Works of John Bunyan Volume I Part 180

Now, this cannot but be an excellent thing, if we consider, that by such a heart, unfeigned obedience is yielded unto him that calleth for it. 'Ye have obeyed from the heart,' says Paul to them at Rome, 'that form of doctrine which was delivered you' (Rom 6:17). Alas!

the heart, before it is broken and made contrite, is quite of another temper: 'It is not subject to the law of G.o.d, neither indeed can be.' The great stir before the heart is broken, is about who shall be Lord, G.o.d or the sinner. True, the right of dominion is the Lord's; but the sinner will not suffer it, but will be all himself; saying 'Who is Lord over us?' and again, say they to G.o.d, 'We are lords, we will come no more unto thee' (Psa 12:4; Jer 2:31).

This also is evident by their practice; G.o.d may say what he will, but they will do what they list. Keep my sabbath, says G.o.d; I will not, says the sinner. Leave your whoring, says G.o.d; I will not, says the sinner. Do not tell lies, nor swear, nor curse, nor blaspheme my holy name, says G.o.d; O but I will, says the sinner. Turn to me, says G.o.d; I will not, says the sinner. The right of dominion is mine, says G.o.d; but, like that young rebel (1 Kings 1:5), I will be king, says the sinner. Now, this is intolerable, this is unsufferable, and yet every sinner by practice says thus; for they have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of G.o.d.

Here can be no concord, no communion, no agreement, no fellows.h.i.+p.

Here, here is enmity on the one side, and flaming justice on the other (2 Cor 6:14-16; Zech 11:8). And what delight, what content, what pleasure, can G.o.d take in such men. None at all; no, though they should be mingled with the best of the saints of G.o.d; yea, though the best of saints should supplicate for them. Thus, says Jeremiah, 'Then said the Lord unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me,' that is, to pray for them, 'yet my mind could not be toward this people; cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth' (Jer 15:1).

Here is nought but open war, acts of hostility, and shameful rebellion, on the sinner's side; and what delight can G.o.d take in that? Wherefore, if G.o.d will bend and buckle the spirit of such an one, he must shoot an arrow at him, a bearded arrow, such as may not be plucked out of the wound: an arrow that will stick fast, and cause that the sinner falls down as dead at G.o.d's foot (Psa 33:1,2). Then will the sinner deliver up his arms, and surrender up himself as one conquered, into the hand of, and beg for the Lord's pardon, and not till then; I mean not sincerely.

And now G.o.d has overcome, and his right hand and his holy arm has gotten him the victory. Now he rides in triumph with his captive at his chariot wheel; now he glories; now the bells in heaven do ring; now the angels shout for joy, yea, are bid to do so, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost' (Luke 15:1-10).

Now also the sinner, as a token of being overcome, lies grovelling at his foot, saying, 'Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies, whereby the people fall under thee' (Psa 45:3-5).

Now the sinner submits, now he follows his conqueror in chains, now he seeks peace, and would give all the world, were it his own, to be in the favour of G.o.d, and to have hopes by Christ of being saved.

Now this must be pleasing, this cannot but be a thing acceptable in G.o.d's sight: 'A broken and a contrite heart, O G.o.d, thou wilt not despise.' For it is the desire of his own heart, the work of his own hands.

Third. Another reason why a broken heart is to G.o.d such an excellent thing is this, a broken heart prizes Christ, and has a high esteem for him. The whole have no need of a physician, but the sick; this sick man is the broken-hearted in the text; for G.o.d makes men sick by smiting of them, by breaking of their hearts. Hence sickness and wounds are put together; for that the one is a true effect of the other (Mark 2:17; Micah 6:13; Hosea 5:13). Can any think that G.o.d should be pleased, when men despise his Son, saying, He hath no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him? And yet so say they of him whose hearts G.o.d has not mollified; yea, the elect themselves confess, that before their hearts were broken, they set light by him also. He is, say they, 'despised and rejected of men,--and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not' (Isa 53:2,3).

He is indeed the great deliverer; but what is a deliverer to them that never saw themselves in bondage, as was said before? Hence it is said of him that delivered the city, 'No man remembered that same poor man' (Eccl 9:15). He has sorely suffered, and been bruised for the transgression of man, that they might not receive the smart, and h.e.l.l, which by their sins they have procured to themselves.

