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048 - The Wilderness State · Sermons on Several Occasions, First Series

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Speaker 1: Section forty seven of Sermons on Several Occasions First series.
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Speaker 1: This is LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
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Speaker 1: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
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Speaker 1: LibriVox dot org. Recording by Arnie Horton. Sermons on Several Occasions,
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Speaker 1: First series by John Wesley The Wilderness state, Ye now
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Speaker 1: have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your
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Speaker 1: heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from
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Speaker 1: you John sixteen twenty two one. After God had wrought
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Speaker 1: a great deliverance for Israel by bringing them out of
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Speaker 1: the house of bondage, they did not immediately enter into
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Speaker 1: the land which He had promised to their fathers, but
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Speaker 1: wandered out of the way in the wilderness, and were
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Speaker 1: variously tempted and distressed in like manner. After God has
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Speaker 1: delivered them that fear Him from the bondage of sin
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Speaker 1: and satan, after they are justified freely by His grace
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Speaker 1: through the redemption that is in Jesus, yet not many
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Speaker 1: of them immediately enter into the rest which remaineth for
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Speaker 1: the people of God. The greater part of them wander
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Speaker 1: more or less out of the good way, into which
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Speaker 1: he hath brought them. They come, as it were, into
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Speaker 1: a waste and howling desert, where they are variously tempted
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Speaker 1: and tormented, And this some, in allusion to the case
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Speaker 1: of the Israelites, have termed a wilderness state. Two certain
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Speaker 1: it is that the condition wherein these are has a
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Speaker 1: right the tenderest compassion. They labor under an evil and
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Speaker 1: sowre disease, the one that is not commonly understood, And
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Speaker 1: for this very reason it is the more difficult for
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Speaker 1: them to find a remedy. Being in darkness themselves, they
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Speaker 1: cannot be supposed to understand the nature of their own disorder.
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Speaker 1: And few of their brethren, nay perhaps of their teachers,
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Speaker 1: know either what their sickness is or how to heal it.
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Speaker 1: So much the more need there is to inquire, first
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Speaker 1: what is the nature of this disease? Secondly what is
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Speaker 1: the cause? And thirdly what is the cure of it? One? One?
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Speaker 1: And first, what is the nature of this disease into
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Speaker 1: which so many fall after they have believed? Wherein does
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Speaker 1: it properly consist? And what are the genuine symptoms of it?
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Speaker 1: It properly consists in the loss of that faith which
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Speaker 1: God once wrought in their heart that they are in
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Speaker 1: the wilderness. Have not now that divine evidence, that satisfactory
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Speaker 1: conviction of things not seen, which they once enjoyed. They
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Speaker 1: have not now that inward demonstration of the Spirit, which
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Speaker 1: before enabled each of them to say, the life I live,
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Speaker 1: I live by faith in the som of God who
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Speaker 1: loved me and gave himself for me. The light of
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Speaker 1: Heaven does not now shine in their hearts. Neither do
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Speaker 1: they see Him that is invisible. But darkness is again
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Speaker 1: on the face of their souls, and blindness on the
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Speaker 1: eyes of their understanding. The Spirit no longer witnesses with
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Speaker 1: their spirits that they are the children of God. Neither
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Speaker 1: does he continue as the spirit of adoption. Crying in
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Speaker 1: their hearts Abah Father, they have not now a sure
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Speaker 1: trust in His love and liberty of approaching him with
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Speaker 1: holy boldness. Though he slay me, yet will I trust
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Speaker 1: in him? Is no more the language of their heart.
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Speaker 1: But they are shorn of their strength and become weak
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Speaker 1: and feeble minded, even as other men. Two. Hence secondly
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Speaker 1: proceeds the loss of love, which cannot but rise or
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Speaker 1: fall at the same time and in the same proportion
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Speaker 1: with true living faith. Accordingly, they that are deprived of
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Speaker 1: their faith are deprived of the love of God. Also
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Speaker 1: they cannot now say, Lord, thou knowest all things, Thou
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Speaker 1: knowest that I love thee. They are not now happy
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Speaker 1: in God as everyone is that truly loves him. They
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Speaker 1: do not delight in Him as in time past, and
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Speaker 1: smell the odor of his ointments. Once all their desire
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Speaker 1: was unto Him and to the remembrance of His name.
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Speaker 1: But now even their desires are cold and dead, if
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Speaker 1: not utterly extinguished. And as their love of God is
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Speaker 1: wax cold, so is also their love of their neighbor.
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Speaker 1: They have not now that zeal for the souls of
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Speaker 1: men that longing after their welfare, that fervent, restless, active
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Speaker 1: desire of their being reconciled to God. They do not
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Speaker 1: feel those bowels of mercies for the sheep that are lost,
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Speaker 1: that tender compassion for the ignorant, and them that are
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Speaker 1: out of the way. Once they were gentle toward all men,
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Speaker 1: meekly instructing such as opposed the truth, and if any
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Speaker 1: was overtaken in a fault, restoring such and one in
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Speaker 1: the spirit of meekness. But after a suspense. Perhaps of
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Speaker 1: many days anger begins to regain its power. Yeay, peevishness
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Speaker 1: and impatience thrust sore at them, that they may fall.
