HEAVEN ON EARTH
Thomas Brooks, 1667
CHAPTER 3
Containing the several HINDRANCES and IMPEDIMENTS that
keep poor souls from assurance; with the MEANS and HELPS to remove those
impediments and hindrances.
I. The first impediment. Now the first impediment and
hindrance to assurance that we shall instance in, is,
Despairing thoughts of mercy. Oh! these imprison the soul, and
make it always dark with the soul; these shut the windows of the soul, that
no light can come in to cheer it. Despairing thoughts make a man fight
against God with his own weapons; they make a man cast all the cordials of
the Spirit to the ground, as things of no value; they make a man suck poison
out of the sweetest promises; they make a man eminent in nothing unless it
be in having hard thoughts of God, and in arguing against his own soul and
happiness, and in turning his greatest advantages into disadvantages, his
greatest helps into his greatest hindrances.
Despairing thoughts of mercy make a man below the beast
which perishes. Pliny speaks of the scorpion, that there is not one minute
wherein it does not put forth the sting, as being unwilling to lose any
opportunity of doing mischief.
Such scorpions are despairing souls, they are still
a-putting out their stings, a-wrangling with God, or Christ, or the
Scripture, or the saints, or ordinances, or their own souls. A despairing
soul is a terror to himself; it cannot rest—but, like Noah's ark, is always
tossed here and there; it is troubled on every side, it is full of fears and
fightings. A despairing soul is like the spider, which draws poison out of
the sweetest flowers.
A despairing soul is a burden to others—but the greatest
burden to itself. It is still a-vexing, terrifying, tormenting, condemning,
and perplexing itself. Despair makes every sweet bitter, and every bitter
exceeding bitter; it puts gall and wormwood into the sweetest wine, and it
puts a sting, a cross, into every cross.
Now while the soul is under these despairing thoughts of
mercy, how is it possible that it should attain to a well grounded
assurance. Therefore for the helping of the soul out of this despairing
condition, give me leave a little to expostulate with despairing souls. Tell
me, O despairing souls, is not despair an exceeding vile and contemptible
sin? Is it not a dishonor to God, a reproach to Christ, and a murderer of
souls? Is it not a misrepresenting of God, a denying of Christ, and a
crowning of Satan? It does without doubt proclaim the devil a conqueror, and
lifts him up above Christ himself. Despair is Satan's masterpiece; it
carries men headlong to hell; it makes a man twice-told a child of hell; it
is a viper which has stinged many a man to death.
Despair is an evil that flows from the greatest evil in
the world; it flows from unbelief, from ignorance, and misapprehensions of
God and his grace, and from mistakes of Scripture, and from Satan, who,
being forever cast out of paradise, labors with all his art and might to
work poor souls to despair of ever entering into paradise. O despairing
souls, let the greatness of this sin effectually awaken you, and provoke you
to labor as for life, to come out of this condition, which is as sinful as
it is doleful, and as much to be hated as to be lamented.
Again, tell me, O despairing souls, has not despairing
Judas perished, whereas the murderers of Christ, believing on him, were
saved? Did not Judas sin more heinously by despairing, than by betraying of
Christ?
Despairing Spira is damned, when repenting Manasseh
is saved. O despairing souls, the arms of mercy are open to receive a
Manasseh, a monster, a devil incarnate; he caused that gospel prophet Isaiah
to be sawed in half with a saw, as some Rabbis say; he turned aside from the
Lord to commit idolatry, and caused his sons to pass through the fire, and
dealt with bewitching spirits, and made the streets of Jerusalem to overflow
with innocent blood, 2 Chron 33:1-15.
The soul of Mary Magdalene was full of devils; and
yet Christ casts them out, and made her heart his house, his presence
chamber, Luke 7:47. Why do you then say there is no hope for you, O
despairing soul? Paul was full of rage against Christ and his people,
and full of blasphemy and impiety, and yet behold, Paul is a chosen vessel,
Paul is caught up into the heaven, and he is filled with the gifts and
graces of the Holy Spirit, Acts 8:1-2; Acts 9:1; Acts 26:11; 1 Tim
1:13,15-16.
Why should you then say there is for you no help, O
despairing soul! Though the prodigal had run from his father, and spent and
wasted all his estate in ways of vileness and wickedness, yet upon his
resolution to return, his father meets him, and instead of killing him, he
kisses him; instead of kicking him, he embraces him; instead of shutting the
door upon him, he makes sumptuous provision for him, Luke 15:13-23. And how
then do you dare to say, O despairing soul, that God will never cast an eye
of love upon you, nor bestow a crumb of mercy on you! The apostle tells you
of some monstrous miscreants who were unrighteous, fornicators, idolaters,
adulterers, homosexuals, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers,
extortioners; and yet these monsters of mankind, through the infinite
goodness and free grace of God, are washed from the filth and guilt of their
sins, and justified by the righteousness of Christ, and sanctified by the
Spirit of Christ, and decked and adorned with the precious graces of Christ,
1 Cor 6:9-11.
Therefore do not say, O despairing soul, that you shall
die in your sins, and lie down at last in everlasting sorrow. O despairing
souls, are you good at burning, that you have no mercy on yourselves—but to
argue to your own undoing? Did it make for the honor and glory of his free
grace to pardon them, and will it be a reproach to his free grace to pardon
you? Could God be just in justifying such ungodly ones, and shall he be
unjust in justifying of you? Did not their unworthiness and unfitness for
mercy turn the stream of mercy from them? No! Why then, O despairing soul,
should you fear that your unworthiness and unfitness for mercy will so stop
and turn the stream of mercy, as that you must perish eternally for lack of
one drop of special grace and mercy?
Again, tell me, O despairing soul, is not the grace of
God free grace, is not man's salvation of free grace? "By grace you are
saved," Eph 2:8. Every link of this golden chain is grace. It is free grace
which chose us, Rom 11:5. Even so then at this present time also
there is "a remnant according to the election of grace." It is free grace
which chooses some to be jewels from all eternity, which chooses some to
everlasting life, when others are left in darkness. Augustine, "The patrons
of man's free will are enemies to God's free grace."
The Lord Jesus Christ is a gift of free grace.
Christ is the greatest, the sweetest, the choicest, the chief gift which God
ever gave; and yet this gift is given by a hand of love. "God so loved the
world that he gave his only begotten Son," etc., John 3:16; Isa 9:6; John
4:10. "God so loved the world;" so freely, so vehemently, so fully, so
admirably, so inconceivably, "That he gave his only Son." His Son, not his
servant, his begotten Son, not his adopted Son, yes, his only begotten Son!
I have read of parents who had four sons; and in a
famine, sore oppressed with hunger, they resolved to sell one son; but then
they considered with themselves which of the four they should sell. They
said the eldest was the first of their strength, therefore reluctant were
they to sell him. The second was the picture of their father, and therefore
reluctant were they to part with him. The third was like the mother, and
therefore they were not willing to part with him. The fourth, and youngest,
was the child of their old age, their Benjamin, the dearly beloved of them
both; and therefore they were resolved not to part with any of them, and so
would rather allow themselves to perish than to part with any of their
children. But God, O you despairing soul, is is all love, he will not stand
upon giving his most lovely Son to most unlovely souls.
Oh! but God's heart is so strongly set upon sinners, that
he freely gives Jesus Christ, who is his firstborn, who is his very picture,
who is his beloved Benjamin, who is his chief joy, who is his greatest
delight. As Solomon speaks: Prov 8:30, "Then I was by him as one brought up
with him, and I was daily his delight" (in the Hebrew—his greatest delight),
"rejoicing always before him," or sporting greatly before him, as little
ones do before their parents. Why, then, O despairing soul! do you sit down
sighing, and walk up and down mourning, and sadly concluding that there is
no mercy for you? Hold up your head, O despairing soul! Jesus Christ himself
is a gift of free grace! The consideration of his free, boundless,
bottomless, and endless love, may afford you much matter of admiration and
consolation—but none of desperation.
And as Jesus Christ is a gift of free grace, or a
free-grace gift, so the precious covenant of grace is a gift of
grace: Gen 17:2, "I will make my covenant between me and you;" but in the
original it is, "I will give you my covenant." Here you see that the
covenant of grace is a free gift of grace.
