06.01b. MORE PEARLS FROM PHILPOT
"The human heart is most deceitful and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?" Jeremiah 17:9
Sometimes we are so astonished . . .
at what we are,
at what we have been, or
at what we are capable of.
We stand sometimes and look at our heart, and see what a seething, boiling, and bubbling is there! And we look at it with indignant astonishment, as we would look into a pool of filthy black mud, all swarming and alive with every hideous creature!
So when a man takes a view of his own heart . . .
its dreadful hypocrisy,
its vile rebellion,
its alarming deceitfulness,
its desperate wickedness,
of what his heart is capable of plotting,
of what evil it can conceive and imagine,
it is as if he stood
A man must have some knowledge of his own heart to understand such language as this.
You that are so exceedingly ’pious’ and so ’extra good’, and from whose heart the veil has never been taken away to show you what you are, will perhaps think that I am drawing a caricature of human nature, and painting it as the haunt of thieves and prostitutes.
Could you but have the veil taken off your heart, you would see that you were capable of doing all that wickedness that others have done, or can do!
By this sight of ourselves, we learn what a wonderful God we have to deal with! Surely none so highly prize the grace of God as those who are most led into a knowledge of the fall, and the havoc and ruin, and the guilt and misery which it has brought into our own hearts.
"They confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." Hebrews 11:13
Many profess that they are strangers and pilgrims here below. But they take care to have as much of this world’s comforts as they can scrape together by hook and by crook.
They talk about being ’strangers’, yet can be in close friendship with men of the world. And could you see them at the exchange, at the market, behind the counter, or at home with their families—you would not find one mark to distinguish them from the ungodly!
Yet they come to chapel—and if called upon to pray, they will tell the people they are "poor strangers and pilgrims in a valley of tears"—while all the time their hearts are in the world—and their eyes stand out with fatness—and they are as light and trifling as a comic actor—and have no concerns except to get
It is not the ’mere profession of the lips’—but ’grace in the heart’, that makes a man a stranger and a pilgrim.
God’s people are strangers and sojourners—the world is not their home—nor can they take pleasure in it. Sin is often a burden to them—guilt often lies as a heavy weight upon their conscience—a thousand troubles harass their minds—a thousand perplexities oppress their souls. They cannot bury their minds in business and derive all their happiness from their successes, for they feel that this earth is not their home. They are often cast down and exercised, because they have to live with such an ungodly heart in such an ungodly world.
"They confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." Hebrews 11:13
"The things which are highly esteemed among men are an abomination in the sight of God!" Luke 16:15
The pride, ambition, pleasures, and amusements, in which we see thousands and tens of thousands engaged —and sailing down the stream into a dreadful gulf of eternity—are all an abomination in the sight of God!
Whereas
faith,
hope,
love,
humility,
brokenness of heart,
tenderness of conscience,
contrition of spirit,
sorrow for sin,
self-loathing,
self-abasement,
looking to Jesus,
taking up the cross,
denying one’s self,
walking in the narrow path that leads to eternal life,—are despised by all—and by none so much as mere heady religious professors—who have a name to live, while dead.
"The things which are highly esteemed among men are an abomination in the sight of God." Luke 16:15
"Hold me up, and I shall be safe!" Psalms 119:117
The Lord’s people are a tempted people. Satan is ever waiting at their gate, constantly suggesting every hateful and improper thought—perpetually inflaming the rebellion and enmity of their carnal mind—and continually plaguing, harassing, and besieging them in a thousand ways!
Can they repel him?
Can they beat back this monster to his filthy den?
Can they beat back this leviathan? They cannot—they feel they cannot. They know that nothing but the voice of Jesus, inwardly speaking with power to their souls, can beat back the lion of the bottomless pit! One whisper, one soft word from the lips of His gracious Majesty, can and will put every temptation to flight!
"Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name—you are Mine! When you go through deep waters and great trouble—I will be with you! When you go through rivers of difficulty—you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression—you will not be burned up—the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel—your Savior!" Isaiah 43:1-3
"Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
Does not this show that the world is an enemy to the Lord, and to the Lord’s people? and never so much an enemy—never to be so much dreaded—as
steals upon your heart,
engrosses your thoughts,
wins your affections,
draws away your mind from God,—then it is to be dreaded.
When the world smites us as an enemy—its blows are not to be feared. It is when it smiles upon us as a friend—it is most to be dreaded.
When our eyes begin to drink it in, when our ears begin to listen to its voice, when our hearts become entangled in its fascinations, when our minds get filled with its anxieties, when our affections depart from the Lord and cleave to the things of time and sense,—then the world is to be dreaded.
"You shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their engraved images with fire!" Deuteronomy 7:5
Our hearts are by nature full of
Lusts after evil things, adulterous images, idolatrous desires, strong hankerings after sin—along with evils which have the impudence to wear a religious garb—such as . . .
towering thoughts of our own ability,
pleasing dreams of creature holiness,
swellings up of pride—dressed out and painted in all the tawdy colors of Satanic delusion—how can these abominations be allowed to run rampant in the human heart?
The altars and religious rites of Canaanites were to be destroyed as much as their idols! And thus we may say of that very religious being—man, that his false worship and heathenish notions of God must be destroyed—as well as his more flagrant, though not more dangerous, lusts and abominations.
The sentence against both is, "Destroy them!" They must not stand side by side with Immanuel, who is to have the preeminence in all things, and who is "the Alpha and the Omega—the first and the last."
And O what a mercy it is to have both our FLESHLY and RELIGIOUS abominations both destroyed! For I am sure that God and self never can rule in the same heart—that Christ and the devil can never reign in the same bosom—each claiming the supremacy!
