Taken from, “The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification”,

Written by, Walter Marshall.

Edited for thought and sense.

But I trust in you, O Lord;

I say, “You are my God.”

–Psalm 31:14

The soul must have its sufficient support, to bear it up against oppressing fears, troubles, cares, despair, that it may thus trust and rest.

The right manner of trusting and hoping in the Lord, is, by assuring ourselves, against all fears and doubting, that the Lord is our God, and he is become our salvation. I trusted on thee, O Lord; I said, thou art my God; Psalm 31:14. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust, Psalm 18:2. Behold, God is my salvation: I will trust and not be afraid, Isaiah 12: 2. O my soul, hope thou in God, who is the health of my countenance and my God, Psalm 42:11. True hope is grounded in God only, that he will bless us, that it may be an anchor for the soul, sure and steadfast, Heb. 6:17, 18, 19.

If you trust, rely, and stay yourselves on Christ, or hope in him, without assuring yourselves at all of salvation by him, you make no better use of him, than if he were a broken reed; and, if you would stay yourselves on the Lord, you must look upon him as your God, as the prophet teaches. Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God, Isaiah 1:10. If you will rest in the Lord you must believe that he deals bountifully with you, Psalm 116:7 or else for ought you know, you may make your bed in hell. And you will show little regard of Christ, and of your own soul, if you dare to rest under the wrath of God without persuasion of a sure interest in Christ. People may please themselves with such a trusting or resting when they are at ease, but in time of temptation, it vanishes away, and appears to be no true faith, but is turned into shame. The soul that lives in such wavering and doubting concerning salvation, doth not stay itself nor rest at all but is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind, and tossed; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways, James 1:6, 8.

——————————————————————-

Meet the author and part of your Christian heritage: Walter Marshall (15 June 1628 — August 1680) was an English, non-conformist Puritan pastor and author best known for his book on the Gospel Mystery of Sanctification, which has been praised as perhaps the single greatest work on sanctification ever composed.

‘The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification was first published in 1692 after Marshall’s death. The book is divided into fourteen sections that Marshall called directions. In the first direction, Marshall asserts that “sanctification, whereby our hearts and lives are conformed to the law, is a grace of God that He communicates to us by means.” The means of grace include prayer, the word, sacraments, and the church. Many have alluded to the book’s teachings on union with Christ. Direction 5 is titled: We cannot attain holiness by our endeavours in a natural state, without union and fellowship with Christ.

Walter Marshall became a fellow of New College, Oxford in 1648 and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1652. In 1656, he was appointed to the vicarage of Hursley, Hampshire.

When the Act of Uniformity passed in 1662, Marshall joined many of his Puritan colleagues and was ejected from his parish. Soon afterwards, Marshall was installed as minister of an Independent congregation at Gosport, Hampshire, where he served for eighteen years.

For several years, Marshall experienced seasons of spiritual depression. For years, Marshall sought assurance, holiness and peace, consulting contemporaries like Richard Baxter. However, it was not until a life altering conversation with Thomas Goodwin that he began to focus more on Christ’s spiritual power in comparison with his own natural power. With this new focus, he found “holiness, peace of conscience, and joy in the Holy Ghost”