Divine Enlargement and Spiritual Obedience

Next Part Divine Enlargement and Spiritual Obedience 2

"I will run the way of Your commandments, when
You shall enlarge my heart." (Psalm 119:32)

I was endeavoring to show on Thursday evening a connection between the precept and the promise; and I observed that, whenever the precept and the promise are linked together, if we are enabled to perform the precept, God is sure to fulfill the promise. But there is a connection of another kind between them--that namely between the precept itself, and thepower to perform it. The word of God is full of precepts, but we are totally unable to perform them in our own strength. We can no more, without divine assistance, perform the precept, (that is, with a single eye to the glory of God, from heavenly motives, and in a way acceptable to the Lord), than we can, without special power from on high, believe on the name of the only begotten Son of God. We need a extraordinary power to be put forth in our hearts, a special work of God the Spirit upon the conscience, in order to spiritually fulfill in the slightest degree the least of God's precepts. The way in which we perform the precept, when we do perform it at all, is set forth in the words of the text, "I will run the way of your commandments, when you shall enlarge my heart."

In taking up the subject this morning, I shall endeavor to unfold it according to the two clauses of the text; but in so doing I shall invert their order; and, with God's blessing, I shall endeavor, first, to trace out the mind and meaning of the Spirit in the words, "When you shall enlarge your heart;" and, secondly, "I will run the way of your commandments."

Before we come to examine the subject closely, it will be desirable to give a little explanation of two points– What is intended by the Holy Spirit by the expression "heart;" and, as things are best seen by their contrast, to explain what it is to have a 'contracted heart', in order that by the contrast we may understand the better what it is to have an 'enlarged heart'.

By the word "HEART" in the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit means more than one thing. Sometimes, for instance, He means by it that corrupt, depraved principle, which we derive from Adam. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." (Jer 17:9) God saw "that every imagination of the thoughts of man's heart was only evil, continually." (Ge 6:5) "A heart," Solomon says, "that devises wicked imaginations." (Pr 6:18) In all these passages, the expression, "heart," means that corrupt nature which we derive from a fallen progenitor.

There is another signification which the Holy Spirit has attached to the word, which I may define in one short sentence, "the feelings of the soul Godwards." It is, therefore, sometimes taken for the understanding. Thus we read, that God gave Solomon "largeness of heart, as the sand upon the sea shore." Here it means wisdom and understanding. Sometimes it means affections, the tender affections of the soul, as in numerous passages where David speaks of his heart "inditing a good matter," "panting after the Lord; rejoicing in his salvation," or else sorrowing, mourning, or cast down. And sometimes, it signifies conscience, as where God said of Josiah, "Because your heart was tender." 2Ki 22:19

This heart, then, or new nature, is susceptible sometimes of contraction, and sometimes, as divinely wrought upon, of expansion. The heart of a child of God, viewed spiritually, is a tender exotic; it is not a hard, rough, native plant, that stands every storm, which no frost nips and no drought burns. It is a foreign exotic plant; for it comes down from heaven, the abode of eternal purity, and dwells in a man's bosom, with all the tenderness of a plant from a warm country. Now these tender feelings Godwards are susceptible of contraction. They resemble a hot-house plant. Open the windows, expose it to the chilling blasts of this cold, inclement, northern climate, it shrinks, the tender buds refuse to expand, and the whole plant droops and dies. But let the windows be closed; let the bright sun pour his warm rays through the glass roof upon it, and the same plant, which so contracted, shriveled, and withered away under the blast, opens its tender bosom and sends forth its sweet fragrance. So with the new-born soul. There is that which shuts it up, and that which opens it; that which makes it shrink sensitively into so small a compass as scarcely to be seen, and that which draws it forth and causes it to send abroad its heavenly odors.

We will look then, with God's blessing, at some of those things that contract, sicken, and shut up the heart, before we look at the causes and nature of what expands and enlarges it. The new heart of grace is exceedingly tender. And therefore there are many things that will cause this tender heart to shut up and contract itself.

1. One is GUILT. Whenever guilt lies upon a man's conscience, it shuts him up altogether in his feelings Godwards; it narrows, it contracts his heart. There is no room in his soul for divine enjoyments; there are no divine consolations shed abroad, no in-shinings of divine light, no incomings of heavenly love.

