Chapter 3: The Burden of Sin, laid open in nine particulars
enlivened, and active when God makes it aware of the evil of sin. You who labour and are heavy laden—you who feel the weight of sin upon your souls and know not what to do—come to me (says Christ), and I will give you rest.
The Burden of Corruption Thirdly, you that labour under the power of any corruption—not only under the guilt of your sins, but under the power of corruption, feeling your sins strong within you and longing to overcome them.
You who carry such a weight that makes you cry out with St. Paul, "Oh! Wretched man or woman that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death?" You who would dearly love to conquer those strong corruptions within you, and it is the great burden of your soul that you cannot overcome them. Come to me (says Christ), and I will give you rest from them as well.
First, you that labour under the burden of duties and find them toilsome. Secondly, you that labour under the guilt of sin and find your souls perplexed by it. Thirdly, you that labour under the power of any corruption and cannot overcome it. Come to me, and I will give you rest.
Chapter 3:
The Burden of Sin, laid open in nine particulars:
1. When the soul not only apprehends but is also sensitive to the evil of sin in its reality.
2. Finds all the comfort that once accompanied sin to vanish and come to nothing.
3. Looks upon itself as loathsome and is, in some measure, humbled before God.
4. Trembles at the slightest thoughts and temptations to sin.
5. Feels sin heaviest where it is indeed heaviest.
6. Feels the weight of sin to be such that no creature is able to remove it.
7. Would rather be under any burden than the burden of sin.
8. Despite the weight of sin, justifies God.
9. Does not lie sullenly and despair under it, but seeks direction from God for how it may be freed from it.
Now you who are burdened with sin and labour under this burden, you are those whom Christ calls to come to Him, that you may have rest for your souls.
To open this, I shall show you:
First, how the soul is burdened with sin in a right way, such that Jesus Christ looks upon it and invites it to come to Him. How the soul is worked upon, and what it feels in the burden of sin, that is here spoken of, and that Christ calls unto Himself to receive rest.
Secondly, why it is that the Lord will have the soul burdened for sin.
Thirdly, upon what ground it is that Jesus Christ has such a desire for the soul to come to Him, and why He invites the soul. I shall then apply this.
For the First: "You who are weary and heavy laden." Christ invites the heavy-laden; [heavy-laden]—what is that?
The First Burden of Sin First, those notions or truths that previously lay floating in the understanding; those truths of God, and apprehensions of the evil of sin that before seemed to float in a man's understanding, now the Lord causes them to sink down within the heart. He presses the evil of sin upon the soul, making the soul not only apprehend but also be sensitive to sin, to its evil, and to its reality. I say, the soul feels those truths that were but hovering in the understanding before, now settling upon the heart and pressing the heart with a real apprehension of sin. The soul says, "I heard talk of it before, and I could speak of it before, but now I feel it." Now, says the soul, "Those things that were mere notions before are the greatest realities in the world." The Lord presses them down upon the heart so that they weigh heavily upon the soul—so heavy as to crush it under them.
Now, all those vain reasonings and hopes, all those attempts the soul had previously made to quiet itself, are now crushed under the real apprehensions of sin. Imagine a millstone lying on the ground with a few light things placed on top of it. If another millstone were to be dropped upon them, it would grind them to powder. So it is with the soul—before, there were vain hopes and reasonings in the heart, but when God causes the truths and their reality to press upon the heart, it crushes all those vain hopes and reasonings to nothing.
The Second Burden of Sin Secondly, the soul finds that all the comforts that once accompanied sin vanish and come to nothing. There are scarcely any men or women in the world, or very few, so vile as to delight in sin merely because it is sin, without any other consideration. Sin is pleasing to the hearts of men only because it has some comforts that attend it.
Perhaps there is some gain or pleasure associated with sin, and that brings contentment. But when the heart is burdened with sin, the soul feels the weight of sin and becomes sensitive to it as a dreadful
evil, despite any comforts that attend it. All the comforts that once attended sin now vanish and come to nothing. The soul can no longer find any contentment in anything that arises from sin, and that is the second point. The soul is so burdened with sin that it can take no pleasure in anything gained through sin. Whatever gain comes through sin, it casts off. Whatever pleasure or other seeming benefits sin brings, the soul looks upon them all with disdain.