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Speaker 1: And it is well if they are not sometimes driven
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Speaker 1: even to render evil for evil, and railing for railing.
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Speaker 1: Three In consequence of the loss of faith and love follows.
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Speaker 1: Thirdly loss of joy in the Holy ghost. For if
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Speaker 1: the loving consciousness of pardon be no more, the joy
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Speaker 1: resulting therefrom cannot remain. If the spirit does not witness
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Speaker 1: with our spirit that we are the children of God,
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Speaker 1: the joy that flowed from that inward witness must also
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Speaker 1: be at an end. And in like manner, they who
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Speaker 1: once rejoiced with joy unspeakable in hope of the glory
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Speaker 1: of God. Now they are deprived of that hope full
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Speaker 1: of immortality, are deprived of the joy at a case
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Speaker 1: as also of that which resulted from a consciousness of
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Speaker 1: the love of God then shed abroad in their hearts.
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Speaker 1: For the cause being removed, so is the effect the
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Speaker 1: fountain being dammed up, those living waters spring no more
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Speaker 1: to refresh the thirsty soul. For with loss of faith
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Speaker 1: and love and joy, there is also joined. Fourthly, the
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Speaker 1: loss of that peace which once passed all understanding, that
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Speaker 1: sweet tranquility of mind, that composure of spirit is gone.
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Speaker 1: Painful doubt returns doubt whether we ever did, and perhaps
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Speaker 1: whether we ever shall believe. We begin to doubt whether
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Speaker 1: we ever did find in our hearts the real testimony
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Speaker 1: of the spirit, whether we did not rather deceive our
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Speaker 1: own souls and mistake the voice of nature for the
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Speaker 1: voice of God. Nay, and perhaps whether we shall ever
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Speaker 1: hear his voice and find favor in His sight. And
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Speaker 1: these doubts are again joined with servile fear, with that
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Speaker 1: fear which hath torment. We fear the wrath of God,
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Speaker 1: even as before we believed. We fear lest we should
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Speaker 1: be cast out of His presence, and then sink again
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Speaker 1: into that fear of death from which we were before
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Speaker 1: wholly delivered. Five. But even this is not all, For
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Speaker 1: loss of peace is accompanied with loss of power. We know,
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Speaker 1: everyone who has peace with God through Jesus Christ has
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Speaker 1: power over all sin. But whenever he loses the peace
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Speaker 1: of God, he loses also the power over sin. While
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Speaker 1: that peace remained, power also remained even over the besetting sin,
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Speaker 1: whether it were the sin of his nature, his constitution
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Speaker 1: of his education or that of his profession. Yeay, and
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Speaker 1: over those evil tempers and desires, which till then he
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Speaker 1: could not conquer. Sin had then no more dominion over him.
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Speaker 1: But he had now no more dominion over sin. He
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Speaker 1: may struggle, indeed, but he cannot overcome. The crown is
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Speaker 1: fallen from his head. His enemies again prevail over him,
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Speaker 1: and more or less bring him into bondage. The glory
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Speaker 1: is departed from him, even the Kingdom of God, which
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Speaker 1: was in his heart. He is dispossessed of righteousness, as
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Speaker 1: well as of peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Two.
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Speaker 1: One Such is the nature of what many have termed,
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Speaker 1: and not improperly, the wilderness state. But the nature of
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Speaker 1: it may be more fully understood by inquiring, secondly, what
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Speaker 1: are the causes of it? These indeed are various, But
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Speaker 1: I dare not rank among these the bare, arbitrary sovereign
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Speaker 1: will of God. He rejoiceth in the prosperity of his servants.
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Speaker 1: He delighteth not to afflict or grieve the children of men.
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Speaker 1: His invariable will is our sanctification, attended with peace and
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Speaker 1: joy in the Holy Ghost. These are his own free
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Speaker 1: gifts and we are assured the gifts of God are
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Speaker 1: on his part without repentance. He never repenteth of what
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Speaker 1: He hath given, or desires to withdraw them from us.
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Speaker 1: Therefore he never deserts us. As some speak, it is
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Speaker 1: we only that desert him. One. Two. The most usual
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Speaker 1: cause of inward darkness is sin of one kind or another.
