Chapter 18
IT remains only as to this Head now spoken to, that we briefly consider what is the State of Spiritual Affections thus daily exercised and improved. And this we shall do by shewing,
(1) What is their Pattern.
(2) What is their Rule.
(3) What is their Measure, or whereto they may attain.
First, The Pattern which we ought continually to bear in our Eyes, whereto our Affections ought to be conformed is Jesus Christ, and the Affections of his holy Soul. The Mind is the Seat of all our Affections; and this is that we ought continually to design and endeavor, namely, that the same Mind be in us, that was in Christ Jesus, Phil. 2:5. To have our Minds so affected with Spiritual things, as was the Mind of Christ, is the principal Part of our Duty and Grace. Nor do I think that any man can attain any considerable Degree in Spiritual Mindedness, who is not much in the Contemplation of the same Mind in Christ, Cor. 3:18. To this purpose ought we to furnish our Minds with Instances of the holy Affections that were in Christ, and their blessed Exercise on all Occasions. The Scripture makes a full Representation of them to us, and we ought to be conversant in our Meditations on them. What glorious things are spoken of his Love to God, and his Delight in him, whence also he delighted to do his Will, and his Law was in the midst of his Bowels; Psal. 40:8 Seated in the throne of his Affections. What Pitty and Compassion had he for the Souls of men, yea for whole humane Kind, in all their Sufferings, Pains, and Distresses? How were all his Affections always in Perfection of Order under the Conduct of the Spirit of his Mind? Thence was his Self-denial, his Contempt of the World, his Readiness for the Cross, to do or suffer according to the Will of God. If this Pattern be continually before us, it will put forth a transforming Efficacy, to change us into the same Image. When we find our Minds liable to any Disorders, cleaving inordinately to the things of this World, moved with intemperate Passions, vain and frothy in Conversation, darkened, or disturbed by the Fumes of distempered Lusts, let us call things to an account, and ask of our selves, whether this be the Frame of Mind that was in Christ Jesus; This therefore is an Evidence that our Affections are Spiritually renewed, and that they have received some Progress in an Assimulation to heavenly things; namely, when the Soul is delighted in making Christ their Pattern in all things.
Secondly, The Rule of our Affections in their utmost Spiritual Improvement is the Scripture. And two things are respected in them.
(1) Their Internal Actings.
(2) Their Exercise in outward Ways and Means whereby they are expressed. Of them both the Scripture is the entire Rule. And with respect to the former, it gives us one general Law or Rule that is comprehensive of all others; namely, that we Love the Lord our God with all our hearts, Souls, Minds and Strength. The Actings of all our Affections towards God in the utmost Degree of Perfection is required of us; that in all Instances we prefer and value him above all things; that we inseperably cleave to him, and do nothing whatever at any time, that is not influenced and directed by the Love of God. This Perfection, as we shall see immediately, is not attainable absolutely in this Life; But it is proposed to us as that which the Excellency of Gods Nature requires, and which the Faculties & Powers of our nature were creared for, and which we ought in all things to design and aim at. But the indispensible Obligation of this Rule is, that we should always be in a sincere Endeavor to cleave to God continually in all things, to prefer him above all, and delight in him as our chiefest Good. When this Frame and Disposition is habitually fixed in our Minds, it will declare and act it self in all Instances of Duties on all Occasions of Tryal, when other things put in for a predominant Interest in our Affections, as they do every day. And if it be not so with us, we shall be at a continual Loss in all our Ways. This is that which makes us lifeless and heartless in Duties, careless in Temptations or Occasions of them, forgetful of God, when it is impossible we should be preserved from Sin without a due Remembrance of his Holiness. In brief, the want of a Predominant Love to God, kept in continual Exercise, is the Spring of all that unprofitable Profession of Religion that the World is filled withal.
Secondly, There are Outward Ways and Duties whereby our Spiritual Affections are expressed. The Rule of them also is the Scripture. The way marked out therein, is the onely Channel wherein the Stream of our Spiritual Affections does take its Course to God. The Graces required therein, are to act themselves by: the Duties it prescribes, ar those which they stir up and enliven; the Religious Worship it appoints is that wherein they have their Exercise. Where this Rule has been neglected, mens Religious Affections have grown irregular, yea wild and ungovernable. All the Superstitions that the World is fil'd withal, owe their original principally to mens Affections set at loose from the Rule of the word There is nothing so fond, absurd, and foolish, but they have imbondaged the ouls of Men to, nothing so horrid and difficult but they have ingaged them in. And having once taken to themselves this Liberty, the corrupt Minds of men are a thousand times more satisfyed, than in the regular exercise of them according to the Word of God. Hence they will rejoyce in such Penances as are not without their Austeritys; in such outward Duties of Devotion, as are troublesome and chargeable; in every thing that has a Show of Wisdom in Will-Worship, and humility, and neglect of the Body. Hence will all their Affections be more sensibly moved by Images and Pictures, and a melting Devotion be stirred up in them, than by all the Motives and Incentives which God proposs to them to draw their Affections to himself. Nothing is more extravagant than the Affections of Men, tinctured with some Devotion, if they forsake the Rule of the Scripture.
