A Scripture-Map of the Wilderness of Sin, Treatise · Part 2 · Chapter 21
CHAP. XXI. Containes the third kind of bewildring darkneſs, viz. relating to the way of reconciliation betwixt us and God in three particulars, under the laſt whereof this queſtion is reſolved, what humiliation is ſufficient to reconciliation.
THe third & laſt ſort of bewildring darkneſſes attending converſion it ſelf,3d. Kind. Such as reſpect the way of reconciliation betwixt us and God. are ſuch as relate unto the way of Reconciliation between us & God. And verily, though we have a deſire now to make peace with God, yet how ſhal we come at him, if we be in the dark, as to the way of peace? The way of peace they have not known, may be truly ſaid for ſome ſeaſon of ſome ſouls that would have peace. I remember, when God had hammered them by ſo many judgements, Amos 4.12. At length he comes to a nameleſs judgement ſo ſad, that it ſeems, it could not be expreſſed, Therefore thus will I doe unto thee. Thus? how's that? truly I can't tell how: and what of that? Oh! therefore prepare to meet thy God O Iſrael! to meet him; therefore you muſt goe onelyonly in that way towards him, wherein he is a comming towards you; if you go in any other way, you I will miſſe of him, not meet him: and if you be in the dark, though you deſire to meet him, yet may you miſſe of the way, and ſo be bewildred, when you would be reconciled: therefore Mat. 5.25. Agree with thine Adverſary quickly, whilſt thou art in the way with him. If thou wouldeſt agree with God, thou muſt be in the ſame way with God: if thou wouldeſt meet him, thou muſt meet him in his own way. Now there is but onelyonly one way of Reconciliation, wherein God will draw neere unto a lo…t ſoule, being juſtified by faith through Jeſus Chriſt we ſhall have peace with God, Rom. 5.1. And therefore the ſame is our onelyonly way of Pacification with God, ſo Heb. 10.20. This is the new and living way. Now all other are but dead waies, wherein a loſt ſoule ſeeks life. Now what heart hath light enough at the firſt to ſee, and to hit upon this new and living way? I can challenge your darkneſſe in this reſpect, upon this three-fold accompt.
1. You think, that undubtedly you muſt give ſomething to God,1 Darknes we thinke we muſt give ſomething to God. towards your reconciliation with God. Now this is very darkneſs, for it is Gods giving of Chriſt unto you, not your giving of any thing unto God, that is the bottom of your pacification. But very ready are we to thinke, and Satan to perſwade us, that there is no comming unto God, but by bringing ſomething of our owne unto God. Hence that enquiry, Mic. 6.6. Wherewithall ſhall I come before the Lord, and bow my ſelf before him? ſhall I come before him with ſacrifices, &c. Oh! that's the dark counſell of our vain hearts: Bribe Juſtice, and then you ſhall have its favour.
I ſpeak not to ſtreighten your hearts or hands from lending to the Lord, but to direct your ſouls where to bottom your peace. Doth your goodneſs extend unto him? or will he take a reward to clear him that is guilty? God forbid that any heart ſhould think ſo: and yet if many an heart were asked, Wherefore are all theſe alms that thou giveſt? Conſcience muſt anſwer, as Jacob in his courſe Complement to Eſau, Gen. 33.8. Eſau ſaid, What meaneſt thou by this drove? and Jacob ſaid, Theſe are to find grace in the ſight of my Lord; he had need call him my Lord, when he intimates him to be of ſo baſe and ignoble a a ſpirit, that a Bribe ſhould purchaſe pardon for a Brother. Juſt ſo deal ſouls with God, the alms they give, their bounty to Saints, to Miniſters, &c. are to find favour in the ſight of God. But if Eſau can refuſe his preſent telling him he hath enough, ſurely God may much more deſpiſe thy gifts, be they what they will be, becauſe all things are his, Pſa. 50.9, 10. I will take no Bullock out of thine houſe, nor Hee-goat out of thy fold, for the beaſts of all the Forreſt, &c. are mine. Set a ſide the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, and peace in believing, and I dare ſay it would begger all the Saints and Angels in Heaven and Earth, to make one Peace-offering to the Lord for any loſt ſoul.
