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T H E By J O H N.B U N Y A N. L O N D O N, Sold by George Larkin, at the Two Swans without Bishopgates, 1692. |
[VII. THE USE.]
et us now, then, make some use of this doctrine. As,
FIRST USE. From the truth of the matter, namely, that the man who is truly come to
God has had his heart broken, his heart broken in order to his coming to him. And
this shows us what to judge of the league that is between sin and the soul, to wit,
that it is so firm, so strong, so inviolable, as that nothing can break, disannul,
or make it void, unless the heart be broken for it. It was so with David, yea, his
new league with it could not be broken until his heart was broken.
It is amazing to consider what hold sin has on some men's souls, spirits, will, and
affections. It is to them better than heaven, better than God, than the soul, ay,
than salvation; as is evident, because, though all these are offered them upon this
condition, if they will but leave their sins, yet they will choose rather to abide
in them, to stand and fall by them. How sayest thou, sinner? Is not this a truth?
How many times hast thou had heaven and salvation offered to thee freely, wouldst
thou but break thy league with this great enemy of God? Of God, do I say; if thou
wouldst but break this league with this great enemy of thy soul? but couldst never
yet be brought unto it; no, neither by threatening nor by promise couldst thou ever
yet be brought unto it.
It is said of Ahab he sold himself to work wickedness: and in another place, yea,
'for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves' (1 Kings 21:25; Isa 50:1). But what
is this iniquity? Why, a thing of nought; nay, worse than nought a thousand times;
but because nought is as we say nought, therefore it goes under that term, where
God saith again to the people, 'Ye have sold yourselves for nought' (Isa 52:3). But,
I say, what an amazing thing is this, that a rational creature should make no better
a bargain; that one that is so wise in all terrene things, should be such a fool
in the thing that is most weighty? And yet such a fool he is, and he tells every
one that goes by the way that he is such an one, because he will not break his league
with sin until his heart is broken for it. Men love darkness rather than light. Ay,
they make it manifest they love it, since so great a proffer will not prevail with
them to leave it.
SECOND USE. Is this a truth, that the man that truly comes to God in order thereto
has had his heart broken? then this shows us a reason why some men's hearts are broken;
even a reason why God breaks some men's hearts for sin; namely, because he would
not have them die in it, but rather come to God that they might be saved? Behold,
therefore, in this how God resolved as to the saving of some men's souls! He will
have them, he will save them, he will break their hearts, but he will save them;
he will kill them, that they may live; he will wound them, that he may heal them.
And it seems by our discourse that now there is no way left but this; fair means,
as we say, will not do; good words, a glorious gospel, entreatings, beseeching with
blood and tears, will not do. Men are resolved to put God to the utmost of it; if
he will have them he must fetch them, follow them, catch them, lame them; yea, break
their bones, or else he shall not save them.
Some men think an invitation, an outward call, a rational discourse, will do; but
they are much deceived, there must a power, an exceeding great and mighty power,
attend the Word, or it worketh not effectually to the salvation of the soul. I know
these things are enough to leave men without excuse, but yet they are not enough
to bring men home to God. Sin has hold of them, they have sold themselves to it;
the power of the devil has hold of them, they are his captives at his will; yea,
and more than all this, their will is one with sin, and with the devil, to be held
captive thereby: and if God gives not contrition, repentance, or a broken heart,
for sin, there will not be no not so much as a mind in man to forsake this so horrible
a confederacy and plot against his soul (2 Tim 2:24, 25).
Hence men are said to be drawn from these breasts, that come, or that are brought
to him (Isa 26:9; John 6:44). Wherefore John might well say, 'Behold what manner
of love the Father hath bestowed upon us!' Here is cost bestowed, pains bestowed,
labour bestowed, repentance bestowed; yea, and an heart made sore, wounded, broken,
and filled with pain and sorrow, in order to the salvation of the soul.
