And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before wire
The connection between faith and the state of the heart
I.
There is a certain blessing or privilege here spoken of--“then have we confidence toward God.” Confidence, literally fulness of speech, because this is one of the principal ways in which confidence displays itself; the heart is enlarged, the mouth is opened, and thus the whole soul pours forth its feelings without restraint and without disguise. It is a very remarkable part of our nature this, in virtue of which we are impelled to make those whom we love and confide in the depositaries of the most sacred treasures of our breasts. As confidence is enkindled, reserve disappears, like as the winter’s frost that binds up the bosom of the earth is melted before the summer’s sun. And as it is in the intercourse between man and man, so is it in the intercourse between man and God. The degree in which we can reveal to Him all our sins, wants, and sorrows will ever be in proportion to our confidence in Him. It is a most blessed state of mind; if we are believers we must know it in some measure. There is a firm foundation laid for it in the gospel; the atonement realised by faith will produce this in the soul, and nothing else will.
II. Notice a certain hindrance spoken of as standing in the way of the enjoyment of confidence toward God. “If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.” There is something in the very constitution of our nature which would shake our confidence toward God, if our own heart condemned us.
III. A certain indispensable qualification for the enjoyment of confidence toward God: “If our heart condemn us not.” This is discouraging at first sight. It seems to place us at a hopeless distance from this blessing. You say, perhaps, you look into your heart, and you see there nothing but sin, darkness, disorder, unbelief; nothing that a holy God can approve of. Indeed! Nothing? No grace evident there, no repentance, no love to the Saviour, no spirituality, no desire after communion with God? A most extraordinary kind of religion yours! And what is the tendency, and I fear actual effect of a one-sided experience like this? It is twofold: First, as affects the people of the world. They say, What difference is there between us and those who call themselves the Lord’s people?
2. And then as affects Christians themselves. For this exclusion of all inward evidence tends to beget a want of watchfulness, and leads more or less to the losing sight of the moral element in Christianity. It prevents them from cultivating that personal holiness which is indispensable to the fruition of a spiritual being.
IV. A certain practical test on which the heart’s verdict of itself must be based, favourable or unfavourable, “Hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.” “Hereby.” This carries us back to something going before. We cannot trust to mere emotions, however deep. These emotions must be brought to some practical test; and here it is. What are we doing for the brethren? We say, perhaps, we love God. But let us test the genuineness of this emotion. He that loveth God, loveth his brother also. If you lack assurance it is not a simpler faith you need, nor a freer gospel, but a faithful dealing with your conscience as to particular sins of omission and commission. You must do more for God. You must do more for your fellow creatures.
V. A certain moral or ethical ground on which God answers prayer--“Whatsoever we ask we receive, because we keep His commandments,” etc. I think we are too apt to view faith as the only condition of acceptable prayer. There are two elements in prayer that never must be lost sight of--the evangelical, and the ethical or moral. When we view faith only as the condition of acceptable prayer, we are keeping hold only of the evangelical element. But mark, how to correct this error, this one-sided view of prayer, the passage before us brings under our notice the ethical element, “Because we keep His commandments and do those things that are well pleasing in His sight.” Ah! don’t we need this? We think we can do great things with our simple faith--and so we would were it the faith that worketh by love, purifieth the heart, and overcometh the world. But this bare, naked faith of ours, which looks only to promises and aims only at what we call salvation, is imperfect, and will not answer all ends. (A. L. R. Foote, D. D.)
Heartsease
I. “Hereby shall we know that we are of the truth,” There is no gainsaying the logic of this whole passage. The children of God, by a spiritual necessity, “do justly, and love mercy.”
II. And how much that is not glorious remains in every life! Oh, the iniquity of our holy things! Remove the smooth blue stone that lies in the sun with the glass blades waving round it--so clean and smooth and quiet it looks--remove it and you see creeping things innumerable--things that hate the light, that love dampness and darkness. And so in life. Beneath the surface honesty, how much dishonesty do we find! Beneath the surface truthfulness--the court of justice veracity--how much untruth--what falsity--what shams. What lies we tell ourselves--what false testimonials we give ourselves! Beneath the surface purity of life, what uncleanliness of thought, desire, imagination! Beneath the surface love, what self-love, what meannesses. Beneath our best deeds, what a mixture of motives that will not bear the light--hideous things that love darkness and dirt!
III. What appeal lies from the verdict of conscience? What answer can there be to these self-accusations? What can we say to our own heart? “Hereby shall we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure”--shall persuade, pacify, silence--“our heart before Him whereinsoever our heart shall condemn us.” “We are of the truth.” The imperfections are manifold. The inconsistencies are glaring, and yet the endeavour to love proves that the holy place is not empty yet. Travellers tell us that the mirage in the desert is so like a lake of water, that not until they actually enter it can the deception be discovered. But if a stream of water never so small were seen entering the lake, or a rill flowing out of it, they would know at once that what lay before them in the distance was real--was fact, and not phantom. Well, if a stream that makes for righteousness is flowing into your life, cleansing and sweetening and fertilising your thoughts, aims, and affections, and if another stream of kindness is flowing out of your lives to others, fertilising and gladdening hearts else fruitless and joyless, then you may be certain that your religion is not a make believe, not a piece of self-deception, but a reality. You are of the truth. God is there.
IV. “God is greater than our heart.” The heart means the whole inner moral life--the conscience. That is the greatest thing in each of us--that which, without being consulted, magisterially approves and condemns. But “God is greater than our heart.” The heart condemns sin. God condemns sin and forgives the sinner. God is greater! Conscience sees the flaws in our life. God sees them too, and mends them. God is greater! Conscience is the iron pen that writes down without pity all that has been in man’s life. God is love, and blots out the handwriting that was against us. “God is greater than our heart.” This is the true heartsease--the flower whose fragrance soothes the restless soul--faith in the love of God. “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in Me.”