God gave the covenant of the priesthood unto Phinehas as
a gift, Num 25:12. Just so, God gives the covenant of grace as a gift of
favor and grace to all that he takes unto covenant with himself. From
first to last—all is from free grace! God loves freely: "I will heal
their backsliding; I will love them freely," etc., Hos 14:4.
So Moses: "The Lord," says he, "set his love upon you to
take you into covenant with him: not because you were more in number than
other people—but because he loved you, and chose your fathers," Deut 7:7-8.
The only ground of God's love is his grace. The
ground of God's love is only and wholly in himself. There is neither portion
nor proportion in us to draw his love. There is no love nor loveliness in us
that should cause a beam of his love to shine upon us. There is that enmity,
that filthiness, that treacherousness, that unfaithfulness, to be found in
every man's bosom, which might justly put God upon glorifying himself in
their eternal ruin, and to write their names in his black book in characters
of blood and wrath. God will have all blessings and happiness to flow from
free grace:
(1.) that the worst of sinners may have strong grounds
for hope and comfort;
(2.) for the praise of his own glory;
(3.) that vain man may not boast;
(4.) that our mercies and blessings may be sure to us.
And as God loves freely, so God justifies us
freely: Rom 3:24, "Being justified freely by his grace through the
redemption that is in Jesus Christ." And as poor sinners are justified
freely, so they are pardoned freely: Acts 5:31, "Him has God
exalted," speaking of Christ, "with his right hand, to be a Prince and a
Savior—to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins." And as they
are pardoned freely, so they shall be saved freely: Rom 6:23, "For
the wages of sin is death—but the gift of God is eternal life," etc. The
gracious gift of God. Charisma signifies a gift flowing from the free
grace and favor of God, John 10:28.
Thus you see, O despairing souls! that all is of free
grace; from the lowest to the highest round of Jacob's ladder—all is of
grace! Christ is a free gift, the covenant of grace is a free gift, pardon
of sin is a free gift, heaven and salvation is a free gift. Why, then, O
despairing souls! should you sit down sighing under such black, sad, and
dismal apprehensions of God, and your own state and condition?
Truly, seeing all happiness and blessedness comes in a
way of free grace, and not in a way of doing, not in a way of works, you
should arise, O despairing souls! and cast off all despairing thoughts, and
drink of the waters of life freely, Rev 21:6; Rev 22:18. What though your
heart is dead, and hard, and sad; what though your sins be many, and your
fears great; yet behold here is glorious grace, rich grace, wondrous grace,
matchless and incomparable riches of free grace spread before you. Oh! let
this fire warm you, let these waters refresh you, let these cordials
strengthen you, that it may be day and no longer night with you, that your
mourning may be turned into rejoicing, and that your beautiful garments may
be put on, that so the rest of your days may be days of gladness and
sweetness, and free grace may be an everlasting shade, shelter, and rest
unto you, Isa 52:1.
Again, tell me, O despairing souls! do you understand,
and most seriously and frequently ponder upon those particular scriptures
that do most clearly, sweetly, and fully discover the mercies of God, the
affections of God, the grace and favor of God to poor sinners, as that Psalm
86:5, "For you, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and plenteous in
mercy, unto all who call upon you"? God's mercies are above all his works,
and above all ours too. His mercy is without measures and rules. All the
acts and attributes of God sit at the feet of mercy. The weapons of God's
artillery are turned into the rainbow; a bow, indeed—but without an
arrow, bent—but without a string. The rainbow is an emblem of mercy;
it is a sign of grace and favor, and an assurance that God will remember his
covenant. It is fresh and green, to note to us that God's mercy and grace to
poor sinners is always fresh and green.
Again, tell me, O despairing souls! have you seriously
pondered upon Neh 9:16-17, "But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and
hardened their necks, and hearkened not to your commandments, and refused to
obey; neither were they mindful of the wonders which you did among them—but
hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return
to their bondage. But you are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsook them not"? "You are a
God," says he, "ready to pardon," or rather as it is in the original, "And
you a God of pardons." He will multiply to pardon, or he will increase his
pardon, as the sinner increases his sins. There is a very great emphasis in
this Hebraism, "a God of pardons." It shows us that mercy is essential unto
God, and that he is incomparable in forgiving iniquity, transgression, and
sin. Here Nehemiah sets him forth as one made up all of pardoning grace and
mercy. As a circle begins everywhere—but ends nowhere, so do the mercies
of God, Mic 7:18.
When Alexander sat down before a city, he did use to set
up a light, to give those within notice that if they came forth to him while
the light lasted, they might have pardon; if otherwise, no mercy was to be
expected. Oh! but such is the mercy and patience of God to sinners, that he
sets up light after light, and waits year after year upon them. When they
have done their worst against him, yet then he comes with his heart full of
love, and his hands full of pardons, and makes a proclamation of grace, that
if now at last they will accept of mercy, they shall have it, Luke 13:7; Jer
3:1-15. Why, then, O despairing soul! do you make your life a hell, by
having such low and mean thoughts of God's mercy, and by measuring of the
mercies and affections of God by the narrow quantity of your weak and dark
understanding?
Again, tell me, O despairing souls! have you seriously
pondered upon those words in Isa 55:7-9: "Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man" (or rather as it is in the original, "the man of
iniquity") "his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have
mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon," or as it is
in the original, "He will multiply pardons." "For my thoughts are not your
thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens
are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my
thoughts than your thoughts"? Turn, O despairing souls! to these scriptures:
Num 14:19-20; Exod 34:6-7; Mic 7:18-19; Isa 30:18-19; Psalm 78:34-40; Psalm
103:8-13; Jer 3:1-12; Luke 15:20-24; 1 Tim 1:13-17; and tell me whether you
have seriously and frequently pondered upon them!
Oh! how can you look so much grace and so much love and
favor, and such tender affections of compassion, in the face, as appears in
these scriptures, and yet rack and tear your precious souls with despairing
thoughts!
Oh! there is so much grace and goodness, so much love and
favor, so much mercy and glory, sparkling and shining through these
scriptures, as may allay the strongest fears, and scatter the thickest
darkness, and cheer up the saddest spirits, etc.
Again, tell me, O despairing souls, do you not do
infinite wrong to the precious blood of the Lord Jesus? Three things are
called PRECIOUS in the Scripture: the blood of Christ is
called "precious blood," 1 Pet 1:19; and faith is called "precious
faith," 2 Pet 1:1; and the promises are called "precious promises," 2
Pet 1:4. Now, what a reproach is it to this precious blood, "which speaks
better things than the blood of Abel," Heb 12:24, for you to faint and sink
under the power of despair; what does this speak out? Oh! does it not
proclaim to all the world that there is no such worth and virtue, no such
power and efficacy in the blood of Christ, as indeed there is? Oh! how will
you answer this to Christ in that day wherein his blood shall speak and
plead, not only with the profane who have trodden it under their feet—but
also with despairing souls who have undervalued the power, virtue, and merit
of it? Heb 10:29. The blood of Christ is the key of heaven which has let in
millions, Rev 7:9; Isa 66:8. Has not the blood of Jesus Christ washed
away the sins of a world of notorious sinners; and is it not of virtue to
wash away the sins of one sinner? Has it had that power in it as to
bring many thousands to glory already, and is there not so much virtue left
in it as to bring your soul to glory? 1 John 1:7-9. Has it actually
delivered such a multitude from wrath to come as cannot be numbered, and is
the virtue of it so far spent as that it cannot reach to your deliverance?
Are there not yet millions of thousands that shall hereafter be actually
saved and justified by this blood? Why, then, should you despair of being
justified and saved from wrath to come by the virtue and power of this
precious blood?
There were five people who were studying what was the
best means to mortify sin. One said, to meditate on death; the second, to
meditate on judgment; the third, to meditate on the joys of heaven; the
fourth, to meditate on the torments of hell; the fifth, to meditate on the
blood and sufferings of Jesus Christ: and certainly, the last is the
choicest and strongest motive of all to the mortifying of sin.
O despairing souls, despairing souls! if ever you would
cast off your despairing thoughts and get out of your present hell, then
dwell much, muse much, and apply much this precious blood to your own souls.