Thirdly, There is considerable concerning them, the measure of their Attainments, or what through due Exercise and holy Diligence they may be raised to. Now this is not absolute Perfection. Not as though I had already attain'd, or were already perfect, but I follow after, as the Apostle speaks, Phil. 3:12. But there is that attainable, which those who pretend highly to Perfection, seem to be Strangers to. And the State of our Affections under a due Exercise on heavenly things, and in their Assimulation to them, may be fixed in these three things.
(1) An habitual Suitableness to Spiritual things, upon the proposal of them. The ways whereby Spiritual things are proposed to our Minds are various. They are so directly in all Ordinances of Divine Worship; they are so indirectly and in just consequence, by all the especial Providences wherein we are concern'd, by our own thoughts and stated Meditations; they are so by the motions of the Holy Spirit, when he causs us to hear a ord behind us saying, this is the Way, walk in it; by holy Converse with others; by all sorts of occurrences. And as the ways of their Proposal are various, so the Times and Seasons wherein a Representation of them is made to us, are comprehensive of all, at least are not exclusive of any times and seasons of our Lives. Be the way of their Proposal what it will, and when ever be the season of it, if our affections are duely improved by Spiritual Exercises, they are suited to them, and will be ready to give them Entertainment. Hence, or for want hereof on the other hand are ergiversations and Shiftings in Duties, Proneness to comply with Diversion, all to keep off the Mind from closing with, and receiving of those Spiritual things which it is not suited to. Wherefore as to the solemn way of proposing Spiritual things to our Minds which is in and by the Ordinances of Divine Worship, when men have a prevalent loathness to ingage in them, or when they are satisfyed with an outward Attendance on them, but not enabled to a vigorous stirring up of the inward man to an holy affectionate converse with Spiritual and heavenly things, it is because they are carnal. When men can receive the fiery Darts of Satan in his Temptations into their Bosoms, and suffer them to abide there, yea, foster and cherish them in thoughts of the Lusts that they kindle, but quickly quench the Motions of the Spirit, stirring them up to the embracing of heavenly things; they are carnal, and carnally-Minded. When Providences of Concernment in Afflictions, Trials, Deliverances, do not ingage the Mind into thoughts of Spiritual things, and excite the Affections to the Entertainment of them, Men are carnal and earthly, When every Lust, Corruption, or Passion, as Anger, Envy, Displeasure at this or that Person or thing, can divert the Mind from compliance with the Proposal of Spiritual things that is made to it, we are carnal.
It is otherwise when our Affections are conformed to things Spiritual and Heavenly. Upon every Proposal of this the Mind finds a suitableness to it self, like that which a well disposed Appetite finds to savoury Meat. As the full Soul loaths the Hony-Comb, so a Mind under the Power of Carnal Affections, has an Aversation to all Spiritual Sweetness. But Spiritualized Affections desire them, have an appetite to them, readily receive them on all Occasions, as those which are natural to them, as milk is to newborn Babes.
(2) Affections so disposed constantly, find a Gust, a pleasant Tast, a Relish in Spiritual things. They do in them tast that the Lord is gracious, Pet. 2:3. To tast of Gods Goodness, is to have an Experience of a savoury Relish and Sweetness, in Converse and Communion with him. And Persons whose Affections are thus renewed, and thus improved do tast a sweet Savour in all Spiritual things Some of them, as a sense of the Love of Christ, are sometimes as it were too hard for them, and overpower them, untill they are sick of Love, and do rejoyce with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory. Neither is there any of them however condited with Afflictions or Mortifications, but it is sweet to them, Prov. 27:7. Every thing that is wholsome Food, that is good Nourishment, though it be but bitter Herbs, is sweet to him that is hungry And when by our Affections we have raised up in us a Spiritual Appetite to heavenly things, however any of them in their own nature, or in their Dispensation may be bitter to Flesh and Blood, as are all the Doctrines of the Cross, they are all sweet to us, and we can tast how gracious the Lord is in them. When the Soul is filled with earthly things, the Love of this World, or when the Appetite is lost by Spiritual Sickness, or vitiated and corrupted by any prevalent Sin, heavenly things are unsavoury and sapless, or as Job speaks, like the white of an Egg wherein there is no tast. There may be in the Dispensation of the Word a Tast or pleasing Relish given to the Fancy; there may be so to the notional Understanding, when the Affections find no Complacency in the things themselves. But to them who are Spiritually Minded to the Degree intended, they are all sweet, savoury, pleasant; the Affections tast them immediately, as the Palate does Meat.
