A Scripture-Map of the Wilderness of Sin, Treatise · Part 2 · Chapter 18
CHAP. XVIII. Containes particular ſorts of bewildring darkneſſe. 1. Sort before converſion, in ſix particulars, Opened.
In particular. Three ſorts of bewildring darkneſſes.BUt more particularly, There are three ſorts of ſoul-bewildring darkneſſes: ſome before Converſion, ſome in it, ſome after it.
1. Sort. Before Converſion.1. There are bewildring darkneſſes before Converſion, that Satan improves to hinder the ſoule by from converſion; Such as theſe.
1. Stupidity and ſottiſhneſs.Firſt, The darkneſſe of ſenceleſſe ſtupidity, and ſottiſh ignorance. It may well be called darkneſſe, and you know 'tis a bewildring darkneſſe, Iſai. 1.3. The Ox knows, but Iſrael doth not know: The bruit Beaſt knowes what's good for it ſelfe, but bruitiſh Men and Women doe not know. You complaine of a ſottiſh poore in your Towne, that have no more ſence of ſpirituall good, then the ſtones of the ſtreets that they tread upon, and the blocks that they ſit on. You know that ſtocks and ſtones, if they bee in the wilderneſſe, there they ſtay, there they lie, they have no ſenſe to remove themſelves; but Beaſts, if they be in the Wilderneſſe, if danger approaches, if the Lyon roars, they have knowledge to runne for it, to change their place, poſture, and condition: but miſerable Men and Women can hear the voice of the Lord in his providence, in his Word, as the roaring of a Lyon, and yet ſtay where they were, and as they were, and in the ſame poſture they were in, even in the Wilderneſſe of ſinne ſtill; and this is the reaſon they are blockiſhly ignorant and ſtupid, as to ſpiritual things. Now unto what ſhall I liken the people of this Generation? 'tis even like unto Aegypt, Exod. 10.21, 23. There was a thick darkneſſe, darkneſs that might be felt, ſo that no man roſe from his place, for the time that that darkneſſe continued: ſo there is thick darkneſſe upon theſe Spirits; ſo that though they be in an Aegypt, in a Wilderneſſe, they ſtirre not, becauſe it is a Land of darkneſs: wretched hearts that mind onelyonly to day, what they ſhall eate, and what they ſhall drink, and wherewith they ſhall be cloathed (and perhaps ſcarce that) but how to ariſe ſpiritually from the place they ſit in, the condition that their ſoules are in, verily hereunto they have no knowledge: and thus they ſit in darkneſs, and in the ſhadow of death, Luk. 1.79. They ſit in darkneſſe, and though the ſhadow of death be there, yet 'tis darkneſſe, and therefore they continue in it, 1 Theſ. 5.5, 6, 7. We are not of darkneſs, ſaith the Apoſtle, therefore let us not ſleep, for they that ſleep, ſleep in the night. This is that night, and that darkneſs, you may know it by their ſleepineſſe. When men are aſleep, you may ſpeak in the roome and they heare not: the Goſpell, the voice of God is in the midſt of this ſottiſh Generation; but they are in the night, in the dark, and aſleepe, and therefore it is that they receive it not. But unto ſuch, if there be any here, let me tenderly ſpeake as Paul, Rom. 13.12. v. 11. Know ye the time, that it is now high time to awake out of ſ…p, for the night is far ſpent, and the day is at hand, therefore caſt off the works of darkneſs. But if you will not, let me tell you, as the Father told thoſe painted and ſpotted Ladies of his time, that God would not know or acknowledge them for his Creatures in the Great day, becauſe he made them of another colour, and without thoſe Spots. So may I, and dare I ſay, and you ſhall find it too true, that God will not own your ſottiſh hearts as his, in the day of the Lord, becauſe hee made you intelligent and knowing ſoules; and now the reſtitution of knowledge to you is tendred in the Goſpell, ſo that the day is come, and the night is ſpent, but you ſit ſtill in your places, as they in the Aegyption darkneſſe. Neither do I tell you this, but God himſelfe by the Prophet, Iſai. 27.11. It is a people of no underſtanding, therefore he that made them, will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them, will ſhew them no favour.
This is the firſt ſort of Darkneſs, and millions of them that are called the Chriſtian World, are bewildred by it.