So shall "sorrow and mourning flee away, and everlasting joy shall rest upon
you," and the Lord shall give you "an everlasting name," and be "everlasting
light and glory to you," and "you shall be no more called Forsaken;" for
"the Lord will rejoice over you," [Isa 55:11; Isa 56:5; Isa 60:19-20, and
Isa 62:4-5; John 4:21,23] and be a wellspring of life unto you, and make his
abode with you, and turn your sighing into singing, your trembling into
rejoicing, and your prison into a paradise of pleasure. Just so, that your
souls shall be able to stand up and say, Oh, blessed be God for Jesus
Christ; blessed be God for that precious blood which has justified our
persons, and quieted our consciences, and scattered our fears, and answered
our doubts, and given us to triumph over sin, hell, and death. "Who is he
who condemns? it is Christ that died," Rom 8:33-38.
The apostle, upon the account of Christ's death, of
Christ's blood, cries out, Victory, victory; he looks upon all his enemies
and sings it sweetly out, "Over all these we are more than conquerors," or
"above conquerors!"
O despairing souls, to all your former sins do not add
this—of making light and slight of the blood of Christ. As there is no blood
which saves souls like the blood of Christ, so there is no blood which sinks
souls like the blood of Christ. A drop of this blood upon a man's head
at last will make him miserable forever; but a drop of it upon a man's
heart at last will make him happy forever. In the day of vengeance,
the destroying angel will spare you if this blood be found upon the
doorposts of your hearts, otherwise you are lost forever, Exod 12:7.
Lastly, I can tell you, O despairing souls, that God has
brought some out of the very gulf of despair, out of the very belly of hell;
and therefore you may hope that your sins, which are your present burden,
shall not be your future ruin. Does not Asaph resemble the despairing soul?
"My soul refused to be comforted. I remembered God, and was troubled; I
complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. I am so troubled that I cannot
speak." "Will the Lord cast off forever? and will he be favorable no more?
Is his mercy clean gone forever? and will his promise fail for evermore? Has
God forgotten to be gracious? has he in anger shut up his tender mercies?"
Psalm 77:2-9. Now, out of this gulf God delivers him: Psalm 77:10, "And I
said, This is my infirmity;" or "this makes me sick," as it is in the
original. Here Asaph checks himself for casting the cordials, the comforts
of the Spirit to the ground, and for his having such hard, sad, and black
thoughts of God.
And in Psalm 77:13, he speaks like one dropped out of
heaven: "Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our
God?" Formerly, the thoughts of God troubled him and overwhelmed him; but
now, at last, the thoughts of the greatness of God, and of his interest in
God, is matter of admiration and consolation to him. So Heman sighs it out
thus: "My soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near unto the grave."
"You have laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. Your wrath
lies hard upon me, and you have afflicted me with all your waves." "Lord,
why do you cast off my soul? why do you hide your face from me? I am
afflicted, and ready to die from my youth up; while I suffer your terrors, I
am distracted. Your fierce wrath goes over me; your terrors have cut me
off," Psalm 88:3,6-7,14-16. All conclude that he was very holy, and his soul
very happy, even while he was in this gulf of misery. And yet, for all this,
Heman's state was good; his soul was safe and happy: he calls God in the
same psalm "the God of his salvation," Psalm 88:1. So Jonah, when he was in
the belly of hell, concludes, "that he was cast out of the sight of God,"
Jon 2:4. The sense of his sin, and of God's anger and wrath, was so eminent
and transcendent upon him, that it even distracts him, and makes him speak
like a despairing soul: "I am cast out from the presence of the Lord; I am
expulsed out of God's sight," as Moses was expulsed out of Egypt. God has
cast me out as one in whom he can take no pleasure nor delight, as a husband
loth a wife that has been false and unfaithful to him; and yet God's heart
and love is so set upon Jonah that he will save him by a miracle rather than
he shall not be saved. Jonah was much in the heart of God, and God made his
faith at last victorious.
To these I shall add some other famous instances. In king
James' time there was one Mistress Honiwood of Kent, an ancient and pious
gentlewoman, who lived many years in much horror and terror of conscience,
for lack of assurance of the favor of God, and of her eternal well-being.
She would very often cry out, "She was damned, she was damned." Several men
of eminent piety and parts, left no means unattempted, whereby her doubts
might be answered, her conscience pacified, and her soul satisfied and
cheered; yet she being strongly under the power of despair, persisted in
crying out, "Oh! she was damned, she was damned." When these gentlemen were
about to depart, she called for a cup of wine for them, which being brought,
she drank, and as soon as she had done, in an extreme passion she threw the
Venice glass against the ground, saying, "As sure as this glass will break,
so surely am I damned." The glass rebounded from the ground without any
harm, which one of the ministers suddenly caught in his hand, and said,
"Behold, a miracle from heaven to confute your unbelief, Oh! tempt God no
more, tempt God no more." Both the gentlewoman and all the company were
mightily amazed at this strange incident, and all glorified God for what was
done; and the gentlewoman, by the grace and mercy of God, was delivered out
of her hell of despair, and was filled with much comfort and joy, and lived
and died full of peace and assurance.
Take another instance. There lived lately at Tilbury, in
Essex, a gentleman who was a long time under such an eminent degree of
despair, that he rejected all comfort that was offered to him by any hand,
and would not allow any to pray with him; nay, he sent to the ministers and
Christians who lived near him, and desired them, that as they would not
increase his torments in hell, they would cease praying for him. He would
not allow any religious service to be performed in his family, though
formerly himself was much in the use of them; yet God gave him at last such
inward refreshings, and by degrees filled him with such abundance of
heavenly comforts, as he told all who came to him that it was impossible for
any tongue to utter, or heart to imagine, who did not feel them. At last God
gave him "the new name, and the white stone, which none knows but he who has
it," Rev 2:17. He lived about three quarters of a year, enjoying heaven upon
earth, and then breathed out his last in the bosom of Christ.
Poor I, that am but of yesterday, have known some who
have been so deeply plunged in the gulf of despair, that they would throw
all the spiritual cordials which have been offered to them, to the ground.
They were strong in reasoning against their own souls, and resolved against
everything that might be a comfort and support unto them.
They have been much set against all ordinances and pious
services; they have cast off holy duties themselves, and peremptorily
refused to join with others in them; yes, they have, out of a sense of sin
and wrath, which has lain hard upon them, refused the necessary comforts of
this life, even to the overthrow of natural life. And yet out of this
horrible pit, this hell upon earth, has God delivered their souls, and given
them such manifestations of his grace and favor, that they would not
exchange them for a thousand worlds.
O despairing souls, despairing souls, you see that
others, whose conditions have been as bad, if not worse than yours, have
obtained mercy. God has turned their hell into a heaven; he has remembered
them in their low estate; he has pacified their raging consciences, and
quieted their distracted souls; he has wiped all tears from their eyes; and
he has been a well-spring of life unto their hearts. Therefore be not
discouraged, O despairing souls—but look up to the mercy-seat; remember who
is your rest, and kick no more, by despair, against the affections of divine
love.
II. The second impediment to assurance is,
men's entering into the lists of dispute with Satan
about those things that are above their reach, as about the
decrees and counsel of God. Oh by this Satan keeps many precious souls off
from assurance. Since God has cast him out of paradise, and bound him in
chains of darkness, he will make use of all his skill, power and experience,
to draw men into the same misery with himself; and if he cannot prevent
their entering at last into paradise above, he will labor might and main to
make their life a wilderness here below; and to this purpose he will busy
their thoughts and hearts about the decrees of God, and about their
particular elections; as, whether God has decreed them to eternal happiness,
or chosen them to everlasting blessedness, etc., that so by this means he
may keep them from that desirable assurance that may yield believers two
heavens, a heaven of joy and comfort here, and a heaven of felicity and
glory hereafter.
It is said of Marcellus, the Roman general, that he could
not be quiet, neither conquered, nor conqueror. Such a one is Satan: if he
be conquered by faith, yet he will be tempting; if he conquers, yet he will
be roaring and triumphing. Satan's great design is eternally to ruin souls;
and where he cannot do that, there he will endeavor to discomfit souls by
busying them about the secret decrees and counsels of God. If the soul
breaks through his temptations, as David's worthies did break through the
armies of the Philistines, 1 Sam 23:16, and snap his snares in sunder, as
Samson did his cords, Judg 15:13-14, then his next shift is to engage them
in such debates and disputes that neither men nor angels can certainly and
infallibly determine, that so he may spoil their comforts, when he cannot
take away their crown.