THIRD USE. This then may teach us what estimation to set upon a broken heart. A broken
heart is such as God esteems, yea, as God counts better than all external service:
a broken heart is that which is in order to salvation, in order to thy coming to
Christ for life. The world know not what to make of it, nor what to say to one that
has a broken heart, and therefore do despise it, and count that man that carries
it in his bosom a moping fool, a miserable wretch, an undone soul: 'But a broken
and a contrite spirit, O God, thou wilt not despise'; a broken heart takes thine
eye, thy heart: thou choosest it for thy companion, yea, has given thy Son a charge
to look well to such a man, and has promised him thy salvation, as has afore been
proved.
Sinner, hast thou obtained a broken heart? has God bestowed a contrite spirit upon
thee? He has given thee what himself is pleased with; he has given thee a cabinet
to hold his grace in; he has given thee a heart that can heartily desire his salvation,
an heart after his own heart, that is, such as suits his mind. True, it is painful
now, sorrowful now, penitent now, grieved now; now it is broken, now it bleeds, now,
now it sobs, now it sighs, now it mourns and crieth unto God. Well, very well; all
this is because he hath a mind to make thee laugh; he has made thee sorry on earth
that thou mightest rejoice in heaven. 'Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall
be comforted., Blessed are ye that weep now, for ye shall laugh' (Matt 5:4; Luke
6:21).
But, soul, be sure thou hast this broken heart. All hearts are not broken hearts,
nor is every heart that seems to have a wound, a heart that is truly broken. A man
may be cut to, yet not into the heart; a man may have another, yet not a broken heart
(Acts 7:54; 1 Sam 10:9). We know there is a difference betwixt a wound in the flesh
and a wound in the spirit; yea, a man's sin may be wounded, and yet his heart not
broken: so was Pharaoh's, so was Saul's, so was Ahab's; but they had none of them
the mercy of a broken heart. Therefore, I say, take heed; every scratch with a pin,
every prick with a thorn, nay, every blow that God giveth with his Word upon the
heart of sinners, doth not therefore break them. God gave Ahab such a blow that he
made him stoop, fast, humble himself, gird himself with and lie in sackcloth, which
was a great matter for a king, and go softly, and yet he never had a broken heart
(1 Kings 21:27, 29). What shall I say? Pharaoh and Saul confessed their sins, Judas
repented himself of his doings, Esau sought the blessing, and that carefully with
tears, and yet none of these had a heart rightly broken, or a spirit truly contrite;
Pharaoh, Saul, and Judas, were Pharaoh, Saul, and Judas still; Esau was Esau still;
there was no gracious change, no thorough turn to God, no unfeigned parting with
their sins, no hearty flight for refuge, to lay hold on the hope of glory, though
they indeed had thus been touched (Exo 10:16; 1 Sam 26:21; Matt 27:3; Heb 12:14-17).
The consideration of these things call aloud to us to take heed, that we take not
that for a broken and a contrite spirit that will not go for one at the day of death
and judgment. Wherefore, seeking soul, let me advise thee, that thou mayest not be
deceived as to this thing of so great weight.
First. To go back towards the beginning of this book, and compare thyself with those
six or seven signs of a broken and contrite heart, which there I have, according
to the Word of God, given to thee for that end; and deal with thy soul impartially
about them.
Second. Or, which may and will be great help to thee if thou shalt be sincere therein,
namely, to betake thyself to the search of the Word, especially where thou readest
of the conversion of men, and try if thy conversion be like, or has a good resemblance
or oneness with theirs. But in this have a care that thou dost not compare thyself
with those good folk of whose conversion thou readest not, or of the breaking of
whose heart there is no mention made in Scripture; for all that are recorded in the
Scripture for saints have not their conversion, as to the manner or nature of it,
recorded in the Scripture.
Third. Or else, do thou consider truly of the true signs of repentance which are
laid down in Scripture; for that is the true effect of a broken heart, and of a wounded
spirit. And for this see Matthew 3:5, 6; Luke 18:13, 19:8; Acts 2:37-40, &c.,
16:29, 30, 19:18, 19; 2 Corinthians 7:8-11.
