Chapter 19

THE Second thing required that we may be Spiritually Minded, as to the Interest of our Affections therein, is the Object of them about which they are conversant, and whereto they do adhere. What this is materially, or what are the Spiritual things which our Affections are to be set upon, has been declared already under the Consideration of the Object of our Thoughts and Meditations, for they are the same. Yea, as has been intimated, the fixing of our Affections upon them, is the Spring and cause of our Thoughts about them. But that which we shall now inquire into, is the true Notion and Consideration of Spiritual and Heavenly things, which renders them the formal proper Object of Spiritual Affections, and is the reason of their Adherance to them. For as was intimated before, men may have false Notions of Spiritual things, under which they may like them and embrace them with unrenewed Affections. Wherefore we shall inquire into some of those Considerations of Heavenly things, under which Affections Spiritually renewed do satisfactorily cleave to them with Delight and Complacency.

(1.) And the First is, that as they comprehend God in Christ, and all other things, as deriving from him, and tending to him, they have an infinite Beauty, Goodness, and Amiableness in them, which are powerfully attractive of Spiritual Affections, and which alone are able to fill to them, to satisfy them, to give them Rest and Acquiescency. Love is the most ruling and prevalent Affection in the whole Soul. But it cannot be fixed on any Object, without an Apprehension true or false, of an Amiableness and Desirableness in it from a suitable Goodness to all its Desires.

And our Fear so far as it is Spiritual, has divine Goodness for its Object, Hos. 3:5. Unless this be that which draws our Hearts to God, and the things of God, in all Pretence of Love to him, men do but Frame Idols to themselves according to their own Understanding, as the Prophet speaks, Hos. 13:2. Wherefore that our Affections may cleave to Spiritual things in a due manner three things are required.

(1) That we apprehend, and do find a Goodness, a Beauty, and thence an Amiableness, and Desirableness in them.[••]ech..17. Many pretend to love God and Spiritual things, but they know not why. Why they love other things they know well enough but why they love God they cannot tell. Many are afraid of him, & suppose they ought to love him, and therefore pretend so to do though indeed they know they do not, they do but flatter him with their lips when their hearts are far from him. Some are much affected with the Benefits and Mercies they receive from him, and suppose that they love him on that account. But this love is no other but what the Devil falsely charged Job withal, Chapter 1:8, 9, 10, 11. Some have Delight in the outward Modes and Rites of Divine Worship, wherewith they satisfy themselves that they love God and Spiritual things, when they only please their own Imaginations and Carnal Minds. Many have a Traditional Apprehension that they ought to love God, they know no reason why they should not, they know it will be ill for them if they do not, and these take it for granted that they do. How few are there, who have that Spiritual discerning and apprehension of the divine Excellencies, that view of the Excellency of the Goodness and Love of God in Christ, as thereby alone to be drawn after him, and to delight in him, yet is this the ground of all sincere real love to God. Two things are required that we may apprehend an amiable Goodness in any thing, and cleave to it with sincere Affection.

First, A real Worth or Excellency in it self.

Secondly, A suitableness therein to our Condition, State, and Desires after Rest and Blessedness. The first of these is in God, from what he is in himself; the latter is from what he is to us in Christ; from both he is the only suitable Object to our Affections. Under this Apprehension do we love God for himself, or for his own sake; not exclusively to our Advantage therein. For a desire of Union and Enjoyment, which is our only Advantage, is inseparable from this Love.

It may be some cannot say that a distinct Apprehension of these things, was the first Foundation and Cause of their Love to God; yet are they satisfyed that they do love him in Sincerity with all their souls. And I say, it may be so. God sometimes calls the skirt of his own Love, over the heart of a poor sinner, and efficaciously draws it to himself, without a distinct Apprehension of these things by a meere sense of the Love it has received. So Elijah passed by Elisha, and cast his Mantle upon him as a transient Act. But there was such a Communication of Virtue thereby, that he ran after him, and would not be deferred, though Elijah said, go back again, for what have I done to you, 1 Kings 19:19, 20. When God has so cast his Love on any soul, it follows after him with all its Affections. And whereas God may seem at some times to say, go back again, for what have I done to you; its Answer is, Lord, whether shall I go, I cannot leave you, my Heart is given up to you, and shall never be taken from you.

But I say to such and to all others, that if we would have refreshing Evidences of our Love to God, that it is sincere, if we would have it thrive and flourish, befervent and constant, we are to exercise our selves to the Contemplation of the Divine Goodness, and the Suitableness of it to our souls in and by Jesus Christ. Nor can we cleave to any spiritual things whatever, with sincere Affections, but under these Notions of it.

First, That it has a real Worth or Excellency in it self.

Secondly, That it is suitable and desirable to us. And it is to be bewailed to see how many walk at random in Profession, that know neither what they do, nor where they go.

Secondly, As we must see a Goodness and Probableness in Spiritual things absolutely, so as that we may fix our Affections on them in a due manner, so we must see it comparatively with respect to all other things, which gives them a preference in our Affections before and above them all. The Tryal of Love lyes in the prevailing Degree; on more or less. If we love other things, Father, Mother, Houses, Lands, Possessions more than Christ, we do not love him at all. Nor is there any Equality allowed in this matter, that we may equally love temporal and Spiritual things. If we love not Christ more than all those things, we love him not at all. Wherefore that our Affections may cleave to them in a due manner, we must see an Excellency in things Spiritual and heavenly, rendring them more desirable than all other things whatever.

