Bit and Bridle–How To Escape Them

Bit and Bridle–How To Escape Them

(No. 2190)

A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 15, 1891,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go: I
will guide you with My eyes. Beyou not as the horse, or as the mule,
which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and
bridle, lest they come near to you." Psalm 32:8,9.

THE joy of full forgiveness is described in the first two verses of
this Psalm–"Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin
is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputes not iniquity
and in whose spirit there is no guile." Oh, the blessedness of sitting
at Jesus' feet, a sinner washed in His blood! Outside of Heaven there
is no greater joy–and even there they sing of blood-washed robes!

After a man is pardoned, anxiety is awakened as to how he shall be kept
from sin in the future. The burnt child dreads the fire and, although
his burns have all been healed, he dreads the fire none the less, but
all the more. These who have been scorched by sin tremble at even a
distant approach to the flame. You will always know whether you are
delivered from the guilt of sin by answering this question–Am I
delivered from the love of sin? He who lost his way yesterday feels his
need of a guide today and tomorrow. How can the pardoned one endure the
thought of sinning, again, against the Lord? David's great anxiety on
this score is met by the gracious answer of the Lord–"I will instruct
you and teach you in the way which you shall go."

Another thing is noteworthy–David was now rid of guile as well as
guilt. Orientals pride themselves on their cunning and David, by
nature, had a considerable share of craft about him. But he now drives
it from his spirit–he will not, from now on, tolerate himself in
deceit. When he had thrown away this false wisdom, this carnal
prudence, he felt that he must look elsewhere for guidance. If he is no
longer to plot and plan with the cunning which he had shown in the
matter of Uriah, he will need other direction–and he looks up for it.
See how our gracious God comes in with the promise of guidance. "The
meek will He guide in judgment: and the meek will He teach His way."
"The Lord preserves the simple." The upright, who can no longer trust
their own deceitful hearts, shall find the Lord an all-sufficient
Guide. Happy is it for them that He has spoken such a word as this–"I
will instruct you and teach you in the way which you

shall go."

One other observation. We find David, in this Psalm, reaching to a high
state of joy on account of his being forgiven. He exclaims, in the
seventh verse, "You shall compass me about with songs of deliverance."
A very proper state of mind to be in! It is meet that the pardoned
sinner should leap for joy. But, at the same time, the wisdom of God
comes in, not to check the joy, but to render it more deep, more
sure–and to prevent its coming to an untimely end. David is in
ecstasies of delight, but he is to be reminded that he is not yet in
Heaven, and that he is compassed about with other things besides songs.
The voice of God commends his joy, but also reminds him that there lies
before him a future full of perils and a life strewn with temptations.
He is, from then on, to be a disciple as well as a singer! He needs to
be instructed and taught in the way, for he is still a pilgrim and not
yet at his journey's end. Sound the timbrel, if you will, and shout for
joy and sing unto the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously! But
remember that on the other side of the Red Sea there is a wilderness
and you will require much Divine Grace to traverse it–such Grace as
only the Shepherd of Israel can give you. You will be wise to address
yourselves to your journey and resolve to follow Him whose eyes discern
the way, and whose hands can help you in it. A pilgrim's life is not
all feasting. He has something else to do besides praising God upon the
high-sounding cymbals. We must sit at Jesus' feet, as well as look to
His Cross. We are to bear His yoke and learn of Him, that we may find
rest for our souls.

This may stand as an introduction, for now I need to conduct you
further into this grave business of the saved man. You are pardoned, my
Friend, you know you are, and you feel the joy of that knowledge. God
grant that your joy may abound yet more and more! Sitting in your seat
this morning, you are saying, "Oh, the heaped-up blessedness of the man
whose transgression is forgiven and whose sin is covered!" Yes, but you
are not yet in Heaven! Something more is needed–not to secure the love
of God, not to complete the work of Sovereign Grace–but to educate you
for the skies, to make you meet to be a partaker of the inheritance of
the saints in light! About that matter we are going to talk as the Holy
Spirit shall enable us.

