Front matter (continued, part 10)
Basil speaks of some martyrs who were cast out all night naked in the
frigid weather, and were to be burned the next day, how they comforted themselves in this manner: The winter is sharp—but paradise is sweet; here we shiver for cold—but the bosom of Abraham will make amends for all.
Christians who would hold on in the service of the Lord, must look more upon the future crown than upon the present cross; more upon their future glory than their present misery; more upon their encouragements than upon their discouragements. God's very service is wages; his ways are strewed with roses, and paved 'with joy which is unspeakable and full of glory,' and with 'peace which passes understanding.' Some degree of comfort follows every good action, as heat accompanies fire, as beams and warmth issue from the sun: 'Moreover, by them is your servant warned, and in keeping of them there is great reward,' Psalm 19:2. Not only for keeping—but in keeping of them, there is great reward. This is a reward before the reward, a sure reward of well doing; in doing thereof, not only for doing thereof, there is great reward (Psalm 19:11).
The joy, the rest, the refreshing, the comforts, the contents, the smiles— which saints now enjoy in the ways of God, are so precious and glorious in their eyes, that they would not exchange them for ten thousand worlds! Ah! if the gratuities be thus sweet and glorious before pay-day comes, what will be that glory that Christ will crown his saints with, for cleaving to his service in the face of all difficulties; when he shall say to his Father, 'Lo, here am I, and the children whom you have given me' (Is. 8:18). If there be so much to be had in a wilderness, what then shall be had in paradise?
DEVICE 4. By working them to make false inferences from those blessed and glorious things that Christ has done.
As that Jesus Christ has done all for us, therefore there is nothing for us to do but to joy and rejoice. He has perfectly justified us, and fulfilled the law, and satisfied divine justice, and pacified his Father's wrath, and has gone to heaven to prepare a place for us, and in the mean time to intercede for us; and therefore away with praying, and mourning, and
hearing. Ah! what a world of professors has Satan drawn in these days from religious services, by working them to make such sad, wild, and strange inferences from the sweet and excellent things that the Lord Jesus has done for his beloved ones.
Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, To dwell as much on those scriptures that show you the duties and services that Christ requires of you, as upon those scriptures that declare to you the precious and glorious things that Christ has done for you.
Tertullian has this expression of the Scriptures: 'I adore the fullness of the Scripture.' Gregory calls the Scripture 'the heart and soul of God'— who would not then dwell in it?
It is a sad and dangerous thing to have two eyes to behold our dignity and privileges, and not one to see our duties and services. I should look with one eye upon the choice and excellent things that Christ has done for me, to raise up my heart to love Christ with the purest love, and to rejoice in Christ with the strongest joy, and to lift up Christ above all, who has made himself to be my all. And I should look with the other eye upon those services and duties that the Scriptures require of those for whom Christ has done such blessed things, as upon that of the apostle: "Do you not know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body" (1 Cor. 6:19, 20). 'Therefore, my beloved brethren, be you steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord' (1 Cor. 15:58). 'And let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not' (Gal 6:9). And that of the apostle 'Rejoice always' (1 Thess. 5:16), and 'Pray without ceasing' (1 Thess. 5:17). And that in the Philippians: 'Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling' (2:12); and that, 'This do until I come' (1 Tim. 4:13); and that, 'Let us consider one another, to provoke one another to love, and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is—but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching' (Heb. 10:24, 25).
Now, a soul that would not be drawn away by this device of Satan, he must not look with a squint eye upon these blessed scriptures, and abundance more of like import—but he must dwell upon them; he must make these scriptures to be his chief and his choicest companions, and this will be a happy means to keep him close to Christ and his service in these times, wherein many turn their backs upon Christ, under pretense of being interested in the great glorious things that have been accomplished by Christ. The Jews were much in turning over the leaves of the Scripture—but they did not weigh the matter of them (John 5:39): 'You search the Scriptures.'
Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, to consider, That the great and glorious things that Jesus Christ has done, and is doing for us, should be so far from taking us off from religious services and pious performances, that they should be the greatest motives and encouragements to the performance of them that may be, as the Scriptures do abundantly evidence. I will only instance in some, as that, 'That we, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life' (1 Peter 2:9, Luke 1:74, 75). Christ has freed you from all your enemies, from the curse of the law, the predominant damnatory power of sin, the wrath of God, the sting of death, and the torments of hell. But what is the end and design of Christ in doing these great and marvelous things for his people? It is not that we should throw off duties of righteousness and holiness—but that their hearts may be the more free and sweet in all holy duties and heavenly services. This I am sure of, that all man's happiness here is his holiness, and his holiness shall hereafter be his happiness. Christ has therefore broke the devil's yoke from off our necks, that his Father might have better service from our hearts.
So the apostle says, 'I will be their God, and they shall be my people.' 'And I will be a Father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.' Mark what follows: 'Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.' (2 Cor.
6:17-7:1). And again: 'The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying all ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify us unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works' (Titus 2:12-14). Ah, souls! I know no such arguments to work you to a lively and constant performance of all heavenly services, like those who are drawn from the consideration of the great and glorious things that Christ has done for you; and if such arguments will not take you and win upon you, I do think the throwing of hell fire in your faces will never do it!
Talk not of a godly life—but let your life speak. Your actions in passing pass not away; for every good work is a grain of seed for eternal life.
Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, seriously to consider, That those precious souls which Jesus Christ has done and suffered as much for as he has for you— have been exceedingly active and lively in all religious services and heavenly performances. He did as much and suffered as much for David as for you, and yet who more in praying and praising God than David? 'Seven times a day will I praise the Lord' (Psalm 119:164). Who more in the studying and meditating on the word than David? 'Your law is my meditation all the day' (Psalm 119:97). The same truth you may run and read in Jacob, Moses, Job, Daniel, and in the rest of the holy prophets and apostles, whom Christ has done as much for as for you. Ah, how have all those worthies abounded in works of righteousness and holiness, to the praise of free grace!