"I know that nothing good lives in me—that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good—but I cannot carry it out." Romans 7:18
Now it is this which makes the Lord’s people such a burdened people—that makes them so oppressed in their souls as to cry out against themselves daily, and sometimes hourly—that they are what they are—that they would be spiritual, yet are carnal—that they would be holy, yet are unholy—that they would have sweet communion with Jesus, yet have such sensual alliance with the things of time and sense—that they would be Christians in word, thought, and deed; yet, in spite of all, they feel their carnal mind, their wretched depravity intertwining, interlacing, gushing forth—contaminating with its polluted stream everything without and within—so as to make them sigh, groan, and cry being burdened, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" Romans 7:24
He would not be entangled in these snares for ten thousand worlds—he hates the evils of his heart, and mourns over the corruptions of his nature. They make the tear fall from his eye, and the sob to heave from his bosom—they make him a wretched man—and fill him day after day with sorrow, bitterness, and anguish.
None but a saved soul, under divine teaching, can see this evil—and mourn and sigh under the depravity, the corruption, the unbelief, the carnality, the wickedness, and the deceitfulness of his evil heart.
"Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord! So you see how it is—in my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin." Romans 7:25
"The human heart is most deceitful and desperately wicked!
Without a knowledge of the corruptions and abounding evils of our deceitful and desperately wicked heart . . .
unbelief,
infidelity,
pride,
hypocrisy,
worldly mindedness,
carnality,
sensuality,
selfishness;
there will be . . .
no humility,
no self loathing,
no dread of falling,
no desire to be kept,
no knowledge of the super-aboundings of grace, over the aboundings of sin.
"Cornelius and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly." Acts 10:2
Yet Cornelius and his family weren’t saved! (Acts 11:14)
-A generous centurion build a synagogue. (Luke 7:3-5)
-A young man keeps the commandments from his youth up. (Luke 18:21)
-Balaam prophesies. (Numbers 23:16)
-Saul weeps. (1 Samuel 24:16)
-Judas preaches the gospel. (Matthew 10:5-8)
Yet none of these men were saved!
It is at times, enough to fill one’s heart with mingled astonishment and sorrow, to see
To see so much . . .
amiability,
benevolence,
devotedness,
self-denial,
liberality
loveliness of character,
integrity,
consistency of life,
all inescapably dashed against the rock of inflexible justice,
and there shattered and lost—swallowed up with its unhappy possessors in the raging billows beneath—such a sight, did we not know that the Judge of the whole earth cannot do wrong, would indeed stagger us to the very center of our being!
"Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart." Psalms 37:4
By nature we delight in SIN. It is the very element of our nature—and even after the Lord has called us by His grace and quickened us by his Spirit—there is the same love to sin in the heart as there was before. We delight in it—we would wallow in it—take our full enjoyment of it—and swim in it as a fish swims in the waters of the sea!
By nature we also are prone to IDOLATRY. Self is the grand object of all our sensual and carnal worship. Our own exaltation, our own amusement, our own pleasure, our own gratification. Something whereby SELF may be . . .
flattered,
admired,
adored,
delighted,
is the grand end and aim of man’s natural worship.
By nature we also delight in the WORLD. It is . . .
our element,
our home,
what our carnal hearts are intimately blended with. From all these things, then, which are intrinsically evil—which a pure and holy God must hate with absolute abhorrence—we must be weaned and effectually divorced—we need to have these things embittered to us.
All the time we are doing homage and worship to self—all the time we are loving the world—all the time we delight in sin—all the time we are setting up idols in the secret chambers of imagery—there is no delighting ourselves in the Lord.
We cannot delight ourselves in the Lord until we are purged of creature love—until the idolatry of our hearts is not merely manifested, but hated and abhorred—until by . . .
cutting temptations,
sharp exercises,
painful perplexities,
and various sorrows,
we are brought to this state—to be . . .
sick of SIN,
sick of SELF,
sick of the WORLD.
Until we are brought to loathe ourselves, we are not brought to that spot where none but God Himself can comfort, please, or make the soul really happy.
Now the very means that God employs to embitter the world to us are cutting and grievous dispensations—as unexpected reverses in fortune—or afflictions of body, of family, or of soul. But these very means that the Lord employs to divorce our carnal union from the world, stir up the self-pity, the murmuring, the peevishness, and the rebelliousness of our nature. So that we think we are being very harshly dealt with, in being compelled to walk in this trying path.
But only by these cutting dispensations we are eventually brought to delight ourselves in Him, who will give us the desires of our heart.
How long you shall be walking in this painful path—how heavy your trials—what their duration shall be—how deep you may have to sink—how cutting your afflictions may be in body or soul, God has not defined, and we cannot. But they must work until they have produced this result—weaned, divorced, and separated us from all that we naturally love and idolatrously cleave unto—and all that we adulterously roam after. If our trials have not done this, they must go on until they produce that effect.
The burden must be laid upon the back, affliction must try the mind, perplexities must encumber the feet, until we are brought to this point—that none but the Lord Himself, with a taste of His dying love, can comfort our hearts, or give us that inward peace and joy which our soul is taught to crave after.
By five minutes real communion with the Lord . . .
we learn more,
we know more,
we receive more,
we feel more, and
we experience more
than by a thousand years of merely studying the Scriptures, or using external forms, rites, and ceremonies.
One truth written by the Spirit in the heart, will bring forth more fruit in the life, than
What a mercy it is to have a faithful, gracious, and compassionate High Priest who can sympathize with His poor, tried, tempted family—so that
His piteous eye can see us in our low estate,
His gracious ear hear our cries,
His loving heart melt over us, and
His strong arm pluck us from our destructions!
Oh, what would we do without such a gracious and most suitable Savior as our blessed Jesus! How He seems to rise more and more . . .
in our estimation,
in our thoughts,
in our desires,
in our affections,
as we see and feel . . .
what a wreck and ruin we are,
what dreadful havoc sin has made with us,
what miserable outcasts we are by nature.