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Speaker 1: This it is which generally occasions what is often a
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Speaker 1: complication of sin and misery, and first of commission. This
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Speaker 1: may frequently be observed to darken the soul in a moment,
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Speaker 1: especially if it be a known a wilful or presumptuous sin. If,
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Speaker 1: for instance, a person who is now walking in the
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Speaker 1: clear light of God's countenance, should be any way prevailed
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Speaker 1: on to commit a single act of drunkenness or uncleanness,
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Speaker 1: it would be no wonder if in that very hour
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Speaker 1: he fell into utter darkness. It is true there have
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Speaker 1: been some very rare cases wherein God has prevented this
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Speaker 1: by an extraordinary display of his pardoning mercy, almost in
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Speaker 1: the very instant. But in general, such an abuse of
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Speaker 1: the goodness of God, so gross an insult on his love,
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Speaker 1: occasions an immediate estrangement from God and a darkness that
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Speaker 1: may be felt. Three. But it may be that this
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Speaker 1: case is not very frequent, that there are not many
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Speaker 1: who so despise the riches of His goodness as while
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Speaker 1: they walk in his light, so grossly and presumptuously to
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Speaker 1: rebel against him. That light is much more frequently lost
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Speaker 1: by giving way to sins of omission. This, indeed, does
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Speaker 1: not immediately quench the spirit, but gradually and slowly. The
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Speaker 1: former may be compared to pouring water upon a fire,
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Speaker 1: the latter to withdrawing the fuel from it. And many
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Speaker 1: times will that loving Spirit reprove our neglect before he
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Speaker 1: departs from us. Many are the inward checks, the secret
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Speaker 1: notices he gives before his influences are withdrawn, So that
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Speaker 1: only a train of omissions will for thee persist it in,
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Speaker 1: can bring us into utter darkness. Four. Perhaps no sin
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Speaker 1: of a minas more frequently occasions this than the neglect
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Speaker 1: of private prayer, the want whereof cannot be supplied by
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Speaker 1: any other ordinance whatever. Nothing can be more plain than
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Speaker 1: that the life of God in the soul does not continue,
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Speaker 1: much less increase, unless we use all opportunities of communing
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Speaker 1: with God and pouring out our hearts before him. If
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Speaker 1: therefore we are negligent of this. If we suffer business, company,
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Speaker 1: or any avocation whatever to prevent these secret exercises of
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Speaker 1: the soul, or which comes to the same thing to
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Speaker 1: make us hurry them over in a slight and careless manner,
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Speaker 1: that life will surely decay, and if we long or
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Speaker 1: frequently intermit them, it will gradually die away. Five. Another
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Speaker 1: sin of omission, which frequently brings the soul of a
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Speaker 1: believer into darkness is the neglect of what was so
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Speaker 1: strongly enjoined even under the Jewish dispensation. Thou shalt in
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Speaker 1: any wise rebuke thy neighbor and not suffer sin upon him.
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Speaker 1: Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart. Now,
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Speaker 1: if we do hate our brother in our heart, if
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Speaker 1: we do not rebuke him when we see him in
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Speaker 1: a fault, but suffer sin upon him, this will soon
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Speaker 1: bring leanness to our own soul. Seeing hereby we are
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Speaker 1: partakers of his sin. By neglecting to reprove our neighbor,
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Speaker 1: we make his sin our own. We become accountable for it.
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Speaker 1: To God. We saw his danger and gave him no warning.
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Speaker 1: So if he perish in his iniquity. God may justly
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Speaker 1: require his blood at our hands. No wonder then, if
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Speaker 1: by thus grieving the spirit we lose the light of
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Speaker 1: His countenance. Six. A third cause of our losing this
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Speaker 1: is the giving way to some kind of inward sin.
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Speaker 1: For example, we know everyone that is proud in heart
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Speaker 1: is an abomination to the Lord, and that although this
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Speaker 1: pride of heart should not appear in the outward conversation. Now,
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Speaker 1: how easily may I, so filled with peace and joy,
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Speaker 1: fall into this snare of the devil? How natural is
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Speaker 1: it for him to imagine that he has more grace,
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Speaker 1: more wisdom, or strength than he really has, to think
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Speaker 1: more highly of himself than he ought to think. How
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Speaker 1: natural to glory in something he has received as if
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Speaker 1: he had not received it. But seeing God continually resisteth
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Speaker 1: the proud, and giveth grace only to the humble, this
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Speaker 1: must certainly obscure, if not wholly destroy the light which
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Speaker 1: before shawn on his heart. Seven. The same effect may
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Speaker 1: be produced by giving place to anger, whatever the provocation
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Speaker 1: or occasion be yea, though it were colored over with
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Speaker 1: the name of zeal for the truth or for the
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Speaker 1: glory of God. Indeed, all zeal which is any other
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Speaker 1: than the flame of love, is earthly, animal, devilish. It
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Speaker 1: is the flame of wrath. It is flat, sinful anger,
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Speaker 1: neither better nor worse. And nothing is a greater enemy
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Speaker 1: to the mild, gentle love of God than this. They
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Speaker 1: never did, they never can subsist together in one breast
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Speaker 1: in the same proportion as this prevails. Love and joy
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Speaker 1: in the Holy Ghost decrease. This is particularly observable in
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Speaker 1: the case of offense, I mean anger at any of
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Speaker 1: our brethren, at any of those who are united with us,
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Speaker 1: either by civil or religious tithes. If we give way
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Speaker 1: to the spirit of offense but one hour, we lose
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Speaker 1: the sweet influences of the Holy Spirit, so that instead
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Speaker 1: of amending them, we destroy ourselves and become an easy
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Speaker 1: prey to any enemy that assaults us. Eight. But suppose
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Speaker 1: we are aware of the snare of the devil, we
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Speaker 1: may be attacked from another quarter. When fierceness and anger
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Speaker 1: are asleep, and love alone is waking, we may be
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Speaker 1: no less endangered by desire, which equally tends to darken
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Speaker 1: the soul. This is the sure effect of any foolish desire,
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Speaker 1: any vain or inordinate affection. If we set our affection
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Speaker 1: on things of the earth, on any person or thing
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Speaker 1: under the sun. If we desire anything but God and
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Speaker 1: what tends to God. If we seek happiness in any creature,
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Speaker 1: the jealous God will surely contend with us, or he
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Speaker 1: can admit of no rival. And if we will not
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Speaker 1: hear his warning voice and return to him with our
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Speaker 1: whole soul, we continue to grieve him with our idols,
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Speaker 1: and after running after other gods, we shall soon be cold, barren,
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Speaker 1: and dry, and the God of this world will blind
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Speaker 1: and darken our hearts. Nine But this he frequently does.