2ly, You think,2d. Darkneſs. We think we muſt do ſomething for God▪ that undoubtedly you muſt at leaſt d… ſomething as a bottom and ground to your reconciliation with God. Now this is alſo a ſoul-bewildring darkneſſe; for if it be onelyonly what Chriſt hath given, then it is onelyonly what Chriſt hath done, that can be a propitiation to God for us. What, will God ever be friends with me, that give him nothing, nor do any thing for him? how ſhall I think that? Verily fleſh and blood wil hardly think it, therefore as the former queſtion was, Wherewithall ſhall I come before God? what ſhall I give? and the anſwer from God comes, without money, and without price: ſo the next queſtion that dark nature prompts, is this; Good Maſter, what good thing ſhall I do, that I may inherite eternal life? Mat. 9 16. What good thing ſhall I do? Oh! we think it muſt be ſome good thing of our own doing, that muſt be at the bottom of our ſalvation. What good thing? ſaith Chriſt, keep the Law, and fulfill the Goſpel, & that perfectly, for that's the ſum of Chriſts anſwer to him. Now friend, if thy goodneſs extend ſo far, then go on to meet the Lord in thine own way. But now thou that liveſt upon ſuch terms, if ever God take thee, (as Solomon took Shimei, when he had gone beyond his limits from Jeruſalem to Gath, after his run-away ſervants, 1 Kin. 2.39, 40.) The Lord will deal with thee, if ever he find thine heart running after the world, or after ſin, as he dealt with Shimei, ver. 44. God will call thee to a ſevere account upon every old ſcore, and return all thy wickedneſs upon thine own head, judging thee by thine own mouth. Think of the Phariſee, who comes and tells God what he hath done for God, &c. Lu. 18.12. And yet went away unſtified, v. 14. Think of thoſe loſt ſouls, that ſhall come to Chriſt in the laſt day, telling what they have done for him, how they have preached in his Name, and caſt out Devils for him. &c. And yet Chriſt tells them, he doth not know them. Think of Noahs Workmen, that holpe to build the Ark, yet were not ſaved by the Ark. But you wil then ſay, What ſhall we do with our doings? truly I muſt ſay as to the buſineſs of juſtification, and making your peace with God, ſay when you have done all (as Lu. 17.10.) That you are but unprofitable ſervants.
3ly, But when the ſoul comes to be yet farther enlightned and directed;3d. Darkneſs. We muſt be humbled to ſuch a degree. ſo as to think indeed that what it can give, or what it can do, are nothing indeed, neither are they that which (as to peace-making) God requires; yet is there bewildring darkneſs upon the Spirit, when the ſoul comes to be of Davids mind, and to ſpeake his language, Pſal. 51.16. Thou deſireſt not ſacrifice, elſe would I give it, thou delighteſt not in burnt-Offerings: then in comes the 17, v. The ſacrifices of God are a broken heart: and here the poor creature is at a loſſe, and in the dark ſtill, crying out, Oh! what ſhall I do for ſuch a Sacrifice? Now goeth he to hammer his own ſpirit, and to ſee if he can break his own heart, and yet it doth not pleaſe him. Poore ones place this brokenneſs of heart, in ſuch a meaſure of being humbled: yea, David might well ſay indeed, that he he had a Broken heart, & ſo a ſacrifice which God would not deſpiſe: for he watered his Couch with his tears; if I could do ſo, ſaith the ſoul, I durſt then think that I had a Sacrifice. Yea, but prophane Eſau had multitude of briniſh teares, and yet he had no Sacrifice, Heb. 12.17. Thou thinkſt the Sacrifice of broken-heartedneſſe, conſiſts in ſuch degrees of being humbled, and till thou come to ſuch a meaſure as ſuch an one had, thou dareſt not believe in Jeſus Chriſt, and ſo thou ſtill walkeſt in darkneſſe. Obſerve what the Pſalmiſt ſayes, The ſacrifices of God (foreign not foreign) not the Sacrifice, but the Sacrifices of God are a broken heart. And here it ſeems, that a Broken heart, if it go alone, and carry not along with it another Sacrifice, (viz. Chriſt,) can never be acceptable unto God. For it is not onelyonly expreſly manifeſt, that David looks beyond the Sacrifices of the Law, by what he ſaith in the precedent verſe, but it is to me evident (not onelyonly from the clearneſſe and Evangelicalneſs of this Pſalms whole ſtyle, but) particularly from that particular Petition, v. 7. Purge me with Hyſop, and I ſhall be clean; which Hyſop was of a two-fold uſe in the Ceremoniall Law. 1. For the ſprinkling of the blood of the cleane Bird (a type of Chriſt) by which ſprinkling the Leper was to be cleanſed, Lev. 14.6, 7. And 2ly; For the ſprinkling of the water of Separation, or purification, Numb. 19.9, 18. called therefore Holy water, Chap. 5.17. becauſe the unclcan were therewith purified: It is, I ſay, to me evident, that by faith, David had reſpect to that Blood and Water, that at once iſſued out of the ſide of Jeſus Chriſt, Jo. 19.34. At that time when he offered up his body once for all, Heb. 10.9. That one Sacrifice offered for ſins for ever, v. 12. Which Blood and Water is expreſly called Zach. 13.1. (and I think not impertinently to this matter) a fountaine opened for ſin (viz. that of blood) and for uncleanneſs (viz. that of water) to the houſe of David, foreign for ſinne, and for ſeparation; that is to ſay, ſeparation for uncleanneſs, expreſly reſpecting that Water of ſeparation, which was a type of ſanctification, as the fountaine for ſin, that blood, for Juſtification, & both are for the houſe of David. Oh happy re…urne of the foreſaid holy prayer! But now where is the bleeding Bird, and the running Water, and the Hyſop wherewith this ſprinkling is to be made read but the preceding verſes, ch. 12.