That I may set before you, to the fullest, the teaching of the text, I
would have you note, first, a privilege to be sought–Divine
instruction, practical teaching and tender guidance. Secondly, a
character to be avoided–"Be you not as the horse, or as the mule,
which have no understanding." This will bring us to consider, thirdly,
an infliction to be escaped–"Whose mouth must be held in with bit and
bridle." If you do not wish to be bitted and bridled, be readily
obedient to the direction of your Lord! We will come to a close by
reflecting that there is a freedom to be attained. You may be free from
bit and bridle and guided by the eyes of God. You may find your way to
Heaven without the need of these rough chastisements which compel
obedience. Oh, for the help of the great Teacher in this matter!

I. First, here is A PRIVILEGE TO BE SOUGHT. I will proceed at once to
set it forth from the words before us.

This guidance is very full in its nature. Three words are used to
describe it–"I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you
shall go: I will guide you with My eyes."

The first word is, "I will instruct you"–a promise more full of
meaning than would appear upon its surface. God is prepared to give you
an inward understanding of spiritual things, for His instruction is
intensely effectual upon the mind. The Lord is prepared to teach you in
His Truths–to make you wise in heavenly matters. Though saved, you
are, as yet, a mere child, and unfamiliar with great Truths of God. You
know but little of Divine things–you know little of yourself, little
of your danger, little of holiness and little of God–but the Lord
promises, here, to take you for His pupil and to be, Himself, your
Instructor! He instructs so effectually as really to build up the mind
and, therefore, the Psalmist says, "Through Your precepts I get
understanding." Other instructors can awaken that measure of
understanding which is already ours, but God gives understanding to the
simple. A good understanding is one of the gifts of His Grace and
blessed are they who receive it!

The second word is, "I will teach you." And this teaching is most
practical, for the promise is–"I will teach you in the way which you
shall go." God adds the precept to the doctrine and instructs us in
both. Eminently precious is that practical teaching by which you are
made to know what to do and how to do it. Theoretical teaching is of
small importance compared with this practical learning. The Lord will
teach us the art and mystery of holiness. He will apprentice us to the
Lord Jesus as the Master of Righteousness–he will make us journeymen,
one of these days, and turn us into fullblown "workmen that need not to
be ashamed." Our great Teacher sends forth fine workmen, whose good
works are seen of men and cause them to glorify the Father in Heaven.

The promise of the Lord, in the third word of the verse, goes even
further than doctrinal and practical instruction, for we read, "I will
guide you with My eyes." Herein is fellowship as well as instruction,
for the guide goes with the traveler, and thus will God, in the process
of our instruction, give us fellowship with Himself. Blessed are they
who follow the Lamb wherever He goes–they have both the privilege of
holy walk and heavenly company. It is our high privilege that, while
our Shepherd goes before us, He calls us by name and we follow closely
in His footsteps, as His well-beloved sheep. We are not only to be told
the way and led into the way, but to be accompanied in it by our
Teacher and Friend. The education which the Lord provides is complete
in all its branches–mind, life and heart are all under the Divine
tuition! This is no pauper school, or merely preparatory seminary–the
text describes a high school of holiness, a grammar school of Grace, a
University of holiness! In this place of sacred instruction, you may
take high degrees, if you will, and also become teachers of others! He
who forgave you provides everything for you that you can need to make
you a disciple, indeed, a learner who in the ages to come shall make
known to angels and principalities and powers the manifold wisdom of
God! Who would not be a scholar in such a University as this?

Note, next, that this teaching is Divine in its source. See how it
runs–"I will instruct you." How delightful! "I will instruct you: I
will guide you with My eyes." The Lord will not put us in a low class,
where some half-instructed usher or pupil-teacher shall look after us.
No, we shall, all of us, be taught by the Lord Jesus, Himself, and His
Holy Spirit! It is

written, "I will instruct you: I will guide you." Our Lord may instruct
us by men who are taught of Himself, but, after all, the best of His
servants cannot teach us anything profitably except the Lord, Himself,
teaches by them and through them! He alone teaches us to profit. What a
wonderful condescension it is that the Lord should become a Teacher!
Sunday school teachers, adore the Head of your sacred college, even God
Himself! "I will teach you, I will instruct you." They are well taught
that are taught of God and this privilege is common to all the family
of love, for the Scripture says, "All your children shall be taught of
the Lord." It is not said that a portion of them shall be left to be
trained by angels or archangels, but they shall all be taught of the
Lord! Jehovah, Himself, will be the Instructor of every soul that comes
to Him through Jesus Christ!

