II. A sense of possession Faith is an act of claiming, of receiving
II. A sense of possession Faith is an act of claiming, of receiving
It takes what is proffered in the promises of Gods Word; so that with it there springs up in the heart a sweet sense of ownership, and the soul begins to say: Jesus is mine, I am saved.
Joshua was commanded of the Lord to say to the children of Israel: Ye shall pass over this Jordan to possess the land which the Lord thy God giveth you to possess it. Then he added: Every place where the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that I have given unto you. Wherever Judah should set his foot that should be his; where Benjamin should set his foot, that should be his. Each should get his inheritance by setting his foot upon it. Now, think you not, when either had set his foot upon a given territory, he did not instantly and instinctively feel, This is mine?
Think you not that he would have defended his proprietorship against every other contestant? And would he not have felt at once a joyful sense of ownership of the tract he had thus pre-empted? So when the soul sets the foot of its faith upon pardon or full salvation as promised to him, there does come to it immediately such a precious persuasion of possessor ship as fills it with a gladness which can not be quenched by any lack of further witness, or by any temptation of the adversary to think otherwise. The instant the footfall of faith is set upon the promise, the soul begins to sing:
And all its riches mine.
The witness of faith is always
It is done
I believe on the Son;
I am saved by the blood
Of the crucified One.
An old colored man, who had a marvelous experience in grace, was asked: Daniel, why is it that you have so much peace and joy in religion? O Massa! he replied, I just fall flat on the exceeding great and precious promises, and I have all that is in them. Glory, Glory! He who falls flat on the promises, feels that all the riches embraced in them are his.