The Puritan's Dealings with Troubled Souls: 3

This is the third part of an essay written by G. A. Hemming, taken from the collection of essays called "The Puritan Papers". This essay is from volume 1 in that series. Enjoy.  :  )

Let us now assume that the Puritan pastor is satisfied that the man who has approached him in distress is neither unregenerate nor melancholic. He now considered

3. The Genuine Spiritual Distress of the Genuine Child of God

This is the main theme of our present study, and we examine it under four headings:

A. Its Reality

It is impossible to read any of the Puritans, better or lesser known, without coming across some reference to this subject. A few quotations will illustrate: thus "Among all the works of God's eternal counsel there is none more wonderful than His Desertion: which is nothing else but an action of God forsaking His creature---that is, by taking away the grace and operation of His Spirit from His creature." Or again "The blessings that God bestoweth on His own elect children are of two sorts, positive and privative. Positive are real graces wrought in the heart by the Spirit of God. Privative are such means whereby God preserves men from falling into sin, as crosses and desertions: and these in number exceed the first as long as men live in the world." Or again "the man Christ is the blessed channel betwixt the fountain and the cistern through which grace, life, peace, strength, glory come by a gracious and glorious convoy; every vessel shall have its fullness to all eternity; sometimes indeed the streams come fuller, and sometimes slower; sometimes Christ stayeth the current that we may thirst, that after thirsting, we may drink again with redoubled pleasure." Or, yet again, "This is the main of a godly man's unhappiness---that he neither has a full nor a fixed state of comfortable communion with God in the world. After sweet meetings come sad partings." These quotations are given because it is so necessary to insist on this point. Nowadays the Christian is taught often that he should look forward to a life of unbroken victory, joy, and happiness, as not merely desirable, not only attainable, but actually obligatory for him in this life; not so the Puritans. They recognised that quite the reverse is the Christian's portion, and quoted such verses as Isaiah 49:14, "And Zion said, 'the Lord has forsaken me and my God has forgotten me.'" in support of their views: and lest it should be argued that Zion merely feels forsaken but is not actually so, they quote such verses as Isaiah 54:7, where God Himself is the speaker and says, "For a small moment have I forsaken Thee." i.e., God confirms that we do not merely feel deserted: we are deserted.

Yet, the Puritans, "though God deserts His people really yet He does not desert them totally." "The Lord will forsake His People for His great name's sake," 1 Samuel 12:22; and the Puritans interpolated the word "totally" or "finally" between "not" and "forsake." Thus, they argued, desertions are not the interruptions of God's love, they are rather the acts of God's love. God's love of benevolence or intention remains ever unchanged, but God's love of benificence or execution does change. It is these considerations which give rise to the complaints of the saints, either that God does not carry on the spiritual life as He was wont, or that He gives not that peace, joy, comfort, assurance as he was wont; or that He brings them into ourward straits and does not deliver them. The Christian finds that the tenure of grace and peace is not the same.

The Puritan's Dealings with Troubled Souls: 2

This is the second part of an essay written by G. A. Hemming, taken from the collection of essays called "The Puritan Papers". This essay is from volume 1 in that series. Enjoy.  :  )

2. He Considered the Possibility That the Man's Distress Might Be Due to Non-spiritual Causes
The Puritans recognised that a man might be deeply distressed through what we should call psychological troubles, but which they termed "Melancholy." They recognised that it was no good seeking to apply spiritual remedies to psychological maladies. Thus says Baxter, "Expect not that rational spiritual remedies should suffice for this cure, for you may as well expect that a good sermon or comfortable words  should cure the falling sickness, or palsy, or a broken head, as to be a sufficient cure to your melancholy fears: for this is as real a bodily disease as the other." It is at this point that the Puritans display that shrewdness and robust common sense which are ever needed as a complement to spiritual understanding. They are prepared to give good advice as far as good advice is worth while in such cases. Thus they would counsel a man to watch his prayers. They recognised that some men needed to spend most of their prayer time in praise and thanksgiving and recollections of God's mercies, and that a minimum of time should be spent in confession and expressions of penitence. They recognised too that some Christians should not be over-encouraged to spend much time in solitary prayer and meditations. Rather, they should seek the company of cheerful Christians, for, said they, "There is no mirth like the mirth of believers." They should pray in the company of cheerful saints, and they should converse with men of strongest faith that have this heavenly mirth and can speak experimentally of the joy of the Holy Ghost. These things, said the Puritans, would be great help in lifting a man out of melancholy and depression and establishing him on the pathway of normal and peaceful Christian experience. They recognised that while every man must examine himself, yet there are those who need to observe restraint even in this excellent practice. "Spend more time in doing your duty than in trying your estate" is the Puritan advice to the unduly introspective Christian.
Here again much more could be said, but this must suffice for our present purpose.

