04.01. PART 1: THE PROMISE AND THE DUTY
PART ONE: THE PROMISE AND THE DUTY Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. In these words there are two things to be considered.
1. There is a duty, Follow me
Wherein consider first the object, me, even the Lord Jesus Christ, the chief fisher of men, who was sent by the Father to gather in the lost sheep of the house of Israel, who was and is the infinitely wise God, and so knew the best way to catch men, and can instruct men how to be fishers of others.
Next, consider the act, Follow (Gr. come after) me: Leave your employment, and come after me. Though no doubt there is a direction here to all the ministers of the gospel, that have left their other employments, and betaken themselves to the preaching of the word, vis., that if they would do good to souls, and gain them by their ministry, then they are to imitate Christ, in their carriage and preaching, to make him their pattern, to write after his copy, as a fit mean for gaining of souls.
2. There is a promise annexed to the duty Wherein we may consider:
(a) The benefit promised; that is to be made fishers of men; which I take to be not only an investing of them with authority, and a calling of them to the office, but also a promise of the success they should have, that fishing of men should be their employment, and they should not be employed in vain, but following Christ, they should indeed catch men by the gospel.
(b) The fountain cause of this, I, I will make you; none other can make you fishers of men but me.
Thou mayest observe first then, O my soul, that it is the Lord Jesus Christ that makes men fishers of men. Here I shall shew:
(1) How Christ makes men fishers of men.
(2) Why unconverted men are compared to fish in the water.
(3) That ministers are fishers by office.
HOW DOES CHRIST MAKE MEN FISHERS OF MEN? In answer to this question, consider spiritual fishing two ways: first, as to the office and work itself; and second, as to the success of it.
First, he makes them fishers as to their office, by his call, which is twofold, outward and inward, by setting them apart to the office of the ministry; and it is thy business, O my soul, to know whether thou hast it or not. But of this more afterwards.
Second, he makes them fishers as to success; that is, he makes them catch men to himself by the power of his Spirit accompanying the word they preach, and the discipline they administer: The preaching of the cross - unto us which are saved, is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18). Our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance (1 Thessalonians 1:5).
He it is that brings sinners into the net which ministers spread; and if he be not with them to drive the fish into the net, they may toil all the night, and day too, and catch nothing.
O my soul, then see that gifts will not do the business. A man may preach as an angel, and yet be useless. If Christ withdraw his presence, all will be to no purpose. If the Master of the house be away, the household will loath their food though it be dropping down about their tent doors.
Why shouldst thou then, on the one hand, as sometimes thou art, be lifted up when thou preachest a good and solid discourse, wherein gifts do appear, and thou gettest the applause of men? Why, thou mayst do all this, and yet be no fisher of men. The fish may see the bait, and play about it as pleasant, but this is not enough to catch them. On the other hand, why shouldst thou be so much discouraged (as many times is the case), because thy gifts are so small, and thou art but as a child in comparison of others? Why, if Christ will, he can make thee a fisher of men, as well as the most learned rabbi in the church: Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength (Psalms 8:2). Yea, hast thou not observed how God owned a man very weak in gifts and made him more successful than others that were far beyond him in parts? Has not God put this treasure in earthen vessels, that the power might be seen to be of him? Lift up thyself then, O my soul, Christ can make thee a fisher of men, however weak thou art. Follow thou him. My soul desires to follow hard after thee, O God! Be concerned then, in the first place, O my soul, for the presence of God in ordinances, and for his power that will make a change among people (Psalms 110:3). When thy discourse, though ever so elaborate, shall be but as a lovely song, O set thyself most for this. When thou studiest, send up ejaculations to thy Lord for it. When thou writest a sermon, or dost ruminate on it, then say to God, ’Lord, this will be altogether weak without thy power accompanying it.’
O power and life from God in ordinances is sweet. Seek it for thyself, and seek it for thy hearers. Acknowledge thine own weakness and uselessness without it, and so cry incessantly for it, that the Lord may drive the fish into the net, when thou art spreading it out. Have an eye to this power, when thou art preaching; and think not thou to convert men by the force of reason: if thou do, thou wilt be beguiled.
What an honorable thing is it to be fishers of men! How great an honor shouldst thou esteem it, to be a catcher of souls! We are workers together with God, says the apostle. If God has ever so honored thee, O that thou knewest it that thou mightst bless his holy name, that ever made such a poor fool as thee to be a co-worker with him. God has owned thee to do good to those who were before caught. O my soul, bless thou the Lord. Lord, what am I, or what is my father’s house, that thou hast brought me to this?
Then seest thou not here what is the reason thou toilest so long, and catchest nothing? The power comes not along. Men are like Samuel, who when God was calling him, thought it had been Eli. So when thou speakest many times, they do not discern God’s voice, but thine; and therefore the word goest out as it comes in.