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Speaker 1: Even when we do not give way to any positive sin,
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Speaker 1: It is enough. It gives him sufficient advantage. If we
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Speaker 1: do not stir up the gift of God which is
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Speaker 1: in us, if we do not agonize continually to enter
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Speaker 1: in at the straight gate, if we do not earnestly
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Speaker 1: strive for the mastery and take the kingdom of Heaven
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Speaker 1: by violence, there needs no more than not to fight,
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Speaker 1: and we are sure to be conquered. Let us only
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Speaker 1: be careless or faint in our mind. Let us be
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Speaker 1: easy and indolent, and our natural darkness will soon return
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Speaker 1: and overspread our soul. It is enough. Therefore, if we
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Speaker 1: give way to spiritual slough, this will effectually darken the soul.
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Speaker 1: It will as surely destroy the light of God, if
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Speaker 1: not so swiftly as murder or adultery. Ten. But it
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Speaker 1: is well to be observed that the cause of our darkness,
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Speaker 1: whatsoever it be, whether omission or commission, whether inward or outward, sin,
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Speaker 1: is not always nigh at hand. Sometimes the sin which
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Speaker 1: occasion the present distress may lie at a considerable distance.
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Speaker 1: It might be committed days or weeks or months before.
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Speaker 1: And that God now withdraws his light and peace on
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Speaker 1: account of what was done so long ago, is not,
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Speaker 1: as one might at first imagine, an instance of his severity,
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Speaker 1: but rather a proof of his long suffering and tender mercy.
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Speaker 1: He waited all this time if haply we would see,
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Speaker 1: acknowledge and correct what was amiss, And in default of
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Speaker 1: this he at length shows his displeasure, if thus at
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Speaker 1: last he may bring us to repentance. Two. One Another
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Speaker 1: general cause of this darkness is ignorance, which is likewise
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Speaker 1: of various kinds. If men know not the scriptures, if
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Speaker 1: they imagine there are passages either in the Old or
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Speaker 1: New Testament, which assert that all believers, without exception, must
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Speaker 1: sometimes be in darkness. This ignorance will naturally bring upon
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Speaker 1: them the darkness which they expect. And how common a
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Speaker 1: case has this been among us? How few are there
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Speaker 1: that do not expect it, and no wonder seeing they
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Speaker 1: are taught to expect it, seeing their guides lead them
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Speaker 1: into this way. Not only the mystic writers of the
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Speaker 1: Romish Church, but many of the most spiritual and experimental
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Speaker 1: in our own Very few of the last century excepted
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Speaker 1: lay it down with all assurance as a plain, unquestionable
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Speaker 1: scripture doctrine, and cite many texts to prove it. Two
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Speaker 1: ignorance also of the work of God in the soul
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Speaker 1: frequent occasions this darkness men imagine because so they have
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Speaker 1: been taught, particularly by writers of the Romish Communion, whose
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Speaker 1: plausible assertions too many Protestants have received without due examination,
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Speaker 1: that they are not always to walk in luminous faith,
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Speaker 1: that this is only a lower dispensation, that as they
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Speaker 1: rise higher, they are to leave those sensible comforts and
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Speaker 1: to live by naked faith. Naked indeed, if it be
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Speaker 1: stripped both of love and peace and joy in the
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Speaker 1: Holy ghost, that a state of light and joy is good,
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Speaker 1: but a state of darkness and dryness is better. That
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Speaker 1: it is by these alone we can be purified from pride,
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Speaker 1: love of the world, and inordinate self love, And that
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Speaker 1: therefore we ought neither to expect nor desire to walk
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Speaker 1: in the light always. Hence it is, though other reasons
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Speaker 1: may concur that the main body of pious men in
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Speaker 1: the Romish Church generally walk in a dark, uncomfortable way,
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Speaker 1: and if ever they receive, soon lose the light of God.
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Speaker 1: Three one. A third general cause of this darkness is temptation.
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Speaker 1: When the candle of the Lord first shines on our head,
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Speaker 1: temptation frequently flees away and totally disappears. All is calm
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Speaker 1: within perhaps without two. While God makes our enemies to
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Speaker 1: be at peace with us. It is then very natural
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Speaker 1: to suppose that we shall not see war anymore. And
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Speaker 1: there are instances wherein this calm has continued not only
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Speaker 1: for weeks, but for months or years. But commonly it
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Speaker 1: is otherwise. In a short time the winds blow, the
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Speaker 1: rains descend, and the floods arise. Anew, they who know
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Speaker 1: not either the Son or the Father, and consequently hate
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Speaker 1: his children. When God slackens, the bridle which is in
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Speaker 1: their teeth will show that hatred in various instances. As
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Speaker 1: of old, he that was born after the flesh persecuted
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Speaker 1: him that was born after the spirit. Even so it
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Speaker 1: is now the same care but still producing the same effect.