With what loving Countenances do men look upon their temporal Enjoyments; with what tenacious Embraces do they cleave to them? They see that in them which is amiable, which is desirable and suitable to their Affections. Let them pretend what they please, if they see not a greater Goodness, that which is more amiable, more desirable in Spiritual things, they love them not in a due manner; it is temporal things that has the Rule of their Affections. Our Psalmist preferrs Jerusalem before his chiefest Joy, Psal. 137:6. Another affirms that the Law of Gods Mouth was better to him than Thousands of Gold and Silver, Psal. 119:72. More to be desired are the Statutes of the Lord than Gold, yea, than much fine Gold, sweeter also than Honey, or the Honey-comb, Psal. 19:1. For Wisdom is better than Rubies, and all things that may be desired are not to be compared to it, Prov. 8:11. This is the only stable Foundation of all divine Affections. A spiritual view and Judgement of a Goodness, an Excellency in them, incomparably above whatever is in the most desirable things of this World are required thereunto. And if the Affections of many pretending highly to them, should come to be weighed in this Ballance, I fear they would be found light and wanting. However it is the Duty of them who would not be deceived in this matter, which is of Eternal importance, to examine what is that Goodness and Excellency which is in Spiritual things, which they desire in them, upon the account whereof they do sincerely value and esteem them above all things in this World whatever. And let not any deceive themselves with vain Words and Pretences whil'st their Esteem and Valuation of present Enjoyments, does evidently ingage all their Affections, their Care, their Diligence, their Industry, so as that a man of a discerning Spirit may even feel them turned into self, whil'st they are cold, formal, negligent about spiritual things, we must say, How dwells the Love of God in them? Much more when we see men not only giving up the whole of their time and strength, with the vigour of their Spirits, but sacrificing their Consciences also to the attaining of Dignities, Honours, Preferments, Wealth, and Ease in the World, who know in their own Hearts that they perform Religious Duties with respect to temporal Advantages, I cannot conceive how it is possible they should discern and approve of a Goodness and Excellency in Spiritual things, above all others.

A due Consideration is required hereto, that all Spiritual things do proceed from, and are resolved into an infinite Fountain of Goodness, so as that our Affections may absolutely come to Rest and Complacency, and find full assured Satisfaction in them. It is otherwise as to all temporal things. Men would very fain have them to be such, as might give absolute Rest and Satisfaction to all their Affections. But they are every one of them so far from it, that all of them together cannot compose their Minds in Rest and Peace for one hour. They gain sometimes a Transport of Affections, and seem for a season to have filled the whole Soul, so as it has no leasure to consider their Emptiness and Vanity. But a little Composure of Mens thoughts, show that they are but a Diversion in a Journey or Labor, they are no Rest. Hence are they called broken Cisterns that will hold no Water. Let a man prize them at the highest rate that it is possible for a rational Creature to be reduced into the thoughts of, whereof there have been prodigious Instances; let him possess them in abundance beyond whatever any man enjoyed in this World, or his own Imagination could before hand reach to; let him be assured of the utmost peaceable Continuance in the Enjoyment of them; hat his and their natures are capable of; yet would he not dare to pretend, that all his Affections were filled and Satisfyed with them, that they afforded him perfect Rest and Peace. Should he do so, the working of his Mind every Day would convince him of his Falsehood and his Folly.

But all Spiritual things derive from, and lead to that which is infinite, which is threfore able to fill all our Affections, and to give them full Satisfaction with Rest and Peace. They all lead us to the Fountain of living Waters, the Eternal Spring of Goodness and Blessedness.

I do not say that our Affections do attain to this fll Rest and Satisfaction in this Life. But what they come short of therein, ariss not from any defect in the things themselves to give this Rest and Satisfaction, as it is with the whole World; but from the weakness of our Affections themselves which are in part only renewed, and cannot take in the full measures of Divine Goodness, which in another World they will receive. But whil'st we are here, the more we receive them into our Minds and Souls, the more firmly we adhere to them, the nearer Approaches we make to our Rest and Center.

Secondly, Spiritual things are to be considered as they are filled with Divine Wisdom. I speak not of himself whose Essential Wisdom is one of the most amiable Excellencies of his holy nature; but of all the Effects of his Will and Grace by Jesus Christ. All Spiritual Truths, all Spiritual and Heavenly things whereby God reveales and communicates himself to the Souls of Men, and all the ways and means of our approach to him in Faith and Obedience through Christ Jesus, I now intend. All these are filled with Divine Wisdom, see Cor. 2:7. Eph. 3:10. Chapter 1:8, 9. Now Wisdom in it self, and in all the Effects of it, is attractive of rational Affections. Most men are brutish in them and their Actings, for the most part, pouring them out on things fleshly, sensual and carnal. But where they are at all reduced under the Conduct of Reason, nothing is so attractive of them, so suited to them, which they delight in, as that which has at least an appearance of Wisdom. A wise and good man does command the Affections of others, unless it be their Interest to hate and oppose him, as commonly it is. And where there is true Wisdom in the Conduct of civil Affairs, sober Men cannot but approve of it, like it, delight in it, & men of Understanding do bewail the Loss of it, since Craft, Falsehood, Treachery, and all sorts of Villany have driven it out of the world. So is Divine Wisdom attractive of divine gracious Affections. The Psalmist declares his Admiration of, and Delight in the VVorks of God, because he has made them all in Wisdom, Psal. 104:24. Those Characters of divine VVisdom which are upon them, which they are filled with, draw the Souls of Men into a delightful Contemplation of them. But all the Treasures, all the Glory of this Wisdom, are laid up, & laid forth, in the great Spiritual things of the Gospel, in the Mystery of God in Christ, and the Dispensation of his Grace and Goodness to us by him. The Consideration hereof fills the Souls of Believers with holy Admiration and Delight, and thereon they cleave to them with all their Affections. VVhen we see there is Light in them, and all other things are in Darkness, that Wisdom is in them, in them alone, and all other things are filled with Vanity and Folly, then are our Souls truely affected with them, and do rejoyce in them with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory.

