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Post by Admin on Oct 18, 2023 16:07:39 GMT -5
Direct. XV.
Be wary in choosing not only your Teachers, but your Company also.
Their characters
Direct. XV. 'Be exceeding wary, not only what teachers you commit the guidance of your souls unto, but also with what company you familiarly converse; that they be neither such as would corrupt your minds with error, or your hearts with viciousness, profaneness, lukewarmness, or with a feverish, factious zeal: but choose, if possible, judicious, holy, heavenly, humble, unblameable, self-denying persons, to be your ordinary companions, and familiars; but especially for your near relations.'
It is a matter of very great importance, what teachers you choose, in order to your salvation. In this the free grace of God much differenced some from others: for, as poor heathens and infidels have none that know more, than what the book of nature teaches (if so much); so in the several nations of Christians, it is hard for the people to have any, but such as the sword of the magistrate forces on them, or the stream of their country's custom recommended to them. And it is a wonder, if pure truth and holiness be countenanced by either of these. But, when and where his mercy pleased, God sendeth wise and holy teachers, with compassion and diligence to seek the saving of men's souls; so that none but the malignant and obstinate are deprived of their help.
Ambitious, proud, covetous, licentious, ungodly men, are not to be chosen for your teachers, if you have your choice. In a nation where
true religion is in credit, and hath the magistrate's countenance, or the major vote, some graceless men may join with better, in
preaching and defending the purity of doctrine, and holiness of life: and they may be very serviceable to the church herein; especially in
expounding and disputing for the truth. But even there, more experienced, spiritual teachers are much more desirable: they will speak most feelingly, who feel what they speak: and they are fittest to bring others to faith and love, who believe, and love God and holiness themselves. They that have life, will speak more lively than the dead. And in most places of the world, the ungodliness of such teachers makes them enemies to the truth, which is according to godliness: their natures are at enmity to the life and power of the doctrine, which they should preach: and they will do their worst to corrupt the magistrates, and make them of their mind: and, if they can but get the sword to Favour them, they are, usually, the cruelest persecutors of the sincere. As it is notorious among the Papists, that the baits of power, and honor, and wealth, have so vitiated the body of their clergy, that they conspire to uphold a worldly government and religion; and, in express contradiction to sense and reason, and to antiquity, and the judgment of the church, and to the Holy Scriptures, they captivate the ignorant and sensual, to their tyranny and false worship, and use the seduced magistrates and multitude, to the persecuting of those that will not follow them, to sin and to perdition. Take heed of proud and worldly guides.
And yet it is not every one that pretended piety and zeal, that is to be heard, or taken for a teacher. But 1. Such as preach, ordinarily, the
substantial truths which all Christians are agreed in.
2. Such as make it the drift of their preaching, to raise your souls to the love of God, and to a holy, heavenly life, and are zealous against confessed sins.
3. Such as contradict not the essential truths, by errors of their own: nor the doctrine of godliness, by wicked, malicious applications.
4. Such as drive not on any ambitious, tyrannical designs of their own, but deny themselves, and aim at your salvation.
5. Such as are not too not in proselyting you to any singular opinion of their own: it being the prediction of Paul to the Ephesians, "of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them."
6. Such as are judicious with holy zeal, and zealous with judgment.
7. Such as are of experience in the things of God, and not young beginners, or novices in religion.
8. Such as bear reverence to the judgments of the generality of wise and godly men, and are tender of the unity of the church; and not such as would draw you into a sect or party, to the contempt of other Christians; no, not to a party that hath the favour of rulers and the people, to promote them.
9. Such as are gentle, peaceable, and charitable; and not such as burn with hellish malice against their brethren, nor with an ungodly, or
cruel, consuming zeal. 10. Such as live not sensually and wickedly, contrary to the doctrines which they preach; but shew by their lives,
that they believe what they say, and feel the power of the truths which they preach.
And your familiar companions have great advantage to help or hinder your salvation, as well as your teachers. The matter is not so
great, whom you meet by the way, or travel with, or trade, and buy and sell with, as whom you make your intimate, or familiar friends.
For such have both the advantage of their interest in your affections, and also the advantage of their nearness and familiarity; and, if they
have but also the advantage of higher abilities than you, they may be powerful instruments of your good or hurt. If you have a familiar
friend, that will defend you from error, and help you against temptations, and lovingly reprove your sin, and feelingly speak of God, and the life to come, inditing his discourse from the inward power of faith, and holy experience; the benefit of such a friend may be more to you, than of the learnedness or greatest in the world. How sweetly will their speeches relish of the Spirit from which they come!
How deeply may they pierce a careless heart!