2. Another is UNBELIEF. O what a narrowing, contracting, and shutting-up power is there when unbelief works powerfully in a man's carnal mind! How the tender plant of faith shrinks into a small compass before its chilling blasts! How unable then are we to receive the truth in the love of it--unable to act upon the perfections of the Lord of life and glory--unable to come forth into the light of His countenance--unable to enjoy any one testimony of His manifested favor--unable to realize a single mark, or testimony of the grace of God being in the heart!

3. DARKNESS OF MIND is another thing that contracts and shuts up a man's heart Godwards. Many flowers, when night comes on, hide themselves as it were from it; their petals gather up and close over the bosom which, during the day, expanded itself to the warm rays of the sun, defending it from the cold dews and chilling breaths of the night. So spiritually. How darkness of soul (and all the Lord's people are brought to mourn and sigh under felt darkness) contracts the heart! How it closes up every gracious feeling! How it checks every going forth of the soul in the actings of faith, hope, and love! What a veil it spreads over the hidden man of the heart! So that there is nothing good or gracious apparently in exercise.

4. DEADNESS, COLDNESS, TORPIDITY OF FEELING GODWARDS, that wretched state in which many of God's people are so continually-- how this shuts up, contracts, and narrows the heart Godwards! How unable a man is in this dead, cold, torpid state, to enlarge his own soul! Does he attempt to pray? He has no power to pour forth a single desire. Does he attempt to read? He can scarcely get through half-a-dozen verses without wandering. Does he come to hear a Gospel message? There is scarcely anything that even his outward ear receives. He is unable to fix his thoughts and affections, unable to realize the presence, love, and power of God in his soul. Does he attempt to converse on spiritual things? He has scarcely a word to say, shut up in his feelings toward the family of God, shut up in his feelings toward the Lord Himself.

We must know by painful experience what it is to have these narrow, contracted, shut-up hearts, that we may by the contrast know what it is to have an enlarged, expanded heart. We cannot know the one except by knowing the other. It is this miserable feeling of contraction, which makes us know the difference between these painful sensations, and of an enlarged, expanded heart.

This leads me to enter more fully into what it is to have an enlarged heart. What is the meaning of the word 'enlarged'? The idea is this--the making of an opening, so as to give a wide space. Thus, the Lord promised to the children of Israel that He would "enlarge their border;" that is--He would give them more ample room; that they should not be confined to a narrow space in which their population should exceed its limits; but that He would so extend their boundary as to give them ample width for their increasing numbers! Thus the word conveys the idea of an expansion, a removal of all that is narrowed up and contracted, by giving a wider coast--a more expansive border.

Now none but the Lord Himself can enlarge the heart of His people, can give them spiritually what Jabez prayed for "O that you would enlarge my coast!" 1Ch 4:10 None but the Lord can expand their hearts Godwards, and remove that narrowedness and contractedness in divine things which is the plague and burden of a God-fearing soul.

Having seen what is meant by an enlarged heart, let us look at the ways whereby God is pleased to enlarge it.

1. It is BY THE SPECIAL OPERATION OF GOD THE SPIRIT UPON THE SOUL that there is ever felt any enlargement of heart Godwards. For instance; when he applies any portion of His word with power, that enlarges the heart; "the entrance of your word gives light." The very nature of divine light is to expand the heart into which it comes. As darkness shuts up, so light opens; as darkness freezes, so the word of God sealed with power melts. "He sends out his word, and melts them." Ps 147:18 Truth revealed to the soul has a liberating power. "You shall know the truth; and the truth shall make you free."

2. A SENSIBLE REALIZATION OF THE LORD'S PRESENCE enlarges the heart. When the Lord is absent, when He hides His lovely face, when He does not draw near to visit and bless, the heart contracts. There is no going out to Him, no coming down of sweet communications from Him--the heart is shut up in itself, contracted in its own narrow compass. But when the Lord is pleased to favor the soul with His own gracious presence, and bring Himself near to the heart, His felt presence opens, enlarges, and expands the soul, so as to receive Him in all His love and grace.

