Sword & Trowel 2017: Issue 1


it!’ Start living the Christian life. Ex- ercise your faith; trust the Lord, read your Bible, pray to him. Put as much effort into the Christian race as you would on any physical field of play. Discipline yourself; set aside the time for devotions; be determined; ask the Lord for help; give up any pursuit that obstructs your spiritual commitments; never skip worship and study of the Word; repent of foolishness and wrong habits or pursuits; rededicate your life with a solemn vow to the Lord. Your prob- lem is doubts, but alongside these is spiritual inertia. Here are the encouragements of the apostle John, the signs of spiritual life. Do you have light? Do you believe with all your heart in a perfect God, a holy, sinless, wonderful, unchange- able God? Are you unreservedly convicted of your sinfulness? Do you have a bond with the family of God? Have you seen through the world? Do you have a new burden for doing good? Then you should say:–


Jesus, all-atoning Lamb, Thine, and only Thine, I am: Take my body, spirit, soul; Only Thou possess the whole.


My gracious Lord, I own Thy right To every service I can pay,


And call it my supreme delight To hear Thy dictates and obey.


Get on with the Christian life, dear friend. Your assignment is to trust your Saviour and exercise faith. You must not deny him your praise and thanksgiving for all that he has done for you. You are in the family, the marks are on your heart. So live, now, as a believer. Come inside the


house, the kingdom. Do not stand on the outside, but believe and act as a Christian should.


O, let my life be given, My years for Thee be spent,


World-fetters all be riven, And joy with suffering blent: Thou gav’st Thyself for me; I give myself to Thee!


I would not give the world my heart, And then profess Thy love;


I would not see my strength depart And then Thy service prove.


O not for Thee my weak desires, My poorer, baser part! O not for Thee my fading fires, The ashes of my heart!


O grant me in my golden time, A zealous servant’s part;


For Thee the glory of my prime, The fulness of my heart!


Our souls and bodies we resign To fear and follow Thy commands: O take our hearts, our hearts are Thine, Accept the service of our hands.


Take my love; my Lord, I pour At Thy feet its treasure store: Take myself, and I will be, Ever, only, all for Thee.


Lay hold on the promises of God


wherever you see them in Scripture. Doubts are attacks of the devil. You should have expected them. Believe only what God says in his Word. When Satan attacks, tell him you believe your Lord, and shut him out. Pledge yourself anew to Christ and take a stand for him. This is how we must deal with temptations to doubt our salvation.


The Dissolving of Doubts page 15


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