V. “Beloved, if our heart condemn us not”--And there are blessed moods when the heart lies hushed and silent before God--when conscience lays its sceptre and crown at the feet of Christ, and all that is within us stands up to bless the Lord, who forgiveth all our iniquities. Now in these blessed hours we “have boldness toward God, and whatsoever we ask we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.” We know at such times that we are one with God. We love what He loves. We hate what He hates. His commandments are our law. And we pray to Him freely, confidently, unhesitatingly, speaking to Him as to One of whose sympathy we feel sure. (J. M. Gibbon.)
Truth
The word “truth” is the characteristic word in the teaching of the beloved disciple, the Apostle St. John; he always speaks of those who belong to the Lord as those “who are of the truth.” A Christian life is expressed by him as “doing the truth,” or “walking in the truth.” It describes the very essence of the Christian life; it describes that which is the fundamental principle, without which the Christian life is impossible. The power of the Christian life is, of course, the presence of the Lord Himself; the Lord Jesus in the soul is the power by which the Christian lives, but the form which the Christian life takes is more fully expressed by the word “truth” than by any other word that we can use. Let us consider, then, what is the kind of character which is shown in the man who walks in the truth and does the truth.
1. The characteristic of such a life is in the first place that openness which is described by St. John when he says that such a man “cometh to the light.” He dislikes concealment; he desires that he shall be fully known, he has nothing to hide, he lives frankly among his fellows, concealing nothing whatever in his actions or in his purposes.
2. The characteristic which goes along with that is the simplicity of purpose which marks the man; because the man who has two purposes, generally speaking, desires to put one in front and keep the other behind. He desires to serve God openly before his fellows, and, perhaps, to have some little consideration for something else in his own soul; but the man who is thoroughly true in his life as he is open, so is he simple; he has but one aim all through, that of pleasing his heavenly Father. He knows nothing else that can be supreme over his life.
3. A further characteristic of such a character is courage. He is the truly brave man. As he has but one purpose he is never ashamed to confess it, and is he who, at all moments, in spite of all opposition, and in spite of quiet contempt and indifference, is never ashamed of Christ, never ashamed to say that he is a Christian, never ashamed to refuse to join what he knows his Master has condemned. Now this is the character of the man whose life is true. But let us come down to details. What is it that He would have us do and say and think and feel? The characteristic of the man who is really true in his service to the true Lord, is that he is thoroughly trustworthy. Never can it be said of any true child of God that he shall be found wanting in that elementary truth which, even in those who believe not, may yet be found, and give them a standing in the eyes of all. But go a little further. Look not only at his dealings, but also at his speech. And here I wish I could use the emphasis I could desire; because most assuredly the choice by our Lord and by St. John of such a word as “truth,” to be the special description of the Christian life, lays upon Christians a tenfold responsibility in regard to truth of speech, of not allowing the Christian name to be lowered by giving way to all the many temptations which surround everyone to swerve from exact fact, not allowing at any time the tongue to betray the soul by uttering that which is not true, and true all through; never allowing, for instance, the impulse of vanity to make a man say a word which will bring praise to himself which he does not really deserve; never allowing, in the very slightest degree, a word to pass the lips which shall claim for us a higher Christian rank than we deserve, or any grace which we do not possess. It can be done without any word which is in itself false; it can be done in such a way as to give a false impression without exactly contravening the truth; but the Christian will scorn it in his soul for the sake of his Master Christ, whom he knows to be the very Messenger of truth, whose kingdom is the kingdom of truth. The Christian will feel that everything which is false, even if it be but a trifle, even if it be but one of those things which people are so ready to condone, mars the brightness of the Christian aspect. Need I go on to say that, whether the falsehood be prompted by vanity or by fear, it is equally abhorrent to the true Christian spirit. And then look at the thoughts. There, too, the Christian aim will be to seek the truth, and to be true to himself; he will not pretend to believe what he does not believe, and he will not pretend to disbelieve what, in his secret soul, he really does believe. Wait until you have clearer light, but never lower your Lord and Master by thinking to serve Him by any falsehood, either within you or without. Be true to your own self, true to your own convictions, and fear not. The man who is thoroughly true will inevitably find that the longer he lives, turning his soul to the Lord and casting himself on the power of Christ, the more certain does it become that the Lord is, indeed, the King of Truth, that truth belongs to Him, and that in the Lord it will be found; for the power by which men hold fast to the truth, and speak and do and live the truth, is the Lord Jesus. He alone is the source of truth. (Bp. Temple.)
For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things--
Conscience condemning or acquitting
I. There is in everyone a natural conscience, which acquits or condemns him according to the tenor of his life and actions. The very heathens were sensible of this. Juvenal says of a guilty conscience: How, like so many furies, it haunts and torments the wicked man, and proves the executioner of vengeance on him in the horrors of his own breast. And agreeable to this is that observation of St. Paul (Rom_2:14). If it be objected that we see many wicked men go on without check in their sins, and, at the same time, none more gay or more happy, to this it may be answered, in the first place, that we cannot always form a judgment of the inward peace of men’s minds by outward appearances; and that, for aught we know, the man who appears so outwardly happy may yet be far from being at peace within. Or, supposing a wicked man be really free from upbraidings of his conscience, yet it is not difficult to assign reasons which may help us to account for it. As,
1. It is possible that men may be able so to palliate or excuse their errors to themselves. Or,
2. It is possible that men may pursue a wicked course so long, and with so much obstinacy, as, in a great measure, to wear out the impression made upon them by their conscience, and to stifle its reflections. Yet some severe affliction or calamity, the approach of sickness or of death, is generally known to awaken in the minds of men those terrors of conscience which before seemed quite suppressed.
If it be still objected that there have been some, after all, who, after a dissolute course of life, have died without appearing to have felt any great uneasiness of conscience, I answer, supposing there may have been some few examples of this kind, yet they are so very rare that we may justly look upon them as a sort of monsters in the moral world.
1. From hence we cannot but perceive and admire the goodness of God, who, to restrain men from the ways of sin, has endued them with a natural principle of conscience--such as generally applauds them when they do their duty, and condemns them whensoever they transgress it.
