CHAPTER V: Answers to several objections made against the usefulness of conviction and humiliatio
CHAPTER V
In which answers are given to several objections made against the usefulness of conviction and humiliation, to bring the soul to believe on Christ.
My next work is to answer the objections and cavils which men make against conviction of or humiliation for sin, not only as needless, but dangerous, and that to trouble men's consciences for sin is to drive them to despair.
1. They call it a doctrine teaching men to despair, and that the issue of such troubling tender consciences is despair.
2. That ministers or others, who on men's deathbeds endeavour to discover, to men that have been civil or formal, their estates, are miserable comforters, as Job's friends were, who would persuade him all was naught.
3. That men's aim in urging this work, as first necessary, is, by troubling men's consciences, to bring them to their bent, and to make them willing to be of their mind and faction, to entertain willingly their dictates and opinions, and so to tyrannise over their consciences.
4. If men cavil not at this work, yet they deny it, cannot see any reason why it should be so necessary to the power of godliness. If I acknowledge myself ever to have been a sinner, and to have failings in all I do, having always believed in Christ, is not this (say they) enough?
Unto the end both to answer these cavils, as also to vindicate the doctrine the more, I propose these following assertions.
1. That to bring men to such apprehensions as these is not to bring men to despair, but the contrary. To make this good, we will go over all the particulars.
(1.) To make men apprehensive that sin is the greatest evil, is not to drive them to despair; Paul, Rom. 7:13, saw it to be above measure sinful, when first converted, and you can never be enough convinced of it, not so much as you should, though the sight of it scares you, and fears you, and this you may see without despair; yea, where that sight is, that soul shall never despair, for it directly leads the soul to Christ, and causeth it to see a beauty in grace. If, indeed, we taught it were necessary to have such horror and anguish of soul as Spira had, or if we endeavoured to make impression of such deep terrors from the wrath of God as Judas and Cain had, then you might have reason to think that this work tended to despair, though many have had them, and have not despaired. But we profess, that as ravishing joy is not necessary and essential to faith, so nor deep vexing gashes and impressions of wrath are necessary to humiliation, though they often accompany it; as the one is but the overflow of faith, so the other of humiliation. But as to see Christ the greatest good is essential to faith, so to see sin the greatest evil is essential to humiliation, and this is the main. The damned indeed, who are plunged in wrath in hell, they despair through extremity and everlastingness of torment.
But they are far from what we urge as requisite to humiliation, from seeing the evil of sin in itself. And as far are they that see sin as sin, to be the greatest evil, from despair, as the damned, that feel nothing but wrath, are from true humiliation.
And (2.) if some drops of wrath and fears of damnation be mingled with this cup, yet it is far from despair, for it is a work of the Spirit of God, who, before he becomes a Spirit of adoption to save, becomes a Spirit of bondage to cause men to fear, Rom. 8:15.
(3.) To bring men to apprehend all their former estate to have been hitherto throughout sinful and damnable, and out of Christ, is not to bring men to despair.
For, 1st, to apprehend that a man's person is simply damned, this indeed causeth despair; but to apprehend that my person is in a damnable condition, and such as if I remain in, I cannot be saved, is far from despair; for Paul apprehended himself once a child of wrath as well as others, Eph. 2:2.
2dly, To apprehend their condition to be thus, is not to believe that there is no mercy reserved for them, or that they are not capable of it; if so, then indeed it would make men despair; but, as Peter says, 1
Peter 2:10, 'which in time past had not obtained mercy,' so to apprehend that as long as I remain in this condition I do not obtain mercy, is not to despair, but to apprehend the truth. For as it follows there, 'Those who once had not obtained mercy, have now obtained mercy.' And so we say he may obtain mercy, whose condition is most sinful.
