Should we trust our feelings?

Nor, secondly, is it "I feel." Feelings are but the evidence of my senses, and these are as changeable as the sand of the desert or the waves of the sea. You cannot build on either. It would be a poor thing indeed if the word of God depended for its truthfulness on my feelings about it. A man suffering from fever and ague will shiver on Midsummer-day; or a blind person may declare the sun is not shining. They go by their feelings. "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." You believe the report, and the result is salvation.

Nor, secondly, is it “I feel.” Feelings are but the evidence of my senses, and these are as changeable as the sand of the desert or the waves of the sea. You cannot build on either. It would be a poor thing indeed if the word of God depended for its truthfulness on my feelings about it. A man suffering from fever and ague will shiver on Midsummer-day; or a blind person may declare the sun is not shining. They go by their feelings. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” You believe the report, and the result is salvation.

Such is the divine order, an order so constantly reversed to the serious damage of souls, the subversion of their peace and the dishonor of their Lord. When we turn to Scripture, when we examine the various cases which it records for our learning, we invariably find the order to be, first, the Word; secondly, faith; thirdly, feeling. On the other hand, when we turn to the history of souls today and examine their exercises and experiences, we constantly find they begin with their feelings. As a consequence, they rarely enjoy a right sense of the nature and foundation of true Christian faith.

All this is greatly to be deplored. It claims the earnest attention of those who take an interest in souls and are called to watch the progress of the work of God therein. It is of the greatest importance to lead all exercised souls to the sure foundation of Holy Scripture and to teach them that faith is simply taking God at His word. It is believing what He says, not because we feel it, but because He says it. To believe because we feel, would not be faith in God's Word at all, but faith in our own feelings, which is a worthless faith that will not stand for a moment in the presence of the enemy. The Word of God is settled forever in heaven. “He has magnified His Word above all His name.” This is the solid foundation of Christian faith.

We must not put feeling before faith. Feeling is based on faith; and faith is based upon the word of God. The gospel calls you to believe on the Son of God, not to feel that you are this or that. Thousands go astray as to this. They are looking at their own feelings, in place of taking God at His word. They are occupied with self in place of with Christ; hence all their darkness and confusion. We quite believe you are a regenerated person; we could not doubt it with such a letter before us. But then you must look off from yourself altogether, and rest not in any change in you, but in the finished work of Christ, and on the word of God. True, there is a real work of God's Spirit in us; but that is not the foundation of our peace. We are called to rest simply in Christ's work for us, which is a finished and unchangeable one. May your heart find its sweet repose and its satisfying object in Jesus Christ!

This, Christian reader, is a very weighty principle, and one which demands special attention on the part of all anxious inquirers, as also on the part of all who undertake to deal with such. There is a strong and constant tendency to look within for the ground of assurance — to build upon certain feelings, experiences and exercises, either past or present — to look back at some special process through which we have passed, or to look in at certain impressions or convictions of our own minds, and to find in these the ground of our confidence — the warrant for our faith. This will never do. It is impossible to find settled peace or calm repose in this way. Feelings, however true and real, change and pass away. Experiences, however genuine, may prove defective. Impressions and convictions may prove utterly false. None of these things, therefore, can form a solid ground of Christian certainty. This latter must be sought and found in God's word alone. It is not in feelings, not in experiences, not in impressions or convictions, not in reasonings, not in human traditions or doctrines, but simply in the unchangeable, eternal word of the living God. That word which is settled for ever in heaven, and which God has magnified above all His name, can alone impart peace to the mind and stability to the soul.

Faith, then, has the work of Christ and the Word of God to rest upon; and this it needs to be faith. Frames and feelings apart from this are absolutely untrustworthy. The work of the Spirit is to take of the things that are Christ's and show them to us. (John 16:14). Apart from this, what we may regard as an "impression from the Holy Ghost" (p. 105) may be only a delusion. It is not, as Dr. Steele puts it, that feelings are to be scouted, but to be tested and certified. It is certain that Scripture says that we are justified by faith, never by feelings. "To him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." (Rom. 4:5.) This is the Scripture* method of assurance. Joy and peace come in believing (Rom. 15:13), and it remains for Dr. S. to prove that they come rightly in any other way. From Scripture he has not attempted to do so, and I believe he will hardly attempt it. It will be time enough, at any rate, then to listen.

Faith, then, has the work of Christ and the Word of God to rest upon; and this it needs to be faith. Frames and feelings apart from this are absolutely untrustworthy. The work of the Spirit is to take of the things that are Christ's and show them to us. (John 16:14). Apart from this, what we may regard as an "impression from the Holy Ghost" (p. 105) may be only a delusion. It is not, as Dr. Steele puts it, that feelings are to be scouted, but to be tested and certified. It is certain that Scripture says that we are justified by faith, never by feelings. "To him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." (Rom. 4:5.) This is the Scripture* method of assurance. Joy and peace come in believing (Rom. 15:13), and it remains for Dr. S. to prove that they come rightly in any other way. From Scripture he has not attempted to do so, and I believe he will hardly attempt it. It will be time enough, at any rate, then to listen.

We cannot be too simple as to this. It is not, by any means, a question of our feelings, our frames, our evidences, or our experiences — things interesting enough in their right place. We must receive the truth solely and simply on the authority of that august Witness who speaks to us in holy scripture. Thus we read, "Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord; I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more."

It is absolutely essential to the enjoyment of settled peace that the heart should rest solely on the authority of holy scripture. Nothing else will stand. Inward evidences, spiritual experiences, comfortable frames, happy feelings, are all very good, very valuable, and very desirable; indeed we cannot prize them too highly in their right place. But, most assuredly, their right place is not at the foundation of the Christian position. If we look to such things as the ground of our peace, we shall very soon become clouded, uncertain, and miserable.

God says to the awakened, restless soul, "Believe my word and you shall be perfectly happy." "No," replies the soul, "first give me to feel an inward change that the word is true to me and then I will believe it." "What!" God again says, "is not my word true, whatever your feelings may be! Can any inward change make my word more true than it is! Why should you ask for any token that my word is true?" But again the soul will venture to say, "How can I believe unless I feel?" Once more God graciously replies, "How can you feel unless you believe?" Thus the sorrowful struggle goes on, until self is lost sight of and the word of God received as the answer of His love to the anxious soul. He waits patiently in His love until His word is believed without the feelings, for that is what it must come to in all, sooner or later. In some cases the struggle is short, in others it may last a life-time. This depends on the simplicity of faith; for the feelings so much desired can only be produced by means of the written word received into the heart. Oh! that we could persuade every weary one to have done with self and to rest entirely on the sure word of God; then would they have rest and peace and joy, and then, too, they would be strong for labour in the service of Christ.