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T H E By J O H N.B U N Y A N. L O N D O N, Sold by George Larkin, at the Two Swans without Bishopgates, 1692. |
[V. THE REASONS WHY A BROKEN HEART IS ESTEEMED BY GOD SUCH AN EXCELLENT THING.]
nd thus have I done with this, and shall come next to the reasons
of the point, namely, to show you, why or how it comes to pass, that a broken heart,
a heart truly contrite, is to God such an excellent thing. That to him it is so,
we have proved by six demonstrations; what it is, we have showed by the six signs
thereof; that it must be, is manifest by those nine reasons but now urged; and why
it is with God or in his esteem an excellent thing, that is shown by that which follows.
First. A broken heart is the handiwork of God; an heart of his own preparing, for
his own service; it is a sacrifice of his own providing, of his providing for himself;
as Abraham said in another case, 'God will provide himself a lamb' (Gen 22:8).
Hence it is said, 'The preparations of the heart in man, &c., is from the Lord.'
And again, 'God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me' (Job 23:16).
The heart, as it is by nature hard, stupid, and impenetrable, so it remains, and
so will remain, until God, as was said, bruiseth it with his hammer, and melts it
with his fire. The stony nature of it is therefore said to be taken away of God.
'I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you, ' saith
he, 'an heart of flesh' (Eze 36:26). I will take away the stony heart, or the stoniness,
or the hardness of your heart, and I will give you a heart of flesh; that is, I will
make your heart sensible, soft, wieldable, governable, and penitent. Sometimes he
bids men rend their hearts, not because they can, but to convince them rather, that
though it must be so, they cannot do it; so he bids them make themselves a new heart,
and a new spirit, for the same purpose also; for if God doth not rend it, it remains
unrent; if God makes it not new, it abides an old one still.
This is that that is meant by his bending of men for himself, and of his working
in them that which is pleasing in his sight (Zech 9:13). The heart, soul, or spirit,
as in itself, as it came from God's fingers, a precious thing, a thing in God's account
worth more than all the world. This heart, soul, or spirit, sin has hardened, the
devil has bewitched, the world has deceived. This heart, thus beguiled, God coveteth
and desireth: 'My son, ' saith he, 'give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe
my ways' (Prov 23:26).
This man cannot do this thing: for that his heart has the mastery of him, and will
not but carry him after all manner of vanity. What now must be done? Why, God must
take the heart by storm, by power, and bring it to a compliance with the Word; but
the heart of itself will not; it is deluded, carried away to another than God. Wherefore
God now betakes him to his sword, and bring down the heart with labour, opens it,
and drives out the strong man armed that did keep it; wounds it; and makes it smart
for its rebellion, that it may cry; so he rectifies it for himself. 'He maketh sore,
and bindeth up; he woundeth, and his hands make whole' (Job 5:18). Thus having wrought
it for himself, it becomes his habitation, his dwelling-place: 'That Christ may dwell
in your hearts by faith' (Eph 3:17).
But I would not swerve from the thing in hand. I have told you a broken heart is
the handiwork of God, a sacrifice of his own preparing; a material fitted for himself.
1. By breaking of the heart he openeth it, and makes it a receptacle for the graces
of his Spirit; that is the cabinet, when unlocked, where God lays up the jewels of
the gospel; there he puts his fear; 'I will put my fear in their hearts'; there he
writes his law; 'I will write my law in their heart'; there he puts his Spirit: 'I
will put my Spirit within you' (Jer 31:31-33, 32:39-41; Eze 36:26, 27). The heart,
I say, God chooses for his cabinet: there he hides his treasure; there is the seat
of justice, mercy, and of every grace of God; I mean, when it is broken, made contrite;
and so regulated by the holy Word.
2. The heart, when broken, is like sweet gums and spices when beaten; for as such
cast their fragrant scent into the nostrils of men, so the heart when broken casts
its sweet smells in the nostrils of God. The incense, which was a type of prayer
of old, was to be beaten or bruised, and so to be burned in the censer. The heart
must be beaten or bruised, and then the sweet scent will come out: even groans, and
cries, and sighs, for the mercy of God; which cries, &c. to him, are a very excellent
thing, and pleasing in his nostrils.