Certainly Satan has got the upper hand of those souls which argue thus— Christ has done such and such glorious things for us, therefore we need not make any care and conscience of doing such and such religious services as men say the Word calls for. If this logic be not from hell, what is? Ah, were the holy prophets and apostles alive to hear such logic come out of the mouths of such as profess themselves to be interested in the great and glorious things that Jesus Christ has done for his chosen ones, how would they blush to look upon such souls! and how would their
hearts grieve and break within them to hear the language and to observe the actings of such souls!
The saints' motto in all ages has been 'Laboremus'—let us be doing.
'God loves the runner, not the questioner or disputer', says Luther.
He who talks of heaven—but does not the will of God, is like him who gazed upon the moon—but fell into the pit.
Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, seriously to consider this, That those who do not walk in the ways of righteousness and holiness, who not wait upon God in the several duties and services that are commanded by him; cannot have that evidence to their own souls of their righteousness before God, of their fellowship and communion with God, of their blessedness here, and their happiness hereafter, as those souls have, who love and delight in the ways of the Lord, that are always best when they are most in the works and service of the Lord. Certainly it is one thing to judge by our graces, another thing to rest or put our trust in them. There is a great deal of difference between declaring and deserving. As David's daughters were known by their garments of diverse colors, so are God's children by their piety and sanctity. A Christian's emblem should be a house walking towards heaven. High words surely make a man neither holy nor just; but a virtuous life, a circumspect walking, makes him dear to God. A tree that is not fruitful is fit only for the fire. Christianity is not a talking—but a walking with God, who will not be put off with words. If he sees no fruit, he will take up his axe, and then the soul is cut off forever.
'Little children,' says the apostle, 'let no man deceive you: he who does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous' (1 John 3:7). 'In this,' says the same apostle, 'the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil; whoever does not righteousness is not of God, neither he who loves not his brother' (ver. 10). 'If you know that he is righteous,' says the same apostle, 'you know that everyone who practices righteousness, is born of him.' "This is how we are sure that we have come to know Him: by keeping His commands. The one who says, 'I have come to know Him,'
without keeping His commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly in him the love of God is perfected. This is how we know we are in Him: the one who says he remains in Him should walk just as He walked." 'If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth; but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another; and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin,' says the same apostle (1 John 2:3-6, and 1:6, 7).
So (James 2:14, 20): 'What does it profit, my brethren, though a man say he has faith, and have no works; can faith save him?' that is, it cannot. 'For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.' To look after holy and heavenly works, is the best way to preserve the soul from being deceived and deluded by Satan's delusions, and by sudden flashes of joy and comfort; holy works being a more conscious and constant pledge of the precious Spirit, begetting and maintaining in the soul more solid, pure, clear, strong, and lasting joy. Ah souls! As you would have in yourselves a constant and a blessed evidence of your fellowship with the Father and the Son, and of the truth of grace, and of your future happiness, look that you cleave close to holy services; and that you turn not your backs upon religious duties.
Remedy (5). The fifth remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, That there are other choice and glorious ends for the saint's performance of religious duties, than for the justifying of their persons before God, or for their satisfying of the law or justice of God, or for the purchasing of the pardon of sin; that is, to testify their justification. 'A good tree cannot but bring forth good fruits' (Matt. 7:17), to testify their love to God, and their sincere obedience to the commands of God; to testify their deliverance from spiritual bondage, to evidence the indwelling of the Spirit, to stop the mouths of the worst of men, and to gladden those righteous souls, whom God would not have saddened. These, and abundance of other choice ends there are, why those who have a saving interest in the glorious doings of Christ, should, notwithstanding that, keep close to the holy duties and religious services that are commanded by Christ. And if these considerations will not prevail with you, to wait
upon God in holy and heavenly duties, I am afraid if one should rise from the dead, his arguments would not win upon you—but you would hold on in your sins, and neglect his service, though you lost your souls forever.
The end in view moves to action. Keep yourself within compass, and have an eye always to the end of your life and actions.
DEVICE 5. By presenting to them the fewness and poverty of those who walk in the ways of God—who continue in religious practices.
Says Satan, Do not you see that those who walk in such and such religious ways are the poorest, the lowest, and the most despicable people in the world? This took with them in John 7:47-49: 'Then answered the pharisees, Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers, or of the pharisees, believed on him? But these ignorant crowds do, but what do they know about it? A curse is on them anyway!'
Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, to consider, That though they are outwardly poor, yet they are inwardly rich. Though they are poor in temporals, yet they are rich in spirituals. The worth and riches of the saints is inward. 'The King's daughter is all glorious within' (Psalm 45:13). 'Hearken, my beloved brethren, has not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to them that love him?' says James 2:5. 'I know your poverty—but you are rich,' says John to the church of Smyrna (Rev. 2:9). What though they have little in possession, yet they have a glorious kingdom in future promise. 'Fear not, little flock, it is your Father's pleasure to give you a kingdom' (Luke 12:32). Though saints have little in hand, yet they have much in hope. You count those happy, in a worldly sense, that have much in future promise, though they have little in possession: and will you count the saints miserable because they have little in hand, little in possession, though they have a glorious kingdom in future promise? I am sure the poorest saint who breathes, will not exchange, were it in his power, that which he has in hope and in future promise, for the possession of as many worlds as there be stars in
heaven, or sands in the sea.
'Do not you see,' says Chrysostom, 'the places where treasures are hid are rough and overgrown with thorns? Do not the naturalists tell you, that the mountains that are big with gold within, are bare of grass without? Saints have, as scholars, poor daily fare here, because they must study hard to go to heaven.'
Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, to consider, That in all ages God has had some who have been great, rich, wise, and honorable—who have chosen his ways, and cleaved to his service in the face of all difficulties. Though not many wise men, yet some wise men; and though not many mighty, yet some mighty have; and though not many noble, yet some noble have. Witness Abraham, and Jacob, and Job, and several kings, and others that the Scriptures speak of. And ah! how many have we among ourselves, whose souls have cleaved to the Lord, and who have swum to his service through the blood of the slain, and who have not counted their lives dear unto them, that they and others might enjoy the holy things of Christ, according to the mind and heart of Christ.
Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, That the spiritual riches of the poorest saints infinitely transcend the temporal riches of all the wicked men in the world; their spiritual riches satisfy them; they can sit down satisfied with the riches of grace that are in Christ, without earthly honors or riches. 'He who drinks of that water that I shall give him, shall thirst no more' (John 4:13). Alexander's vast mind inquired if there were any more worlds to conquer.