How powerfully may they kindle in you, a love and zeal to God and his commandments!
How seasonably may they discover a temptation, prevent your fall, reprove an error, and recover your souls! How faithfully will they watch over you!
How profitably will they provoke, and put you on; and pray with you fervently when you are cold; and mind you of the truth, and duty, and mercy, which you forget! It is a very great mercy to have a judicious, solid, and faithful companion in the way to heaven.
But if your ears are daily filled with froth and folly, with ribaldry, or idle stories, with oaths and curses, with furious words, or scorns and jeers against the godly, or with the sophistry of deceivers, is it likely this should leave a pleasant, or wholesome relish on your minds?
Is it likely that the effect should not be seen, in your lean or leprous hearts and lives, as well as the effects of an infected, or unwholesome
air or diet, will be seen upon your diseased bodies?
He is ungodly, that likes such company best: and he is proud and presumptuous, that will unnecessarily cast himself upon it, in confidence that he
shall receive no hurt: and he is careless of himself, that will not cautiously avoid it: and few that long converse with such, come off without some notable loss; except when we live with such, as Lot did in Sodom, grieving for their sin and misery; or, as Christ conversed with publicans and sinners, with a holy zeal and diligence to convert and save them; or, as those that have not liberty, who bear that which they have not power to avoid. Among the rest, your danger is not least from them that are eager to proselyte you to some party, or unsound opinion. That they think they are in the right, and that they do it in love, and that they think it necessary to your salvation, and that truth and godliness are the things which they profess,—all this makes the danger much greater to you, if it be not truth and godliness indeed, which they propose and plead for. And none are in more danger than the ungrounded and unexperienced, that yet are so wise in their own esteem, as to be confident that they know truth from error, when they hear it, and are not afraid of any deceit, nor much suspicious of their own
understandings. But of this before. The like danger there is of the familiar company of lukewarm ones, or the profane. At first, you may be troubled at their sinful or unsavoury discourse, and make some resistance against the infection; but, before you are aware, it may so cool and damp your graces, as will make your decay discernible to others! First, you will hear them with less offence; and then, you will grow indifferent what company you are in; and then, you will laugh at their sin and folly; and then, you will begin to speak as they; and then, you will grow
cold and seldomer in prayer, and other holy duties; and, if God prevent it not, at last, your judgments will grow blind, and you will
think all this allowable.
But of all bad company, the nearest is the worst. If you choose such into your families, or into your nearest, conjugal relations, you cast
water upon the fire; you imprison yourselves in such fetters, as will gall and grieve you, if they do not stop you; you choose a life of
constant, close, and great temptations: whereas, your grace, and comfort, and salvation, might be much promoted, by the society of such as are wise, and gracious, and suitable to your state. To have a constant companion to open your heart to, and join with in prayer, and edifying conference, and faithfully help you against your sins, and yet to be patient with you in your frailties, is a mercy, which
worldlings neither deserve nor value.
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Post by Admin on Oct 18, 2023 16:46:42 GMT -5
Direct. XVI.
What Books to prefer and read, and what to reject
Direct. XVI. 'Make careful choice of the books which you read. Letthe Holy Scriptures ever have the pre-eminence, and next them, the
solid, lively, heavenly treatises, which best expound and apply the Scriptures; and next those, the credible histories, especially of the
church, and tractates upon inferior sciences and arts: but take heed of the poison of the writings of false teachers, which would corrupt
your understandings: and of vain romances, play-books, and false stories, which may bewitch your fantasies, and corrupt your hearts.'
As there is a more excellent appearance of the Spirit of God in the Holy Scriptures, than in any other book whatever, so it hath more
power and fitness to convey the Spirit, and make us spiritual, by imprinting itself upon our hearts. As there is more of God in it, so it
will acquaint us more with God, and bring us nearer him, and make the reader more reverent, serious, and divine. Let Scripture be first
and most in your hearts and hands, and other books be used as subservient to it. The endeavours of the devil and Papists to keep it
from you, doth shew that it is most necessary and desirable to you.
And when they tell you, that all heretics plead the Scripture, they do but tell you, that it is the common rule or law of Christians, which,
therefore, all are fain to pretend: as all lawyers and wranglers plead the laws of the land, be their cause never so bad, and yet the laws
must not be therefore concealed or cast aside: and they do but tell you, that, in their concealment or dishonoring the Scriptures, they
are worse than any of those heretics. When they tell you, that the Scriptures are misunderstood, and abused, and perverted to
maintain men's errors, they might also desire that the sun might be obscured, because the purblind do mistake, and murderers and
robbers do wickedly by its light: and that the earth might be subverted, because it bears all evil doers: and highways stopped up,
because men travel in them to do evil: and food prohibited, because it nourishes men's diseases. And when they have told you truly of a
law or rule (whether made by pope or council), which bad men cannot misunderstand or break, or abuse and misapply, then hearken to them, and prefer that law, as that which prevented the need of any judgment.
