Samuel Davies was by all accounts one of the most righteous men who ever walked our continent. He lived less than forty years, from 1723 to 1761, was an evangelist and pastor in Virginia,
and became the fourth president of Princeton, then, “The College of New Jersey.”
He was on the cutting edge of seeking education and freedom for slaves, and preached the equality of all humans before their Creator. Information about him abounds, should you wish to learn more about his short but shining life.
I began some time ago to work my way through his published sermons, which fill three thick volumes. They are masterful, crafted messages with applications built upon solid theological, Christ-exalting truth.
But the most intriguing part of this saint’s story was his own inner life and walk with God, and how unsettled he was about his slow progress in the faith. After his recovery from a fever that brought him to death’s door, he wrote this to a close friend in 1757:
“Formerly I have wished to live longer that I might be better prepared for heaven, but this consideration had but very little weight with me, and that for a very unusual reason, which was this. After long trial I found that this world is a place so unfriendly to the growth of every thing divine and heavenly, that I was afraid, if I should live longer, I should be no better fitted for heaven than I am. Indeed I have hardly any hopes of ever making any attainments in holiness in this world, though I should be doomed to stay in it as long as Methuselah.”
He goes on to admit that he sees progress in others, though with “a snail-like motion,” but in himself, very little, even thought he had become a believer at age twelve. “O my good Master! if I may dare to call thee so, I am afraid I shall never serve thee much better on this side the region of perfection.”
I doubt Davies ever thought anyone else would read these words, but even then expressed doubts to his friend that his thoughts about these things were right, and didn’t commend them to others. And he pledged to continue working for the Lord regardless.
I’m struck not only by his honesty, but his humility in not assuming everyone will feel the same. But more than that, I’m comforted that such a clearly godly man admits how difficult it is to fight sin within.
Many believers I know confess similar things, and I learn from this that we should not be surprised at our periodic failures and incomplete holiness. Our struggle against sin will continue to our dying day.
Of course we must never use this reality as an excuse to sin, but rather a check on our pride. We will not have arrived until we arrive, and to think otherwise is to forget that we are, after all, journeying pilgrims, each a work in progress. And far from proving that we are God’s enemies, this very battle is evidence we are His children (Romans 8:12-14).
“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.”
Colossians 3:5, 6