The riches of poor saints are durable; they will bed and board with them; they will go to the prison, to a sickbed, to a grave, yes, to heaven with them. The spiritual riches of poor saints are as wine to cheer them, and as bread to strengthen them, and as clothes to warm them, and as armor to protect them. Now, we all know that the riches of this world cannot satisfy the souls of men—for they are as fading as a flower, or as the owners of them are.
Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device, is seriously to consider, That though the saints, considered comparatively, are few; though they be 'a little, little flock,' 'a remnant,' 'a garden enclosed,' 'a spring shut up, a fountain sealed'; though they are as 'the summer gleanings'; though they are 'one from a city, and two from a tribe'; though they are but a handful to a houseful, a spark to a flame, a drop to the ocean—yet considered altogether, are an innumerable number that cannot be numbered. As John speaks: 'After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white and held palm branches in their hands.' (Rev. 7:9). So Matthew speaks: 'And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven' (Matt. 8:11). So Paul: 'But you have come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect' (Heb. 12:22).
Remedy (5). The fifth remedy against this device of Satan is, seriously to consider, That it will be only a short time, before these poor despised saints shall shine brighter than the sun in his glory. It will not be long before you will wish, Oh! that we were now among the poor, mean despised ones, in the day that God comes to make up his jewels! It will not be long before these poor few saints shall be lifted up upon their thrones to judge the multitude, the world, as the apostle speaks: 'Don't you know, that the saints shall judge the world?' (1 Cor. 6:2). And in that day, oh! how will the great and the rich, the learned and the noble, wish that they had lived and spent their days with these few poor contemptible creatures in the service of the Lord! Oh! how will this wicked world curse the day that ever they had such base thoughts of the poor despised saints, and that their poverty became a stumblingblock to keep them off from the ways of sanctity.
John Foxe being once asked whether he knew a certain poor man answered, I remember him well. I tell you I forget lords and ladies to
remember such. So will God deal by his poor saints. He will forget the great and mighty ones of the world to remember his few poor despised ones. Though John the Baptist was poor in the world, yet the Holy Spirit calls him the greatest that was born of woman. Ah, poor saints, men that know not your worth, have such low thoughts of you. "My thoughts are completely different from yours," says the Lord. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9
I have read of Ingo, an ancient king of the Draves, who, making a stately feast, appointed his nobles, at that time pagans, to sit in the hall below, and commanded certain poor Christians to be brought up into his presence-chamber, to sit with him at his table, to eat and drink of his kingly cheer; at which many wondering, he said, 'He accounted Christians, though ever so poor, a greater ornament to his table, and more worthy of his company, than the greatest unconverted nobles; for when these might be thrust down to hell, those might be his consorts and fellow-princes in heaven.' You know how to apply it.
Although you see the stars sometimes by their reflections in a puddle, or in the bottom of a well, yes, in a stinking ditch; yet the stars have their situation in heaven. So, though you see a godly man in a poor, miserable, low, despised condition for the things of this world, yet he is fixed in heaven, in the region of heaven: 'Who has raised us up,' says the apostle, 'and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.' Oh! therefore, say to your own souls, when they begin to decline in the ways of Zion, because of the poverty and fewness of those who walk in them, The day is at hand when those few, poor, despised saints shall shine in glory, when they shall judge this world, and when all the wicked of this world will wish that they were in their condition, and would give ten thousand worlds, were it in their power, that they might but have the honor and happiness to wait upon those whom, for their poverty and fewness, they have neglected and despised in this world.
Remedy (6). The sixth remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, That there will come a time, even in this life, in this world—when the reproach and contempt that is
now cast upon the ways of God, by reason of the poverty and fewness of those who walk in those ways, shall be quite taken away, by his making them the head—who have days without number been the tail; and by his raising them up to much outward riches, prosperity, and glory—who have been as the outcast because of their poverty and fewness. John, speaking of the glory of the church, the new Jerusalem that came down from heaven (Rev. 21:24), tells us, 'The nations of the earth will walk in its light, and the rulers of the world will come and bring their glory to it.' So the prophet Isaiah: 'I will exchange your bronze for gold, your iron for silver, your wood for bronze, and your stones for iron.' (chap. 60:17). And so the prophet Zechariah speaks (chap. 14:14): 'And the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.' The Lord has promised that 'the meek shall inherit the earth' (Matt. 5:5); and 'heaven and earth shall pass away, before one jot or one tittle of his word shall pass unfulfilled' (ver. 18). Ah, poor saints! now some thrust sore at you, others look a-squint upon you, others shut the door against you, others turn their backs upon you, and most of men (except it be a few who live much in God, and are filled with the riches of Christ) do either neglect you or despise you because of your poverty; but the day is coming when you shall be lifted up above the ashheap, when you shall change poverty for riches, your rags for robes, your reproach for a crown of honor, your infamy for glory, even in this world.
These following scriptures do abundantly confirm this truth: Jer. 31:12; Is. 30:23; 62:8, 9; Joel 2:23, 24; Micah 4:6; Amos 9:13, 14; Zech 8:12; Isa. 41:18, 19; 55:13; 66:6, 7; 65:21, 22; 61:4; 60:10 Ezek. 36:10. Only take these two cautions: 1. That in these times the saints' chief comforts, delights, and contents with consist in their more clear, full, and constant enjoyment of God. 2. That they shall have such abundant measure of the Spirit poured out upon them, that their riches and outward glory shall not be snares unto them—but golden steps to a richer living in God.
And this is not all—but God will also mightily increase the number of his chosen ones, multitudes shall be converted to him: 'Who has ever seen or heard of anything as strange as this? Has a nation ever been born in a single day? Has a country ever come forth in a mere moment? But by the
time Jerusalems' birth pains begin, the baby will be born; the nation will come forth. They will bring the remnant of your people back from every nation. They will bring them to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord. They will ride on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels' (Isa. 66:8, 20). Does not the Scripture say, that 'the kingdoms of this world must become the kingdoms of our Lord'? (Rev. 11:15). Has not God given to Christ 'the heathen, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession'? (Psalm 2:8). Has not the Lord said, that in 'the last days the mountain of the Lord's house shall be lifted up above the hills, and shall be established in the top of the mountains, and all nations shall flow unto it,' (Isa. 2:2 and 54:14 and 61:9).