The writings of Divines are nothing else but a preaching the Gospel to the eye, as the voice preaches it to the ear. Vocal preaching hath
the pre-eminence in moving the affections, and being diversified according to the state of the congregations which attend it: this way
the milk cometh warmest from the breast. But books have the advantage in many other respects: you may read an able preacher, when you have but a mean one to hear. Every congregation cannot hear the most judicious or powerful preachers; but every single person may read the books of the most powerful and judicious.
Preachers may be silenced or banished, when books may be at hand: books may be kept at a smaller charge than preachers: we may
choose books which treat of that very subject which we desire to hear of; but we cannot choose what subject the preacher shall treat of.
Books we may have at hand every day and hour; when we can have sermons but seldom, and at set times. If sermons be forgotten, they
are gone. But a book we may read over and over until we remember it; and, if we forget it, may again peruse it at our pleasure, or at our
leisure. So that good books are a very great mercy to the world. The Holy Ghost chose the way of writing, to preserve his doctrine and
laws to the church, as knowing how easy and sure a way it is of keeping it safe to all generations, in comparison of mere verbal tradition, which might have made as many controversies about the very terms, as there be memories or persons to be the preservers and reporters.
Books are (if well chosen) domestic, present, constant, judicious, pertinent, yea, and powerful sermons: and always of very great use to
your salvation: but especially when vocal preaching faileth, and preachers are ignorant, ungodly, or dull, or when they are persecuted, and forbid to preach.
You have need of a judicious teacher at hand, to direct you what books to use or to refuse. For among good books there are some very good that are sound and lively: and some are good, but mean, and weak, and somewhat dull: and some are very good in part, but have mixtures of error, or else of incautious, injudicious expressions, fitter to puzzle than edify the weak. I am loath to name any of these latter sorts (of which abundance have come forth of late): but to the young beginner in religion, I may be bold to recommend (next to a sound catechism)To a very judicious, able reader, who is fit to censure all he reads, there is no great danger in reading the books of any seducers: it doth but shew him how little and thin a cloak is used to cover a bad cause.
But, alas! young soldiers, not used to such wars, are startled at a very sophism, or at a terrible threatening of damnation to dissenters.
(which every censorious sect can use), or at every confident, triumphant boast, or at everything that hath a fair pretense of truth or godliness. Injudicious persons can answer almost no deceiver which they hear: and when they cannot answer them they think they must yield, as if the fault were not in them but in the cause, and as if Christ had no wiser followers, or better defenders of his truth than they. Meddle not, therefore, with poison, till you better know how to use it, and may do it with less danger, as long as you have no need.
As for playbooks, and romances, and idle tales, I have already shewed in my "Book of Self-Denial," how pernicious they are, especially to youth, and to frothy, empty, idle wits, that know not what a man is, nor what he hath to do in the world. They are powerful baits of the devil, to keep more necessary things out of their minds, and better books out of their hands, and to poison the mind so much the more dangerously, as they are read with more delight and pleasure: and to fill the minds of sensual people with such idle fumes, and intoxicating fancies, as may divert them from the serious thoughts of their salvation: and (which is no small loss) to rob them of abundance of that precious time, which was given them for more important business; and which they will wish and wish again at last that they had spent more wisely. I know the fantastic will say, that
these things are innocent, and may teach men much good (like him that must go to a whore-house to learn to hate uncleanness; and him
that would go out with robbers to learn to hate thievery): but I shall now only ask them as in the presence of God,
1. Whether they should spend that time no better?
2. Whether better books and practices would not edify them more.
3. Whether the greatest lovers of romances and plays be the greatest lovers of the book of God, and of a holy life?
4. Whether they feel in themselves that the love of these vanities, doth increase their love to the Word of God, and kill their
sin, and prepare them for the life to come? or clean contrary? And Iwould desire men not to prate against their own experience and
reason, nor to dispute themselves into damnable impenitency, nor to befool their souls by a few silly words, which any but a sensualist
may perceive to be mere deceit and falsehood. If this will not serve,they shall be shortly convinced and answered in another manner.
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Post by Admin on Oct 19, 2023 9:39:43 GMT -5
'Diligently labour in that part of the life of faith which consisteth
in the constant use of Christ as the means of the soul's access to
God, acceptance with him, and comfort from him: and think not
of coming to the Father, but by him.'