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Speaker 1: The evil which yet remains in the heart will then
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Speaker 1: also move afresh anger, and many other roots of bitterness
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Speaker 1: will endeavor to spring up. At the same time. Satan
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Speaker 1: will not be wanting to cast in his fiery darts,
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Speaker 1: and the soul will have to wrestle not only with
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Speaker 1: the world, not only with flesh and blood, but with
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Speaker 1: principalities and powers, with the rulers of the darkness of
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Speaker 1: this world, with wicked spirits in high places. Now, when
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Speaker 1: so various assaults are made at once, and perhaps with
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Speaker 1: the utmost violence, it is not strange if it should
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Speaker 1: occasion not only heaviness, but even darkness in a weak believer,
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Speaker 1: more especially if he was not watching, If these assaults
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Speaker 1: are made in an hour when he looked not for them,
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Speaker 1: if he expected nothing less, but had fondly told himself
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Speaker 1: the day of evil would return no more. Two. The
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Speaker 1: force of those temptations which arise from within will be
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Speaker 1: exceedingly heightened if we before thought too highly of ourselves,
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Speaker 1: as if we had been cleansed from all sin. And
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Speaker 1: how naturally do we imagine this during the warmth of
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Speaker 1: our first love? How ready are we to believe that
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Speaker 1: God has fulfilled in us the whole work of faith
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Speaker 1: with power that because we feel no sin, we have
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Speaker 1: none in us. But the soul is all love and
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Speaker 1: will may a sharp attack from an enemy whom we
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Speaker 1: suppose to be not only conquered but slain, throw us
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Speaker 1: into much heaviness of soul, yeay, sometimes into utter darkness,
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Speaker 1: particularly when we reason this enemy instead of instantly calling
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Speaker 1: upon God and casting ourselves upon him by simple faith,
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Speaker 1: who alone knoweth how to deliver his out of temptation.
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Speaker 1: Three these are the usual causes of this second darkness.
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Speaker 1: Inquire we, thirdly, what is the cure of it? One?
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Speaker 1: To suppose that this is one and the same in
26:25
Speaker 1: all cases is a and fatal mistake, and yet extremely
26:30
Speaker 1: common even among many who pass for experienced Christians. Yeay,
26:35
Speaker 1: Perhaps take upon them to be teachers in Israel, to
26:40
Speaker 1: be the guides of other souls. Accordingly, they know and
26:45
Speaker 1: use but one medicine, whatever be the cause of the
26:49
Speaker 1: distemper They begin immediately to apply the promises, to preach
26:55
Speaker 1: the gospel, as they call it, to give comfort is
26:59
Speaker 1: the single point at which they aim, in order to
27:02
Speaker 1: which they say many soft and tender things concerning the
27:06
Speaker 1: love of God to poor helpless sinners, and the efficacy
27:11
Speaker 1: of the blood of Christ. Now this is quackery, indeed,
27:16
Speaker 1: and that of the worst sort, as it tends, if
27:19
Speaker 1: not to kill men's bodies, yet without the peculiar mercy
27:23
Speaker 1: of God, to destroy both their bodies and souls in hell.
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Speaker 1: It is hard to speak of these daubers with untempered mortar,
27:34
Speaker 1: These promised bongers, as they deserve. They well deserve the
27:39
Speaker 1: title which has been ignorantly given to others. They are
27:45
Speaker 1: spiritual mount banks. They do, in effect make the blood
27:49
Speaker 1: of the Covenant and unholy thing. They vilely prostitute the
27:54
Speaker 1: promises of God by thus applying them to all without distinction. Whereas, indeed,
28:01
Speaker 1: the cure of spiritual as of bodily diseases, must be
28:06
Speaker 1: as various as are the causes of them. The first thing, therefore,
28:12
Speaker 1: is to find out the cause, and this will naturally
28:15
Speaker 1: point out the cure. Two, For instance, it is sin
28:20
Speaker 1: which occasions darkness? What sin? It is? Outward sin of
28:25
Speaker 1: any kind? Does your conscience accuse you of committing any
28:29
Speaker 1: sin whereby you grieve the Holy Spirit of God? Is
28:34
Speaker 1: it on this account that He has departed from you?
28:37
Speaker 1: And that joy and peace are departed with him? And
28:41
Speaker 1: how can you expect they should return? Till you put
28:45
Speaker 1: away the accursed thing? Let the wicked forsake his way,
28:50
Speaker 1: cleanse your hands, ye, sinners, put away the evil of
28:54
Speaker 1: your doings, So shall your light break out of obscurity.
28:58
Speaker 1: The Lord will return and abundantly pardon. Three. If upon
29:05
Speaker 1: the closest search you can find no sin of commission
29:09
Speaker 1: which causes the cloud upon your soul, inquire next, if
29:13
Speaker 1: there be not some sin of a mission which separates
29:17
Speaker 1: between God and you? Do you not suffer sin upon
29:22
Speaker 1: your brother? Do you reprove them that sin in your sight?
29:27
Speaker 1: Do you walk in all the ordinances of God in public, family,
29:33
Speaker 1: private prayer? If not, If you habitually neglect any one
29:38
Speaker 1: of these known duties, how can you expect that the
29:42
Speaker 1: light of His countenance should continue to shine upon you?