Pray, read, and meditate upon Isaiah 60 and 66 and 2:1-5, and there you shall find the multitudes that shall be converted to Christ. And oh! that you would be mighty in believing and in wrestling with God, that he would hasten the day of his glory, that the reproach that is now upon his people and ways may cease!
DEVICE 6. By presenting before them the examples of the greatest part of the world—who walk in the ways of their own hearts, and that make light and slight of the ways of the Lord.
Why, says Satan, do not you see that the great and the rich, the noble and the honorable, the learned and the wise, even the greatest number of men, never trouble themselves about such and such ways—and why then should you be singular and odd? You had better do as the most do. (John 7:48, 49; 1 Cor. 1:26, 28; Micah 7:2-4.)
Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, Of those scriptures which are directly opposed to following the sinful examples of men. As that in Exodus, 'You shall not follow a multitude to do evil' (chap. 23:2). The multitude generally are ignorant, and know not the way of the Lord, therefore they speak evil of that they know not. They are envious and maliciously bent against the service and way of God, and therefore they cannot speak well of the ways of God: 'This way is everywhere spoken
against,' say they (Acts 28:22). So in Num. 16:21, 'Separate from them, and come out from among them.' So the apostle: 'Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness' (Eph. 5:11). So Solomon: 'Enter not into the way of the wicked; forsake the foolish, and live' (Prov. 4:14 and 9:6). Those who walk with the many—shall perish with the many. Those who do as the most, shall before long suffer with the most. Those who live as the many, must die with the many, and go to hell with the many. The way to hell is broad and well beaten. The way to be undone forever is to do as the most do. 'The multitude' is the weakest and worst argument. "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Matthew 7:13-14
Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, seriously to consider, That if you will sin with the multitude, all the angels in heaven and men on earth cannot keep you from suffering with the multitude. If you will be wicked with them, you must unavoidably be miserable with them. Say to your soul, O my soul! if you will sin with the multitude, you must be shut out of heaven with the multitude, you must be cast down to hell with the multitude: 'And I heard a voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues' (Rev. 18:4). Come out in affection, in action, and in habitation, or else the infection of sin will bring upon you the infliction of punishment. So says the wise man, 'He who walks with wise men shall be wise—but a companion of fools shall be destroyed,' (Prov. 13:20). Multitudes may help you into sin, yes, one may draw you into sin—but it is not multitudes who can help you to escape punishments; as you may see in Moses and Aaron, that were provoked to sin by the multitude—but were shut out of the pleasant land, and fell by a hand of justice as well as others.
Sin and punishment are linked together with chains of adamant. Of sin we may say, as Isidore does of the serpent, 'So many colors, so many dolours.'
Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, The worth and excellency of your
immortal soul. Your soul is a jewel more worth than heaven and earth. The loss of your soul is incomparable, irreparable, and irrecoverable. If your soul is lost—all is lost, and you are undone forever. Is it madness and folly in a man to kill himself for company, and is it not greater madness or folly to break the neck of your soul, and to damn it for company? Be suspect of that way wherein you see multitudes to walk; the multitude being a stream that you must row hard against, or you will be carried into that gulf out of which angels cannot deliver you. Is it not better to walk in a straight way alone, than to wander into crooked ways with company? Surely, it is better to go to heaven alone—than to hell with company!
I might add other things—but these may suffice for the present; and I am afraid, if these arguments do not stir you, other arguments will work but little upon you. What wise man would fetch gold out of a fiery crucible; that is, hazard his immortal soul, to gain the world, by following a multitude in those steps that led to the chambers of death and darkness?
DEVICE 7. By casting in a multitude of vain thoughts, while the soul is in seeking of God, or in waiting on God;and by this device he has cooled some men's spirits in heavenly services, and taken off, at least for a time, many precious souls from religious performances.
"I have no heart to hear, nor no heart to pray, nor no delight in reading, nor in the society of the saints. Satan does so dog and follow my soul, and is still a-casting in such a multitude of vain thoughts concerning God, the world, and my own soul, that I even tremble to think of waiting upon God in any religious service. Oh! the vain thoughts that Satan casts in, do so distaste my soul, and so grieve, vex, perplex, and distract my soul, that they even make me weary of holy duties, yes, of my very life. Oh! I cannot be so raised and ravished, so heated and melted, so quickened and enlarged, so comforted and refreshed—as I should be, as I might be, and as I would be in religious services—by reason of that multitude of vain thoughts, which Satan is injecting or casting into my soul. Lord, now how gladly would I serve you, and vain thoughts will not allow me!"
Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, To have your hearts strongly affected with the greatness, holiness, majesty, and glory of that God before whom you stand, and with whom your souls converse in religious services. Oh! let your souls be greatly affected with the presence, purity, and majesty of that God before whom you stand. A man would be afraid of playing with a feather, when he is speaking with a king. Ah! when men have poor, low, light, slight thoughts of God, in their drawing near to God, they tempt the devil to bestir himself, and to cast in a multitude of vain thoughts to disturb and distract the soul in its waiting on God. There is nothing that will contribute so much to the keeping out of vain thoughts, as to look upon God as an omniscient God, an omnipresent God, an omnipotent God, a God full of all glorious perfections, a God whose majesty, purity, and glory will not allow him to behold the least iniquity. The reason why the blessed saints and glorious angels in heaven have not so much as one vain thought is, because they are greatly affected with the greatness, holiness, majesty, purity, and glory of God.
When Pompey could not keep his soldiers in the camp by persuasion he cast himself down along in the narrow passage which led out of it, and bade them go if they would—but they must first trample upon their general; and the thoughts of this overcame them. You are wise, and know how to apply it to the point in hand.
Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, To be faithful in religious services, notwithstanding all those wandering thoughts the soul is troubled with. This will be a sweet help against them: for the soul to be resolute in waiting on God, whether it be troubled with vain thoughts or not; to say, 'Well I will pray still, and hear still, and meditate still, and keep fellowship with the saints still.' Many precious souls can say from experience, that when their souls have been steadfast in their waiting on God, that Satan has left them, and has not been so busy in vexing their souls with vain thoughts. When Satan perceives that all those trifling vain thoughts that he casts into the soul do but vex the soul into greater diligence, carefulness, watchfulness, and steadfastness in holy and heavenly services, and that the soul loses nothing of his zeal, piety, and devotion—but doubles his care, diligence,
and earnestness, he often ceases to interpose his trifles and vain thoughts, as he ceased to tempt Christ, when Christ was steadfast in resisting his temptations.
It is a rule in the civil law that nothing seems to be done, if there remains anything to be done. If once you say, 'it is enough', you are undone.
Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, to consider this, That those vain and trifling thoughts that are cast into our souls, when we are waiting upon God in this or that religious service, if they be not cherished and indulged—but abhorred, resisted, and disclaimed; they are not sins upon our souls, though they may be troubles to our minds; they shall not be put upon our accounts, nor keep mercies and blessings from being enjoyed by us. When a soul in uprightness can look God in the face, and say, Lord, when I approach near unto you, there are a world of vain thoughts crowd in upon me, which disturb my soul, and weaken my faith, and lessen my comfort and spiritual strength. Oh, these are my clog, my burden, my torment, my hell! Oh, do justice upon these, free me from these, that I may serve you with more freeness, singleness, spiritualness, and sweetness of spirit. These thoughts may vex that soul— but they shall not harm that soul. nor keep a blessing from that soul. If vain thoughts resisted and lamented could stop the current of mercy, and render a soul unhappy, there would be none on earth that should ever taste of mercy, or be everlastingly happy.
It is not Satan casting in of vain thoughts that can keep mercy from the soul, or undo the soul—but the lodging and cherishing of vain thoughts: 'O Jerusalem, how long shall vain thoughts lodge within you?' (Jer.4:14) Vain thoughts pass through the best hearts; they are lodged and cherished only in the worst hearts.
Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, That watching against sinful thoughts, resisting of sinful thoughts, lamenting and weeping over sinful thoughts, carries with it the sweetest and strongest evidence of the truth and power of grace, and of the sincerity of your hearts, and is the readiest and the surest way to be rid of them
(Psalm 139:23). Many low and carnal considerations may cause men to watch their words, their lives, their actions; as hope of gain, or to please friends, or to get a name in the world, and many other such like considerations. Oh! but to watch our thoughts, to weep and lament over them—this must needs be from some noble, spiritual, and internal principle—such as love to God, a holy fear of God, a holy care and delight to please the Lord. Thoughts are the first-born, the blossoms of the soul, the beginning of our strength—whether for good or evil; and they are the greatest evidences for or against a man, that can be.
The schools do well observe, that outward sins are of greater infamy—but inward heart sins are of greater guilt, as we see in the devil's. There is nothing that so speaks out a man to be thoroughly and kindly wrought upon, as his having his thoughts to be 'brought into obedience,' as the apostle speaks, 2 Cor. 10:4, 5. Grace is grown up to a very great height in that soul where it prevails, to the subduing of those vain thoughts that walk up and down in the soul. (Psalm 139:23; Is. 59:7; 66:18; Matt. 9:4; 12:25.)
Well! though you cannot be rid of them, yet make resistance and opposition against the first risings of them. When sinful thoughts arise, then think thus, The Lord takes notice of these thoughts; 'he knows them afar off,' as the Psalmist speaks (Psalm 138:6). He knew Herod's bloody thoughts, and Judas's betraying thoughts, and the Pharisees' cruel and blasphemous thoughts afar off. (Matt. 15:15-18).
Oh! think thus: All these sinful thoughts, they defile and pollute the soul, they deface and spoil much of the inward beauty and glory of the soul. If I commit this or that sin, to which my thoughts incline me, then either I must repent or not repent; if I repent, it will cost me more grief, sorrow, shame, heart-breaking, and soul-bleeding, before my conscience will be quieted, divine justice pacified, my comfort and joy restored, my evidences cleared, and my pardon in the court of conscience sealed—than the imagined profit or seeming sensual pleasure can be worth. 'What fruit had you in those things whereof you are now ashamed' (Rom. 6:21).
Tears, instead of gems, were the ornaments of David's bed when he had sinned; and so they must be yours, or else you must lie down in the bed of
sorrow forever.
If I never repent, oh! then my sinful thoughts will be scorpions that will eternally vex me, the rods that will eternally lash me, the thorns that will everlastingly pierce me, the dagger that will be eternally a-stabbing me, the worm that will be forever a-gnawing me! Oh! therefore, watch against them, be constant in resisting them, and in lamenting and weeping over them, and then they shall not hurt you, though they may for a time trouble you. And remember this—he who does this, does more than the most glistering and blustering hypocrite in the world does.
Inward bleeding kills many a man; so will sinful thoughts, if not repented of.
Remedy (5). The fifth remedy against this device of Satan is, To labor more and more to be filled with the fullness of God, and to be enriched with all spiritual and heavenly things. What is the reason that the angels in heaven have not so much as an idle thought? It is because they are filled with the fullness of God (Eph. 3:19). Take it for an experienced truth, the more the soul is filled with the fullness of God and enriched with spiritual and heavenly things—the less room there is in that soul for vain thoughts. The fuller the vessel is of wine—the less room there is for water. Oh, then, lay up much of God, of Christ, of precious promises, and choice experiences in your hearts—and then you will be less troubled with vain thoughts. 'A good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, brings forth good things' (Matt. 12:35).
Remedy (6). The sixth remedy against this device of Satan is, To keep up holy and spiritual affections; for such as your affections are, such will be your thoughts. 'Oh how I love your law! it is my meditation all the day' (Psalm 119:97). What we love most, we most muse upon. 'When I awake, I am still with you' (Psalm 139:18). That which we much like—we shall much mind. Those who are frequent in their love to God and his law, will be frequent in thinking of God and his law—a child will not forget his mother.
