Edward Payson

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CONFESSION

“God commands all men to repent. Christians have enough to repent of daily” Edward Payson (ref#333, p328).

“[O]ur transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities” (Isa 59:12 ESV):

“Those who have been forgiven much love much. [T]he extent to which we realize and acknowledge our own sinfulness, and the extent to which we realize the total forgiveness and cleansing from those sins, will determine the measure of our love to God” Jerry Bridges (ref#192, p126).

“People who cover over their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy” (Prov 28:13 NLT).

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 ESV).

“We must by faith in God’s Word lay hold on the fact that we have died to the reign of sin and are now alive to God, under His reign of grace. Unless we do this we will find ourselves seeking to pursue holiness by the strength of our own wills, not by the grace of God. God has given us all the resources we need to pursue holiness” Jerry Bridges (ref#192, p77).

“We no longer live in the realm of sin” Jerry Bridges (ref#192, p71).

“Every person in the world who is a true believer has died to sin. We are not to ‘die more and more unto sin.’ We cannot possibly die to sin any more than we have. [W]e died to sin through our union with Christ. When Christ died to sin, we died to sin also” Jerry Bridges (ref#192, p64-65).

“Lord, like the publican I stand,

And lift my heart to Thee;

Thy pardoning grace, O God, command,

Be merciful to me.

I smite upon my anxious breast,

O’erwhelmed with agony;

O save my soul by sin oppressed,

Be merciful to me.

My guilt, my shame, I all confess,

I have no hope nor plea

But Jesus’ blood and righteousness;

Be merciful to me.

Here at Thy cross I still would wait,

Nor from its shelter flee,

But Thou, O God, in mercy great,

Art merciful to me.”

(LORD, LIKE THE PUBLICAN I STAND,

Words: by Thomas Raffles, Music: “Avondale,” by Charles H. Gabriel).

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PRESENT HELP

“It’s the evil inside me that connects me to the evil outside me. God’s grace is grace for the heart” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Mar 7th).

“Every moment in which we do not love God with all our hearts, we sin. Every moment in which we do not love our neighbor as ourselves, we sin. Every moment in which we do not exercise faith in Christ, we sin. When we do not set our affections on things above, we sin. When we are not constantly influenced by the fear of God, we sin. When we do not rejoice in God, we sin. When the contents of God’s Word [do] not properly affect us, we sin. When we do not forgive and love our enemies, we sin” Edward Payson (ref#362, p29).

“Sin is a matter of our nature before it is ever played out in our behavior. [S]ystems of behavior reformation won’t work for us because our problem is deeper than behavior. Systems of self-help won’t work because we are our own biggest problem. The grace that placed our iniquity on the Savior, so that we could be both forgiven and delivered, is more powerful than our sinful natures. Our cure is not a system; it is a person, and his name is Jesus” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Aug 2nd)!

“Our struggle with sin is so deep that it was not enough for God to forgive us, so he also unzipped us and got inside of us by his Spirit” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Oct 4th).

“He gets inside us, working within us, because there is no possibility that we will desire and do what is right without the inner working of his power. [W]e cannot take credit for any aspect or any instance of our obedience, because apart from the Spirit’s presence, we would have neither the motivation nor the power to obey. He has come, and his convicting and enabling grace is his moment-by-moment gift to you” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Oct 4th).

ASSURANCES

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SPIRIT CHECK

“O soul, of all the false signs of grace, none more dangerous than those that most resemble true ones, and never doth the devil more surely destroy than when transformed into an angel of light” John Flavel (ref#333, p211).

The matter of life after earthly death is not only the most important subject to embrace but we must be aware that the temporary ruler of the earth will do everything in his power to keep us from fellowship with the eternal Ruler of all.  We need to continually check our spirit to see if we are walking with the eternal Spirit.

 

Can I tell my actions are becoming more like CHRIST?

“…there is no legitimate separation between belief and behavior.  Thus, those who profess faith but do not demonstrate any progress in godliness should question their spiritual state” (The ESV Study Bible, ref#125, p2322)

 

Are you saved by feeling you are, or by believing you are?

“…the New Testament does not insist upon feeling.  It says, do you believe; are you prepared to venture your all upon this?  So it is sufficient for you to say, ‘I live by this; whether I feel or whether I do not does not matter; we are not saved by feeling but by believing’” (Martyn Lloyd-Jones, ref#332, p649).

 

Does the Bible influence you to change your ways?

“If there is one fact, or doctrine, or promise in the Bible, which has produced no practical effect upon your temper or conduct, be assured that you do not truly believe it” (Edward Payson, ref#333, p327).

 

Does thoughts of your salvation give you peace?

“Is not the doctrine of the assurance of salvation a most comfortable doctrine?…except a man be persuaded of the favour of God, and the forgiveness of sins, and consequently of his salvation, what comfort can he have in anything” (Arthur Dent, ref#333, p109)?

 

Will I persevere?—failure to do so proves I am not converted.

“…If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him…” (2 Tim 2:11-12 ESV).

 

Am I looking forward to living forever with JESUS?

“Those who have eternal life want more of it” (Martyn Lloyd-Jones, ref#332, p643).

 

“…men without Christ are guiltily ignorant of God, perverse more or less in their thoughts of Him, self-idolizers even in their outward worship of Him, and strangers to His friendship” (J.I. Packer, ref#312, p61).

ASSURANCES

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SPIRIT CHECK

“O soul, of all the false signs of grace, none more dangerous than those that most resemble true ones, and never doth the devil more surely destroy than when transformed into an angel of light” John Flavel (ref#333, p211).

The matter of life after earthly death is not only the most important subject to embrace but we must be aware that the temporary ruler of the earth will do everything in his power to keep us from fellowship with the eternal Ruler of all.  We need to continually check our spirit to see if we are walking with the eternal Spirit.

Do your deeds prove you know GOD?

“They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works…” (Titus 1:16 ESV).

 

Do you have the evidence of serving GOD by obeying His will?

“No man…can have any evidence that he is a servant of Christ any further than he obeys the will of Christ” (Edward Payson, ref#333, p328).

 

Are you committing habitual sins?

“Habitual unholiness is a stronger proof that a man’s hopes, whatever they be, do not rest on the faith of the truth…” (Dr. John Brown, ref#333, p329).

 

Do you daily embrace the fact that you are a sinner and repent?

“They only do account it an easy thing to believe in Christ, who never were acquainted with themselves” (Thomas Shepherd, ref#333, p253).

 

Do you have an “experience” or a “feeling” you are saved?

“There are those who seem to be in trouble about…whether they have eternal life or not, because they will persist in thinking of it in terms of experience, or in terms of feeling…” (Martyn Lloyd-Jones, ref#332, p648).

 

Am I interested in CHRIST? Do I think of Him often?

“Doubts of a personal interest in Christ are evidences either of little faith or of no faith” (Robert Haldane, ref#333, p313).

 

“It is better for a man to be silent, and be a Christian, than to say he is, and not to be” (Ignatius, ref#333, p4).