I proceed to the
2ly, The darkneſſe of inconſiderateneſs.The ſecond ſort of Darkneſſe, and that is Inconſiderateneſſe. You have this with the other, Iſai. 1.3. Iſrael doth not know, my people doth not conſider. Many of them are ſo ſtupid that they know not, and thoſe that know doe not conſider: this is alſo a bewildring Darkneſs; Read Job 34.24, 25, 27. He ſhall break in pieces mighty men without number. And when ſhall hee doe it? verſe 25. He ſhall overturn them in the night, and why doth he doe it? verſe 27. Becauſe they turned back from him, Note.and would not conſider any of his waies. I have obſerved that very few, either of the richeſt of all, or pooreſt of all, ever come to get out of the Wilderneſſe; (but it is a middle ſort of perſons) what is the reaſon? Why, the very poore know not, and the very rich care not, they conſider not, they thinke the things of God are below their Cognizance, although through Education, their parts are ſublimated to ſome knowledge. Now this is here ſaid of the Inconſiderate Great ones (as was proved before of the bruitiſh poor ones) that they alſo periſh in the Dark, in the night the are overturned, verſe 25. If Inconſiderateneſſe then be ſuch a bewildring night of darkneſſe, 'tis no wonder that the Lord doth ſo perſwade us to conſider our works, and waies, and that Satan doth ſo deſigne to hinder us, as Prov. 5.6. Leſt thou ſhouldſt ponder the way of life, her waies are movable. Oh! Satan cannot …ndure that thou ſhouldſt conſider the way of life. Hence alſo thoſe Counſells, Prov. 4.26. Ponder the path of thy feet, &c. Eccleſ. 5.1. Keep thy feet, &c. and offer not the ſacrifice of fooles, for they conſider not that they do evill. 'Tis want of conſideration, that makes ſoules to loſe their footing, their ground, their way; but ponder the path of thy feet, and thy waies ſhall be eſtabliſhed, Prov. 4.26. So that inconſiderateneſſe is as Darkneſſe; yea, and it is a bewildring darkneſſe. Let me perſwade you therefore, that are intelligent to one ſtep forwarder; I meane to be adviſed, to ponder and lay to heart, the things that you know belong unto your peace. How many ſoules continue loſt under the means of knowledge, in the darkſome wilderneſſe of inadvertency and non-conſideration? I have conſidered my waies, and turned my feet into thy Teſtimonies, Pſal. 119.58. And as for ſuch as will not conſider, let them know,
Firſt, That though they conſider not their owne waies, yet they are conſidered, for God ponders them, Prov. 21.2. Every way of man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord ponders the hearts.
Secondly, God will make the moſt inconſiderate heart amongſt you, perfectly to conſider another day, Jer. 23.18. Who hath ſtood in the counſel of the Lord, and hath perceived and heard his word? Who hath marked his word and heard it? there's his challenge of their inconſiderateneſſe; but what followes, verſe 20? In the latter dayes you ſhall conſider it perfectly. You have heard of Inconſiderateneſſe in what they know of the things of God. The
Third is Unperſwaſibleneſs, 3ly, The darkneſſe of unperſwaſibleneſſe.as to that which they do in ſome ſort conſider: this is alſo a bewildring darkneſſe.
Now men in the ſtate of loſt nature, are called foreign, Rom. 1. and foreign, Unreaſonable, or abſurd men, 2 Theſ. 3, 2. Men, whom no Arguments from any Logical Topicks, are able to perſwade. Now marke ſuch kind of Spirits, as when they knew God, yet would not bee perſwaded to glorifie him as God, as you have it charged upon them, Rom. 1.21. 'Tis ſaid in the ſame verſe, That their fooliſh heart was darkned: This was the darkneſſe of unperſwaſion; and this darkneſſe is now naturall unto the Children of men, for the Apoſtle calls them, Eph. 2.2. Children of diſobedience: ſo, our Tranſlation, but the words are foreign, Children of unperſwaſion, ſuch as will not bee perſwaded, and ſo you have it ſadly rendred, Luk. 16.31. Neither will they be perſwaded, though one aroſe from the dead. Poor ſoules, they cannot bee perſwaded that God meanes, as he ſaith of Death, and Hell, and Judgement. Can not? nay, they will not be perſwaded: As one that I once heard of, that in diſcourſe was directed to a place of Scripture, that ſpake point-blank againſt him, ſaith he, I can't find ſuch a place: ſaith the other, Look, here it is; nay then, ſaith he, I will not ſee't. So ſay you, We can't find what need wee have of Gods Counſell, and of Chriſt, and of Grace: ſaith God, looke here, and I will ſhew you what need you have, and how undone otherwiſe you are, &c. Nay then, ſaith the Soule, I will not ſee. I remember a plaine Obſervation of a Childe, where I was once, was playing in the Yard, and his Father out of the Window called him in; the Boy was eager of his play, and though his Father call'd againe and againe, yet came he not in; at length his Father told him that he would bee ſure to whip him, if he would not come, yet hee could not perſwade him in; at length in hee fetches him, and whips him, Sirrah, ſaith he, did not I tell you, that if you would not come in, I would laſh you; yes Father, ſaith the Childe, you ſaid ſo, but truly Father I did not believe you. So God calls, and exhorts, and perſwades ſinners, and tells them, if they will not now, they ſhall conſider afterward: if they will not come in now, they ſhall be fetch'd in, and damned to eternity, whether they will or no: And my Brethren, if God ſhall (as he ſurely will (aske them at the great Day, Did not I call you by ſuch a Miniſtry, and ſuch a Miniſter, by ſuch and ſuch a Sermon; and did not I tell you what would come on't. Hell, and Wrath, and eternall ruine, if you came not in? Oh! the poor ſoule trembling and aſtoniſhed, will anſwer in that day, yes, Lord thou didſt ſo, but truly Lord we did not believe thee; thus are ſinners unperſwaſible ones, even the Children of unperſwaſion. God cryes out, Turn ye at my reproof; but when he calls, they refuſe, when he ſtretches out his hand, no man regardeth, Prov. 1.23, 24. And therefore though he calleth from Lebanon, from Amanah, from Shenir, and Hermon; yet they continue through their unperſwaſiblenſſe, in the Lyons Dens, and Mountaines of the Leopards yet ſtill.