Fourth. Or else, take into consideration how God has said, they shall be in their
spirits that he intends to save. And for this read these scriptures: (1.) That in
Jeremiah 31, 'They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them'
&c. (v 9). (2.) Read Jeremiah 50:4, 5: 'In those days, and in that time, the
children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and
weeping: they shall go, and seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion
with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord
in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.' (3.) Read Ezekiel 6:9: 'And
they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be
carried captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart, which have departed
from me, and with their eyes, which go a-whoring after their idols: and they shall
loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.'
(4.) Read Ezekiel 7:16: 'But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be
on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his
iniquity.' (5.) Read Ezekiel 20:43: 'And there shall ye remember your ways, and all
your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall loathe yourselves in your
own sight for all your evils that ye have committed.' (6.) Read Ezekiel 37:31: 'Then
shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall
loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.'
(7.) Read Zechariah 12:10: 'And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall
look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth
for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness
for his first-born.'
Now all these are the fruits of the Spirit of God, and of the heart, when it is broken:
wherefore, soul, take notice of them, and because these are texts by which God promiseth
that those whom he saveth shall have this heart, this spirit, and these holy effects
in them; therefore consider again, and examine thyself, whether this is the state
and condition of thy soul. And that thou mayest do it fully, consider again, and
do thou,
1. Remember that here is such a sense of sin, and of the irksomeness thereof, as
maketh the man not only to abhor that, but himself, because of that; this is worth
the noting by thee.
2. Remember again that here is not only a self-abhorrence, but a sorrowful kind mourning
unto God, at the consideration that the soul by sin has affronted, contemned, disregarded,
and set at nought, both God and his holy Word.
3. Remember also that here are prayers and tears for mercy, with desires to be now
out of love with sin for ever, and to be in heart and soul firmly joined and knit
unto God.
4. Remember also that this people here spoken of have all the way from Satan to God,
from sin to grace, from death to life, scattered with tears and prayers, with weeping
and supplication; they shall go weeping, and seeking the Lord their God.
5. Remember that these people, as strangers and pilgrims do, are not ashamed to ask
the way of those they meet with to Zion, or the heavenly country; whereby they confess
their ignorance, as became them, and their desire to know the way to life: yea, thereby
they declare that there is nothing in this world, under the sun, or this side heaven,
that can satisfy the longings, the desire, and cravings of a broken and a contrite
spirit. Reader, be advised, and consider of these things seriously, and compare thy
soul with them, and with what else thou shalt find here written for thy conviction
and instruction.
FOURTH USE. If a broken heart and a contrite spirit be of such esteem with God, then
this should encourage them that have it to come to God with it. I know the great
encouragement for men to come to God is, for that there 'is a mediator between God
and men, the man Christ Jesus' (1 Tim 2:5). This, I say, is the great encouragement,
and in its place there is none but that; but there are other encouragements subordinate
to that, and a broken and a contrite spirit is one of them: this is evident from
several places of Scripture.
Wherefore, thou that canst carry a broken heart and a sorrowful spirit with thee,
when thou goest to God, tell him thy heart is wounded within thee, that thou hast
sorrow in thy heart, and art sorry for thy sins; but take heed of lying.[15] Confess also thy sins
unto him, and tell him they are continually before thee. David made an argument of
these things, when he went to God by prayer. 'O Lord, ' saith he, 'rebuke me not
in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.' But why so? O! says he,
'Thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore. There is no soundness
in my flesh, because of thine anger: neither is there any rest in my bones, because
of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as a heavy burden they are
too heavy for me. My wounds stink, and are corrupt, because of my foolishness. I
am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. For my loins
are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am
feeble and sore broken; I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart.
Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee. My heart
panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light for mine eyes, it also is gone
from me. My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore': and so he goes on (Psa
38:1-4, &c.).
These are the words, sighs, complaints, prayers, and arguments of a broken heart
to God for mercy; and so are they, 'Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving
kindness; according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge
my transgressions; and my sin is ever before me' (Psa 51:1-3).