Observe how wonderfully personal is this promised guidance. While the
address in the ninth verse is in the plural, "Be you not as the horse,
or as the mule," the promise is in the singular to each individual–"I
will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go; I will
guide you with My eyes." Wonder of wonders, the Infinite focuses
Himself upon the insignificant! We who are less than the motes in the
sunbeam, are, nevertheless, individually considered by Him who fills
all in all, who is greater than all that He fills! "I will instruct
you." Yes, Jehovah will condescend to instruct that Believer who is
feeblest of all the company. Rejoice, my Brothers and Sisters, that
though your understanding is a commonplace one, and though your
position is very obscure, yet the Lord does not say, "I will send you
to a preparatory school kept by some inferior teacher." But He does
say, "I will instruct you." God instructs each Believer as truly as if
He were His only child. It is delightful to reflect that while Christ's
death has a sufficient efficacy in it to save a believing world, yet if
His design had been to save only me, He would have to have offered the
same Sacrifice as He has done. His death would have been necessary to
prove that "He loved me, and gave Himself for me." So, while our Lord's
teaching would suffice to instruct myriads of men who are willing to
learn, yet does He condescend to bring all His teaching to bear upon
each single person–"I will instruct you and teach you in the way which
you shall go." I note with comfort, in the text, what the French call
tu-toi-age. Speaking to one another very familiarly, they say, "you"
and, "you." How sweetly is this seen in this passage–"I will instruct
you and teach you in the way which you shall go. I will guide you with
My eyes"! Hear you not the great Father talking to His dear child? Yes,
I hear Him speaking to you and to me! Blessed be His name for such
familiar love! Let us profit by its promise even to the fullest.

Furthermore, this teaching is delightfully tender–"I will guide you
with My eyes." That is to say, if you are willing to be so directed,
the Lord will guide you, not by the rough means of bit and bridle,
muzzle and cord, but with His eyes–a way which implies understanding
on your part and love on His part. It is a recognition of confidence in
us when He promises, thus, to guide us. The mistress at the head of the
table gives a nod to Sarah. She knows what it means and the will of the
lady is done at once. The master has not to enter into details with old
John, who has been with him for so many years. John knows his wishes
and a wink or a look will speak volumes! Well-trained children of God
have their faces toward Him and soon perceive His mind–and this
secures their prompt obedience. They see much in little and they make
great account of every Word of the Lord. When we are what we ought to
be, the guidance of the Lord is not sent us in thunder, but in a still
small voice! And His instruction comes, not in tempests and hailstones,
but in sunbeams and dewdrops. Some saints can be effectually led with a
thread of hair. Cords of love and bands of a man are at once the most
tender and the strongest bonds for a sanctified soul. "I will guide you
with My eyes" is a charming promise, but it is of no use to the blind,
the stubborn, the careless, or the self-willed. What a pity that any
should debar themselves from so choice a privilege!

See, dear Friends, you that have been lately pardoned, and you, of
older years, who have long been forgiven, see what guidance there is
for you all the way from your starting point to the gate of pearl at
the end of the road! I say this because I mean to wind up this point
with the remark–This teaching is constant. "I will instruct you and
teach you; I will guide you." He that has begun to guide will not
suddenly desert! He that has commenced to teach you will never dismiss
you from His class! He that has, in a measure, instructed you and given
you an understanding, will continue to teach you until He has perfected
you in the knowledge of Himself and conformed you to the image of His
Son! I feel most happy to think that such a privilege is promised and
provided. I have heard of some who dream that, once forgiven, they may
live as they wish–but to such I would say, "You know nothing about the
matter. You are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of
iniquity." The man who believes in Jesus for salvation, believes in Him
so as to be set free from his sins–and his great anxiety is to be
saved from all iniquity and to be led in the ways of righteousness to
the glory of God!

Here is comfort for you that are really seeking a holy life–God has
made provision for your being led in it! He who has made you His child
will put you in school and teach you until you shall know the Lord
Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life! You shall soon know your
Father's name and Character and sing unto His praise among the bright
intelligences that surround His Throne!