Unto the most, this Wisdom of God is Foolishness. It was so of old as the Apostle testifis, 1 Cor. 1. And so it continues yet to be. And therefore is the Mystery of the Gospel despised by them; they can see neither Form nor Comliness in it for which it should be desired. Nor will ever any man have sincere Spiritual Affections to Spiritual things, who has not a Spiritual View of the VVisdom of God in them.

This is that which attracts our Souls by holy Admiration to unspeakable Delight. And the Reason why Men do so generally decline from any Love to the Gospel, and lose all Satisfaction in the Mystery of it, is because they are not able to discern that infinite Wisdom which is the Spring, Life, and Soul of it. VVhen our Minds are raised to the admiration of this VVisdom in Divine Revelations, then will our affections cleave to the things that are revealed.

Thirdly, The acting of our affections in their adherence to spiritual things is perfective of our present State and Condition. That which of all other things does most debase the nature of Man, wherein it makes the nearest approaches to Brutality, yea, whereby it becomes in some Respects more vile than the nature of Beasts, is the giving up of the Affections to things sensual, unclean, base, and unworthy of its more noble Principles. Hence are men said to debase themselves to Hell, Isai. 57.9. And their Affections do become vile; so as that their being under the Power of them, is an Effect of Revenging Justice punishing men for the worst of Sins, Rom. 1:26. There is nothing more vile, nothing more contemptible, nothing more like to Beasts in Baseness, and to Hell in Punishment, then is the Condition of them who have enslaved their nature to brutish sensual Affections. I say vile Affections fixed on, and cleaving to sensual Objects, do debase the nature of man, and do both corrupt and enslave all the more noble Faculties of it; the very Consciences and Minds of Men are defiled by them. If you see a Man whose Affections are set inordinately on any thing here below, it is easy to discern how he goes off from his native Worth, and debass himself therein.

But the fixing of Spiritual Affections on Spiritual Objects is perfective of our present State and Condition. Not that we can attain Perfection by it; but that therein our Souls are in a Progress towards Perfection. This may be granted; look how much vile Affections fixed on, and furiously pursuing things carnal and sensual, do debase our Natures beneath its rational Constitution, and make it degenerate into Bestiality; so much Spiritual Affections fixed on, and cleaving to things Spiritual and Heavenly, do exalt our Nature above its mere natural Capacity, making an approach to the State of Angels, and of Just men made perfect. And as brutish Affections when they have the Reins, as they say, on their Necks, and are pursued with Delight and Greediness, do darken the Mind, and disturb all the rational Powers of the Soul, (for Whordom, and Wine, and new-Wine do take away the Heart, as the Prophet speaks and Wickedness alters the Understanding) So holy Affections fixed on Spiritual things, do elevate, raise, and enlighten the Mind with true Wisdom and Understanding. For the Fear of the Lord, that is Wisdom, and to depart from Iniquity, that is Understanding. And again, as the Power of vile Affections fill the Soul and Conscience with tumult, disorder, Fear, and Shame where Men are not utterly Profligate so as that the Minds, Thoughts, and Consciences of Persons under their Power, is a very Hell for Confusion and Troubles; so Spiritual Affections duely Exercised on their proper Objects, do preserve all things in order in the whole Soul, they are Life and Peace. All things are quiet and secure in the Mind, there is Order and Peace in the whole Soul, in all its Faculties, and all their Operations, whil'st the affections are in a due prevailing manner fixed upon the things that are above. Hence many Persons after great turmoilings in the World, after they have endeavored by all means to come to rest and satisfaction therein, have utterly renounced all Concernments in Earthly things, and betaken themselves to the Contemplation of things above, and that only. Many I confess of them were mistaken as to the practical part of their Devotions, having various Superstitions imposed on their Minds by the craft of others; but they missed it not in the Principle, that Tranquillity of Mind was attainable only in setting our affections upon things above. Jam. 4:1. From whence come Wars and Fightings among you, come they not hence, even of your Lusts that were in your Members. Whence are all the Disorders in your Minds, your Vexations and Disquietments, your Passions breaking forth sometimes into unseemly Brawlings? are they not from hence? The Question is put to your selves, and your own Consciences, namely, from your Lusts, that is the disorderly affections that tumultuate in you. Do but search your selves, and you will quickly see whence all your Troubles and Disquietments do arise. Your Lusts, or corrupt and inordinate affections do war in you, continually inclining you to things earthly or sensual. Hence many are best and most at quiet when they are in the World, worst when at home in their Families; but never are they in such Confusion, as when they are forced to retire into themselves.