Second. A broken heart is in the sight of God an excellent thing; because a broken
heart is submissive; it falleth before God, and giveth to him his glory. All this
is true from a multitude of scriptures, which I need not here mention. Hence such
a heart is called an honest heart, a good heart, a perfect heart, a heart fearing
God, and such as is sound in God's statutes.
Now, this cannot but be an excellent thing, if we consider, that by such a heart,
unfeigned obedience is yielded unto him that calleth for it. 'Ye have obeyed from
the heart, ' says Paul to them at Rome, 'that form of doctrine which was delivered
you' (Rom 6:17). Alas! the heart, before it is broken and made contrite, is quite
of another temper: 'It is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.'
The great stir before the heart is broken, is about who shall be Lord, God or the
sinner. True, the right of dominion is the Lord's; but the sinner will not suffer
it, but will be all himself; saying 'Who is Lord over us?' and again, say they to
God, 'We are lords, we will come no more unto thee' (Psa 12:4; Jer 2:31).
This also is evident by their practice; God may say what he will, but they will do
what they list. Keep my sabbath, says God; I will not, says the sinner. Leave your
whoring, says God; I will not, says the sinner. Do not tell lies, nor swear, nor
curse, nor blaspheme my holy name, says God; O but I will, says the sinner. Turn
to me, says God; I will not, says the sinner. The right of dominion is mine, says
God; but, like that young rebel (1 Kings 1:5), I will be king, says the sinner. Now,
this is intolerable, this is unsufferable, and yet every sinner by practice says
thus; for they have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Here can be no concord, no communion, no agreement, no fellowship. Here, here is
enmity on the one side, and flaming justice on the other (2 Cor 6:14-16; Zech 11:8).
And what delight, what content, what pleasure, can God take in such men. None at
all; no, though they should be mingled with the best of the saints of God; yea, though
the best of saints should supplicate for them. Thus, says Jeremiah, 'Then said the
Lord unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, ' that is, to pray for them,
'yet my mind could not be toward this people; cast them out of my sight, and let
them go forth' (Jer 15:1).
Here is nought but open war, acts of hostility, and shameful rebellion, on the sinner's
side; and what delight can God take in that? Wherefore, if God will bend and buckle
the spirit of such an one, he must shoot an arrow at him, a bearded arrow, such as
may not be plucked out of the wound: an arrow that will stick fast, and cause that
the sinner falls down as dead at God's foot (Psa 38:1, 2). Then will the sinner deliver
up his arms, and surrender up himself as one conquered, into the hand of, and beg
for the Lord's pardon, and not till then; I mean not sincerely.
And now God has overcome, and his right hand and his holy arm has gotten him the
victory. Now he rides in triumph with his captive at his chariot wheel; now he glories;
now the bells in heaven do ring; now the angels shout for joy, yea, are bid to do
so, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost' (Luke 15:1-10). Now
also the sinner, as a token of being overcome, lies grovelling at his foot, saying,
'Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies, whereby the people fall
under thee' (Psa 45:3-5).
Now the sinner submits, now he follows his conqueror in chains, now he seeks peace,
and would give all the world, were it his own, to be in the favour of God, and to
have hopes by Christ of being saved. Now this must be pleasing, this cannot but be
a thing acceptable in God's sight: 'A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt
not despise.' For it is the desire of his own heart, the work of his own hands.
Third. Another reason why a broken heart is to God such an excellent thing is this,
a broken heart prizes Christ, and has a high esteem for him. The whole have no need
of a physician, but the sick; this sick man is the broken-hearted in the text; for
God makes men sick by smiting of them, by breaking of their hearts. Hence sickness
and wounds are put together; for that the one is a true effect of the other (Mark
2:17; Micah 6:13; Hosea 5:13). Can any think that God should be pleased, when men
despise his Son, saying, He hath no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see him,
there is no beauty that we should desire him? And yet so say they of him whose hearts
God has not mollified; yea, the elect themselves confess, that before their hearts
were broken, they set light by him also. He is, say they, 'despised and rejected
of men, - and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed
him not' (Isa 53:2, 3).