To talk and boast of Christ is easy, and to use him for the increase of
our carnal security, and boldness in sinning: but to live in the daily
use of Christ to those ends of his office, to which he is by us to be
made use of, is a matter of greater skill and diligence than many selfesteeming professors are aware of. What Christ himself hath done, or
will do, for our salvation, is not directly the thing that we are now
considering of; but what use he requireth us to make of him in the
life of faith. He hath told us, that his flesh is meat indeed, and his
blood is drink indeed; and that except we eat his flesh and drink his
blood, we have no life in us. Here is our use of Christ, expressed by
eating and drinking his flesh and blood, which is by faith. The
general parts of the work of redemption, Christ hath himself
performed for us, without asking our consent, or imposing upon us
any condition on our parts, without which he would not do that
work: as the sun doth illustrate and warm the earth whether it will or
not, and as the rain falleth on the grass without asking whether it
consent or will be thankful; so Christ, without our consent or
knowledge, did take our nature, and fulfil the law, and satisfy the
offended Law-giver, and merit grace, and conquer satan, death, and
hell, and became the glorified Lord of all: but for the exercise of his
graces in us, and our advancement to communion with God, and our
living in the strength and joys of faith, he is himself the object of our
duty, even of that faith which we must daily and diligently exercise
upon him: and thus Christ will profit us no further than we make use
of him by faith. It is not a forgotten Christ that objectively comforteth
or encourageth the soul; but a Christ believed in, and skilfully and
faithfully used to that end. It is objectively (principally) that Christ is
called our wisdom, 1 Cor. 1:30. The knowledge of him, and the
mysteries of grace in him, is the Christian or Divine philosophy or
wisdom, in opposition to the vain philosophy which the learned
heathen boasted of. And therefore Paul determined to know nothing
but Christ crucified, that is, to make ostentation of no other
knowledge, and to glory in nothing but the cross of Christ, and so to
preach Christ as if he knew nothing else but Christ. And it is
objectively that Christ is said to dwell in our hearts by faithg. Faith
keepeth him still upon the heart by continual cogitation, application,
and improvement: as a friend is said to dwell in our hearts whom we
continually love and think of.
Christ himself teacheth us to distinguish between faith in God (as
God), and faith in himself (as Mediator): "Let not your heart be
troubled: ye believe in God:" (or, believe ye in God?) "believe also in
me." These set together are the sufficient cure of a troubled heart. It
is not 'Faith in God, as God,' but 'Faith in Christ as Mediator,' that I
am now to speak of: and that not as it is inherent in the
understanding, but as it is operative on the heart and in the life: and
this is not the smallest part of the life of faith, by which the just are
said to live. Every true Christian must in his measure be able to say
with Paul, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I,
but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh, I
live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself
for me." The pure Godhead is the beginning and the end of all. But
Christ is "the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every
creature; and by him all things were created that are in heaven and
that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or
dominions, or principalities or powers, all things were created by
him and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things do
consist. And he is the head of the body, the church; who is the
beginning, the first-born from the dead; that in all things he might
have the pre-eminencek." "In him it is that we who were sometime
afar off are made nigh, even by his blood. For he is our peace, who
hath reconciled both Jew and Gentile unto God in one body by the
cross, having slain the enmity thereby: and came and preached peace
to them that were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through
him we both have an access by one Spirit unto the Father: so that
now we are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens
with the saints, and of the household of God," "In him" it is "that we
have boldness and access with confidence through faith in himm; he
is the way, the truth, and the life: and no man cometh to the Father,
but by him." It is "by the blood of Jesus that we have boldness" (and
liberty) "to enter into the holiest: by a new and living way which he
hath consecrated for us through the vail, that is to say, his flesh."
Because "we have so great a Priest over the house of God, we may
draw near, with a true heart, in full assurance of faitho." "By him it is
that we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and
boast in hope of the glory of God." So that we must have "all our
communion with God through himq."
Supposing what I have said of this subject in my "Directions for a
sound Conversion," Direct. 5., (which I hope the reader will peruse,)
I shall here briefly name the uses which we must make of Christ by
faith, in order to our holy converse with God. But I must tell you, that
it is a doctrine which requireth a prepared heart, that hath life within
to enable it to relish holy truth, and to dispose it to diligence, delight,
and constancy in practice. A senseless reader will feel but little
savour in it, and a sluggish reader, that suffereth it to die as soon as it
hath touched his ears or fantasy, will fall short of the practice and the
pleasure of this life. He must have faith that will live by faith: and he
must have the heart and nature of a child, that will take pleasure in
loving, reverent, and obedient converse with a father.
