13. CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 13 PRECAUTIONS AGAINST FALSE PEACE When the heart is disturbed by sin, do not speak peace to it until God speaks peace to it Peace, without detesting sin, is unwise; so is peace that we authorize ourselves How to know when we authorize our own peace Directions for authorizing peace to ourselves The uselessness of speaking peace carelessly; or doing it singularly and not universally. The NINTH direction: Do not speak peace about a sin until God speaks it.
If God makes the heart uneasy about the guilt of its sickness, as to its root or indwelling, or its particular outbursts, be careful not to tell yourself to have peace about it before God tells you to have peace. Listen to what he says to your soul. This is our next direction. If we fail to observe this caution, the heart will be terribly exposed to the deceitfulness of sin. This has great importance. It is a sad thing for a man to deceive his own soul this way. All the warnings God tenderly gives us to try and examine ourselves, tend to prevent this great evil of speaking peace to ourselves groundlessly. It is like blessing ourselves in opposition to God. It is not my purpose to prove the danger of it, but to help believers prevent it, and to let them know when they are doing it. To manage this instruction correctly, observe the following: 1. It is the great prerogative and sovereignty of God to give grace and peace to whom he pleases.
“He has mercy on whom he will.”206 Among all the sons of men, he calls whom he pleases, and he sanctifies whom he pleases. Among those called and justified, among those he will save, among those on whom he has bestowed grace, he still reserves the privilege to speak peace to whom he pleases, to the degree he pleases.
He is the “God of all consolation” in a special way in dealing with believers.207 That is, of the good things that he keeps locked up for his family, he gives out of this storehouse to all his children at his pleasure. The Lord insists on doing this. “I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts to him and to his mourners. I create the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, says the LORD, and I will heal him.”208 It is the same case I am making here. When God says that he will heal their sin and sadness, he retains this privilege for himself in an special way. “I create the fruit.” He is saying, “Even for these poor wounded creatures, I will create peace in accord with my sovereignty. I will distribute it as I please.” For this reason, what God does is curious, as we will find when we examine saving grace for those in the state of nature. In its outward appearance, the way he saves some and leaves others is often contrary to all probable expectations. That is how it is when he communicates peace and joy to those in the state of grace. He gives out peace and joy quite apart from our expectations, without any apparent reason for his apportionment.
2. It is the prerogative of Christ to speak peace home to the conscience.
Just as God creates peace for whom he pleases, so it is the prerogative of Christ to speak it home to the conscience. The lukewarm church of Laodicea thought she was rich because she had worldly wealth. But in fact she was spiritually poor, blind, and naked. She healed her wounds falsely. She spoke peace to herself when she should not have. Addressing them in the book of Revelation, Christ takes the title of primary witness, “I am the Amen, the faithful Witness.”209 He testifies concerning our true condition. We might mistake our condition, and trouble ourselves needlessly, or we might flatter ourselves on false grounds. But he is the “Amen, the faithful Witness.” What he says about our condition is fact. It is said that he does not “judge after the sight of his eyes.”210 He does not judge according to any outward appearance, or anything that may be subject to a mistake, as we are likely to do. Instead, he judges and determines every cause as it is indeed.
Rules to know whether God is speaking peace about a sin or it is false peace:
Take these two previous observations, and I will give some rules by which to know whether it is God speaking peace to us, or whether we are only speaking peace to ourselves.