Now your wisdom and your work, O doubting soul, lies not
in disputing—but in believing, praying, and waiting on God. No way to
heaven, no way to assurance, like this. Adam disputes with Satan, and falls,
and loses paradise; Job believes, and resists Satan, and stands, and
conquers upon the ash-heap. When Satan, O trembling soul, would engage you
in disputes about this or that, say to him, "Satan, revealed things belong
to me," but "secret things belong to the Lord," Deut 29:29. It is dangerous
to be curious in prying into hidden matters, and careless and negligent in
observing known laws; say to him, Satan, you have been "a liar and a
murderer from the beginning," John 8:44; you are a professed enemy to the
saints' confidence and assurance, to their consolation and salvation. If you
have anything to say, say it to my Christ; he is my comfort and crown, my
joy and strength, my redeemer and intercessor, and he shall plead for me.
Ah, Christians! if you would but leave disputing, and be much in believing
and obeying, assurance would attend you; and you should "lie down in peace,
and take your rest, and none should make you afraid," Job 11:13-20.
III. The third impediment that keeps poor souls from
assurance, is, The lack of a thorough search and
examination of their own souls, and of what God has done and is a-doing in
them. Some there are, who can read better in other men's books
than in their own, and some there are, who are more critical and curious in
observing and studying other men's tempers, hearts, words, works, and
ways—than their own. This is a sad evil, and causes many souls to sit down
in darkness, even days without number. He who will not seriously and
frequently observe the internal motions and actings of God, in and upon his
noble part, his immortal soul, may talk of assurance, and complain of the
lack of assurance—but it will be long before he shall obtain assurance. O
you staggering, wavering souls, you tossed and disquieted souls, know for a
certain, that you will never come to experience the sweetness of assurance,
until your eyes are turned inward, until you live more at home than abroad,
until you dig and search for the mines that are in your own hearts, until
you come to discern between a work of nature and a work of grace, until you
come to put a difference between the precious and the vile, between God's
work and Satan's work. When this is done, you will find the clouds to
scatter, and the Sun of righteousness to shine upon you, and the daystar of
assurance to rise in you.
Doubting, trembling souls, do not deceive yourselves; it
is not a careless, slight, slender searching into your own hearts, which
will enable you to see the deep, the secret, the curious, the mysterious
work of God upon you. If you do not "seek as for silver," and search for
Christ and grace "as for hidden treasures," you will not find them, Prov
2:3-5. Your richest metals lie lowest, your choicest gems are in the
affections of the earth, and those who will have them, must search
diligently, and dig deep, or else they must go without them. Doubting souls,
you must search, and dig again and again, and you must work and sweat, and
sweat and work, if ever you will find those spiritual treasures, those
pearls of great price, which are hidden under the ashes of corruption, which
lie low in the very recesses of your souls.
Tell me, O doubting souls, has that sweet word of the
apostle been ever made to stick in power upon you: 2 Cor 13:5, "Examine
yourselves, whether you be in the faith;" or, whether faith be in you,
"prove yourselves," etc. The precept is here doubled, to show the necessity,
excellency, and difficulty of the work; to show that it is not a
superficial—but a thorough, serious, substantial examination that must
enable a man to know whether he has precious faith or not; whether he is
Christ's spouse or the devil's strumpet. All is not gold which glitters; all
is not faith that men call faith; therefore, he who would not prove a cheat
to his own soul, must take some pains to search and examine how all is
within. We are to prove and try, as goldsmiths try their metal by the fire
and the touchstone. God brings not a pair of scales to weigh our grace—but a
touchstone to try our graces. If our gold be true, though it be never so
little, it will pass current with him. He will not quench the smoking flax,"
etc. [Matt 12:20.]
Ah! how few are there in these days who keep a diary of
God's mercies and their own infirmities, of spiritual experiences and the
inward operations of heavenly graces! Seneca reports of a heathen man who
every night asked himself these three questions: first, What evil have you
healed this day? secondly, What vice have you stood against this day?
thirdly, In what part are you bettered this day? And shall not Christians
take pains with their own hearts, and search day and night to find out what
God has done, and is a-doing there? God has his doing hand, his working hand
in every man's heart; either he is a-working there in ways of mercy or of
wrath; either he is building up or a-plucking down; either he is a-making
all glorious within, or else he is a-turning all into a hell.
Well! doubting souls, remember this, that the soundest
joy, the strongest consolation, flow from a thorough examination of things
within. This is the way to know how it is with you for the present, and how
it is likely to go with you for the future. This is the way to put an end to
all the wranglings of your hearts, and to put you into a possession of
heaven on this side heaven.
IV. The fourth impediment that keeps many precious souls
from assurance is, Their mistakes about the work of
grace. Look! as many hypocrites do take a good nature for grace,
and those common gifts and graces which may be in a Saul, a Jehu, a Judas,
for a special distinguishing grace, etc., so the dear saints of God are very
apt to take grace for a good nature, to take pearls of great price
for stones of no value, to take special grace for common grace. Many
trembling souls are apt to call their faith unbelief, with the man in the
Gospel, Mark 9:24, and their confidence presumption, and their zeal passion,
etc.; and by this means many are kept off from assurance. Now, the way to
remove this impediment is, wisely and seriously to distinguish between
renewing grace and restraining grace, between common grace and special
grace, between temporary grace and sanctifying grace. Now, the difference
between the one and the other I have showed in ten particulars in my
treatise called "Precious Remedies against Satan's Devices,"; and to that I
refer you for full and complete satisfaction.
If you will cast your eye upon the particulars, I doubt
not but you will find that profit and content which will recompense you for
your pains. And this I thought more convenient to hint to you, than to write
over the same things that there you will find to your delight and
settlement.
V. The fifth impediment to assurance is,
Their grieving and vexing the Spirit of grace
by not hearkening to his voice, by refusing his counsel, by stopping
the ear, by throwing water upon that fire he kindles in their souls, and by
attributing that to the Spirit, what is to be attributed to men's own
passions and distempers, and to the prince of darkness and his demons.
Nothing can come from the Holy Spirit but that which is holy. By these and
such like ways, they sadden that precious Spirit who alone can gladden them,
they set him a-mourning who alone can set them a-rejoicing, they set him
a-grieving who alone can set them a-singing; and therefore it is that they
sigh it out with Jeremiah, Lam 1:16, "Behold, he who should comfort our
souls, stands afar off." Smoke drives away bees, and a foul smell drives
away doves. Sin is such a smoke, such an ill-savor, as drives away this
dove-like Spirit.
Ah, doubting souls! if ever you would have assurance, you
must observe the motions of the Spirit, and give up yourselves to his
guidance; you must live by his laws, and tread in his steps; you must live
in the Spirit, and walk in the Spirit; you must let him be chief in your
souls. This is the way to have him to be a sealing Spirit, a witnessing
Spirit to your hearts. Believe it, souls, if this be not done, you will be
far off from quietness and settlement. The word that in 1 John 3:19 is
rendered "assure," signifies to persuade: to note to us that our hearts are
forward and peevish, and apt to wrangle and raise objections against God,
against Christ, against the Scripture, against our own and others'
experiences, and against the sweet hints and joyings of the Spirit; and this
they will do, especially when we omit what the Spirit persuades us to. The
soul will not quite stop wrangling, until it is quieted in the bosom of
Christ. Omissions raise fears and doubts, and makes work for hell, or for
the Spirit and physician of souls. Or else, when we do that which the Spirit
dissuades us from. If you are kind and obedient to the Spirit, it will not
long be night with your souls; but if you rebel and vex him, he will make
your life a hell, by withholding his ordinary influences, by denying to seal
you to the day of redemption, and by giving you up to conflict with horrors
and terrors, etc., Isa 63:10. Therefore, be at the Spirit's beck and check,
and assurance and joy will before long attend you.