Then, O my soul, despair not of the conversion of any, be they ever so profligate. For it is the power of the Spirit that drives any person into the net; and this cannot be resisted. Mockers of religion, yea, blasphemers may be brought into the net; and many times the wind of God’s Spirit in the word lays the tall cedars in sin down upon the ground, when they that seem to be as low shrubs in respect of them, stand fast upon their root. Publicans and harlots shall enter the kingdom of heaven before self-righteous Pharisees.
What thinkest thou, O my soul, of that doctrine that lays aside this power of the Spirit, and makes moral suasion all that is requisite to the fishing of men? That doctrine is hateful to thee. My soul loaths it, as attributing too much to the preacher, and too much to corrupt nature in taking away its natural impotency to good, and as against the work of God’s Spirit, contrary to experience; and is to me a sign of the rottenness of the heart that embraces it. Alas! that it should be owned by any among us, where so much of the Spirit’s power has been felt.
Among other reasons, they are so because as the water is the natural element of fish, so sin is the proper and natural element for an unconverted soul. Take the fish out of the water, it cannot live; and take from a natural man his idols, he is ready to say with Micah, Ye have taken away my gods, and what have I more? The young man in the gospel could not be persuaded to seek after treasure in heaven, and lay by the world. It is in sin that the only delight of natural men is; but in holiness they have no more delight than a fish upon the earth, or a sow in a palace.
Oh, the woeful case of a natural man! Bless the Lord, O my soul, that when that was thy element as well as that of others, yet Christ took thee in his net, held thee, and would not let thee go, and put another principle in thee, so that now it is heavy for thee to wade, far more to swim in these waters. The fish in a sunny day are seen to play themselves in the water. So the unregenerate, whatever grief they may seem to have upon their spirits, when a storm arises, either without, by outward troubles, or within by conscience gnawing convictions, yet when these are over, and they are in a prosperous state, they play themselves in the way of sin, and take their pleasure in it, not considering what it may cost them at the last. Oh! how does prosperity in the world ruin many a soul! The prosperity of fools shall destroy them. And how destructive would prosperity have been to thee, O my soul, if God had given it to thee many times when thou wouldst have had it! Bless the Lord that ever he was pleased to cross thee in a sinful course. As the fish greedily look after and snatch at the bait, not minding the hook; even so natural men drink in sin greedily, as the ox drinketh in the water. They look on sin as a sweet morsel; and it is to them sweet in the mouth, though bitter in the belly. They play with it, as the fish with the bait; but, Oh! alas, when they take the serpent in their bosom, they mind not the sting (Proverbs 9:17-18). The devil knows well how to dress his hooks; but, alas! men know not by nature how to discern them.
Pity then, O my soul, the wicked of the world, whom thou seest greedily satisfying their lusts. Alas! they are poor blinded souls; they see the bait, but not the hook; and therefore it is that they are even seen as it were dancing about the mouth of the pit; therefore rush they on to sin as a horse to the battle, not knowing the hazard. O pity the poor drunkard, the swearer, the unclean person, etc., that is wallowing in his sin.
Bless thou the Lord also, O my soul, that when thou wast playing with the bait, and as little minding the hook as others, God opened thine eyes, and let thee see thy madness and danger, that thou mightst flee from it. And be now careful that thou snatch at none of the devil’s baits, lest he catch thee with his hook, for though thou mayst be restored again by grace, yet it shall not be without a wound; as the fish sometimes slip the hook, but go away wounded; which wound may be sad to thee, and long a-healing. And this thou hast experienced. As fish in the water love deep places and wells, and are most frequently found there, so wicked men have a great love to carnal security, and have no will to strive against the stream. Fish love deep places best, where there is least noise. Oh, how careful are natural men to keep all quiet, that there may be nothing to disturb them in their rest in sin! They love to be secure, which is their destruction. O my soul, beware of carnal security, of being secure, though plunged over head and ears in sin. As fish are altogether unprofitable as long as they are in the water, so are wicked men in their natural estate, they can do nothing that is really good: they are unprofitable to themselves, and unprofitable to others: what good they do to others, is more per accidens [by accident] than per se [by or in itself] (Romans 3:12).
How far must they then be mistaken, who think the wicked of the world the most useful in the place where they live! They may indeed be useful for carrying on designs for Satan’s interest, or their own vain glory; but really to lay out themselves for God, they cannot.
MINISTERS ARE FISHERS BY OFFICE
They are catchers of the souls of men, sent ’to open the eyes of the blind, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God’. Preachers of the gospel are fishers, and their work and that of fishers agree in several things. The design and work of fishers is to catch fish. This is the work that preachers of the gospel have taken in hand, even to endeavor to bring souls to Christ. Their design in their work should be the same.