2. From hence may be drawn a good argument in proof of a future judgment.
3. Hence we plainly see the folly of endeavouring to shake off the painful reflections of a bad conscience by a free indulgence to pleasure, by drink or company.
4. From what has been said we cannot but be sensible of the exceeding comfort and advantage of a good conscience.
II. If, upon a review of our past lives, our own conscience condemn us, we have reason to think that God, who knows a great deal more of us than we do of ourselves, will likewise assuredly condemn us.
1. The self-condemnation here meant is not that of the true penitent, who, though he has abandoned every sinful course, yet cannot but reflect upon his former sins with horror, and justly condemns himself for them; but that which arises from the conscience of a wicked life still followed.
2. It may not be amiss to consider the case of another sort of persons, who, though not conscious to themselves of having lived in any unrepented sin, are yet apt to entertain very perplexing doubts of their spiritual state. This is the case of some good Christians, who, through the weakness of their understandings, or the timorousness of their natures, are often subject to melancholy fears. But such as these would do well to consider that these groundless fears are not so properly the judgment of their conscience as the effect of a disordered and a weak imagination.
3. There is yet another sort of persons whose case it may be well to consider,--viz., that of those who lead such mixed, uncertain lives, that it is a matter of some difficulty to themselves, as well as others, to determine whether they are in a state of grace and salvation or not. These are such as sin and repent, and sin again, and this in a perpetual round, so that it is hard to say whether sin or religion be the most prevailing principle in them. Now such as these can have no just ground to hope well of their condition till they have brought themselves to a more steady course of life.
III. If, upon a serious and impartial examination of our lives, our own consciences acquit us, then may we hope that God will likewise graciously acquit us, and that we are entitled to his favour and forgiveness. (C. Peters. M. A.)
Reason the judge of religions actions
I. The apostle’s reasoning in the text supposes that there is a necessary and essential difference between good and evil, and that men are naturally conscious of this difference, and of the consequent desert of their actions accordingly. And this is true, not with regard to the dictates of natural reason only, but, in those who profess themselves Christians, it is true also with regard to the terms or conditions of the gospel of Christ.
II. The apostle’s argument proceeds upon this further supposition, that God who is the Judge of all, makes generally the same judgment of men’s actions as their own reason does, only much more perfect in the same kind, as having a knowledge infinitely more perfect and unerring than theirs. For, whatever a man’s own eyes plainly see, he cannot doubt but a person of better eyes must see the same more perfectly. And whatever a man free from passion and wilfulness, upon calm consideration, clearly discerns with his own mind, he is very sure the Infinite and All-knowing Mind cannot but discern still more clearly and distinctly.
III. How far the truth of this rule is affected by that false application which the wrong judgment of an erroneous conscience is apt to make of it. It is certain men are naturally conscious of the difference of good and evil, and of the consequent desert of their own actions. It is natural for them to apprehend that this judgment of their own consciences is the judgment that God also passes upon them; and Scripture clearly affirms that it is so. Whence then is it that many truly pious persons have been under the strongest melancholy apprehensions that God would condemn them; and on the contrary, many impious men seem to have been fully persuaded that they have been doing God service, even by unrighteous actions? It proceeds from hence; that in some cases, through innocent and pitiable weakness; in other cases, through wicked and corrupt prejudice, men set their own passions of fear or presumption in the judgment seat of reason and conscience. (S. Clarke, D. D.)
The nature and advantages of a good conscience
The advantage of having a good conscience is acknowledged both by those who possess and by those destitute of it. The one class knows its value by the solid enjoyment which it confers; the other, very frequently, by the wretchedness with which the want of it is attended.
I. With regard to the nature of a good conscience, it is properly defined in the text as one which does not condemn us.
1. There are those whose consciences do not condemn them, who yet cannot be said to have a good conscience.
(1) Those persons, for instance, who are misinformed as to the line of conduct for them to pursue, and who, in consequence of such misinformation, are led to the commission of even the most fearful enormities, may, very probably, not be condemned by their own consciences; nay, very possibly, may be perfectly acquitted by them, if not highly applauded.
(2) Again, there is another large class of persons, who, whatever attention they may occasionally pay to some of its duties, yet manifest on the great subject of religion no small measure of indifference. The conscience of these persons does not condemn them; it leaves them to conclude that all who in any measure exceed them in paying to religion that attention which its incomparable importance demands, are justly liable to the charge of enthusiasm, and of being righteous overmuch.
(3) Once more, the apostle speaks of some persons as being “past feeling” (Eph_4:19); and as having their conscience seared with a hot iron (1Ti_4:2). Wearied at length and exhausted by making ineffectual remonstrances, this faculty loses all its sensibility, and becomes totally obdurate.
2. There is another position, which at first view may appear equally, though in a different way, inconsistent with the representation of the apostle; namely, that there are those whose consciences do, at times more especially, condemn them, who yet are favourably regarded by the Most High, and who have ground for that confidence towards Him which yet they are not able to exercise. Whatever they read or hear, it all, as they conceive, makes against them; they are ready to regard almost every threatening of the Word of God as pronouncing their condemnation, and to consider themselves as having as little to do with the comfortable promises of the gospel. For this species of religious depression various causes may be assigned. It may possibly be ascribable to physical causes, and originate in bodily distemper. It may, perhaps, he justly attributed to the malice of Satan, who would endeavour to persuade us that God is as much our enemy as he himself is. Or, it may be owing to mistakes respecting the nature of the Christian covenant, and the grounds of our acceptance with God.
3. Who, then, we at length inquire, are those persons who may conclude that they are in a right state, from the circumstance of their conscience not condemning them? The persons who can form this conclusion are those who have acquired, among other things, a correct knowledge of what is essential to the Christian character. And having obtained this knowledge of the Christian character, they search deeply into their own. His repentance, and faith, and love, and obedience, though not perfect, are yet genuine.
