Keeping the Heart
by John Flavel
"Keep your heart with all diligence;
for out of it are the issues of life."
Proverbs 4:23
The next season calling for more than ordinary diligence to keep the
heart—is the time of Zion's troubles.
When the Church,
like the ship in which Christ and his disciples were, is oppressed and ready
to perish in the waves of persecution, then good souls are ready to be
shipwrecked too, upon the billows of their own fears. It is true, most men
need the spur rather than the reins in this case; yet some men sit down
discouraged under a sense of the Church's troubles. The loss of the ark cost
Eli his life; the sad posture in which Jerusalem lay, made good Nehemiah's
countenance change in the midst of all the pleasures and accommodations of
the court. But though God allows, yes, commands the most awakened
apprehensions of these calamities, and in "such a day calls to mourning,
weeping, and girding with sackcloth," and severely threatens the insensible
ones; yet it will not please him to see you sit like pensive Elijah under
the juniper tree. "Ah, Lord God! It is enough, take away my life also." No!
A mourner in Zion you may and ought to be—but a self-tormentor you must not
be! Complain to God you may—but complain of God (though but by the language
of your actions) you must not.
Now let us inquire how tender hearts may be relieved and
supported, when they are even overwhelmed with the burdensome sense of
Zion's troubles? I grant it is hard for him who prefers Zion to his chief
joy, to keep his heart that it sink not below the due sense of its troubles;
yet this ought to, and may be done, by the use of such heart-establishing
directions as these:
1. Settle this great truth in your heart—that no trouble
befalls Zion but by the permission of Zion's God; and he permits nothing out
of which he will not ultimately bring much good to his people.
Comfort may be derived from reflections on the permitting, as well as
on the commanding will of God. "Let him alone, it may be God has
bidden him." "You could have no power against me, except it were given you
from above." It should much calm our hearts—that it is the will of God to
allow it; and that, had he not allowed it—it could never have been as it is.
This very consideration quieted Job, Eli, David, and Hezekiah. That the Lord
did it—was enough to them: and why should it not be so to us? If the Lord
will have Zion ploughed as a field, and her goodly stones lie in the dust;
if it be his pleasure that Anti-Christ shall rage yet longer and wear out
the saints of the Most High; if it be his will that a day of trouble, and of
treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord Almighty, shall be upon the
valley of vision, that the wicked shall devour the man that is more
righteous than he; what are we, that we should contend with God? It is fit
that we should be resigned to that will whence we proceeded, and that He who
made us should dispose of us as he pleases! He may do what seems good to
him—without our consent. Does poor man stand upon equal ground, that he may
contend with his Creator; or that God should render him an account of any of
his matters? That we be content, however God may dispose of us—is as
reasonable as that we be obedient, whatever he may require of us.
But if we pursue this argument farther, and consider that
God's permissions all meet at last in the real good of his people,
this will much more quiet our spirits. Do the enemies carry away the best
among the people into captivity? This looks like a distressing providence;
but God sends them there for their good. Does God take the Assyrian as a rod
in his hand, to beat his people with? The end of his so doing is, "that he
may accomplish his whole work upon Mount Zion." If God can bring much good
out of the greatest evil of sin, much more out of temporal afflictions; and
that he will, is as evident as that he can do so. For it is inconsistent
with the wisdom of a common man to permit anything (which he might prevent
if he pleased) to cross his great design; and can it be imagined that the
most wise God should do so? As, then, Luther said to Melanchthon, so say I
to you: "Let infinite wisdom, power and love alone!" for by these all
creatures are swayed, and all actions guided, in reference to the church. It
is not our work to rule the world—but to submit to Him who does rule the
world! The motions of Providence are all judicious, the wheels are full of
eyes: it is enough that the affairs of Zion are in a good, wise and powerful
hand!
2. Ponder this heart-supporting truth: however many
troubles are upon Zion—yet her King is in her. What! Has the Lord
forsaken his churches? Has he sold them into the enemy's hands? Does he not
see what evil befalls them, that our hearts sink thus? Is it not shamefully
undervaluing the great God, and too much magnifying poor impotent man—to
fear and tremble at creatures, while God is in the midst of us? The
church's enemies are many and mighty: let that be granted—yet that argument
with which Caleb and Joshua strove to raise their own hearts, is of as much
force now as it was then: "The Lord is with us—do not fear them!"
A historian tells us, that when Antigonus overheard his
soldiers reckoning how many their enemies were, and so discouraging one
another, he suddenly stepped in among them with this question, "And how many
do you reckon me for?" Discouraged souls, how many do you reckon the Lord
for? Is he not an overmatch for all his enemies? Is not one Almighty
more than many mighties? "If God is for us—who can be against use" What
think you was the reason of that great examination Gideon made? He
questions, he desires a sign, and after that, another sign. And what was the
end of all this—but that he might be sure the Lord was with him, and that he
might but write this motto upon his ensign: "The sword of the Lord and of
Gideon!" So if you can be well assured the Lord is with his people, you will
thereby rise above all your discouragements: and that he is so, you need not
require a sign from heaven; lo, you have a sign before you, even their
marvelous preservation amid all their enemies. If God be not with his
people, how is it that they are not swallowed up quickly? Do their enemies
lack malice, power, or opportunity? No—but there is an invisible hand upon
them! Let then his presence give us rest; and though the mountains be hurled
into the sea, though heaven and earth mingle together—fear not—God is in the
midst of Zion, she shall not be moved!
