The Christian Convert Warned of Discouragements – Doddridge

The following is a modernized, paraphrased, and condensed excerpt from Philip Doddridge’s book ‘The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul.’ This excerpt comes from Chapter 16. The full title of the chapter is, “The Christian Convert Warned of, and Animated against Those Discouragements which He Must Expect to Meet when Entering on a Religious Course.”

(1) It is very proper that our divine Master required us to “Strive to enter through the narrow door” (Luke 13:24). By this he indicated, not only that the passage is narrow, but also that it is surrounded with enemies – surrounded, on the right hand and on the left, with cunning and formidable enemies. And be assured, reader, that whatever your circumstances in life are, you will meet and encounter them. It will therefore be wise for you to survey these enemies carefully, so that you can know what to expect. You should consider what armor is necessary, and what weapons are necessary in order for you to win the battle. You have probably heard of these enemies as being led by three great leaders: the flesh, the world, and the devil. Arranged in this way, I urge you to consider the forces of each, since they are setting themselves in battle array against you. May you be eager to “take up the whole armor of God” (Ephesians 6:13), and to “act like men” and Christians (1 Corinthians 16:13). 

(2) Let your conscience answer, whether it is not true that you carry about with you a corrupt and degenerate nature. You will, I doubt not, feel its effects. You will feel, in the language of the apostle, who speaks of it as true of Christians themselves, that “the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit…to keep you from doing,” in all situations, “the things you want to do” (Galatians 5:17). You brought with you into the world a natural inclination that is not morally upright; and you have so often indulged those sinful tendencies, that you have greatly increased their strength. You will find, as a result, that these habits cannot be broken without great difficulty. You will, no doubt, often remember the strong figures of speech by which the prophet describes people in your situation; and you will acknowledge that your situation is rightly described by the question, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots?” (Jeremiah 13:23). It is indeed possible, that at first you may find yourself so eager in spirit, as to imagine that all opposition will immediately fall before you. But, unfortunately, I fear that in a little time these enemies, which seemed to be dead at your feet, will revive, and regain their weapons, and renew the assault in one form or another. Perhaps your most painful struggles may be with those that you thought you could most easily defeat, your greatest danger could arise from the enemies that you were least aware of. Often these enemies are pride and a lazy spirit, a private removal of your heart from God, and a disinterest in prayer, because of an excessive attachment to “things that are seen” and “transient.” These things are often very dangerous to your salvation, even if they are not actually and always condemned. In a thousand of these instances, you must learn to deny yourself (Matthew 16:24), or you “cannot” be Christ’s disciple (Luke 14:27).

(3) You must also expect to find great difficulties from the world, from its manners, customs, and examples. The things of the world will hinder you one way, and the men of the world another. Perhaps you will receive much less assistance in godly living than you expect to receive from good men. The present generation of them is generally so cautious to avoid anything that looks churchy, and there is something that seems so terrible about being called a ‘fundamentalist.’ The result is that you will find most of your Christians brothers trying to conceal their virtue and godly living, much more than other men try to conceal their vices and their profanity. But although you will find very little assistance (unless you are greatly blessed), yet you will certainly find great opposition. The enemies of true Christianity will be bold and active in their assaults, while many of its friends seem uninterested. One sinner will probably try harder to corrupt you, than ten Christians to assist and save you. Those who were previously your friends in sin will try in a thousand ways to regain your friendship. Some will do this with an appearance of kindness, and many more by using ridicule. They will ridicule you without any sense of propriety, or even of common decency. You will be derided and insulted by those that you wish would honor and love you, and you might find a new meaning in the words of the apostle, “others suffered mocking” (Hebrews 11:36), which some men fear more than either sword or flames. This persecution of the tongue you must expect to go through, and perhaps you will be branded as ‘crazy,’ only because you now act reasonably, and will not join those who are destroying their own souls in their wild pursuit of foolishness and madness.

(4) It is not unlikely that in the meantime Satan might do everything to discourage and distress you. He will, no doubt, tempt you with the gratifications, enjoyments, and friends that you must forsake, and he will try to discourage and terrify you with difficulties, troubles, and dangers that (he will say) come with godly living. He will even present God himself, the fountain of goodness and happiness, as a harsh Master who is impossible to please. He might fill you with troubling fears, and try to claim you as his own slave, when he knows that you are the Lord’s free-man. He will try, by his filthy ideas, to interrupt you from obedience. At another time he will try to weary you in your private spiritual devotions, by tempting you to make them too long and boring. In summary, this experienced deceiver has so many tricks that whole books could be written about them, with particular cautions about each of them. Further, he will follow you with temptations to the very end of your pilgrimage, and will try everything that might weaken and sadden you. He will do this so that if (by God’s grace) he is unable to prevent you from being eternally happy, he can at least destroy your peace and godly influence as you are on the way to eternity.

(5) This is what the people of God feel, and what you will feel to some extent, if you have an inheritance with them. But, despite this, do not be discouraged: Christ is the “founder” of your salvation (Hebrews 2:10). It is delightful to think about him from this perspective. When we consider all these armies of enemies, we can stand firm against them all and say, “those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (2 Kings 6:16). Trust in the Lord, and you will be “like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever” (Psalm 125:1). When you enemies press upon you, remember that you are to fight, because the Lord is with you (Zechariah 10:5). Attempt, then, to be brave and courageous; attempt to “resist him, firm in your faith” (1 Peter 5:9). Remember, “He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength” (Isaiah 40:29). He has done it ten thousand times already, and he will do it ten thousand more times. How many times have feeble youths conquered heavily-armored giants, when they have gone against them, though they only had a “staff,” and a “sling,” but “in the name of the Lord…the God of the armies of Israel” (1 Samuel 17:40-45). How many women and children have defeated the enemy, and “were made strong out of weakness” (Hebrews 11:34).

(6) Amid all the opposition of earth and hell, look up and look ahead, and you will feel that your heart is inspired by what you see. Your General is near; he is near to help you, and he is near to reward you. When you feel the temptations most strongly, think of the One who endured even the cross itself so that he could rescue you. View the strength of your divine Leader, and try to march on in his steps. Listen to his voice, for he says loudly, “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me” (Revelation 22:12). “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10). And oh, how bright it will shine, and how long will its shininess last!When the crowns that generations of kings have worn, melt away in the flames of the last day, it is an “unfading crown of glory” (1 Peter 5:4).

(7) It is certain that “those who turn aside to their crooked ways” will be “lead away with evildoers” to the terrible judgment that God’s justice is preparing for them (Psalm 125:5). “It would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them” (2 Peter 2:21). But, by God’s grace, “in your case,” I “feel sure of better things” (Hebrews 6:9). And I make it my fervent prayer for you, my reader, that you would be kept by the mighty power of God – kept, as in castle, fortified on all sides in the safest way, through faith, unto salvation.

Philip Doddridge (1702-1751) was an English congregationalist minister in Northampton. He was an author and hymnwriter whose most famous book, ‘The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul,’ was esteemed by following generations and praised by Charles Spurgeon as ‘that holy book.’

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