But oh, how needful it is, dear friend, to be brought down in our soul to be the . . .
chief of sinners,
viler than the vilest,
worse than the worst,
that we may really and truly believe in, and cleave unto, this most precious and suitable Savior!
Yours affectionately in the Lord, J. C. Philpot, October 1, 1868
"Once you were slaves of sin!" Romans 6:17
What a picture does this draw of our sad state, while walking in the darkness and death of unregeneracy!
The Holy Spirit here sets forth Sin as a harsh master, exercising tyrannical dominion over his slaves! How this portrays our state and condition in a state of unregeneracy—slaves to sin!
Just as a master commands his slave to go here and there—imposes on him certain tasks—and has entire and despotic authority over him—so sin . . .
had a complete mastery over us,
used us at its arbitrary will and pleasure,
drove us here and there on its commands.
But in this point we differed from physical slaves—that we did not murmur under our yoke—but gladly and cheerfully obeyed all sin’s commands—and never tired of doing the most servile drudgery!
Thus some have had sin as a very vulgar and tyrannical master, who drove them into open acts of drunkenness, uncleanness, and profligacy—yes, everything base, vile, and evil.
Others have been preserved through education, through the watchfulness and example of parents, or other moral restraints, from going into such open lengths of iniquity—and outward breakings forth of evil. But still sin secretly reigned in their hearts . . .
pride,
worldliness,
love of the things of time and sense,
hatred to God and aversion to His holy will,
selfishness and stubbornness,
in all their various forms, had a complete mastery over them! And though sin ruled over them more as a gentleman—he kept them in a more refined, though not less real or absolute slavery! Whatever sin bade them do, that they did, as implicitly as the most abject slave ever obeyed a tyrannical master’s command.
What a picture does the Holy Spirit here draw of what a man is!
"He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness—and He has brought us into the Kingdom of His dear Son!" Colossians 1:13
How sweet it is to trace the Lord’s hand in providence . . .
to look back on the chequered path that He has led us by;
to see how His hand has been with us for good;
what difficulties He has brought us through;
in what straits He has appeared;
how in things most trying He has wrought deliverance;
and how He has sustained us to the present hour.
How sweet are providential favors when they come stamped with this inscription, "This is from the Lord!" How precious every temporal mercy becomes—our very food, lodging, and clothing!
How sweet is the least thing when it comes down to us as from God’s hands! A man cannot know the sweetness of his daily bread until he sees that God gives it to him—nor the blessedness of any providential dealing until he can say, "God has done this for me—and given that to me." When a man sees the providence of God stamped on every action of life, it casts a glory, a
beauty, and a sweetness over every day of his life!
"
How can this apparent contradiction be reconciled?
It is resolved thus—"having nothing" in self, "possessing all things" in Christ.
And just in proportion as I have nothing in self experimentally—so I possess all things in Christ.
My own beggary leads me out of self into His riches.
My own unrighteousness leads me out of self into Christ’s righteousness.
My own defilement leads me out of self into Christ’s sanctification.
My own weakness leads me out of self into Christ’s strength.
My own misery leads me out of self into Christ’s mercy.
"
These two branches of divine truth, so far from clashing with each other—sweetly, gloriously, and blessedly harmonize. And just in proportion as we know spiritually, experimentally, and vitally of "having nothing," in self—just so much shall we know spiritually, experimentally, and vitally of "possessing all things" in Christ.
"But we have this precious treasure in earthen vessels." 2 Corinthians 4:7
How different is the estimate that the Christian makes of
The world’s idea of
The world’s estimate of
The world’s notion of
But the true Christian takes a different estimate of these matters, and feels that . . .
the only true
the only real
the only solid
Now, just in proportion as we are filled by the Spirit of God—shall we take faith’s estimate of
When the eye of the world looked on the Apostles, it viewed them as a company of poor ignorant men—a set of wild enthusiasts, who traveled about the country preaching Jesus, who they said, had been crucified, and was risen from the dead. The natural eye saw no beauty, no power, no glory in the truths they brought forth. Nor did it see that the poor perishing bodies of these outcast men contained in them a heavenly treasure—and that they would one day shine as the stars forever and ever—while those who despised their word would sink into endless woe.
The spirit of the world can never understand or love the things of eternity—it can only look to, and can only rest upon, the poor perishing things of time and sense.
When once, by the operation of the Spirit on our conscience, we have been stripped of . . .
formality,
superstition,
self-righteousness,
hypocrisy,
presumption,
and the other delusions of the flesh that hide themselves under the mask of religion—we have felt the difference between having a name to live while dead, and the power of vital godliness—and as a measure of divine life has flowed into the heart out of the fullness of the Son of God—we desire no other religion but that which stands in the power of God—by that alone can we live, and by that alone we feel that we can die.
And, at last, we are brought to this conviction and solemn conclusion—that there is no other true religion but that which consists in
And with the Spirit’s teachings are connected . . .
all the actings of faith in the soul,
all the anchorings of hope in the heart,
all the flowings forth of love,
every tear of genuine contrition that flows down the cheeks,
every sigh of godly sorrow that heaves from the bosom,
every cry and groan because of the body of sin,
every breath of spiritual prayer that comes from the heart,
every casting of our souls upon Christ,
all submission to Him,
all communion with Him,
all enjoyment of Him, and
all the inward embracements of Him in His suitability and preciousness.
It will come in at every chink and crevice!
"I know that nothing good lives in me." Romans 7:18
The world within us is ten thousand times worse than the world outside of us!
We may shut and bar our doors, and exclude the outside world—but the world within cannot be so shut out! More—we might go and hide ourselves in a hermit’s cave, and never see the face of man again—but even there we would be as carnal and worldly as if we lived in Vanity Fair!
We cannot shut out the world—
I don’t know how it may be with you, but I have no more power to keep out the workings of sin in my heart—than I have power by holding up my hand to stop the rain from coming down to the earth! Sin will come in at every crack and crevice, and manifest itself in the wretched workings of an evil heart!