Remedy (7). The seventh remedy against this device of Satan is, To avoid multiplicity of worldly business. Oh, let not the world take up your hearts and thoughts. Souls which are torn in pieces with the cares of the world will be always vexed and tormented with vain thoughts in all their approaches to God. Vain thoughts will be still crowding in upon him that lives in a crowd of business. The stars which have least circuit are nearest the pole; and men that are least perplexed with business are commonly nearest to God.
2 Tim. 2:4, 'No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs--he wants to please his commanding officer.' This is a comparison which Paul borrows from the custom of the Roman empire, wherein soldiers were forbidden to take up private businesses.
DEVICE 8. By working them to rest in their performances; to rest in prayer, and to rest in hearing, reading, and the communion of saints.
And when Satan has drawn the soul to rest upon the service done, then he will help the soul to reason thus: Why, you had better never pray, as to pray and rest in prayer; you had better never hear, as to hear and rest in hearing; you had better never be in the communion of saints, as to rest in the communion of saints. And by this device he stops many souls in their heavenly race, and takes off poor souls from those services that should be their joy and crown (Is. 58:1-2, Zech. 7:4-6, Matt. 6:2, Rom. 1:7).
Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, To dwell much upon the imperfections and weaknesses which attend your choicest services. Oh the spots, the blots, the blemishes that are to be seen on the face of our best duties! When you have done all you can, you have need to close up all with this, 'Oh enter not into judgment with your servant, O Lord' (Psalm 143:2), for the weaknesses that cleave to my best services. We may all say with the church, 'All our righteousnesses are as a menstruous cloth' (Is. 64:6). If God should be strict to mark what is done amiss in our best actions, we are undone! Oh the water that is mingled with our wine; the dross that cleaves unto our gold! Pride and
high confidence is most apt to creep in upon 'duties well done'.
Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, to consider The impotence and inability of any of your best services, divinely to comfort, refresh, and bear your souls up from fainting, and sinking in the days of trouble, when darkness is round about you, when God shall say to you, as he did once to the Israelites, 'Go and cry unto the gods that you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your tribulation' (Judges 10:14). So, when God shall say in the day of your troubles, Go to your prayers, to your hearing, and to your fasting, and see if they can help you, if they can support you, if they can deliver you.
If God in that day does but withhold the influence of his grace, your former services will be but poor cordials to comfort you; and then you must and will cry out, Oh, 'none but Christ, none but Christ!' Oh my prayers are not Christ, my hearing is not Christ, my fasting is not Christ. Oh! one smile of Christ, one glimpse of Christ, one good word from Christ, one nod of love from Christ in the day of trouble and darkness— will more revive and refresh the soul than all your former services, in which your souls rested, as if they were the bosom of Christ, which should be the only center of our souls. Christ is the crown of crowns, the glory of glories, and the heaven of heavens.
Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, That good things rested upon will as certainly undo us, and everlastingly destroy us—as the foulest enormities which can be committed by us. Those souls that after they have done all, do not look up so high as Christ—and rest, and center alone in Christ, laying down their services at the footstool of Christ—must lie down in sorrow; their bread is prepared for them in hell. 'But watch out, you who live in your own light and warm yourselves by your own fires. This is the reward you will receive from me: You will soon lie down in great torment' (Is. 50:11). Is it good to dwell with everlasting burnings, with a devouring fire? Why then, rest in your duties still? See that you center only in the bosom of Christ.
Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, To
dwell much upon the necessity and excellency of that restingplace which God has provided for you. Above all other restingplaces—he himself is your resting-place; his free mercy and love is your resting-place; the pure, glorious, matchless, and spotless righteousness of Christ is your resting-place. Ah! it is sad to think, that most men have forgotten their resting-place, as the Lord complains: 'My people have been as lost sheep, their shepherds have caused them to go astray, and have turned them away to the mountains: they are gone from mountain to hill, and forgotten their resting-place' (Jer. 50:6). So poor souls who do not see the excellency of that resting-place that God has appointed for their souls to lie down in—they wander from mountain to hill, from one duty to another, and here they will rest and there they will rest. But those who see the excellency of that resting-place that God has provided for them, they will say, 'Farewell prayer, farewell hearing, farewell fasting. I will rest no more in you—but now I will rest only in the bosom of Christ, the love of Christ, the righteousness of Christ!'
SATAN'S DEVICES TO KEEP SAINTS IN A SAD, DOUBTING,
QUESTIONING & UNCOMFORTABLE CONDITION
Though Satan can never rob a believer of his crown, yet such is his malice and envy, that he will leave no stone unturned, no means unattempted, to rob them of their comfort and peace—to make their life a burden and a hell unto them, to cause them to spend their days in sorrow and mourning, in sighing and complaining, in doubting and questioning. 'Surely,' he says, 'we have no interest in Christ; our graces are not true, our hopes are the hopes of hypocrites; our confidence is our presumption, our enjoyments are our delusions.'
Blessed John Bradford (the martyr) in one of his epistles, says thus, 'O Lord, sometime methinks I feel it so with me—as if there were no difference between my heart and the wicked. I have a blind mind as they, a stout, stubborn, rebellious hard heart as they,' and so he goes on.
I shall show you this in some particulars:
DEVICE 1. The first device that Satan has to keep souls in a sad, doubting, and questioning condition, and so making their life a hell, is, By causing them to be still poring and musing upon sin, to mind their sins more than their Savior; yes, so to mind their sins as to forget, yes, to neglect their Savior; that, as the Psalmist speaks, 'The Lord is not in all their thoughts' (Psalm 10:4). Their eyes are so fixed upon their disease, that they cannot see the remedy, though it be near; and they do so muse upon their debts, that they have neither mind nor heart to think of their Surety. A Christian should wear Christ in his bosom as a flower of delight, for he is a whole paradise of delight. He who minds not Christ more than his sin, can never be thankful and fruitful as he should.
