Notes to come.

Some of my favorite parts in The Pilgrim’s Progress are where Christ is in view. He’s not necessarily visible, but in He’s there in unseen, behind the scene ways. He is always watching over and caring for His pilgrims.

Christ is always “behind the wall,” fueling the fire of our faith. Though “it is hard for the tempted to see how this work of grace is maintained in the soul,” His work is so certain that “the souls of his people prove gracious still.” In other words, He is the efficient cause of our endurance, no matter how much the devil (through difficulties and discouragement) douses us.

Then I saw in my dream, that the Interpreter took Christian by the hand, and let him into a place where was a fire, burning against a wall, and one standing by it, always casting much water upon it to quench it, yet did the fire burn higher and hotter.

Then said Christian, What means this?

The Interpreter answered, This fire is the work of grace that is wrought in the heart; he that casts water upon it, to extinguish and put it out, is the Devil: that in that thou seest the fire notwithstanding burn higher and hotter, thou shalt also see the reason of that: so he had him about to the backside of the wall, where he saw a man with a vessel of oil in his hand, of the which he did also continually cast (but secretly) into the fire.

Then said Christian, what means this?

The Interpreter answered, This is Christ, who continually with the oil of his grace, maintains the work already begun in the heart; by the means of which, notwithstanding what the Devil can do, the souls of his people prove gracious still. And in that thou sawest, that the man stood behind the wall to maintain the fire; this is to teach thee, that it is hard for the tempted to see how this work of grace is maintained in the soul. (The Pilgrim’s Progress, 35)
In particular, Christ fuels our heart fires as He gives us a sense of His love.

Knowledge of Christ’s love was indispensable to Bunyan. His heart was stricken with guilt and he often despaired of being accepted by Christ. This seemed to be, according to Grace Abounding, one of the devil’s most used attacks, to rub his face in his unworthiness to receive any good thing from Christ. Bunyan had great need of knowing and living on the unseen love of Christ.

Every pilgrim on the hard path needs to comprehend Christ’s love. Those with truly broken hearts also need this encouragement, because they can spiral down beyond their true condition in Christ. They are loved.

Bunyan wrote a book to feed Christians with this knowledge titled, The Saint’s Knowledge of Christ’s Love, or, The Unsearchable Riches of Christ. It has also been published recently under the title, All Loves Excelling. The entire book is a forrest fire of goodness sparked by Ephesians 3:18-19.

These two verses are the final part of a paragraph of prayer which Paul began in verse 14. Having received God’s Spirit, having been rooted and grounded in love, the apostle prays that the Ephesian believers

may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

This isn’t a crutch or wheelchair for weary and wounded hearts, it’s two new legs. It’s part of the “inner man’s” makeover (cf. session one, 2 Corinthians 4:16), “strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being” (Ephesians 3:16).

The final part of Paul’s request is entirely about Christ’s love, but something about Christ’s love is not easy or obvious to know. We need an increase in bandwidth to download the full file of Christ’s love rather than the truncated version often transmitted today. Paul began by asking God to provide strength, that God would enable them to understand the unfathomable. Only God can give this insight and enable us to understand. Paul describes it like two arms of a vice grip clamping onto one object.

Christ’s Love is Incalculable (18)

The first phrase seeks strength that Christian pilgrims may apprehend the extent of Christ’s love.

to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,

The four terms refer to dimensions, to measurable, discoverable ideas that are here boundless. Each term suggests the outer limits.

BREADTH, and LENGTH, and DEPTH, and HEIGHT, are words that in themselves are both ambiguous, and to wonderment; ambiguous, because unexplained, and to wonderment, because they carry in them an unexpressible [sic] something; and that something which far out-goes all those things that can be found in this world. (Saint’s Knowledge, 3)

Before we go any farther, an important question to answer is, comprehend “the breadth and length and height and depth” of what? The object (or objects) that is so broad and long and high and deep is not mentioned in verse 18.

Various interpretations have been suggested. Maybe “the breadth and length and height and depth” refer to God’s power. Maybe they refer to God’s wisdom. Maybe they are in reference to the mystery of salvation. A long line of interpreters have suggested these, and other more fanciful options (e.g., the for arms of Christ’s cross, the heavenly Jerusalem, the cosmos). Bunyan himself seems, to me, to border on being carried away in his comments on these four words.

So what does “breadth and length and height and depth” refer to? The first clue is that, in Greek, one article (precedes and) governs all four. The article welds the four elements together in Paul’s mind. He wasn’t thinking about four things, but the immensity, the vastness, the incalculability of one thing. But what is that something?

I believe the one thing is Christ’s love. The ESV and NAS make it seem that verse 18 and verse 19 are two coordinating thoughts. They are connected, but in a way that the second phrase in verse 19 expands and explains the first phrase in verse 18. Context clarifies Paul’s concern. While the NIV may not be the most accurate translation, it does emphasize the appropriate sense.

may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

There are clear parallels between verses 18 and 19. In verse 18 Paul prays that they would comprehend, in verse 19 that they would know. It was rational, but also personal knowledge. In verse 18 it is “the breadth and length and height and depth,” and in verse 19 it “surpasses knowledge.” So the two verses are scratching at the same itch.

As for the terms themselves, breadth refers to area. Christ’s love covers the widest span. Length refers to distance, how far things are apart. Christ’s love reaches the farthest intervals.

Do not though go about to measure arms with God,…do not thou conclude, that because thou canst not reach God by thy short stump, therefore he cannot reach thee with his long arm. (The Saints’ Knowledge of Christ’s Love, 6)

Depth refers to the bottom. Christ’s love descends to the lowest levels. It is unfathomable. Height refers to the top. Christ’s love soars above the tallest.

The vastness of Christ’s love is emphasized first, and Paul wants them to comprehend it. This is impossible. Comprehend means grasp, get a hold of the whole matter. But the cosmic dimensions make it impossible to get our head around it. We can’t get to the bottom of it. We can’t see the whole picture of His love. His love is too large to frame, and even if it were, there isn’t a wall large enough to hold the frame. The magnitude of Christ’s love cannot be measured. Imagine the most oversized, mega-gargantuan container you can; now double-it; now multiply by the next number higher than you can conceive. You’ve just taken a mathematical baby step toward comprehending Christ’s incalculable love.

This is an encouragement, because there are times and circumstances that seem too large to get around or too deep to understand or too high to overcome. These difficulties are opportunities for us to see the unseen love of Christ.

God is high above all things and can do whatever it pleaseth him. But since he can do so, why doth he suffer this, and that thing to appear, to act, and do so horribly repugnant to his word? I answer, he admits of many things, to the end he may shew his wrath, and make his power known; and that all the world may see how he checks and overrules the most vile and unruly things, and can make them subservient to his holy will. And how would the breadth and the length, and the depth, and the height of the love and mercy of God in Christ to us-ward, be made to appear, so as in all things it doth, were there not admitted that there should be breadths, and lengths, and depths, and heights to oppose. Wherefore these oppositions are therefore suffered, that the greatness of the wisdom, the power, the mercy, and grace of God to us in Christ might appear and be made manifest. (Knowledge, 9)

We don’t always see it, but Christ’s love is “busily engaged for this and the other child of God, yet they themselves see nothing of them” (Knowledge, 10-11). Would that we were better expositors of providence. “Some shall suck honey out of that, at the which others tremble for fear it should poison them” (Knowledge, 11)

Come behold the works of the Lord towards me, may every Christian say. He hath set a Savior against sin; a heaven against hell; light against darkness; good against evil, and the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of the grace that is in himself, for my good, against all the power, and strength, and force, and subtlety of every enemy. (Knowledge, 9)

Would it not be amazing, should you see a man encompassed with chariots and horses, and weapons for his defense, and yet afraid of being sparrow blasted, or over-run by a grasshopper! (Knowledge, 13)

Christ’s love covers it all, and then some.

Christ’s Love is Inscrutable (19)

As I said, this is the second leg, not a second person. It’s the second arm of the pliers holding onto love. And the prayer is not that we would love Christ more, but rather that we would know His unknowable love for us.

and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,

The paradox is profound. To try to get a handle on what is simply beyond us, let’s ask four scrutinizing questions.

First, what is Christ’s love?

We’re supposed to fill up the pages of our mental book with His love. So what is His love? Bunyan lets us copy from his work.