(3) They are a just Repository of all Graces, and therein the Treasury of the Soul. There are Graces of the Spirit whose formal direct Residence is in the Understanding and the Will, as faith it self. And therein are all other Graces radically comprized, they grow from the Root. Howbeit the most of them have their principal Residence in the Affections. In them are they preserved secure and ready for Exercise on all Occasions. And when they are duely Spiritual, there is nothing that tends to their Growth or Improvement, to their cherishing or quickening, which they stand in need of continually, and which God has made Provision for in his Word, but they reaedily receive it, lay it up, keep and preserve it. Hereby they come to be filled with Grace, with all Graces; for there is room in them for all the Graces of the Spirit to inhabit; and do readily comply with the Light and Direction of Faith to their Exercise. When Faith discerns and determines that there is any thing to be done or suffered in a way of Duty to the Glory of God, the Affections thus disposed, do not shut up or stifle the Graces that are in them, but chcarefully offer them to their proper Exercise.
There are some of those things, which our Affections conformed to Heavenly things, will attain to. And thus it is with Affections Spiritually renewed, by being fixed on things Spiritual and Heavenly, they are more and more conformed to them, made like them, and become more spiritual and heavenly themselves.
It is not thus with them whose Affections have only an Occasional Change wrought upon them by the means before described, but are not Spiritually renewed. Yea, on the contrary, such Persons do design to debate Spiritual things, to bring down heavenly things into a Conformity with their Affections, which however changed, are not Spiritual, but Carnal. To evince this, we may observe.
(1) These Affections are under the Light and Conduct of such Notions in the Mind and Understanding, as do not give a clear distinct Representation of them in their own nature to them. For where they are not themselves Spiritually renewed, there the Mind it self is Carnal and unrenewed. And such a Mind discerns not the things of God, nor can do so, because they are spiritually discerned. They cannot be discerned aright in their own Beauty and Glory, but in and by a spiritual saving Light which the Mind is devoid of. And where they are not thus represented, the Affections cannot receive, or cleave to them as they ought, nor will ever be conformed to them.
(2) Those Notions in such Persons are oftentimes variously influenced and corrupted by Fancy and Imagination. They are meerly puffed up in their Fleshly Minds; that is, they are filled with vain, foolish, proud Imaginations about spiritual things, as the Apostle declares, Col. 2:18, 19. And the work of Fancy in a fleshly mind, is to raise up such Images of Spiritual things as may render them suitable to natural unrenewed Affections.
(3) This in the Progress of it producs Superstition, False Worship, and Idolatry. For they are all of them an Attempt to represent Spiritual things in a way suited to carnal unrenewed Affections; hence men suppose themselves to be excited by them to Love, Joy. Fear, Delight, in the things themselves, when they all respect that false Representation of them, whereby they are suited to them as Carnal. These have been the Spring of all false Worship and Idolatry in the Christian World.
First, The Mind and Affections have been changed and tinctured with Devotion by some of the means we have before insisted on. Herein they will one way or other be exercised about Spiritual things, and are ready to receive impressions from any thing that Superstition can impose upon them.
Secondly, They are by Errour and false Information, set at liberty from the onely Rule of their Actings and Exercise, that is the Word of God. Men satisfyed themselves, that so their Affections were ingaged about things Spiritual and Heavenly, it was no matter at all, whether the way of their Exercise was directed by the Scripture or no. Having thus lost their Guide and their Way every Igu Fatuus, every wandring Meteor, allures them to follow its Conduct into Foolish Superstitions. Nothing almost is so ridiculous, nothing so Horrid and difficult, that they will not embrace under the notion of things Spiritual and Heavenly.
Thirdly, The carnal Minds of men, having no Proper Distinct apprehensions and notions of Spiritual things in their own Nature, do Endeavor to present them under such otions and Images as may suit them to their carnal unrenewed Affections. For it is implanted a most indelbly upon them, that the end of all Knowledge of Spiritual things is to propose them to the Embraces of the Affections. It were easy to manifest that from these three corrupt Springs, arose that Flood of Idolatry and False-Worship which spread it self over the Church of Rome, and with whose Machinations the Minds of men are yet too much replenished.
Fourthly, Where it is not thus, yet carnal Affections do variously debase Spiritual things, to bring them into a Conformity with themselves. And this may proceed so far, until men think wickedly, that God is altogether like to them. But I shall not insist on these things any farther.