1. The darkness of ignorance and unbelief is the great impediment of
the soul that desireth to draw near to God. When it knoweth not God,
or knoweth not man's capacity of enjoying him, and how much he
regardeth the heart of man; or knoweth not by what way he must be
sought and found: or when he doubteth of the certainty of the word
which declareth the duty of the hopes of man; all this, or any of this,
will suppress the ascending desires of the soul, and clip its wings,
and break the heart of its holy aspirings after God, by killing or
weakening the hopes of its success.
Here, then, make use of Jesus Christ, the great revealer of God and
his will to the blind world, and the great confirmer of the Divine
authority of his word. Life and immortality are brought more fully to
light by the Gospel, than ever they were by any other means. Moses
and the prophets did bring with their doctrine sufficient evidence of
its credibility. But Christ hath brought both a fuller revelation, and a
fuller evidence to help belief. An inspired prophet which proveth his
inspiration to us, is a credible messenger; but when God himself
shall come down into flesh, and converse with man, and teach him
the knowledge of God, and the way to life, and tell him the mysteries
of the world to come, and seal his testimony with unquestionable
proofs, who will not learn of such a teacher? and who will deny belief
to such a messenger, except absurd, unreasonable men? Remember
then, when ignorance or unbelief would hinder your access to God,
that you have the ablest teacher and the surest witness to acquaint
you with God in all the world. If God had sent an angel from heaven,
to tell you what he is, and what he requireth of you, and what he will
do for you, would it not be very acceptable to you? But he hath done
much more; he hath sent his Son: the Deity itself hath appeared in
flesh: he that hath seen God, and he that is God, hath come among
men to acquaint them with God: his testimony is more sure and
credible than any angel's: "God who at sundry times, and in divers
manners, spake in times past to the fathers by the prophets, hath in
these last days spoken to us by his Sont. No man hath seen God at
any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father,
he hath declared him." We have "neither heard the voice of God, nor
seen his shapex. No man hath seen the Father, save he which is of
God; he hath seen the Father. No man knoweth the Father save the
Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him." What more can
we desire, that is short of the sight of the glory of God, than to have
him revealed to us by a messenger from heaven, and such a
messenger as himself hath seen him, and is God himself? Plato and
Plotinus may describe God to us according to their dark conjectures:
something we may discern of him by observing his works: but Christ
hath declared what he saw, and what he knew beyond all possibility
of mistake. And lest his own testimony should seem questionable to
us, he hath confirmed it by a life of miracles, and by rising from the
dead himself, and ascending visibly to heaven, and by the Holy
Ghost, and his miraculous gifts which he gave to the messengers of
his Gospel. Had it been no more than his resurrection from the dead,
it had been enough to prove the utter unreasonableness of unbelief.
2. It is also a great impediment to the soul in its approach to God,
that infinite distance disableth us to conceive of him aright. We say
as Elihu, "Behold, God is great, and we know him not." And indeed it
is impossible that mortal man should have any adequate
apprehensions of his essence. But in his Son he hath come down to
us, and shewed himself in the clearest glass that ever did reveal him.
Think of him, therefore, as he appeared in our flesh: as he shewed
himself in his holiness and goodness to the world. You may have
positive thoughts of Jesus Christ: though you may not think that the
Godhead was flesh, yet you may think of it as it appeared in flesh. It
may quiet the understanding to conceive of God as incarnate, and to
know that we cannot yet "know him as he is," or have any adequate
conceptions of him: these may delight us till we reach to more.
3. It hindereth the soul's approach to God, when the infinite distance
makes us think that God will not regard or take notice of such
contemptible worms as we; we are ready to think that he is too high
for our converse or delight. In this case the soul hath no such
remedy, as to look to Christ; and we see how the Father hath
regarded us, and set his heart upon us, and sent his Son to seek and
save us. O wonderful, astonishing condescension of eternal love!
Believe that God assumed flesh to make himself familiar with man;
and you can never question whether he regard us, or will hold
communion with us.
4. It hindereth our comfortable access to God, when we are deterred
by the glory of his infiniteness and majesty. As the eye is not able to
gaze upon the sun unless it be overshadowed; so the soul is afraid of
the majesty of God, and overwhelmed by it when it should be
delighted in it. Against this there is no such remedy, as to behold God
appearing to us in his Son, where his majesty is veiled, and where he
approacheth us familiarly in our nature, to invite us to him with holy
confidence and reverent boldness. Christ did not appear in a terrible
form: women durst discourse with him: beggars, and cripples, and
diseased people durst ask his help: sinners durst eat with him. The
proud contemned him, but the lowly were not frighted from him. He
took upon him the "form of a servant," and made himself of no
reputation, that he might converse familiarly with the meanest and
those of no reputation. Though we may not debase the Godhead, to
imagine that it is humbled in glory, as it was on earth, in the flesh of
Christ; yet this condescension is unspeakable encouragement to the
soul to come with boldness unto God, that was frighted from him.
