appear from the material preserved that Ambrose’s heart was softened and changed
and aided him in looking unto Jesus.
Struggles of the soul typically create a sense of anxiety and anxiety frequently
raises the question of whether or not a person is living closely with God. Yet for
Ambrose those skirmishes with desolation did not draw him away from God, at least
not for lengthy periods as they did for other Puritans. Further, a number of significant
points of transformations within his soul have been observed: wrestling with Satan
drew him closer to God, periodic doubts renewed his faith and trust in God’s
promises, anger was transformed into reconciliation, financial fears were converted
by God’s provisions into gratitude rather than greed, illness created a deeper hunger
for Christ and increased his heavenly-mindedness, and the persistence of pride created
the discipline of self-denial. Consistent throughout instead of focusing upon his
struggles Ambrose turned his gaze in a more contemplative way upon Jesus.
Lovelace makes the significant connection that was frequently neglected by the
Puritans, “[i]t is remarkable that the Puritans could so easily overlook a third biblical
path to assurance that Luther had uncovered: naked reliance on the work of
Christ.”^120 Ambrose connects this assurance that comes from recognizing God’s love
in Christ with the ability to overcome the world’s temptations; “[i]s a man assured of
God’s love in Christ? Such a one fears not any troubles, he knows all comes through
his Fathers hands.... He gets a victory against the world by his Faith, and Samson-
like, breaks all bands of temptations as straw.”^121 This solid christocentric foundation,
that would later form the groundwork for Looking Unto Jesus, reduces anxiety,
(^120) Lovelace, American Pietism of Cotton Mather (^) , 101. Nehemiah Wallington finally
discovered the same reality that assurance ultimately rests on trusting Jesus. Seaver,
Wallington’s (^121) Ambrose, MediaWorld (1657), 209, 43. (^) - 10.