Tell me, O my soul, what is thy design in preaching? For what end dost thou lay the net in the water? Is it to show thy gifts, and to gain the applause of men? Oh, no! Lord, thou knowest my gifts are very small; and had I not some other thing than them to lean to, I had never gone to a pulpit. I confess that, for as small as they are, the devil and my corruptions do sometimes present them to me in a magnifying glass, and so would blow me up with wind. But, Lord, thou knowest it is my work to repel these motions. An instance of this see in my Diary. Their work is hard work; they are exposed to much cold in the water. So is the minister’s work. A storm that will affright others, they will venture on, that they may not lose their fish. So should preachers of the gospel do.
Fishers catch fish with a net. So preachers have a net to catch souls with. This is the everlasting gospel, the word of peace and reconciliation, wherewith sinners are caught.
It is compared to a net wherewith fishers catch fish, first, because it is spread out, ready to catch all that will come into it:
Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk, without money, and without price (Isaiah 55:1).
God excludes none from the benefits of the gospel that will not exclude themselves; it is free to all.
Second, because as fish are taken unexpectedly by the net, so are sinners by the gospel. Zaccheus was little thinking on salvation from Christ when he went to the tree. Paul was not thinking on a sweet meeting with Christ, whom he persecuted, when he was going post-hast on the devil’s errand; but the man is caught unexpectedly. Little wast thou thinking, O my soul, on Christ, heaven or thyself, when thou went to the Newton of Whitsome to hear a preaching, when Christ first dealt with thee; there thou got an unexpected cast.
Third, as fish sometimes come near and touch the net, and yet draw back; so many souls are somewhat affected at the hearing of the gospel, and yet remain in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity. So Herod heard John the Baptist gladly, but yet the poor man was not caught. Wonder not then, O my soul, that thou seest some affected in the time of preaching; and yet when they are away again, all is worn off.
Fourth, some fish that have not been taken fast hold enough by the net, struggle, and get out again. So some souls have their convictions, and may seem to be caught; but yet, alas! they stifle all their convictions, stay in the place of the breaking forth; their goodness is like the morning cloud, and as the early dew that soon passeth away. Wherefore, O my soul, if ever thou be taken up with exercised consciences, have a care that thou do not apply the cure before the wound be deep enough. Take all means to understand whether the soul be content to take Christ on his own terms or not. Alas! many this way, by having the wound scuffed over, are rather killed than cured.
Fifth, all that are taken in the net do make some struggling to get free. Even so every one whom the Lord deals with by his word and Spirit, make some kind of resistance before they are thoroughly caught. Cras, Domine, says Augustin; et modo, Domine, donec, modo non haberet modum. And this thou also knowest, O my soul, how thou wouldst have been content to have been out of the net. Oh! the wickedness of the heart of man by nature! opposite is it, and an enemy to all that may be for its eternal welfare. There is indeed a power in our will to resist, yea, and such a power as cannot but be exercised by the will of man, which can do nothing but resist, till the overcoming power of God, the gratia victrix, come and make the unwilling heart willing (Php 2:13).
Sixth, yet this struggling will not do with those which the net has fast enough. So neither will the resistance do that is made by an elect soul, whom God intends to catch: All that the Father hath given me, shall come to me (John 6:37). Indeed, God does not convert men to himself against their will, he does not force the soul to receive Christ; but he conquers the will, and it becomes obedient. He that was unwilling before, is then willing. O the power of grace! When God speaks, then men shall hear; then is it that the dead hear the voice of the Son of Man, and they that hear do live.
Seventh, in a net are many meshes in which the fish are caught. Such are the invitations made to sinners in the gospel, the sweet promises made to them that will come to Christ; these are the meshes wherewith the soul is catched. This then is gospel preaching, thus to spread out the net of the gospel, wherein are so many meshes of various invitations and promises, to which if the fish do come, they are caught.
Eighth, lest the net be lifted up with the water, and so not fit for taking fish, and the fish slight it and pass under it; there are some pieces of lead put to it to hold it right in the water that it may be before them as they come. So lest invitations and promises of the gospel be slighted, there must be used some legal terrors and law-threatenings to drive the fish into the net. Thou seest then that both law and gospel are to be preached, the law as a pendicle of the gospel net, which makes it effectual; the law being a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ.
Ninth, the meshes must not be over wide, lest the fish run through. So neither must thy doctrine be general, without particular application, lest thou be no fisher of men. Indeed men may be the better pleased, when thou preachest doctrine so as wicked men may run out through and in-through it, than when thou makest it so as to take hold of them; but be not a servant of men.
Tenth, neither must they be too neat and fine, and curiously wrought, lest they hold out the fish. So have a care, O my soul, of striving to make by wit any fine and curious discourse, which thy hearers cannot understand. Of this more afterwards.