5. When the guilt of sin affrighteth us from God, and we are thinking
that God will not accept such great offenders as we have been, then
Christ is our remedy, who hath paid our debt, and borne our stripes,
and procured and sealed us a pardon by his blood. Shall pardoned
sins drive us from him that pardoned them? He hath justified us by
his righteousness. The curse and condemnation are terrible indeed;
but he hath taken them away, and given us a free discharge.
6. The infirmities also of our souls, in duty, are oftentimes a great
discouragement to us, in our approaches to the most holy, jealous
God. To find so little knowledge of God, so little love to him, such
cold desires, such wandering and distracted thoughts, such dull
requests: it is hard to have lively and thankful apprehensions of
God's acceptance of such defective, lame meditations or prayers; but
we are apt to think that he will abhor both them and us, and that he
can take no pleasure in them, yea, that it is as good not to pray at all.
Here faith hath full relief in Christ: two things it can say from him to
encourage the fearful soul: (1.) That our acceptance with the Father
is through the merits of his Son: and he is worthy, though we are
unworthy. If we have but the worthiness of faith, and repentance,
and sincere desire, Christ hath the worthiness of perfect holiness and
obedience for us. We go not to the Father in our own names, but in
his: and whatever we ask the Father in the name of Christ according
to his will, he will give it us. (2.) That all the infirmities of our souls
and services are forgiven us through Christ: he hath undertaken to
answer for them all, and to justify us from all such accusations. By
faith thou mayst, as it were, hear Christ thus speaking for thine
encouragement: 'Go boldly, poor sinner, into my Father's presence:
fear not the guilt of thy sins, nor the imperfection of thy prayers; as
long as thou truly repentest of them, and desirest to be delivered
from them, and trustest in me, I am thy worthiness; my
righteousness is perfect without spot; I have taken all thy faults and
failings upon me: I have undertaken to answer for all the
imperfections of thy holy things: sincerity is thy endowment;
perfection is mine: trust me in the performance of the trust which I
have undertaken.'
7. Sometimes, the soul that would draw near to God, is overwhelmed
with grief and terror, so that the sense of sin, and danger, and
misery, do even distract men, and cast them into an agony; so that
they say with David, "My soul refused to be comforted: I
remembered God and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was
overwhelmed. Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that
I cannot speak." Yea, they think they feel God thrust them from him,
and tell them that he hath utterly forsaken them. In this case, faith
must look to Christ, and remember that he was in an agony when he
prayed, and in a greater agony than ever you were, so that he sweat
even drops of blood: and yet in that agony he prayed more
earnestlye. He himself once cried out upon the cross, "My God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me:" and yet he was the beloved of the
Father, and is now at his right hand in glory: and all this he did that
we might not be forsaken. He hath removed the enmity: he hath
reconciled us to God: by grief he passed himself to joy, and he will
wipe away his servants' tears, and cause their griefs to end in joy.
8. Sometimes, the soul that would draw near to God, is molested
with a storm of hideous temptations, and even confounded with a
swarm of disordered, perplexed thoughts. Satan assaulteth it with
temptations to despair, temptations to horrid blasphemous thoughts;
temptations to entangle, intermit, corrupt, or pervert the duty which
they are about; so that the soul is discouraged, overwhelmed, and
broken with the inward assaults, and troubles, and distractions
which it undergoeth. In this case, faith hath a Saviour suitable to our
relief. It can look to him that was tempted in all points like as we are,
without sin, and is now such an High Priest as can be touched with
the feeling of our infirmities; and, therefore, we may come boldly to
the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help
in time of need. "In all things it behoved him to be made like unto his
brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest, in
things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the
people: for he himself having suffered, being tempted, he is able to
succour them that are tempted." He submitted not only to be
tempted by satan, but tempted in a Wilderness, where he had no
man to comfort him; and to be tempted to the most horrid
blasphemy and wickedness, even to fall down and worship the devil
himself: and he suffered the tempter violently to carry him to the
pinnacle of the temple, Matt. 4. What should we think of ourselves, if
we had been used thus? Should we not think that God had utterly
forsaken us? He suffered himself to be tempted also by men: by the
abuses and reproaches of his enemies; by the desertion of his
followers; by the carnal counsel of Peter, persuading him to put by
the death which he was to undergo. And he that made all
temptations serve to the triumph of his patience, and conquering
power, will give the victory also to his grace, in the weakest soul.