But what is that to them that never saw ought but beauty, and that never tasted anything but sweetness in sin? It is he that holdeth by his intercession the hands of G.o.d, and that causes him to forbear to cut off the drunkard, the liar, and unclean person, even when they are in the very act and work of their abomination; but their hard heart, their stupefied heart, has no sense of such kindness as this, and therefore they take no notice of it. How many times has G.o.d said to this dresser of his vineyard, 'Cut down the barren fig-tree,' while he yet, by his intercession, has prevailed for a reprieve for another year! But no notice is taken of this, no thanks is from them returned to him for such kindness of Christ.

Wherefore such ungrateful, unthankful, inconsiderate wretches as these must needs be a continual eye-sore, as I may say, and great provocation to G.o.d; and yet thus men will do before their hearts are broken (Luke 13:6-9).

Christ, as I said, is called a physician; yea, he is the only soul-physician. He heals, how desperate soever the disease be; yea, and heals who he undertakes for ever. 'I give unto them eternal life,' and doth all of free cost, of mere mercy and compa.s.sion (John 10:28). But what is all this to one that neither sees his sickness, that sees nothing of a wound? What is the best physician alive, or all the physicians in the world, put all together, to him that knows no sickness, that is sensible of no disease? Physicians, as was said, may go a-begging for all the healthful. Physicians are of no esteem, save only to the sick, or upon a supposition of being so now, or at any other time.

Why, this is the cause Christ is so little set by in the world.

G.o.d has not made them sick by smiting of them; his sword has not given them the wound, his dart has not been struck through their liver; they have not been broken with his hammer, nor melted with his fire. So they have no regard to his physician; so they slight all the provision which G.o.d has made for the salvation of the soul. But now, let such a soul be wounded; let such a man's heart be broken; let such a man be made sick through the sting of guilt, and be made to wallow himself in ashes under the burden of his transgressions; and then, who but Christ, as has been showed afore, then the physician; then, wash me, Lord, then supple my wounds, then pour thy wine and oil into my sore; then Lord Jesus cause me to hear the voice of joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Nothing now so welcome as healing; and so nothing, no man, so desirable now as Christ. His name to such is the best of names; his love to such is the best of love; himself being now not only in himself, but also to such a soul, the chiefest of ten thousand (Can 5:10).

As bread to the hungry, as water to the thirsty, as light to the blind, and liberty to the imprisoned; so, and a thousand times more, is Jesus Christ to the wounded, and to them that are broken-hearted.

Now, as was said, this must needs be excellent in G.o.d's eyes, since Christ Jesus is so glorious in his eyes. To contemn what a man counts excellent, is an offence to him; but to value, esteem, or think highly of that which is of esteem with me, this is pleasing to me, such an opinion is excellent in my sight. What says Christ?

'My Father loveth you, because ye loved me' (John 16:27). Who hath an high esteem for Christ, the Father hath an high esteem for them. Hence it is said, 'He that hath the Son, hath the Father'; the Father will be his, and will do for him as a Father, who receiveth and sets an honourable esteem on his Son.

But none will, none can do this, but the broken-hearted; because they, and they only, are sensible of the want and worth of an interest in him.

I dare appeal to all the world as to the truth of this; and do say again, that these, and none but these, have hearts of esteem in the sight of G.o.d. Alas! 'the heart of the wicked is little worth,'

for it is dest.i.tute of a precious esteem of Christ, and cannot but be dest.i.tute, because it is not wounded, broken, and made sensible of the want of mercy by him (Prov 10:20).

Fourth. A broken heart is of great esteem with G.o.d, because it is a thankful heart for that sense of sin and of grace it has received.

The broken heart is a sensible heart. This we touched upon before.

It is sensible of the dangers which sin leadeth to; yea, and has cause to be sensible thereof, because it has seen and felt what sin is, both in the guilt and punishment that by law is due thereto.

As a broken heart is sensible of sin, in the evil nature and consequences of it; so it is also sensible of the way of G.o.d's delivering the soul from the day of judgment; consequently it must be a thankful heart. Now he that praises me, glorifies me, saith G.o.d; and G.o.d loves to be glorified. G.o.d's glory is dear unto him; he will not part with that (Psa 50:23; Isa 42:8).