…0. I will poure upon the houſe of David (again) the ſpirit of grace and ſupplications (that is the ſame thing that David in the foreſaid Pſalme, calls the broken ſpirit, the Sacrifices of God; but how comes it to be ſo?) They ſhall look on me whom they have pierced, and mourn &c. (there are the Sacrifices) a bleeding Spirit, looking to a bleeding Chriſt; a pierced ſoul, taking hold by faith upon a pierced Chriſt; a broken heart acting faith (for the ſame thing that in our Text is called Leaning, is in that Text called Looking) upon a broken Chriſt. Oh theſe are Gods Sacrifices, ſuch as he will not, ſuch as he cannot deſpiſe: ſuch a ſoul hath the blood of pierced Chriſt, for the doing away of the Leproſie and plague of ſin, and the water of a pierced Chriſt, for the purging of pollutions of ſin away from it; and it want, not the Hyſop of bitterneſſe (if you look to the end of the verſe) that bitter but purgative grace (of godly ſorrow to repentance, never to be repented of) whereby that Blood & Water are ſprinkled upon it unto Righteouſne…s & Holineſs, whilſt it by faith continueth looking on him that was pierced, or (in the language of our Text) leaning upon the Beloved. But and if we ſhall think, that the Pſalmiſts expreſſion is onelyonly an Hebraiſm, the Sacrifices; that is to ſay, the beſt or chief Sacrifice of God, is a broken heart; we muſt yet underſtand it, of an heart Evangelically broken, and ſo the matter of neceſſity returns to the ſame thing.
Know ye therefore this day,Note. That all the buſineſſe and uſe of a broken heart, as to Pacification & the Atonement of the ſinner unto God (though as to us there may be other uſes of it, ſuch as to make us to walk humbly with good Hezekiah all our dayes, Iſa. 38.15) I ſay, all the uſe of the broken heart as to pacification with God, is meerly to make the penitent ſinner willing to take hold on a broken Chriſt; and when theſe two go together there are the Sacrifices of God. Thou art in the darke, if thou thinke that thy broken-heartedneſs makes peace with God for thee (any more then any Gift or Work of thine) by or of it ſelf; but broken-heartedneſs makes thee ſee what need thou haſt of, & makes thee deſirous accordingly to take hold upon Gods ſtrength, that He may make peace with God for thee. Thine humblings (be they as great as Eſaus) are no better Sacrifices to God, then his teares, unleſſe thy broken heart hold up a broken Chriſt for a ſin-offering, for a propitiation unto God. Query. If you ſay then, how ſhall I know whether my heart be ſufficiently broken?Solu. I anſwer, If thine heart (whether it be harrowed or ſhattered to pieces more or leſs, according to the different fram of it, or of thy converſation, through Education or Reſtraining grace, &c.) I ſay if thou be ſo far broken, as to be truly neceſſitous and poor in ſpirit undone ſenſibly, and undone utterly without a Chriſt, & ſo willing to cloſe with a broken Chriſt abſolutely upon his own terms; let them be what they wil, yet thou muſt have him: & art willing to come up to any terms, rather then to go without him: whether thy ſorrowings have been yeares or months, or weeks, or daies, or hours: whether thy tears have been many or few; whether thine humblings have been more or leſſe, thine heart is enough broken to take hold upon, and by Chriſt to become the ſacrifices of God, even ſuch as he will not deſpiſe.
Illuſtration.And ſirs, let me deal familiarly with you; what is that you account the breaking of a Childs ſpirit? You have a Child ſome of you froward and croſs, & it wil not eat but in what diſh and with what ſpoon it pleaſeth: well ſaith the Parent, ile break your ſpirit. You know that a word will doe as much to one, as a blow to a childe of another diſpoſition. Now the buſineſs is not how often it be whipt, once or twice, or thrice, or whether it be whipt at all or no, if ſo be that the child be now made thoroughly willing to lay down its own humour and will, and to eat in what diſh, or with what ſpoon, or after what ſort the Parent will, &c. If that be done, you account that you have broken the childs ſpirit. So what ever the manner of Gods diſpenſation in humbling of the ſoule be, whatever meaſure of the terrour of the Lord is known by it, or unto whatever degree of affliction the ſoul be reduced; if the ſoule thereby be but made unfeignedly willing to come up unto the terms of God, wholly laying aſide its own wiſdome which is folly, its own righteouſneſs which are rags, its own riches which are very beggery, that is the broken and contrite ſpirit which God will not deſpiſe. This is the ſum of our Saviours own doctrine, Mat. 16.24. If any man will come after me, let him deny himſelf, and take up his Croſs and follow me: That is, let him diſown his own terms, his will, his waies, &c. let him lay all them aſide, and let him take up his Croſs and follow me; that is, though my waies and will be croſs, and conttary to his own, and as a croſs to fleſh and blood, yet let him follow mine, and not his own; this is to have a ſpirit Evangelically broken, and ſuch a ſacrifice God will not deſpiſe.