VI. The sixth impediment to assurance is,
Doubting souls making their sense, reason, and
feeling the judges of their spiritual conditions. Now so long as
they take this course, they will never reach to assurance. Reason's arm
is too short to reach this jewel, assurance. This pearl of price is put
in no hand but that hand of faith which reaches from earth to heaven. What
tongue can express or heart conceive the fears, the doubts, the clouds, the
darkness, the perplexities which will arise from the soul's reasoning
thus—"I find that the countenance of God is not towards me as before, Gen
31:5; therefore, surely my condition is bad; I feel not those quickenings,
those cheerings, those meltings as before; I am not sensible of those secret
stirrings and actings of the Spirit and grace in my soul as before; I do not
hear such good news from heaven as before; therefore certainly God is not my
God, I am not beloved, I am not in the state of grace, I have but deceived
myself and others; and therefore the issue will be that I shall die in my
sins."
To make sense and feeling the judges of our spiritual
conditions, what is it but to make ourselves happy and miserable, righteous
and unrighteous, saved and damned in one day, ay, in one hour, when sense
and reason sit as judges upon the bench? Has God made sense and feeling the
judges of your conditions? No! Why, then, will you? Is your reason
Scripture? Is your sense Scripture? Is your feeling Scripture? No! Why,
then, will you make them judges of your spiritual estate? Is not the word
the judge, by which all men and their actions shall be judged at last? "The
word that I have spoken," says Christ, "shall judge you in the last day,"
John 12:48. "To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to
this word, it is because there is no light, or no morning in them," Isa
8:20.
Why, then, O doubting souls, will you make your sense and
feeling the judge, not only of your condition—but of the truth itself? What
is this but to dethrone God, and to make a God of your sense and feeling?
What is this—but to limit and bind up the Holy One of Israel? What is this
but to toss the soul to and fro, and to expose it to a labyrinth of fears
and scruples? What is this but to cast a reproach upon Christ, to gratify
Satan, and to keep yourselves upon the rack? Well! doubting souls, the
counsel that I shall give you is this, be much in believing, and make only
the Scripture the judge of your condition; maintain the judgment of the word
against the judgment of sense and feeling; and if upon a serious, sincere,
and impartial comparing of your heart and the word together, of your ways
and the word together, the word speaks you out to be sincere, to be a
Nathanael, to be a new creature, to be born again, to have an immortal seed
in you, etc., cleave to the testimony of the word, rejoice in it, rest upon
it, and give no more way to fears and doubts. Let your countenance be no
more sad; for nothing can speak or make that soul miserable, that the word
speaks out to be happy, Psalm 119:24. God has bowed down the Scriptures to
the capacity even of babes and sucklings.
Constantine would have all differences and disputes in
the Nicene Council ended by the Bible. O doubting souls, look cheerfully to
this, that all differences and controversies that arise in your hearts be
ended by the word. There is danger in looking outside the Scripture,
or beyond the Scripture, or short of the Scripture, or upon
sense and feeling, so much as upon the Scripture; therefore let the word be
always the man of your counsel. No way to assurance and joy, to settlement
and establishment, like this. If you are resolved to make sense and feeling
the judge of your conditions, you must resolve to live in fears, and lie
down in tears.
VII. The seventh impediment to assurance is,
Men's remissness, carelessness, and laziness in
religious services, and in the exercise of their graces. Ah, how
active and lively are men in pursuing after the world! but how lifeless and
unactive in the ways of grace and holiness! Ah, doubting Christians!
remember this, that the promise of assurance and comfort is made over, not
to lazy but laborious Christians; not to idle but to active Christians; not
to negligent but to diligent Christians: John 14:21-23, "He who has my
commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me; and he who loves me
shall be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself
to him." Now "Judas said unto him (not Iscariot), Lord! how is it that you
will manifest yourself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and
said unto him, If any man loves me, he will keep my words: and my Father
will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." So 2
Pet 1:10-11, "Therefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your
calling and election sure: for if you do these things, you shall never fall:
for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the
everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
A lazy Christian shall always lack four things, namely,
comfort, contentment, confidence, and assurance. God has made a separation
between joy and idleness, between assurance and laziness; and therefore it
is impossible for you to bring these together, which God has put so far
asunder. Assurance and joy are choice gifts which Christ gives only to
laborious Christians. The lazy Christian has his mouth full of complaints,
when the active Christian has his heart full of comforts. God would have the
hearts of his children to be hot in pious services. "Be fervent" (or
seething hot, as it is in the original) "in spirit, serving the Lord," Rom
12:11.
That service which has not heavenly heat, which has not
divine fire in it, is no service, it is lost service. A lazy spirit is
always a losing spirit. Oh! remember, lazy Christians, that God is a pure
action, therefore he loves activeness in pious services. Remember the
angels, those princes of glory, are full of life and activity, and they
always behold the Father's face in glory, Matt 18:10. Remember, he who will
find rich minerals must dig deep, he who will be rich must sweat for it, he
that will taste the kernel must crack the shell, he who will have the marrow
must break the bone, he who will wear the garland must run the race, he who
will ride in triumph must get the victory. Just so, he who will get
assurance must be active and lively in duty, Prov 2:4-6. It is only fervent
prayer which is effectual prayer, it is only the working prayer which works
wonders in heaven, and which brings down wonderful assurance into the heart.
Cold prayers shall never have any warm answers; God will
suit his returns to our requests; lifeless services shall have lifeless
answers; when men are dull, God will be dumb. Elijah prayed earnestly, or as
it is in the Greek, "He prayed in prayer," and God answered him. (Most men
have more heat in their brains, than in their hearts and services; and
therefore it is that they walk in darkness, that they lack assurance.) Many
there are who pray—but they do not pray in prayer, they are not lively and
earnest with God in prayer; and therefore justice shuts out their prayers.
When one desired to know what kind of man Basil was, there was, says the
history, presented to him in a dream, a pillar of fire with this motto,
'Basil is such a one, all on a-light fire for God.' Ah! lazy, doubting
Christians, were you all on fire—in hearing, in praying, etc.; it would not
be long before the windows of heaven would be open, before God would rain
down manna, before he would drop down assurance into your bosoms.
My advice to you, lazy Christians, is this, cease
complaining of the lack of assurance, and be no more formal, slight, and
superficial in pious services—but stir up yourselves, and put out all your
might and strength in holy actions, and you shall experimentally find that
it will not be long before you shall have such good news from heaven, as
will fill you with joy unspeakable, and full of glory.
VIII. The eighth impediment to assurance is,
Men's living in the neglect of some ordinance, or
in the omission of some pious duties. Omission of diet breeds
diseases, and makes the life uncomfortable, yes, sometimes a burden to a
man. So the omission of holy duties and services breeds many fears, doubts,
and questions in the soul, about its own sincerity, about its interest in
Christ, about its finding audience and acceptance with God; and so makes the
life of a Christian very uncomfortable, yes, a burden to him.
They seek Christ in some of his ways—but not in all; they
wait upon him in this and that ordinance—but not in every ordinance. Are
there not many doubting souls who wait upon God, in hearing the word of
life; and yet neglect, and make light of waiting upon Christ, in breaking
the bread of life? Are there not many who are very careful daily to perform
family duties, and yet are very rarely found in closet services? Some there
are, who are all ear, all for hearing; and others there are, who are
all tongue, all for speaking and praying; and others there are, who
are all eye, all for believing, all for searching, all for inquiring
into this and that; and others there are, who are all hand, all for
receiving the Lord's supper, etc. And seriously, when I consider these
things, I cease wondering that so many lack assurance, and do rather wonder
that any obtain assurance, considering how few there are, who are
conscientious and ingenuous in waiting upon God in every way and service
wherein he is pleased to manifest his grace and favor to poor souls.
Well! doubting souls, remember this, God will have you
may seek his face in all. God loves as well that you should wait on
him, as that you should wrestle with him. He who will not give God
the honor of attending him in every duty, in every ordinance, may long
enough complain of the lack of assurance, before God will give him the white
stone and the new name, which none knows but he who has it, Rev 2:17. Many
of the precious sons of Zion have found God giving assurance in one
ordinance, others have found him giving assurance in another ordinance. God
speaks peace to some in such and such services, and comfort to others in
such and such duties. Therefore, as you would have assurance, O doubting
souls, seek the Lord in every way and service, wherein he is pleased to make
known his glory and goodness. In hearing, Christ opens his box of ointments
to some, and in praying and breaking of bread, he lets his sweet myrrh fall
upon the hearts of others. Some have seen the glory of the Lord in the
sanctuary, who have been clouded in their closets; others have heard a sweet
still voice in their closets, who have sat long trembling in the sanctuary.