Fishers observe in what places they should cast their nets, and where they may expect fish. So do thou, O my soul, observe where thou mayst catch souls.
There are two pools wherein the net should be set; in the public assemblies of the Lord’s people. There it was that Lydia’s heart was opened. The pool of ordinances sometimes is made healing water to souls pining away in their iniquity. The second place to set a net is in private conference. Many times the Lord is pleased to bless this for the good of souls. Some have found it so. But more of these things afterwards, when I come to following Christ.
Fishers may toil long, and yet catch nothing; but they do not therefore lay aside their work. So may preachers preach long, and yet not catch any soul (Isaiah 49:4, and Isaiah 53:1) but they are not to give up for all that.
O my soul, here thou art checked for thy behavior at some times under the absence of Christ from ordinances, when thou has been ready to wish thou hadst never taken it in hand. This was my sin: the good Lord pardon it. It becomes me better to lie low under God’s hand, and to inquire into the causes of his withdrawing his presence from me and from ordinances, and yet to hold on in duty till he be pleased to lay me by. Have a care of that, O my soul, and let not such thoughts and wishes possess thee again. Forget not how God made thee to read this thy sin, in thy punishment (Diary, November 13, 1698).
Hold on, O my soul, and give not way to these discouragements. Thou knowest not but Christ may come and teach thee to let down the net at the right side of the ship, and thou mayst yet be a fisher of men. Trust God thou shalt yet praise him for the help of his countenance as thou has done, and perhaps for some souls that thou mayst be yet honored to catch.
PART TWO: HOW MAY I COME BY THIS ART? And thus I have briefly considered these things. But the main question that I would have resolved is, How may I come by this art? What way I shall take to be a fisher of men? How I may order and set the net, that it may bring in souls to God? This the great Master of assemblies sets down in the first part of the verse.
Observe, O my soul, that the way for me to be a fisher of men, is to follow Christ. What it is to follow thee, O Lord, shew me; and, Lord, help me to do it.
Here two things are to be considered:
(1) What following Christ supposes and implies.
(2) Wherein Christ is to be followed.
WHAT FOLLOWING CHRIST SUPPOSES AND IMPLIES 1. It presupposes life A dead man cannot follow any person; a dead preacher cannot follow Christ; there must be a principle of life, spiritual life in him, or else he is naught. Therefore have I said and maintained, that a man cannot be a minister in foro Dei [in the court of God], though he may in foro ecclesiae [in the court of the church], without grace in his heart. This is a spiritual following of Christ; and therefore presupposes a spiritual and heavenly principle.
Tell me then, O my soul, what state art thou in? Thou wast once dead, that is sure, dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). Art thou raised out of thy grave? Hast thou got a part in the first resurrection? Has Christ breathed on thy dead and dry bones? Or art thou yet void of spiritual life? Art thou rotting away in thine iniquity? What sayest thou to this? If thou be yet dead, thy case is lamentable; but if thou be alive, what signs of life are there to be seen in thee?
I have my own doubts of this, because of the prevailing of corruption: therefore I will see what I can say to this. A man that hath the Spirit hath life (Romans 8:2, Romans 8:9) but I think I have the Spirit: ergo, I have life. That I have the Spirit, I conclude from these grounds following.
1. I have light that sometimes I had not The Comforter … shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you (John 14:26).
I see now otherwise than sometimes I saw. Once was I blind, but now I see, though I see but men as trees. Once was I darkness, but now am I light (though weak) in the Lord. This light makes me see:
(a) My former darkness, the sad and miserable state that once I was in, ignorant of God, Christ, and religion, save going to the church, and keeping from banning and swearing, etc., which I was restrained from, from a child. This makes me see my present darkness (1 Corinthians 13:12). How little a portion do I know of thee, O God? My knowledge is but as the twilight.
(b) It lets me see my heart sins, my imperfections and shortcomings in the best of my duties; so that God might damn me for them. The hypocrites say, Why have we fasted, and thou seest not? (Isaiah 58:3). It lets me see the wanderings of my heart in duty and out of duty, yea, the sinfulness of the first risings of lust in mine heart (Romans 7:1-25), and is still discovering the baseness of my heart unto me, so that I am forced to think and say that at the best I am unclean, unclean.
(c) It makes me to see Christ precious (1 Peter 2:7), altogether lovely, the chief among ten thousand, preferable to all the world; for whom if my heart deceive me not (Lord, thou knowest), I would undergo the loss of that which I most esteem in the world. ’Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none on earth that I desire besides thee.’ For indeed, ’My heart and flesh faints and fails; but thou art the strength of my heart, O LORD’ (Psalms 73:25-26).
