by Arthur W. Pink
by Arthur W. Pink
Philologos Religious Online Books
Philologos.org
by Arthur W. Pink
October, 1933
Heart Work
We now resume at the point where we left off in our last article.
Second, it is of great efficacy to keep the heart from sinking under affliction, to call to mind that our own Father has the ordering of them: not a creature can move either hand or tongue against us, but by His permission. Suppose the cup be a bitter one which He has given thee to drink, still there is no poison in it. Hath not God said, “I will do you no hurt” (Jer. 25:6)! If you be really one of His children thou liest too near Him to injure thee. Thy highest good is ever before Him, and though He spares not the rod when we need it, yet it is love which wields it (Heb. 12:6). Suppose a faithful and tender-hearted physician had studied well the case of a patient, and had prescribed the most excellent remedies to spare his life; would he not be grieved to hear him cry out “you have poisoned me,” because it gripes and pains him in the operation? Quell then those groundless and unreasonable suspicions of the designs of the Great Physician.
Third, though God hath reserved unto Himself the right to afflict His people, yet He has pledged Himself not to take His lovingkindness from them: “If his children forsake My law, and walk not in My judgments; If they break My statutes, and keep not My commandments; Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless My lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer My faithfulness to fail” (Psa. 89:30-33). Can I look that Scripture in the face with a murmuring or repining spirit? O naughty heart! doest thou well to be discontented when God hath given thee the whole tree, with all its clusters of comfort, because He suffers the wind to blow down a few leaves! Christians have both spiritual blessings and temporal mercies, the one abiding, the other movable: since God has eternally secured the former, never let thy heart be troubled at the loss of the latter.
Fourth, may it not be that by these humbling providences God is now accomplishing that for which you have long prayed and waited for? If so, is it not foolish to be worried over the same? You have asked Him to refine your soul, to conform you more unto the image of Christ, to deliver you from the power of sin, to discover unto you the emptiness and insufficiency of the creature, to so mortify your worldly and fleshly lusts that you might find all your enjoyment and satisfaction in Christ. Then by these impoverishing strokes God is now fulfilling thy desires. Wouldst thou be delivered from temptation? then He has hedged up thy way with thorns. Wouldst thou see the vanity of the creature? He has now revealed it to thy experience. Wouldst thou have thy corruptions mortified? He has taken away the food and fuel that maintained them. As prosperity begat and fed them, so adversity, when sanctified, is a means to kill them. Wouldst thou have thy heart rest in the bosom of God? He has pulled from under thy head the soft pillow of creature-delights on which before you rested!
Finally, if like Rebekah of old, thou still refusest to be comforted or quieted, then consider one thing more, which if it be seriously pondered will doubtless still thy soul. Compare the condition you are now in, and with which thou art so much dissatisfied, with that of the damned! Some of those you used to associate and make merry with are now wailing and gnashing their teeth under the scourge of Divine vengeance. They are roaring amid the unquenchable flames of Hell; and deservedst not thou to be among them! O my friend, your present lot, no matter how unpleasant it be, cannot for a moment be compared with theirs. How gladly would they change places with you. Let the knowledge that your sins deserved eternal torment make you thank God heartily for a crust of bread and a cup of water.
3. In times of Public Danger. We do not wish to be an alarmist, or needlessly excite the fear of our readers, but judging from God's ways in the past, it would seem quite likely that social upheavals, and the menacing of property and life, are not far distant. We say this, not merely because of the discontent which is now seething within the lower and rougher elements, nor because that tens of thousands, feeling so severely the pinch of poverty, are being driven to the point of desperation, but because so very few professing Christians have yet humbled themselves beneath the mighty hand of God, and evidenced any godly sorrow for their past extravagances, or show any marked reformation in their lives today. One wonders how much distress and suffering it will take before the haughty are humbled, and before those who are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God will give Him the place which is His right in their hearts and lives.
There can be no social revolution, no setting at defiance of established law and order, while the restraining hand of God curbs the wilder passions of men. The Almighty has perfect control of all His creatures, and therefore His people are bidden to pray “for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” (1 Tim. 2:2)—such a petition would be useless were not the helm of all events held by the hand of the Lord. And it is for the sake of His own elect that God prevents the reprobate from turning this world into bedlum and shambles. But if His own people have wandered so far from Him as not to have His ear, if they will not repent of and turn away from their wicked ways now that His chastening hand is lightly laid upon them, then He will most probably resort to far sterner measures, and force them to their knees. He who reads with any degree of attention the history of Israel, especially that portion of it recorded in the book of Judges, will see that God had to employ drastic means to turn them from their idols. So too he who has any fair acquaintance with the history of the “Christian” nations of Europe during the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, will discover there several solemn illustrations of the same principle. And it seems to the writer that something more than an industrial depression, something more than financial straitness and flu epidemics, will be required to bring to an end the present frightful desecration of the Holy Sabbath, the brazen immodesty which stalks through the land, the spirit of lawlessness which abounds on every side. God may soon unleash the hounds of anarchy! Suppose He does: that would be another critical hour wherein we would need to exercise special care over our hearts. “Hear for the time to come” (Isa. 42:23)!
In times of danger and public distraction the stoutest souls are apt to be surprised by slavish fear. When there are ominous signs in the heavens, and on earth distress of nations, with perplexity, then the hearts of men fail them for fear, and the looking after those things which are coming on the earth (Luke 21:25, 26). But it should not be thus with the saints: they ought to be of a more raised spirit. Those who are walking with God, may say “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled” (Psa. 46:1-3). With David they will exclaim, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psa. 27:1). How, then, may a Christian preserve his heart from distracting and tormenting fears in times of great or threatening danger?