29:47
Speaker 1: Make haste to strengthen the things that remain. Then your
29:51
Speaker 1: soul shall live today if ye will hear his voice,
29:57
Speaker 1: by his grace? Supply, what is lacking when you hear
30:01
Speaker 1: a voice behind you saying, this is the way walt
30:05
Speaker 1: thou in it. Harden not your heart be no more
30:09
Speaker 1: disobedient to the heavenly calling till the sin, whether of
30:15
Speaker 1: omission or commission, be removed. All comfort is false and deceitful.
30:21
Speaker 1: It is only skinning the wound over which still festers
30:25
Speaker 1: and rankles beneath. Look for no peace within till you
30:30
Speaker 1: are at peace with God, which cannot be without fruits.
30:34
Speaker 1: Meet for repentance for But perhaps you are not conscious
30:38
Speaker 1: of even any sin of omission which impairs your peace
30:43
Speaker 1: and joy in the Holy Ghost? Is there not then
30:47
Speaker 1: some inward sin, which, as a root of bitterness, springs
30:51
Speaker 1: up in your heart to trouble you? Is not your
30:54
Speaker 1: dryness and barrenness of soul occasioned by your hearts departing
30:58
Speaker 1: from the living God? Has not the foot of pride
31:03
Speaker 1: come against you? Have you not thought of yourself more
31:06
Speaker 1: highly than you ought to think? Have you not, in
31:10
Speaker 1: any respect sacrificed to your own net and burned incense
31:15
Speaker 1: to your own drag? Have you not ascribed your success
31:19
Speaker 1: in any undertaking to your own courage, or strength or wisdom.
31:25
Speaker 1: Have you not boasted of something you have received as
31:29
Speaker 1: though you had not received it. Have you not gloried
31:33
Speaker 1: in anything save the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
31:38
Speaker 1: Have you not sought after or desired the praise of men?
31:42
Speaker 1: Have you not taken pleasure in it? If so, you
31:45
Speaker 1: see the way you are to take. If you have
31:49
Speaker 1: fallen by pride, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God,
31:54
Speaker 1: and He will exalt you in due time. Have you
31:58
Speaker 1: not forced Him to depart from you by giving place
32:01
Speaker 1: to anger? Have you not fretted yourself because of the
32:06
Speaker 1: ungodly or been envious against the evildoers. Have you not
32:11
Speaker 1: been offended at any of your brethren, looking at their
32:15
Speaker 1: real or imagined sin, so as to sin yourself against
32:21
Speaker 1: the great law of love By estranging your heart from them.
32:25
Speaker 1: Then look unto the Lord, that you may renew your strength,
32:29
Speaker 1: that all this sharpness and coldness may be done away,
32:33
Speaker 1: that love and peace and joy may return together, and
32:37
Speaker 1: you may be invariably kind to each other and tenderhearted
32:41
Speaker 1: forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven.
32:46
Speaker 1: You have not you given way to any foolish desire,
32:51
Speaker 1: to any kind or degree of inordinate affection. How then,
32:56
Speaker 1: can the love of God have place in your heart
33:00
Speaker 1: till you put away your idols. Be not deceived. God
33:04
Speaker 1: is not mocked. He will not dwell in a divided heart.
33:09
Speaker 1: As long therefore, as you cherish Delilah in your bosom,
33:15
Speaker 1: he has no place there. It is vain to hope
33:19
Speaker 1: for a recovery of his light till you pluck out
33:22
Speaker 1: the right eye and cast it from you. Oh, let
33:26
Speaker 1: there be no longer delay. Cry to him that he
33:30
Speaker 1: may enable you so to do. Bewail your own impotence
33:36
Speaker 1: and helplessness, and the Lord, being your helper, enter in
33:41
Speaker 1: at the straight gate, take the kingdom of heaven by violence,
33:46
Speaker 1: cast out every idol from his sanctuary, and the glory
33:51
Speaker 1: of the Lord shall soon appear. Five. Perhaps it is
33:55
Speaker 1: this very thing, the want of striving spiritual sloth, which
34:00
Speaker 1: keeps your soul in darkness. You dwell at ease in
34:03
Speaker 1: the land. There is no war in your coasts, and
34:08
Speaker 1: so you are quiet and unconcerned. You go on in
34:12
Speaker 1: the same even track of outward duties, and are content
34:17
Speaker 1: there to abide. And do you wonder meantime that your
34:21
Speaker 1: soul is dead? Oh, stir yourself up before the Lord.
34:26
Speaker 1: Arise and shake yourself from the dust. Wrestle with God
34:31
Speaker 1: for the mighty blessing. Pour out your soul unto God
34:36
Speaker 1: in prayer, and continue therein with all perseverance. Watch awake
34:42
Speaker 1: out of sleep, and keep awake. Otherwise there is nothing
34:46
Speaker 1: to be expected but that you will be alienated more
34:50
Speaker 1: and more from the light and life of God. Six.