The seeds of every crime are in our nature—and therefore, could your flesh have its full swing—there would not be a viler wretch in London than you!
If God is not your master—the devil will be.
If grace does not rule—sin will reign.
If Christ is not your all in all—the world will be.
It is not as though we could roam abroad in total liberty. We must have a master of one kind, or another.
And which is best?
A bounteous, benevolent Benefactor, a merciful, loving, and tender Parent, a kind, forgiving Father and Friend, a tender-hearted, compassionate Redeemer?
OR
A cruel devil, a miserable world, a wicked, vile, abominable heart?
Which is better?
To live under the sweet constraints of the dying love of a dear Redeemer—under . . .
gospel influences,
gospel principles,
gospel promises, and
gospel encouragements?
OR
To walk in imagined liberty, with sin in our heart, exercising dominion and mastery there—and binding us in iron chains to the judgment of the great day?
Even taking the present life—there is more real pleasure, satisfaction, and solid happiness in half an hour with God, in sweet union and communion with the Lord of life and glory, in reading His word with a believing heart, in finding access to His sacred presence, in knowing something of the droppings in of His favor and mercy—than in . . .
all the delights of sin,
all the lusts of the flesh,
all the pride of life, and
all the amusements that the world has ever devised to kill time and cheat self—thinking, by a death-bed repentance—at last to cheat the devil!
This is what the Lord says
The Lord here does not lay down a man’s moral or immoral character as a test of salvation. He does not say, "Cursed is . . .
the thief,
the adulterer,
the extortioner,
the murderer,
the man that lives in open profanity."
He puts all that aside, and fixes His eye and lays His hand upon one mark—which may exist with the greatest morality and with the highest profession of religion.
"I will tell you," the Lord says, "who are under My curse—the person who trusts in man—who depends on flesh for his strength—and in so doing, his heart turns away from Me."
Never again will we say any more to the work of our hands—"You are our gods!" Hosea 14:3
The besetting sin of Israel was the worship of idols.
Perhaps, if you have walked into the British Museum, and seen the idols that were worshiped in former days in the South Sea Islands, you have been amazed that rational beings could ever bow down before such ugly monsters.
But does the heart of a South Sea Islander differ from the heart of an Englishman? Not a bit! The latter may have more civilization and cultivation—but his heart is the same! And though you have not bowed down to these monstrous objects and hideous figures—there may be as filthy an idol in your heart! Where is there a filthier idol than the lusts and passions of man’s fallen nature?
You need not go to the British Museum to see filthy idols and painted images. Look within!
Where is there a more groveling idol than Mammon, and the covetousness of our heart? You need not wonder at heathens worshiping hideous idols—when you have pride, covetousness, and above all
If a person does not see that the root of all idolatry is SELF, he knows but little of his heart.
"I do not understand what I do! For what I want to do I do not do; but what I hate I do. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" Romans 7:15, Romans 7:18-19, Romans 7:21, Romans 7:24
What a picture of that which passes in a godly man’s bosom! He has in him two distinct principles, two different natures—one . . .
holy,
heavenly,
spiritual,
panting after the Lord, and
finding the things of God its element.
And yet in the same bosom a principle . . .
totally corrupt,
thoroughly and entirely depraved,
perpetually striving against the holy principle within,
continually lusting after evil,
opposed to every leading of the Spirit in the soul,
and seeking to gratify its filthy desires at any cost!
Now, must there not be a feeling of misery in a man’s bosom to have these two armies perpetually fighting? That when he desires to do good, evil is present with him—when he would be holy, heavenly minded, tender hearted, loving, seeking God’s glory, enjoying sweet communion with Jehovah—there is a base, sensual, earthly heart perpetually at work—infusing its baneful poison into every thought, counteracting every desire, and dragging him from the heaven to which he would mount, down to the very hell of carnality and filth?
There is a holy, heavenly principle in a man’s bosom that knows, fears, loves, and delights in God. Yet he finds that sin in himself, which is altogether opposed to the mind of Christ, and lusts after that which he hates. Must there not be sorrow and grief in that man’s bosom to feel
Is there ever this piteous cry forced by guilt, shame, and sorrow out of your bosom, "O wretched man that I am!" If not, be assured that you are dead in sin, or dead in a profession. But who is our greatest enemy?
The pride of our heart, the presumption of our heart, the hypocrisy of our heart, the intense selfishness of our heart, are often hidden from us.
This wily devil, self, can wear such masks and assume such forms.
This serpent, self, can so creep and crawl, can so twist and turn, and can disguise itself under such false appearances, that it is often hidden from ourselves.
Who is the greatest enemy we have to fear?
We all have our enemies.
But who is our greatest enemy?
He who you carry in your own bosom—your daily, hourly, and ever-present companion, that entwines himself in nearly every thought of your heart—that . . .
sometimes puffs up with pride,
sometimes inflames with lust,
sometimes inflates with presumption, and
sometimes works under feigned humility and fleshly holiness.
God is determined to stain the pride of human glory. He will never let self (which is but another word for the creature) wear the crown of victory. It must be crucified, denied, and mortified.
Now this self must be overcome. The way to overcome self is by looking out of self to Him who was crucified upon Calvary’s tree—to receive His image into your heart—to be clothed with His likeness—to drink into His spirit—and "receive out of His fullness grace for grace."
"May grace and peace be multiplied unto you." 2 Peter 1:2
When we see and feel how we need grace every moment in our lives, we at once perceive the beauty in asking for an abundant, overflowing measure of grace.
We cannot walk the length of the street without sin.
