Chapter 4

How Satan and our hearts increase this darkness by false conclusions from the Spirit's work, illustrated by the like in the illumination of temporary believers. The Spirit's work in both compared.

And now the Spirit of God having proceeded thus far himself in causing such darkness and terrors of conscience in them that fear him: Satan and their own hearts (to which he may and does often further also leave them) may take occasion from these dispensations of the Holy Ghost (which are all holy, righteous, and true) to draw forth false and fearful conclusions against themselves and their estates, and start amazing doubts and fears of their utter lack of grace and lying under the curse and threatenings of eternal wrath at the present. Yes, and further, of eternal rejection for the future, and that God will never be merciful; and so lay them lower and cast them into a further darkness and bondage than the Holy Ghost was cause of or intended. Misinterpreting and perverting all these his righteous proceedings — as interpreting that withdrawing his light and presence and hiding himself to be a casting them off. Thus Heman (Psalm 88:14). So likewise misconstruing that temporary wrath, chastising and wounding their spirits for the present, to be no other than the impressions and earnest of God's eternal vengeance; and arguing from their being under wrath, themselves to be children of wrath. And misapplying the application of all those threatenings of eternal damnation, made by the Spirit but in relation and under a condition of such and such courses for the future, to be absolute against their persons, and to speak their present estate. And because such examples of men cast off are presented to them to show them what advantage God might take against them — they, mistaking, think they read their own destiny laid before them in them, and conclude that God will deal so with them. And thus, as the apostle says of sin (Romans 7:11), that sin, taking occasion by the commandment (he misunderstanding the scope of it when a Pharisee), it deceived him and thereby slew him — and yet 'the commandment is holy, just, and good' (verse 12): so Satan and our hearts, by occasion of these dealings of the Spirit (which are righteous and true, as he himself is, who is the Spirit of truth and leads into truth), do deceive believers, and lay them in their apprehensions among those whom God remembers no more, as Heman speaks (Psalm 88:5).

And as in these, so in other works and dispensations of God's Spirit, it is ordinary for Satan and our hearts to practice the like delusions and false conclusions upon them. To instance in those more common and inferior works of the Spirit on the hearts of men not as yet savingly regenerated: the Spirit enlightening them, together with impressions of joy and a taste of sweetness in the promises of the gospel and of salvation revealed therein, which under a condition of true repentance and conversion the Spirit of God does make the offer and tender known to their hearts. Thus he worked upon the stony ground, and in the Jews by John's ministry (John 5:35), which light and taste and revelation of this conditional offer, tending in a way to salvation by alluring their hearts to seek it, they often, through Satan's abuse of this good work and the self-flattery of their own hearts, do too hastily take to be that grace which accompanies salvation, on which salvation is annexed. From which the apostle, by that very expression (Hebrews 6:9), distinguishes those enlightenings (verse 4). They thus mistaking these works preparatory to grace, even as the Jews mistook John — who was but sent before to prepare the way for Christ — to be that very true Christ who was to come into the world, and misunderstanding the intention of God's most blessed Spirit in such his dealings, they make up too hasty a conclusion not meant by the Spirit in those promises.

And I instance in these the rather, because these his dispensations of desertion (which we have in hand) toward men already regenerated, and those aforementioned visitations toward such as often attain not to regeneration, are in an opposite way of comparison exceedingly parallel and much alike in the dispensations themselves, as well as in the differing false conclusions which are drawn from either, and do therefore exceedingly illustrate the one the other. God withdrawing himself as much in their sense from those who are in covenant with him, as he draws near to and visits their hearts from on high who are as yet strangers to him. The needle of God's favor and love varying as much (that I may so allude) toward hell in their compass who shall be saved, as it does heavenward in the other, many of whom arrive not there. And as they are brought near to the kingdom of heaven (as Christ told one), so of true believers it may be said that their souls do often draw near to hell in their own sense and apprehension, and the pains of hell take hold upon them. And as the other are enlightened as Balaam was, so they are left to walk in darkness and see no light, and do taste of that wrath which the law threatens, as those others taste the goodness of that salvation the gospel offers. God out of a temporary anger chastising them for a moment, as with a temporary favor he shines upon the other. That as they for a season rejoice in that light (John 5:35), so God's dearest children may be for a season in much heaviness (as the apostle speaks, 1 Peter 1:6) and walk in darkness. And as the similitude of the dealings themselves runs along so far in a parallel line of comparison: so it holds in the false apprehensions which Satan and our hearts do make out of both. And the cause of the mistake in each is also alike. For God's dealings with those temporary believers, being so like to those dealings toward such as receive a state of adoption from him, they thence too hastily conclude their acceptance to life. And on the contrary, God's dealings with these temporary despairing ones (as I may so call them), being so like in their sense to his proceedings with those he cuts off forever, they in like manner as hastily conclude (as David said, 'I said in my haste') their eternal rejection. Only in the issue they prove unlike: tending but to their present discomfort through their frailty; but in the other, through their own willing neglect, their enlightenings turn to their destruction.

So as to conclude, we must warily sever the work of God's Spirit herein from that of Satan and our own hearts, not attributing such desperate conclusions to the Spirit. Thus that depth of sorrow with which that humbled Corinthian was well-nigh swallowed up (2 Corinthians 2:7) is ascribed to Satan when verse 11 it is made and termed one of his devices, which word does in part refer to the Corinthian's sorrow. Thus David also imputes that his questioning (Psalm 77) — whether God would be merciful to him (verse 7) — to his own heart: 'This is my infirmity,' says he (verse 10). So that the blame herein is to be divided between Satan and our hearts.