Rule 1: God is not speaking peace if there is no hatred of the sin or self-loathing Men are certainly speaking peace to themselves if they do not have the greatest hatred imaginable of their sin, and they do not abhor themselves for it. When men are wounded, disturbed, and bewildered by sin, and they know that there is no remedy apart from the mercy of God through the blood of Christ, they look to him. They look to the promises of the covenant in him. After doing so, they quiet their hearts. They know that it will be well with them. They know that God will be exalted, and that he may be gracious to them. But if their souls are not driven to the greatest hatred of the sin that disquieted them, then this healing, this sense of peace, comes from themselves, and not from God. It is strong wind that the Lord is near, but the Lord is not in the wind.211 When men truly “look on Christ whom they have pierced,” without whom there is no healing or peace, they will “mourn.”212 They will mourn for him because of this transgression of theirs, and they will detest the sin that pierced him. When we go to Christ for healing, faith looks at him specifically as the one who is pierced. Faith takes several views of Christ based on the circumstances in which he is addressed, and based on the type of communion that it has with him. Sometimes faith views his holiness, sometimes his power, sometimes his love, and sometimes his favor with his Father. And when faith goes to him for healing and for peace, it looks especially on the blood of the covenant, and on Christ’s sufferings. That is because “with his stripes we are healed, and the punishment for our peace was on him.”213 So when we look to him for healing, his stripes are to be viewed, not in their outward cruel story (which is the course the Roman Catholics take), but in the love, kindness, mystery, and design of the cross. And when we look to him for peace, his punishment must be viewed. If this is done according to the mind of God, and in the strength of the Spirit poured out on believers, it will produce a hatred of that sin for which healing and peace is sought. God tells us, “Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.”214 And what happens then? “Then you will remember your ways, and be ashamed.” When God establishes a sure covenant of peace with us, it fills the soul with shame for all the ways through which it has been alienated from him. And one of the things that the apostle mentions as attending that godly sorrow, is revenge against the sin: “Behold, you had godly sorrow: what eagerness it evoked in you, what apologies, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what revenge!”215 The Corinthians reflected on their sins with indignation and revenge for their folly in them. As Job realizes thorough healing, he cries, “Now I abhor myself.”216 Until he did so, he had no lasting peace. He might perhaps have excused himself based on that doctrine of free grace so excellently preached by Elihu,217 but he would only have put a bandage on his wounds. He must reach self-abhorrence if he is to be healed. So it was with those in Psalms 78:33-35 who suffered great trouble and confusion brought on by sin. They address God in Christ, which is evident from the titles they use. They call him their Rock and Redeemer, two words which everywhere point to the Lord Christ. I have no doubt that they spoke peace to themselves. But was it sound and lasting? No. It passed away like the early dew. God does not speak one word of peace to their souls. But why did they not have peace? Because, in their address to God, they flattered him. “Nevertheless they flattered him with their mouth, and they lied to him with their tongues.”218 But how does that happen? “Their heart was not right with him, nor were they faithful in his covenant.”219 They did not detest or relinquish the sin about which they spoke peace to themselves. A man may petition for healing and peace, make it to the true Physician, do it in the right way, and quiet his heart in the promises of the covenant. Yet, when peace is spoken, if it is not accompanied by the hatred and abhorrence of that sin which wounded him and caused his distress, then this is not a peace of God’s creating. It is a peace of his own purchasing. He is simply putting a bandage over the wound that remains untreated beneath. It will putrefy, rot, and deteriorate, until it breaks out again with screams, pain, and danger. People who speak peace to themselves know that the trouble with sin involves more than just the uncleanness that comes with it. They know enough to ask for mercy from the Lord in Christ. And yet they keep the sweet morsel of their sin under their tongue. People who walk this path should never think to have true and solid peace. For instance, you may find your heart running after the world. This disturbs you in your communion with God. The Spirit expressly says to you, “If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 220 This sends you to God in Christ to heal your soul and quiet your conscience; yet you do not thoroughly detest the evil itself. Or maybe you detest it well enough, but only because of the consequences. Perhaps you may be saved, but not without going through fire.221 God will have some work with you before he is done. But you will have little peace in this life. You will be sick and weak all your days.222 This is a deceit that lies at the root of the peace of many who profess Christ. It exhausts their peace. They bargain with all their strength about mercy and pardon, and they seem to have great communion with God in doing so. They lie before him and bewail their sins and follies. Anyone would think, as they probably do, that surely they are now parted from their sins. And so they receive the mercy that satisfies their hearts for a short time. But when closely examined, they have kept some secret reserve in their hearts for their folly. At least, they have not had the thorough abhorrence that is necessary to purge this sin. Their entire peace is weak and rotten. It will last only until the words begging for it are past their lips.
Rule 2: God is not speaking peace if it is based on convictions and rational conclusions. When men measure out peace to themselves based on their convictions and rational conclusions, this is a false peace, and it will not continue. I will explain a little what I mean by this. A man has a wound caused by sin. He is convicted by it in his conscience. He has not walked upright in a way worthy of the gospel. Therefore, all is not well and right between God and his soul. He now considers what should be done. He has the Light of Scripture, and he knows what path he must take. He knows how his soul has been healed in the past. He considers that the promises of God are the outward means he can apply to heal his wound and quiet his heart. He searches for these promises in the Scripture, and finds one or more directly suited to his condition. He says to himself, “God speaks about my sin in this promise. I will put on a bandage as long and as wide as my wound.” And so he applies the word of the promise to his condition, and he sets himself down in peace. This is some other kind of appearance on the mount. The Lord is near, but the Lord is not in it. It has not been the work of the Spirit, who alone can “convince us of sin, righteousness, and judgment.” 223 These are the mere actions of the intelligent, rational soul. We say there are three sorts of life: the vegetative (growing), the sensitive (responding to environment), and the rational or intelligent (analytical). Some things are only vegetative. Some are both vegetative and sensitive. Some are rational, which includes both the others. Someone who is rational acts rationally, but he also acts according to both the other qualities: he grows and he is responsive.
