True Christianity

2. Here we may see the wretched state of Jerusalem, and what flagrant iniquities they were which hastened its ruin. Treachery and iniquity did so abound, that there was neither truth nor honesty left among the people. Their only aim was to cheat and defraud one another; and their hearts being thus set upon iniquity, they brought on themselves ruin and destruction.

3. Something similar to this, is the complaint of the prophet Micah: “Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape gleanings of the vintage; there is no cluster to eat; my soul desired the first ripe fruit. The good man is perished out of the earth; and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood. They do evil with both hands earnestly. Trust ye not in a friend.” Micah 7:1, 2, 3, 5. When a people or nation are come to this pass, they are industriously digging a pit, into which they design to rush boldly, and with their eyes open. Would to God this were not the case in our own times! We, too, deeply share in their guilt, and we must expect to share in their punishments. For our destruction is of ourselves. O that we could at last awake, renounce our past errors, put off our carnal minds that are at enmity against God, and love the truth and peace. If we do not so, we are condemned already, and cannot receive help.

4. But in order that upright and good men may not be too much discouraged in this sad and dangerous state of things, we must consider by what means the holy men of old supported themselves in such a state of universal corruption. The prophet Micah (Micah 7:7, etc.), pointing out, as it were, with his finger the fountain of true consolation, says, “Therefore I will look unto the Lord: I will wait for the God of my salvation!” That is his first comfort. The second is, “My God will hear me.” The third is, “Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy. When I fall, I shall arise.” The fourth is, “When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.” The fifth is, “I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me.” The sixth is, “He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.” The seventh is, “Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her.”

5. First, he says, “I will look unto the Lord: I will wait for the God of my salvation.” In these words is contained the doctrine of faith and hope, which are, as it were, the two watchful, never-sleeping eyes of the soul, by which it constantly looks towards God in the greatest dangers and necessities; the greater the calamity, the stronger ought to be our faith, the more vigorous our hope. Then it is that we should call to mind the words which we repeat at the beginning of the Apostles' Creed: “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth;” that is, I believe that there is no misery or calamity so great, but God can and will deliver me out of it. Let us learn, therefore, to turn away our eyes from temporal suffering, not regarding it, but God “who worketh salvation in the midst of the earth” (Ps. 74:12), and who alone can and will deliver us according to Psalm 123: “Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that he have mercy upon us. Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us; for we are exceedingly filled with contempt. Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud.”

6. Moreover, as it is the way of God to help us, not at the time appointed by us, but in his own due time; so it is not enough for us to say, “I will look unto the Lord;” but we must add, “and wait for the God of my salvation.” For faith, hope, and patience, have an entire relation to, and mutual dependence upon each other; as we may see in Psalm 27; in the beginning of which, David, looking up to God, says, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?” He concludes his prayer with these words: “I believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” Ps. 27:1, 14. So Psalm 130:5, 6: “I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait; and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning.” “For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” Habak. 2:3. But if the sorrowing soul shall say: “Alas, I have waited a great while!” let her know that it is necessary it should be so, in order that her faith, hope, and patience, may be tried and approved in the sight of God. We never please God more, than when with patience and humility we wait for the accomplishment of his promises, and receive with submission all his determinations concerning us. – Everything has a certain beginning; so has everything an appointed end; and whosoever does not wait for that, labors in vain. As the grain is exposed to all the vicissitudes of wind and weather, before it comes to maturity, and, whenever it becomes ripe, is the sweeter and better upon that account: so is it with the cross. He that bears it with patience, and waits for the end of it, shall reap “the peaceable fruit of righteousness.” Heb. 12:11. For St. Paul affirms, “that hope maketh not ashamed” (Rom. 5:5); for when it is founded upon divine grace, as upon a firm rock, it continues immovable in adversity. Hence it is said, “Let none that wait on thee be ashamed.” Psalm 25:3. “They looked unto him and were lightened; and their faces were not ashamed.” Ps. 34:5. “In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed.” Ps. 31:1. “The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever.” Ps. 9:18.

7. The second consolation is, that God will certainly hear our prayers: “The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping. The Lord hath heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer.” Ps. 6:8, 9. “In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.” Ps. 18:6. “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.” Ps. 34:6, 15. “Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him.” Ps. 91:14, 15. “O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come. By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us, O God of our salvation; who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are afar off upon the sea.” Ps. 65:2, 5. But if thou shalt say in thine heart, “All these were men eminent for holiness, faith, and dependence upon God; but as for me, I am not worthy to be compared with them,” I answer, out of Rom. 3:23 – “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” but are heard and accepted through grace, by repentance and faith. “The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him; he also will hear their cry, and will save them.” Ps. 145:18, 19. “He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer. This shall be written for the generations to come.” Ps. 102:17, 18.

