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January 14 - February 26, 2018
“I said in my haste, I am cast out of thy sight;” there is smoke: “yet thou heardest the voice of my prayer;” there is fire. “Master, carest thou not, that we perish?” (Matt. 8:25), cry the disciples; here is smoke of infidelity, yet so much light of faith as stirred them up to pray to Christ. “Lord, I believe:” there is light; “but help my un- belief ” (Mark 9:24): there is smoke. Jonah cries, 2:4, “I am cast out of thy sight:” there is smoke; “yet will I look again to thy holy temple:” there is light. “O miserable man that I am” (Rom. 7:24), saith St. Paul upon sense of his corruption; but
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we carry about us a double principle, grace and nature. The end of it is especially to preserve us from those two dangerous rocks which our natures are prone to dash upon, security and pride; and to force us to pitch our rest on justification, not sanctification, which, besides imperfection, hath some soil.
It is not the best way to fall foul presently with young beginners for some lesser vanities, but show them a more excellent way, and breed them up in positive grounds, and other things will be quickly out of credit with them. It is not amiss to conceal their wants, to excuse some failings, to commend their performances, to cherish their towardness, to remove all rubs out of their way, to help them every way to bear the yoke of religion with greater ease, to bring them in love with God and his service, lest they distaste it before they know it.
When blindness and boldness, ignorance and arrogance, weakness and willfulness meet together in one, it renders men odious to God, it maketh men burdensome in society, dangerous in their counsels, troublers of better designs, untractable and incapable of better direction, miserable in the issue: where Christ showeth his gracious power in weakness, he doth it by letting men understand themselves so far as to breed humility, and magnifying of God’s love to such as they are: he doth it as a preservative against discouragements from weakness, seeing it bringeth men into a less distance from grace,
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The scope of true love is to make the party better, which by concealment oftentimes is hindered; with some a spirit of meekness prevaileth most, but with some a rod. Some must be “pulled out of the fire” (Jude 23), with violence, and they will bless God for us in the day of their visitation.
A sharp reproof sometimes is a precious pearl, and a sweet balm. The wounds of secure sinners will not be healed with sweet words.
though God saith, that “he will fine them as silver is fined” (Zech. 13:9); yet, he said, “he hath fined them, but not as silver” (Isa. 68:10), that is, so exactly as that no dross remaineth, for he hath respect to our weakness. Perfect refining is for another world, for the world of the souls of perfect men.
St. Paul “became all things to all men” (1 Cor. 9:2), stooping unto them for their good. Christ came down from heaven, and emptied himself of majesty in tender love to souls; shall we not come down from our high conceits to do any poor soul good? Shall man be proud after God hath been humble?
That age of the Church which was most fertile in nice questions, was most barren in religion: for it makes people think religion to be only a matter of wit, in tying and untying of knots; the brains of men given that way are hotter usually than their hearts.
God suffereth questions oftentimes to arise for trial of our love and exercise of our parts. Nothing is so certain as that which is certain after doubts.
rousing and waking Scriptures are fittest; yet there be many broken spirits need soft and oily words. Even in the worst time the prophets mingled sweet comfort for the hidden remnant of faithful people. God hath comfort; “Comfort ye my people” (Isa. 40:1), as well as “lift up thy voice as a trumpet” (Isa. 58:1).
It bringeth under a curse “to do the work of the Lord negligently” (Jer. 48:10); even where it is a work of just severity, as when it is sheathing the sword in the bowels of the enemy.
Misery should be a loadstone of mercy, not a footstool for pride to trample on.
love should have a mantle to cast upon lesser errors of those above us.
Though we cannot keep them from perishing which will perish, in regard of the event; yet if we do that which is apt of itself to destroy the souls of others, their ruin is imputable to us.
There is therefore in these judging times good ground of St. James’ caveat, that there should not “be too many masters” (Jas. 3:1); that we should not smite one another by hasty censures, especially in things of an indifferent nature; some things are as the mind of him is that doth them, or doth them not; for both may be unto the Lord.
Christ, for the good aims he seeth in us, overlooketh any ill in them, so far as not to lay it to our charge. Men must not be too curious in prying into the weaknesses of others. We should labor rather to see what they have that is for eternity, to incline our heart to love them, than into that weakness which the Spirit of God will in time consume, to estrange us.
Grace while we live here is in souls, which as they are imperfectly renewed, so they dwell in bodies subject to several humors, which will incline the soul sometimes to excess in one passion, sometimes to excess in another.
The Spirit will only work with his own tools.
“I am black,” saith the church, “but yet comely” (Cant. 1:5). Those ever want comfort that are much in quarrelling with themselves, and through their infirmities are prone to feed upon such bitter things, as will most nourish that distemper they are sick of. These delight to be looking on the dark side of the cloud only.
The prodigal would not say he was no son, but that he was not worthy to be called a son (Luke 15:19). We must neither trust to false evidence, nor deny true; for so we should dishonor the work of God’s spirit in us, and lose the help of that evidence which would cherish our love to Christ, and arm us against Satan’s discouragements.
in the covenant of grace, God requires the truth of grace, not any certain measure; and a spark of fire is fire as well as the whole element. Therefore we must look to grace in the spark as well as in the flame. All have not the like strong, yet the like precious faith (2 Pet. 1:1), whereby they lay hold, and put on, the perfect righteousness of Christ.