Christ’s love is steady and endless. Unlike our love waves that ebb and flow, unlike our love machines that rust and quit, Christ’s love stays strong and lasts forevers. “God is love; Christ is God; therefore Christ is love, love naturally. Love…is essential to his being. He may as well cease to be, as cease to love” (Knowledge, 16). The chain of His love never falls off the gears no matter how hard we pedal.

Christ’s love is impartial and righteous. Unlike our love glasses that look for loveliness, Christ’s love for others depends on Himself, not the others. That’s headline news, because our loveliness is buried on the last page in the smallest typeface–if printed at all, and certainly not worthy of His love. We wait to love until the person pleases us, and we withhold love when they hurt us. His love is unconditional, independent of the person. Also unlike our love that is often spent in the wrong direction, on things our flesh wants, on things that are contrary to God’s will, Christ’s love is always righteous. He’ll never be caught sneaking unlawful loves.

Christ’s love is personal and sacrificial. We put on our love coats to make us look good. His love serves and saves.

That a person so great, so high, so glorious, as this Jesus Christ was, should have love for us, that passes knowledge. It is common for equals to love, and for superiors to be beloved; but for the King of princes, for the Son of God, for Jesus Christ to love man thus: this is amazing. (Knowledge, 16)

It is amazing to consider that in God’s love, and in His plan to save, He did not throw His love at us from a distance. He Himself took on flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). He Himself suffered and bled as our substitute, His enemies (Romans 5:6-11; 1 John 3:16). He Himself got involved and gave His own life.

Had this Christ of God, our friend, given all he had to save us, had not his love been wonderful? But when he shall give for us himself, this is more wonderful. (Knowledge, 19)

These are just a few ways to think of Christ’s love.

Second, why is Christ’s love inscrutable?

Paul states that the love of Christ surpasses knowledge. It is beyond our ability to comprehend. No saint can know it fully. All the saints together cannot know it fully. The saints in heaven don’t know it fully. The angels don’t know it fully. We could grow wings and plant a flag on the moon as soon as we could bolt down every corner of His love.

Were all the saints on earth, and all the saints in heaven to contribute all that they know of this love of Christ, and to put it into one sum of knowledge, they would greatly come short of knowing the utmost of this love, for that there is an indefinite deal of this love, yet unknown by them. (Knowledge, 23)

What is it about Christ’s love that goes beyond our knowing capacity? Among other reasons, here are a few.

Christ’s love is eternal. It is eternal, because as God, He is eternal. Therefore, His love had no beginning. It always was, and that means we’ve missed 6000 years of earth time, let alone the eternity before the beginning of time, of knowing His love. We also, of course, cannot track His love all the way out in the future. We can say the words, we can try to imagine the “no end” concept, but our time-bound, finite brains cannot see or hold that much.

It is as possible for a spirit to drink up the sea, as for the most enlarged saint that is or ever shall be in glory, so to see God as to know him altogether, to the utmost, or throughout. (Knowledge, 24)

Christ’s love covers our sin. The cross is the ultimate display of love, the atonement the greatest work of love. But we do not completely grasp the significance of His sacrifice because we do not know the extent of our odious offense to His holiness.

Besides, there are many sins committed by us, dropping from us, and that pollute us, that we are not at all aware of; how then should we know that love of Christ by which we are delivered from them? (Knowledge, 25)

We can’t fully know His love because we don’t fully see our sin for what it is. The lyrics are no modest exaggeration: “I’ll never know how much it cost, to see my sin upon that cross.”

Christ’s love protects us from the evil one. Satan, through his demons and through the world system that he controls, seeks our harm. He is a roaring, prowling lion seeking prey. But we don’t see him. Neither do we see the spiritual principalities and rulers that we wrestle. Therefore, we have no idea how many times and ways that Christ has guarded us and preserved us out of His love for us.

No “not-God” being, no finite Christian can fully comprehend the love.

Third, how then is Christ’s love knowable?

Paul is praying that we know Christ’s love, after all. That means God Himself, through the Spirit, can illuminate the truth to our minds.

Here is also a good place to poke the postmoderns in the eye, and remember that it is possible to know something correctly, even if we don’t know completely. 2 + 2 = 4 is always correct, though that doesn’t mean I know everything about math. In other words, we can know truly if not fully. A baby is truly human, though not fully developed. We depend on it every day. I know enough to know that my car doesn’t run unless there’s gas in the tank. I have an idea how some things work more than others.

We can appreciate the nature of God’s love even if not entirely. Loving through 40 years is different than 4 days. Seeing more of our sinfulness helps us appreciate more of His love. “People naturally think that the knowledge of their sins is the way to destroy them; when in very deed, it is the first step to salvation” (Knowledge, 28). Being sinned against helps us appreciate more how He was offended.

We grow in our understanding by degrees. That’s part of the pilgrim life, and our knowledge will increase eternally. We don’t know everything about the Bible yet. But we can work on it. We don’t see God’s holiness and abhor evil as He does, but we are being sanctified (and it’s a process). Our condition at conversion is not (hopefully) our continual condition. We saw in Psalm 51:17 that broken hearts want more and more of God’s graces, and we are being changed as we see Him. He is conforming us into the image of Christ, and the more we’re like Christ the more we’ll be able to appreciate His love.

Even in heaven we’ll never exhaust His love. His love excels all loves. The fact that we can’t fully understand is no problem with His love. What we don’t discern is no discouragement, just the opposite! I’m not less impressed with the ocean because I can’t see past the horizon. So while we can appreciate and grow in appreciation, we can always marvel and take courage in all the unseen love.

We don’t know Christ’s love exhaustively, and we’ll never exhaust Christ’s love. It may be inscrutable into infinity, but it is knowable in its certainty.

Fourth, what is the effect of knowing Christ’s unsearchable love?

Knowing that there is a breadth and length and height and depth that we don’t even know about enables peace when we feel unlovely. He has more love than your unloveliness can imagine. “We think Christ loves us no more than we think he can…but this love of Christ that we think is such, is indeed none of the love of Christ” (Knowledge, 32).

He is not close to using up all His love. Hopeful’s final excitement: “I thought that had I now 1000 gallons of blood in my body, I could spill it all for the sake of the Lord Jesus” (The Pilgrim’s Progress, 146). That should get our blood pumping, and it should get our grace sloshing.

Knowing love beyond comprehension also enables risk beyond comprehension. “By this knowledge, room is made for a Christian, and liberty is ministered unto him, to turn himself every way in all spiritual things” (Knowledge, 34). No opportunity to give, to serve, to sacrifice, to slosh grace, to die, is beyond the edges of the safety net of His love. By faith in this great love we have every reason for boldness because His love goes before us and beyond us. “By knowing of this a child of God has reserve for himself, at a day, when all that he otherwise knows, may be taken from him through the power of temptation” (Knowledge, 33).

Those are good effects, but verse 19 finishes the prayer with the intended purpose of knowledge.

that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Being filled means, at the least, that we are strengthened and that we are satisfied. There is no higher step that being filled with all the fulness of God. There is no more profound blessing. There is no way that He is more glorified.

It is not greater self-esteem or self-awareness or self-determination that makes a person more human or more mature. It is not being secure in our environment or our relationships that provides inner peace. The way to maturity, the way to peace, the path to being complete in Christ, is knowing Christ’s love for us. Through a growing grasp of Him and His love we are filled with His fulness.

Knowing more of Christ’s love now also effects greater anticipation for Christ’s love then.

The more a man knows, or understands of the greatness of [God's love] towards him…the better he will be able in his heart to conceive of the excellent glory and greatness of the [unseen] things that are laid up in the heavens….They that know nothing of this greatness, know nothing of them; they that think amiss of this greatness, thing amiss of them; they that know little of this greatness, know but little of them. (Knowledge, 14)

Conclusion

I love Bunyan’s question:

Couldst thou (sinner) if thou hadst been allowed, thyself express what thou wouldst have expressed, the greatness of the love thou wantest, with words that could have suited thee better? (Knowledge, 37)

In other words, if someone asked you to describe the kind of love you hoped for, could you have imagined it this good?

Such men are, at this day, wanting in the churches. These are the men that sweeten churches, and that bring glory to God and to religion. (Knowledge, 35)

Are you a stranger to Christ’s love?

How are you working to know His love more? I was convicted reading Bunyan’s book. I’m often studying and thinking and praying, paying more attention to the pliers than what the pliers are holding.