How Satan and our hearts intensify this darkness through false conclusions drawn from the Spirit's work, illustrated by a parallel in the enlightening of temporary believers. The Spirit's work in both cases compared.

Now that the Spirit of God has proceeded this far in causing darkness and terror of conscience in those who fear Him, Satan and their own hearts — to which He may and often does further abandon them — seize on these dealings of the Holy Spirit (which are all holy, righteous, and true) as an opportunity to draw out false and terrifying conclusions against themselves and their standing before God. They conjure up overwhelming doubts and fears that they have no grace at all and are presently under the curse and the threats of eternal wrath. They go further still — fearing eternal rejection in the future and that God will never be merciful — and so sink lower and fall into a deeper darkness and bondage than the Holy Spirit caused or intended. They distort and misread all of His righteous dealings: for example, interpreting His withdrawal of light and presence as a permanent rejection. This is what Heman did in Psalm 88:14. They similarly misconstrue what is only a temporary chastening wrath — wounding their spirits for the present — as the earnest and expression of God's eternal vengeance, arguing from the fact that they are under wrath that they must therefore be children of wrath. They also take every conditional warning of eternal damnation — which the Spirit applied only in relation to a particular future course of conduct — and apply it absolutely to their own persons, reading it as a statement of their present condition. And because examples of those whom God has cast off are set before them to show them what advantage God could take against them — they mistake those examples for their own destiny laid out before them, and conclude that God will deal with them in the same way. Thus, as the apostle says about sin in Romans 7:11 — that sin, taking opportunity through the commandment (which Paul misunderstood while he was a Pharisee), deceived him and killed him, even though 'the commandment is holy, just, and good' (verse 12) — so Satan and our own hearts, by occasion of the Spirit's dealings (which are righteous and true, as He is the Spirit of truth and leads into all truth), deceive believers and leave them counting themselves, in their own minds, among those whom God remembers no more, as Heman says in Psalm 88:5.

This same pattern plays out in other works and dealings of God's Spirit as well, where Satan and our hearts routinely practice the same delusions and false conclusions. Consider the more common and lesser works of the Spirit on the hearts of people not yet savingly regenerated: the Spirit enlightens them, produces impressions of joy, and gives them a taste of sweetness in the promises of the gospel and of the salvation offered there. This offer is extended to their hearts by the Spirit under the condition of true repentance and conversion. He worked this way on the stony ground, and in the Jews through John's ministry (John 5:35). This light, this taste, and this revelation of the conditional offer — which tends toward salvation by drawing their hearts to seek it — is often taken by them, through Satan's abuse of this good work and through self-flattery, to be that saving grace with which salvation is annexed. The apostle distinguishes those enlightenings from it by the very phrase 'things that accompany salvation' in Hebrews 6:9 (versus verse 4). These people mistake the preparatory works for saving grace itself — just as the Jews mistook John, who was sent only to prepare the way for Christ, for the true Christ who was to come into the world. By misunderstanding God's Spirit in those dealings, they rush to a conclusion that the Spirit never intended in those promises.

I use this as an illustration because the Spirit's dealings in desertion — toward people already regenerate, which is our present subject — and His earlier dealings toward those who often never attain to regeneration run in a striking parallel. They are remarkably similar in the dealings themselves, and also in the differing false conclusions drawn from each, so that the one powerfully illuminates the other. God withdraws Himself just as completely — in the experience of those who are in covenant with Him — as He draws near and visits the hearts of those who are still strangers to Him. The compass needle of God's favor, so to speak, swings as far toward what feels like perdition in those who will be saved, as it swings toward what seems like heaven in others, many of whom never arrive there. As one is brought near to the kingdom of heaven — as Christ told one such person — so of true believers it may be said that their souls often draw near to hell in their own sense and feeling, and the pains of hell take hold of them. As the others are enlightened as Balaam was, so these are left to walk in darkness and see no light, and taste of the wrath the law threatens, just as those others taste the goodness of the salvation the gospel offers. God chastises His children in a temporary anger for a moment, as He shines upon the others with a temporary favor. Just as those others rejoice in that light for a season (John 5:35), so God's dearest children may be in much heaviness for a season (as the apostle says in 1 Peter 1:6) and walk in darkness. And as the parallel holds in the dealings themselves, so it holds in the false interpretations that Satan and our hearts make of both. The cause of the mistake in each case is similar as well. God's dealings with those temporary believers so closely resemble His dealings with those to whom He grants a state of adoption, that the former too quickly conclude they have been accepted to life. Conversely, God's dealings with those in this temporary despair — as I may call it — so closely resemble His proceedings with those He cuts off forever, that they just as hastily conclude (as David said, 'I said in my haste') that they have been eternally rejected. Only the outcome differs: in the believers it tends only to present discomfort through their frailty; but in the others, their enlightenings — through their own willful neglect — turn to their destruction.

To conclude: we must carefully distinguish the Spirit's work from Satan's and our own hearts', never attributing those desperate conclusions to the Spirit. The depth of sorrow by which that humbled Corinthian was almost swallowed up (2 Corinthians 2:7) is attributed to Satan in verse 11, where it is called one of his devices — a word that refers in part to the Corinthian's sorrow. David similarly attributes his doubting in Psalm 77 — questioning whether God would be merciful to him (verse 7) — to his own heart: 'This was my infirmity,' he says (verse 10). The blame in all of this is therefore to be divided between Satan and our own hearts.