The Puritan's Dealings with Troubled Souls: 1

This is an essay written by G. A. Hemming, taken from the collection of essays called "The Puritan Papers". This essay is from volume 1 in that series. Enjoy.  :  )

In this paper we are concerned with the principles which the Puritans followed in their dealings with those who came to them complaining that all was not well with them spiritually. The Puritans realised that the child of God does not walk in a state of unbroken joy: there come times when clouds intervene and the Christian loses the sense of God's favour. The Puritan pastor encouraged his people to come to him and disclose the state of their hearts so that counsel and advice could be given. In this way he built up an amazing stock of knowledge not only of God's dealings with His children but also of the Christian's experience of those dealings.
The complaint of the church member who came to his pastor might be more, or less, serious. He might complain simply that he has an indefinable sense that all is not well with him spiritually; he might have lost all his joy; he might have fallen back into some obvious sin which he thought he had put behind him for ever---as when Peter cursed and swore; he might have lost his assurance of salvation; he might even have found assurance of damnation! He might be finding in his heart doubtings of the gospel, of the goodness of God, of the very existence of God. Troubled that such terrible things should enter and temporarily, at any rate, possess his mind, he turns to his pastor in distress of soul.
In such a case the Puritan pastor worked along well defined lines.

1. He Considered the Possibility That the Man Coming to Him Is Not Truly Converted
To this end he looked for two things. First, a true and deep sense of sin. The Puritans seldom concerned themselves with the moment, real or imagined, of a man's turning to God; they were much more concerned with a man's present state. This does not mean, of course, that they were indifferent to the question of conversion, it means rather that they realised clearly that a true conversion will be shown by its fruit, and they looked for that fruit as evidence that a work of grace had taken place then, they said, one great overriding result would follow, that is, the man would have a deep and continually deepening sense of sin. And they resolutely refused to offer any comfort unless they were convinced that a real sense of sin was present. Thus "the conscience is not to be healed if it be not wounded. Thou preachest and pressest the law, comminations, the judgement to come, and that with much earnestness and importunity. He which hears, if he be not terrified, if he be not troubled, is not to be conforted. Another hears, is stirred, is stung, takes on extremely; cure his contritions, because he is cast down and confounded in himself." Or again, says Perkins, "First of all a man must have knowledge of four things, of the law of God, of sin against the law, of the guilt of sin, and of the judgement of God against sin, which is eternal wrath." Or again "never any of God's children," says Greenham, "were comforted thoroughly, but they were first humbled for their sins."
These quotations give a brief indication of the Puritans' attitude to this all-important question, and they resolutely declined to apply any comfort to a troubled soul until they were first sure that the soul had indeed been troubled as it should be troubled by a sense of sin.
The second thing for which they looked was a genuine love toward God. This will be evidenced by a genuine desire to please God, out of love, not fear. Baxter puts it in this way: "Are you heartily willing to take God for your portions and had you rather live with Him in Glory in His favour and fullest love, with a soul perfectly cleansed from all sin, and never more to offend Him, rejoicing with His Saints in His everlasting praises, that to enjoy the delights of the flesh on earth in a way of sin and without the favour of God? Are you heartily willing to take Jesus Christ as He is offered in the Gospel, that is to be your only Saviour and Lord, and to give you pardon by His blood shed and to sanctify you by His Work and Spirit and to govern you by His laws? Note that to be willing to be ruled by His laws in general and utterly unwilling when it comes to particulars is no true willingness and subjection. You must know that His laws reach both to heart and outward actions, that they command a Holy, Spiritual, Heavenly life, that they command things so cross and unpleasing to the flesh that the flesh will be ever murmuring and striving against obedience; particularly, they command things quite cross to the inclinations of the flesh as to forgive wrongs, to love enemies, to forbear malice and revenge, to restrain and mortify lust and passion, to abhor and mortify pride and to be low in our own eyes, and humble and meek in spirit. These are the laws of Christ which you must know before you can determine whether you are indeed unfeignedly willing to obey them."
Perkins sees fives characteristics of saving faith. The man that has it, he says, will know what it is "to feel his extreme need of Christ and His merits: to hunger and thrist after Him as after meat and drink: to be nothing in himself: to be able to say that he liveth not, but Christ liveth in him by faith: to loathe his own sins with a vehement hatred, and to prize and value Christ and the least drop of His blood above a thousand worlds."
Much more could be said under this heading but it is not the main purpose of this paper to deal with this branch of the subject. Suffice it to say that the Puritans were very thorough in their probing of a man's state, and they realised the great seriousness of allowing any man to rest in a false sense of security when in point of fact he is not truly a child of God. Bolton refers to those who too readily administer the comfort of the gospel as "dawbing ministers, a generation of vilest men, excellent idiots in the mystery of Christ, and merciful cut-throats of many miserable, deluded souls, to whom they promise life and peace; when there is no peace towards, but terrible things at hand, tumblings of garments in blood, noise of damned souls and tormenting in hell for ever."
Let us now assume that the pastor is satisfied that the distressed soul who has turned to him for help is truly regenerate. How next did he proceed?