Remember, doubting souls, Moab and Ammon were banished to the sanctuary to
the tenth generation, for a mere omission, because they met not God's Israel
in the wilderness with bread and water, Deut 23:3-4. And I truly believe,
that God does banish, as I may say, many from his favorable presence, as
Absalom did David, for their sinful omissions, for their non-attendance upon
him in all his ways. Here the proverb is most false which says, 'a little
hurts not.' Ah! this or that little omission, as you call it, may expose men
to a great deal of wrath, Matt 25:41-46. They did not rob the saints—but
omitted the relieving of them, which was their ruin.
Therefore, if ever you would have assurance, seek the
Lord, not only while he may be found—but also in every gracious dispensation
where he may be found. "Then shall the joy of the Lord be your strength,"
and his "glory shall rest upon you." "The days of your mourning shall be
ended," and "you shall lie down in peace, and none shall make you afraid." [Neh
8:9; Isa 60:20; Lev 26:6]
I would earnestly desire you, O doubting souls, seriously
to consider, that all the ways of Christ are ways of pleasantness; as
Solomon speaks, Prov 3:17, not only this way or that way—but every way of
Christ is a way of pleasantness; every way is strewed with roses, every way
is paved with gold, every way is attended with comfort and refreshing. So
the psalmist, "Your paths drop fatness," Psalm 65:11-12; not only this or
that path—but all the paths of God drops fatness. Oh then, walk in every
way, tread in every path of God, as you would have your souls filled with
marrow and fatness, Psalm 63:5; and never forget that choice saying of the
prophet Isaiah, "You meet him who rejoices, and works righteousness, who
remembers you in your ways," Isa 64:5. God ran and meet the soul, as the
father of the prodigal ran and met him afar off with affections of love and
pity. Those who would have God to meet with them in a way of peace and
reconciliation, in a way of grace and favor, must remember God in all his
ways; not only in this or that particular way—but in every way wherein he is
pleased to cause his glory to shine. Therefore, doubting souls, cease
complaining, and be more conscientious and ingenuous in waiting upon God in
all his appointments, and it will not long be night with you.
IX The ninth impediment that keeps Christians from
assurance is an immoderate love of the world.
Many are miserable by loving hurtful things—but are more miserable by
having them. Their thoughts and hearts are so busied about getting
the world and keeping the world, that they neither seek assurance as they
should, nor prize assurance as they should, nor lament the lack of assurance
as they should, nor study the worth and excellency of assurance as they
should; and therefore it is no wonder, that such are without assurance. As
it is very hard for a rich man to enter into heaven, Matt 19:23-24, so it is
very hard for a worldly Christian to get assurance of heaven. The "thick
clay," Hab 2:6, of this world does so affect him, and capture him, so
satisfy him, and sink him—that he is not able to pursue after assurance,
with that life and love, with that fervency and frequency, as those must do,
who will obtain it. It is said, Gen 13:2, "That Abraham was very rich
in cattle, in silver, and in gold;" according to the Hebrew, Abraham was
very heavy in cattle, in silver, and in gold; to show, says one, that
riches are a heavy burden—and a hindrance many times to a Christian's
comfort and confidence, to his happiness and assurance.
Rich men's wealth proves a hindrance to their happiness.
Solomon got more hurt by his wealth, than he got good by his wisdom.
Such a fire rose out of his worldly enjoyments, as did even consume and burn
up his choicest graces and his noblest virtues; under all his royal robes,
he had but a threadbare soul. Sicily, says one, is so full of sweet
flowers, that dogs cannot hunt there, the scent of the sweet flowers diverts
their smell. And ah! what do all the sweet delights and pleasures of this
world do—but make men lose the scent of heaven—but divert men from hunting
after assurance, and from running after Christ, in the sweetness of his
ointments.
The creature is all shadow—and vanity of
vanities. Vanity is the very quintessence of the creature, and all that can
possibly be extracted out of it. It is like Jonah's gourd. A man may sit
under its shadow for a while—but it soon decays and dies. "Why should you
set your heart upon that which is not?" Prov 23:5. Were ever riches true to
those who trusted them? As the bird hops from twig to twig, so do riches hop
from man to man, etc. Worldly Christians, cease complaining of the lack of
assurance, and sincerely humble and abase your souls before the Lord; for
that you have so eagerly pursued after lying vanities; for that you have in
so great a measure forsaken the fountain of living waters; for with Martha
you have been busied about many things; when Christ and assurance, the two
things necessary, have been so much neglected and disregarded by you.
Get this world, this moon, under your feet; take no rest
until you have broken through this silken net, until you have got off
these golden fetters. A heart which is full of the world, is a heart
full of lacks. Ah! the joy, the peace, the comfort, the confidence, the
assurance—which such hearts lack. The stars which have least circuit, are
nearest the pole; and men whose hearts are least entangled with the world,
are always nearest to God, and to the assurance of his favor. Worldly
Christians, remember this—you and the world must part, or else assurance and
your souls will never meet. When a worldly Christian is saved, he is
saved as by fire; and before ever he shall be assured of his salvation,
he must cry out, "all human consolations are but desolations!" God will not
give the sweets of heaven, to those who are gorged and surfeited with
the delicacies of the earth. The hen upon the ash-heap prefers a
barley-corn above the choicest pearl; such ash-heap Christians prefer
a little barley-corn above this pearl of price, assurance.
Those who, with Esau, prefer a morsel of meat
before this blessing of blessings; who prefer Paris above Paradise;
who prefer God's coin above his countenance—may at last with Esau seek, and
seek with tears, this heavenly jewel, assurance; and yet, as he, be rejected
and repulsed, Heb 12:16-17. "The world is a carcass, and those who hunt
after it are dogs." This proverb makes a great many of our glistening
professors to be but dogs.
X. The tenth impediment that keeps Christians from
assurance, is, The secret cherishing and running
out of their hearts, to some bosom, darling sin. It is dark night
with the soul, when the soul will cast a desiring eye upon this or that
bosom sin, and secretly say, "Is it not a little one?" Gen 19:20,
though God and conscience have formerly checked and whipped the soul for so
doing. Ah! how many are there who dally and play with sin—even after they
have put up many prayers and complaints against sin—and after they have
lamented and bitterly mourned over their sins. Many there are who
complain of their deadness, barrenness, frowardness, conceitedness,
censoriousness, and other sins; and yet are ready at every turn to gratify,
if not to justify, those very sins that they complain against! No wonder
that such lack assurance!
After the Israelites ate manna in the wilderness, and
drank "water out of the rock," after God had been to them a "cloud by day,
and a pillar of fire by night," after he had led them by the hand, and kept
them as the apple of his eye, after he had made them spectators of his
wonders—they hankered after the fleshpots of Egypt! So when, after
God has given a man a new name and a white stone, after he has made a report
of his love to the soul, after he has taken a man up into paradise, after he
has set a man upon his knee, and carried him in his bosom, after he has
spoken peace and pardon to the soul, Psalm 85:8—for the soul to return to
folly, oh! this cannot but prove a woeful hindrance to assurance, this will
provoke God to change his countenance, and to behave not as a friend—but as
an enemy!
When God's love is abused, his justice
takes up the iron rod. God will strike hard and heavy, when men kick against
his love and mercy. God has made an everlasting separation between sin and
peace, between sin and joy, and between sin and assurance. God will be out
with that man—who is in with his sin. If sin and the soul are one, God and
the soul must needs be two. He who is resolved to dally with any sin—he must
resolve to live in many fears. Never forget this—he who savors any one sin,
though he foregoes many others, does but as Benadab, recover from one
disease, and die of another. Yes, he takes pains to plunge himself into two
hells—a hell here, and a hell hereafter. Therefore, as ever you would have
assurance, offer up your Isaac, part with your Benjamin, pull
out your right eye, cut off your right hand; otherwise assurance and joy
will not be your portion.
Now that I may remove this impediment, which is of such
dangerous consequence to Christians' souls, and keep Christians forever from
smiling upon any bosom sin, I shall first lay down a few considerations
to provoke them to dally and play no more with sin—but to put off that
sin which does so easily beset them, which sticks so close unto them, Heb
12:1; and then in the second place, I shall propound some means which
may contribute to the bringing of bosom sins under control, that so it may
be no longer night with the soul.