Remedy (1). The first remedy is for weak believers to consider, That though Jesus Christ has not freed them from the presence of sin, yet he has freed them from the damnatory power of sin. It is most true that sin and grace were never born together, neither shall sin and grace die together; yet while a believer breathes in this world, they must live together, they must keep house together. Christ in this life will not free any believer from the presence of any one sin, though he does free every believer from the damning power of every sin. 'There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh—but after the Spirit' (Rom. 8:1). The law cannot condemn a believer, for Christ has fulfilled it for him; divine justice cannot condemn him, for that Christ has satisfied; his sins cannot condemn him, for they in the blood of Christ are pardoned; and his own conscience, upon righteous grounds, cannot condemn him, because Christ, that is greater than his conscience, has acquitted him.
My sins hurt me not, if they like me not. Sin is like that wild fig-tree, or ivy in the wall; cut off stump, body, bough, and branches, yet some strings or other will sprout out again, until the wall be plucked down.
Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, to consider, That though Jesus Christ has not freed you from the molesting and vexing power of sin, yet he has freed you from
the reign and dominion of sin. You say that sin does so molest and vex you, that you can not think of God, nor go to God, nor speak with God.* Oh! but remember it is one thing for sin to molest and vex you, and another thing for sin to reign and have dominion over you. 'For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law—but under grace' (Rom. 6:14). Sin may rebel—but it shall never reign in a saint. It fares with sin in the regenerate as with those beasts that Daniel speaks of, 'that had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season' (Dan. 7:12). The primitive Christians chose rather to be thrown to lions without, than left to lusts within.
Now sin reigns in the soul, when the soul willingly and readily obeys it, and submits to its commands, as subjects do actively obey and embrace the commands of their prince. The commands of a king are readily embraced and obeyed by his subjects—but the commands of a tyrant are embraced and obeyed unwillingly. All the service that is done to a tyrant, is out of violence, and not out of loving obedience. A free and willing subjection to the commands of sin speaks out the soul to be under the reign and dominion of sin; but from this plague, this hell, Christ frees all believers. It is a sign that sin has not gained your consent—but committed a rape upon your souls, when you cry out to God. If the ravished virgin under the law cried out—she was guiltless (Deut. 22:27); so when sin plays the tyrant over the soul, and the soul cries out, it is guiltless; those sins shall not be charged upon the soul.
Sin cannot say of a believer as the centurion said of his servants, 'I bid one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to another, Do this, and he does it' (Matt. 8:9). No! the heart of a saint rises against the commands of sin; and when sin would carry his soul to the devil, he hates his sin, and cries out for justice. Lord! says the believing soul, sin plays the tyrant, the devil in me; it would have me to do that which wars against your holiness as well as against my happiness; against your honor and glory, as my comfort and peace; therefore do me justice, O righteous judge of heaven and earth, and let this tyrant sin die for it! "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?"
Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is,
Constantly to keep one eye upon the promises of remission of sin, as well as the other eye upon the inward operations of sin. This is the most certain truth, that God graciously pardons those sins to his people—that he will not in this life fully subdue in his people. Paul prays thrice (that is, often), to be delivered from the thorn in the flesh. All he can get is 'My grace is sufficient for you' (2 Cor. 12:9); I will graciously pardon that to you—which I will not conquer in you, says God. 'And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me, and whereby they have transgressed against me. I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember your sins (Jer. 33:8, Is. 43:25).
Ah! you lamenting souls, who spend your days in sighing and groaning under the sense and burden of your sins, why do you deal so unkindly with God, and so injuriously with your own souls, as not to cast an eye upon those precious promises of remission of sin which may bear up and refresh your spirits in the darkest night, and under the heaviest burden of sin?
Is. 44:2; Micah 7:18, 19; Col. 2:13, 14. The promises of God are a precious book; every leaf drops myrrh and mercy. Though the weak Christian cannot open, read, and apply them, Christ can and will apply them to their souls. 'I, I am he, blotting out your transgressions' today and tomorrow (the Hebrew denotes a continued act of God).
Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, To look upon all your sins as charged upon the account of Christ, as debts which the Lord Jesus has fully satisfied;and indeed, were there but one farthing of that debt unpaid that Christ was engaged to satisfy, it would not have stood with the unspotted justice of God to have let him come into heaven and sit down at his own right hand. But all our debts, by his death, being discharged, we are freed, and he is exalted to sit down at the right hand of his Father, which is the top of his glory, and the greatest pledge of our felicity: 'For he has made him to be sin for us that knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him,' said the apostle (2 Cor. 5:21). Christ was the greatest of sinners by imputation and reputation.
All our sins were made to meet upon Christ, as that evangelical prophet has it: 'He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:3-6).
In law, we know that all the debts of the wife are charged upon the husband. Says the wife to one and to another, If I owe you anything, go to my husband. So may a believer say to the law, and to the justice of God, If I owe you anything, go to my Christ, who has undertaken for me. I must not sit down discouraged, under the apprehension of those debts, which Christ, to the utmost farthing, has fully satisfied. Would it not argue much weakness, I had almost said much madness, for a debtor to sit down discouraged upon his looking over those debts that his surety has readily, freely, and fully satisfied? The sense of his great love should engage a man forever to love and honor his surety, and to bless that hand that has paid the debt, and cancelled the books. But to sit down discouraged when the debt is satisfied, is a sin which bespeaks repentance.
Christ has the greatest worth and wealth in him. As the worth and value of many pieces of silver is in one piece of gold, so all the excellencies scattered abroad in the creatures are united in Christ. All the whole volume of perfections which are spread through heaven and earth are epitomized in him.
Christ has cleared all reckoning between God and us. You remember the scapegoat. Upon his head all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, were confessed and put, and the goat did bear upon him all their iniquities (Lev. 16:21). Why! the Lord Jesus is that blessed scapegoat, upon whom all our sins were laid, and who alone has carried 'our sins away into the land of forgetfulness, where they shall never be remembered more.'
Christ is the channel of grace from God. A believer, under the guilt of his sin, may look the Lord in the face, and sweetly plead thus with him: It is true, Lord, I owed you much—but your Son was my ransom, my redemption. His blood was the price; he was my surety and undertook to answer for my sins; I know you must be satisfied, and Christ has satisfied you to the utmost farthing: not for himself, for what sins had he of his own? but for me; they were my debts that he satisfied for; be pleased to look over the book, and you shall find that it is crossed by your own hand upon this very account, that Christ has suffered and satisfied for them.