8. The third consolation is contained in these words: “Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy! when I fall, I shall arise.” Though the world, according to the perverse spirit that governs it, rejoice at the sufferings of good men (John 16:20), yet shall they at last be confounded, and the righteous be comforted. Hence we are told, “The Lord will not cast off forever: but though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion, according to the multitude of his mercies. For he doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.” Lam. 3:31, 32, 33. “God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” 1 Cor. 10:13. The same God that laid the burden on you, will in due time take it off, comfort you, and deliver you from death. “Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing; thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness.” Ps. 30:11. “The Lord upholdeth all that fall; and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.” Psalm 145:14. “In a little wrath, I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer.” Isa. 54:8. “It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning.” Lam. 3:22, 23.

9. The fourth consolation is contained in these words: “When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.” By darkness, he means a state of affliction; which is darkness, indeed, wherein a man can neither see nor be seen by his friends with the least glimpse of worldly comfort. The sufferer sits in the very region of shame and sorrow, the valley of the shadow of death, exposed to the violence and assaults of evil spirits and wicked men. But dark and dismal as it is, the Lord himself will enlighten it; the light of whose countenance shines most of all in the dismal darkness of worldly affliction. There he appears to comfort the disconsolate, and cheer, with the brightness of his presence, the desolate and desponding soul. Thus it is said, “Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.” Ps. 97:11. “Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness; he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.” Ps. 112:4.

10. The fifth consolation is this: “I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me.” Let the afflicted person think on this, and remember that though from those that afflict him he may have deserved better usage; yet from the hand of God, he has deserved a great deal worse. Whatever befalls us, is by the permission of God. Upon this account, the evils that we suffer from wicked men, are called in this verse, “the indignation of the Lord.” Blessed is he that beareth this affliction with patience, and receiveth it no otherwise than as coming from God himself. “Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law; that thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked.” Ps. 94:12, 13. “It is good for a man that he sit alone and keep silence, because he hath borne the yoke upon him. He putteth his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope. He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him; he is filled full with reproach.” Lam. 3:27-30. This was truly the case of David, who might properly say, “I will bear the anger of the Lord, because I have sinned against him.” For thus he speaks, when he commanded Zadok to carry back the ark of God. “If I shall find favor in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me again, and show me both it and his habitation. But if he thus say, I have no delight in thee; behold here am I, let him do to me as seemeth good unto him.” 2 Sam. 15:25, 26. And when Shimei cursed him, he humbly acknowledges the appointment and permission of God, saying, “Let him alone, and let him curse; for the Lord hath bidden him.” 2 Sam. 16:11. “Fret not (therefore) thyself because of evil-doers. Put thy trust in God.” Psalm 37:1, 5.

11. The sixth consolation is, “He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.” This is a figure of speech taken from the condition of a man that has long lain in darkness, and been as a dead man out of mind; or of one taken out of a dark and deep prison into the light and open air. For as these, having been long confined to darkness and misery, are exceedingly refreshed with the cheerful light of the sun and the splendor of the heavens; so after the patient bearing of the cross, the light of God's countenance breaks forth, and the beams of divine consolation strike powerfully upon the soul, filling it with glory and joy unspeakable. Ps. 50:2. Did not Joseph thus break through the shades of darkness and misery, like the bright sun out of a cloud? Gen. 41:38. And did not God bring king David out of the region of misery into a state of joy and happiness? So also at the resurrection of the dead shall our bodies be brought out of their dark prisons, and we shall rejoice in the everlasting light and glory of God.

12. The seventh consolation is, “Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her.” This is the proper punishment of wicked men who rejoice at the affliction of others, that they shall be covered with confusion. The time will certainly come, when the mockers shall be struck with unavoidable shame, and shall be convinced by their own consciences, of the wrong which they have done to others. This was Shimei's case, who could not but blush and be confounded in the presence of David and Solomon. 2 Sam. 19:19; 1 Kings 2:44. “It is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you: and to you who are troubled, rest.” 2 Thess. 1:6, 7. “I rejoiced not at the destruction of him that hated me, nor lifted up myself when evil found him. Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin, by wishing a curse to his soul.” Job 31:29, 30. “Love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good to them that hate you; and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you: that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain upon the just and the unjust.” Matt. 5:44, 45.

Chapter L.