The Third Burden of Sin Thirdly, the soul that is burdened with sin feels the weight of it so much that its back is bowed down and tired, or at least it makes the soul view itself as a vile and loathsome creature, fit to be dealt with as such. It is burdened so that the heart is, to some extent, wearied by it.
The Fourth Burden of Sin Fourthly, the soul is so burdened with sin that it now trembles at the least thought of sin or temptation to sin, fearing that if it willingly commits any further known sin, it will add to the burden and press the soul down to eternal misery. It is so burdened that it dares not add any more sin, as far as it can help, being afraid that one more sin might sink it into Hell.
The Fifth Burden of Sin Fifthly, the soul feels sin heaviest where it is indeed heaviest. When it is rightly burdened, it feels heavy because of the wrath of God due to it, but it is heaviest because it is against the infinitely holy God and His rule of righteousness. There lies the true weight—that by sin, I have struck at the infinitely holy God and been an enemy to Him, as has been explained at length before. Now, when the heart is truly burdened with sin, it feels sin most heavily as it is against such an
infinitely blessed and holy God, who is so infinitely worthy of all honour from me.
The Sixth Burden of Sin Sixthly, when the heart is truly burdened with sin, it feels such a weight that it clearly understands that no creature in heaven or earth is able to remove or take it away. The soul becomes so sensitive to the weight of sin that it feels and perceives itself to lie under a burden that no creature in heaven or earth is able to remove. Unless some power beyond any created being comes, here must I lie and be pressed eternally under this weight. Imagine a poor man lying under a grievous burden in a ditch. Perhaps a child comes to him, or a bird flies over him, or a dog runs by him. But alas, he thinks to himself, "I could lie here forever for all these things! There must come some greater strength to help me, or else I must perish." So the soul lies under the burden of sin and thinks, "Lord, what a burden have I brought upon myself! It is so great that if all the men in the world or all the angels in heaven came to me, they could not help me. They may speak kind words to me, but they cannot help me. It is only the almighty power of God that is able to help me." Now the soul truly feels the weight of sin when it realises that no created or finite power, only the infinite power of the great God, can help it and give it relief.
The Seventh Burden of Sin Seventhly, the soul that is truly burdened with sin would rather endure any burden than the burden of sin. There was a time when sin was delightful to me, but now I would rather have any burden upon me than this. Before, I thought that those who lacked the comforts of this world and were outwardly poor and lowly were miserable, but now, if I had all the outward miseries in the world upon my back, I would rather bear them all than this burden. I have felt much affliction in my days, but this burden, this weight, is most
grievous and heaviest of all. Oh! If the Lord would only take this weight and burden from me, let Him lay whatever other weight or burden upon me He wills. Thus, the soul that is rightly burdened with sin is affected.
The Eighth Burden of Sin Eighthly, though the soul feels the heavy weight of sin upon it, yet, in all this, it justifies God and does not think harsh thoughts of God, despite His heavy hand being upon it. It is true, I feel God's heavy hand upon me, pressing me sorely, but still, God's hand is just. He is righteous in all this. Let Him have glory, whatever becomes of me, for the truth is, I have brought this burden upon myself. There was a time when I heaped up one sin after another, as if I could never have enough weight upon me. But now I find it heavy. Oh! The sins of my youth lie heavy now upon my soul—my lying and swearing, the loss of my time, and my Sabbath-breaking. Oh! The Lord is righteous in all His ways. This is how the heart works when it is burdened in such a way that the Lord intends good unto it.
The Ninth Burden of Sin Ninthly, and lastly, though the soul is under a burden that is almost intolerable, yet it is not sunk down in despair under its burden. It is not like a beast that, after struggling for a little while under a burden, lies down sullenly and dies under it. No, those who are burdened with sin in the way that the Lord uses to prepare the heart for His
Son—they feel the weight of sin indeed, but they feel it in such a way that they strive under it. Their hearts remain active, stirring, and working, continually attending to any directions that God gives them through His Word. Their hearts keep active, crying out to God, waiting to know what God's will is towards them, and are willing to do anything that God requires of them. They do not lie sullen and lifeless under the burden of their sins.