Oliver Heywood
Extracted from Heart Treasure by the Rev. Oliver Heywood (1629 – 1702). He was one of the ejected ministers of 1662 and was frequently persecuted. Under his preaching believers were greatly edified, and large numbers of the impenitent were converted. Heart Treasure is based on Matthew 12:35, “A good man, out of the good treasure of the heart, bringeth forth good things.”
God knows and owns that treasure which is sometimes concealed from the possessor. This is a most sweet and consoling thought. “Our life is hid with Christ in God”, and frequently it is so hidden as to be imperceptible to our own eyes, as well as to the eyes of others. But still it is “hid with God”, and He that hides can find. Saints are called God’s “hidden ones”; and their spiritual birthright and dignity may be said to be hidden, not only with respect to their safety and secrecy, but often also with respect to the obscurity with which they are manifested to the saints themselves. A Christian may have much more of God in him than he is aware of. It is one thing to have grace, and quite another to know that we have grace.
A sincere child of God, while he has the seed and root of holiness, may want the bud and blossom of actual comfort. He has always a solid basis for divine consolations, yet, from a variety of causes, he may, at certain intervals, be without their sensible enjoyment. Sometimes God withdraws the light of His countenance, suspends the witness of His Spirit, and leaves the soul in darkness and desertion. Sometimes the believer is negligent, and does not faithfully use the appointed means for obtaining and preserving an assurance of his interest in Christ. Sometimes, by seeking for more comfort than God sees fit to bestow, he forgets, denies, and so neutralizes what he has. And sometimes from the indulgence of a cherished sin, from the prevalence of a worldly spirit, or from the influence of a melancholy temper, the features of the “new man” within him become so veiled and clouded as not to be discernible to his view.
Every Christian knows by sad experience, that he is often at a loss, and cannot tell what to make of his condition. He has his nights as well as his days; a nipping winter as well as a flourishing summer. The sap of grace may retreat into the root – the flowers and plants may shrink and disappear – the streams may cease to flow – and the whole spiritual creation in his heart may droop and lose its verdure. Yet life is still there.
A reviving spring will come, when the beams of the Sun of Righteousness shall reanimate these hidden graces, and so draw them forth in blossoms and fruits of holy obedience, that the saint shall live again, and know that he lives; shall believe, and know that he believes. In the mean time, while he thus “walks in darkness, and hath no light, let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay himself upon his God”. Let him cast his anchor within the veil, and repose his troubled heart on the Rock of Ages. Faith is a venture, and you must venture your all on this bottom. You must confide in God when you cannot see Him, and lean upon Him when you cannot feel His presence.
Diligently employ the means which He has ordained for communicating comfort; study His promises; meditate on His love; awaken your slumbering affections; recall your past experiences; renew your repentance; forsake all sin; be importunate at the throne of grace – and hope and joy will soon spring up afresh in your heart. Peace is the usual result of the exercise of grace; and as the striking of flint and steel together produces fire, so the acting of sincere grace upon its proper object begets light and heat of spiritual comfort. Nay, the very pouring out of your heart to God will be itself a precious and healing comfort. If you have a treasure of grace, God will, in due time, give you a treasure of joy.
Should He, in His wisdom, delay this for a season, He will still maintain His interest in you, and keep you from fainting. If you have no spiritual rejoicings, you shall have spiritual support. If your state be not sweet, yet it shall be sure. The grace of the Redeemer shall be sufficient for you, and that is equivalent to the mercy desired. The less comfort you have in the way, the more you shall have in the end; and it matters little whether comfort come an hour before death, or an hour after, since come it certainly will.
Amidst all your doubts and fears, therefore, seek to approve your heart unto God. He searches your heart, and knows what you are and what you have, though neither yourself nor others know it. He sees the principles by which you are actuated; watches the struggles of light and darkness within you; and regards with favour every effort which you make to shake off the fetters of unbelief and sin, and walk forth in the glorious liberty of His sons. He knows and He approves the way of the righteous.
Your path may be, for the present, enveloped in gloom, and you may have to press onward in it through many sorrows, and anxieties, and conflicts. Still your end shall be peace. In the hurry of temptation, you may be ready to misjudge both your character and your conduct; yet your final happiness does not depend on the account which you may form of yourself, but on God’s account of you in Christ.
A sincere believer may not always be able to recognize the actual workings of faith in his own mind, and yet may be satisfied respecting the object of faith. There may be times when he cannot say, I know that I do now truly believe; but still he can say, I know in whom I have believed, and desire to believe again. With a trust that wavers not because the cloud is over him, he can exclaim, I know not, indeed, how it is with me; I have lost myself in a labyrinth of cares and fears, and see not the path before me; yet I put my hand into His, who knows the way and can lead me out, and confide in Him who shed His precious blood for my soul, to guide it in safety to the rest and heritage of His saints. ■