Showing How Hope Is Tested In Seasons Of Adversity; It Maketh Not Ashamed

Thou shalt know that I am the Lord; for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.– Isa.49:23.

As faith is nothing else but a fixed and steady assurance by which the devout Christian depends perfectly and entirely on the favor and mercy of God promised in Christ Jesus (Heb. 11:1), so hope is a continued and patient waiting for the accomplishment of that promise which is the object of faith, and is nothing else but a patient, constant, and persevering faith.

2. Of this hope St. Paul says, that it “maketh not ashamed” (Rom. 5:5): being, as well as faith itself, founded upon a firm, immovable, and eternal basis. And this is God himself, who never faileth those that wait for him; and for the same reason, the peace, joy, rest, glory, and confidence imparted by hope are eternal. On this foundation, he who hopes stands fixed and secure amidst all the crosses and calamities of life; and though the rains descend, the floods come, and the boisterous winds blow upon him, he is fearless and unmoved, knowing that “his house is built upon a rock.” Matt. 7:25.

3. And as hope is built upon an immovable foundation, and the things of this world are fleeting and uncertain; therefore its rest, its joy, its entire dependence, are in God alone, despising the riches, pleasures, honors, and glories of the world. “They that trust in the Lord, shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever. As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people.” Ps. 125:1, 2.

4. On the other hand, they whose hopes are founded on the transitory riches, honors, and pleasures of this world, are perpetually exposed to all the fears, cares, and calamities of life; lie at the mercy of every blast of inconstant fortune, by which they are tossed to and fro; and depend upon the uncertain will of the world for every quiet moment they enjoy.

5. This can never be learned but under the discipline of the cross. For such is the nature of affliction, that it searches and discovers the inmost recesses of the soul; and shows us whether the hope that is in us be true or false. By this touchstone, we often find that our hopes have not been so much fixed upon God himself, as upon the favors and blessings he bestows; that we have built upon the sand, and idolized the creature, instead of worshipping the Creator. For so great is the blindness of our nature, that we often rest in the creatures, instead of raising our minds from them to the Creator, as he designed. For with this intent God bestows on man so many and great blessings, that by the gifts he may be drawn to the Giver; and learn to know, love, fear, reverence, and hope in God alone. But so great is the corruption of our nature, that we are not disposed to serve God for nought; and we worship him not for his own sake, but for the sake of what he bestows.

6. Upon this account, it is necessary that God should sometimes visit us with crosses and afflictions, and deprive us of his good things which we have abused; that so we may learn to praise, and glorify, and depend on him alone. Nay, we sometimes proceed so far, as to trust in ourselves, and entirely depend on our own power and abilities; then it is that God in mere mercy interposes; and, that we may not grow too proud, breaks us in pieces, humbles, and confounds us, and so empties us of ourselves, that we may be filled with all the fulness of God. This we cannot be, without being first emptied of all that arrogance, pride, and self-conceit, which stand in perfect opposition to the grace of God.

7. Hence hope is a militant virtue, fighting against all that confidence in ourselves, all that self-exaltation upon the score of our own gifts, merit, righteousness, prosperity, honors, and riches, in which the natural man places all his confidence. The business of hope is to oppose and conquer all these delusions of the devil, and to seek rest and peace in God alone.

8. Hence it follows, that hope, like faith and charity, has God only for its object. Whosoever aims at any other mark, or places his hope on any other being, is destitute of any well-founded hope. As all created beings when out of God are nothing; it follows that the hope reposed in them is also nothing. So then, these three virtues, faith, hope, and charity, are in the highest sense spiritual, admitting of no earthly mixture, but are fixed entirely on God, who is their eternal and invisible basis. To this refers that passage of St. Paul, “Hope that is seen, is not hope; for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?” Rom. 8:24. Whosoever, therefore, places his hope upon anything that is visible, has not the invisible God for his support, but rests upon a shadow; and when the visible world, which is his basis, shall sink into nothing, by consequence his hope, that was built upon it, must sink and perish with it.

9. Consider this, O man, and by carefully comparing time with eternity, persuade thyself to entertain a true and saving hope, and to be led into a state of firm and lasting peace. Eternity is unchangeable, ever constant, always the same; but time is nothing but change and revolution. The brightest day declines and ends in darkness, weeks are swallowed up in months, and months in years; the opening spring and fruitful summer sink, by degrees, into a desolate winter; and not only so, but all the elementary bodies are in a state of change, always shifting from one appearance to another; not to mention the continual motions of the heavens. So that this world cannot be the region of rest. For whatsoever is subject to time, is continually passing, and vanishing; in a word, “All is vanity” (Eccles. 1:2), and we shall never rest but in eternity. And though all men, both good and bad, long for peace and tranquillity; yet they, and they only, shall find it, who have learned to lose and resign themselves in Christ, the eternal rest of the soul. And this is not so much the work of labor and study, as of quietness and hope. Isa. 30:15.