The bloods of Abel, for so the Hebrew has it, as if the blood of one Abel had so many tongues as drops, cried for vengeance against sin; but the blood of Christ cries louder for the pardon of sin!
Remedy (5). The fifth remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, Of the reasons why the Lord is pleased to have his people exercised, troubled, and vexed with the operations of sinful corruption; and they are these: partly to keep them humble and low in their own eyes; and partly to put them upon the use of all divine helps, whereby sin may be subdued and mortified; and partly, that they may live upon Christ for the perfecting the work of sanctification; and partly, to wean them from things below, and to make them heart-sick of their absence from Christ, and to maintain in them affections of compassion towards others who are subject to the same infirmities with them; and that they may distinguish between a state of grace and a state of glory, and that heaven may be more sweet to them when finally arrived there.
Now does the Lord upon these weighty reasons allow his people to be exercised and molested with the operations of sinful corruptions? Oh then, let no believer speak, write, or conclude bitter things against his own soul and comforts, because sin so troubles and vexes his righteous soul. But he should lay his hand upon his mouth and be silent, because the Lord will have it so, upon such weighty grounds as the soul is not able to withstand.
Remedy (6). The sixth remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly
to consider, That believers must repent for their being discouraged by their sins. Their being discouraged by their sins will cost them many a prayer, many a tear, and many a groan; and that because their discouragements under sin flow from ignorance and unbelief. It springs from their ignorance of the richness, freeness, fullness, and everlastingness of God's love; and from their ignorance of the power, glory, sufficiency, and efficacy of the death and sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ; and from their ignorance of the worth, glory, fullness, largeness, and completeness of the righteousness of Jesus Christ; and from their ignorance of that real, close, spiritual, glorious, and inseparable union which exists between Christ and their precious souls. Ah! did precious souls know and believe the truth of these things as they should, they would not sit down dejected and overwhelmed under the sense and operation of sin.
God never gave a believer a new heart that it should always lie a-bleeding, and that it should always be rent and torn in pieces with discouragements.
DEVICE 2. By working them to make false definitions of their graces.
Satan knows, that as false definitions of sin wrong the soul one way, so false definitions of grace wrong the soul another way.
Oh how does Satan labor with might and main to work men to make false definitions of FAITH! Some he works to define faith too high, as that it is a full assurance of the love of God to a man's soul in particular, or a full persuasion of the pardon and remission of a man's own sins in particular. Says Satan, What do you talk of faith? Faith is an assurance of the love of God, and of the pardon of sin; and this you have not; you know you are far off from this; therefore you have no faith. And by drawing men to make such a false definition of faith, he keeps them in a sad, doubting, and questioning condition, and makes them spend their days in sorrow and sighing, so that tears are their drink, and sorrow is their food, and sighing is their work all the day long.
The philosophers say there are eight degrees of. Now, if a man should define heat only by the highest degree, then all other degrees will be ruled out from being heat. So if men shall define faith only by the highest degrees, by assurance of the love of God, and of the pardon of his sins in particular, what will become of lesser degrees of faith?
If a man should define a man to be a living man, only by the highest and strongest demonstrations of life, as laughing, leaping, running, working, and walking; would not many thousands who groan under internal and external weaknesses, and who cannot laugh, nor leap, nor run, nor work, nor walk—be found dead men by such a definition, that yet we know to be alive? It is so here, and you know how to apply it.
Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, That there may be true faith, yes, great measures of faith, where there is no assurance. The Canaanite woman in the Gospel had strong faith, yet no assurance that we read of. 'These things have I written unto you,' says John, 'who believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life' (1 John 5:13). In these words you see that they did believe, and had eternal life, in respect of the purpose and promise of God, and in respect of the seeds and beginnings of it in their souls, and in respect of Christ their head, who sits in heaven as a public person, representing all his chosen ones, 'Who has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus' (Eph. 2:6); and yet they did not know that they had eternal life.
It is one thing to have a right to heaven, and another thing to know it; it is one thing to be beloved, and another thing for a man to know that he is beloved. It is one thing for God to write a man's name in the book of life, and another thing for God to tell a man that his name is written in the book of life; and to say to him (Luke 10:20), 'Rejoice, because your name is written in heaven.' So Paul: 'In whom you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also, after you believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise' (Eph. 1:13). So Micah: 'Rejoice not against me, O my enemy: for when I shall fall, I shall rise; when I shall sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned' (Micah 7:8, 9).
This soul had no assurance, for he sits in darkness, and was under the sad countenance of God; and yet had strong faith, as appears in those words, 'When I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.' He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness. So also those in Is. 50:10 had faith, though they had no assurance. And let this suffice for the first answer.
Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, That God in the Scripture defines faith otherwise. God defines faith to be a receiving of Christ—'As many as received him, to them he gave this privilege, to be the sons of God' (John 1:12). 'To as many as believed on his name'—to be a cleaving of the soul unto God, though no joy—but afflictions, attend the soul (Act. 11:23). Yes, the Lord defines faith to be a coming to God in Christ, and often to a resting and staying, rolling of the soul upon Christ. It is safest and sweetest to define as God defines, both vices and graces. This is the only way to settle the soul, and to secure it against the wiles of men and devils, who labor, by false definitions of grace, to keep precious souls in a doubting, staggering, and languishing condition, and so make their lives a burden, a hell, unto them. Matt. 11:23; John 6:37; Heb. 7:25, 26.
Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, seriously to consider this, That there may be true faith where there is much doubtings. Witness those frequent sayings of Christ to his disciples, 'Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?' (Matt. 6:30, 14:31, 16:8; Luke 12:28). People may be truly believing who nevertheless are sometimes doubting. In the same people that the fore-mentioned scriptures speak of, you may see their faith commended and their doubts condemned, which does necessarily suppose a presence of both.
Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, That assurance is an effect of faith; therefore it cannot be faith. The cause cannot be the effect, nor the root the fruit. As the effect flows from the cause, the fruit from the root, the stream from the fountain, so does assurance flow from faith. This truth I shall make good thus: The assurance of our salvation and pardon of sin does primarily arise from the witness of the Spirit of God that we are the children of God (Eph. 1:13); and the Spirit never witnesses this