Part 44 HOLINESS, the Only Way to Happiness
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Part 45 HOLINESS, the Only Way to Happiness
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[1.] For first, It may be, that some wound or guilt at present may lie hard upon their consciences, as once it did on David's, Psalm 51. And who then is able to rejoice when under a wounded conscience, or a guilty conscience? As long as Adam remained holy in paradise, he stood fast; but having once wounded his conscience by eating the forbidden fruit, though he tarried a while in paradise—yet he could take no delight nor contentment in paradise. It is true the sun did shine as bright as ever, and the rivers ran as clear as ever, and the birds sang as sweetly as ever, and the animals played as pleasantly as ever, and the flowers smelled as fragrantly as ever, and all the trees and fruits of the garden did flourish as greatly as ever, etc. Ah—but now Adam had contracted guilt upon his conscience, and this mars his joy, and spoils his delight, and unparadises paradise to him! His fall had made so deep a wound in his conscience, that he could take no delight in any of the delights of paradise. Guilt as an arrow did stick so fast in his conscience, that instead of sucking sweetness from the fairest fruits—he runs to hide himself under the broadest leaves, Gen. 3:10. Guilt makes a man a Magor-missabib, Jer. 20:3—a terror to himself.
Put ever such stately robes upon a wounded man—he minds them not; set ever such dainty fare before a wounded man—he relishes it not; lay him on ever so soft a bed—yet it pleases him not; and let him hear ever such sweet music—yet it delights him not; the smart and sense of his wound takes off the sweet of all. Just so, does a wound in the conscience take off the sweet of all a man's enjoyments and contentments. A guilty conscience, like Prometheus' vulture, lies ever gnawing. What the would-be disciple said to our Savior—namely, "Master, I will follow you wherever you go," Mat. 8:19—that a guilty conscience says to a fallen sinner: "If you fast I will follow you, and fill your mind with black and dismal apprehensions of God, of justice, of hell; if you feast I will follow you, and show you the handwriting on the wall that shall make your countenance to change, your thoughts to be troubled, and your joints to be loosed, and your knees to knock one against another, Dan. 5:5; when you go forth I will follow you with terrors, and when you return home I will follow you with horrors; when you go to board I will follow you with stinging accusations, and when you go to bed I will follow you with terrifying and affrighting dreams, Job 7:14. Now what joy can be in such a man's heart? What gladness can be in such a man's face? Surely none!
I remember a saying of Luther, "One drop of an evil conscience swallows up the whole sea of worldly joy." [It was guilt which made that despairing Pope say that the cross could do him no good, he had so often sold it] Oh, it is better with Evagrius to lie secure on a bed of straw, than to lie with a guilty conscience on a bed of down, having the curtains embroidered with gold, and the fringes bespangled with pearls. Sin brings such a stain and such a sting with it, as spoils all a man's joys and delights. And if this be the present case of a Christian, as it may be—then never wonder to see him hang down his head, and to walk mournfully before his God. Or,
[2.] Secondly, This may arise from some great and heavy affliction, which for the present may sadly distress and oppress a saint's spirit; as Job's did his, or as Hezekiah's did his, or as Jacob's did his, etc. [Job 3:38; Isaiah 9:16; Gen. 37:30, to the end.] The disease may be so violent, the medicine may be so strong, the wound may be so deep, the plaster may be so corroding, the melting pot may be so hot, the iron chains may be so heavy, the gall and wormwood may be so bitter—that a Christian may be so far from joy and rejoicing, as that he may for the present be so shut up under trouble and amazement, and under sorrow and grief—as that he may not be able, if you would give him all the world, to open his case unto you; his eyes may in some sort tell what his tongue can in no sort utter, Psalm 77:4.
Usually they are the smallest miseries, when he who has them can presently tell all the world of them. The greatest sorrow has for the most part the deepest silence attending on it. What Christian ever had joy in his heart or gladness in his face, when God was disciplining him harshly and roughly? Or,
[3.] Thirdly, It may be they are deserted; perhaps God is withdrawn from them, and he who should comfort them stands afar off. [Lam. 1:16; Gen. 31:2, 5; Psalm 30:7; read the 77th and the 88th Psalms; Isaiah 8:17; Micah 7:7-9, 17; Psalm 4:6, and 42:5, 11, etc.] Ah, what Christian can rejoice when the countenance of God is not kindly towards him as of old? who can be pleasant when God is displeased? who can smile when God frowns? who can sing when God sighs? who can be merry when God is withdrawn? Surely none who have ever experienced what the shinings of his face means! O sirs, the proper work of a deserted soul lies not in joy and rejoicing—but in mourning and waiting, and in seeking and suing at the throne of grace—that God would lift up the light of his countenance, and cause his face to shine, and his favor to break forth—that the bones that he has broken may rejoice. Just as Hudson the martyr, when he was deserted at the stake, prayed earnestly, he was comforted immediately, and suffered valiantly.
Look! as when Samson's locks were cut off, his strength was gone—just so, when God is gone, a Christian's locks are cut off, his strength is gone, his strength to joy and rejoice in God is gone, his strength to delight and to take pleasure in God is gone; and as Samson, when his locks were cut off, and his strength was gone, fell to prayer, Judges 16:28, "And Samson called unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray you, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes!" So when God is gone, the work of a Christian lies more in praying than it does in rejoicing. Though Joseph's heart was as full of love to his brethren as it could hold, Gen. 42:7-25—yet when he looked sourly upon them, and spoke roughly to them, they were much afflicted and distressed. Just so, though the heart of Jesus be as full of love to his people as it can hold—yet when he looks sourly, and speaks roughly to them—they can't but be grieved and saddened. But,
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Part 45 HOLINESS, the Only Way to Happiness
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