God alloweth poor creatures that can, without lying, thus to plead and argue with
him. 'I am poor and sorrowful, ' said the good man to him, 'let thy salvation, O
God, set me up on high' (Psa 69:29). Wherefore thou that hast a broken heart take
courage, God bids thee take courage; say therefore to thy soul, 'Why are thou cast
down, O my soul?' as usually the broken-hearted are. 'And why art thou disquieted
within me? Hope thou in God.' 'I had fainted, ' if I had not been of good courage;
therefore 'be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart' (Psa 42:11, 43:5,
27:12-14).
But alas! the broken-hearted are far off from this; they faint; they reckon themselves
among the dead; they think God will remember them no more: the thoughts of the greatness
of God, and his holiness, and their own sins and vilenesses, will certainly consume
them. They feel guilt and anguish of soul; they go mourning all the day long; their
mouth is full of gravel and gall, and they are made to drink draughts of wormwood
and gall; so that he must be an artist indeed at believing, who can come to God under
his guilt and horror, and plead in faith that the sacrifices of God are a broken
heart, such as he had; and that 'a broken and a contrite spirit God will not despise.'
FIFTH USE. If a broken heart, if a broken and contrite spirit, is of such esteem
with God, then why should some be, as they are, so afraid of a broken heart, and
so shy of a contrite spirit?
I have observed that some men are as afraid of a broken heart, or that they for their
sins should have their hearts broken, as the dog is of the whip. O! they cannot away
with such books, with such sermons, with such preachers, or with such talk, as tends
to make a man sensible of, and to break his heart, and to make him contrite for his
sins. Hence they heap to themselves such teachers, get such books, love such company,
and delight in such discourse, as rather tends to harden than soften; to make desperate
in, than sorrowful for their sin. They say to such sermons, books, and preachers,
as Amaziah said unto Amos, 'O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah,
and there eat bread, and prophesy there, but prophesy not again any more at Bethel;
for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court' (Amos 7:12, 13).
But do these people know what they do? Yes, think they, for such preachers, such
books, such discourses tend to make one melancholy or mad; they make us that we cannot
take pleasure in ourselves, in our concerns, in our lives. But, O fool in grain![16] let me speak unto thee. Is it a time to take pleasure, and to recreate
thyself in anything, before thou hast mourned and been sorry for thy sins? That mirth
that is before repentance for sin will certainly end in heaviness. Wherefore the
wise man, putting both together, saith that mourning must be first. There is 'a time
to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance' (Eccl 3:4). What,
an unconverted man, and laugh! Shouldst thou see one singing merry songs that is
riding up Holborn to Tyburn, [17] to be hanged for felony, wouldst thou not
count him besides himself, if not worse? and yet thus it is with him that is for
mirth while he standeth condemned by the Book of God for his trespasses. Man! man!
thou hast cause to mourn; yea, thou must mourn if ever thou art saved. Wherefore
my advice is, that instead of shunning, thou covet both such books, such preachers,
and such discourses, as have a tendency to make a man sensible of, and to break his
heart for sin; and the reason is, because thou wilt never be as thou shouldst, concerned
about, nor seek the salvation of thine own soul, before thou hast a broken heart,
a broken and a contrite spirit. Wherefore be not afraid of a broken heart; be not
shy of a contrite spirit. It is one of the greatest mercies that God bestows upon
a man or a woman. The heart rightly broken at the sense of, and made truly contrite
for transgression, is a certain forerunner of salvation. This is evident from those
six demonstrations which were laid down to prove the point in hand, at first.
And for thy awakening in this matter, let me tell thee, and thou wilt find it so,
thou must have thy heart broken whether thou wilt or no. God is resolved to break
ALL hearts for sin some time or other. Can it be imagined, sin being what it is,
and God what he is, to wit, a revenger of disobedience, but that one time or other
man must smart for sin? smart, I say, either to repentance or to condemnation. He
that mourns not now, while the door of mercy is open, must mourn for sin when the
door of mercy is shut.