The due Exercise of our Affections on heavenly things, has quite another Tendency and Effect. It so unites the Mind to them, it so brings them to it, and gives them such a Subsistance in it, as that all the Powers and Faculties of it are in a progress towards their Perfection, see Cor. 7:1. True Wisdom and Understanding with soundness of Judgement, in eternal things, in the Mind, Holiness in the Affections themselves, Liberty in the Will, Power in the Heart, and Peace in the Conscience, do in their measures all ensue hereon. Whatever tasts we may have of these things, whatever temporary Experience we have of them, they will not flourish in us, they will not abide with us in any Constancy, unless we are thus Spiritually Minded.

Fourthly, In the future Enjoyment of the present Object of our Spiritual Affections, does our Eternal Blessedness consist. All men who are convinced of a future eternal Condition, do desire when they depart hence to enter in Blessedness and Glory. Howbeit what that Blessedness, even as to the general nature of it is, they know nothing at all; and if they did, they would not know how to desire it. For Heaven or Blessedness is nothing but the full Enjoyment of what we are here to love and delight in above all, of that which is the Object of our Affections as Spiritually renewed. Herein have they neither Interest nor Concern. But this is that which givs Life to the Affections of Believers; they know that in the Enjoyment of God in Christ, their eternal Blessedness does consist. How this is their Happiness and Glory, how it will give them an everlasting overflowing Satisfaction and Rest, they understand in the first Fruits of it which they here receive. And this is the ultimate Object of their Affections in this World, and they go forth to all other Spiritual things in order thereunto. The more therefore their affections are fixed on them, the more they are kept up to that due Exercise, the nearer Approaches they make to this blessed State. When their Minds are Possessed with this Persuasion, when it is confirmed in them by dayly Experience of that Sweetness, Rest and Satisfaction which they find in cleaving to God with fervent Love and Delight, in vain shall any other Objects rise up in Competition to draw them off to themselves. The more we love God, the more like we are to him, and the more near the Enjoyment of him.

Declines in spiritual affections, their causes and dangers. Counsel for those who are aware of the evil of spiritual decline.

It must be acknowledged that there is something worse than what we have been addressing — something more opposed to the growth of affections in conformity to heavenly things, which is the proper character of those who are spiritually renewed. This is the spiritual decline that shows itself in tangible and visible effects.

There are many — perhaps most, if not all, who are genuinely converted — who at the beginning of their profession and conversion to God showed a great display of vigorous and active spiritual affections. God takes note of the love of His people's youth — the love of their early commitment to Him.

In some, this vigor of spiritual affections comes from the real power of grace working effectively on their hearts and minds. In others, it comes from other causes — for instance, the relief from conviction brought by spiritual illumination will produce this kind of effect. It often works to the advantage of such people that this change generally comes in their younger years. At that age, their natural affections are active and carry great weight in the whole soul. Therefore, whatever change is made, it shows itself most prominently then. But as people grow older and develop worldly wisdom, a high regard for earthly things, concern for them, and absorption in them — their spiritual affections weaken and decline every day. They remain in their profession but have lost their first love.

It is a shame and unspeakable foolishness that this should be true of anyone who professes a religion with so many incomparable excellencies to endear and draw them to it more and more. But why should we hide what experience makes plain in broad daylight — what multitudes openly declare about themselves? I therefore regard it as a strong sign — if not an absolute proof of the sincerity of grace, then at least of its life and growth — when, as people grow in age, they grow in their low estimation of earthly things, in their contempt for the world, in acts of generosity and charity, and show no decline in any of these. But I say again: it is common for the early stages of a person's religious profession and conversion to God to be accompanied by vigorous and active affections toward spiritual things. Of those who truly and sincerely believed, it is said that on their believing, they rejoiced with a joy unspeakable and full of glory. And of those who had only a work of conviction worked in them — built up by a temporary faith — that they received the Word with joy and eagerly did many things.

Many remain in this state and continue to thrive, until their affections are wholly transformed into the image and likeness of things above. But with many of all kinds, this does not happen — they fall into miserable declines in their affections toward spiritual things, and consequently in their whole profession and daily life. Their spiritual freshness becomes like drought in summer. They have no experience of those affections alive and at work within them, nor any comfort or refreshment from them. They bring no honor to the Gospel through any fruit of love, zeal, or delight, nor are they useful in any way to others by their example. Some of them have had apparent recoveries, only to fall back into a lifeless state — warnings, afflictions, sicknesses, and the Word have awakened them, but they have fallen again into a deep sleep — so that they seem like trees whose fruit withers: fruitless, twice dead, uprooted.

Some things need to be said about this miserable condition in general — since it directly opposes the grace and duty of being spiritually minded, and works against the growth of spiritual affections in their assimilation to heavenly things. What is said may be applied to all degrees of this decline, though not all are equally dangerous.