What is distracting you, causing you to doubt Christ’s love? We must live on the promise that “neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

The external religious system in England posed one of the greatest dangers John Bunyan faced. That system imprisoned him for 12 years in Bedford, keeping him away from his family and ministry. But even worse, that same system imprisoned men in their sins, keeping them away from freedom found in the gospel. Bunyan spent much of his ministry exposing the worthlessness of external shows and encouraging men to look to the hidden person of the heart (cf. 1 Peter 3:4).

Two tragic characters in The Pilgrim’s Progress were Envy and Superstition (I like to imagine they were cousins with Formalist and Hypocrisy). They were at home in Vanity Fair, and they testified against Christian and Faithful. They were angry that Christian and Faithful made their professions look weak. Non-fiction hostility of this sort was directed against Bunyan, as he was persecuted by, and burdened for, those who made ceremony and sacrifice their primary concern.

Sermon upon sermon and book after book by Bunyan confronted this bare religiosity, and exhorted men to see the heart of a pilgrim. God accepts only one type of pilgrim: the pilgrim with a broken and contrite heart. This emphasis recurred in Bunyan’s preaching and theology, namely, that “grace will not come without profound personal conviction of the utter worthlessness of one’s own endeavors” (Hill, 174). An unbroken heart before God is useless to God.

Bunyan’s most straightforward book on the subject was The Acceptable Sacrifice, or, The Excellency of a Broken Heart. It is a meditation and application of one verse, Psalm 51:17.

King David wrote Psalm 51 after the prophet Nathan confronted him over his sin with Bathsheba, against Uriah, and against God. The psalm is David’s sorrowful confession and plea for forgiveness. It is one of the most memorable psalms, and perhaps the clearest example of a broken heart in the Bible.

A broken heart isn’t a pleasant sensation. When a doctor breaks a bone to set it correctly, the sensation is not delightful. But it is necessary in order for the bone to heal. So breaking the heart to align it with God does delight God. David comforted himself with this truth in verse 17.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

God looks at the heart (cf. 1 Samuel 16:7). External compliance to His own law does not please Him if a man’s heart is not internally conformed. Sacrifices refer to worship, and verse 17 reveals the worship that God does not despise, or in other words, the worship that is acceptable to Him, that He receives, that He esteems, in which He delights. It seems that this type of sacrifice is the sacrifice of sacrifices, the top of His favorites. Nothing pleases Him more than a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart.

The word broken is repeated; contrite is not too different, another way to say the same thing. God desires, God delights in, hearts before parts, and in particular, hearts that are humble, hearts that mourn over sin, hearts that bow.

A broken heart is “disabled.” A broken bone disables a man, so when the inner man is broken, he is not able to walk freely in the things that he did before. A contrite spirit is grieved, sorrowful, humble. All the senses are involved, especially as he sees his sin for what it is.1

Hearts that are not broken are not accepted by Him. He despises religious performance, no matter how steady or spectacular, that does not come from a soft heart. This is true by default among those who are unsaved, be they religious or not.

In fact, the religious may be in more danger. It is harder for them to recognize and admit.

The more righteous is in his own eyes before conversion, the more need he has of heart-breaking work, in order to his salvation; because a man is not by nature so easily convinced that his righteousness is to God abominable. … Wherefore, a self-righteous man is but a painted Satan, or a devil in fine clothes; but thinks he so of himself? No! no! he saith to others, Stand back, come not near me, I am holier than thou. (Sacrifice, in Works, 719)

The first reason I felt compelled to cover this book by Bunyan is because it focuses on what is acceptable to God. He’s concerned with heart condition, so the condition of our heart is always relevant. But the second reason is because most of you have been around the church and a Christian school your whole lives. You’ve been going through motions, but your heart has never been broken.

[C]onversion to God is not so easy and so smooth a thing as some would have men believe it is….Why is the conversion of the soul compared to the grafting of a tree, if that be done without cutting? The Word is the graft, the soul is the tree, and the Word, as the scion, must be let in by a wound; for to stick on the outside, or to be tied on with a string, will do no good here….I say, heart must be set to heart, and back to back, or the sap will not be conveyed from the root to the branch; and I say, this must be done by a wound. (720)

Maybe there is no real fruit because there is no real spiritual life.

Throughout his pastoral life, and especially in The Pilgrim’s Progress, Bunyan aimed his largest guns at hypocrisy. He knew the need for breaking of religious hypocrisy from personal experience.

I loved to be talked of as one that was truly godly. I was proud of my godliness, and, indeed, I did all I did, either to be seen of, or to be well spoken of by man. (Grace Abounding, #32)

He also knew the benefits of brokenness for sake of his sanctification. In the Preface to The Acceptable Sacrifice, Bunyan’s friend George Cokayn wrote:

God–who had much work for [Bunyan] to do–was still hewing and hammering him by his Word, and sometimes also by more than ordinary temptations and desertions….Indeed, [brokenness] is a most necessary qualification that should always be found in the disciples of Christ, who are most eminent, and as stars of the first magnitude in the firmament of the church. (686)

Sin blocks the arteries of a man’s heart, even when that man is a believer. David was a believer when he committed adultery, tried to cover that sin with murder, and tried to hide both sins from others. He wrote Psalm 51 from the perspective of one of God’s own. So we are always in need of a broken and contrite heart. That is what God accepts.

All of Bunyan’s book goes to this, and jumps from Psalm 51:17.

This is session four, and it is a session of fours. Four truths about broken hearts, with four sub-points each.

The Necessity of a Broken Heart

Because every man is a sinner, and because sin makes a man’s heart intolerable and obnoxious to God, it is essential that he approach God with a broken heart. There are at least four reasons the sinner’s heart must be broken.

First, an unbroken heart is unwise.

Hard hearts are likened to fools, and fools don’t listen. Fools believe that they know, but they are deceived. They express no fear of God or His judgements because they are ignorant. Their ears are shut; they’ve turned a blind eye. A man’s foolishness must be broken before he’ll be able to see the mess he’s in.

what an amazing thing this is, that a rational creature should make no better a bargain; that one that is so wise in all terrene (earthly) things, should be such a fool in the thing that is most weighty? (Acceptable Sacrifice, 714)

In other words, how smart is the man who lives on temporary, seen things? Who drinks from the dry, empty cistern?

Satan will use any means to keep the soul from Christ; he loveth not an awakened frame of spirit; security, blindness, darkness, and error is the very kingdom and habitation of the wicked one. (Grace Abounding, 25)

Satan loves unbroken hearts.

Second, an unbroken heart is unbelieving.

Hard hearts have no faith, and the unbelieving calls God’s character into question by his doubts and cynicism and criticism. He does not trust God, and that makes God appear unreliable, though nothing is further from the truth. A man’s unbelief must be broken before it can be molded into trust. Before being broken, calls to faith bounce off his hard heart.

When men are somewhat put to it, when reason and conscience shall begin a little to hearken to a preacher, or a judgment that shall begin to hung for iniquity, how many tricks, evasions, excuses, demurs, delays, and hiding-holes will they make, invent, and find, to hide and preserve their sweet sins with themselves and their souls, in the delights of them, to their own eternal perdition? (Acceptable Sacrifice, 706)

Third, an unbroken heart is unruly.

Hard hearts are proud. The only thing the proud man knows for sure is that he knows everything he needs to know. He acts like he needs no one else. Wrong again. This causes him to assess himself higher than he ought. His mind is set on the flesh, making him hostile to God (cf. Romans 8:7). He will not submit to God’s will or bow before God’s throne. A man’s arrogant, obstinate, unruly heart must be broken. Hard hearts fight against confrontation and counsel.

A wild or mad man gives no heed to good counsel…let him alone, and he will greatly busy himself all his life to accomplish that which, when it is completed, amounts to nothing. The work, the toil, the travel of such a one comes to nothing, save to declare that he was out of his wits that did it. (Acceptable Sacrifice, 707)

What’s really scary to consider is, “If there is so much in the pride of his countenance, what is there, think you, in the pride of his heart?” (Acceptable Sacrifice, 704)

Fourth, an unbroken heart is unappreciative.

Hard hearts are unthankful. Even as a fool, a doubter, and a rebel, he continues to enjoy God’s gifts to him, gifts such as breath, senses, family, temporal successes, sun and rain. He has nothing apart from God, and even though he can see God’s invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, he does not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him (cf. Romans 1:20-21). A man’s presumptuous heart must be broken.

