deeply impress the mind and stir the emotions, and when it serves his purpose employ the very words of Scripture, as he did when tempting the Savior Himself. No, it is by some other, some surer way than that, you must determine your spiritual state.

Whether or not the Gospel has come to me "in power and in the Holy Spirit" is to be ascertained by the effects produced in me: not transient effects—but permanent; not simply in my emotions—but in my life. If the Gospel has come to me "in power," it has made me realize that I am a lost sinner—guilty and undone; it has made me realize that I can do nothing to save myself, nothing which can win God's favor. If the Gospel has come to me "in power," it has shut me up to Christ! It has not only revealed my dire need of Him—but has shown me how perfectly suited He is to my dreadful case, and how ready and willing He is to cleanse me from my sins and to heal my wounds. If the Gospel has come to me "in power," it has made me come to Christ as an empty-handed beggar, casting myself on His mercy, and closing with His gracious offer to receive me, and by no means cast me out. If I have done this, it matters not an iota whether some particular verse of Scripture has been deeply impressed on my mind or not.

In the same way we may arrive at a well-grounded assurance of our acceptance with God. There are some who can testify that for a long season they remained in Doubting Castle, wondering whether they were the children of God or whether they were not. When suddenly the Lord spoke those words to their troubled souls, "I have loved you with an everlasting love!" That text came to them with such sweetness and power, that their soul was quite melted down, and all their fears were removed. But there are many gracious souls who have never shared this experience: no specific verse of Scripture has been impressed upon them, revealing that they are the Lord's. Are we then to assume, must they conclude, that the absence of such an experience is proof they are yet in a state of nature? By no means. Yes, we go further: a Scripturally grounded assurance must rest upon a surer foundation than that, one that is less variable and more durable.

However powerfully a verse may be impressed on the mind, that impression will gradually fade. However sweet and melting may be the accompanying effect, it will not remain with us. Frames and feelings are but evanescent, and Satan may be the inspirer of them. The Scriptural method for obtaining assurance, is for us to prayerfully and impartially examine and test ourselves by the Word of God, to see whether or not we bear in ourselves those marks by which God's children are described and may be identified: such as mourning over sin, hungering after righteousness, grieving over unbelief, longing for conformity to Christ's image, separation from the world, walking in the way of God's commandments, distrust of self, praying daily for Divine grace. "The testimony of an enlightened conscience, judging by the Word of God, and deciding in our favor, that by His grace we have been enabled to take up the yoke of Christ—is in some respects a more satisfactory evidence that we are His and He is ours—than if an angel were sent from Heaven to tell us that our names are written in the Book of Life!" (John Newton).

But let us not be misunderstood about what we have said above. Most certainly we do not deny that many of God's people have had verses of Scripture powerfully impressed upon their minds, nor is it our purpose here to discount the value and comfort of such an experience. No; rather do we desire to point out the tendency of many to ascribe a greater virtue to them than they justly possess, and to warn against some of the dangers attaching thereto. We have met those who attributed more importance to inward impressions—than they did to outward walking in God's precepts; who would rather have a verse of Scripture laid with power on their mind—than to have its spiritual meaning opened to their understanding; who placed a higher value on the comfort they received from some promise being spoken to them—than they did of grace being given to deny self, take up the cross and follow Christ outside the camp.

If you ask some professing Christians, who are thoroughly carnal and worldly, what is the ground of their hope for eternity, they will tell you they have no fear of the judgment to come because at such and such a time a certain Scripture was "given to" or "spoken to" them, and on that impression they rest, without knowing anything personally and experimentally of the sanctifying operations of the Holy Spirit. We have no hesitation in saying that such people have been misled by their own deceitful hearts—or deluded by Satan posing as an angel of light. On the other hand, were we to approach some, whom charity requires us to account regenerated persons—yet who are altogether lacking in assurance and are full of doub—and inquire of them the ground of such fears about their state, they would answer, "I never have had a Scripture promise applied to me as other Christians have, and therefore I must conclude that I am not an heir to God's promises." These poor souls need to be taught the way of the Lord more perfectly

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