First, even then all creatures are in the directing hand of God, and can only move as He permits them. Let this truth be well settled by faith in the heart, and it will have a marvelous quieting effect upon it. A lion at large is a terrible creature to meet, but not so when he is in the keeper's hand. Dreadful indeed will it be if a time of Bolshevism should break loose in this land, but even so He who rules Heaven and earth shall say, “Thus far shalt thou come, and no further.” Even then, my brother or sister, God would still be your Father, and much more tender toward you than you are unto yourself. Let me ask the most nervous woman whether there would not be a vast difference between a drawn sword in the hand of a bloody ruffian, and the same sword in the hand of a loving husband? As great a difference is there in looking upon creatures by an eye of sense, and looking on them as in the hand of your God by an eye of faith.
Second, urging upon yourself the express prohibitions of Christ in this case, and let thy soul stand in awe of the violation of them. The Son of God has charged you, “When ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified” (Luke 21:9); then cry unto Him for supernatural grace to obey. “In nothing terrified by your adversaries” (Phil. 1:28). Three times over in Matthew 10:26-31 Christ commands us not to fear “men.” Does the voice of a creature make thee tremble, and shall not the voice of God. If thou art of such a timorous spirit, how is it that thou fearest not to disobey the plain commands of Christ? Surely His word should have more power to calm thee than the voice of a poor worm of the earth to terrify. “I, even I, am He that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die?” (Isa. 51:12).
Third, consult the many precious promises which are recorded for your support and comfort in all dangers: these are the refuges to which you may fly and be safe. There are particular promises suited to particular cases and exegencies. “Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways” (Psa. 91:5-11). “Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee” (Isa. 43:1, 2).
Finally, make sure of the eternal interest of thy soul in the hands of Jesus Christ: when that is done, then you may say, Now world do thy worst. You will not be very solicitous about a vile body, when you know that it shall be well to all eternity with your precious soul. “And I say unto you My friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do” (Luke 12:4). If you are truly and Scripturally assured that your spirit will be received by Christ into an everlasting habitation the moment of its dismission from the body, trouble not yourself about the instruments and means of its dismission. “O but a violent death is terrible to nature”! But what matter is it when thy soul is in Heaven whether it be let out at thy mouth or thy throat? whether thy familiar friends or barbarous enemies close thy dead eyes? Thy soul in Heaven shall not be conscious of how thy body is abused on earth.
Fourth, in times of Zion's trouble it behooves public and tender hearts to be delivered from sinking into despondency and despair. When we see the once fair gardens of the Church, with their hedges broken down, the boar running wild therein, the flowers replaced by weeds, it makes a godly soul cry, “Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears” (Jer. 9:1). Yes, but remember, no trouble befalls Zion, but by the permission of Zion's God, and He permits nothing out of which He will not bring much good at last. Moreover, “there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest” (1 Cor. 11:19). Again, lay hold of and persistently plead before God His promise: “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him” (Isa. 59:19). However low the Church may be plunged under the waters of adversity, it shall assuredly rise again.
Fifth, how may a Christian keep his heart from revengeful motives under the greatest injuries and abuses of men? First, urge upon thy soul the express commands of God: remember that this is forbidden fruit, no matter how pleasant to our vitiated appetites. Revenge is sweet, says nature; the effects thereof shall be bitter, says God. How plainly has God prohibited this flesh-pleasing sin: “Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work” (Prov. 24:29); “Avenge not yourselves” (Rom. 12:19). But that is not all: “If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink” (Prov. 25:21). One of the many proofs of the supernatural origin of the Scriptures is that they forbid revenge which is so sweet to nature. Then awe thy heart by the authority of God in those Scriptures.
Second, set before thy soul the blessed and binding example of Christ: never did any suffer more and greater abuses from men than did the Saviour, and never was any one so peaceful and forgiving: “When He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously” (1 Peter 2:23). To be of a meek and gracious spirit is to be Christ-like. Third, calm thy heart by the realization that by revenge thou dost but satisfy a lust, but by forgiving thou shalt conquer a lust. Again; consider more frequently how often you wrong God, and then you will not be so easily enflamed against those who wrong thee. Do you still reply, But such insults and injustices are more than flesh and blood can stand? then earnestly seek supernatural grace.
Sixth, how may a Christian preserve his heart from utterly sinking in seasons of spiritual gloom and the hidings of God's face? Turn unto the cheering promises which God has left on record for His backslidden people: Jeremiah 3:22, Hosea 14:4, etc. No matter what your sin or trouble be, let it drive you to God, and not from Him: cry with David, “Pardon mine iniquity; for it is great” (Psa. 25:11). But suppose I can obtain no access to God, no conscious help from His Spirit, and find no ray of hope for my poor heart? Then heed this word, “Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of His servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God” (Isa. 50:10).
Seventh, how may the Christian, in a time of critical illness, get his heart loose from all earthly engagements and persuade it unto a willingness to die? First, by reminding himself that death has lost its sting (1 Cor. 15:55) and cannot harm him. Second, by considering what heavy burdens he will then be rid of. The soul pays a dear rent for the house it now lives in! But death frees the saint not only from all the troubles and trials of this life, not only from all the sufferings and pains of the body, but it delivers from all spiritual diseases—”he that is dead is freed from sin” (Rom. 6:7). Justification destroys its damning power, sanctification its reigning power, but glorification its very being and existence. At death the Christian is done forever with Satan and his temptations: then how heartily should he welcome it!—A.W.P.
(For much in this article we are indebted to the works of the Puritan, John Flavel.)
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