1.
When the Spirit of the Lord comes to deal with a person, to bring him to Christ, he finds him in Laodicea’s case, in a sound sleep of security, dreaming of heaven and the favour of God, though full of sin against the Holy One of Israel, Rev. iii. 17, “Thou knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” Therefore he darts in some beams of light into the dark soul, and lets the man see that he is a lost man, if he turn not over a new leaf, and betake himself to a new course of life. Thus, by the Spirit of the Lord acting as a spirit of bondage, there is a criminal court erected in the man’s breast, where he is arraigned, accused and condemned for breaking the law of God, “convicted of sin and judgment,” John xvi. 8. And now he can no longer sleep securely in his former course of life. This is the first stroke which the branch gets, in order to cutting off.
2.
Hereupon the man forsakes his former profane courses, his lying, swearing, sabbath-breaking, stealing and such like practices, though they be dear to him as right eyes, he will rather quit them than ruin his soul. The ship is likely to sink, and therefore he throws his goods overboard, that he himself may not perish. Now he begins to bless himself in his heart, and looks joyfully on his evidences for heaven, thinking himself a better servant to God than many others, Luke xviii. 11, “God, I thank thee, I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers,” etc. But he soon gets another stroke with the axe of the law, shewing him that it is only he that doeth what is written in the law, that can be saved by it, and that his negative holiness is too scanty a covering from the storm of God’s wrath. Thus, although his sins of commission only were heavy on him before, his sins of omission now crowd into his thoughts, attended with a train of law curses and vengeance. And each of the ten commandments discharges thunder-claps of wrath against him for his omission of required duties.
3.
Upon this he turns to a positively holy course of life. He not only is not profane, but he performs religious duties: he prays, seeks the knowledge of the principles of religion, strictly observes the Lord’s day, and, like Herod, does many things, and hears sermons gladly. In one word, there is a great conformity, in his outward conversation, to the letter of both tables of the law. There is a mighty change in the man, which his neighbours cannot miss taking notice of. Hence he is cheerfully admitted by the Godly into their society, as a praying person and can confer with them about religious matters, yea, and about soul exercise, which some are not acquainted with and their good opinion of him confirms his good opinion of himself. This step in religion is fatal to many, who never get beyond it. But here the Lord gives the elect branch a further stroke. Conscience plies in the man’s face, for some wrong steps in his conversation, the neglect of some duty, or commission of some sin, which is a blot in his conversation and then the flaming sword of the law appears again over his head and the curse rings in his ears for that he “continueth not in all things written in the book of the law to do them,” Gal. iii. 10.
4.
On this account he is obliged to seek another remedy for his disease. He goes to God, confesses his sin, seeks the pardon of it, promising to watch against it for the time to come and so finds ease, and thinks he may very well take it, seeing the scripture saith, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,” I John i. 9; not considering that he grasps at a privilege, which is theirs only who are grafted into Christ, and under the covenant of grace, and which the branches yet growing on the old stock cannot plead. And here sometimes there are formal and express vows made against such and such sins, and binding to such and such duties. Thus many go on all their days, knowing no other religion, than to perform duties, and to confess and pray for pardon of that wherein they fail, promising themselves eternal happiness, though they are utter strangers to Christ. Here many elect ones have been cast down wounded and many reprobates have been slain, while the wounds of neither of them have been deep enough to cut them off from their natural stock. But the Spirit of the Lord gives yet a deeper stroke to the branch which is to be cut off, shewing him, that, as yet, he is but an outside saint, and discovering to him the filthy lusts lodged in his heart, which he took no notice of before, Romans, vii. 9, “When the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.” Then he sees his heart to be full of sinful lusts, covetousness, pride, malice, filthiness and the like. Now as soon as the door of the chambers of his imagery is thus opened to him and he sees what they do there in the dark, his outside religion is blown up as insufficient and he learns a new lesson in religion, namely, “That he is not a Jew, who is one outwardly,” Romans ii. 28.
5.
Upon this he goes farther, even to inside religion; sets to work more vigorously then ever, mourns over the evils of his heart and strives to bear down the weeds, which he finds growing in that neglected garden. He labours to curb his pride and passion and to banish speculative impurities; prays more fervently, hears attentively, and strives to get his heart affected in every religious duty he performs and thus he comes to think himself, not only an outside, but an inside Christian. Wonder not at this, for there is nothing in it beyond the power of nature, or what one may attain to, under a vigorous influence of the covenant of works; therefore another yet deeper stroke is given. The law charges home on the man’s conscience, that he was a transgressor from the womb; that he came into the world a guilty creature and that in the time of his ignorance, and even since his eyes were opened, he has been guilty of many actual sins, either altogether overlooked by him or not sufficiently mourned over, for spiritual souls, not healed by the blood of Christ, but skinned over some other way, so as to be easily irritated and soon to break out again; therefore the law takes him by the throat, saying, “Pay what thou owest.”