Our carnal minds, our vain imaginations, are all on the lookout for evil. Sin presents itself at every avenue, and lurks like the prowling night-thief for every opportunity of secret plunder. In fact, in ourselves, in our fallen nature, except as restrained and influenced by grace, we sin with well near every breath that we draw. We need, therefore, grace upon grace, or, in the words of the text, grace to be "multiplied" in proportion to our sins. Shall I say in proportion? No! If sin abounds, as to our shame and sorrow we know it does, we need grace to much more abound!
When the ’tide of sin’ flows in with its muck and mire, we need the ’tide of grace’ to flow higher still, to carry out the slime and filth into the depths of the ocean, so that when sought for, they may be found no more.
grace today,
grace tomorrow,
grace this moment,
grace the next,
grace all the day long.
healing grace,
reviving grace,
restoring grace,
saving grace,
sanctifying grace.
And all this multiplied by all our . . .
wants and woes,
sins,
slips,
falls, and
unceasing and aggravated backslidings.
grace to believe,
grace to hope,
grace to love,
grace to fight,
grace to conquer,
grace to stand,
grace to live,
grace to die.
Every moment of our lives we need . . .
keeping grace,
supporting grace,
upholding grace,
withholding grace.
"May grace and peace be multiplied unto you." 2 Peter 1:2
Are you seeking great things for yourself?
Oh, how many ministers do I see led by . . .
ambition,
pride,
self-interest, or
covetousness!
How few have singleness of eye to God’s glory!
"
Ministers often seek . . .
great gifts,
great eloquence,
great knowledge of mysteries,
great congregations,
great popularity and influence.
"
We are not flogged into loving Him
"Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth." Colossians 3:2
Where are your affections to be set?
Are they to be set on "things on the earth" . . .
those perishing toys,
those polluting vanities,
those carking cares,
which must ever dampen the life of God in the soul?
The expression, "things on the earth," takes in a wide scope. It embraces not only the vain toys, the ambitious hopes, the perishing pleasures in which a gay, unthinking world is sunk and lost—but even the legitimate calls of business, the claims of wife and home, family and friends, with every social tie that binds to earth. Thus . . .
every object on which the eye can rest;
every thought or desire that may spring up in the mind;
every secret idol that lurks in the bosom;
every care and anxiety that is not of grace;
every fond anticipation of pleasure or profit that the world may hold out, or the worldly heart embrace—all, with a million pursuits in which man’s fallen nature seeks employment or happiness—are "things on the earth" on which the affections are not to be set.
We may love our wives and children. We should pursue our lawful callings with diligence and industry. We must provide for our families according to the good providence of God. But we may not so set our affections on these things, that they pull us down from heaven to earth. He who is worthy of all our affections claims them all for Himself. He who is the Bridegroom of
the soul demands, as He has fairly won, the unrivaled love of His bride.
But how are we to do this?
Can we do this great work by ourselves? No! it is only the Lord Himself, manifesting His beauty and blessedness to our soul, and letting down the golden cord of His love into our bosom, that draws up our affections, and fixes them on Himself. In order to do this, He captivates the heart by . . .
some look of love,
some word of His grace,
some sweet promise, or
some divine truth spiritually applied.
When He thus captivates the soul, and draws it up, then the affections flow unto Him as the source and fountain of all blessings.
Jesus must be revealed to our soul by the power of God before we can see His beauty and blessedness—and so fall in love with Him as "the chief among ten thousand, and the altogether lovely One." Then everything that . . .
speaks of Christ,
savors of Christ,
breathes of Christ,
becomes inexpressibly sweet and precious!
In no other way can our affections be lifted up from earth to heaven. We cannot control our affections—they will run out of their own accord. If then our affections are earthly, they will run towards earthly objects. If they are carnal and sensual, they will flow towards carnal and sensual objects.
But when the Lord Jesus Christ, by some manifestation of His glory and blessedness—or the Holy Spirit, by taking of the things of Christ and revealing them to the soul—sets Him before our eyes as the only object worthy of, and claiming every affection of our heart—then the affections flow out, I was going to say naturally, but most certainly spiritually, towards Him. And when this is the case, the affections are set on things above.
O what a company of lusts!
"We are powerless against this mighty army that is attacking us! We do not know what to
do. But our eyes are upon You!" 2 Chronicles 20:12
There is no use fighting the battle in our own strength. We have none.
O, when temptation creeps like a serpent into the carnal mind, it winds its secret way and coils around the heart. As the boa-constrictor is said to embrace its victim, entwining his coil around it, and crushing every bone without any previous warning—so does temptation often seize us suddenly in its powerful embrace. Have we in ourselves any more power to extricate our flesh from its slimy folds, than the poor animal has from the coils of the boa-constrictor?
So with the corruptions and lusts of our fallen nature. Can you always master them? Can you seize these serpents by the neck and wring off their heads?
To examine our heart is something like examining by the microscope a drop of ditch-water—the more minutely it is looked into, the more hideous forms appear. All these strange monsters, too, are in constant motion, devouring or devoured. And, as more powerful lenses are put on the microscope, more and more loathsome creatures emerge into view, until eye and heart sicken at the sight.
Such is our heart. Superficially viewed—passably fair. But examined by the spiritual microscope, hideous forms of every shape and size appear—lusts and desires in unceasing movement, devouring each other, and yet undiminished—and each successive examination bringing new monsters to light!
make way for the other! and how one, as among the insect tribe, is the father of a million!
We must take these lusts and passions by the neck, and lay them down at the feet of God, and thus bring the omnipotence of Jehovah against what would destroy us—"Here are my lusts, I cannot manage them. Here are my temptations, I cannot overcome them. Here are my enemies, I cannot conquer them. Lord, I do not know what to do. Will You not subdue my enemies?"
This is fighting against sin—not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. Not by the law, but by the gospel. Not by self, but by the grace of God. And if your soul has had many a tussle, and many a wrestle, and many a hand-to-hand conflict with sin, you will have found this out before now—that nothing but the grace, power, and Spirit of Christ ever gave you the victory, or the least hope of victory.