34:54
Speaker 1: If upon the fullest and most impartial examination of yourself,
35:00
Speaker 1: you cannot discern that you are at present give way
35:03
Speaker 1: either to spiritual sloth or any other inward or outward sin,
35:09
Speaker 1: then call to mind the time that is passed. Consider
35:12
Speaker 1: your former tempers, words, and actions. Have these been right
35:17
Speaker 1: before the Lord? Commune with him in your chamber, and
35:21
Speaker 1: be still and desire of him to try the ground
35:26
Speaker 1: of your heart, and bring to your remembrance whatever has
35:30
Speaker 1: at any time offended the eyes of His glory. If
35:34
Speaker 1: the guilt of any unrepented sin remain on our soul,
35:40
Speaker 1: it cannot be, but you will remain in darkness till,
35:44
Speaker 1: having been renewed by repentance. You are again washed by
35:48
Speaker 1: faith in the fountain opened for sin and uncleanless. Seven
35:54
Speaker 1: entirely different will be the manner of the cure. If
35:57
Speaker 1: the cause of the disease be not sin but ignorance.
36:02
Speaker 1: It may be ignorance of the meaning of scripture, perhaps
36:06
Speaker 1: occasioned by ignorant commentators. Ignorant at least in this respect, However,
36:12
Speaker 1: knowing and learned they may be in other particulars, And
36:17
Speaker 1: in this case that ignorance must be removed. Before we
36:21
Speaker 1: can remove the darkness arising from it, we must show
36:25
Speaker 1: the true meaning of those texts which have been misunderstood.
36:31
Speaker 1: My design does not permit me to consider all the
36:35
Speaker 1: passages of Scripture which have been pressed into this service.
36:40
Speaker 1: I shall just mention two or three which are frequently
36:44
Speaker 1: brought to prove that all believers must, sooner or later
36:48
Speaker 1: walk in darkness. Eight. One of these is Isaiah fifty ten,
36:53
Speaker 1: who is among you that feareth the Lord and obeyeth
36:57
Speaker 1: the voice of his servant, walketh in darkness and hath
37:02
Speaker 1: no light. Let him trust in the name of the
37:04
Speaker 1: Lord and stay upon his God. But how does it appear,
37:09
Speaker 1: either from the text or context, that the person here
37:13
Speaker 1: spoken of ever had light. One who is convinced of
37:18
Speaker 1: sin feareth the Lord and obeyeth the voice of his servant,
37:23
Speaker 1: And him we should advise, though he was still dark
37:27
Speaker 1: of soul and had never seen the light of God's countenance,
37:32
Speaker 1: yet to trust in the name of the Lord and
37:35
Speaker 1: stay upon his God. This text therefore proves nothing less
37:41
Speaker 1: than that believer in Christ must sometimes walk in darkness. Nine.
37:48
Speaker 1: Another text which has been supposed to speak the same
37:51
Speaker 1: doctrine is Hoseiah two fourteen. I will allure her and
37:57
Speaker 1: bring her into the wilderness and speak comfortably unto her. Hence,
38:03
Speaker 1: it has been inferred that God will bring every believer
38:07
Speaker 1: into the wilderness into a state of deadness and darkness.
38:11
Speaker 1: But it is certain the text speaks no such thing,
38:15
Speaker 1: for it does not appear that it speaks of particular
38:18
Speaker 1: believers at all. It manifestly refers to the Jewish nation,
38:23
Speaker 1: and perhaps to that only. But if it be applicable
38:28
Speaker 1: to particular persons, the plain meaning of it is this,
38:33
Speaker 1: I will draw him by love. I will next convince
38:37
Speaker 1: him of sin, and then comfort him by pardoning mercy. Ten.
38:42
Speaker 1: A third scripture, from whence the same inference has been drawn,
38:47
Speaker 1: is that above recited, Ye now have sorrow, but I
38:51
Speaker 1: will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and
38:55
Speaker 1: your joy no man taketh from you. This has been
38:59
Speaker 1: supposed to him. Reply that God would after a time
39:02
Speaker 1: withdraw himself from all believers, and that they could not
39:07
Speaker 1: till after they had thus sorrowed, have the joy, which
39:11
Speaker 1: no man could take from them. But the whole context
39:15
Speaker 1: shows that our Lord is here speaking personally to the
39:18
Speaker 1: apostles and no others, and that he is speaking concerning
39:23
Speaker 1: those particular events his own death and resurrection. A little while,
39:28
Speaker 1: says he, and ye shall not see me visa whilst
39:33
Speaker 1: I am in the grave, and again a little while,
39:37
Speaker 1: and ye shall see me when I am risen from
39:39
Speaker 1: the dead. Ye will weep and lament, and the world
39:43
Speaker 1: will rejoice, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.
39:48
Speaker 1: Ye now have sorrow, because I am about to be
39:50
Speaker 1: taken from your head. But I will see you again
39:54
Speaker 1: after my resurrection, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy,
40:00
Speaker 1: which I will then give you no man taketh from you.
40:04
Speaker 1: All this we know was literally fulfilled in the particular
40:08
Speaker 1: case of the apostles, but no inference can be drawn
40:12
Speaker 1: from hence with regard to God's dealings with believers in general. Eleven.
40:19
Speaker 1: A fourth text to mention no more, which has been
40:23
Speaker 1: frequently cited in proof of the same doctrine, is one
40:26
Speaker 1: Peter four to twelve. Beloved, think it not strange concerning
40:31
Speaker 1: the fiery trial which is to try you? But this
40:36
Speaker 1: is full as foreign to the point as the preceding.