First, there may be a season of temptation in which a soul may sense in itself not only a decline but an utter loss of all spiritual affections — when in fact this is not actually the case. Just as believers may feel and conclude that the Lord has forsaken and forgotten them when He has not, as Isaiah 49:14-15 shows, so under temptation they may feel they have forsaken God when they have not — as a man walking at night may think he has lost his way and be in great distress, when in fact he is still on the right road. For temptation brings darkness and confusion and leads to mistakes and false judgments about everything. They may not find grace working in love, joy, and delight as before, nor that activity of heart and mind in holy duties that spiritual affections once gave them. Yet it may be that the same grace is working just as effectively — and just as acceptably to God — in godly sorrow, mourning, humility, and self-abasement. People in this situation I set aside from the present discussion.

Second, there may be a general weakening of the affections in their natural activity toward any object — at least in their outward expression and effects — and on this basis, their activity toward spiritual things may feel less noticeable. So people in their younger years may be more ready to express their sorrow through tears, and their joy through a palpable uplift and movement of spirit, than in their more mature years. And this can be the case without any actual decline in the grace that renews the affections.

First, when this is the case, it is a burden to the person who experiences it. They cannot help but grieve and maintain a godly watchfulness over themselves, fearing that the decline they notice is not in their outward natural responses but in the inward and spiritual man. And they will strive for it to be with them as in former days — though they may not be able to attain the same vigor of spirit, the same life, joy, peace, and comfort they once experienced.

Second, in such people there will be no decline in holiness of life or in diligence in religious duties. If the decline is truly in the grace of the affections, it will be accompanied by a proportionate decline in everything else that is part of the life of God. But if it is only a weakening of the natural expression of the affections, no such general decline will follow.

Third, grace in this case will act more vigorously in the other faculties and powers of the soul — in the judgment and will — in their approval of and firm adherence to spiritual things.

Fourth, when people find — or could find — that their affections are still quick, active, and keen toward other things, such as the lawful pleasures and comforts of this life, it is pointless for them to comfort themselves by thinking that the decline they notice is in their natural affections rather than their gracious ones. When we see a person grow more in love with the things of this world and less in love with the things of God as they grow older, it is not because of natural weakness — it is because of the strength of sin.

Under these and perhaps other similar circumstances, there can be a sense of spiritual decline when the reality may not be as severe as it feels. But when the decline is real — as it evidently is with many, and I might almost say with most people in these days — it is a miserable condition of heart, and can never be mourned enough. It stands in direct opposition to that spiritual-mindedness which is life and peace. It is a wasting disease of the soul that threatens it with death every day.

It is not my purpose here to address it in detail, yet I cannot let it pass without some observations, since it is an evil almost epidemic among professing Christians — and in some it has gone so far that they seem to be entirely abandoned by every power of spiritual life.

Now, in addition to all the foolishness and sin we previously identified as causes of the failure to grow in spiritual and heavenly affections — which in the case of actual decline are even more abominable — there is a multiplication of evils that accompanies this state of heart and mind.

First, this is what the Lord Christ is most displeased with in churches and professing Christians above all else. He shows compassion for them in temptations, He suffers with them in persecution, He intercedes for them when they are overtaken by sin — but He threatens those who settle into spiritual decline, as Revelation 2:4-5 and Revelation 3:2 show. This He cannot bear, because it both dishonors Him and He knows it to be ruinous to those in whom it takes hold. He will show more patience with those who are entirely spiritually dead than with those who linger in this state of decline, as Revelation 3:15-16 indicates. This is the only condition other than false worship and idolatry in which He threatens to reject and remove a professing church — to take away His lampstand from it. He who spoke this way to the churches of old speaks the same to us today, for He lives forever, is always the same, and His word is living and unchanging. There is not one of us who is in this condition but the Lord Christ testifies against us through His Word and Spirit. And if He is against us, who will plead our case? Consider what He says in Revelation 2:5 and Revelation 3:3. Who can stand before these solemn expressions of His displeasure? May the Lord help us to take them to heart — lest the one in whom we profess to place our only trust be found in our trial to be our greatest enemy. Beware of those sins that Christ Himself — our only advocate — has marked out as those He will not save us in.

Second, this is what above all things grieves the Holy Spirit. His work is to bring grace to growth and progress in our souls. He begins it, and He carries it forward. And there is no greater grief to a wise and gracious worker than to see his work decay and go backward under his own hand. This is the occasion for those complaints of God found in Scripture about the unfruitfulness and backsliding of people after all the means and remedies He has used for their fruitfulness and healing. "What more could I have done for My vineyard than I have done?" He says. "Why then, when I looked for grapes, did it produce wild grapes?" Can anything be more a cause of grief and complaint for the Holy Spirit than to see those whom He had once raised up to holy and heavenly affections — whose delights were in and whose thoughts were much occupied with things above — become earthly or sensual, with no perceptible activity of any of His graces in them? That is the condition of those under the power of spiritual decline. And this is the only situation in which God speaks to people in the way of complaint and earnest questioning, using every kind of argument to convince them of their foolishness.

When a wise, tender, and caring parent — who has been diligent in using every means for a child's upbringing, and who for a time has seen that child give real hope — finds the child slackening in diligence, becoming careless about his calling, and delighting in bad company, how anxious and grieved that parent is over him. The heart of the Spirit of God is infinitely more tender toward us than even the most affectionate parent's heart toward an only child. When He, at great cost and care, has nourished and brought us to some growth and progress in spiritual affections — which is where all His concern for us lies — for us to grow cold, dull, and earthly-minded, clinging to the pleasures and lusts of this world: how grieved He is, how provoked. Perhaps this consideration of grieving the Holy Spirit carries little weight with some people — they would have little concern for it if they could only free themselves from other consequences. But let such people know: it is impossible for them to give greater evidence of a hardened, shameless settled condition in sin.