Lastly, Where Affections are Spiritually renewed, the Person o Christ is the Center of them, but where they are changed only, they tend to an End in Self. Where the new man as ut on, Christ is all in all, Col. 3:10, 11. He is the Spring, by his Spirit, that gives them Life, Light, and Being; and he is the Ocean that receives all their S[••]eg[•••]. God, even the Father presents not himself in his Beauty and Amiableness as the Object of our Affections, but as he is in Christ, acting his Love in him, Joh. 4:8, 9. And as to all other Spiritual things, renewed Affections cleave to them, according as they derive from Christ, and lead to him; for he is to them all and in all. It is he whom the Souls of his Saints do love for himself, for his own Sake, and all other things of Religion in and for him. The Air is pleasant and useful, that without which we cannot live or breath. But if the Sun did not enlighten it, and warm it with its Beams, if it were always one perpetual Night, and cold, what Refreshment could be received by it? Christ is the Sun of Righteousness, and if his Beams do not quicken, animate and enlighten the best, the most necessary Duties of Religion, nothing desirable would remain in them. This is the most certain Character of Affections Spiritually renewed. They can rest in nothing but in Christ: they fix on nothing but what is amiable by a Participation of his Beauty, and in whatever he is, therein do they find Complacency. It is otherwise with them whose Affections may be changed, but are not renewed. That Truth is, and it may be made good by all sorts of Instances, that Christ in the Mystery of his Person, and in the Glory of his Mediation, are the only things that they dislike in Religion. False Representations of him by Images and Pictures they may embrace, and delight in false Notions of his present Glory; Greatness and Power, may affect them; a Worship of their own devising they may give to him, and please themselves in it. Corrupt Opinions concerning his Office and Grace, may possess their Minds, and they may contend for them. but those who are not Spiritually renewed, cannot love the Lord Jesus Christ in Sincerity: yea, they have an inward Secret Aversation from the Mystery of his Person and his Grace. It is Self which all their Affections center in, the ways whereof are too long here to be declared.
This is the first thing that is required to render our Affections in such a State and Condition, as that from and by them we may be Spiritually-Minded, namely, That they themselves are Spiritually and savingly renewed.
The things that remain will admit of a speedy dispatch as I suppose.
Assimilation to heavenly and spiritual things through spiritually renewed affections. This assimilation is the work of faith — how and by what means. Reasons why our spiritual affections fail to grow in this assimilation.
When affections are spiritually renewed and fix themselves on spiritual things, there is a transformation worked in them — and in the whole soul — that conforms them to those spiritual and heavenly things, and this is done through faith. But when only a change is worked in the affections through other causes and occasions — not through renewing grace — the spiritual and heavenly things are bent and shaped to fit those affections, and this is done through imagination.
This needs to be addressed at some length, as it gives the most striking distinction between the frames of mind whose difference we are examining. To that end we will set out our thoughts on it in the observations that follow.
First, spiritually renewed affections, in all their activity and throughout their full exercise, are under the guidance and direction of faith. It is faith, in its spiritual light, that leads the soul throughout the whole life of God — we live here by faith, as we will live hereafter by direct sight. If our affections deviate or drift even slightly from the guidance of faith, they fall away from spirituality and give themselves over to the service of superstition. Next to corrupt worldly self-interest exploited by crafty, self-serving deceivers, this has been the great doorway through which all superstition and false worship has entered the world. Blind affection groping in the dark after spiritual things — without the saving light of faith to guide it — has led the minds of people into all manner of superstitions, imaginations, and practices, and continues to do so today. And wherever affection takes the lead without faith going before to make plain both the way and the destination, both the one who leads and the mind being led will fall into one trap and pit after another.
Therefore spiritually renewed affections do not move or act except as faith reveals their object and directs them to it. It is faith that works through love — we can sincerely love nothing with divine love that we do not truly believe in with saving faith. However intense our affections toward any spiritual thing may be, if they do not spring from faith and are not guided by it, they are neither accepted by God nor will they promote genuine spirituality and holiness in our own souls, as Hebrews 11:6 and Matthew 6:22-23 indicate. This is why we so often see impressive and convincing displays of spiritual affections that last only for a season. They have been stirred up and set in motion by one outward or inward cause or another — but lacking the light of faith to guide them to their proper object, they either wither and die as to any apparent spiritual movement, or they keep the mind tossed back and forth in perpetual restlessness without rest or peace. The foolish man exhausts himself because he cannot find the way to the city. So it was with those who, because of their following of Christ's teaching, are called His disciples in John 6. When He preached to them about the bread that came down from heaven and gives life to those who feed on it, they were greatly moved and cried out, "Lord, always give us this bread," as verse 34 shows. But when He went on to explain the mystery of it, they had no faith to perceive and receive it — and their affections immediately faded, and they abandoned both Him and His teaching, as verse 66 records.
We may consider one striking example of this pattern. People frequently come under deep and powerful convictions of sin and of the danger and certain misery that comes with it. This stirs up and sets all their affections in motion — especially their fears, hopes, desires, grief, and self-reproach — according to what their condition calls for. Hence they sometimes grow restless in their complaints and turn themselves in every direction for relief, like people who are lost and bewildered in the dark. But in this state and condition, tell them of the only proper way and means of relief — which, whatever the world may say, is Christ and His righteousness alone, together with the grace of God in Him — and they quickly show that these things are foreign to them, things they neither understand nor truly welcome. They cannot see them, they cannot make them out, nor any beauty in them that would make them desirable.