II. Its advantages.
1. It is no small advantage that those who possess it are exempt from the disquiet and terror of an evil conscience.
(1) The condemnation of a man’s own heart.
(2) The anticipation of a still more tremendous condemnation at the hands of God.
2. There are positive advantages also of a most important nature which belong to such persons, and which are comprehended under the expression in the text. The person who has a good conscience has confidence towards God--
(1) In prayer.
(2) In a season of suffering.
(3) In the hour of death.
Let me, in conclusion, recommend each of you to make that application of the subject.
1. Do you say that your conscience does not condemn you; and that you, therefore, if anyone can, may well entertain a confidence towards God; and that, notwithstanding you have never seriously examined whether your conscience is quiet on good grounds, and your confidence well founded? It is for you to search deeply your own hearts in order to ascertain whether traces are to be found there of that repentance, and faith, and love, and obedience, which form the only evidence of a well-founded confidence.
2. But does your conscience already condemn you, and that on good grounds? You have, indeed, reason for alarm, under the conviction that God is greater than your heart.
3. Finally, are you in the number of those who may conclude that they are in a right state, from the circumstance of their conscience not condemning them? Remember that the continuance of your peace is closely connected with the continuance of your watchfulness against sin, and of your activity in well-doing. (T. Natt, B. D.)
Self-condemnation
I. Self-condemnation. “For if our heart condemn us.”
1. Some possibly may stand self-condemned on the ground of indulging in particular sins.
2. Others may feel inwardly accused on account of their indifference to the interests of their souls.
3. But there are some whose hearts may condemn them on the ground of the nominal and formal character of their religion.
4. With many the guilt of unbelief may be the ground of self-accusation.
5. The hearts of some may charge them with hypocrisy.
II. Self-condemnation confirmed and augmented by Divine decisions. “God is greater than our hearts and knoweth all things.”
1. God is greater than our hearts in knowledge, and knows therefore the whole extent of our sin.
2. God is greater than our heart in purity, and sees therefore the utmost evil and malignity of sin.
3. God is greater than our hearts in justice, and knoweth therefore the whole amount of our desert. (Essex Remembrancer.)
The lower courts
The fault of many is that they will not lay spiritual things to heart at all, but treat them in a superficial manner. This is foolish, sinful, deadly. We ought to put our ease upon serious trial in the court of our own conscience. Certain of a better class are satisfied with the verdict of their hearts, and do not remember the higher courts; and therefore either become presumptuous, or are needlessly distressed. We are about to consider the judgments of this lower court. Here we may have--
I. A correct verdict against ourselves. Let us sum up the process.
1. The court sits under the King’s arms, to judge by royal authority. The charge against the prisoner is read. Conscience accuses, and quotes the law as applicable to the points alleged.
2. Memory gives evidence. As to the fact of sin in years past, and of sin more lately committed. Items mentioned. Transgressions of the commandments. Failure in motive, spirit, temper, etc.
3. Knowledge gives evidence that the present state of mind and heart and will is not according to the Word.
4. Self love and pride urge good intents and pious acts in stay of proceedings. Hear the defence! But alas! it is not worth hearing. The defence is but one of “the refuges of lies.”
5. The heart, judging by the law, condemns. Henceforth the man lives as in a condemned cell under fear of death and hell. If even our partial, half enlightened heart condemns, we may well tremble at the thought of appearing before the Lord God. The higher court is more strictly just, better informed, more authoritative, and more able to punish. God knows all. Forgotten sin, sins of ignorance, sins half seen are all before the Lord. What a terrible case is this! Condemned in the lower court, and sure to be condemned in the higher!
II. An incorrect verdict against ourselves. The case as before. The sentence apparently most clear. But when revised by the higher court it is reversed, for good reasons.
1. The debt has been discharged by the man’s glorious Surety.
2. The man is not the same man; though he has sinned he has died to sin, and he now lives as one born from above.
3. The evidences in his favour, such as the atonement and the new birth, were forgotten, undervalued, or misjudged in the lower court.
4. The evidence looked for by a sickly conscience was what it could not find, for it did not exist, namely, natural goodness, perfection, unbroken joy, etc. The judge was ignorant, and legally inclined. The verdict was therefore a mistaken one.
III. A correct verdict of acquittal. Our heart sometimes justly “condemns us not.”
1. The argument for non-condemnation is good: the following are the chief items of evidence in proof of our being gracious--
(1) We are sincere in our profession of love to God.
(2) We are filled with love to the brethren.
(3) We are resting upon Christ, and on Him alone.
(4) We are longing after holiness.
2. The result of this happy verdict of the heart is that we have--
(1) Confidence towards God that we are really His.
(2) Confidence as to our reconciliation with God by Jesus Christ.
(3) Confidence that He will not harm us, but will bless us.
(4) Confidence in prayer that He will accept and answer.
(5) Confidence as to future judgment that we shall receive the gracious reward at the last great day.
IV. An incorrect verdict of acquittal.
1. A deceived heart may refuse to condemn, but God will judge us all the same.
2. A false heart may acquit, but this gives no confidence Godward.
3. A deceitful heart pretends to acquit while in its centre it condemns. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Self-condemnation
I. What the condemnation of a man’s own heart is. It is a judicial act, and hath the accuser, witness, and judge, ready against the malefactor; which, in external judicatures, are the distinct parts of different persons. For the knowledge of the law being lodged in the heart, and the consciousness of its own transgression lying uppermost there also, nothing hinders the sentence from proceeding immediately, insomuch that the bare knowledge of evil committed is in the heart or conscience self-condemnation.
II. Do all wilful and presumptuous sinners feel and suffer this condemnation of their own hearts? Why should a man’s own heart condemn him? Cannot self-love bribe off the evidence? May not the favour and partiality, which faction seldom fails of in its defence, blind the eyes or corrupt the judgment of a man’s own conscience in his favour? No! the heart judges for the God of truth, and cannot but declare the truth. That there are some examples to the contrary, let these two things be considered--
1. That we cannot know what wicked men feel in their own breasts; the most cheerful countenance, to appearance, may have a very aching heart. But, if for a time he shall also cheat himself into a false peace, it must be by such opiates as lay asleep the thinking powers of the soul.