It is one thing to be wanting in grace, and another thing to want grace altogether.
in the covenant of grace he requireth no more than he giveth, and giveth what he requireth, and accepteth what he giveth: “He that hath not a lamb may bring a pair of turtle doves” (Lev. 12:6).
Moses without all mercy breaketh all bruised reeds, and quencheth all smoking flax. For the law requireth: personal, perpetual, perfect obedience, and from a perfect heart; and that under a most terrible curse, and giveth no strength, a severe taskmaster, like Pharaoh’s requiring the whole tale, and yet giving no straw. Christ cometh with blessing after blessing even upon those whom Moses had cursed, and with healing balm for those wounds which Moses had made. The same duties are required in both covenants; as “to love the Lord with all our hearts, with all our souls” (Deut. 6:5). In the
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if there be any holy fire in us, it is kindled from heaven by the “Father of lights, who commandeth light to shine out of darkness” (2 Cor. 4:6).
The light in us, and the light in the Word, spring one from the other, and both from one Holy Spirit;
the least divine light hath heat with it in some measure; light in the understanding breedeth heat of love in the affections.
In what measure the sanctified understanding seeth a thing to be true, or good, in that measure the will embraces it. Weak light breeds weak inclinations; a strong light, strong inclinations.
This prevailing of light in the soul is because, together with the spirit of illumination, there goeth, in the godly, a spirit of power (2 Tim. 1:7), to subdue the heart to truth revealed, and to put a taste and relish into the will, suitable to the sweetness of the truths; else a mere natural will shall rise against supernatural truths, as having an antipathy and enmity against them.
God delights to confound carnal wisdom, as enmity to him, and robbing him of his prerogative, who is God only wise.
Those sparks that are not kindled from heaven, are not strong enough to keep us from lying down in sorrow, though they make a greater blaze and show than the light from above, as madmen do greater things than sober, but by a false strength: so the excess of these men’s joy ariseth from a false light, “the candle of the wicked shall be put out” (Job 18:6).
There is nothing in the world more unquiet than the heart of a wicked man, that sitteth under means of knowledge, until, like a thief, he hath put out the candle, that he may sin with the less check.
God hath put irreconcilable hatred between light and darkness at first, so between good and ill, flesh and spirit (Gal. 5:17); grace will never join with sin, no more than fire with water.
the very complaint, springing from a displeasure against sin, showeth that there is something in him opposite to sin.
Better it is that the water should run something muddily, than not at all. Job had more grace in his distempers than his friends in their seeming wise carriage.
grace laboureth to breed the like impression in others, and make as many good as it can.
What another man doth only civilly, a gracious man will do holily. Whether he eateth or drinketh, or whatsoever he doth, he doth all to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31), making everything serviceable to the last end.
the Spirit of grace carrieth the soul heavenward, and setteth before us holy and heavenly aims.
desires are counted a part of the thing desired in some measure; but then they must be, first, constant, for constancy shows that they are supernaturally natural, and not enforced; secondly, they must be carried to spiritual things, as to believe, to love God: not out of a special exigent, because, if now they had grace, they think they might escape some danger, but as a loving heart is carried to the thing loved for some excellency in itself; and thirdly, with desire there is grief when it is hindered, which stirs up to prayer: “Oh, that my ways were so directed, that I might keep thy
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where true grace is, it groweth in measure and purity.
it argueth a false heart to set ourselves a measure in grace, and to rest in beginnings,
he will never take his hand from his work, until he hath taken away sin, even in its very being, from our natures.
God regards those hidden sighs of those that want abilities to express them outwardly.
Satan’s temptations of Christ were only suggestions on Satan’s part, and apprehensions of the vileness of them on Christ’s part. To apprehend ill suggested by another, is not ill. It was Christ’s grievance, but Satan’s sin. But thus he yielded himself to be tempted, that he might both pity us in our conflicts, and train us up to manage our spiritual weapons as he did.
All scandalous breakings out are but thoughts at the first.
none, say they, have such a loathsome nature as I have. This springs from ignorance of the spreading of original sin, for what can come from an unclean thing, but that which is unclean? “As in the water face answers face, so the polluted heart of one man answereth to the heart of another” (Prov. 27:19), where grace hath not made some difference.
And it is good to take advantage from hence to hate this noisome body of death the more, and to draw nearer unto God, as that holy man after his “foolish and beastly thoughts” (Ps. 73:22, 28), did, and to keep our hearts closer to God, seasoning them with heavenly meditations in the morning, storing up good matter that our heart may be a good treasury, and begging of Christ his Holy Spirit to stop that cursed issue, and to be a living spring of better thoughts in us.
they force the soul to all spiritual exercises, to watchfulness, and a more near walking with God, and to raise itself to thoughts of a higher nature, which the truth of God, works of God, communion of saints, the mystery of godliness, the consideration of the terror of the Lord, of the excellency of the state of a Christian, and conversation suitable, do abundantly minister.
But our chief comfort is, that our blessed Savior, as he bade Satan avaunt from himself after he had given way awhile to his impudency (Matt. 4:10); so he will command him to be gone from us, when it shall be good for us; he must be gone at a word. And he can and will likewise in his due time rebuke the rebellious and extravagant stirrings of our hearts, and bring all the thoughts of the inner man in subjection to himself.