Shall men despise God, break his law, contemn his threats, abuse his grace, yea,
shut their eyes when he says, See; and stop their ears when he says, Hear; and shall
they so escape? No, no, because he called, and they refused; he stretched out his
hand, and they regarded it not; therefore shall calamity come upon them, as upon
one in travail; and they shall cry in their destruction, and then God will laugh
at their destruction, and mock when their fear cometh. Then, saith he, 'they shall
cry' (Prov 1:24-26). I have often observed that this threatening is repeated at least
seven times in the New Testament, saying, 'There shall be weeping and gnashing of
teeth'; 'there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth' (Matt 8:12, 13:42, 50, 22:13,
24:51, 25:30; Luke 13:28). There. Where? In hell, and at the bar of Christ's tribunal,
when he comes to judge the world, and shall have shut to the door to keep them out
of glory, that have here despised the offer of his grace, and overlooked the day
of his patience. 'There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.' They shall weep
and wail for this.
There are but two scriptures that I shall use more, and then I shall draw towards
a conclusion. One is that in Proverbs, where Solomon is counselling of young men
to beware of strange, that is, of wanton, light, and ensnaring women. Take heed of
such, said he, lest 'thou mourn at the last, ' that is, in hell, when thou art dead,
'when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, and say, How have I hated instruction,
and my heart despised reproof, and have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor
inclined mine ears to them that instructed me!' (Prov 5:11-13).
The other scripture is that in Isaiah, where he says, 'Because when I called, ye
did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and
did choose that wherein I delighted not. Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold,
my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry; behold, my servants shall drink, but
ye shall be thirsty; behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed;
behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart,
and shall howl for vexation of spirit' (Isa 65:13, 14).
How many beholds are here! and every behold is not only a call to careless ones to
consider, but as a declaration from heaven that thus at last it shall be with all
impenitent sinners; that is, when others sing for joy in the kingdom of heaven, they,
they shall sorrow in hell, and howl for vexation of spirit there.
Wherefore, let me advise that you be not afraid of, but that you rather covet a broken
heart, and prize a contrite spirit; I say, covet it now, now the white flag is hung
out, now the golden sceptre of grace is held forth to you. Better mourn now God inclines
to mercy and pardon, than mourn when the door is quite shut up. And take notice,
that this is not the first time that I have given you this advice.
USE SIXTH. Lastly, If a broken heart be a thing of so great esteem with God as has
been said, and if duties cannot be rightly performed by a heart that has not been
broken, then this shows the vanity of those peoples' minds, and also the invalidity
of their pretended Divine services, who worship God with a heart that was never broken,
and without a contrite spirit. There has, indeed, at all times been great flocks
of such professors in the world in every age, but to little purpose, unless to deceive
themselves, to mock God, and lay stumbling-blocks in the way of others; for a man
whose heart was never truly broken, and whose spirit was never contrite, cannot profess
Christ in earnest, cannot love his own soul in earnest; I mean, he cannot do these
things in truth, and seek his own good the right way, for he wants a bottom for it,
to wit, a broken heart for sin, and a contrite spirit.
That which makes a man a hearty, an unfeigned, a sincere seeker after the good of
his own soul, is sense of sin, and a godly fear of being overtaken with the danger
which it brings a man into. This makes him contrite or repentant, and puts him upon
seeking of Christ the Saviour, with heart-aching and heart-breaking considerations.
But this cannot be, where this sense, this godly fear, and this holy contrition is
wanting. Profess men may, and make a noise, as the empty barrel maketh the biggest
sound; but prove them, and they are full of air, full of emptiness, and that is all.
Nor are such professors tender of God's name, nor of the credit of that gospel which
they profess; nor can they, for they want that which should oblige them thereunto,
which is a sense of pardon and forgiveness, by the which their broken hearts have
been replenished, succoured, and made to hope in God. Paul said, the love of Christ
constrained him. But what was Paul but a broken-hearted and a contrite sinner? (Acts
9:3-6; 2 Cor 5:14). When God shows a man the sin he has committed, the hell he has
deserved, the heaven he has lost; and yet that Christ, and grace, and pardon may
be had; this will make him serious, this will make him melt, this will break his
heart, this will show him that there is more than air, than a noise, than an empty
sound in religion; and this is the man, whose heart, whose life, whose conversation
and all, will be engaged in the matters of the eternal salvation of his precious
and immortal soul.
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