PETER IMMENS'S PIOUS COMMUNICANT ENCOURAGED

One of the Netherlands’s “Nadere Reformatie” (Second Reformation) divines, Peter Immens, wrote a very helpful volume entitled, De Godvruchtige Avondmaalganger, which was subsequently translated by a minister of the Reformed Dutch Church, John Bassett (Albany, New York) as The Pious Communicant Encouraged, and Directed in what Manner he may Approach the Holy Supper of the Lord, acceptably to God, and profitably to himself in a Series of Lectures, and published in 1801 by Isaac Collins and Son. Recently, I have been able to locate this volume in the New Brunswick Theological Seminary library, but have found that a fresh translation is needed. In conjunction with Immen’s renowned original work and Bassett’s translation, I hope to provide from time to time a contemporary translation of The Pious Communicant Encouraged under the rubric of “Practical Christianity. “

May the Lord bless Immen’s work in North America as He has done in the Netherlands to the establishing of the living church’s faith in Jesus Christ, the conversion of sinners, and the glory of His name. Immen’s first lecture is entitled “The Nature of Faith.”

When invited to attend the Holy Supper of the Lord as you are at present, I propose in this, and, if the Lord permit, in several succeeding lectures, to contribute to your profit by addressing you on the nature and blessed effects which flow from true, saving faith. In the process of our discussion, many other truths will be expounded plainly and faithfully, so that with God blessing our endeavors, we hope, on the one hand, the natural man may be reclaimed from his evil course and be directed in those paths which lead to happiness and eternal glory; and on the other, the child of God, amid all fears, doubts, and discouragements, may be counselled and directed, increase in faith, and experience comfort and profit in soul through partaking of the Lord’s Supper.

With an eye of faith directed to God’s throne, we look for assistance in, and wait for His blessing upon, our undertaking. Presently, I propose:

First, to consider the nature of faith and its essential acts.

Second, as faith is a necessary prerequisite in approaching the table of the Lord, I shall urge the natural man to use all those means, which, if accompanied with God’s blessing, will serve to make him a partaker of saving faith.

Third, I shall point out the grounds on which a child of God may be assured of possessing true faith, and the obligation he is under to seek to preserve this saving grace.

To speak with accuracy on the first subject proposed — the nature of faith, I must make the following remarks:

To believe is not to be of the opinion, or, to be in doubt, whether a thing is true or not, as the phrase is commonly misapplied when conversing on natural things. It is not uncommon for a person to say, “I believe this,” or, “I believe that,” whenever on the one hand reasons are offered for thus judging, and on the other, some reason exists why he should doubt the fact. This is not believing; rather, it must be considered as doubting, for in its nature it is wholly different from saving faith.

Further, to believe is not simply to have a persuasion or a knowledge of the existence of a thing, for a person may have this persuasion, while his soul yields not assent, yes, even feels an aversion from it. Thus, this notion is not applicable to spiritual objects. For when spiritual matters are the objects of our faith, they are always accompanied both with the full assent of the judgment, and the hearty embracement of the will. Throughout Scripture where the term faith, and the phrase to believe, occur, both these ideas are included. Therefore, saving faith may be defined as a wholehearted reception of the testimony of God, and a complete surrender of the soul and all its affections to God and Christ. Hence, faith is a term which no man can fully understand, unless he has both received it and become exercised with it.

In the Word of God, two particular phrases are employed to express this act. The first is recorded in Psalm 2:12, and signifies in the original, to take refuge: “Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him.” A similar expression presents itself in Psalm 36:8: “How excellent is Thy loving kindness, O God, therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Thy wings.” The same word is found in other passages of Scripture, and always expresses the essential though weaker act of faith, to which salvation is attached.

The second phrase which Scripture employs, signifies to lean, to rest upon, or to allow ourselves to be borne by another, as a child who feels himself perfectly secure in the arms of its mother or nurse. Agreeably to this we read: “Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?” (Song of Sol. 8:5). See also Psalm 84:12, “O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in Thee.” Such expressions in the original Hebrew signify a more advanced degree of faith, which consists in the exercise of confidence.

In the New Testament, to believe is sometimes used to signify the object of faith; thus, in Galatians 1:23 Paul declares that he “now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed.” But at other times it conveys exercises with respect to that object, as in John 3:36, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life” — that is, everlasting life is the portion of that person who is so exercised with respect to Christ as God here demands.

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