[Christ] is indeed the great deliverer; but what is a deliverer to them that never saw themselves in bondage, as was said before?…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….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…. (Acceptable Sacrifice, 710-711)

These are all ways to say that an unbroken heart is spiritually dead, insensitive and hard as a diamond (cf. Ezekiel 36:26; Zechariah 7:12). The man with an unbroken heart deserves judgment, but does not even know it.

Man’s heart is fenced, it is grown gross; there is a skin that, like a coat of mail, has wrapped it up, and inclosed it on every side. This skin, this coat of mail, unless it be cut off and taken away, the heart remains untouched, whole; and so as unconcerned, whatever judgments or afflictions light upon the body. (Acceptable Sacrifice, 703)

The Acceptability of a Broken Heart

God does not accept an unbroken heart. But a broken and contrite heart He does not despise (Psalm 51:17). The LORD of heaven and earth looks to the broken-hearted.

Thus says the LORD:
“Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool;
what is the house that you would build for me,
and what is the place of my rest?
All these things my hand has made,
and so all these things came to be,
declares the LORD.
But this is the one to whom I will look:
he who is humble and contrite in spirit
and trembles at my word.
Isaiah 66:1-2

A man’s broken heart is an acceptable sacrifice to Him and we can see that in four arguments.

First, God Himself creates broken hearts.

Every broken heart is His own handiwork. A hard heart doesn’t know it’s own hardness; it must have outside help. Unless God transplants the heart of stone with a heart of flesh (cf. Ezekiel 36:26), man will never be acceptable to God. God grants repentance and He does not despise His own work.

We must still know that this broken tender heart is not a plant that grows in our own soil, but is the peculiar gift of God himself. He that made the heart must break the heart. (George Cokayn, Preface to Acceptable Sacrifice, 687)

God does this by His word.

Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? (Jeremiah 23:29)

The LORD sent Nathan David to preach. (2 Samuel 12:1-13)

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. Then will the sinner deliver up his arms, and surrender up himself as one conquered, into the had of, and beg for the Lord’s pardon, and not till then; I mean not sincerely. (Acceptable Sacrifice, 710)

Second, God Himself cares for broken hearts.

Again and again God reveals His tenderness toward tender hearts. His Son, in particular is given charge to keep the wounded and care for them. It is a key part of His mission. He will not crush or bruise broken hearts; He esteems them.

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, Isaiah 61:1; see also verses 2-3, and also Luke 4:18 (by Jesus Himself)

See Psalm 147:1-6, and how the LORD’s healing of the brokenhearted is immediately followed by His determining the number and names of the stars.

“A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench” (Isaiah 42:3; quoted in Matthew 12:20).

But that God, the high God, the God against whom we have sinned, should…give his Son a command, a charge, a commission to take care of, to bind up and heal the broken in heart; this is that which can never be sufficiently admired or wondered at by men or angels. (Acceptable Sacrifice, 692)

Third, God Himself communes with broken hearts.

He not only accepts, He also dwells in broken hearts. He comes near for intimate fellowship. His Spirit creates and then resides in hearts of flesh, as do God’s graces and gifts. He makes broken hearts into receptacles, into cabinets that hold His most excellent gifts.

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place,
and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly,
and to revive the heart of the contrite.
Isaiah 57:15

The LORD is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.
Psalm 34:18

Of all the men in the world, none have acquaintance with God, none understand what communion with him, and what his teachings mean, but such as are of a broken and contrite heart. (Acceptable Sacrifice, 690-691)

Fourth, God Himself concurs with broken hearts.

Broken hearts are those that see their sin as God does. Broken hearts agree with God that they need His grace. Broken hearts value the person and work of the Son as the Father does. God does not despise a broken heart because it is a heart that longs for righteousness as He does.

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….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. (Acceptable Sacrifice, 710)

The Advantages of a Broken Heart

In addition to pleasing God, which is the most important consideration, a broken heart benefits us in (at least) four ways.

First, a broken heart is fearful.

A sensitive heart cares about God’s commands and is careful to keep them. As someone with an open wound goes to special lengths to avoid exposure to more pain, so a broken heart watches against offending God and incurring the hammer of His discipline. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 1:7), “the fear of the LORD is hatred of evil” (Proverbs 8:13), “the fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, that one may turn way from the snares of death” (Proverbs 14:26).

All sorts of god things come to those who fear God.

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. (Jer 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 every grace of God. (Acceptable Sacrifice, 709)

He doesn’t give the jewels and treasure of His graces to those who won’t rightly revere them.

Second, a broken heart is repentant.

Because we are still not delivered from the presence of sin, even in our saved condition, we do sin. But a broken heart is quick to sense conviction, to confess, and to repent. David took over a year before he repented because his heart was not broken.

In Psalm 51 David cries out: “blot out my transgressions” (v.1), “cleanse me from my sin” (v.2), “I know my transgressions, my sin is ever before me” (v.3), and “Against You and You only have I sinned” (v.4).

Third, a broken heart is prayerful.

A tender heart knows its own weakness and that it is prone to wander off the pilgrim’s path. It knows it needs help, and so it regularly asks God for help, moment by day. A broken heart desires communion with God, and seeks it in prayer.

All of Psalm 51 is a song of prayer. “Cast me not away from Your presence, take not Your Holy Spirit from me” (v.11).

Fourth, a broken heart is compassionate.

A tender heart is sympathetic with others who are wounded. It feels the hurt it sees in others, and it seeks to care for others and comfort them even at it has been comforted. We put on a soft heart like Christ and serve.

“Then I will teach transgressors Your way, and sinners will return to You” (v.13).

In other words, a broken heart is alive and sensitive, sensitive to God–His justice and His grace, and sensitive to others–their needs. Unlike a hard heart, a broken heart is busy thinking how to honor Him and help people.

The Maintenance of a Broken Heart

If a broken heart is so necessary, so accepted by God, so advantageous to us, so excellent, then how can we keep our hearts tender? Bunyan offers this (summarized and reorganized) list of dos and don’ts, four of each.

Dont’

1. Despise conviction and discipline.

It may not be pleasant at the time, but discipline is sparing you from much worse. God convicts and corrects those He loves (Hebrews 12:7-11; Revelation 3:19), so running away or rationalizing away sorrow over sin will desensitize us to sin.

2. Keep vain company or conversation.

Apathy toward God spreads like cancer. A person with a tender heart will have a measure of seriousness about him, and if he pursues silliness and lightness, he will soon forget and his heart will grow dull toward the important. “The companion of fools will suffer harm” (Proverbs 13:20; cf. Proverbs 18:7; 1 Corinthians 15:33).

3. Take a step toward unbelief or sin.

Don’t give doubt a foot in the door, and don’t give temptation a second glance. These wage war against your soul (cf. 1 Peter 2:11), so as a broken hearted pilgrim, fight.

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. (Hebrews 3:12-13)

4. Use someone else as an excuse.

Sometimes Satan makes use of a good man’s bad ways, to spoil and harden the heart of them that come after. (Acceptable Sacrifice, 713) cf. Gal 2:11-13 and Peter leading Barnabas astray.

We should consider bad examples, not to condone our own sin, but to learn what path to steer clear of.

Do

1. Labor to know God.

Deepen your intimacy with Him by learning about Him. Bunyan recommended in particular, learn more about God’s omnis–the things that will awe you. (e.g., Proverbs 15:3–”The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.”) Learn more about His holiness and justice–the things that will humble you. (e.g., Hebrews 12:29–”our God is a consuming fire.”)

2. Seek to see sin for what it is.

Don’t allow temptation to deceive you from true pleasure and satisfaction by enticing you to drink from dry, empty cisterns. Think about sin’s effect on fallen angels, Adam, the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cross. “Be persuaded that it is the only enemy of God” (Acceptable Sacrifice, 714).

