I have heard some people say that it was not their privilege to know that they were saved; they had heard the minister say that no one could know whether they were saved or not; and they took what the minister said, instead of what the Word of God said. Others read the Bible to make it fit in and prove their favorite creed or notions; and if it does not do so, they will not read it. It has been well said that we must not read the Bible by the blue light of Presbyterianism; nor by the red light of Methodism; nor by the violet light of Episcopalianism; but by the light of the Spirit of God. If you will take up your Bible and study "assurance" for a week, you will soon see it is your privilege to know that you are a child of God.
Then take the _promises of God_. Let a man feed for a month on the promises of God, and he will not talk about his poverty, and how downcast he is, and what trouble he has day by day. You hear people say, "Oh, my leanness! how lean I am!" My friends, it is not their leanness, it is their _laziness_. If you would only go from Genesis to Revelation, and see all the promises made by God to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, to the Jews and the Gentiles, and to all His people everywhere; if you would spend a month feeding on the precious promises of God, you would not go about with your heads hanging down like bulrushes complaining how poor you are; but you would lift up your heads with confidence and proclaim the riches of His grace, because you could not help it. After the Chicago fire a man came up to me and said in a sympathizing tone, "I understand you lost everything, Moody, in the Chicago fire." "Well, then," said I, "some one has misinformed you." "Indeed! Why I was certainly told you had lost all." "No; it is a mistake," I said, "quite a mistake." "Have you got much left, then?" asked my friend. "Yes," I replied, "I have got much more left than I lost; though I can not tell how much I have lost." "Well, I am glad of it, Moody; I did not know you were that rich before the fire." "Yes," said I," "I am a good deal richer than you could conceive; and here is my title-deed, 'He that overcometh shall inherit all things.'" They say the Rothschilds can not tell how much they are worth; and that is just my case. All things in the world are mine; I am joint heir with Jesus the Son of God. Some one has said, "God makes a promise; Faith believes it; Hope anticipates it; and Patience quietly awaits it."