9. It would be the greatest attractive to us to draw near to God, and
make the thoughts of him pleasant to us, if we could but believe that
he dearly loveth us, that he is reconciled to us, and taketh us for his
children, and that he taketh pleasure in us, and that he resolveth for
ever to glorify us with his Son, and that the dearest friend that we
have in the world, doth not love us the thousandth part so much as
he. And all this in Christ, is clearly represented to the eye of faith. All
this is procured for believers, by him: and all this is given to believers
in him. In him God is reconciled to us. He is our Father, and dwelleth
among us, and in us, and walketh in us, and is our God. Light and
heat are not more abundant in the sun, than love is in Jesus Christ.
To look on Christ, and not perceive the love of God, is as to look on
the sun, and not to see and acknowledge its light. Therefore,
whenever you find your hearts averse to God, and to have no
pleasure in him, look then to Jesus, and observe in him the
unmeasurable love of God: that you may be able to comprehend with
all the saints, "what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and
height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,
that you may be filled with all the fulness of Godh." Love and
goodness are that to the will, which delicious sweetness is to the
sensitive appetite. Draw near then, and taste the feast of love which
God hath prepared and proposed by his Son. Dost thou not see or
feel the love of God? Come near, and look upon God incarnate; upon
a crucified Christ; upon the Covenant sealed in his blood; upon all
the benefits of his Redemption; upon all the privileges of the saints;
and upon the glory purchased, possessed, and promised by him. Put
thy hand into his wounded side, and be not faithless, but believing:
and then thou wilt cry out, "My Lord, and my God."
10. So also, when the soul would fain perceive in itself the flames of
love to God, it is the beholding of Christ by faith, which is the striking
of fire, and the effectual means of kindling love. And this is the true
approach to God, and the true communion and converse with him:
so far as we love him, so far do we draw near him, and so far have we
true communion with him. O what would the soul of a believer give,
that it could but burn in love to God, as oft as in prayer, or
meditation, or conference, his name and attributes are mentioned or
remembered! For this, there is no such powerful means, as
believingly to look on Christ, in whom such glorious love appeareth,
as will draw forth the love of all, that by a lively faith discern it.
Behold the love that God hath manifested by his Son, and thou canst
not but love him, who is the spring of this transcendent love. In the
law, God sheweth his frowning wrath: and therefore it breedeth the
"spirit of bondage unto fear:" but in Christ God appeareth to us, not
only as loving us, but as love itself; and therefore as most lovely to us,
giving us the spirit of adoption, or of filial love, by which we fly, and
cry to him as our Father.
11. The actual undisposedness and disability of the soul to prayer,
meditation, and all holy converse with the blessed God, is the great
impediment of our walking with him: and against this, our relief is all
in Christ. He is filled with the Spirit, to communicate to his
members: he can quicken us when we are dull: he can give us faith
when we are unbelieving: he can give us boldness when we are
discouraged: he can pour out upon us the Spirit of supplication,
which shall help our infirmities, when we know not what to pray for
as we ought. Beg of him then, the spirit of prayer: and look to his
example, who prayed with strong cries and tears, and continued all
the night in prayer, and spake a parable to this end, that we should
always pray, and not wax faint. Call to him, and he that is with the
Father will reach the hand of his Spirit to you, and will quicken your
desires, and lift you up.
12. Sometimes, the soul is hearkening to temptations of unbelief, and
doubting whether God observe our prayers, or whether there is so
much to be got by prayer as we are told. In such a case faith must
look to Christ, who hath not only commanded it, and encouraged us
by his example; but also made us such plentiful promises of
acceptance with God, and the grant of our desires. Recourse to these
promises will animate us to draw nigh to God.
13. Sometimes the present sense of our vileness, who are but dust
and despicable worms, doth discourage us, and weaken our
expectations from God. Against this, what a wonderful relief is it to
the soul, to think of our union with Christ, and of the dignity and
glory of our Head! Can God despise the members of his Son? Can he
trample upon them that are as his flesh and bone? Will he cut off, or
forsake, or cast away the weakest parts of his body?
14. Sometimes, the guilt of renewed infirmities or decays doth renew
distrust, and make us shrink; and we are like the child in the
mother's arms, that feareth when he loseth his hold, as if his safety
were more in his hold of her, than in her hold of him. Weak duties
have weak expectations of success. In this case, what an excellent
remedy hath faith, in looking to the perpetual intercession of Christ.