"We are powerless against this mighty army that is attacking us! We do not know what to do. But our eyes are upon You!" 2 Chronicles 20:12
"Deliver me from all my transgressions!" Psalms 39:7
Ah! how rarely it is that we see sin in its true colors —that we feel what the apostle calls, "the exceeding sinfulness of sin!" O how much is the dreadful evil of sin for the most part veiled from our eyes! Our deceitful hearts so gloss it over, so excuse, palliate, and disguise it—that it is daily trifled, played, and dallied with, as if this beautiful viper had no poison fang!
It is only as the Spirit is pleased to open the eyes to see, and awaken the conscience to feel "the exceeding sinfulness of sin," and thus discover its dreadful character, that we have any real sight or sense of its awful nature.
Sins of heart, sins of lip, sins of life, sins of omission, sins of commission, sins of ingratitude,
sins of unbelief, sins of rebellion, sins of lust, sins of pride, sins of worldliness! As all these transgressions, troop after troop, come in view, and rise up like spectres from the grave, well
may we cry with stifled voice, "Deliver me, O deliver me from all my transgressions! Deliver me from . . .
the guilt of sin,
the filth of sin,
the love of sin,
the power of sin, and
the practice of sin!"
Grace only suits those who are altogether guilty and filthy. Grace is completely opposed to works in all its shapes and bearings.
Thus no one can really desire to taste the sweetness and enjoy the preciousness of grace, who has not "seen an end of all perfection" in the creature, and is brought to know and feel in the conscience, that his good works would damn him as equally with his bad works.
When grace is thus opened up to the soul, it sees that grace flows only through the Savior’s blood—and that grace . . .
superabounds over all the aboundings of sin,
heals all backslidings,
covers all transgressions,
lifts up out of darkness,
pardons iniquity,
and is just the very remedy for all the maladies which we groan under!
Weaned from feeding on husks and ashes
"I will satisfy her poor with bread." Psalms 132:15
The Lord has given a special promise to Zion’s poor—"I will satisfy her poor with bread."
Nothing else? Bread? Is that all?
Yes! That is all God has promised—bread, the staff of life.
But what does He mean by "bread"?
The Lord Himself explains what bread is. He says, "I am the Bread of life. He who comes to Me will never go hungry, and he who believes in Me will never be thirsty. I am the living Bread who came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever." John 6:35, John 6:51
The bread, then, that God gives to Zion’s poor is His own dear Son—fed upon by living faith, under the special operations of the Holy Spirit in the heart.
"I will satisfy her poor with bread." Psalms 132:15
But must not we have an appetite before we can feed upon bread? The rich man who feasts continually upon juicy meat and savory sauces, would not live upon bread. To come down to live on such simple food as bread—why, one must be really hungry to be satisfied with that.
So it is spiritually. A man fed upon ’mere notions’ and a number of ’speculative doctrines’ cannot descend to the simplicity of the gospel. To feed upon a crucified Christ, a bleeding Jesus!—he is not sufficiently brought down to the starving point, to relish such spiritual food as this!
Before, then, he can feed upon this Bread of life he must be made spiritually poor. And when he is brought to be nothing but a mass of wretchedness, filth, guilt, and misery—when he feels his soul sinking under the wrath of God, and has scarcely a hope to buoy up his poor tottering heart—when he finds the world embittered to him, and he has no one object from which he can reap any abiding consolation—then the Lord is pleased to open up in his conscience, and bring the sweet savor of the love of His dear Son into his heart—and he begins to taste gospel bread.
Being
The Lord has promised to satisfy such.
"I will satisfy her poor with bread." Psalms 132:15
That secret loveliness
"I drew them with My cords of kindness and love." Hosea 11:4
Where Christ is made in any measure experimentally known, He has gained the affections of the heart. He has, more or less, taken possession of the soul. He has, in some degree, endeared Himself as a bleeding, agonizing Savior to every one to whom He has in any way revealed Himself. And, thus, the strong cord of love and affection is powerfully wreathed around the tender spirit and broken heart. Therefore . . .
His name becomes as ’ointment poured forth’,
there is a preciousness in His blood,
there is a beauty in His Person,
there is
which wins and attracts and draws out the tender affections of the soul. And thus this cord of love entwined round the heart, binds it fast and firm to the cross of the Lord Jesus.
"I drew them with My cords of kindness and love." Hosea 11:4
"O send forth Your light and Your truth, let them guide me." Psalms 43:3
The Christian is often dissatisfied with his state. He is well aware of the shallowness of his attainments in the divine life, as well as of the ignorance and the blindness that are in him. He cannot perceive the path of life. He sees and feels so powerfully the workings of sin and corruption, that he often staggers, and is perplexed in his mind.
And therefore, laboring under the feeling of . . .
his own shortcomings for the past,
his helplessness for the present,
and his ignorance for the future,
he wants to go forward wholly and solely
in the strength of the Lord, to be . . .
led,
guided,
directed,
kept,
not by his own wisdom and power—but by the supernatural entrance of light and truth into his soul.
When thus harassed and perplexed, he will at times and seasons, as his heart is made soft, cry out with fervency and importunity, as a beggar that will not take a denial, "O send forth Your light and Your truth, let them guide me!" As though he would say, "
lusts. I have been puffed up by presumption. I have been carried away by hypocrisy and pride. I have been drawn aside into the world. I have never taken a single step aright when left to myself. And therefore feeling how unable I am to guide myself a single step of the way, I come unto You, and ask You to send forth Your light and Your truth, that they may guide me, for I am utterly unable to lead myself."
The child of God—feeling his own ignorance, darkness, blindness, and sinfulness—causes him to moan, and sigh, and cry unto God—that he might be . . .
led every step,
kept every moment,
guided every inch.