Nor, 3dly, to apprehend thyself out of Christ in the condition thou art in is not to despair; for then the Ephesians, when they saw their former condition to have been, as (Eph. 2:12) it is said once it was, and who are exhorted to remember that they were once without Christ, and without the promises, should have despaired. But there is yet hope left for the greatest sinners, that for time to come they may be in Christ, as those Ephesians after conversion were. To apprehend that I am absolutely excluded from the benefit of Christ's death, that will cause despair; but that humiliation teacheth not. But to apprehend that it is not yet applied to me, that it is as yet to me as if Christ had not died, and if I die in such a condition, I should die in my sin, this is not to despair.
4thly, Again, to apprehend my estate to be helpless and hopeless, in regard of any duties I have or can perform, or in respect of any power in me, or any creature to help me, is not to despair. It is indeed to despair of thyself, and all the creatures, and to have no confidence in the flesh; and that is a good despair. But to despair, is to despair of God and his mercy for time to come; to say that he will never be merciful, never give me faith and Christ. I may rightly make use of
that in 2 Cor. 1:8–10 to illustrate this, which, though spoken in regard of despairing of his natural life, yet for the same reason, there used, will hold good of this despair of eternal life. We were so pressed, says he, that we despaired of life, and had the sentence of death in ourselves; so far as by any means of ourselves we could use we saw no way but death. But, says Paul, it was 'that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God that raiseth the dead;' that is, though we despaired, yet it was not of God's power to help us, but we despaired in ourselves. And thus God deals with men, and dealt with Paul about eternal life; he passed a sentence of death on him, and Paul saw no help in himself to believe, or come out of his misery;
Rom. 7:10, 'I was alive, but when the commandment came, I died;' that is, received the sentence of death, and saw no way to escape it by anything he could do. This was, that he should not trust in himself, but this was not that he should despair of God's shewing mercy for time to come.
5thly, Again, understand aright whence despair ariseth: not from the greatness or heinousness of a man's sins, or insufficiency of a man to help himself, but from stubbornness of heart, not to go out to Christ for sufficiency in him, that is the work of despair: 'Ye will not come to me that ye may be saved,' as Christ told the Jews.
6thly, Again, poor souls that are in this condition, God hath an especial care of to keep them from despair, when they have renounced themselves and their former condition. Though their souls be a Tohu and Bohu, and as that first matter, Gen. 1:2, without form, and so of themselves would sink into nothing, yet God's Spirit broods upon it and upholds it. They shall fail between those two rocks, blockishness and despair, so as the convinced sinner shall be terrified, and yet God will keep him secretly. God hath an especial eye upon such a soul: Isa. 66:2, 'To this man will I look, to him that is poor and contrite, and trembleth at my word,' and I will so look to him as he shall not despair. Isa. 57:16, 'I will not always contend, for the spirit would fail before me,' and I will not suffer it. Though he melts it, yet he will not suffer it, when melted, to boil over into the
fire, and to be cast down and spilt into hell fire irrecoverably. No; but though he be shut up and sees no help by anything he can do to get out, Gal. 3:23, yet he opens a door of hope, Hosea 2:15, when the soul is in the valley of Achor, of starving; when sins fly about a man's ears, yet God opens there a door of hope. And again,
(4.) To let men go on without knowing their condition, is the way to despair at last. For when men come to die, and then have their eyes opened, and their consciences convinced, to see their estate out of Christ wholly sinful, and themselves not able to lay hold on Christ, or believe, and that now they have but a few hours to get oil and grace in, then they despair indeed. Isa. 50:11, the prophet shews that trusting in false righteousness, sparks of their own kindling, will bring them to despair in the end, they shall lie down in sorrow; whereas a timely discovery of this prevents it, gives them time to use their endeavour, and to wait on Christ. To lie at God's feet, and refer thyself to him, to damn or save, is not to despair, but argues the greatest ingenuity that may be, and argues some trust and hope in God begun, that a man will refer himself to him, as David did: 2 Sam.
15:26, 'Here I am; if he thus say, I have no delight in thee, let him do what seemeth good in his eyes.' And whom a man would choose as an umpire to cast his life upon, and to be his judge, he hath some confidence in him; this is not despair.
We come to the second cavil, viz., that the issue of this work in many is despair, and well nigh undoing themselves.