The broken-hearted, say I, forasmuch as he is the sensible soul, it follows that he is the thankful soul. 'Bless the Lord, O my soul,'

said David, 'and all that is within me bless his holy name.' Behold what blessing of G.o.d is here! and yet not content herewith, he goes on with it again, saying, 'Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.' But what is the matter? O! he has 'forgiven all thine iniquities, and healed all thy diseases. He has redeemed thy life from destruction, and crowneth thee with loving kindnesses and tender mercies' (Psa 103:1-4). But how came he to be affected with this? Why, he knew what it was to hang over the mouth of h.e.l.l for sin; yea, he knew what it was for death and h.e.l.l to beset and compa.s.s him about; yea, they took hold of him, as we have said, and were pulling of him down into the deep; this he saw to the breaking of his heart. He saw also the way of life, and had his soul relieved with faith and sense of that, and that made him a thankful man. If a man who has had a broken leg, is but made to understand, that by the breaking of that he kept from breaking of his neck, he will be thankful to G.o.d for a broken leg. 'It is good for me,' said David, 'that I have been afflicted.' I was by that preserved from a great danger; for before that I went astray (Psa 119:67,71).

And who can be thankful for a mercy that is not sensible that they want it, have it, and have it of mercy? Now, this the broken-hearted, this the man that is of a contrite spirit, is sensible of; and that with reference to mercies of the best sort, and therefore must needs be a thankful man, and so have a heart of esteem with G.o.d, because it is a thankful heart.

Fifth. A broken heart is of great esteem with, or an excellent thing in, the sight of G.o.d, because it is a heart that desires now to become a receptacle or habitation for the spirit and graces of the Spirit of G.o.d. It was the devil's hold before, and was contented so to be. But now it is for entertaining of, for being possessed with, the Holy Spirit of G.o.d. 'Create in me a clean heart,' said David, 'and renew a right spirit within me. Take not thy Holy Spirit from me, uphold me with thy free Spirit' (Psa 51:10-12). Now he was for a clean heart and a right spirit; now he was for the sanctifying of the blessed spirit of grace; a thing which the uncirc.u.mcised in heart resist, and do despite unto (Acts 7:51; Heb 10:29).

A broken heart, therefore, suiteth with the heart of G.o.d; a contrite spirit is one spirit with him. G.o.d, as I told you before, covets to dwell with the broken in heart, and the broken in heart desire communion with him. Now here is an agreement, a oneness of mind; now the same mind is in thee which was also in Christ Jesus. This must needs be an excellent spirit; this must needs be better with G.o.d, and in his sight, than thousands of rams, or ten thousand rivers of oil. But does the carnal world covet this, this spirit, and the blessed graces of it? No, they despise it, as I said before; they mock at it, they prefer and countenance any sorry, dirty l.u.s.t rather; and the reason is, because they want a broken heart, that heart so highly in esteem with G.o.d, and remain for want thereof in their enmity to G.o.d.

The broken-hearted know, that the sanctifying of the Spirit is a good means to keep from that relapse, out of which a man cannot come unless his heart be wounded a second time. Doubtless David had a broken heart at first conversion, and if that brokenness had remained, that is, had he not given way to hardness of heart again, he had never fallen into that sin out of which he could not be recovered, but by the breaking of his bones a second time.

Therefore, I say, a broken heart is of great esteem with G.o.d; for it--and I will add, so long as it retains its tenderness--covets none but G.o.d, and the things of his Holy Spirit; sin is an abomination to it.

[VI. ADVANTAGES THAT A CHRISTIAN GETS BY KEEPING HIS HEART TENDER.]

And here, as in a fit place, before I go any further, I will show you some of the advantages that a Christian gets by keeping of his heart tender. For, as to have a broken heart, is to have an excellent thing, so to keep this broken heart tender, is also very advantageous.

First. This is the way to maintain in thy soul always a fear of sinning against G.o.d. Christians do not wink at, or give way to sin, until their hearts begin to lose their tenderness. A tender heart will be affected at the sin of another, much more it will be afraid of committing of sin itself (2 Kings 22:19).

Second. A tender heart quickly yieldeth to prayer, yea, prompteth to it, puts an edge and fire into it. We never are backward to prayer until our heart has lost its tenderness; though then it grows cold, flat, and formal, and so carnal to and in that holy duty.

Third. A tender hearts has always repentance at hand for the least fault or slip, or sinful thought that the soul is guilty of. In many things the best offend; but if a Christian loseth his tenderness, if he says he has his repentance to seek, his heart is grown hard--has lost that spirit, that kind spirit of repentance, it was wont to have. Thus it was with the Corinthians; they were decayed, and lost their tenderness; wherefore their sin--yea, great sins--remained unrepented of (2 Cor 12:20).