Fourthly, Preſumption is alſo a bewildring darkneſs,4ly, The darkneſſe of preſumption. and its buſineſſe is to hinder the ſoule from Converſion. To what ſhall I liken a preſuming ſinner? 'Tis even that beaſt, which when he is in danger of being ſeized on by the Lyon as his prey, runnes his head preſently into a buſh, and becauſe the head is in the dark, and ſees no danger, therefore it thinkes it ſelfe ſecure. Or as I have ſeen a Boy, that when his Father hath gone by at a diſtance, the lad hath hid his head behind another lad, ſo that he could not ſee his Father, and therefore hath beene very confident, that his Father hath not ſeen him. Preſumptuous ſinners runne their hearts into the thickets of the Wilderneſſe, they walk themſelves in the darke, not ſeeing God, and therefore they preſume that the Lord takes no notice of them, and this verily is the very nature of preſumption, Pſa. 73.11. They ſay, how doth God know? and is there any knowledge in the moſt high? Pſa. 64.5. They commune of laying ſnares privily, they ſay, Who ſhall ſee them? Wretches! that if they get but into a blind Ale-houſe, where the Magiſtrate can't ſee them, think themſelves paſt all danger, when they are as much in it, as that Creature that while it turnes away its face from beholding its devourer, expoſeth its whole body to bee his prey: In ſuch a darkſome buſh ſhal a preſumptuous ſinner be caught, inſtead of being hid, and be deſtroyed inſtead of being ſecured; for Pſa. 139.12. The darkneſſe hideth not from God, but the night ſhines as the daie, the darkneſs and the light are both alike unto him. As to Gods eye and eare, thou hadſt as good the Magiſtrate ſhould heare every Oath thou ſweareſt; thou hadſt as good bee ſtaggering in the ſtreets, and whore, as Zimri, in the openeſt view, as to go into a Corner, and ſay, Doth God ſee it, becauſe thou turneſt away thine eyes from beholding of God.
5ly, The darkneſs of deſpairFifthly, Deſpair is alſo a bewildring darkneſſe utterly obſtructive to converſion. Preſumptions product commonly is Deſpaire, and well may they goe together; like Egge, like Bird. When Sinners have ſpent the moſt of their time in preſuming, they many times ſpend the reſt of it in dark deſpairing. Oh! wee have ſo long mocked God, that we can't thinke but if God ſhould tender ſalvation now to us, it would bee but to mock us. Oh! I have ſo long walked aſide from God, that if I ſhould now turne to him, he would undoubtedly turne quite away from me: this is the way of diſpaire, that many poore ones that are willing, if they durſt, to cloſe with God, are bewildred in; and this is called (which is pat to our purpoſe) a walking in darkneſſe, Iſai. 50.10. Who is there among you that feareth the Lord, &c. that walketh in darkneſs, and hath no light, &c. That is clearly and eminently to be underſtood of the darkneſſe of black diſpaire. God would before, but they would not: they would now, but they are affraid that God will not, but let them ſtay upon the Lord; they may injure themſelves, and diſhonour God in this one farther work of Darkneſſe, as much as in all the reſt that were before it.
6ly, A mixt darkneſs of all theſe.Sixthly and laſtly, A mixture of all that have been named, is a bewildring darkneſſe to many a ſoule; ſome things they know not, and there they are in the dark; other things that they know, they doe not conſider, and ſo they are in the dark and bewildred ſtill; that which they doe conſider, they will not be perſwaded of, or unto; and ſo from ſuch willfull unperſwaſion, paſſe on to Preſumption, and from Preſumption, ſtrait forward (when time ſerves) unto Deſpaire: and ſurely all theſe blended together, are enough to make a darkneſſe more darke then that of Aegypt. Therefore when the Apoſtle tells you what Methods Satan hath to bewilder ſouls, Eph. 6.11. He calls the Devills immediately, verſe 12. The Rulers of the darkneſs. As a Commander would order ſuch and ſuch a Party for one place, ſuch an one for another, a Forlorn-hope, a Left-wing, a Right-wing, a Reſerve, &c. So doth Satan Marſhall and order various darkneſſes to undoe poore ſoules, for he is the Ruler of them, that if Ignorance can't doe it, Inconſiderateneſſe may; if that will not, that willfull unperſwaſibleneſſe may, if God ſometimes almoſt perſwade, as he did Agrippa, that Preſumption may ſtill hold; or if ever Preſumption leaves them, that curſed deſpaire may ſeize upon them, for he is foreign, the great Ruler, or Generall, or Commander of Darkneſs.