(d) It lets me see my need of him; so that nothing else but Christ, I am persuaded, can help me. When I have done what I can, I am but an unprofitable servant. If I should do a thousand times more than I do, I count all but loss and dung for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord. My soul cries out for thee, O God, and follows hard after thee.
(e) The knowledge that I have of Christ makes me trust in him in some measure (Psalms 9:10), though alas! my evil heart of unbelief creates a great deal of difficulty in that to me. I find him a present help in the time of trouble; therefore I endeavor to cast my burden upon him. I know him to be a good Master, and therefore I lean on him for help for his own work. I know his grace is sufficient for me; therefore in temptation and trials, I endeavor to lift up my soul to him.
2. I feel help in duty from the Spirit
I know not what I should pray for; but the Spirit helpeth my infirmities (Romans 8:26). Many times I have gone to prayer very dead, and have come away with life; I have gone with a drooping and fainting heart, and come away rejoicing; with an heart closed, and have come away with an heart enlarged, and have felt enlargement both as to words and affections; and this hath made me both thankful and more vile in mine own eyes, that God should have done so with the like of me (1 Chronicles 29:14).
He that hath sense and feeling hath life; but I have sense and feeling; ergo, I have life (Ephesians 4:19). My sins are a burden to me (Matthew 11:28). Lord, thou knowest my omissions and commissions, the sins of my thoughts and of my life, the sins of my youth, and above all, that which is my daily trouble, an evil, backsliding and base heart, which I find deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). This body of sin and death makes me to groan, and long to be rid of it (Romans 7:24). And what a load it was to me this day, God knows. I feel God’s presence, which makes me to rejoice sometimes; at other times again I feel his absence. Thou, O Lord, hidest thy face, and I am troubled (Psalms 30:7). His smiles are sweet as honey from the comb, and his frowns are bitter as death to my soul.
He in whom there is heat hath life; but I have a heat in my soul; ergo, I have life. I find a threefold flame, though weak, in my heart.
1. A flame of love to Christ (Romans 5:5) My soul loves him above all; and I have felt my love to Christ more vigorous within this short while than for a considerable time before. Lord, put fuel to this flame.
I have a love to his truths that I know, what God reveals to me of his word (Psalms 119:19). I find sometimes his word sweeter to me than honey from the comb (Psalms 19:10). It comforts and supports me. I cannot but love it; it stirs me up, and quickens my soul when dead.
I love his commands, though striking against my corruptions (Romans 7:22).
I love the promises, as sweet cordials to a fainting soul, as life from the dead to one trodden under foot by the apprehensions of wrath, or the prevailing of corruption.
I love his threatenings as most just; my soul heartily approves them. If any man love not the Lord Jesus, let him be anathema, maranatha. The least part of truth, that God makes known to me, I love; and, by grace, would endeavor to adhere to.
I love those in whom the image of God does appear; though otherwise mean and contemptible, my heart warms towards them (1 John 3:14).
I love his work, and am glad when it thrives (Rom. 1:8), though alas! there is little ground for such gladness now.
I love his ordinances (Psalms 84:1) and what bears his stamp; though all this be but weak, I love his glory, that he should be glorified, come of me what will.
2. I find in my heart a flame of desires after the righteousness of Christ (Matthew 5:6) My soul earnestly desires to be stript naked of my own righteousness, which is as rags, and to be clothed and adorned with the robe of his righteousness. This wedding garment my soul affects; so shall I be found without spot, when the Master of the feast comes in to see the guests. My soul is satisfied, and acquiesces in justification by an imputed righteousness, though, alas! my base heart would fain have a home-spun garment of its own sometimes.
I also find in my heart a flame of desires after communion with him (Psalms 42:1). When I want it my soul though sometimes careless, yet, at other times, cries out, O that I knew where I might find him! I have found much sweetness in communion with God, especially at the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, in prayer and meditation, hearing the word faithfully and seriously preached, and in preaching it myself, when the candle of the Lord shines on my tabernacle; then was it a sweet exercise to my soul.
I endeavor to keep it up when I have it, by watching over my heart and sending up ejaculations to God. When I want it, I cry to him for it, though, alas! I have been a long time very careless. Sometimes my soul longs for the day, when my minority shall be over-past and I be entered heir to the inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away; to be quit of this evil world; to be dissolved, and to be with Christ, which is best of all; especially at three times.
(a) When I get more than ordinarily near God, when my soul is satisfied as with marrow and fat, when my heart is nobilitated, and tramples on the world.
(b) When I am wrestling and groaning under the body of sin and death, the evil heart: then fain would I be there, where Satan cannot tempt, and sin cannot enter; yea, when I have been much forsaken, at least as to comfort (Diary, August 2, 1696, where is the most eminent instance of it).
(c) When I preach, and see the gospel hath not success, but people are unconcerned, and go on in their abominations.