"O send forth Your light and Your truth, let them guide me." Psalms 43:3
"I was caught up into paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be told!" 2 Corinthians 12:4
Now, doubtless, the apostle Paul, after he had been thus favored—thus caught up into paradise—thought that he would retain the same frame of mind that he was in when he came down from this heavenly place; that the savor, the sweetness, the power, the unction, the dew, the heavenly feeling would continue in his soul. And no doubt he thought he would walk all through his life with a measure of the sweet enjoyments that he then experienced. But this was not God’s way of teaching religion!
God had another way which Paul knew nothing of, and that was—if I may use the expression—to bring him from the third heaven, where his soul had been blessed with unspeakable ravishment—down to the very gates of hell. For he says, "I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to BUFFET me."
The idea "buffeting" is that of a strong man beating a weak one with violent blows to his head and face—bruising him into a shapeless mass!
O what a way of learning religion!
Now I want you to see the contrast we have here.
The blessed apostle caught up into the third heavens, filled with light, life, and glory—enjoying the presence of Christ—and bathing his soul in the river of divine consolation.
Now for a reverse—down he comes to the earth.
A messenger of Satan is let loose upon him, who buffets, beats and pounds this blessed apostle into a shapeless mummy—no eyes, no nose, no mouth, no features—but one indistinguishable mass of black and blue!
Such is the mysterious way in which a man learns religion!
But what was all this for?
Does it not appear very cruel—does it not seem very unkind that, after the Lord had taken Paul up into the third heaven, He would let the devil buffet him?
Does it not strike our natural reason to be as strange and as unheard of a thing, as if a mother who had been fondling her babe in her arms, suddenly were to put it down, and let a large savage dog ravage it—and look on, without interfering, while he was tearing the child which she had been a few minutes before dandling in her lap, and clasping to her bosom?
"But to keep me from getting puffed up, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to BUFFET me and keep me from getting proud." Here we have this difficult enigma solved, this mysterious knot untied!
We find that the object and end of all these severe dealings was to keep Paul from pride!
Three times Paul besought his loving and sympathizing Redeemer, that the trial might be taken away, for it was too grievous to be borne. The Lord heard his prayer and answered it—but not in the way that Paul expected.
His answer was, "My grace is sufficient for you." As though He would say, "Paul, beloved Paul, I am not going to take away your trial; it came from Me—it was given by Me. But My grace shall be sufficient for you, for My strength shall be made perfect in your weakness. There is a lesson to be learned, a path to be walked in, an experience to be passed through, wisdom to be obtained in this path—and therefore you must travel in it. Be content then with this promise
from My own lips—My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in your weakness."
The apostle was satisfied with this—he wanted no more, and therefore he burst forth, "Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities—that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
O what a way of learning religion!
In a most mysterious and inexplicable manner
"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28
I am often a marvel to myself, feeling at times . . .
such barrenness,
such leanness,
such deadness,
such carnality,
such inability to any spiritual thought.
It is astonishing to me how our souls are kept alive.
Carried on, and yet so secretly—worked upon, and yet so mysteriously—and yet led on, guided and preserved through so many difficulties and obstacles—the Christian is a miracle of mercy!
He is astonished how he is preserved amid all his . . .
difficulties,
obstacles,
trials, and
temptations.
Sometimes he seems driven and sometimes drawn, sometimes led and sometimes carried—but in one way or another the Spirit of God so works upon him that, though he scarce knows how, he still presses on!
His very burdens make him groan for deliverance.
His very temptations cause him to cry for help.
The very difficulty and ruggedness of the road make him want to be carried every step.
The very perplexity of the path compels him to cry out for a guide—so that the Spirit working in the midst of, and under, and through every difficulty and discouragement, still bears him through, and carries him on—and thus brings him through every trial and trouble and temptation and obstacle—until He sets him in glory!
He will then understand, that he has . . .
not had one trial too heavy,
nor shed one tear too much,
nor put up one groan too many,
but all these things have,
his spiritual good!
"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28
Wrought with divine power
"Our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction." 1 Thessalonians 1:5
Most men’s religion is nothing else but ’a round of forms’ . . .
some have their ’doings’,
some have their ’doctrines’,
and others have their ’duties’.
And when the one has performed his doings, the other learned his doctrines, and the third
discharged his duties—why, he is as good a Christian, he thinks, as anybody. While all the time, the poor deceived creature is thoroughly ignorant of the kingdom of God, which stands not in simply in word—but in power.
But as the veil of ignorance is taken off the heart, we begin to see and feel that there is a power in vital godliness—a reality in the teachings of the Spirit—that religion is not to be put on and put off as a man puts on and off his Sunday clothes.
Where vital godliness is
Now when a man comes to this spot—to see and feel what a reality there is in the things of God made manifest in the conscience by the power of the Holy Spirit—it effectually takes him out of dead churches, cuts him off from false ministers, winnows the chaff from the wheat, and brings him into close communion with the broken-hearted family of God.
"Our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and
with deep conviction." 1 Thessalonians 1:5
The poor believer feels, "I continually find all kinds of evil working in my mind; every base corruption crawling in my heart; everything vile, sensual, and filthy rising up from its abominable deeps. Can I think that God can look down in love and mercy on such a wretch?"
When we see . . .
our vileness,
our baseness,
our carnality,
our sensuality,
how our souls cleave to dust,
how we grovel in evil and hateful things,
how dark our minds,
how earthly our affections,
how depraved our hearts,
how strong our lusts,
how raging our passions;
we feel ourselves, at times, no more fit for God than Satan himself!
"You see, at just the right time, when we were utterly helpless, Christ died for the ungodly!" Romans 5:6
Christ does not justify those who are naturally righteous, holy, and religious.
But He takes the sinner as he is, in all his filth and guilt; washes him in the fountain opened for sin and uncleanness; and clothes the naked shivering wretch, who has nothing to cover him but filthy rags, in His own robe of righteousness!