1. When the jailor was humbled for his sins, he had well nigh killed himself; shall we condemn that work was then upon his heart, that led him to Christ, and brought him to ask, 'What shall I do to be saved?' No.
For, 2, such stories and conclusions are the devil's work, to discredit the work of the Spirit; he enters upon God's work to spoil it. As when the incestuous Corinthian was excommunicated, 2 Cor. 2, which was an ordinance to humble him, Satan was ready to take the advantage
to have swallowed him up of sorrow, ver. 7. 'And we are not ignorant,' says the apostle, 'of his devices,' ver. 11. Shall we condemn that ordinance, because Satan might abuse it? And so, shall we decry this work of humiliation, because Satan adds fearful conclusions to it? There is no work of the Spirit but he adds false conclusions to it if he can. If the Spirit comforts, he endeavours to make the soul presumptuous; if he casts into bondage only, the devil labours to cast into despair. But as we may not condemn assurance, because sometimes it hath such an issue, so, nor humiliation.
3. If any do miscarry, they are but such as would ever have perished, whatever course in preaching had been held.
The third cavil is, that when we labour to humble men, our aim is only to bring them to our bent, and so impose on them what we please.
I answer, 1st, Then Peter might be charged with the same, when he endeavoured to humble the Jews for their sin in crucifying Christ; when he brought them to such a pass that they, being pricked in their hearts, cry out, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do to be saved?'
Acts 2:37. But Peter's aim was orderly to bring them to sound repentance, and to believe in Christ; and that is all that we aim at also, and all the remedy we prescribe. Mark 16:16, Christ bids them preach, that 'he that believes not shall be damned.' One part of their office was to humble men, and discover their estates out of Christ; and to what end? Mat. 28:19, you shall find it was to make them disciples, as the word signifies; but of whom? Not of themselves, but of Christ, and to bring them to universal obedience, which without this work they will never come to: 'Teaching them to do whatever I have commanded,' ver. 20. And as Christ's promise is to be with us to the end of the world, so this must be our course to the end of the world.
And 2dly, If we did indeed, as the friars of old, who preached the law, and, stinging men's consciences, took the advantage of it to bring the
people to auricular confession, and get their secret sins out, and so make them obnoxious to them, and then took money for pardons and absolutions; and set them about building this convent and that convent, for satisfaction; if we did it thus to make a gain of you, as Paul says, 2 Cor. 12:17, you might suspect us in it. But we speak before God in Christ, 'we do all things for your edifying,' as Paul says, ver. 19. It is to set up Christ in your hearts that we endeavour to humble you; that you may see your need of him; and that you may see your own emptiness and his fulness, to make him precious to you, and to drive your souls to him, and to bring every thought into the obedience of Christ; to make you sensible of sin, that you may make conscience of it, and know what Christ hath done for you. And if the duties that are required be not duty, the sins discovered be not proved to be sins, your humiliation will not bring you to make conscience of them. It is our Master's advantage and your edifying is our aim; 'we seek not yours, but you.'
And 3dly, If we were minded to gain a party out of the world, and to gain your ear, it were a better course to soothe you up in a good opinion of your estates, to sew pillows under your elbows, and cry
Peace, peace, when there is no peace, as the false prophets did.* But to go about to persuade men that their estates are bad, and to urge a necessity of apprehending it such, this is the way to exasperate men.
This provoked the Pharisees against Christ; brought the world about Paul's ears, as Paul says, Gal. 1, 'Do we persuade men or God?' that is, for God. This doctrine crosseth the world, sets up God, and gains but few; for men will and do stand out; and where one is throughly humbled, thousands presume, and will do so.
For, indeed, 4thly, it is a mighty work of the Spirit to convince. And so, when the apostles were sent out, the Spirit is promised, and he
'shall convince the world of sin,' John 16:8. We could never do it, and the devil he would never trouble men, for he keeps all in peace, and as I said, enters upon the Spirit's work to spoil it. So of all projects and courses this were the vainest, if it were not God's way, and he did not go forth with us in it.