6.
Then the sinner says in his heart, “Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all,” and so falls to work to pacify an offended God and to atone for those sins. He renews his repentance, such as it is, bears patiently the afflictions laid upon him, yea, he afflicts himself, denies himself the use of his lawful comforts, sighs deeply, mourns bitterly, cries with tears for a pardon, till he has wrought up his heart to a conceit of having obtained it: having thus done penance for what is passed, he resolves to be a good servant to God, and to hold on in outward and inward obedience, for the time to come. But the stroke must go nearer the heart yet, ere the branch falls off. The Lord discovers to him, in the glass of the law, how he sinneth in all he does, even when he does the best he can and therefore the dreadful sound returns to his ears, Galatians iii.10, “Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things,” etc. “When ye fasted and mourned,” saith the Lord, “did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?” Will muddy water make clean clothes? Will you satisfy for one sin with another? Did not your thoughts wander in such a duty? Were not your affections flat in another? Did not your heart give a sinful look to such an idol? And did it not rise in a fit of impatience, under such an affliction? “Should I accept this of your hands? Cursed be the deceiver, which sacrificeth to the Lord a corrupt thing,” Malachi i. 13, 14. And thus he becomes so far broken off, that he sees he is not able to satisfy the demands of the law.
7.
Hence, like a broken man, who finds he is not able to pay all his debt, he goes about to compound with his creditor. And being in pursuit of ease, and comfort, he does what he can to fulfil the law, and wherein he fails, he trusts that God will accept the will for the deed. Thus doing his duty, and having a will to do better, he cheats himself into a persuasion of the goodness of his state: and hereby thousands are ruined. But the elect get another stroke, which loosens their hold in this case. The doctrine of the law is borne in on their consciences, demonstrating to them, that exact and perfect obedience is required by it, under pain of the curse; and that it is doing and not wishing to do, which will avail. Wishing to be better will not answer the law’s demands and therefore the curse sounds again, “Cursed is every one that continueth not—to do them,” that is, actually to do them. In vain is wishing then.
8.
Being broken off from all hopes of compounding with the law, he falls to borrowing. He sees that all he can do to obey the law, and all his desires to be and to do better, will not save his soul: therefore he goes to Christ, entreating, that his righteousness may make up what is wanting in his own and cover all the defects of his doing and sufferings; that so God, for Christ’s sake, may accept them and thereupon be reconciled. Thus doing what he can to fulfil the law and looking to Christ to make up all his defects, he comes at length to sleep securely again. Many persons are ruined this way. This was the error of the Galatians, which Paul, in his epistle to them, disputes against. But the Spirit of God breaks off the sinner from this hold also, by bringing home to his conscience that great truth, Galatians iii. 12, “The law is not of faith, but the man that doeth them shall live in them.” There is no mixing of the law and faith in this business; the sinner must hold by one of them and let the other go. The way of the law and the way of faith, are so far different, that it is not possible for a sinner to walk in the one, unless he comes off from the other: and if he be for doing, he must do all alone; Christ will not do a part for him, if he do not all. A garment pieced up of sundry sorts of righteousness, is not a garment meet for the court of heaven. Thus the man is like one in a dream, who thought he was eating, but being awakened by a stroke, behold his soul is faint; his heart sinks in him like a stone, while he finds that he can neither bear his burden himself alone, nor can he get help under it.
9.
What can he do who must needs pay and yet has not enough of his own to bring him out of debt; nor can borrow so much, and is ashamed to beg? What can such a one do, I say, but sell himself, as the man under the law, that was become poor? Leviticus xxv. 47. Therefore the sinner, beat off from so many holds, attempts to make a bargain with Christ, and to sell himself to the Son of God, if I may so speak, solemnly promising and vowing, that he will be a servant to Christ, as long as he lives, if He will save his soul. And here, the sinner often makes a personal covenant with Christ, resigning himself to Him on these terms; yea, and takes the sacrament, to make the bargain sure. Hereupon the man’s great care is, how to obey Christ, keep His commandments and so fulfil his bargain. In this the soul finds a false, unsound peace, for a while, till the Spirit of the Lord gives another stroke to cut off the man from this refuge of lies likewise. And that happens in this manner: when he fails of the duties he engaged to perform, and falls again into the sin he covenanted against, it is powerfully carried home on his conscience, that his covenant is broken; so all his comfort goes and terrors afresh seize on his soul, as one that has broken covenant with Christ. Commonly the man, to help himself, renews his covenant, but breaks it again as before. And how is it possible it should be otherwise, seeing he is still upon the old stock? Thus the work of many, all their days, as to their souls, is nothing but a making and breaking such covenants, over and over again. (To be continued).