3. I find in my heart some heat of zeal for God, which vents itself first, by endeavoring to be active for God in my station. So when I was at K. I endeavored to do something for God, though, alas! it did some of them no good. Before I entered on trials, one main motive was to have opportunity to give a testimony against sin, and to see if I could be an instrument to reclaim any soul from their wicked way. This I have, as the Lord enabled me, done since I was a preacher, testifying against sin freely and plainly, and as earnestly as I could, by grace assisting me, though in weakness. And, Lord, thou knowest that my great desire is to catch men, and to get for that end my whole furniture from thee, laying aside my own wisdom, And if I could do this, how satisfying would it be to my soul, that desires to do good to others, though I myself should perish?
Therefore do I not spare this weak body, and therefore have I desired never to be idle, but to go unsent for sometimes. Yet my conscience tells me of much slackness in this point, when I have been in private with people and have not reproved them as I ought when they offended, being much plagued with want of freedom in private converse. This I have in the Lord’s strength resolved against, and have somewhat now amended it.
Second, it vents itself in indignation against sin in myself and others. Many times have I thought on that of the apostle, Yea, what revenge! when I have been overcome by a temptation, being content as it were to be revenged on myself, and as it were content to subscribe a sentence of damnation against myself, and so to justify the Lord in his just proceedings against me. And, Lord, do not I hate those that hate thee! am I not grieved with those that rise up against thee? The reproaches cast on thee, have fallen on me (Psalms 69:9). And my heart rises and is grieved when I see transgressors, that they keep not thy law.
Third, it vents itself in grieving for those things that I cannot help. Lord, thou knowest how weighty the sins of this land have been unto me, how they have lien and do lie somewhat heavy on me; and at this time in particular, the laxness of many in joining with the people of these abominations, the unfaithfulness of some professors, the lack of zeal for God in not making a more narrow search for the accursed thing in our camp, now when God’s wrath is going out violently against us, and not making an acknowledgment of sins and renewing our national vows, according as our progenitors did, many as it were thinking shame of the covenant, of whom the Church of Scotland may be ashamed.
Growth and motion is an evidence of life (Psalms 92:12-14). I move forward toward heaven, my affections are going out after Christ, and endeavoring to make progress in a Christian walk. I think I discern a growth of these graces in me.
(1) A growth of knowledge and acquaintance with Christ (2 Peter 3:18). I am more acquainted with Christ and his ways than before. Though I have not such uptakings of Christ as I ought to have, yet I have more than I have had in this respect sometimes before.
(2) A growth of love. If my heart deceive me not, I have found love to Christ within this month more lively and vigorous than before, my soul more affected with his absence from ordinances than ever.
(3) A growth of faith. I can, I think, trust God more now than before. I have had more experience of his goodness and knowledge of his name; and therefore think I can cast my burden on the Lord better than before. But it is easy swimming when the head is held up. Lord, increase my faith. I believe, Lord, help mine unbelief.
(4) A growth of watchfulness. I have felt the sad effects of unwatchfulness over my heart in times past. I feel the good of watchfulness now; my soul is habitually more watchful than before; neither dare I give such liberty to my heart as sometimes I gave. Yet for all this the Lord may well complain of me, that he is broken with my wanton heart. But, Lord, thou knowest it is also breaking to myself that it is so. The Lord seal these things to me.
(5) A growth of contempt of the world, which, blessed be God, is on the increase with me.
2. Following Christ implies a knowledge of the way that Christ took No man can follow the example of another as such, unless he know what way he lived. So neither can any man follow Christ with respect to the catching of men in particular, unless he know Christ’s way of catching souls, that is, so far as it may be followed by us. Acquaint then thyself, O my soul, with the history of the gospel wherein this appears, and take special notice of these things, that thou mayest follow Christ. What a sad case must they be in that are not acquainted with this!
3. Following Christ supposes sense of weakness, and the need of a guide A man that knows a way and can do well enough without a guide, needs not follow another. And surely the want of this is the reason why many run before Christ, and go farther than his example ever called them; and others take a way altogether different from Christ’s way, which is the product of their own conceited hearts and airy heads. But thou, O my soul, acknowledge thyself as a child in these matters, that cannot go unless it be led; as a stranger in a desert place that cannot keep their right way without a guide. Acknowledge and be affected with thine own weakness and emptiness, which thou mayst well be persuaded of. And of this end reflect seriously:
(1) On that word: Who is sufficient for these things? (2 Corinthians 2:16). No man is of himself sufficient; even the greatest of men come short of sufficiency. This may make thee then to be affected with insufficiency, who are so far below these men, as shrubs are below the tall cedars; and yet they cannot teach it of themselves.