2. Nevertheless, God by His Holy Spirit takes His own time to awaken the wicked, and to bring their sins before the bar of their conscience (Psa_11:18-23). It is possible to live in sin without anxiety, but repentance will bring this self-condemnation home to our hearts before ever we can sue to God for His mercy. The longer we are without it the greater will be its torture at last. For it is not peace, but stupidity of mind; not happiness, but the delusions of Satan, that keep the conscience quiet in the ways of perdition.
III. God will judge us according to the sentence of our own hearts (Jer_17:10). If God is just in His laws, He will be just in executing their sentence, and not acquit the sinner that accuses and condemns Himself, as guilty and impenitent. And it will be the greatest aggravation of our misery, that having brought it on ourselves, we condemn ourselves to it. He that will not see his day of grace shall find his punishment in the utter despair of it.
1. Resolve to act in uprightness and integrity of heart in all we do; let us carefully consult the dictate of our own conscience, as ever we hope to avoid its merciless rebukes in the last day.
2. Let no pretence or subterfuge tempt us to sins which our conscience, informed by the law of God, must needs condemn.
3. Of all our actions our religious worship has the greatest sincerity of heart; and of all parts of our worship the Holy Sacrament calls for the utmost integrity. (W. Whitfield.)
And knoweth all things--
All things known to God
This may seem a principle, and therefore not to be doubted, and consequently needless to be proved.
I. Prove the proposition.
1. First from Scripture (Joh_21:17; Heb_4:13).
2. From reason; and here our first argument shall be drawn from His works of creation and providence. It is impossible that He that made all things should not also know all things. Who is it that cannot readily acknowledge and read his own hand? Next, His providence sufficiently declares His omniscience; if He manages, rules, and governs all things, yea sin itself, it clearly follows that He has full cognisance of those things, since all these acts presuppose knowledge.
II. The excellency of God’s knowledge above the knowledge either of men or angels.
1. Concerning its properties.
(1) The first property holding forth the excellency of this knowledge is the exceeding evidence, and consequently the certainty of it; for though a thing may be certain, and yet not evident, yet whatsover is evident, that also is certain. Evidence brings a property eminent from the essence and being of knowledge; it follows that that which includes the nature of knowledge in an infinite manner, must be also attended by a most infinitely clear evidence. He that causes that innate evidence in every object, by which it moves and strikes the faculty, shall not He see? He that gives light to the eye, by which that evidence is discerned, shall not He discern?
(2) Another property of this knowledge, showing the excellence of it, is this, that it is a knowledge independent upon the existence of the object or thing known. God beholds all things in Himself; and that both eminently, as He sees His own perfection, which eminently includes all the perfection that is scattered among the creatures, as the light of all the stars is contained eminently in the sun; and He beholds them also formally, distinctly, and according to the model of their own proper beings, without looking upon the existence of the things themselves, and that two ways--
(a) By reflecting upon His power, and what He can do, He has a perfect knowledge of all possibilities, and of things that may be produced.
(b) By reflecting upon His power and His will, He knows whatsoever shall be actually produced.
2. The excellency of God’s knowledge appears in respect of His objects; which are all things knowable. But they may be reduced to three things especially, which God alone perfectly knows, and are not to be known by men or angels.
(1) The nature of God Himself. Nothing but an infinite knowledge can comprehend an infinite being.
(2) The second sort of things only known to God are things future.
(3) The thoughts of men: it belongs to the sovereignty of God’s omniscience alone to judge and know these (Psa_139:2).
III. I proceed to make some application; and to see what uses may be deduced from the consideration of God’s omniscience: it may serve as an argument to press several duties upon us.
1. It must be a strong motive to bring us to a free confession of all our sins to God. We can commit and tell our secrets to a friend that does not know them; how much more should we do it to Him that knows them already.
2. The consideration of God’s omniscience may enforce us to an humble submission to all God’s commands and directions, and that both in respect of belief and of practice.
3. And lastly, since it is an express command of our Saviour Himself, that we should “be perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect”; why should we not, according to our weak model, endeavour to copy out this Divine perfection upon our soul, as well as any of the rest? And why, as well as we are commanded to be like Him in His goodness, bounty, and mercy, we should not endeavour to resemble Him in knowledge, wisdom, and understanding, according to our weak capacity?(R. South, D. D.)
Hearts of sinners known to God
Sinners know something about their own hearts, otherwise they would never feel self condemned; but they do not know so much about them as they might know; for they endeavour to misinform, or silence conscience, which would, if properly consulted and allowed to speak, condemn them for every evil imagination of their hearts. No sinners, however, whether moral or immoral, whether secure or awakened, know so much about their own hearts as God does, who is greater than their hearts, and knows all things. For--
1. God has a more extensive view of the exercises of their hearts than they ever have. “The Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all imaginations of the thoughts.” He knows all that passes in their hearts and drops from their lips every moment, and remembers all. This is what all sinners are extremely prone to forget, for which God justly blames them. Though they cannot remember all their sins, yet they ought to remember that God remembers them all.
2. God sees all the moral exercises of their hearts at one intuitive and comprehensive view; which is a far more perfect knowledge of them than they ever have.
3. God knows the moral quality of all the exercises which compose the hearts of sinners, as well as their connection with each other, and with the external actions which flow from them.
4. God knows how vile and guilty sinners are, for all the evil exercises of their hearts which they inwardly cherish, and outwardly express. He views the least sin as unspeakably more vile and guilty than sinners do the greatest.
5. God knows all the evils which the corrupt hearts of sinners would prompt them to do, if He did not continually restrain them. He views their hearts, therefore, as infinitely more sinful than they view them.
6. God knows the extreme obstinacy of their hearts, which they are unwilling to know, and of which they are generally very ignorant. God knows how often and how much they have refused to obey His commands, His gracious invitations, and His awful threatenings. God knows how often and how much they have resisted the strivings of His Spirit.