3. Think often about death and judgment.

The fact of death is certain, though the time of death is not. It is inevitable, this world is not the end. So think about the destination. The Puritans were said to live with one foot in the grave. That wasn’t because they were lugubrious or funereal, but because they wanted to be ready. “Just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27)

When God shows a man the sin the sin he has committed, the hell he has deserved, the heaven he has lost; and yet that Christ, and grace, and pardon my be had; this will make him serious, this will make him melt, this will break his heart, this will show him that there is more than air, than a noise, than an empty sound in religion; and this is the man, whose heart, whose life, whose conversations and all, will be engaged in the matters of the eternal salvation of his precious and immortal soul. (Acceptable Sacrifice, 715)

4. Consider Christ’s tenderness.

He has spilled His own blood so that God could be both just and yet forgive our hard, proud, rebellious hearts. He sympathizes with us in our weakness, and He does not treat us as we deserve to be treated. (cf. Colossians 3:12-13) yeah

Conclusion

Maybe there is no real fruit because there is no real spiritual life. Your name may be Formalist or Hypocrisy, or maybe Sloth, Presumption.

I can hardly think enough about broken-heartedness. It puts me in a right frame before God, to consider His kindness and the mercy of His salvation. It also prepares me for meeting criticism and small minded, immature people. A broken heart keeps me tender, and enables pity rather than annoyance. A broken-hearted condition isn’t usual, but so much the worth fighting for in light of its benefit for worship and working with men. Keeping my mind on the broken heart channel keeps me watching unseen things.

Sinner, hast thou obtained a broken heart? has God bestowed a contrite spirit upon thee? He has given thee what himself is pleased with; he has given thee a cabinet to hold his grace in; he has given thee a heart that can heartily desire his salvation, an heart after his own heart, that is, such as suits his mind. True, it is painful now, sorrowful now, penitent now, grieved now; not it sighs, now it mourns and crieth unto God. Well, very well; all this is because he hath a mind to make thee laugh; he has made thee sorry on earth that thou mightest rejoice in heaven. (Acceptable Sacrifice, 715)

Notes to come.

Notes to come.

Christian life and ministry is hard. The saved are out of step, out of touch, out of place in this world. Saints walk in light while the world walks in darkness. Disciples of Jesus serve, while the world waits to be served. Believers endure suffering while the world runs away and hides from suffering. The resurrected are happy dying while the world loves the idea of not dying. Obedient children set their hope fully on the future while the world lives for now. Christians don’t belong here; they are foreign citizens, pilgrims headed for another country. They live on unseen things.

Or at least they should.

Many professing Christians in our day appear to be conformed to this world; they are at home here, or at least that’s what it seems like as they seek to make a nicer and more comfortable place for themselves. Their dress, their talk, their pursuits and entertainments are indistinguishable. They are trying to establish themselves, find a place for themselves, put down roots, and fit in. They are living on seen things.

But, it’s bizarro world. They are walking around on their heads. They are riding blindly, or maybe, riding backwards, facing the wrong direction, focusing on the wrong things. They spend their time and effort on the outer man, pampering a not quite dead corpse. They give themselves to superficial, silly, vain games (literal and figurative). They chase the wind and grasp oil in their hands. They live for the now, for the new, and they miss the truly meaningful and lasting.

It’s hard to blame them, because it is hard to stay the narrow course. Alternate routes abound everywhere on the pilgrim’s path. The entire journey requires faith, repentance, and humility. It often includes criticism. We face others who don’t understand what we’re doing, some who oppose what we’re doing, some who hate us for it. They would have us relax, quiet down, or even leave off the journey altogether.

And like we’ve bought a GPS unit with a faulty chip unknown to us, we keep trucking down the wrong road.

John Bunyan, a 17th century Puritan, lived and wrote about the pilgrim’s progress, about the dangers and difficulties of traveling to a better country, the Christian’s final home, the Celestial City. He wrote for pilgrims as a pilgrim, enduring slander and imprisonment and all sorts of trouble on his Christian journey. As he sought strength for the journey in the promises of God, he looked to 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.

We, like Bunyan, are threatened to despair, to give up, to lose heart. This is a paragraph of promise for every pilgrim.

The Pilgrim’s Confidence (16a)

Christians do not despair no matter how hard it gets.

So we do not lose heart.

This sentence starts the final paragraph of chapter four just as it launched the first paragraph of the chapter. The repetition claps for our attention. The phrase bookends the entire chapter about the apostle Paul’s life and work, and his was a hard, often ineffective, often afflicted ministry. For the sake of the gospel, Paul slaved for others (v.5), he endured difficulties to bring grace to others (vv. 7-10, 15), he died to bring life to others (vv. 10-12).

He considered himself a weak, clay pot (v. 7), carrying the treasure of the gospel ministry, suffering for and speaking about the truth of the Lord Jesus. He was afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down (vv. 8-9). He was bumped and banged around. He was worn out in his work for the Lord. Through all of it he maintained his confidence, We do not lose heart.

He means that his soul was secure. Though threatened, he couldn’t be defeated. Though tempted to wander, he wouldn’t go AWOL. He wasn’t crushed, or driven to despair, or forsaken, or destroyed. His daily dying brought grace and life to others. He wasn’t going to stop.

In the first paragraph (4:1-6) Paul explained that he didn’t lose heart because his ministry was driven by the Spirit and because it was a privileged calling. Now he highlights the promises that kept him on course.

The Pilgrim’s Concession (16b)

Even though there are great promises, even though we have confidence, it doesn’t always appear that things are okay.

Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

Paul concedes, that is, he acknowledges and admits, that it’s not a glorious life, not now, and not visibly. He says, but (even if) our outer self is wasting away, (and it is). He yields the point as if he were in an argument, that the outer self, the exterior, the part of us that can be seen, has pain. This isn’t the “old man’ of the flesh, but it is connected to our bodies and the struggles we have in life. It recalls the earlier descriptions in chapter 4: “jars of clay” (v. 7) and “mortal flesh” (v.11).

We are wasting away, being destroyed, “decaying” (NAS), “perishing” (NKJV). The word could describe the effects of rust, slowly eating away and ruining. We are being worn out constantly. It is the aging, decaying, dying process in view here, a process always at work, however that dying might be happening. It isn’t necessarily and enemy scheming to kill us, though that would bring a sooner end. Our bodies and physical lives are being ruined.

It’s true. Our confidence doesn’t come because we escape pain and affliction. Christian pilgrims concede that it’s hard. For the pilgrim, however, for the one who has the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ in their heart, the ruin of the outer ma isn’t the only process at work. Even as the outer man is wasting away (and it is), our inner self is being renewed day by day. The inner man, the soul of a man, is being renewed, and that renewal is as constant as the sunrise, day by day. It is the resurrection of Jesus at work in every believer. It is a hidden strengthening in visible suffering.

A pilgrim’s life is hard. The pilgrim’s Lord takes care of the most important thing: his eternal soul.

Even the concession about the reality of afflictions can’t cause us to lose heart. And there is more to say, as verses 17-18 explain the renewal process.

The Pilgrim’s Consideration (17-18)

There are things taking place behind the scenes that not everyone seeks or knows about. There are principles at work in the universe, principles established by the Creator of the universe that show afflictions and hardships in this life lead to something better. Clay pot pilgrims have three considerations about afflictions.

First, consider the NATURE of afflictions. (17a)

That is, the essence, the characteristics of difficulties, are light and momentary.

For this light momentary affliction

There is no doubt that pilgrims encounter afflictions. Paul chronicled his abounding afflictions through 2 Corinthians, including being brought to the breaking point over and over (vv. 8-9). He just conceded that the outer man is wasting away. But afflictions can only do so much.

“The momentary lightness of afflictions” is a good translation. The primary focus is on the adjective light, what kind of lightness? Light afflictions. We normally feel light when we’re not afflicted. Difficulties weigh on us; they burden us. But Paul claims that they are light. How can he possibly say that?

Afflictions are not slight (insignificant, or inconsiderable), but they are light in comparison to the weight (the heaviness) of glory that is coming. So, that does not mean that our trouble is insignificant. It does bring us to our breaking point. It’s not a game; it’s not semantics. It will feel like we can’t take any more. The burden is too heavy. The point is that the pilgrim’s heavy and hard way is light and easy when put on the balance with the glory we’ll receive later.

Our afflictions are also momentary. The best they can do is consume consecutive moments. But they are confined to moments. And again, by comparison, these are short compared to the eternal weight of glory. No clock or calendar can measure the infinite duration of our coming experience. Afflictions for the pilgrim are light and momentary.