Is he praying for us in the heavens, and shall we not be bold to pray,
and expect an answer? O remember that he is not weak, when we are
weak; and that it concerneth us, that he prayeth for us: and that we
have now an unchangeable priest, who is able to save them to the
uttermost, or to perpetuity, "that come (sincerely) to God by him,
seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." If you heard
Christ pray for you, would it not encourage you to pray, and
persuade you that God would not reject you? Undoubtedly it would.
15. Sometimes, weak Christians, that have not the gifts of memory or
utterance, are apt to think that ministers indeed and able men, are
accepted of God, but that he little valueth such as them. It is here a
great encouragement to the soul, to think that Jesus our great High
Priest, doth make all his children priests to God. They are "a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that
they should shew forth the praises of him that hath called them out
of darkness into his marvellous light: an holy priesthood to offer up
spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." Even their
"broken hearts and contrite spirits, are a sacrifice which God will not
despisel." He knoweth the meaning of the Spirit's groan.
16. The strength of corruptions which molest the soul, and are too
often struggling with it, and too much prevail, doth greatly
discourage us in our approach to that God that hateth all the workers
of iniquity. And here faith may find relief in Christ, not only as he
pardoneth us, but as he hath conquered the devil and the world
himself, and bid us be of good cheer, because he hath conquered, and
hath all the power given him in heaven and earth, and can give us
victorious grace, in the season and measure which he seeth meetest
for us. We can do all things through Christ that strengthened us. Go
to him then by faith and prayer, and you shall find that his grace is
sufficient for you.
17. The thoughts of God are the less delightful to the soul, because
that death and the grave do interpose, and we must pass through
them before we can enjoy him: and it is unpleasing to nature, to
think of a separation of soul and body, and to think that our flesh
must rot in darkness. But against this, faith hath wonderful relief in
Jesus Christ. "Forasmuch as we were partakers of flesh and blood, he
also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he
might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and
deliver them who through fear of death, were all their lifetime
subject to bondage." What an encouragement it is to faith, to observe
that Christ once died himself, and that he rose from the dead, and
reigneth with the Father: it being impossible that death should hold
him. And having conquered that which seemed to conquer him, it no
more hath dominion over him, but he hath the keys of death and
hell. We may now entertain death as a disarmed enemy, and say, "O
death, where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory?" Yea, it is
sanctified by him to be our friend, even an entrance into our Master's
joy: it being best for us to depart and be with Christn. And, therefore,
death, is become our gain. O what abundance of strength and
sweetness may faith perceive from that promise of Christ, "If any
man serve me, let him follow me, and where I am, there shall also my
servant bep." As he was dead, but now liveth for evermore, so hath
he promised, that "because he liveth, therefore shall we live also."
But of this, I have written two treatises of death already.
18. The terror of the day of judgment, and of our particular doom at
death, doth make the thoughts of God less pleasing and delectable to
us. And here, what a relief is it for faith to apprehend that Jesus
Christ must be our Judge. And will he condemn the members of his
body? Shall we be afraid to be judged by our dearest friend?—by him
that hath justified us himself already, even at the price of his own
blood?
19. The very strangeness of the soul to the world unseen, and to the
inhabitants and employments there, doth greatly stop the soul in its
desires, and in its delightful approaches unto God. Had we seen the
world where God must be enjoyed, the thoughts of it would be more
familiar and sweet. But faith can look to Christ, and say, 'My Head is
there: he seeth it for me: he knoweth what he possesseth, prepareth,
and promiseth to me: and I will quietly rest in his acquaintance with
it.'
20. Nay, the Godhead itself is so infinitely above us, that, in itself, it
is inaccessible; and it is ready to amaze and overwhelm us, to think
of coming to the incomprehensible Majesty: but it emboldeneth the
soul, to think of our glorified nature in Christ, and that, even in
heaven, God will everlastingly condescend to us in the Mediator. For
the mediation of redemption and acquisition shall be ended, (and
thus he shall deliver up the kingdom to the Father,) yet it seems that
a mediation of fruition shall continue: for Christ said to his Father, "I
will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am,
that they may behold my glory." We shall "rejoice," when the
"marriage of the Lamb is comes." "They are blessed that are called to
his marriage supper." "The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the
temple and the light of the new Jerusalemu." Heaven would not be so
familiar, or so sweet to my thoughts, if it were not that our glorified
Lord is there, in whose love and glory we must live for ever.
O Christian! as ever thou wouldst walk with God, in comfortable
communion with him, study and exercise this life of faith, in the daily
use and improvement of Christ, who is our life, and hope, and all.
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