He is indeed the great deliverer; but what is a deliverer to them that never saw
themselves in bondage, as was said before? Hence it is said of him that delivered
the city, 'No man remembered that same poor man' (Eccl 9:15). He has sorely suffered,
and been bruised for the transgression of man, that they might not receive the smart,
and hell, which by their sins they have procured to themselves. But what is that
to them that never saw ought but beauty, and that never tasted anything but sweetness
in sin? It is he that holdeth by his intercession the hands of God, and that causes
him to forbear to cut off the drunkard, the liar, and unclean person, even when they
are in the very act and work of their abomination; but their hard heart, their stupefied
heart, has no sense of such kindness as this, and therefore they take no notice of
it. How many times has God said to this dresser of his vineyard, 'Cut down the barren
fig-tree, ' while he yet, by his intercession, has prevailed for a reprieve for another
year! But no notice is taken of this, no thanks is from them returned to him for
such kindness of Christ. Wherefore such ungrateful, unthankful, inconsiderate wretches
as these must needs be a continual eye-sore, as I may say, and great provocation
to God; and yet thus men will do before their hearts are broken (Luke 13:6-9).
Christ, as I said, is called a physician; yea, he is the only soul-physician. He
heals, how desperate soever the disease be; yea, and heals who he undertakes for
ever. 'I give unto them eternal life, ' and doth all of free cost, of mere mercy
and compassion (John 10:28). But what is all this to one that neither sees his sickness,
that sees nothing of a wound? What is the best physician alive, or all the physicians
in the world, put all together, to him that knows no sickness, that is sensible of
no disease? Physicians, as was said, may go a-begging for all the healthful. Physicians
are of no esteem, save only to the sick, or upon a supposition of being so now, or
at any other time.
Why, this is the cause Christ is so little set by in the world. God has not made
them sick by smiting of them; his sword has not given them the wound, his dart has
not been struck through their liver; they have not been broken with his hammer, nor
melted with his fire. So they have no regard to his physician; so they slight all
the provision which God has made for the salvation of the soul. But now, let such
a soul be wounded; let such a man's heart be broken; let such a man be made sick
through the sting of guilt, and be made to wallow himself in ashes under the burden
of his transgressions; and then, who but Christ, as has been showed afore, then the
physician; then, wash me, Lord, then supple my wounds, then pour thy wine and oil
into my sore; then Lord Jesus cause me to hear the voice of joy and gladness, that
the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Nothing now so welcome as healing;
and so nothing, no man, so desirable now as Christ. His name to such is the best
of names; his love to such is the best of love; himself being now not only in himself,
but also to such a soul, the chiefest of ten thousand (Can 5:10).
As bread to the hungry, as water to the thirsty, as light to the blind, and liberty
to the imprisoned; so, and a thousand times more, is Jesus Christ to the wounded,
and to them that are broken-hearted. Now, as was said, this must needs be excellent
in God's eyes, since Christ Jesus is so glorious in his eyes. To contemn what a man
counts excellent, is an offence to him; but to value, esteem, or think highly of
that which is of esteem with me, this is pleasing to me, such an opinion is excellent
in my sight. What says Christ? 'My Father loveth you, because ye loved me' (John
16:27). Who hath an high esteem for Christ, the Father hath an high esteem for them.
Hence it is said, 'He that hath the Son, hath the Father'; the Father will be his,
and will do for him as a Father, who receiveth and sets an honourable esteem on his
Son.
But none will, none can do this, but the broken-hearted; because they, and they only,
are sensible of the want and worth of an interest in him.
I dare appeal to all the world as to the truth of this; and do say again, that these,
and none but these, have hearts of esteem in the sight of God. Alas! 'the heart of
the wicked is little worth, ' for it is destitute of a precious esteem of Christ,
and cannot but be destitute, because it is not wounded, broken, and made sensible
of the want of mercy by him (Prov 10:20).