Second, consider the EFFECT of afflictions. (17b)

Afflictions are not useless or vain. They are working hard on our behalf.

this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,

Present trouble is preparing for us an inexhaustible future of joy. The infinite and eternal glory is real. We can’t see it now, but it exists. Not only is it real, it is almost unbelievable. It is an exaggeration. Paul says it is far beyond all comparison, “far more exceeding” (KJV), a glory that “far outweighs them all” (NIV). The Greek word is ὑπερβολὴν, from which we get our English word hyperbole. It means to take something to an extraordinary degree. The glory is “according to hyperbole unto hyperbole,” one hyperbole heaped on another, meaning that it is exceeding exceedingly glorious in the highest possible degree. “You may pass from one degree to another; from one sublime height to another; but still an infinity remains beyond. Nothing can describe the uppermost height of that glory, nothing can express its infinitude” (Barns, quoted in Calvin, 213).

Our joy buckets are so small, so easily filled. We are easily satisfied. In order to know and enjoy this kind of glory, God is increasing the size of our joy thimbles, by afflictions, into honker buckets for joy. The afflictions are working for us a greater experience of glory. No pain, no glory.

It is the will of God, that they that go to heaven should go thither hardly or with difficulty. The righteous shall scarcely be saved. That is, they shall, but yet with great difficulty, that it may be the sweeter. (Seasonable Counsel, Advice to Sufferers, in The Works of John Bunyan, vol. 2, p. 725)

It is painful for the thimble to be broken, melted, hammered and shaped into a bigger bowl. It is stretching for a kettle to be heated and beaten into a cauldron. But if we would enjoy an exceeding weight of glory forever, the suffering of the present life prepares us.

Comparatively, afflictions are light and momentary. Effectively, afflictions work infinite and eternal joy for us.

Third, consider the FOCUS of afflictions. (18)

How do we know that our inner man is being renewed day by day, especially since we see the outer man being ruined? How do we know that brutal, constant suffering is for our good, and relatively short and painless? How do we not lose heart? By living on unseen things.

as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

The pilgrim either carries on or quits depending on his focus. We’re not looking on the things that are seen. “Looking” includes more intention than simply seeing what’s in the periphery. The word is σκοπέω, paying attention to, watching closely for. It is to fix the eyes upon watchfully.

The things that are seen are the things of this world. Afflictions and comforts, the outer man issues, circumstances and situations, people and problems, the clay pot being smashed and bashed. Seen things are sicknesses, bills, broken appliances, recessions, and earthquakes. Seen things aren’t only troubling things, but could also be good things such as health, resources, friendships, and family. Bunyan said of his family:

I am somewhat too fond of these great Mercies. (Grace Abounding, Works, 123)

The reason that pilgrim’s don’t look to or depend on “seen things” is because they consider that the things that are seen are transient (“temporal” NAS, “temporary” NIV). The seen things only last for a time. They are transitory, meaning they are impermanent, passing, fleeting, here today and gone tomorrow. We live on so many short-term investments, yet “the world is passing away along with its desires” (1 John 2:17).

The pilgrim can’t afford to spend his money on that which isn’t bread or his labor for that which doesn’t satisfy. Losing heart is at stake. His eternal glory is at stake. He must look to something else.

He looks to the things that are unseen. There is irony in “looking for” things that can’t be “looked at,” but what are the unseen things?

The immediate unseen thing is our soul, and the souls of men. It is the inner man. As “sojourners and exiles” we must “abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against [our] souls” (1 Peter 2:11). We ought to be sober-minded and watchful for sake of the most important unseen thing in us: our souls.

The ultimate unseen thing is God Himself. Paul wrote at the end of his testimony, “To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God” (1 Timothy 1:17). The author of Hebrews wrote that “(Moses) left Egypt by faith, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27).

Bunyan himself understood God as the primary unseen thing in 2 Corinthians 4:18. In his autobiography, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, he wrote about his two-step plan to prepare his soul for prison.

Before I came to prison, I saw what was a-coming, and had especially two considerations warm upon my heart; the first was how to be able to endure, should my imprisonment be long and tedious; the second was how to be able to encounter death, should that be here my portion….[T]hat saying in 2 Co. 1:9 was of great use to me, “But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but God which raiseth the dead.” By this scripture I was made to see, that if I would ever suffer rightly, I must pass a sentence of death upon everything that can properly be called a thing of this life, even to reckon myself, my wife, my children, my health, my enjoyments, and all, as dead to me, and myself as dead to them. . . .

The second was, to live upon God that is invisible; as Paul said in another place, the way not to faint, is to “look not at the things which are seen, but at the things that are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Co. 4:18. . . .

That was the key to John Buynan’s Christian journey: not to look to the seen, but “to live upon God that is invisible.” In other words, Buynan survived by living on unseen things.

“Live on” is close to “look to”; it expresses the same idea. To “live on” something is to survive solely by consuming a certain thing. Paul calls us to look to, to live on, to survive and endure by depending solely on unseen things, starting with the invisible God.

I’d like to add, though, that Paul could have said, “not looking at the seen things, but looking to the unseen God.” That’s true, but that’s not exactly what he said. I’m okay with understanding God as part, or even the primary part, of unseen things, but I think we can be more precise. When we live on unseen things, I think Paul is referring to gospel promises.

The the things that are unseen are eternal, God is eternal, but so are the promises He makes to His pilgrims. Every word of God is “living and abiding” and “remains forever” (1 Peter 1:23-25), and the promises in 2 Corinthians 4 alone are enough to live on. The promised weight of glory is eternal, and that promise keeps us going even though we’re weary now. He promises a resurrected life that is eternal, contrasted with our mortal flesh (4:11) that’s wasting away. He promises that we’ll be brought into God’s presence, and that promise is as certain as God’s Son is alive (4:14).

The gospel promises of spiritual sight, life, resurrection, fellowship with Jesus, and weight of glory are not seen now, but they are eternal. They last. They are without equal and without end. His promises are everlasting, indelible. Pilgrim’s will not work, pray, lose heart, suffer, sojourn and die unless they live on these unseen things.

Over and over in The Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian (along with his fellow pilgrims) was given faith glimpses of the Celestial City to spur his journey. Maybe the most fantastic and understated scene in The Pilgrim’s Progress finds Christian and Hopeful chained by Giant Despair in the dungeon of Doubting Castle. Despair has beaten them almost to death. They feared for their lives, and were tempted to take their lives. Then Christian remembered the key “in his bosom.”

Now a little before it was day, good Christian, as one half amazed, brake out in this passionate speech, What a fool (quoth he) am I, thus to lie in a stinking Dungeon when I may as well walk at liberty? I have a key in my bosom, called Promise, that will (I am persuaded) open any Lock in Doubting Castle. Then said Hopeful, That’s good news; good Brother pluck it out of thy bosom and try. Then Christian pulled it out of his bosom and began to try at the Dungeon door, whose bolt (as he turned the Key) gave back, and the door flew open with ease, and Christian and Hopeful both went out. (The Pilgrim’s Progress, 121)

“That’s good news;” Are you kidding? That’s good-tastic news! That needs an exclamation point not a semicolon. That noise you hear is Mr. Goose-bump knocking on the door. Giant Despair can do his worst, but there is a key called promise that unlocks all the thick doors out of the dungeon and enables our escape.

Bunyan knew the importance of promises. He said,

I tell thee, friend, there are some promises that the Lord hath helped me to lay hold of Jesus Christ through and by, that I would not have out of the Bible for as much gold and silver as can lie between York and London piled up to the stars. (Sighs from Hell, in The Works of John Bunyan, vol. 3, 721)

I’m afraid that if some of you had your choice, you would choose stacks of gold rather than the promises of God. But seen things won’t deliver anyone out of doubts and despair.

Bunyan also said,

God hath strewed all the way from the gate of hell, where thou wast, to the gate of heaven, whither thou art going, with flowers out of his own garden. Behold how the promises, invitations, calls, and encouragements, like lilies, lie round about thee! Take heed that thou dost not tread them under thy foot. (Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ, in Brown, John Bunyan, 300)

Conclusion

Are we living on unseen things, or ignoring them, or worse, despising them?

The survival of a pilgrim requires that he live on unseen things, that is, that he pay close attention to his soul, to God, and to God’s promises. Clay pots will look to get out of the rotation unless they’re held up by promises. We will lose heart if we do not live on unseen things.