1. The first motive to provoke you to put out all your
strength and might against bosom sins—which you are so apt to play with, is
seriously to consider, that this will be a strong
and choice demonstration and evidence of the sincerity and uprightness of
your hearts: Psalm 18:23, "I was also upright with him, and I
kept myself from my iniquity." I kept a strict and diligent watch upon that
particular sin which I found myself most inclined unto. And this, says
David, is a clear evidence to me of the uprightness of my heart with God.
The truth is, there is no hypocrite in the world, but does dandle and
dally with some bosom sin or other; and though at times, and for carnal
reasons, they seem to be very zealous against this and that
sin; yet at the very same time their hearts stand strongly and
affectionately engaged to some bosom sin, as might be showed in Saul, Judas,
and Herod. "Though evil is sweet in his mouth and he hides it under his
tongue, though he cannot bear to let it go and keeps it in his mouth, yet
his food will turn sour in his stomach; it will become the venom of serpents
within him. He will spit out the riches he swallowed; God will make his
stomach vomit them up. He will suck the poison of serpents; the fangs of an
adder will kill him." Job 20:12-16.
Therefore, as ever you would have a sure argument of your
uprightness, trample upon your Delilahs! This very evidence of
your uprightness and sincerity may yield you more comfort and refreshing
in a day of trouble and darkness, than for the present you do apprehend, or
have faith to believe. Some there are, who can tell you, that neither the
joy of the bridegroom, nor the joy of the harvest, is to be compared to that
joy which arises in the soul from the sense and evidence of a man's own
uprightness, 2 Cor 1:12. Sincerity is the very queen of virtues; she
holds the throne, and will be sure to keep it. Yes, the very sight of it in
the soul makes a man sit cheerful and thankful, Noah-like, in the
midst of all tempests and storms. Look! as the playing with a bosom sin
speaks out hypocrisy, so the mortifying of a bosom sin speaks out sincerity
of soul!
2. The second motive to provoke doubting souls to trample
upon their bosom sins, is solemnly to consider, that
the conquest of their darling sins will render the conquests of other
sins easy.
When Goliath was slain, the rest of the
Philistines fled, 1 Sam 17:51-52. When a general in an army is cut
off, the common soldiers are easily routed and destroyed. Ah! complaining,
doubting souls—did you but take the courage and resolution to fall with all
your might and spiritual strength upon those particular sins which stick so
close unto you, and which so easily captivate you; you would find, that the
great mountains which are before you would soon be made a plain,
Zech 4:7. Other sins will not be long-lived, when justice is done upon your
bosom sins. Thrust but a dart through the heart of Absalom, and a
complete conquest will follow, 2 Sam 18:14.
3. The third motive to provoke you to crucify your bosom
sins, be they what they will, is, seriously to
consider the very great damage that your souls have already sustained
by your bosom sins.
Saul, by casting an amorous eye upon Agag, lost his
crown and kingdom. Samson, by dallying with his Delilah, lost his
strength, sight, light, liberty, and life. But what are these losses to your
loss of spiritual strength, to your loss of communion with God, to your loss
of the Spirit of light, life, liberty, and glory; to your loss of joy
unspeakable, and peace which passes all understanding; and to your loss of
those fresh and sparkling hopes of glory, which were once sparkling in your
bosom? Some there are, who had rather lose their souls than their
sins: these shall be chronicled in hell for fools and madmen!
Mark Antony was so far bewitched with his Cleopatra, that
in the heat of the battle of Actium, when the empire of the world, his life,
and all lay at stake, that he fled to pursue her, to the ruin and loss of
all. There are many, who are so bewitched to some Cleopatra, to
some darling sin or other—that they pursue the enjoyment of them to the loss
of God, Christ, heaven, and their souls forever!
Ah! Christians, that the sense of what you have formerly
lost, and of what you daily lose by your playing with sin, might provoke you
to set upon some effectual course for the mortifying of them!
It was a blasphemous speech of Henry the Second, who
said, when Mentz, his city, was taken, "That he would never love God any
more, who allowed a city so dear to him to be taken from him." But it will
be a blessed and happy thing for you, in uprightness to say, "Oh, we will
never more love, we will never more favor, we will never more dally with our
bosom sins; for they have damnified us in our spiritual enjoyments, and in
our spiritual returns from heaven. Shall the sense of outward losses by this
and that instrument, work us out of love with them? And shall not the sense
of our spiritual losses by bosom sins—work us much more out with them. Ah,
Lord! of what iron mettle is that heart, which can look upon those sad
losses which have attended playing with bosom sins—and yet still dally
with those Delilahs?
4. The fourth motive to provoke you to the mortifying of
your darling sins, is, solemnly to consider, that
the conquest and effectual mortifying of one bosom sin, will yield a
Christian more glorious joy, comfort, and peace—than ever he has found in
the gratifying and committing of all other sins. The pleasure and
sweetness which follows victory over sin, is a thousand times beyond that
seeming sweetness which is in the gratifying of sin. The joy which attends
the subduing of sin—is a noble joy, a pure joy, a special joy, an increasing
joy, and a lasting joy. But that joy which attends the committing of sin—is
an ignoble joy, a corrupt joy, a decreasing joy, a dying joy. The truth
is--if there were the least real joy in sin, there could be no
hell-torments, where men shall most totally sin, and be most totally
tormented with their sin.
The heathens, as many Christian professors now, had not
the right art of mortifying sin. All their attempts are to hide a
lust, not to quench it; therefore their joy was like the crackling of
thorns under a pot.
Ah! doubting Christians, as ever you would have good
days, as ever you would walk in the light, as ever you would, like the
angels, have always harps in your hands, and hallelujahs in your mouths—be
restless, until in the spirit and power of Jesus, you have brought under
control, that sin which sticks so close unto you. Remember this, nothing
below the conquest of bosom sins can make a jubilee in the heart. It is
not a man's whining and complaining over sin—but his mortifying of sin,
which will make his life a paradise of pleasure.
If, notwithstanding all that has been said, you are still
resolved to dally with sin, then you must resolve to live as a stranger to
God, and as a stranger to assurance and peace; you must expect sad trials
without, and sore troubles within; you must expect to find Satan playing his
part both as a lion and as a serpent, both as a devil and as an angel of
light. You must expect either no news from heaven, or but bad news from
heaven; and you must expect that conscience will play the part both of a
scolding wife and of a lion that wants his prey; and this shall be your just
wages for playing with sin. If you like the wages, then take your course,
and dally with sin still; if otherwise, then sacrifice your Isaac!
The leper under the law was still to keep his hair
shaved, Lev 14:5. So should we be still a-cutting and shaving, that though
the roots of sin remain, yet they may not grow and sprout.
5. The fifth motive to work you to trample upon your
bosom sins is, wisely to consider, that it is your
duty and glory to do that every day—which you would willingly do upon a
dying day. Ah! how would you live and love upon a dying day? How
would you admire God, rest upon God, delight in God, long for God, and walk
with God upon a dying day? How would you hate, loathe, and abhor your bosom
sins upon a dying day? How would you complain of your bosom sins, and pray
against your bosom sins, and mourn over your bosom sins, and watch against
your bosom sins, and fly from all occasions which would tend to draw you to
close with your bosom sins upon a dying day?
Ah! doubting souls, you would not for all the world
gratify your bosom sins upon a dying day; and will you gratify them on other
days, which, for anything you know to the contrary, may prove your dying
day? Thrice happy is that soul who labors with all his might to do that at
first, which he would gladly do at last; who does that on every day; which
he would give a thousand worlds to do on a dying day. No way to assurance
like this; no way to joy and comfort like this; no way to rest and peace
like this; no way to the kingdom, to the crown, like this!
I earnestly beseech you, trembling souls, when you find
your hearts running out to bosom sins, that you would lay your hands upon
them, and thus expostulate the case: "O my soul—would you thus dally and
play with sin upon a dying day? Would you thus stroke and hug sin upon a
dying day? would you not rather, show all the dislike and hatred that is
imaginable against it? Would you not tremble at sin more than at hell? and
abhor the very occasions of sin more than the most venomous serpent
in all the world? Would you not rather suffer the worst and greatest
punishments, than to smile upon a darling sin upon a dying day? Yes! oh
would you gladly do this upon a dying day? Why not then every day? Why not
then every day, O my soul?"