Fourth. A broken heart is of great esteem with God, because it is a thankful heart
for that sense of sin and of grace it has received. The broken heart is a sensible
heart. This we touched upon before. It is sensible of the dangers which sin leadeth
to; yea, and has cause to be sensible thereof, because it has seen and felt what
sin is, both in the guilt and punishment that by law is due thereto. As a broken
heart is sensible of sin, in the evil nature and consequences of it; so it is also
sensible of the way of God's delivering the soul from the day of judgment; consequently
it must be a thankful heart. Now he that praises me, glorifies me, saith God; and
God loves to be glorified. God's glory is dear unto him; he will not part with that
(Psa 50:23; Isa 42:8).
The broken-hearted, say I, forasmuch as he is the sensible soul, it follows that
he is the thankful soul. 'Bless the Lord, O my soul, ' said David, 'and all that
is within me bless his holy name.' Behold what blessing of God is here! and yet not
content herewith, he goes on with it again, saying, 'Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
forget not all his benefits.' But what is the matter? O! he has 'forgiven all thine
iniquities, and healed all thy diseases. He has redeemed thy life from destruction,
and crowneth thee with loving kindnesses and tender mercies' (Psa 103:1-4). But how
came he to be affected with this? Why, he knew what it was to hang over the mouth
of hell for sin; yea, he knew what it was for death and hell to beset and compass
him about; yea, they took hold of him, as we have said, and were pulling of him down
into the deep; this he saw to the breaking of his heart. He saw also the way of life,
and had his soul relieved with faith and sense of that, and that made him a thankful
man. If a man who has had a broken leg, is but made to understand, that by the breaking
of that he kept from breaking of his neck, he will be thankful to God for a broken
leg. 'It is good for me, ' said David, 'that I have been afflicted.' I was by that
preserved from a great danger; for before that I went astray (Psa 119:67, 71).
And who can be thankful for a mercy that is not sensible that they want it, have
it, and have it of mercy? Now, this the broken-hearted, this the man that is of a
contrite spirit, is sensible of; and that with reference to mercies of the best sort,
and therefore must needs be a thankful man, and so have a heart of esteem with God,
because it is a thankful heart.
Fifth. A broken heart is of great esteem with, or an excellent thing in, the sight
of God, because it is a heart that desires now to become a receptacle or habitation
for the spirit and graces of the Spirit of God. It was the devil's hold before, and
was contented so to be. But now it is for entertaining of, for being possessed with,
the Holy Spirit of God. 'Create in me a clean heart, ' said David, 'and renew a right
spirit within me. Take not thy Holy Spirit from me, uphold me with thy free Spirit'
(Psa 51:10-12). Now he was for a clean heart and a right spirit; now he was for the
sanctifying of the blessed spirit of grace; a thing which the uncircumcised in heart
resist, and do despite unto (Acts 7:51; Heb 10:29).
A broken heart, therefore, suiteth with the heart of God; a contrite spirit is one
spirit with him. God, as I told you before, covets to dwell with the broken in heart,
and the broken in heart desire communion with him. Now here is an agreement, a oneness
of mind; now the same mind is in thee which was also in Christ Jesus. This must needs
be an excellent spirit; this must needs be better with God, and in his sight, than
thousands of rams, or ten thousand rivers of oil. But does the carnal world covet
this, this spirit, and the blessed graces of it? No, they despise it, as I said before;
they mock at it, they prefer and countenance any sorry, dirty lust rather; and the
reason is, because they want a broken heart, that heart so highly in esteem with
God, and remain for want thereof in their enmity to God.
The broken-hearted know, that the sanctifying of the Spirit is a good means to keep
from that relapse, out of which a man cannot come unless his heart be wounded a second
time. Doubtless David had a broken heart at first conversion, and if that brokenness
had remained, that is, had he not given way to hardness of heart again, he had never
fallen into that sin out of which he could not be recovered, but by the breaking
of his bones a second time. Therefore, I say, a broken heart is of great esteem with
God; for it, and I will add, so long as it retains its tenderness, covets none but
God, and the things of his Holy Spirit; sin is an abomination to it.
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