Third, this is what in a special way provokes God's judgment against any church, as was suggested earlier. When a church has in its outward profession and worship a reputation for being alive, but as to the power of grace working in the affections is dead — when it is not cold enough to forsake the external ordinances of worship, nor warm enough to enliven its duties with spiritual affections — the Lord Christ will not long bear with it. Indeed, judgment will suddenly break out against such a house of God.

Fourth, this condition is absolutely incompatible with any real, comfortable assurance of God's love. Whatever people in this state may claim to such assurance, it is sinful security — not gracious assurance or peace. And consistently, as professing Christians grow cold and decline in their spiritual affections, spiritual numbness and a false sense of security grow in them as well. This is so, at least, unless they are sometimes overtaken by some greater sin that weighs heavily on their consciences and plunges them for a time into trouble and distress. But that peace with God and a comfortable assurance of salvation could be consistent with a habitual decline in grace — especially in those graces that should be active in our affections — is contrary to the whole testimony of Scripture. To suppose otherwise would be the ruin and poison of religion. I do not say that our assurance and peace with God arise entirely from the activity of grace in us — there are other and more fundamental causes of them. But I do say this: under a habitual decline or decay of grace in the spirituality of our affections, no one can hold or maintain a gracious sense of God's love or of peace with Him. There is therefore no duty more urgently needed today than a diligent examination and testing of the grounds of one's peace — lest it be with any of us as it was with Laodicea, which was satisfied with its good condition when it was in fact most miserable and nearly beyond hope. Indeed, I must say that it is impossible for many professing Christians we see and converse with to have any solid peace with God. Do people gather figs from thorns, or grapes from thistles? Peace with God is a fruit that will not grow on a shallow, earthly, self-centered mind and way of life. Therefore, whatever such people may claim, they are either asleep in a sinful security or living on the most uncertain hopes, which will likely deceive them in the end. Nothing can be more ruinous to our faith than once supposing it an easy and natural thing to maintain our peace with God. God forbid that anything less than our utmost diligence and continued effort to thrive in every grace should be required for it. The whole beauty and glory of our religion depends on this. To be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Fifth, such a decline as the one described is a dangerous symptom of an unhealthy soul condition — indicating that those in whom it exists may in the end be found to be nothing more than hypocrites. I know such people will have — or think they have — apparent evidence to the contrary, and are quite satisfied of their own sincerity in many things, so that it seems impossible to press on them a sense of being hypocrites. But this reaction comes from a false understanding of hypocrisy. No one, they suppose, is a hypocrite unless he generally or universally pretends in religion to be what he is not — and knows he is not, or at least could easily see he is not. And it is true that this is the broadest description of Pharisaical hypocrisy. But take a hypocrite to be someone who, under the light of knowledge, a public profession, spiritual gifts, and the performance of duties, habitually and willingly falls short in any point of genuine sincerity — and he is no less a perishing hypocrite than the first kind. I do not say that everyone in whom this decline in spiritual affections is prevalent is a hypocrite — God forbid. I only say that where it continues without remedy, it is such a symptom of hypocrisy that anyone wise and concerned for his soul will not rest until he has examined the matter to the bottom. For it seems as though this is the case with such people: they had a false or incomplete work in the conversion to God that they professed. It was made up of conviction of sin, the communication of spiritual light and gifts, an alteration of the affections, and a change of company and conduct. Now it is the nature of such a work to flourish brightly for a season in all the main areas of religious profession. But it is also in its nature to decay gradually until it has withered away entirely. In some, it is destroyed by the power of some vigorous temptation or a particular lust that is given in to, ending in worldliness and sensuality. But in most, it decays gradually until it has lost all its life and energy, as John 15:3 suggests. Therefore, while people find this decay in themselves — unless they have fallen under the power of a deadening false security, or are hardened by the deceitfulness of sin — they cannot help but think it their duty to examine how things truly stand with them: whether they ever genuinely united with Christ and had the saving faith of God's elect, which works through love. For their condition is as though they had only a work of a different and lesser nature. A saving work, by its own nature and in the diligent use of means, thrives and grows — as the whole of Scripture testifies. It is the false and incomplete working that has no root and is therefore subject to withering.

Sixth, people in such a condition tend to deceive themselves with false hopes and ideas — through which the deceitfulness of sin exercises its power to harden them to their ruin. There are two ways this dangerous effect is produced: one through the dominance of a particular lust or sin, the other through the neglect of spiritual duties and a shallow life in the world — under which the soul wastes away and is consumed.

As for the first of these — the dominance of a particular lust — there are three false ideas by which the deceitfulness of sin deludes people's souls.