One crucial clarification needs be made. According to 2 Corinthians 4, afflictions are light and momentary only for those looking on unseen things. In other words, only for those who believe the gospel promises. Those who are blinded by the god of this world to the gospel of the glory of Christ, those who remain in spiritual darkness, have “light and momentary afflictions” compared to the eternal weight of guilt and wrath being stored up for them on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed (cf. Romans 2:5). Their outer self is wasting away, and there is no renewal of the inner man. The inner man is rotting and being ruined right alongside the outer man. Your pain is but a taste of more pain unless you follow Christ by faith.

For pilgrims, our pain is but preparation for eternal glory, as we live on unseen things. We sang, “What hope is in our heavenly home.” That’s not a question, that’s an exclamation. Is that true of us?

The Interpreter introduced Christian to two characters in The Pilgrim’s Progress, Passion or Patience. Passion was irritated that Passion wasn’t getting what he wanted when he wanted it. Passion was temporarily pacified, but Patience wanted for something better. Which child do we see most in ourselves? Are we whining for the now things, the visible things, the this-worldly things? Or are we happy to wait by faith for the unseen things, the lasting things, and the infinitely joyful things?

Apart from God, ministry isn’t just hard, it would be impossible. Think about some of the tasks we’re called to do. We work for unrighteous men to be declared innocent, the condemned to go free. We press diamond hard hearts to be broken and become sensitive. We labor that blind men might see, that dead men might live. The work of the ministry–assigned to believer, not only the paid staff–is nothing less than changing hearts, changing families, changing churches, and changing nations. That’s hard.

Ministry is difficult, ministry is demanding, and ministry is deadly. According to 2 Corinthians 4:12, ministry requires the constant dying of the minister. Jesus Himself made the point that “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” Seeing that fruit is exhilarating. Is anything more breathtaking than a lost soul being found? The angels think that’s exciting. Because of the gospel, our hurting brings healing. By God’s grace, our dying generates life.

2 Corinthians 4 is all about this ministry; it is tough, often ineffective from our perspective, agonizing, un-glorious work.

I was directed to this chapter by a dead man. As I considered how best to challenge our students and staff at the upcoming snow retreat, I was drawn to John Bunyan. Bunyan is perhaps most well-known for his classic book, The Pilgrim’s Progress. He is also a man who sampled the difficulties of life and ministry. He endured over 13 years in prison because he refused to stop his gospel preaching. He endured the pain of watching his second wife and his four children scrape by without him. I thought, this is a man who I want to listen to.

In his autobiography, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, he talks about what he did to prepare for prison.

Before I came to prison, I saw what was a-coming, and had especially two considerations warm upon my heart; the first was how to be able to endure, should my imprisonment be long and tedious; the second was how to be able to encounter death, should that be here my portion….[T]hat saying in 2 Co. 1:9 was of great use to me, “But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but God which raiseth the dead.” By this scripture I was made to see, that if I would ever suffer rightly, I must pass a sentence of death upon everything that can properly be called a thing of this life, even to reckon myself, my wife, my children, my health, my enjoyments, and all, as dead to me, and myself as dead to them. . . .

The second was, to live upon God that is invisible; as Paul said in another place, the way not to faint, is to “look not at the things which are seen, but at the things that are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Co. 4:18. . . .

Bunyan’s approach and solace in Paul’s letter joined forces for our yearly one28 theme as well as for the snow retreat: Living On Unseen Things. That’s also how we’ve come to 2 Corinthians 4 for our study this morning. You can’t handle any paragraph in this chapter and come away without your hands smelling like affliction and anticipation. It’s a necessary chapter for souls tempted to lose heart.

For that matter, like fresh baked cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning, the sweet aroma of afflictions fills the air of the entire epistle. Paul wore the perfume of pain and persecution.

For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many. (2 Corinthians 1:8-11)

We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything. (2 Corinthians 6:3-10)

We’ll pass over his double-sided resume of afflictions in 2 Corinthians 11:23-30 where he concludes, “If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.”

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

And in that context, Paul repeats: we do not lose heart. The first paragraph of chapter four started with such an affirmation, as does the final paragraph of the chapter: We do not lose heart. We are tested, we are tempted to throw our hands in the air and walk away. “If this is how it’s going to be, if this is how I’m going to be treated, who needs it?” But that response comes from a wrong understanding of ministry, and it comes from living on seen things rather than unseen things.

It has always been the case that God’s people have opportunities to bring Him praise especially in times of affliction. When His people are beaten up and used up, and yet continue to look up and speak up, God’s worth is lifted up above all else.

We saw that we have the “treasure (of gospel ministry) in jars of clay” (4:7), that the process will take wear us out in weakness till death do we break. Strong, sophisticated, successful pots need not apply, because there must be no question at the end of the day that the surpassing power “belongs to God, not us” (4:7). In God’s economy, useful pots are those being brought constantly to the breaking point; those for whom unabated death brings everlasting life to others (4:8-12).

In verses 13-15 we see Paul’s (and our) Ministry Approach (vv.13-14) and Ministry Ambitions (v.15). The point of this paragraph is that the afflictions of pot ministry manifest grace and magnify God.

Ministry Approach

Death is at work in us (v.12). Death, or better, the dying process, being used up for the sake of others, is a life-giving dying. This is how it’s always been, and there’s no reason to be surprised at fiery trial among us as if it were anything strange. We say, “Do your worst!”, fully persuaded that our ministry is in the hands of an invincible God.

There are three elements of our approach: the historical, verbal, and eschatological elements.

The Historical Element (13a)

First, we endure ministry afflictions because we stand in a long line of God’s persecuted yet persevering people.

Having the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” (verse 13a)

This is the fourth consecutive paragraph that begins with something we “have.” 3:12–”having such a hope.” 4:1–”having this ministry.” 4:7–”we have this treasure.” Now Paul says, “having the same spirit” (v.13).

This (participial) phrase is the basis for why we speak (the main verb). It builds the stage for our boldness.

Having the same spirit doesn’t mean that we have the same Holy Spirit, though it’s safe to assume the involvement of the third Person of the Trinity. But here, spirit refers to our stance, attitude, or disposition. Our approach is no different than those who have gone before us and endured great troubles for God, who nevertheless did not lose heart.

According to what has been written, meaning the authoritative Scripture that is on record, is Paul’s reference to Psalm 116. Psalm 116 was written by a psalmist in great distress. It was used as a hymn of personal thanksgiving for God’s care in times of dire need. In particular, the writer was threatened by death, tears, and stumbling (verse 8). But he wasn’t overcome by those things, they did not cause him to lose heart. “I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living” (verse 9),

Paul quotes the LXX version of verse 10, but the point is basically the same. Even when in trouble, belief comes out through the mouth. What we say reveals what is in the heart, and trials draw out our heart like boiling water draws out the flavor from a tea bag.

We stand in a long line of God’s afflicted people. If some of the prophets and apostles were killed and persecuted (cf. Luke 11:49), we’re likely to experience similar treatment. Even more, if they call the Master of the house Beelzebub, won’t they treat the servants even worse (cf. Matthew 10:25)?

But we take courage because God is faithful to keep, and use the afflicted. We are here because of God’s work through those that have gone before us; we stand on their bruised shoulders and we stand in the same confidence in God that they did.

The Verbal Element (13b)

Second, we speak in the midst of ministry afflictions because our faith compels us.

we also believe, and so we also speak, (verse 13b)

God’s afflicted, like the author of Psalm 116, believed. They trusted God, and couldn’t help but call on Him and praise Him and offer Him a sacrifice of thanksgiving (Psalm 116:17). Likewise, afflictions pressurize faith that must find release. We are believing, therefore we are also speaking.

This speaking is any kind of verbal communication about the truth (v.2), the gospel (v.3), the glory of Christ (v.4), Jesus Christ as Lord (v.5), the glory of God in the face of Jesus (v.6). It is gospel speaking, but cannot confined to formal sermons or formal gospel presentations. It’s what comes out of our mouths when we’re squeezed, confused, criticized, and used up.

The believing speaking emphasizes boldness. This speaking is not bombast. It is not hot air. It is the inevitable consequence of being filled with faith. So Charles Spurgeon said about Bunyan, “Prick him anywhere; and you will find that his blood is Bibline, the very essence of the Bible flows from him.” So when we are pricked, when our pots are bumped and banged around, what spills out is gospel.

Interesting that Paul includes this, since the Lord had given him explicit instructions about speaking during his visit to Corinth on his second missionary journey in Acts 18.

After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, 3 and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. 4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.