It is like that with men in the things of God. Some are mere natural and rational men, some have additional conviction with illumination, and some are truly regenerate. Someone who is regenerate is also rational and enlightened. Therefore, sometimes he may act on rational principles, sometimes on enlightened principles, and sometimes on regenerate principles. His true spiritual life is not the standard for all of his behavior. He does not always act on the basis of his spiritual beliefs, nor do all of his fruits come from that source. In this case I’m speaking of, he is merely acting on the principle of conviction with illumination, through which his rationality is heightened; but the Spirit does not breathe on all these waters at all.
Take this example: Suppose the wound and disquiet in a man’s soul is caused by relapses. Whatever the evil or folly may be, no matter how small, there are no wounds given the soul that are deeper, nor have greater torment, than those caused by repeatedly returning to an evil. In his distress, the man finds this promise, “The LORD will have mercy, and our God will abundantly pardon.”224 That is, God will multiply or add to pardon; he will do it again and again. Or he finds this promise, “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely.”225 The man considers these two promises, and based on them, he concludes that he may have peace. He does so whether the Spirit of God applies this peace to him or not, and whether that gives life and power to the letter of God’s word or not. He does not even consider such things. He does not even listen to whether the Lord God speaks this peace to him. He does not wait for God, who perhaps still hides his face from him. He sees the poor creature stealing peace and running away with it. God knows that the time will come when he will deal with him again, and when he will call him to a new reckoning.226 But he will do so only after this man sees that it is useless to go anywhere that God does not take him by the hand.
I see a number of other questions that arise and interpose themselves here. I cannot address them all, but one I want to say a little about.
It may be said, “Seeing that this seems to be the path that the Holy Spirit leads us in to heal our wounds and quiet our hearts, how do we know when we take this path alone, and when the Spirit also accompanies us?”
Ans. (1.) If any of you are out of the way of this rule, God will quickly let you know it. Besides the fact that you have his promise that “he will guide the meek in judgment and teach them his way,”227 he will not let you continue to err. He will not allow your nakedness to be covered with fig leaves. He will take them away and remove all the peace that you find in them. He will not allow you to settle for such remnants. You will quickly know your wound is not healed. That is, you will quickly know whether you have stolen this peace. The peace you obtain this way will not last. While the mind is overpowered by its own convictions, there is nothing for the anxiety to fix on. Wait a little, and all these rationalizations will grow cold and vanish before the face of the first temptation that arises.
Ans. (2.) This course of rationalization is commonly taken without waiting, which is the grace. Waiting is that unique action of faith which God calls for in such a condition. I know God does sometimes work on the soul instantly, wounding and healing it, as I am persuaded was David’s case when he cut off the lap of Saul’s garment.228 But ordinarily, God calls for waiting and laboring, 229 as a servant might watch and wait on his master. Says the prophet Isaiah, “I will wait on the LORD, who hides his face from the house of Jacob.”230 When they have run from his house, God wants his children to sit on his doorstep awhile, and not instantly rush in on him. If they are so ashamed that they dare not come to him, he takes them by the hand and pulls them inside. Now, self-healers, or men who speak peace to themselves, commonly rush in. They will not hesitate. They do not listen to what God says, but on in they go to be healed.231
Ans. (3.) Such a course of action, though it may quiet the conscience and the mind, does not sweeten the heart with rest and gracious contentment. The answer it receives is much like the one Elisha gave to Naaman, “Go in peace.”232 It quieted his mind, but I question whether it sweetened his heart, or gave him any joy in believing, other than the natural joy that came over him when he was healed. “Do not my words do good,”233 asks the Lord? When God speaks, there is not only truth in his words to answer the conviction of our understanding, but his words also do good. They bring soothing which is sweet, and good, and desirable to the will and to the emotions. By these words, the “soul returns to its rest.”234
Ans. (4.) The worst aspect of rationalizing, is that it does not improve the life, nor heal the evil, nor cure the disease. When God speaks peace, it guides and keeps the soul so that it “does not return again to folly.” 235 When we speak peace to ourselves, the heart is not dissuaded from its evil. It is the surest way to practice backsliding. After bandaging yourself, if you find you are in a battle again, rather than being completely weaned from your sin, then it is too obvious that you have been working on your own soul. Jesus Christ and his Spirit were not there. Often, having done its work, our intellectual nature comes for its reward after only a few days. That is, having instigated this false healing, the intellect is ready to justify applying its own peace again when a new wound occurs. When God speaks peace, there is so much sweetness, and such revealing of his love, that it strongly obligates the soul to turn back from this sin.236 Rule 3: We speak peace to ourselves when we do it carelessly. The prophet complains of this in some teachers: “They have healed the wound of the daughter of my people carelessly.”237 The same is true with some who heal their own wounds with a careless effort. A glance of faith to the promises will do it, and we are done. The apostle tells us that “the word did not benefit” some because “it was not mixed with faith,”238 [NT:4786 sugkerannumi]. “It was not well tempered” and mingled with faith. It is not a mere look to the word of mercy in the promise that heals, but mingling the promise with faith until it is incorporated into its very nature. Then the word will indeed do the soul good. If you had a wound in your conscience that was accompanied by weakness and anxiety, and you are now freed of it, how did you manage that? “I looked to the promises of pardon and healing, and so I found peace.” That may be so, but perhaps you were too hasty. You were too obvious. You have not fed on the promise in a way that mixes it with faith, and diffuses all its virtue into your soul. You did it carelessly. Before long you will find your wound breaking out again, and you will know that you are not cured.
