There are three things from which many of the people of God suffer severely, and which may truly be called “sore evils,” namely a legal mind, a morbid conscience, a self-occupied heart. We can do little more in these few lines than name these things and point out the remedies for them, praying the Lord in His great mercy, to give full deliverance to any of our readers who may be tried by any or all of these things.
1. And, first, as to a legal mind. This is a very common evil, and one hard to be laid aside. In many cases it cleaves to the very last, and robs the soul of that peace and liberty which are the proper portion of all the children of God. It exhibits itself in various ways. It hinders the soul in its enjoyment of the free grace of God, and of the salvation which that grace has accomplished, and lowers the whole tone of the life and character. Furthermore, it falsifies the character of God, by presenting Him as an Exactor demanding a certain amount of duty, instead of a giver delighting in praise. In a word, a legal mind, in so far as it is allowed to work, spoils everything. It creates a dark cloud between the soul and God, and in doing this it throws everything into confusion. There may be the most scrupulous attention to the letter of Scripture – the most earnest desire to keep the standard of conduct up to what that letter enjoins, all right enough, no doubt, but the legal mind renders all cold, formal, heavy and ungenial. Service is put as a duty instead of a delight. It chills the affections and hinders their going out after God Himself.
Thus much as to this first sore evil. And now one word as to the remedy. What is it? Grace. Yes; grace is the grand remedy for a legal mind. Let the free grace of God, in all its sweetness and heavenly power, enter into the soul. Let God be known and enjoyed in His true character as the Giver – the one delighting in worship – inhabiting the praises of His ransomed people. Let grace possess the whole being. Let it be known and realized that we stand in absolute grace, that we are not under law but under grace, that every yoke is broken, and every fetter burst, that we are looked at in Christ, and loved as He is loved, washed in His blood and brought nigh to God. Let these divine realities be laid hold of in the power of simple, childlike faith, and the shadows of a legal mind will be chased away, and all its hateful workings counteracted. A heart established with grace is the sovereign remedy, the divine specific, for the sore disease of a legal mind.
2. We shall now dwell for a moment on a morbid conscience. How does this evil work? It, too, works in various ways, and cuts out a vast amount of sorrowful work for the soul. It is continually creating difficulties and suggesting doubts. Instead of being governed by the plain precepts of the Word of God, it is ever and only governed by its own fears. No one who has not been troubled with a morbid conscience can have any idea of the amount of suffering it entails upon its possessor. If it should so happen, and it often does, that a morbid conscience stands connected with a legal mind, the poor harassed soul must be a stranger to peace and joy in believing.
Now, what is the remedy for this sad and afflicted disease? Truth. The plain truth of God, the authority of holy Scripture, the conscience brought into immediate contact with the Word, and subjection to it alone – this is the remedy for a morbid conscience. In this way, the soul is governed simply by the claims of divine truth, and not by its own scrupulous fears – an immense deliverance!
3. Finally, as to the grievous evil of a self-occupied heart. It would be utterly impossible to trace its workings, so manifold and various are they. There are few who do not know something of this, even though they may not suffer from a morbid conscience or a legal mind. A self-occupied heart leads us to look at things and think of things and estimate things in reference to ourselves.
We value people in proportion as they adapt themselves or are agreeable to us. There is, though we may not be fully aware of it, a manifest leaning towards person’s who suit us in tastes, feelings, opinions and habits of thought. We like those who agree with us in all our peculiar views and prejudices. Men and things are not looked at in simple reference to Christ and His interests, but rather to self and its interests.
This is indeed a sore evil. We may say, and say it, too, with much decision, that self-occupation is the death blow to fellowship-fellowship with God, and fellowship with God’s people. And what is the remedy? What is the infallible cure, the divine specific for self-occupation? The person of Christ. Grace is the remedy for a legal mind, truth for a morbid conscience, and the embodiment of grace and truth, even Christ Himself, for the self-occupied heart. May we know the real power and blessedness of these things.