Peace, peace, when there is no peace

Faithful are the wounds of a friend. Most would agree with that statement. It comes from Proverbs 27:6. If we are honest with ourselves the people who have done the greatest kindness to us in our lives have often been the people that have sometimes wounded us by telling us the truth. The blows of truth, however unpleasant at first, often help us a great deal in the end.

And if that is the case, then George Whitefield wounds as a faithful friend. He doesn’t sugar coat the truth and urges those that claim to be Christians to examine themselves. Friend, if you are unwilling to examine yourself to see if you be in the faith then I fear you are not a Christian.

Consider these excerpts from George Whitefield as he warns on the dangers of a counterfeit faith (Source link):
“My friends, we mistake a historical faith for a true faith, wrought in the heart by the Spirit of God. You fancy you believe, because you believe there is such a book as we call the Bible—because you go to church; all this you may do, and have no true faith in Christ. Merely to believe there was such a person as Christ, merely to believe there is a book called the Bible, will do you no good, no more than to believe there was such a man as Caesar or Alexander the Great…

My dear friends, I am more particular in this, because it is a most deceitful delusion, whereby so many people are carried away, that they [think they] believe already…

Now, my dear friends, did God ever show you that you do not have faith? Were you ever made to bewail a hard heart of unbelief? Was it ever the language of your heart, Lord, give me faith; Lord, enable me to lay hold on thee; Lord, enable me to call thee my Lord and my God? Did Jesus Christ ever convince you in this manner? Did he ever convince you of your inability to close with Christ, and make you to cry out to God to grant you faith? If not, do not speak peace to your heart. May the Lord awaken you, and give you true, solid peace before you go hence and be no more!

Before you can speak peace in your heart, you must not only be made sick of your original and actual sin, but you must be made sick of your righteousness, of all your duties and performances. There must be a deep conviction before you can be brought out of your self-righteousness; it is the last idol taken out of our heart. The pride of our heart will not let us submit to the righteousness of Jesus Christ. But if you never felt that you had no righteousness of your own, if you never felt the deficiency of your own righteousness, you will not come to Jesus Christ. There are a great many now who may say, Well, we believe all this; but there is a great difference betwixt talking and feeling. Did you ever feel the want of a dear Redeemer? Did you ever feel the want of Jesus Christ, upon the account of the deficiency of your own righteousness? And can you now say from your heart, Lord, thou mayst justly damn me for the best duties that ever I did perform? If you are not thus brought out of self, you may speak peace to yourselves, but yet there is no peace…

And if you have never felt the weight of original sin, do not call yourselves Christians. I am verily persuaded original sin is the greatest burden of a true convert; this ever grieves the regenerate soul, the sanctified soul. The indwelling of sin in the heart is the burden of a converted person; it is the burden of a true Christian. He continually cries out, ‘O! who will deliver me from this body of death,’ this indwelling corruption in my heart? This is that which disturbs a poor soul most. And, therefore, if you never felt this inward corruption, if you never saw that God might justly curse you for it, indeed, my dear friends, you may speak peace to your hearts, but I fear, nay, I know, there is no true peace.”

Many will claim the name of Jesus Christ. Many will call him Lord. And yet many of them will be cast into hell on the last day showing that they were never truly His. This truth should motivate us to examine ourselves. We have nothing to lose by self-examination (except perhaps pride), and everything to gain if the Lord uses it to draw us to himself.

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Matthew 7:22-23

Faithful indeed, are the wounds of a friend.