(2) Consider the weight of the work, even of preaching, which is all that thou hast to do now. It is the concern of souls. By the foolishness of preaching it pleases the Lord to save them that believe; and as thou thoughtest yesterday (January 22, 1699) before thou went to the pulpit, it may seal the salvation of some, and the damnation of others. To preach in the Spirit, in the power and demonstration thereof, is no easy matter. Thy pitiful gifts will not fit thee for this.
(3) Reflect on what thou art when God is pleased to desert thee: how then thou tuggest and rowest, but it will not do, either in studying or delivering sermons. I think thou hast had as much of this as may teach thee to beware of taking thy burden on thy own soul, but to cast it on the Lord. (See Diary, June 3, July 3, December 31, 1698; January 6, 1699, etc.)
(4) Consider what a small portion thou knowest of God. When thou art at the best, and when thou art in thy meridian, yet how low art thou? And how far short thou comest of what thou shouldst be at.
(5) Consider that though thou hadst gifts like an angel, yet thou canst not convert a soul unless Christ be with thee to do the work. Therefore acknowledge thyself a weak creature, insufficient for the work; and go not out in thy own strength, but in the name of the Lord; and so although thou be but as a stripling, thou mayst be helped to cast down the great Goliaths that defy the armies of the living God.
4. Following Christ implies a renouncing of our own wisdom
It must not be the guide that we must follow (Matthew 16:24). Paul would not preach with wisdom of words (1 Corinthians 1:17), he did not follow the rules of carnal wisdom.
Therefore, O my soul, renounce thine own wisdom. Seek the wisdom that is from above; seek to preach the words of the living God, and not thine own. Since thou wast most set to take this way, and prayed most that thou mightst not preach that which might be the product of thy own wisdom and natural reason, but that which might be given thee of the Holy Ghost, thou hast found that God hath signally countenanced thee.
Take not the way of natural wisdom, follow not the rules of carnal wisdom. Its language will always be, Master, spare thyself; have a care of thy credit and reputation among men. If thou speak freely, they will call thee a railer, and thy preaching reflections; every parish will scare at thee as a monster of men, and one that would preach them all to hell; and so thou shalt not be settled. Such and such a man, that has a great influence in a parish, will never like thee. That way of preaching is not the way to gain people; that startles them at the very first. You may bring them on by little and little, by being somewhat smooth, at least at the first: for this generation is not able to abide such doctrine as that thou preachest. But hear thou and follow the rules of the wisdom that is from above: for the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God; that which is in high esteem among men, is naught in the sight of God. The wisdom that is from above will tell thee, that thou must be denied to thy credit and reputation, etc. (Matthew 16:24; Luke 14:26). It will tell thee, Let them call thee what they will, that thou must cry aloud, and spare not; lift up thy voice like a trumpet etc. (Isaiah 58:1). It will tell thee that God has appointed the bounds of men’s habitation (Acts 17:26). It will tell thee that not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble, are called (1 Corinthians 1:26). Whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, thou shalt speak God’s words unto them (Ezekiel 2:7). It will shew thee rules quite contrary to those of carnal wisdom. Let me consider then what carnal wisdom says to me, and what the wisdom from above says.
CARNAL WISDOM - SPIRITUAL WISDOM
Thy body is weak, spare it, and weary it not; it cannot abide toil, labor, and weariness; spare thyself then. Your body is God’s as well as your spirit; spare it not for glorifying God (1 Corinthians 6:20). ’In weariness and painfulness’ (2 Corinthians 11:27). ’He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth strength’ (Isaiah 40:29). This thou hast experienced. Labor to get neat and fine expressions; for these do very much commend a preaching to the learned; and without these they think nothing of it. Christ sent thee to ’preach the gospel not with wisdom of words’ (1 Corinthians 1:17). Go not to them with ’excellency of speech, or of wisdom’ (1 Corinthians 2:1). Let not thy speech and preaching be with ’the enticing words of man’s wisdom’ (verse 4). Endeavor to be somewhat smooth in preaching, and calm; and do not go out upon the particular sins of the land, or of the persons to whom thou preachest. ’Cry aloud, and spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet: shew my people their sins’ (Isaiah 58:1). ’Open rebuke is better than secret love’ (Proverbs 27:5). ’Study to shew thyself approved unto God, rightly dividing the word of truth’ (2 Timothy 2:15). If thou wilt not do so, they will be irritated against thee, and may create thee trouble; and what a foolish thing would it be for thee to speak boldly to such a generation as this, whose very looks are terrible! ’He that rebuketh a man, afterwards shall find more favour than he that flattereth with the tongue’ (Proverbs 28:23). I have experience of this. ’Fear them not, neither be afraid at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. I have made thy face strong against their faces’ (Ezekiel 3:8-9). Experience confirms this. It is a dangerous way to speak freely, and condescend on particulars; there may be more hazard in it than thou art aware of. ’He that walketh uprightly, walketh surely’ (Proverbs 10:9). ’Whoso walketh uprightly shall be saved’ (Proverbs 28:18). Thou wilt be looked on as a fool, as a monster of men; thou wilt be called a railer, and so lose thy reputation and credit, and thou hadst need to preserve that. Men will hate and abhor thee; and why shouldst thou expose thyself to these things? ’Thou must become a fool, that thou mayest be wise’ (1 Corinthians 3:18). ’We are made a spectacle to the world’ (1 Corinthians 4:9-10). ’The servant is not greater than his lord,’ (John 15:20, compared with John 10:20), ’He hath a devil, and is mad, why hear ye him?’ If thou wilt be Christ’s disciple, ’thou must deny thyself’ (Matthew 16:24). ’If the world hate you, ye know it hated me before it hated you,’ (John 15:18) says our Lord. Great people especially will be offended at you, if you speak not fair to them and court and caress them. And if you be looked down upon by great people, who are wise and mighty, what will you think of your preaching? ’Accept no man’s person, neither give flattering titles to man: for, in so doing, thy Maker will soon take thee away’ (Job 32:21-22). ’Few of the rulers believe on Christ’ (John 7:48). ’Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called’ (1 Corinthians 1:26). ’Speak thou God’s word to kings, and be not ashamed’ (Psalms 119:46). Our people are new come out from under Prelacy, and they would not desire to have sins told particularly, and especially old sores to be ripped up. They cannot abide that doctrine. Other doctrine would take better with them. Hold off such things; for it may well do them ill. It will do them no good. ’Thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, for they are most rebellious’ (Ezekiel 2:7). ’Give them warning from me. If thou do it not they shall die in their sins, but their blood will I require at thy hand’ (Ezekiel 3:17-18). ’What the Lord saith to thee, that do thou speak’ (1 Kings 22:14). If you will preach such things, yet prudence requires that you speak of them very warily. Though conscience says you must, yet speak them somewhat covertly, that you may not offend them sore, and especially with respect to them that are but coming in yet, and do not fill them with prejudices at first; you may get occasion afterwards. ’Cry aloud, and spare not’ (Isaiah 58:1). ’Cursed be he that doth the work of the Lord deceitfully’ (Jeremiah 48:10). ’Handle not the word of the Lord deceitfully.’ Peter, at the first, told the Jews that were but coming in to hear, ’Him (Christ) ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain’ (Acts 2:23). ’Work while it is called today; the night cometh werein thou canst not work’ (John 9:4). Be but fair especially to them that have the stroke in parishes, till you be settled in a parish to get stipend. If you will not do so, you may look for toiling up and down then; for parishes will scare at you, and will not call you, and how will you live? And so such a way of preaching will be to your loss, whereas otherwise it might be better with you. ’To have respect of persons is not good; for, for a piece of bread that man will transgress’ (Proverbs 28:21). ’The will of the Lord be done’ (Acts 21:14). ’God hath determined your time, before appointed, and the bounds of your habitation’ (Acts 17:26). ’And his counsel shall stand, oppose it who will’ (Isaiah 46:10). ’It is God that sets the solitary in families’ (Psalms 68:6). ’If thou be faithful, thou shalt abound with blessings; but if thou makest haste to be rich, thou shalt not be innocent’
Thus thou seest, O my soul, how that carnal wisdom, notwithstanding it speaks fair and with a good deal of seeming reason, is quite contrary to the wisdom that is from above. It promiseth fair, but its promises are not always performed; it threatens sore, but neither do its threatenings always come to pass: it makes molehills mountains, and mountains molehills: therefore reject the wisdom of the world, for it is foolishness with God. Carnal policy would make thee fear him that can but kill the body, yea that cannot do so much now, and to cast off the true fear of God.
O my soul, remember that word, and make use of it for strengthening thee: The fear of man bringeth a snare; but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe (Proverbs 29:25). Never go to seek temporal profit by putting thy soul in hazard, but wait thou on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land (Psalms 37:34); for his way is the safest way, however carnal wisdom may speak otherwise of it and may account the following of it mere folly; but remember thou, that the foolishness of God is wiser than men (1 Corinthians 1:25).
5. Following Christ supposes, that we must not make men our rule, to follow them any farther than they follow Christ Be ye followers of me, says the apostle, as I am of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). Wherein they follow Christ I may follow them, but in nothing else. All men are fallible; the greatest of men have had their own spots. Luther’s opinion of Christ’s corporal presence in the sacrament affords a notable instance of this.
Therefore, O my soul, let not man’s authority prevail with thee to go off the road at all. If Christ himself tell thee not, O my soul, where he feedeth, thou mayst be left to turn aside to the flocks of his companions. Have a care of putting the servants of the Lord in his own room: but follow thou him.