Therefore, after their affections have been tossed about for a season under the power and torment of this conviction, they come to one of two outcomes. Either those affections entirely decay, and the mind loses all sense of any impression from them — so that people wonder to themselves how they were ever so foolish as to be troubled by such gloomy fancies — and they commonly become as bad as any people living. Or else they settle into a formal, legal religious profession in which they never attain true spiritual-mindedness. This is the best outcome that our affections toward spiritual things can reach when they are not guided by the light of faith.
Second, faith has a clear view of and understanding of spiritual things as they actually are — in their own nature. It is true that the light of faith cannot fully comprehend the nature of all the things that are the objects of its affections, for some are infinite and incomprehensible — such as the nature of God and the person of Christ — and some, such as future glory, are not yet fully revealed. But faith discerns them all in an appropriate way — so that they may be the object of our affections as they actually are in themselves, not as they are distorted or imagined. They are, as the apostle says, spiritually discerned, as 1 Corinthians 2:14 indicates — which is why the natural person cannot receive them, since he has no capacity to discern them spiritually. And this is the chief purpose of the renewal of our minds and the chief quality and effect of faith: to communicate to our minds, and to work in us, a spiritual and saving light by which we may see and discern spiritual things as they actually are in their own nature, kind, and proper use — as Ephesians 1:17-19 describes: "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe." And as 2 Corinthians 4:6 says: "God has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." The goal God has in mind is to draw our hearts and affections to Himself. For this purpose He gives us a glorious inward light by which we are enabled to discern the true nature of the things we are to cling to with love and delight. Without this light, we have nothing in our minds but false images of spiritual things — not always false in terms of the doctrine about them, but false as to their reality, power, and effectiveness in us. This is one of the chief effects of faith, as it is the chief aspect of the renewal of our minds: to disclose in the soul and present to the affections things spiritual and heavenly in their true nature, beauty, and genuine excellence. This draws the affections — if they are spiritually renewed — and causes them to cleave with delight to what is so presented. The person who genuinely believes in Christ — who thereby discovers the excellence of His person and the glory of His mediatorial work — will both love Him and, upon believing, rejoice with a joy that is unspeakable and full of glory. So it is in every other case: the more steadily we view spiritual things through faith, the more firm and constant our affections will be in clinging to them. And wherever the mind is darkened about them — through temptation or seduction from the truth — the affections will quickly weaken and decay.
Third, affections thus led to and fixed on spiritual and heavenly things under the light and direction of faith are progressively renewed — made more spiritual and heavenly in themselves. In their clinging to and delighting in those things, they are continually changed and assimilated to the things themselves, becoming more and more what those things are — that is, spiritual and heavenly.
This transformation is worked by faith and is one of its most excellent capacities and operations, as 2 Corinthians 3:18 shows. And the means through which faith works this transformation are our affections. In our fallen state, it is through our affections that we are conformed to this world; and through our sanctified affections we are transformed by the renewing of our minds, as Romans 12:2 says. This transformation is the introduction of a new form or nature into our souls — different from the one we had before. It is described in Isaiah 11:6-9. It is a spiritual nature that they are changed into. And it is twofold.
First, it is original and foundational — concerning the substance or essence of the new nature — and this is the effect of the first act of divine grace on our souls when we are made new creatures. In this our affections are passive: they do not transform us, but are themselves transformed.
Second, it is gradual in its increase — and in this, faith works in and through the affections.
Whenever the affections cling intensely to any object, they receive an impression from it — as wax receives an impression from a seal pressed into it — which changes them into the likeness of that object. So the apostle says of sensual and immoral people that they have eyes full of adultery, as 2 Peter 2:14 says. Their affections are so completely occupied and filled with their lustful objects that those objects have stamped their own likeness on their imaginations. That impression blots out all others and leaves them with no inclinations but what those objects stir up in them. When people are filled with love for this world — a love that carries all their other affections along with it, directing their hopes, fears, and desires constantly to the same object — they become earthly-minded. Their minds are so transformed into the image of earthly things themselves, through the effective working of the corrupt principles of sin, self-love, and lust, that they seem to be made of the earth and have no taste for anything else.
In the same way, when by faith people come to embrace heavenly things through the effective working of a principle of spiritual life and grace in them, they are day by day made more heavenly. The inward man is renewed day by day. Love becomes more sincere and fervent, delight more captivating and felt, desires more expansive and intense — and through all of it, a taste and relish for heavenly things grows into refreshing personal experience, as Romans 5:2-5 shows.
This is how one grace is added to another in degrees, as 2 Peter 1:5-6 indicates. The conformity between renewed affections and their spiritual objects — that which can be attained through these means — is great.