10. Moreover, the Christian's hope must be tried, not only by the loss of temporal things, but also by the withholding of the communications of divine grace and favor (as commonly happens in great temptations); that seeing ourselves deprived even of those most excellent and spiritual blessings, on which we depend, our hope may arrive at the highest pitch of purity and sincerity, and rest on God alone. In such a case “we must hope, even against hope” (Rom. 4:18), as we read that Abraham did. Here a man must, with his blessed Redeemer, be deserted and forsaken, not only by man, but by God himself. And this is properly “to be conformed to the image of the Son of God.” Rom. 8:29. This is the truest test or probation of the Christian's hope.

11. For, whereas, in other afflictions, our patience, humility, devotion, and charity, are principally exercised; in these spiritual trials of the conscience, our hope is eminently proved and tried, whether it be sincere or not. In this probation, though a man be perfectly despoiled of all his grace, yet shall he at last triumph in that “hope which maketh not ashamed.” And though the soul that is thus tried, be sometimes ready to fall into impatience, murmuring, blasphemy, or the like; yet there remains, as it were, some gentle breath of hope, arising from the ground of the heart, by the power of the divine Spirit, which contradicts and opposes those unholy suggestions. When this combat is over, all his transgressions are forgiven, and his sins are covered and he himself is like “a brand plucked out of the fire” (Zech. 3:2); “or like a piece of an ear taken out of the mouth of the lion.” Amos 3:12. Now this impatience being involuntary, and being opposed with sighs and groans unutterable, is by no means to be called despair; considering withal, that this is the sharpest conflict, the severest trial of the Christian's hope; and these are the “unutterable groanings” which St. Paul mentions. Rom. 8:26.

12. They that undergo these trials, are the greatest saints, and are nearer to God than those who repose all their hope and confidence in themselves. The pride of such men, in vainly arrogating any perfections to themselves, makes them in the highest degree blasphemers against God; whereas the disciples of the cross are his dearest children, as we may see in the examples of Job and David: for by being thus stripped of themselves, they are purified as gold in the refiner's fire; and being thus cleansed from all their dross of pride and vainglory, they shine in the glory of the divine image, like a beautiful jewel set in the purest gold; so that nothing remains of which the proud man can boast.

13. By such trials as these, a man is taught to put his trust in nothing but in God alone. For when affliction has taken everything else from us, God alone cannot be taken from us. Yea, affliction is so far from separating us from God, that it rather brings us to God, restoring us to God, and God to us. It is hope, therefore, that preserves us in calamities, so that we are not consumed, and, therefore, it “maketh us not ashamed.” Rom. 5:5. But as the soul came out from God, so must she return thither again, void of all love of the creatures; and when a man passes out of himself and all the creatures, whither can he go, or where can he rest, but in the hands of his God, who comprehendeth and upholdeth the world, and all that is therein? Isaiah 40:12. Whosoever, therefore, bids farewell to the world, and is divested of all love of himself and the creatures, having his heart fixed on no earthly thing, but being perfectly free and at liberty, resigning himself and all his concerns into the hands of God, and being content under every dispensation of providence – he may be truly said to rest in God. But those who are entangled in the love of themselves and the creatures, being slaves to their own wills, resting in them, and not submitting to the will of God, must perish in the end.

Chapter LI.

Comfort For Those That Are Weak In Faith

A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench.– Isaiah 42:3.

In this verse the holy prophet comforts those that are weak in faith by two beautiful similitudes, excellently adapted to the purpose. For as a bruised reed (to which he first alludes) must be handled very gently, lest it be entirely broken to pieces; and as the smoking flax, when once it has taken fire, must be continually encouraged by a gentle breath, for fear of blowing it out; so our blessed Redeemer, who knows our infirmities, treats us with great gentleness, reviving from time to time the spark of faith within us, with the soft and gentle breath of his Spirit, that we may not be discouraged by our manifold infirmities, but be enlivened and strengthened under them. Isaiah 57:15. And because this weakness of faith is a very grievous temptation, to which all Christians are more or less exposed; therefore has the Holy Spirit, in the Word of God, furnished us with very strong consolations against it, which ought to be deeply rooted in our mind, that we may have them in readiness, and apply them with success in the sad hour of temptation.