Rule 4: God is not speaking peace if we are holding onto another sin.
Someone may speak peace to himself about one evil, while having another evil, of no less importance to his spirit, that he has not brought to God. That man cries “Peace” when there is none. A little to explain my meaning: perhaps a man has neglected a spiritual duty again and again, when by rights it was due from him. His conscience is troubled. His soul is wounded. He has no quiet in his bones because of his sin. He applies himself to healing, and he finds peace. Meantime there remains in his heart worldliness, or pride, or some other folly that seriously grieves the Spirit of God. It does not bother him, nor does he bother it. He had better not think any of his alleged peace comes from God. It is better to have an equal respect for all of God’s commandments. God will justify us from our sins, but he will not justify the smallest sin in us. “He is a God of purer eyes than to gaze at wickedness.” 239 Rule 5: God is not speaking peace if there is no humiliation in our souls. When men speak peace to their consciences on their own, God seldom speaks humiliation to their souls. God’s peace is a humbling peace, a melting peace. This was David’s case. He was never in deeper humiliation than when Nathan brought him news of his pardon. 240
You ask, “When may we take the comfort of a promise as our own, and use it to quiet our heart in response to some particular wound?”
First, generally when God speaks peace, he may do it in the very instant of the sin itself. He does it with such irresistible power that the soul must receive his mind in it. Sometimes he makes us wait longer. But when he does speak, whether sooner or later, whether we are sinning or repenting, and regardless of the condition of our souls, if God speaks, he must be acknowledged. There is nothing in our communion with him that troubles the Lord more, if I may say so, than our unbelieving fears that keep us from receiving the strong consolation that he is so willing to give us.
You may now say, “When God speaks peace, we must receive it. That is true. But how will we know when he speaks?”
(1.) I wish we could all get to the point of receiving peace when we are convinced that God speaks it, and realize that it is our duty to receive it. But,
(2.) There is a secret instinct in faith, through which it knows the voice of Christ when he speaks. Just as the baby leaped in the womb when the blessed Virgin came to Elizabeth, faith leaps in the heart when Christ draws near to it. “My sheep,” says Christ, “know my voice.”241 “They know my voice; they are used to the sound of it.” and they know when his lips are opened to them, full of grace. The spouse was sad and securely asleep, but as soon as Christ spoke, she cries, “It is the voice of my beloved that speaks!”242 She knew his voice. She was so familiar with him, that she instantly recognized him, and so will you. If you make an effort to acquaint yourself with him and commune with him, you will easily discern between his voice and the voice of a stranger. And take this with you: when he does speak, he speaks like no man ever spoke. He speaks with power. One way or another he will make your “hearts burn within you,” as he did to the disciples.243 He does it by “putting his hand through the hole of the door,”244, by putting his Spirit in your hearts to take hold of you. The person who exercises his senses to discern good or evil, who improves his judgment and experience by constantly observing Christ’s methods, by studying the way the Spirit operates, and the effect his peace usually produces, is the best judge for himself whether it is Christ who speaks.
Secondly, if the word of the Lord does your soul good, then he speaks it. If it humbles you, cleanses you, and is useful for those purposes for which the promises are given (to endear, to cleanse, to melt and bind to obedience, to empty yourself, etc.), then he speaks it. If you do not see these things in the peace you receive, then it is not from God, and sin will have a great opportunity to harden your heart.