The first false idea is that it is just this one sin they want to hold on to. If they can only be indulged in this one thing, they will be strict enough in everything else. This is the arrangement Naaman wanted to make in matters of religion, as 2 Kings 5:18 shows. And it is what many people rely on. This is why it has come to light through actual experience that some people have lived for years in the practice of a serious sin, while all along maintaining the appearance of great diligence in other duties of religion. This is a false idea by which poor sinners deceive their own souls. For even if it were possible for a man to give himself over to any lust or be under its power and yet be faithful in all other duties, it would still give him no relief as to the eternal condition of his soul. The rule is unambiguous on this point, as James 2:10-11 shows. One sin willingly lived in is just as capable of destroying a person's soul as a thousand sins. Beyond that, it is also practically false. There is no one who lives in any one known sin who does not in reality live in more — though that one sin holds the chief sway. In some such people, these other sins are visible to those who observe their spirit and manner of life, even if invisible to themselves; in others, they are evident to themselves, though hidden from others, as 1 Timothy 5:24 suggests. But let no one comfort himself with the thought that it is only one sin, while that one sin keeps him in a constant state of neglect of God.

Second, they deceive themselves with the idea that although they cannot shake off their sin just yet, they will continue to love God and abound in the duties of His worship. They will not become haters of God and His ways, or persecutors of others — and therefore they hope that despite this one small concession, this lesser sin that their nature and circumstances draw them into, all will be well with them in the end. This too is a false idea — a mere tool in the hand of sin to carry out its deception. For no one who willingly lives in any sin can love God at all, as the rule in 1 John 2:15 makes plain. Any claim to love God while living in any known sin is nothing but false pretense. Where God is not loved above all things, He is not truly loved at all — and He is not so loved where people will not give up one cursed lust for His sake. Do not let your knowledge deceive you, nor your gifts, nor your duties, nor your profession: if you live in sin, you do not love God.

Third, they decide that at some future point — after they have given enough satisfaction to their lusts and pleasures — they will quit entirely, so that sin will not be their ruin. But this too is a false idea — an effective instrument of sin's deceitfulness. The person who will not quit now, who will not immediately upon recognizing the power of any sin and being warned about it sincerely and persistently pursue its abandonment — whatever he says and whatever he claims — never intends to quit. And in the ordinary course of things, it is not likely that he ever will. When spiritual decline comes through the power of particular sins, people harden themselves to ruin through these and similar false ideas.

As for those who are wasting away under a consuming general decline — a broad decay of all vital spiritual life — they too have false ideas by which they deceive themselves.

The first is that although they have some reason to doubt themselves, their condition is not really as bad as some may think or as they have been warned it is. This comes from the fact that they have not yet been overtaken by any serious sin that has filled their conscience with terror and distress. But this is a false idea also — for every form of decline is dangerous, especially the kind that the mind is ready to defend and excuse in itself.

The second false idea is that this decline does not come from themselves and the evil of their own hearts, but from their circumstances, business, current responsibilities, and stage of life — and that once they are free from those, they will return to their former love and delight in spiritual things. But this is also a false idea, as Hebrews 3:12 makes plain. Whatever a person's circumstances and responsibilities may be, every departure from God comes from an evil heart of unbelief.

The third false idea is that recovering from this condition is no hard thing — something they can easily do when absolute necessity demands it. But this too is false. Recovery from backsliding is the hardest work in the Christian life, and very few manage it in either a satisfying or honorable way.

In this condition, I say, people tend through such false reasoning to deceive themselves to their eternal ruin — which makes it all the more necessary to address.

Therefore, I say finally and in sum: whoever finds himself under the power of this wretched condition — who is aware in himself, or at least makes it evident to others, that he is in spiritual decline — if he rests in that condition without groaning, striving, and seeking deliverance from it, he has no well-grounded hope of life and immortality. Indeed, he is on those paths that lead down to the chambers of death.

I cannot let this pass without some counsel for those who find themselves in such a state of decline, are aware of it, and want to be delivered from it. I will offer it in a few words.

First, remember former things. Call to mind how it was with you in the springtime and vigor of your affections, and compare your present state — your present experience, peace, and rest — with what they were then. This will be a powerful principle of return to God, as Hosea 2:7 suggests. And to give it a little added weight, consider the following.

First, God Himself makes this a ground and reason for His returning to us in mercy and continuing His love, as Jeremiah 2:2 shows. Even when people are in a condition of widespread spiritual decline, while they are still within the boundaries of God's covenant and mercy, He will remember their first love — and the fruit and activity of it in trials and temptations — and this stirs His compassion toward them. And the way to have God thus remember it is for us to remember it ourselves with delight and longing in our souls that it might be with us as in those former days — when we had the love of our early commitment to God in Christ, as Jeremiah 31:18-20 describes.

Second, remembering former times is the way in which the saints of old refreshed and encouraged themselves in their deepest despondency. So the psalmist does in many places — for instance, in Psalm 42:6: "O my God, my soul is in despair within me; therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar." David, during the time of his persecution by Saul — wandering through deserts, wildernesses, and lonely places — had, under all his fears, distress, and spiritual wrestling, great, holy, and spiritual communion with God, as many of the Psalms he wrote during those times testify. And the greater his distresses were, the more fervent were his affections in all his approaches to God. He was never in greater distress than when he escaped from the cave at Adullam and traveled to Mizpeh of Moab to secure shelter for his parents, as 1 Samuel 22:3 records. At that point he was in the land of the Hermonites — Mount Hermon being the eastern boundary of Israel's possession toward Moab, as Deuteronomy 3:8-9 indicates. There, no doubt, David had a blessed exercise of his faith and all his affections toward God, in which his soul found great refreshment. Now in great distress and desolation of spirit — feeling among other things that God had forgotten him, as verse 9 suggests — he calls to mind the blessed experience he had of communion with God in the land of the Hermonites, and finds support and refreshment in that memory. At other times he would recall the days of old — and in them his song in the night, the sweet refreshment of his spiritual communion with God in former days. I have known one person, in the depths of distress and mental darkness, on the verge of a temptation to destroy himself, who was relieved and delivered at the very moment of ruin by a sudden memory of a time and place where he had once prayed fervently, pouring out all his affections to God.