6. The sixth motive to provoke you to fall with all your
might upon bosom sins is, seriously to consider, that
until this is done, fears and doubts will still haunt the soul;
the soul will still be fearing that surely all is naught, and that that work
which is wrought upon it is not a real but a counterfeit work; that it is
not a spiritual and special work—but a common work, which a man may have and
perish. Until this is done, the soul can never be able to see grace in his
own native beauty and glory. One flaw in the diamond does not only take away
the beauty, glory and price of it—but it puts men into questioning whether
it is a real diamond.
The hugging of sin in a corner, will raise such a dust
in the soul, that it will not be able to see these pearls of glory
sparkling and shining. Until this is done, doubting souls, you will be but
spiritual babes and dwarfs. The hankering of the soul after sin, is
the casting of water upon the Spirit; it is the laming of grace, it is the
clipping the wings of faith and prayer. Just so, that the soul can neither
be confident, nor fervent, frequent nor constant in pious services. Just so,
it will unavoidably follow—that such souls will be like Pharaoh's lean cows,
poor and starveling. Gideon had seventy sons, and but one bastard son; and
yet that one bastard son destroyed all the rest! You may easily apply it. [Judg
8]
Look! as many men are kept low in their outward estates,
by having a back door to some Herodias; so many doubting souls are
kept low in spirituals, by their hankering after some particular sins.
Remember, Christians, sin is the soul's sickness,
the soul's weakness. If the body is weak and diseased, it grows not. Sin is
poison which turns all nourishment into corruption, and so hinders the
growth of the soul in grace and holiness. Ah! Christians, as ever you would
be rid of your fears and doubts, as ever you would see the beauty and glory
of grace, as ever you would be eminent and excellent in grace and
holiness—see that effectual justice be done upon that Achan, that
Jonah, that darling sin, which has occasioned storms within and
tempests without!
It was a grievous vexation to King Lysimachus, that his
staying to drink one draught of water lost him his kingdom. Ah! Christians,
it will grievously vex you, when you come to yourselves, and when you come
to taste of the admirable pleasure which attends the conquest of sin—to
consider that your hankering after this or that particular sin, has been the
loss of that joy and comfort, that peace and assurance, which is infinitely
more worth than all the kingdoms of the world! If there is but one crack
in the honey-jar, there the wasp will be buzzing; and where there is but
some one sin favored, there Satan will be tempting and upbraiding.
QUESTION. But you may say to me, Oh we would gladly have
our bosom-sins subdued, we desire above all, that they may be effectually
mortified. These sons of Zeruiah we would choose to have slain! But
what course must we take to bring under our
darling sins, to get off our golden fetters, to get out of these
silken snares? To this question I shall give these
answers:
1. The first means. If ever you would have mastery over
this or that bosom sin—then engage all your power and might against your
bosom sin, draw up your spiritual forces, and engage them wholly against
that sin which does so easily beset you. As the king of Syria said to his
captains, "Fight neither with small nor great, but only with the king
of Israel," 2 Chron 18:30. Just so, say I, your wisdom and your work, O
doubting souls, lies not in skirmishing with this or that lesser sin—but in
coming up to a close sharp fight with the king sin—with that darling
sin, which has a kingly interest in you, and a kingly power over you.
When there is no hope of curing, men must fall
a-cutting. Believe it, souls, you must fall a-cutting your bosom sins in
pieces by the sword of the Spirit, as Samuel cut Agag in pieces in Gilgal
before the Lord, or else you will never obtain a perfect cure, 1 Sam 15:33.
Slight skirmishes will not do it; you must pursue your bosom sins to the
death—or they will be the death of your souls!
2. The second means to bring under a bosom sin, is, to
labor to be most eminent and excellent in that particular grace, which is
most opposite to a man's bosom sin. (As when one bucket of a well goes
up—the other goes down. Just so, when grace gets up—sin goes down; when
grace flourishes—sin withers.) As it is a Christian's glory to be eminent in
every grace, so it is a Christian's special duty to excel in that particular
grace which is most contrary to his darling sins. Is it pride, is it the
world, is it hypocrisy, etc., which is your bosom sin, which is the chief
favorite in your soul? Oh then, labor above all to be clothed with humility,
to abound in heavenly-mindedness, to transcend in sincerity, etc., I know no
surer, no choicer, no sweeter way, effectually to crucify a bosom sin, than
this. He who comes up to this counsel, will not be long held in sin's
golden fetters; it will not be long before such a soul cries out,
Victory, victory!
3. The third means to help us to trample upon bosom sins,
is, to look upon bosom sins now, as they will appear to us at last;
to look upon them in the time of health—as they will appear to us in times
of sickness; to look upon them in the youth time of our life—as they will
appear to us in the day of our death. Ah! souls, of all unpardoned sins,
your bosom sins will be presented by God, conscience, and
Satan at last—as the most filthy and ugly, as the most terrible and
dreadful. Your bosom sins at last will appear to be those monsters, those
fiends of hell—which have most provoked God against you, which have shut up
Christ's affections of love and compassion from you, which have armed
conscience against you, which have barred the gates of glory against you,
which have prepared the hottest place in hell for you, and which have given
Satan the greatest advantage eternally to triumph over you! Many there are,
who have found these things by woeful experience. Woe, woe, to that soul
which shall put it to the trial.
Ah! souls, at last your bosom sins will more press and
oppress you, more sadden and sink you, more terrify and amaze you—than all
your other transgressions! Those sins which seem most sweet in life—will
prove most bitter in death, Job 20:11-29. Those pleasant morsels will
prove your greatest hell, when there is but a short step between your soul
and eternity. Ah! Christians, never look upon bosom sins—but with that eye
which within a few hours you must behold them; and this, you will find by
experience, will be a singular means to bring under control your bosom sins.
4. The fourth means to subdue bosom sins is, to apply
yourselves to extraordinary means, as fasting and prayer, etc. Ordinary
medicines will not remove extraordinary distempers; nor will ordinary duties
remove bosom sins, which, by long and familiar acquaintance with the soul,
are exceedingly strengthened and advantaged. You read of some devils in the
Gospel which could not be cast out but by prayer and fasting, Matt 17:14-22.
So bosom sins are those white devils which will not, which cannot be
cast out but by fervent and constant prayer, joined with fasting and
humiliation. Souls who are serious and conscientious in observing of this
rule will find such a divine power to attend their endeavors as will enable
them to triumph over those white devils within, as Christ triumphed over
principalities and powers upon the cross, Col 2:14-15.
5. The fifth means. As you would have victory over bosom
sins, keep away from all those occasions which tend to lead you to
the gratifying of them. He who shuns not the occasions of sin, tempts
two at once—Satan and his own heart! He tempts Satan to tempt him to
taste of forbidden fruit, and he tempts his own heart to feed upon
forbidden fruit. "Abstain from all appearance of evil," 1 Thess 5:22; "hate
the garment spotted by the flesh," Jude 23. Whatever carries with it a
shadow of suspicion—that abstain from, that you may neither wound God nor
the gospel, nor your own consciences. If there is any fuel to feed your
bosom sin in your house, remove it; or before your eye, remove
it; or in your hand, remove it, put it far away! Your soul cannot be
safe, it cannot be secure, so long as the occasions of sin are your
companions.
Would you have a clear evidence of the truth of your
grace—then shun the occasions of sin. Would you imitate the choicest
saints—then shun the occasions of sin. Would you stand in shaking times—then
keep far off from the occasions of sin. Would you keep always peace with
God, and peace with conscience—then keep far off from the occasions of sin.
Would you frustrate Satan's greatest designs, and countermine him in his
deepest plots—then keep far off from the occasions of sin. Would you keep
your bones from breaking, and your heart from bleeding—then keep far off
from the occasions of sin. Would you keep down fears and doubts, and keep up
faith and hope—then keep far off from the occasions of sin. Would you have
assurance in life, and joy and peace in death—then keep far off from the
occasions of sin. Do this, and you do all. If you do not do this, you do
nothing at all. [Gen 39:10; Job 31:1; Psalm 26:4-6]
And thus I am done with the impediments which hinder
souls from assurance; as also with the means to remove those impediments.