Fourth. A tender heart is for receiving often its communion with G.o.d, when he that is hardened, though the seed of grace is in him, will be content to eat, drink, sleep, wake, and go days without number without him (Isa 17:10; Jer 2:32).

Fifth. A tender heart is a wakeful, watchful heart. It watches against sin in the soul, sin in the family, sin in the calling, sin in spiritual duties and performances, &c. It watches against Satan, against the world, against the flesh, &c. But now, when the heart is not tender, there is sleepiness, unwatchfulness, idleness, a suffering the heart, the family, and calling to be much defiled, spotted, and blemished with sin; for a hard heart departs from G.o.d, and turns aside in all these things.

Sixth. A tender heart will deny itself, and that in lawful things, and will forbear even that which may be done--for some Jew, or Gentile, or the church of G.o.d, or any member of it, should be offended, or made weak thereby; whereas the Christian that is not tender, that has lost his tenderness, is so far off of denying himself in lawful things, that he will even adventure to meddle in things utterly forbidden, whoever is offended, grieved, or made weak thereby. For an instance of this, we need go no further than to the man in the text, who, while he was tender, trembled at little things; but when his heart was hardened, he could take Bathsheba to satisfy his l.u.s.t, and kill her husband to cover his wickedness.

Seventh. A tender heart--I mean, the heart kept tender--preserves from many a blow, lash, and fatherly chastis.e.m.e.nt; because it shuns the causes, which is sin, of the scourging hand of G.o.d. 'With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure, but with the froward thou wilt shew thyself unsavoury' (2 Sam 22:27; Psa 18:25-27).

Many a needless rebuke and wound doth happen to the saints of G.o.d through their unwise behaviour. When I say needless, I mean they are not necessary, but to reclaim us from our vanities; for we should not feel the smart of them, were it not for our follies. Hence the afflicted is called a fool, because his folly brings his affliction upon him. 'Fools,' says David, 'because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted' (Psa 107:17).

And therefore it is, as was said before, that he call his sin his foolishness. And again, 'G.o.d will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints; but let them not turn again to folly' (Psa 38:5, 85:8). 'If his children transgress my laws, then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes' (Psa 89:30-32).

[How to keep the heart tender.]

QUEST. But what should a Christian do, when G.o.d has broke his heart, to keep it tender?

ANSW. To this I will speak briefly. And, first, give you several cautions; secondly, several directions.

[First--Several cautions.]

1. Take heed that you choke not those convictions that at present do break your hearts, by labouring to put those things out of your minds which were the cause of such convictions; but rather nourish and cherish those things in a deep and sober remembrance of them.

Think, therefore, with thyself thus, What was it that at first did wound my heart? And let that still be there, until, by the grace of G.o.d, and the redeeming blood of Christ, it is removed.

2. Shun vain company. The keeping of vain company has stifled many a conviction, killed many a desire, and made many a soul fall into h.e.l.l, that once was hot in looking after heaven. A companion that is not profitable to the soul, is hurtful. 'He that walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed'

(Prov 13:20).

3. Take heed of idle talk, that thou neither hear nor join with it. 'Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge' (Prov 14:7). 'Evil communications corrupt good manners. And a fool's lips are the snare of his soul.'

Wherefore take heed of these things (Prov 18:7; 1 Cor 15:33).

4. Beware of the least motion to sin, that it be not countenanced, lest the countenancing of that makes way for a bigger.[14] David's eye took his heart, and so his heart nouris.h.i.+ng the thought, made way for the woman's company, the act of adultery, and b.l.o.o.d.y murder.

Take heed, therefore, brethren, 'lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin' (Heb 3:12,13). And remember, that he that will rend the block, puts the thin end of the wedge first thereto, and so, by driving, does his work.

5. Take heed of evil examples among the G.o.dly; learn of no man to do that which the word of G.o.d forbids. Sometimes Satan makes use of a good man's bad ways, to spoil and harden the heart of them that come after. Peter's false doing had like to have spoiled Barnabas, yea, and several others more. Wherefore take heed of men, of good men's ways, and measure both theirs and thine own by no other rule but the holy Word of G.o.d (Gal 2:11-13).

6. Take heed of unbelief, or atheistical thoughts; make no question of the truth and reality of heavenly things: for know unbelief is the worst of evils; nor can the heart be tender that nourisheth or gives place unto it. 'Take heed, therefore, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living G.o.d'

(Heb 3:12). These cautions are necessary to be observed with all diligence, of all them that would, when their heart is made tender, keep it so. And now to come,