To use a figure I have before alluded to, the heart is often like a flower beaten down by the rain, prostrated by the wind, over-filled with moisture, overpowered by the dews of the night, unable to lift itself up, dropping downwards, with all its petals contracted. But let the sky clear up, let the beams and rays of the glorious orb of day shine forth, the flower, whose petals before were closed, expand themselves to receive the warmth of the mid-day sun.

So it is with the God-fearing soul. When the dew of night rests upon it, when darkness covers, when the cold blast beats, when the rain drifts upon it, there is no unfolding, no enlarging. But when the Sun of Righteousness breaks forth, the drooping heart then expands all its bosom to the warm rays, and lifts its bending head, which before had been sunk down by the cold mists.

3. THE UNCTION, SAVOR, AND POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, whenever felt in the soul, produce an enlargement of heart. The absence of the dew of the Holy Spirit leaves the heart shut up in its own darkness. But when dew, savor, and power rest upon the soul, they immediately by their secret, penetrating, unctuous influences expand and enlarge the heart; they soften its rigidity; they melt down its harshness. Whereas before it was narrowed and contracted, so as not to open itself to any one divine feeling; no sooner does the softening dew and melting unction of the Holy Spirit touch a man's heart than it enlarges, opens, melts and expands itself before the Lord.

I have hinted that the word "heart" in Scripture has more than one signification. Sometimes it means understanding, sometimes conscience, and sometimes the affections. Now whenever the heart is enlarged by the internal operations of God the Spirit, it is enlarged in these senses.

1. THE UNDERSTANDING IS ENLIGHTENED; we read, "Then opened he their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures." Lu 24:45 And we find David pleading earnestly, "Give me understanding and I shall live." Ps 119:144 It is a great blessing to have an understanding heart; not to be tossed to and fro with every wind of error; not to be caught with every delusion of Satan; but to have a sound mind, established in the truth as it is in Jesus. But when the Lord is pleased to enlarge the heart, He opens the understanding; He gives an insight into the Scriptures of truth; He shows us the mind of Christ; He brings a sweet light into our soul, whereby we read the Scriptures with the same light and in the same spirit by which they were inspired. Thus we enter into the meaning of passages we never knew before; we understand mysteries, which before we were unacquainted with; we feel our minds to open, expand, and receive the truth as it is in Jesus in greater simplicity and godly sincerity.

2. But there is also AN ENLARGING OF THE CONSCIENCE. If our heart is contracted, our conscience is not sensitive nor tender. Have you not observed, that when your mind was contracted, your affections toward God cold and dead, that your conscience was not sensitive, that sin was not that burden to you as at other times--that you could play with it, walk upon the borders of it, venture upon forbidden ground, dally with evil, did not feel this and that thing to be inconsistent with the will and word of God, which you felt to be so at other times?

Now when your heart has been enlarged, when your soul has felt the power and operations of the Spirit, your conscience becomes more sensitive--as it is said in Isaiah of the human nature of Christ--"of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord." Sin is more seen to be sin; evil is comprehended in things where we did not see it before; the "exceeding sinfulness of sin" is more deeply felt; the worldliness and carnality of others that did not much affect us when we were cold and dead, now that we are under the in-shinings of God the Spirit, become irksome and burdensome. Thus, as the understanding is enlightened to see, the conscience is made more sensitive--as we get a deeper insight into the Person, work, and blood of Jesus, the conscience takes a wider range, and is made more alive and more tender than it was before.

3. Besides this, there is AN ENLARGEMENT OF THE AFFECTIONS. Our affections will waver in the same way as our understanding and our conscience. When our understanding is dark, and our conscience is hard, then our affections are cold; but when the Lord is pleased by the entrance of His word to give light in our understanding, and to make the conscience more tender and sensitive, then there is an enlargement also of the affections.

Have you not felt at times as though you had not a single grain of love towards the Lord of life and glory? Has not your heart often been as an adamant, which neither judgment nor mercy, threatening nor love could move? And have you not been, when in that state, unable to love God's truth or His people--yes, rather felt your heart filled with the most fearful hardness, and enmity towards them? But when the Lord is pleased to enlarge the heart, these affections, which before had been shut up, expand, breathe themselves forth, and flow out and flow into the Lord of life and glory. There is a clasping Him in the arms of tender affection, and a desire to live and die in His embrace.

Next Part Divine Enlargement and Spiritual Obedience 2

Back to J. C. Philpot Sermons