Therefore, you who are aware of these declines — or ought to be — take the advice of our Savior: remember from where you have fallen. Call to mind the former days. Consider whether it was not better with you then than now — when in your lying down and your rising up you had many thoughts of God and the things of God, and they were sweet and precious to your soul. When you rejoiced at the remembrance of His holiness. When you had zeal for His glory, delight in His worship, and were glad when they said, "Let us go to the house of God together." When you poured out your soul with freedom and enlarged affections before Him, and could sense the visits and refreshments of His love. Remember what peace, what tranquility of mind, what joy you had while it was so with you. And consider what you have gained since you turned away from God in any measure or degree. Be honest with yourselves. Is everything you now have to do with God either form, habit, and self-interest — or accompanied by trouble, restlessness, and fear? Do you truly know how to live, or how to die? Are you not sometimes a terror to yourselves? It must be so, unless you are hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. What have all the things you have embraced in place of God in Christ and spiritual things actually done for you? Speak plainly: have they not defiled you, wounded you, weakened you, and brought you to a condition where you no longer know what you are or to whom you belong? What are your thoughts when you are most awake and most truly yourself? Do you not sometimes pause and say, "Oh that it might be with us as in former days"?

And if you cannot be moved at all by the memory of former things, then you are certainly under one of two great evils. Either you never had a true and real work done in your soul — whatever you professed — and therefore never had true and real communion with God in any duties. You had only a temporary work that stirred your affections for a season — and now that it has worn off, it leaves no sweet memory of itself in your mind. If your faith and love had been sincere in what you did, it would be impossible for the memory of their activity in certain special moments not to be sweet and refreshing to you.

Or else you are hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, and there is no way left to make any spiritual impression on your mind. You truly have nothing left in religion but the fear of hell and the burden of duties. I am not speaking to such people at present.

For those to whom this condition is a burden, there is no more effective means of stirring them to seek deliverance than a continual remembrance of former things — of the experience they have had of holy communion and interchange with God. This will revive, quicken, and strengthen the things that are ready to die, and will produce in them a self-loathing when they consider the miserable frame and state of mind their sins and negligence have brought them to.

Second, consider that while Scripture pronounces many dreadful things against backsliding and backsliders of heart — as is your condition — it also contains specific calls and promises directed to those in your situation. And know for certain that on your response or failure to respond to them depends your everlasting blessing or ruin.

Consider both the call and the promise in this word of God's grace in Jeremiah 3:12-14: "Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say, 'Return, faithless Israel,' declares the Lord; 'I will not look on you in anger. For I am gracious,' declares the Lord; 'I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the Lord your God and have scattered your favors to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed My voice,' declares the Lord. 'Return, O faithless sons,' declares the Lord; 'for I am a master to you, and I will take you one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.'" Add to this the blessed promise of Hosea 14:4: "I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely, for My anger has turned away from them." If you intend to live and not die, it must be by yielding obedience to this call and pleading this promise before God, mixing it with faith. Your return must come through the Word, as Isaiah 57:18-19 indicates. Here lies your greatest encouragement and direction — here is your only relief. As you value your souls, do not delay the duty you are called to for a single moment. You do not know how soon you may be beyond the reach of calls and promises. And the person who can hear them without sincerely stirring himself to comply has already made great progress toward that terrible condition.

Third, for those who on these and similar grounds not only desire but will also endeavor to recover themselves from this condition, I will offer no counsel at present except this: be in genuine earnest. As the prophet says in another context: if you will return, then return — come fully and make a thorough work of it. You must do so at one point or another, or you will perish. Why not now? Why is this not the best time? Who knows whether it may be the only time you will have? It would be easy to multiply every kind of argument to this end. Halfhearted efforts, occasional resolutions and attempts that, like the morning cloud and early dew, fade away with the warnings and convictions they respond to until their impression wears off — all of this will ruin your souls. Unless your efforts are wholehearted and sustained, you are undone. Then you will know the Lord, if you press on to know Him.

But now to return to the main subject. These things, I say, may happen to our spiritually renewed affections through our own laziness, negligence, and sin. Their progress in conformity to spiritual and heavenly things may be slow, imperceptible, or even entirely blocked for a season. And not only that — they may fall into actual decline, so that the soul in them is guilty of backsliding from God. But this is what our renewed affections are capable of, by virtue of their renovation. This is where the grace with which they are renewed leads. This is what they will grow toward through the diligent use of means — the thing on which our comfort and peace depend: a holy assimilation to the spiritual and heavenly things on which they are set and fixed, in which they are renewed and made more spiritual and heavenly every day.