Through this process, the mind becomes the temple of God in which He dwells by the Spirit. Christ also dwells in believers, and they in Him. "God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him," as 1 John 4:16 says.
Love in its proper exercise creates a mutual indwelling between God and believers. In brief, the person whose affections are set on heavenly things in the right way will be heavenly-minded. And through the due exercise of those affections, that heavenly-mindedness will increase. The transformation and assimilation that is worked is not in the object — spiritual things are not changed in themselves, nor in the way they are presented to our minds. The change is in our affections, which are made like those things.
Two cases arising from this principle and consideration will be addressed here — the first in this chapter, the other in the following chapter. The first concerns the slowness and imperceptibility of the growth of our affections in their assimilation to heavenly things, along with its causes and reasons. The other concerns the declines that frequently come upon people in their affections toward spiritual things, rather than growth and progress — along with the causes and reasons for that.
First, this progress and growth of our affections into spirituality and heavenliness — this conformity to the things they are set upon — is often very slow, and sometimes almost imperceptible. Indeed, for the most part, it is difficult to see it clearly in ourselves or in others. Our affections are like shrubs in a wilderness, which do not notice when good weather comes, not like plants in an enclosed garden that is watered every day. But this is not so without our own foolishness and sin.
The foolishness that keeps many in this condition is this: most Christians are content with their present level of grace and aim at little more than not losing the ground they have already gained. This is a damaging foolishness — it robs religion of its glory and deprives people's souls of peace and consolation. But so it is: people have some basis for believing — or at least they hope and suppose they have such a basis — that they have passed from death to life, that they are in a state of grace and acceptance with God. This state they will try to preserve by diligently performing the duties it requires and by avoiding the sins that might cause them to forfeit it. But as for earnest, watchful effort and diligence to thrive in that state — to grow in grace, to be changed from glory to glory into the image of Christ, to press forward toward the goal of the high calling, to lay hold on eternal life, to become more holy, more humble, more righteous, more spiritually minded, to have their affections more and more transformed into the likeness of things above — those who sincerely and diligently apply themselves to this, or to the means of it, are very few. The level they have reached is enough to satisfy the church and establish their reputation in the world as professing Christians — and some speak peace to their own souls on that basis. To be more holy and heavenly, to have their affections more taken up with things above, they suppose is somehow incompatible with their present circumstances and responsibilities. By this thinking, religion has lost much of its glory, and people's souls have been deprived of its chief advantages in this world.
Such people are like men living in a land where they are pressed not only by poverty and every kind of misery, but also face severe punishment and death itself if they are caught there. In this condition they are told and assured of another country, where as soon as they arrive they will be free from all fear of punishment — and if they press further into it, they will find riches, plenty, and a fine inheritance prepared for them. On that news they set out on the journey to gain entry and possession. But no sooner do they cross the border and find themselves free from the danger and fear of punishment and death, than they sit down and refuse to go further — and so never enjoy the good things of the country they have entered. And it happens with many of them that through their laziness, negligence, and ignorance, they settle short of the true borders of the land of freedom and peace they were aiming for — so that danger and death overtake them when they least expect it. This ruin would never have come upon them if they had pressed on diligently into the heart of the country and taken possession of its good things. At best, remaining only at the border, they lead a poor and exposed life all their days.
So it is in this spiritual matter. People coming under the power of conviction — and the relentless fears that accompany it — will stir themselves up and ask how they may flee from the wrath to come and be delivered from their state of sin and the eternal misery that will follow.
In the Gospel, not only mercy and pardon are held out to them upon believing — which is the first entry into the heavenly country — but also peace, joy, and spiritual strength upon their admission into it, and further progress by faith and obedience. But many, when they have reached the point of having some hope of pardon and freedom from the curse — enough to deliver them from their tormenting fears — will try to preserve those hopes and hold that position, but will not press on to a full enjoyment of the precious things of the Gospel through growth in grace and spiritual affections. And how many of them fall into dreadful mistakes. For supposing themselves to be in a Gospel state, it turns out in the end that they never truly entered it. They were perhaps not far from the kingdom of heaven — in the same sense it was said of a certain person who never actually reached it. There is no way to secure a genuine share in the Gospel's pardon, mercy, safety, and deliverance except through growth in grace, holiness, and spirituality — which is what gives us entrance into the choicest mercies and privileges of it.
This foolishness of settling for present measures — aiming only to maintain the condition people hope they have attained — is the main reason why their affections do not daily grow up into spirituality through assimilation to heavenly things. And it is a foolishness accompanied by countless aggravations. For instance:
First, it is contrary to and destructive of the essential nature of Gospel grace. For our Savior everywhere compares it to things that grow from small seeds and beginnings into large measures by continual increase — like a grain of mustard seed, a little leaven, and the like.
