A Broken Heart (2)

Secondly, I now come to show you with what, and how, the heart is broken and the spirit made contrite.

The instrument with which the heart is broken and with which the spirit is made contrite is the Word. “Is not My Word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?”

(Jeremiah 23:29). The rock in this text is the heart, which in another place is compared to an adamant, which adamant is harder than flint (Zechariah 7:11-12; Ezekiel 3:9).

This rock, this adamant, this stony heart is broken and made contrite by the Word. But it only is so when the Word is as a fire, and as a hammer to the heart to break it when it is managed by the arm of God. No man can break the heart with the Word; no angel can break the heart with the Word; that is, if God forbears to second it by mighty power from heaven. This made Balaam go without a heart rightly broken and truly contrite, though he was rebuked by an angel; and the Pharisees die in their sins, though rebuked for them and admonished to turn from them by the Savior of the world. Wherefore, though the Word is the instrument with which the heart is broken, yet it is not broken with the Word until that Word is managed by the might and power of God.

This made the prophet Isaiah, after long preaching, cry out that he had labored for nought and in vain; and this made him cry to God to rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains, or rocky hills, or hearts, might be broken and melt at His presence (Isaiah 49:4; 64:1-2); for he found by experience that as to this, no effectual work could be done unless the Lord put to His hand. This also is often intimated in the Scriptures, where it saith, when the preachers preached effectually to the breaking of men's hearts, the Lord wrought with them; the hand of the Lord was with them; and the like (Mark 16:20; Acts 11:21).

Now when the hand of the Lord is with the Word, then it is mighty; it is “mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds” (2 Corinthians 10:4). It is sharp then as a sword in the soul and spirit; it sticks like an arrow in the hearts of sinners, to the causing the people to fall at His feet for mercy. Then it is, as was said before, as a fire and as a hammer, to break this rock in pieces (Hebrews 4:12; Psalm 110:3).

Hence the Word is made mention of under a double consideration: (1) as it stands by itself, and (2) as attended with power from heaven.

1. As it stands by itself and is not seconded with saving operation from heaven, it is called the Word only, the Word barely, or as if it were only the word of man (1 Thessalonians 1:5-7; 1 Corinthians 4:19-20; 1 Thessalonians 2:13); because then it is only managed by men who are not able to make it accomplish that work. The Word of God, when in a man's hand only, is like the father's sword in the hand of the sucking child; which sword, though never so well pointed, and though never so sharp on the edges, is not now able to conquer a foe and to make an enemy fall and cry out for mercy, because it is but in the hand of the child.

But now let the same sword be put into the hand of a skillful father (and God is both skillful and able to manage His Word), and then the sinner, and then the proud helpers, too, are both made to stoop and submit themselves. Wherefore I say, though the Word be the instrument, yet of itself it does no saving good to the soul; the heart is not broken nor the spirit made contrite thereby; it only works death and leaves men in the chains of their sins, still faster bound over to eternal condemnation (2 Corinthians 2:15-16).

2. But when seconded by mighty power, then the same Word is as the roaring of a lion, as the piercing of a sword, as a burning fire in the bones, as thunder, and as a hammer that dashes all to pieces (Jeremiah 25:30; Amos 1:2; Amos 3:8; Acts 2:37; Jeremiah 20:9; Psalm 29:3-9). Wherefore, from hence it is to be concluded that whoever have heard the Word preached, and have not heard the voice of the living God therein, have not as yet had their hearts broken nor their spirits made contrite for their sins.

And this leads me to the second thing, to wit, to show how the heart is broken and the spirit made contrite by the Word; and verily it is when the Word comes home with power. But this is but general: wherefore more particularly,

1. The Word works effectually to this purpose when it finds out the sinner and his sin and shall convince him that it has found him out. Thus it was with our first father; when he had sinned, he sought to hide himself from God. He got himself among the trees of the garden, and there he shrouded himself. But yet not thinking himself secure, he covered himself with fig leaves, and now he lay quiet. “Now God shall not find me,” thinks he, “nor know what I have done.” But lo, by and by he heard the “voice of the LORD God walking in the garden.” And now, Adam, what do you mean to do? Why, as yet he skulked, hiding his head and seeking yet to lie undiscovered. But, behold, the Voice cries out, “Adam!” Now he began to tremble. “Adam, where art thou?” said God, and now Adam was made to answer. But the voice of the Lord God did not leave him here; no, it now began to search and to inquire after his doings, and to unravel what he had wrapped together and covered, until it made him bare and naked in his own sight before the face of God (Genesis 3:7-11).

Thus therefore does the Word, when managed by the arm of God; it finds out, it singles out the sinner, and the sinner finds it so. It finds out the sins of the sinner, it unravels his whole life, it strips him and lays him naked in his own sight before the face of God. Neither can the sinner nor his wickedness be longer hid and covered; and now begins the sinner to see what he never saw before.

2. Another instance of this is David, the man of our text. He sinned, he sinned grossly, he sinned and hid it, yea, and sought to hide it from the sight of God and man. Well, Nathan was sent to preach a preaching to him, and that in common and that in special; in common, by a parable; in special, by a particular application of it to him. While Nathan only preached in common, or in general, David was whole and stood as right in his own eyes as if he had been innocent and as harmless as any man alive. But God had a love for David, and therefore commanded His servant Nathan to go home not only to David's ears, but to David's conscience.

Now David must fall. Nathan said, “Thou art the man,” and David said, “I have sinned” (2 Samuel 12:1, 5, 7, 13). Then his heart was broken and his spirit made contrite, as this psalm and our text does show.

3. A third instance is that of Saul. He had heard many a sermon and was become a great professor; yea, he was more zealous than many of his equals. But his heart was never broken nor his spirit ever made contrite till he heard one preach from heaven, till he heard God, in the Word of God, making inquiry after his sins. “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?” said Jesus, and then he can stand no longer. Then his heart broke, and he fell to the ground. Then he trembled, crying out, “Who art Thou, Lord?” and “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?”

Wherefore as I said, the Word works effectually to this purpose when it finds out the sinner and his sin, and also when it shall convince him that it has found him out. Only I must join here a caution, for every operation of the Word upon the conscience is not saving, nor does all conviction end in the saving conversion of the sinner. It is then only such an operation of the Word that is intended, when it shows the sinner not only the evil of his ways, but brings the heart unfeignedly over to God by Christ.

— to be continued —

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