Improvement.
1. In the view of this subject we may see why sinners generally live so little concerned about their guilty and dangerous state by nature. They either bribe conscience by their good deeds, or sear it by their bad ones; and in either case, they flatter themselves that their hearts are pretty good, if not so good as they ought to be. But if they only saw their hearts as God sees them, they would be instantly alarmed, and all their peace and flattering hopes would forsake them.
2. This subject shows us why awakened sinners are often in so much anxiety and distress about the salvation of their souls. It is because they begin to see their hearts in the same light in which God sees them.
3. This subject shows why sinners are so ready to believe that God will not make them, nor any others of mankind, forever miserable. They think that no sinners deserve eternal punishment. The reason is that they have never seen their own hearts as God has seen them.
4. It appears from what has been said, that it is of great importance to preach the doctrine of total depravity plainly and fully.
5. It appears from what has been said, that no sinners have a right to think they are Christians, They all have the witness within themselves that they are graceless. (N. Emmons, D. D.)
Conscience and God as judges
I. Thoughts which our natural minds take from it.
1. We know, in the sense of being impressed with, but a few of our own sins--only such as are somewhat aside from our ordinary habit, or diverse from our current taste. But God, the impartial and omniscient, sees them all numerically; every grain in the growing heap.
2. We see at best but detached portions of our lives; we easily forget the past; hence, our moral equanimity differs from day to day. But God sees us altogether in our general character, the drift and meaning of our lives.
3. We do not know the sin that lies within our own purposes. No wicked man lives out the full of the wickedness that is in him; he is hedged in by a thousand fears. But God looks on the heart.
4. We see our sin in the narrow scope of its immediate effect. God sees it in all the hideousness of sin’s general work in the world, the diseases, poverty, crime, death, which deeds of the same kind as those that to us seem venial have accomplished.
5. We know almost nothing of the meaning of sin as seen in its consequences within the soul: blinding spiritual sight; corroding the finer sensibilities; paralysing the will: engendering eternal impotency and misery. God knows all this.
6. We have no high standard of judging our sins; conscience is generally depraved to near the level of the sinful habit. God sees our sin in contact with His infinite purity, our sins in the light of His countenance.
7. God sees all sin in the light of His purpose one day to rid the universe of it; the refiner sits at the fire, and our sin is there awaiting the process.
II. Thoughts which Bible faith puts into the text for our consolation.
1. It is especially said to be for our assurance.
2. God knows what He, the Judge, is--“God is love.”
3. God knows the meaning of His own infinite fatherhood.
4. God knows what He has already done for us. We do not begin to realise the meaning of the gift of the only begotten Son.
5. God knows what He has already done with our sins--blotted them out.
6. God knows what the Holy Spirit’s mission to a sinful soul is; we but dimly conceive it, as the sanctifying process is manifest to our experience.
7. God knows how the light of heaven will put away all darkness from the soul that He has permitted to enter there, and looks upon us as candidates for that perfection which He has decreed and prepared for us. (J. M. Ludlow.)
Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God--
A good life the surest title to a good conscience
I. The nature of a sure or clear conscience ought to be first stated lest we should mistake shadow for substance, presumption and vain confidence for truth and soberness. The apostle points out the general nature of a good conscience by this mark, that our hearts condemn us not, and that we know that we are of the truth; know it by some certain rule, namely, that we keep God’s commandments. And if our conduct be found, upon a just examination, to square with that rule, then our consciences are clear, and we may look up with a becoming confidence to God. This is a matter of great weight, and yet there is nowhere more room for self-flattery and self-deceit. A man will often call it acting according to his conscience, when he acts according to his present persuasion, without ever examining how he came by that persuasion; whether through wrong education, custom, or example; or whether from some secret lust, pride, or prejudice, rather than from the rule of God’s written Word, or from a principle of right reason. This cannot be justly called keeping a good conscience: for we ought not to take up false persuasions at all adventures, and then to make those persuasions our rule of life, instead of that rule which God hath given us to walk by. It is deceiving ourselves to imagine that we have a good conscience when we have used no reasonable care in examining whether it be a right conscience or not. There is another common method of self-deceit, when a person who well enough understands the rule he is to go by, yet forgets to apply it to his own particular case, and so speaks peace to himself all the while that he transgresses it. No doubt but a considerate man may know when he behaves as he ought to do, and may reap the comfort of it. And though we are none of us without sin yet a good life is easily distinguished from the life of the ungodly, and a state of grace from a state of sin. And so there is room enough left for the joy of a good conscience, where men live as becometh the gospel of Christ, perfecting holiness, to such a degree as man can be perfect, in the fear of God.
II. I now proceed to discourse of the comforts of it. If our hearts condemn us not, then have we confidence towards God; and whatsoever we ask we receive of Him. What greater comfort can there be than conscious virtue drawing after it the favour of God in whom all happiness centres, and upon whom all things entirely depend? If God be with us who can be against us? What friends can we want, while in Him we have all that are truly valuable? Or what blessings can we desire, but what He is both willing and able to shower down upon us, only leaving it to Him to judge what is safest and most convenient for us? There is no pleasure in life comparable to that which arises in a good man’s breast from the sense of his keeping up a friendly intercourse with God. (D. Waterland, D. D.)
An account of the nature and measures of conscience
Asnothing can be of more moment, so few things, doubtless, are of more difficulty, than for men to be rationally satisfied about the estate of their souls, with reference to God and the great concerns of eternity. First of all then: he who would pass such a judgment upon his condition as shall be ratified in heaven, will find himself wofully deceived, if he judges of his spiritual estate by any of these measures.
1. The general esteem of the world concerning him. He who owes his piety to fame and hearsay, and the evidences of his salvation to popular voice and opinion, builds his house not only upon the sand, but, which is worse, upon the wind; and writes the deeds, by which he holds his estate, upon the face of a river. The favourable opinion and good word of men, to some persons especially, comes oftentimes at a very easy rate; and by a few demure looks.