40:40
Speaker 1: The text literally rendered runs, thus, beloved, wonder not at
40:46
Speaker 1: the burning which is among you, which is for your trial. Now, however,
40:52
Speaker 1: this may be accommodated to inward trials in a secondary sense,
40:57
Speaker 1: Yet primarily it doubtless refers to martyrdom and the sufferings
41:03
Speaker 1: connected with it. Neither, therefore, is this text anything at
41:07
Speaker 1: all to the purpose for which it is cited. And
41:11
Speaker 1: we may challenge all men to bring one text, either
41:15
Speaker 1: from the Old or New Testament, which is any more
41:19
Speaker 1: to the purpose than this twelve. But is not darkness
41:23
Speaker 1: much more profitable for the soul than light? Is not
41:26
Speaker 1: the work of God in the heart, most swiftly and
41:29
Speaker 1: effectually carried on during a state of inward suffering. Is
41:34
Speaker 1: not a believer more swiftly and thoroughly purified by sorrow
41:38
Speaker 1: than by joy? By anguish and pain and distress and
41:43
Speaker 1: spiritual martyrdoms, than by continual peace. So the mystics teach.
41:49
Speaker 1: So it is written in their books, but not in
41:52
Speaker 1: the oracles of God. The scripture nowhere says that the
41:57
Speaker 1: absence of God best perfects his work in the heart,
42:02
Speaker 1: rather his presence and a clear communion with the Father
42:06
Speaker 1: and the Son. A strong consciousness of this will do
42:10
Speaker 1: more an hour than his absence in an age. Joy
42:15
Speaker 1: in the Holy Ghost will far more effectually purify the
42:18
Speaker 1: soul than the want of that joy, and the peace
42:22
Speaker 1: of God is the best means of refining the soul
42:26
Speaker 1: from the dross of earthly affections. Away, then with the
42:30
Speaker 1: idle conceit that the Kingdom of God is divided against itself,
42:35
Speaker 1: that the peace of God and joy in the Holy
42:39
Speaker 1: Ghost are obstructive of righteousness, and that we are saved
42:44
Speaker 1: not by faith but by unbelief, not by hope but
42:49
Speaker 1: by despair. Thirteen. So long as men dream thus, they
42:54
Speaker 1: may well walk in darkness. Nor can the effect cease
42:59
Speaker 1: till the cause is removed. But yet we must not
43:02
Speaker 1: imagine it will immediately cease even when the cause is
43:06
Speaker 1: no more. When either ignorance or sin has caused darkness.
43:11
Speaker 1: One or the other may be removed, and yet the
43:14
Speaker 1: light which was obstructed thereby may not immediately return. As
43:20
Speaker 1: it is the free gift of God, he may restore
43:23
Speaker 1: it sooner or later as it pleases him. In the
43:27
Speaker 1: case of sin, we cannot reasonably expect that it should
43:30
Speaker 1: immediately return. The sin began before the punishment, which may
43:36
Speaker 1: therefore justly remain after the sin is at an end.
43:40
Speaker 1: And even in the natural course of things, though a
43:44
Speaker 1: wound cannot be healed while the dart is sticking in
43:47
Speaker 1: the flesh, yet neither is it healed as soon as
43:51
Speaker 1: that is drawn out, But soreness and pain may remain
43:55
Speaker 1: long after fourteen. Lastly, if darkness be okay by manifold
44:01
Speaker 1: and heavy and unexpected temptations, the best way of removing
44:06
Speaker 1: and preventing this is to teach believers always to expect temptation.
44:11
Speaker 1: Seeing they dwell in an evil world among wicked, subtle,
44:16
Speaker 1: malicious spirits, and have and heart capable of all evil,
44:22
Speaker 1: convince them that the whole work of sanctification is not
44:27
Speaker 1: as they imagined, wrought at once, that when they first believe,
44:32
Speaker 1: they are but as newborn babes, who are gradually to
44:36
Speaker 1: grow up, and may expect many storms before they come
44:41
Speaker 1: to the full stature of Christ. Above all, let them
44:45
Speaker 1: be instructed, when the storm is upon them, not to
44:49
Speaker 1: reason with the devil, but to pray, to pour out
44:53
Speaker 1: their souls before God and show him of their trouble.
44:58
Speaker 1: And these are the persons unto whom chiefly we are
45:02
Speaker 1: to apply the great and precious promises, not to the ignorant,
45:07
Speaker 1: till the ignorance is removed, much less to the impenitent sinner.
45:12
Speaker 1: To these we may largely and affectionately declare the loving
45:16
Speaker 1: kindness of God, our Savior, expatiate upon his tender mercies
45:22
Speaker 1: which have been ever of old. Here we may dwell
45:26
Speaker 1: upon the faithfulness of God, whose word is tried to
45:31
Speaker 1: the utmost, and upon the virtue of that blood which
45:34
Speaker 1: was shed for us to cleanse us from all sin.
45:38
Speaker 1: And God will then bear witness to his word and
45:42
Speaker 1: bring their souls out of trouble. He will say, Arise, shine,
45:48
Speaker 1: for thy light is come, and the glory of the
45:51
Speaker 1: Lord is risen upon thee Yeay, And that light. If
45:56
Speaker 1: thou walk humbly and closely with God, will she dene
46:00
Speaker 1: more and more unto the perfect day and of Section
46:05
Speaker 1: forty seven