3. Consider the great advantages attending the people of
God in an afflicted condition. If a low and an afflicted state in
the world, is really best for the church, then your dejection is not only
irrational—but ungrateful. Indeed, if you estimate the happiness of the
church by its worldly ease, splendor and prosperity—then such times of
affliction will appear to be unfavorable. But if you reckon its glory to
consist in its humility, faith, and heavenly-mindedness, no condition so
much abounds with advantages for these—as an afflicted condition. It was not
persecutions and prisons—but worldliness and prosperity, which poisoned the
church! Neither was it the earthly glory of its professors—but the blood of
its martyrs, which was the seed of the church. The power of godliness did
never thrive better than in affliction, and was never less thriving than in
times of greatest prosperity! When "we are left as a poor and afflicted
people, then we learn to trust in the name of the Lord."
It is indeed for the saints' advantage to be weaned from
love of, and delight in, ensnaring earthly vanities; to be quickened and
urged forward with more haste to heaven; to have clearer discoveries of
their own hearts; to be taught to pray more fervently, frequently,
spiritually; to look and long for the heavenly rest more ardently. If these
are for their advantage, experience teaches us that no condition is
ordinarily blessed with such fruits as these, like an afflicted condition.
Is it well then to repine and droop, because your Father
consults the advantage of your soul, rather than the gratification of your
fleshly desires? Is it well then to repine and droop, because he will bring
you to heaven by a nearer way than you are willing to go? Is this a due
requital of his love, who is pleased so much to concern himself in your
welfare—who does more for you than he will do for thousands in the world,
upon whom he will not lay a rod, or dispense an affliction to them for their
good? But alas! We judge by sense, and reckon things good or evil, according
to our present taste!
4. Take heed that you overlook not the many precious
mercies which the people of God enjoy amid all their trouble. It
is a pity that our tears on account of our troubles should so blind our
eyes—that we should not see our mercies! There are many outward comforts
which you presently enjoy—above what were enjoyed by Christ and his precious
servants, of whom the world was not worthy. What do you think of pardon of
sin; a saving interest in Christ; the covenant of promise; and an eternity
of happiness in the presence of God—after these few suffering days are over?
O that a people entitled to such mercies as these, should droop under any
temporal affliction, or be so much concerned for the frowns of men, and the
loss of trifles! You have not the smiles of great men—but you have the favor
of the great God; you are perhaps diminished in temporal mercies—but you are
thereby increased in spiritual and eternal mercies. You cannot live so
plentifully as before; but you may live as heavenly as ever. Will you grieve
so much for these circumstances as to forget your substantial eternal
mercies? Shall light troubles make you forget weighty mercies? Remember, the
true riches of the church are laid out of the reach of all enemies. What
though God does not in his outward dispensations distinguish between his own
and others? Yes, what though his judgments single out the best, and spare
the worst? What though an Abel is killed, and a Cain survives? What though a
bloody Dionysius dies peacefully in his bed, and a good Josiah falls in
battle? What though the belly of the wicked is filled with worldly dainties,
and the teeth of the saints are filled with gravel-stones? Still there is
much matter of praise; for electing love has distinguished, though common
providence has not! And while prosperity and impunity slay the wicked, even
slaying and adversity shall benefit and save the righteous.
5. Believe that however low the church is plunged under
the waters of adversity—she shall assuredly rise again! Fear not;
for as surely as Christ arose the third day, notwithstanding the seal and
guard over him; so surely Zion shall arise out of all her troubles, and lift
up her victorious head over all her enemies. There is no reason to fear the
ruin of that people who thrive by their losses, and multiply by being
diminished. Be not too hasty to bury the church before she is dead; stay
until Christ has tried his skill, before you give her up for lost. The bush
may be all in a flame—but shall never be consumed; and that because of the
good will of Him who dwells in it.
6. Remember the instances of God's care and tenderness
over his people in former difficulties. For over eighteen hundred
years the Christian church has been in affliction, and yet it is not
consumed. Many a wave of persecution has gone over it—yet it is not drowned.
Many devices have been formed against it, hitherto none of them has
prospered. This is not the first time that Hamans and Ahithophels have
plotted its ruin; that a Herod has stretched out his hand to vex it; still
it has been preserved from, supported under, or delivered out of—all its
troubles. Is it not as dear to God as ever? Is he not as able to save it now
as formerly? Though we know not whence deliverance should arise, "yet the
Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations."
7. If you can derive no comfort from any of these
considerations, try to draw some comfort out of your very trouble.
Surely this trouble of yours is a good evidence of your integrity. If
you had not some rich treasure in that ship, you would not tremble as you do
when it is in danger. Beside this frame of spirit may afford you this
consolation, that if you are so sensible of Zion's trouble, Jesus Christ is
much more sensible of and solicitous about it than you can be—and he will
have an eye of favor upon those who mourn for it.
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