2. The judgment of any casuist or learned divine, concerning the estate of a man’s soul, is not sufficient to give him confidence towards God. And the reason is because no learning whatsoever can give a man the knowledge of another’s heart.
3. The absolution pronounced by a priest is not a certain, infallible ground, to give the person so absolved confidence towards God, because if absolution, as such, could of itself secure a man, as to the estate of his soul, then it would follow that every person so absolved should, by virtue thereof, be ipso facto put into such a condition of safety; which is not imaginable. In a word, if a man be penitent, his repentance stamps his absolution effectual. If not, let the priest repeat the same absolution to him ten thousand times; yet for all his being absolved in this world, God will condemn him in the other.
4. No advantages from external church membership, or profession of the true religion, can of themselves give a man confidence towards God: and yet perhaps there is hardly any one thing in the world which men, in all ages, have generally more cheated themselves with. Thus I have shown four several uncertain rules, which men are prone to judge of their spiritual estate by. But now have we any more certain to substitute and recommend in the room of them? Why, yes; if we believe the apostle, a man’s own heart or conscience is that which, above all other things, is able to give him “confidence towards God.” And the reason is, because the heart knows that by itself, which nothing in the world besides can give it any knowledge of; and without the knowledge of which it can have no foundation to build any true confidence upon.
I. How the heart or conscience ought to be informed, in order to its founding in us a rational confidence towards God. It is not necessary for a man to be assured of the rightness of his conscience, by such an infallible certainty of persuasion, as amounts to the clearness of a demonstration; but it is sufficient if he knows it upon grounds of such a convincing probability, as shall exclude all rational grounds of doubting of it. There is an innate light in every man, discovering to him the first lines of duty in the common notions of good and evil; which by cultivation may be advanced to higher discoveries. He therefore who exerts all the faculties of his soul, and plies all means and opportunities in the search of truth, which God has vouchsafed him, may rest upon the judgment of his conscience so informed, as a warrantable guide of those actions which he must account to God for.
II. How, and by what means, we may get our heart or conscience thus informed, and afterwards preserve and keep it so.
1. Let a man carefully attend to the voice of his reason, and all the dictates of natural morality; so by no means to do anything contrary to them. For though reason is not to be relied upon, as a guide universally sufficient to direct us what to do; yet it is generally to be relied upon and obeyed, where it tells us what we are not to do. No man ever yet offended his own conscience, but first or last it was revenged upon him for it. So that it will concern a man to treat this great principle awfully and warily, by still observing what it commands, but especially what it forbids: and if he would have it always a faithful and sincere monitor to him, let him be sure never to turn a deaf ear to it; for not to hear it is the way to silence it. Let him strictly observe the first stirrings and intimations, the first hints and whispers of good and evil that pass in his heart; and this will keep conscience so quick and vigilant, and ready to give a man true alarms upon the least approach of his spiritual enemy, that he shall be hardly capable of a great surprise.
2. Let a man be very tender, and regardful of every pious motion and suggestion made by the Spirit of God in his heart.
3. Because the light of natural conscience is in many things defective and dim, and the internal voice of God’s Spirit not always distinguishable, above all, let a man attend to the mind of God uttered in His revealed Word. We shall find it a rule, both to instruct us what to do, and to assure us in what we have done. For though natural conscience ought to be listened to, yet it is revelation alone that is to be relied upon: as we may observe in the works of art, a judicious artist will indeed use his eye, but he will trust only to his rule. There is not any one action whatsoever which a man ought to do or to forbear, but the Scripture will give him a clear precept or prohibition for it.
4. The fourth and last way that I shall mention for the getting of the conscience rightly informed, and afterwards keeping it so, is frequently and impartially to account with it. It is with a man and his conscience as with one man and another, amongst whom we used to say that “even reckoning makes lasting friends,” and the way to make reckonings even, I am sure, is to make them often. I shall close with this twofold caution.
(1) Let no man think that every doubting or misgiving about the safety of his spiritual estate overthrows the confidence hitherto spoken of. The sincerity of our faith or confidence will not secure us against all vicissitudes of wavering or distrust; indeed, no more than a strong athletic constitution of body will secure a man always against heats, and colds, and such like indispositions.
(2) Let no man from what has been said reckon a bare silence of conscience, in not accusing or disturbing him, a sufficient argument for confidence towards God. For such a silence is so far from being always so, that it is usually worse than the fiercest and loudest accusations; since it may, and for the most part does, proceed from a kind of numbness or stupidity of conscience; and an absolute dominion obtained by sin over the soul; so that it shall not so much as dare to complain or make a stir. (R. South, D. D.)
A further account of the nature and measure of conscience
I. Whence it is that the testimony of conscience, thus informed, comes to be so authentic, and so much to be relied upon.
1. The high office which it holds immediately from God Himself, in the soul of man. It commands and dictates everything in God’s name; and stamps every word with an almighty authority. So that it is, as it were, a kind of copy or transcript of the Divine sentence, and an interpreter of the sense of heaven. Nay, and this vicegerent of God has one prerogative above all God’s other earthly vicegerents; to wit, that it can never be deposed. For a king never condemns any whom his judges have absolved, nor absolves whom his judges have condemned, whatsoever the people and republicans may.
2. Proceed we now to the second ground, from which conscience derives the credit of its testimony in judging of our spiritual estate; and that consists in those properties and qualities which so peculiarly fit it for the discharge of its forementioned office, in all things relating to the soul.
(1) The extraordinary quickness and sagacity of its sight in spying out everything which any way concern the estate of the soul. As the voice of it was as loud as thunder; so the sight of it is as piercing and quick as lightning.
(2) The tenderness of its sense. For as by the quickness of its sight, it directs us what to do or not to do; so by this tenderness of its sense it excuses or accuses us, as we have done or not done according to those directions. And it is altogether as nice, delicate and tender in feeling, as it can be perspicacious and quick in seeing.