Grace that by its very nature does not thrive and grow may rightly be called into question, and ought to be carefully examined by those who care about their souls and do not want to be eternally deceived.
Second, it is contrary to the most excellent and invaluable Gospel promises recorded in both Old and New Testaments — promises that are among the chief supports of believers' faith, hope, and comfort. God has given them to us to encourage us to expect such supplies of grace as will cause us to thrive and grow against all opposition for as long as we remain in this world. And they are so numerous that there is no need to single out any one in particular — God showing by that very abundance how great and precious is the grace He so often promises, and how significant it is for us to receive, as Psalm 92:13-15 and Isaiah 40:28-31 illustrate. Therefore the foolishness of settling for present measures of grace, holiness, and spirituality is attended by two unspeakable evils.
First, it is a remarkable contempt of the love, grace, faithfulness, and wisdom of God in giving us such promises of grace to increase, thrive, and grow. How could that contempt be expressed more effectively than by neglecting the very grace He has promised?
Second, it is evidence that such people do not love or truly desire grace and holiness for their souls' own sake, but only as something useful for their present purposes. They desire only the minimum of grace and privilege through Christ without which they have no hope of heaven. This reveals people to be entirely under the power of self-love and to center everything in it — if they can have just enough grace and mercy to be saved, they want no more.
Third, it is an insult to the honor of Gospel grace, as though it could only carry us so far in the way to glory and no further. It must be understood that those who sit down in their present measures and attainments either have no true grace at all, or have only the lowest, weakest, and most barely perceptible degree of it. For if anyone has attained any real and significant growth in faith and love, in the mortification of sin, in heavenly-mindedness — it is virtually impossible that he would not ordinarily be pressing forward toward further attainment and further degrees of spiritual strength in the life of God. The apostle declares this from his own example in Philippians 3:10-14. What sort of thoughts can such people have about the glory, power, and effectiveness of the Gospel grace they suppose they have received? If they judge it by the effects they find in themselves — whether in the mortification of sin, in strength and delight in the duties of holiness, or in spiritual consolation — they see no excellence or beauty in it. For grace reveals itself only in its fruit, as it transforms the soul daily into the image of Christ.
Fourth, it is what has robbed religion of its reputation and glory in the world, and with it the honor of the Gospel itself. For most professing Christians settle for a level of religion that sheds no light on it and gives no commendation to what they profess. Their current level allows them such a conformity to the world — in their ways, words, actions, appearance, and dress — that they are in no visible way distinguishable from it. Indeed, the real reason most people stay at their present level is that they are unwilling to be further set apart from the world. This has greatly damaged the glory, honor, and reputation of religion among us. On the other hand, if all visible professing Christians would continually endeavor to grow and advance in spirituality of mind and heavenliness of affections — with fruits that match — it would bring a conviction to the world that there is a secret, invisible power accompanying the religion they profess, transforming them daily into the image and likeness of God.
Fifth, whatever may be claimed to the contrary, this attitude is incompatible with any genuine peace of conscience. No such peace is promised to those who live in contempt of God's promises — nor can it be obtained except by the diligent exercise of all those graces that lie neglected in this frame of mind. Few people can judge whether they have real, eternal, lasting peace until they face trials and temptations. At other times, general hopes and confident assumptions may fill the gap in their minds. But when fear, danger, trial, or a word of conviction overtakes them, they cannot avoid asking and examining how things truly stand with them. And if they find their affections cold, dead, earthly, fleshly, and withering — not spiritual or heavenly — their supposed peace will come to an end, and they will fall into dreadful restlessness. They will then discover that the root of all this evil lies in this very attitude. They have been so satisfied with their present measures and attainments in religion that the most they have ever aimed at was to hold their position — not to forfeit it by open sins, to keep their souls from the sharp rebukes of the Word, and to maintain their reputation in the church of God. To thrive spiritually, to prosper in their souls, to grow strong and fruitful in the inward man, to bear more fruit as they age, to press toward perfection — these are things they have never aimed at or pursued.
This is why so many among us are visibly stagnant — where they were one year, there they are the next — like shrubs in a wilderness, not like plants in the garden of God or like vines planted in a very fruitful hill. Indeed, though many are aware themselves that they are cold, lifeless, and fruitless, they are still unwilling to be convinced that there is a daily necessity to make progress in spirituality and heavenly-mindedness, by which the inward man may be renewed day by day and grace increased with the increase that comes from God. This kind of work, they suppose, is for those who have nothing else to do — not compatible with their business, callings, and everyday responsibilities; not necessary to their salvation, as they hope; and perhaps not attainable by them even if they tried. This mindset, at the beginning of the general decline and decay of vital Christianity, effectively handed off all holiness and devotion to a particular class of people who withdrew themselves entirely from the world — among whom, very quickly, the substance of religion was also lost, and a shadow or phantom of superstition embraced in its place. But this foolishness is ominous for the souls of men.