5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. 6 And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” 7 And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titus Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. 8 Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. 9 And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” 11 And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. (Acts 18:1-11)

Here was Paul giving himself, spending himself, dying for the Corinthians. Here also was Paul who reasoned, to tried to persuade, who was occupied with the word, testifying…that the Christ was Jesus.

I’d like to make sure something is unmistakeable. Thus far in 2 Corinthians 4, the stress has been on a ministry life, not simply a message. Last time we talked about it in terms of incarnational ministry. There is something about persons, in addition to proclamation, that God uses. God did not write His message in the sky or drop a Book from the heavens. He took on flesh and dwelt among us. So He puts His pots among people.

In our circles, we unhelpfully tend to all to one side of the spectrum: either we are truth-speakers or we are people-lovers. It doesn’t have to be a dichotomy.

The people-lovers are more likely to speak about incarnational ministry. They are the ones concerned about meeting physical needs and life example and other social concerns. Sometimes, though, they never get around to the presumed reason for their behavior and the real solution: the gospel story.

Truth-speakers, on the other hand, will defend the gospel doctrine tooth and nail, but they tend to do so from a distance, and their mouths are the only member of their bodies engaged. They are not used up, and they damage the gospel ministry by not living gospel sacrifice.

Sacrifice is crucial. It is the example of Jesus. We are your servants. And, we must tell the gospel story as we serve.

As a rule, servants aren’t criticized for serving. Slaves aren’t beaten for making sacrifices. So what is it that kept getting Paul into trouble? His mouth. He kept speaking about the offensive cross, the gospel of Christ. At the same time, his afflictions were his podium.

If you’re dying and not speaking about why you’re dying, you’re missing an opportunity for shining the light of the gospel. If you’re only speaking and not dying, your speaking may be more grating than grace-giving.

Think about John Bunyan, imprisoned for over 13 years total. It wasn’t because he was a good father and husband. It wasn’t because he gave to the poor or worked hard. It was because he wouldn’t keep his mouth shut about Jesus. Consequently, because he was afflicted, he was useful to God.

We stand in line with God’s afflicted, speaking because we are believing.

The Eschatological Element (14)

Third, we endure ministry afflictions because we will stand before God with Jesus.

knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. (verse 14)

Verse 14 is the gospel confidence, the reason our faith doesn’t give out, the solid ground of hope. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ. Ours is a resurrection hope.

We believe and we speak, knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus. The knowing started when God caused the light of the gospel to shine in our hearts, and the knowing continues as we mature in the gospel. In verse 14, knowing activates our speaking with fact and with future. God, the One who raised the Lord Jesus, this resurrecting God, is our God. God raises dead men.

Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead. (2 Corinthians 1:9)

That same God will raise us also with Jesus, using His earthly name to emphasize His humanity. It isn’t “in Jesus,” though elsewhere Paul makes that theological claim. Here we’re raised “with him,” we are associated with Him.

He “will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you (NASB).” The presenting picture is all throughout the New Testament. Depending on the context, either God (as here) or ministers (like Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:2) are doing the presenting.

In the future, all of us in Christ will be raised with Christ and presented together before God. This keeps us speaking, and speaking boldly, and dying because we’re with Him. “What are you going to do to me? I’m with Him!”

Ministry Ambitions

In verse 15, Paul unfolds the goals, not only of the paragraph, but in some ways, the goals of the entire chapter. It summarizes the end of everything he’s described thus far, and he gets ready to repeat that We do not lose heart in the next verse (16).

There are three ambitions, three goals of this serving, sacrificing, and speaking ministry. It is the strongest 3G network on the planet.

Abounding Grace (v.15a)

The first goal is that grace would abound.

For it is all for your sake. (verse 15a)

He has twice stated in chapter four that he was a servant. All ministers are servants. That is what “minister” means: servant. He explicitly stated in verse five that he proclaimed “Jesus Christ as Lord with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” He worked to bring life to others by his dying (verse 12). And now he summarizes: it is all for your sake, maybe a better translation, “all (these) things are for your sake.”

What is the all that is for their sake? The all that is for them are all of the afflictions and difficulties he endured in the previous paragraph. “All of these things are because of you, that is, they are on your behalf.” All of his being afflicted, all of his being perplexed, all of his being persecuted, all of his being struck down, all of his dying. His life was spent for others. He endured every trouble that others might receive the benefit.

Paul said as much in 2 Timothy 2:10.

I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

It was in his endurance that grace was abounding. The purpose clause that finishes verse 15 does not change the subject. All things are for you so that as grace abounds. In other words, grace was abounding as he was being beat up. He was spreading grace all over the place through his dying. When his pot banged around, grace sloshed out of his pot onto those who were around.

The ESV translates, so that as grace extends. That’s fine. There is a numerical element. But I think the numerical element comes more some from the more and more people. I think a better understanding of what grace is doing is “increasing,” or abounding. The point is numerical or geographical. The point is excess. The point is a filling up and overflowing; an increase beyond what is necessary; an abounding of grace.

Grace abounds on those for whom we give our lives.

Abounding Gratitude (v.15b)

As we give our lives and as grace abounds, so does gratitude.

as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving

There is a play on words here as well, abounding grace (χάρις) brings abounding gratitude (εὐχαριστίαν), from the same Greek root. The thanksgiving of the many is growing.

Thanksgiving should increase because grace makes the poor rich. Jesus had the same goal.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)

If gratitude does not grow around our pots, our pots probably are not filled with the gospel of grace. If the ground around us is dry, it may be because the pot is empty. Even worse, if what spills out burns the ground, it may be law coming out of the pot like the wrong fertilizer. If we encounter difficulties with reluctance, let alone resentment, thanksgiving will not abound.

We want thanksgiving to go viral. Viral means a rapid spread, and in this case, it isn’t information that spreads only, it is gratitude. If we want to see thanksgiving go viral, we’ve got to be willing to be used up and endure all things.

Abounding Glory (v.15c)

The first two goals are personal, we might categorize them as horizontal ambitions. We serve people, we want more and more people to give more and more thanks. That said, abounding gratitude is not the end. Gratitude is not the highest goal, gratitude is penultimate (next to last). The ultimate goal is God’s honor.

to the glory of God.

The ESV translation is a bit misleading. I think it is clearer to say, “All things (are endured) for you, in order that the grace–the grace increasing through the gratitude of the many–may increase to the glory of God.”

The final end is doxological, that is, God being honored as He deserves. Where does it start? Note the sequence:

1. abounding afflictions lead to
2. abounding grace, that leads to
3. abounding thanksgiving, that leads to
4. abounding glory

That shouldn’t sound new. That’s the gospel. That was the life and work of Jesus. The good news is that His afflictions delivered us from sin by grace. Our afflictions aren’t redemptive, but they are used by God to scatter and spread the grace of the gospel.

Conclusion

We must spend our lives on His behalf.

How can we maximize thanksgiving to the glory of God among the many, to the more and more, in our families, in our ministries, and in our local body?

In response to 2 Corinthians 4:13-15, I think we need:

1. Thick gratitude. We must be examples of abounding thankfulness. We must not be examples not of pettiness, bitterness, or reluctance and think that we will spread thanksgiving. Our gratitude must be thick like the lava flowing from an exploded volcano that wipes out every criticism and negative attitude and petty squabble in its way. We want a thick and sticky gratitude like a snowball rolling down a mountainside it takes out the trees of problems planted in the path. We want a gooey gratitude, impossible to clean off of someone else. If our gratitude is runny and thin, it will slide away. If we have so much gratitude that sticks on others it will limit how much negativity they can exercise. We won’t spread gratitude by being better criticizers of their critical spirits that we’ll stop them from criticizing. It’s being thick with gratitude. That will change a culture.
2. Stiff faith. We must actually believe what we say, and believe so much that we can’t shut up about it. Too many professions are plastic; they are limp and flop around in the storm. They won’t stand or anchor us. When the afflictions come, we’re not likely to speak up if we’re not strong in faith. Speaking comes from believing, if the believing is weak, the speaking will also be weak, if speaking happens at all.
3. Relentless anticipation. As we are poured out, banged up, beat around pots, sloshing grace over every side, the only way we’ll keep going is as we look to our resurrection. We will only give up our lives for others if we believe that in giving up life we gain life, that dying and death is never vain and not the end. Dying and death result in resurrection, being raised with Jesus. If we only do what is convenient, cheap, and selfish, the gratitude of others will shrivel, and then God will not be honored as He deserves.