(3) Its great and rigorous impartiality. For as its wonderful apprehensiveness made that it could not easily be deceived, so this makes that it will by no means deceive. A judge, you know, may be skilful in understanding a cause, and yet partial in giving sentence. But it is much otherwise with conscience; no artifice can induce it to accuse the innocent or to absolve the guilty. No, we may as well bribe the light and the day to represent white things black, or black white.
II. Some particular cases or instances in which this confidence towards God, suggested by a rightly informed conscience, does most eminently show and exert itself.
1. In our addresses to God by prayer. When a man shall presume to come and place himself in the presence of the great Searcher of hearts, and to ask something of Him, while his conscience is all the while smiting him on the face, and telling him what a rebel and traitor he is to the majesty which he supplicates; surely such a one should think with himself, that the God whom he prays to is greater than his conscience, and pierces into all the filth and baseness of his heart with a much clearer and more severe inspection. And if so, will he not likewise resent the provocation more deeply, and revenge it upon him more terribly, if repentance does not divert the blow? But on the other side, when a man’s breast is clear, and the same heart which indites, does also encourage his prayer, when his innocence pushes on the attempt and vouches the success; such a one goes boldly to the throne of grace, and his boldness is not greater than his welcome. God recognises the voice of His own Spirit interceding with him; and his prayers are not only followed but even prevented with an answer.
2. A second instance in which this confidence towards God does so remarkably show itself is at the time of some notable trial or sharp affliction. When a man’s friends shall desert him and all dependencies fail him, certainly it will then be of some moment to have a friend in the court of conscience, which shall, as it were, buoy up his sinking spirits and speak greater things for him than all these together can declaim against him.
3. At the time of death: which surely gives the grand opportunity of trying both the strength and worth of every principle. At this disconsolate time, when the busy tempter shall be more than usually apt to vex and trouble him, and the pains of a dying body to hinder and discompose him, and the settlement of worldly affairs to disturb and confound him; and in a word all things conspire to make his sick bed grievous and uneasy: nothing can then stand up against all these ruins and speak life in the midst of death, but a clear conscience. And the testimony of that shall make the comforts of heaven descend upon his weary head, like a refreshing dew or shower upon a parched ground. It shall give him some lively earnests and secret anticipations of his approaching joy. (R. South, D. D.)
What is the verdict
I. Carefully observe that this text is spoken to the people of God. It speaks to those who are called “beloved.” These are the people who are specially loved of God and of His people. As soon as we become children we are freed from the condemning power of the law; we are not under the principle and motive of the law of works, but yet we are not with out law unto Christ. We are dealt with not as mere subjects are ruled by a king, but as children are governed by a father. Thus they walk on blindfold to the brink of the precipice. God grant the bandage may be taken off before they have taken the final and fatal step.
1. Genuine Christians very much frequent this court of conscience. They long to have their condition put to a thorough test, lest they be deceived. Make sure work for eternity. Be certain by the witness of the Holy Ghost within you, that you are indeed the children of God. The spirit of the true man answers to this: he is always willing to set in order the court of conscience and make solemn trial of his heart and life.
2. In this court the question to be decided is a very weighty one. Am I sincere in the truth? Is my religion true, and am I true in my profession of it? Does love rule in my nature? Do I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? Do I also keep His commandments? Do I seek to be holy as Jesus is holy? Or am I living in known sin, and tolerating that in myself which does not and cannot please God?
3. This court is guided by a mass of evidence. That evidence has not to be sought for, it is there already. Memory rises up and says, “I remember all thou hast done since thy profession of conversion--thy shortcomings and breaches of covenant.” The will confesses to offences which never ripened into acts for want of opportunity. The passions own to outbreaks which were concealed from human observation. The imagination is made to bear testimony, and what a sinful power that imagination is, and how difficult it is to govern it: its tale is sad to hear. Our tempers confess to evil anger, our lusts to evil longings, our hearts to evil covetousness, pride, and rebellion. Hopeful witness there is also of sin conquered, habits broken, and desires repressed; all this is honestly taken in evidence and duly weighed.
4. While the trial is going on, the deliberation causes great suspense. As long as I have to ask my heart, “Heart, dost thou condemn me, or dost thou acquit me?” I stand trembling. You may have seen a picture entitled, “Waiting for the Verdict.” The artist has put into the countenances of the waiters every form of unrest, for the suspense is terrible. Blessed be God, we are not called upon to wait long for the verdict of conscience. We ought never to let the question remain in suspense at all; we should settle it, and settle it in the light of God, and then walk in the light as God is in the light.
II. The acquittal issued from this court: “If our heart condemn us not.”
1. Observe that a man may get an acquittal from the court of conscience; for the question laid before the heart can be settled. It can be ascertained whether I sincerely believe in Jesus Christ; it can be ascertained whether I sincerely love God and love His people; it can be ascertained whether my heart is obedient to the commands of the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. These questions, however, must be debated with great discernment. Abundance, aye, superabundance, of temptation is no proof against the sincerity of our faith in our God; on the contrary, it may sometimes happen that the more we are tempted the more true is it that there is something in us to tempt, some good thing which Satan seeks to destroy.
3. Again, the verdict of the heart must be given with discrimination, or otherwise we may judge according to outward circumstances and so judge amiss. The fact that my child is little and feeble is no proof that he is not my son. The boy may be like his father and yet be only a tiny babe.
4. And the verdict has to be given, mark you, upon gospel principles. The question before the court of conscience is not, Have I perfectly kept the law? The question is, Am I a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ? Am I resting in him for salvation, and do I prove the truth of that faith by loving God, and loving the brethren, and by doing those things which are pleasing to God, and avoiding those things which are displeasing to Him?
5. This question in the court of the heart must never be settled by our feelings. Sinners can rejoice as well as saints, and saints can mourn as well as sinners; the point is not what we feel, but what we believe and do.
6. The question of our state ought to be settled speedily. We know “the law’s delays,” but we must not allow any delay in thi