Those who have made the most progress in conforming their affections to spiritual and heavenly things know best how necessary, excellent, and desirable it is — and without some progress in it, these things will not be known. Such people will testify that the more they attain, the more they see that there is yet to attain, and the more they desire what still lies ahead. Forgetting what is behind, they reach forward to what is before them — like runners in a race whose prize and reward is still ahead, as Philippians 3:13-14 describes. It is a beautiful thing to see a Christian weaned from the world, occupied with heavenly things, alive and flourishing in spiritual affections. And it is all the more beautiful because it is so rare. Most Christians settle for a level that neither glorifies God nor brings lasting peace to their own souls.
The complaint people make here is the difficulty of the work. They think they can hold their present position, but to press forward — to grow in grace, to advance in their affections — is too hard for them. But this complaint is unjust and adds to the guilt of their laziness. It contradicts our Savior's words that His yoke is easy and His burden light, and that His commandments are not burdensome. It expresses unbelief in God's promises, which offer such supplies of grace as to make all the ways of wisdom easy — indeed, full of mercy and peace. It goes against the experience of all who have with any sincerity and diligence engaged in the ways of Gospel obedience. And the entire cause of the supposed difficulty lies in the people themselves, which can be reduced to two headings.
First, a desire to hold on to something that is incompatible with such progress. For unless the heart is ready at all times to count all things as loss and rubbish in order to gain Christ, the work will be met with insurmountable difficulty. This is the first principle of religion and Gospel obedience: that all things are to be set aside for Christ. But this difficulty does not arise from the thing itself — it comes from our own reluctance and unfitness for it. What is an easy and pleasant walk for a strong and healthy man is an exhausting ordeal for one who is sick and weak. In particular, while people cling to an excessive attachment to the world — its vanities, pleasures, gains, and comforts — and while self-love, placing undue importance on their own persons, relationships, possessions, and reputation, clings to them, they will labor as though running into fire when they attempt this duty. Or rather, they will never sincerely attempt it at all. Therefore the apostle tells us that in this case we must throw off every weight and the sin that so easily trips us, if we intend to run with joy the race set before us, as Hebrews 12:1 says.
Second, it is because people keep dwelling at the entrance of religion — in the lowest and most basic exercise of grace. Some are always beginning — and beginnings are always difficult. They do not aim to be mature in the whole will of God, nor to let all the graces do their full work. They do not, through use and practice, train grace into readiness in all its operations — which the apostle commends in those who are mature, as Hebrews 5:14 describes. This is why he calls such people infants and worldly, by comparison with those who are spiritually strong. Such people do not commit themselves to the whole work and all the duties of religion — only to what they judge necessary for their present circumstances. In particular, they do not attempt a thorough work of mortifying any sin, but hack away at it as their convictions press or ease up, while the wounds in the body of sin are quickly healed over. They never let any grace do its full work, but are always making attempts and then giving up.
As long as this is how things stand, people will always be deceived by the sense of insurmountable difficulty when it comes to growing in spiritual and heavenly affections. Remove these things from the way as they ought to be removed, and we will find that all the paths we are to walk toward God are pleasantness and peace.
This is the first reason why there can be people with truly spiritual and graciously renewed affections who still do not thrive in assimilation and conformity to heavenly things. They settle for their present level, and then claim either the necessity of other obligations or discouragement from the difficulties of attempting spiritual growth in the inward man. But they have only themselves to blame if — just as they bring no honor to Christ — they have no solid peace in their own souls.
Second, as this evil proceeds from foolishness, it is also always the result of sin — many sins of various kinds. Let us not dwell on listless complaints that we do not find our affections lively and heavenly, or that we do not find the inward man thriving or growing. Let us not look for this or that comfort or reassurance in response to that complaint, as many things are commonly offered for that purpose. Those things may be helpful when people are under temptation and unable to make a right judgment about themselves. But in the ordinary course of our daily walk with God, they are not to be sought out or retreated to. The general reason for this unhealthy condition is our own sinful carelessness, negligence, and sloth — and perhaps an indulgence of some known lust or corruption. We seek restorative remedies in vain, as though we are merely spiritually faint, when what we actually need is surgery — we are close to a coma. It would take too long to list all the sins that effectively block the growth of spiritual affections. But in general: when people are careless about the constant watch they ought to keep over their hearts; when they are negligent in holy duties — either as to their timing or their manner of performance; when they are strangers to holy meditation and self-examination; when they pursue the things of the world excessively, or are so soft and self-indulgent that they will not endure the demands of a heavenly life — whether in the inward or the outward man; and even more, when they are shallow in their conduct, corrupt in their speech, and especially when under the dominant influence of some particular lust — in all these cases, it is pointless to think about thriving in spiritual affections. And yet this is the condition of all who are habitually and consistently unprofitable in this regard.
