The Pilgrims again discourse with Ignorance. yea, I thought that, if I had now a thousand gallons of blood in my body, I could spill it all for the sake of the Lord Jesus. I saw in my dream, that Hopeful looked back, and saw Ignorance, whom they had left behind, coming after Look, said he to Christian, how far yonder youngster loitereth behind. Chr. Ay, Ay, I see him; he careth not for our company. Hope. But I trow it would not have hurt him, had he kept pace with us hitherto. Chr. That is true; but I'll warrant you he thinketh otherwise. Hope. That I think he doth ; but however, let us tarry for him. (So they did) Then Christian said to him, Come away man, why do you stay so behind? Ignor. I take my pleasure in walking alone, even more a great deal than in company, unless I like it better. Then said Christian to Hopeful, (but softly) did I not tell you he cared not for our company! but however, said he, Come up, and let us talk away the time in this solitary place. Then directing his speech to Ignorance, he said, Come, how do you do? How stands it between God and your soul now? Ignor. I hope well; for I am always full of good motions, that come into my mind, to comfort me as I walk. (e) Chr. What good motions? Pray tell us. (e) Real Christians are often put to a stand, while they find and feel the working of all corruptions and sins in their nature; and when they hear others talk so highly of themselves, how full their hearts are of love to God, good motions, &c. and without Ignorance shews his hopes of heaven. Chr. So do the devils and damned souls. Ignor. But I think of them and desire them. Chr. So do many that are never like to come there" The soul of the sluggard desires, and hath nothing." Ignor. But I think of them and leave all for them. Chr. That I doubt; for to leave all is a very hard matter; yea, a harder matter than many are aware of. But why, or by what, are you persuaded that thou hast left all for God and heaven? Ignor. My heart tells me so. Chr. The wise man says, "He that trusts his own heart is a fool."* Ignor. This is spoken of an evil heart, but mine is a good one. Chr. But how dost thou prove that? Ignor. It comforts me in hopes of Heaven. Chr. That may be through its deceitfulness; for a man's heart may minister comfort to him in the hopes of that thing for which he has yet no ground to hope. Ignor. But my heart and life agree together, and therefore my hope is well grounded. Chr. Who told thee that thy heart and life agree together? * Prov. xxviii. 26. any complainings of the plague of their hearts. But all this is from the ignorance of their own hearts; and pride and self-righteousness hardened them against feeling its desperate wickedness. But divine teaching eauses a christian to see, know, and feel the worst of himself, that he may glory of nothing in or of himself, but that all his glorying should be of what precious Christ is to him, and what he is in Christ. See the contrary of all this, exemplified in Ignorance; in whom we see as in a mirror, many professors, who are strangers to their own hearts, hence are deceived into vain self-confidence. Ignorance explains his thoughts to Christian. Ignor. My heart tells me so. Chr. Ask my fellow if I be a thief? Thy heart tells thee so! Except the word of God beareth witness in this matter, other testimony is of no value. Ignor. But is it not a good heart that has good thoughts? And is not that a good life that is according to God's commandments? Chr. Yes, that is a good heart that has good thoughts, and that is a good life that is according to God's commandments; but it is one thing indeed to have these, and another to think so. Ignor. Pray, what count you good thoughts, and a life according to God's commandments? Chr. There are good thoughts of divers kinds : some respecting ourselves, some God, some Christ, and some other things. Ignor. What be good thoughts respecting ourselves? Chr. Such as agree with the word of God. Ignor. When do our thoughts of ourselves agree with the word of God? Chr. When we pass the same judgment upon ourselves which the word passes. To explain myself: the word of God saith of persons in a natural condition, "There is none righteous, there is none that doth good." It saith also, that " every imagination of the heart of man is evil, and that continually." And again, "The imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth." Now, then, when we think thus of ourselves, having sense thereof, then are our thoughts good ones, because, according to the word of God. * Rom. iii. Gen. vi. 8. Good thoughts concerning God explained. Ignor. I will never believe that my heart is thus bad. (f) Chr. Therefore thou never hast one good thought concerning thyself in thy life. But let me go on.As the word passeth judgment upon our heart so it passeth judgment upon our ways; and when the thoughts of our hearts and ways agree with the judgment which the word giveth of both, then are both good, because agreeing thereto. Ignor, Make out your meaning. Chr. Why, the word of God saith, that man's ways are crooked ways;* not good, but perverse: it saith, they are naturally out of the good way, they have not known it. Now, when a man thus thinketh of his ways; I say, when he doth sensibly and with heart-humiliation, thus think; then hath he good thoughts of his own ways, because his thoughts now agree with the judgment of the word of God. Ignor. What are good thoughts concerning God? Chr. Even (as I have said concerning ourselves) when our thoughts of God do agree with what the word saith of him; and that is when we think of his being and attributes as the word hath taught; of which I cannot now discourse at large: but to speak of him in reference to us; we then have right thoughts of God, when we think that he knows us better than we know ourselves; and can see sin in * Ps. cxxv. 5. Pro. ii. 15. Rom. iii. (f) No man naturally can. But this is a sure sign that the light from heaven hath not shined into the heart, and made it manifest how superlatively wicked the heart is, and consequently how it deceives ignorant professors with a notion of being good in themselves, and keeps them from wholly relying upon Christ's atonement for pardon, and trusting only to his righteousness for justification unto life. The faith of Ignorance. us when and where we can see none in ourselves; when we think he knows our inmost thoughts, and that our heart, with all its depths, is always open unto his eyes; also when we think that all our righteousness stinks in his nostrils, and that therefore he cannot abide to see us stand before him in any confidence even in all our best performances. Ignor. Do you think that I am such a fool as to think God can see no farther than I? Or, that I would come to God in the best of my performances. Chr. Why, how dost thou think in this matter? Ignor. Why, to be short, I think I must believe in Christ for justification. Chr. How? Think thou must believe on Christ, when thou seest not the need of him? Thou neither seest thy original nor actual infirmities: but hast seen an opinion of thyself, and of what thou dost as plainly renders thee to be one that did never see a necessity of Christ's personal righteousness to justify thee before God. (g) How then dost thou say I believe in Christ. Ignor. I believe well enough for all that. Ignor. I believe that Christ died for sinners, and that I shall be justified before God from the curse, through his gracious acceptance of my obedience to the law. Or thus, Christ makes my duties, that are religious, acceptable to his Father, by virtue of his merits, and so shall be justified. (h) (g) Here we see how naturally the notion of man's righteousness blinds his eyes to, and keeps his heart from, believing, that Christ's personal righteousness alone justifies a sinner in the sight of God; and yet such ta k bravely of believing, but their faith is only fancy. They do not believe unto righteousness, but imagine they have now, or shall get, a righteousness of their own, some how or other. Awful delusion! (b) Here is the very essence of that delusion which works by |