The gospel of the grace of God brings glad tidings . . .
of pardon to the criminal,
of mercy to the guilty, and
of salvation to the lost!
That the holy God should look down in love on wretches that deserve the damnation of hell; that the pure and spotless Jehovah should pity, save, and bless enemies and rebels, and make them endless partakers of His own glory; this indeed is a mystery, the depth of which eternity itself will not fathom!
The deeper we sink in self-abasement under a sense of our vileness, the higher we rise in a knowledge of Christ. And the blacker we are in our own view,
"
"
his sins,
his carnality,
his pride,
his covetousness,
his worldly-mindedness,
his unbelief,
his foolishness,
his rebelliousness,
procured to himself many things that have grieved and distressed his soul?
If indeed we take no notice of the sin that dwells in us; and pay no regard to our thoughts, desires, words, and actions; and take our stand on our own righteousness; we may refuse to believe that we are such vile sinners.
But if we are compelled to look within, and painfully feel that SIN is an indweller, a lodger, whom we are compelled to harbor; a serpent that will creep in and nestle in our heart, whether we will or not; a thief that will break through and steal, and whom no bolt nor bar can keep out; a traitor in the citadel who will work by force or fraud, and against whom no resolution of ours has any avail; if such be our inward experience and conviction, I believe there is not a man or woman here who will not confess, "Guilty, guilty! Unclean, unclean!"
"Some became fools through their rebellious ways, and suffered affliction because of their iniquities." Psalms 107:17
We bring affliction upon ourselves. We procure suffering by our own iniquities. "O!", says the fool . . .
"my worldly-mindedness,
my pride,
my covetousness,
my carnality,
my neglect of divine things,
my rebelliousness,
my recklessness,
the snares I entangled myself in,
my various besetting sins;
this it is which has provoked the Lord to afflict me so severely, and leave me, fool that I am, to reap the fruit of my own devises!"
"Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious, for as I was walking along I saw your many altars. And one of them had this inscription on it—TO AN UNKNOWN GOD." Acts 17:22-23
Man has been called, and perhaps with some truth,
prevalent, is a fact that cannot be denied.
We will always find these two kinds of religion . . .
false and true,
earthly and heavenly,
fleshly and spiritual,
natural and supernatural.
Compare this vital, spiritual, heavenly, divine, supernatural religion . . .
this work of grace upon the soul,
this teaching of God in the heart,
this life of faith within—with its flimsy counterfeit.
Compare the actings of . . .
real faith,
real hope,
real love;
the teachings, the dealings, the leadings, and the operations of the blessed Spirit in the soul—with rounds of . . .
duties,
superstitious forms,
empty ceremonies, and
a notional religion, however puffed up and varnished.
Compare the life of God in the heart of a true Christian, amid all his dejection, despondency, trials, temptations, and exercises; compare that precious treasure, Christ’s own grace in the soul—with all mere . . .
external religion,
superficial religion,
notional religion.
O, it is no more to be compared than a grain of dust with a diamond! No more to be compared than a criminal in a dungeon to the King on the throne! In fact, there is no comparison between them.
"Those who endure to the end will be saved." Mark 13:13
Saved!
Saved from what?
Saved from hell!
Saved from an eternity of endless misery and horror!
Saved from the worm which never dies!
Saved from the fire which is never quenched!
Saved from the sulphurous flames!
Saved from the companionship of devils and damned spirits!
Saved saved from ever-rolling ages of ceaseless misery and horror!
Have you not thought sometimes about eternity? What must an eternity of misery must be—when you can scarcely bear the pain of toothache half an hour! O! to be in torment forever! How it racks the soul to think of it! What tongue, then, can express the mercy and blessedness of being saved . . .
from hell,
from the billows of the sulphurous lake,
from infinite despair!
When a soul strikes upon the ’rock of perdition’, it is at once swallowed up in a dreadful eternity!
Not only are believers saved from all this infinite and unending misery—but they are saved into
unspeakable happiness and glory! They are . . .
saved into heaven,
saved into eternal communion with the infinite God,
saved into the eternal enjoyment of His blessed presence,
saved into the perfect enjoyment of that perfect and everlasting love in those regions of endless bliss where tears are wiped from off all faces!
Heaven — hell!
Eternal misery — eternal bliss!
Ages of boundless joy — ages of infinite despair!
But salvation includes not only what we may call future salvation—but present salvation. Thus,
there is a being saved in the present . . .
from the guilt, filth, love, power, and practice of sin,
from the curse and bondage of the Law,
from the spirit and love of the world,
from inward condemnation,
from the entanglements of Satan,
from worldly anxieties and cares,
from following after idols,
from carelessness,
from coldness,
from carnality,
from every evil way,
from every delusive path.
Sweet buy!
You say, "I am rich—I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing." But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from Me white garments, so you can cover your shameful nakedness. Revelation 3:17-18
The only qualification is a deep feeling of our necessity, our nakedness and our shame—and a feeling that there is no other covering for a needy, naked, guilty soul—but the robe of the Redeemer’s spotless righteousness.
And when the soul is led to His divine feet—full of guilt, shame, and fear—abhorring, loathing, and mourning over itself—and comes in the actings of a living faith—in the sighs and cries of a broken heart—in hungerings, thirstings, and longings—desiring that the Lord would bestow upon him that rich robe—then the blessed exchange takes place —then there is a ’buying’—then the Lord brings out of His treasure-house, where it has been locked up—the best robe—puts it upon the prodigal, and clothes him from head to foot with it!
Blessed exchange!
Our nakedness—for Christ’s justifying robe!
Our poverty—for Christ’s riches!
Our helplessness and insufficiency—for
Christ’s power, grace, and love!
You say, "I am rich—I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing." But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from Me white garments, so you can cover your shameful nakedness. Revelation 3:17-18