II. I now ask your attention while I show you A CHARACTER TO BE
AVOIDED. We are told that since the Lord is ready to instruct us, we
are not to be stubborn and wayward. It is ours to be docile and
obedient. "Be you not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no
understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest
they come near to you."

We are not to imitate creatures of which we are the superiors. Man is
made to have dominion over the horse, the mule and the whole animal
creation–let him not seek his models among his servants. I have
sometimes heard speeches which have looked in that unwise direction.
One said, in my hearing, as an excuse for a passionate speech, "I could
not help it. If you tread on a worm it will turn." Is a worm to be the
example for a saint? By a worm in that case, I suppose, is meant a
serpent–and are you to follow serpents in their malice and venom? I
have heard the same thing turned the other way– and it has been made
to appear as if an animal might be all the worse for copying a man. The
driver of an omnibus was using his whip pretty freely upon one of his
horses, and a gentleman sitting on the box-seat observed, "You never
strike the horse on this side." "Bless you!" said the driver, "if I
were to touch that mare, when I went near her in the stable at night,
she would kick me like a Christian!" What a remarkable simile, was it
not? "Like a Christian!" Is that so, that Christians kick? That
Christians are found taking revenge? Here is a matter about which we
would urgently cry, "Be you not as the horse, or as the mule." Never
render evil for evil, railing for railing, for that is to copy the
beasts of the field! Let us look upward to the highest for our model
and never go down to the beasts of the field for models.

We must mind that we do not imitate creatures to whom we are so near
akin. The mule has a touch of the ass in it and I fear it is not the
only creature of which this may be said. Is not man, as unredeemed,
likened to the ass in the types of the Mosaic Law? Ah, Brothers and
Sisters, we are likened in Scripture to many strange beasts, and not
without reason! St. Augustine and other ancient writers discuss, at
length, the likeness which exists between men and mules. I am not going
to follow them in their observations, but would simply say with Dr.
Donne, "They have gone far in these illusions and applications. And
they might have gone as far further as it had pleased them–they have
sea-room enough that will compare a beast and a sinner together–and
they shall find many times, in the way, the beast the better man." I am
afraid that it is so. David himself says, "So foolish was I, and
ignorant: I was as a beast before You"–and yet he was so good a man
that he could add, "Nevertheless I am continually with You." A large
part of us is animal and its tendency is to drag down that part which
is more than angelic. How abject and yet how august is man! Brother to
the worm and yet akin to Deity! Immortal and yet a child of dust! Be
not the prey of your lower natures–as children of God, yield not
yourselves to that which it is your duty to subdue! Have the horse and
mule in subjection–keep under your body–do not bear the burden of the
animal but make the animal your burden-bearer. "Be you not as the
horse, or as the mule," but rise superior to flesh and blood. May the
Spirit of the Lord help your infirmities in this matter!

I believe the Psalmist here alludes to the horse and mule as creatures
naturally wild and needing to be broken and trained. We are by nature
as the wild ass that inhales the wind of the wilderness–"he scorns the
multitude of the city, neither regards he the crying of the driver."
These wild creatures we can make nothing of till we break them in–be
not like they–useless, untrained, unbroken. Yet this is how we begin
life naturally and spiritually. It is good to get broken in early in
life–"it is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth." It is
an ill thing for a man to have no restraint in youth and no trouble in
manhood. When men and women follow out their own sweet wills, the end
is seven-fold bitterness. A mind uncorrected is a vine unpruned, which
yields no fruit, but trails along the ground and rots as it trails. It
is a grand thing to learn the meaning of the word, "obey." It is ill
with these who remain unsubdued. They are of little worth to themselves
or to others. The Holy Spirit would not have any of the Lord's people
to be of that wild, untamable character, for which there is neither use
nor hope.

Furthermore, we are not to imitate creatures devoid of reason. "Be you
not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding." He
especially lays stress on this–that they are without understanding.
What does he mean by that? Horses and mules have been so trained that
they have needed neither bit nor bridle and have performed marvelous
feats at a word. It is possible for these animals to be brought to so
high a training that they obey the word of command without

the use of force. They come to have an understanding of their owner's
intent and act as if they really entered into their master's designs.
With the horses and mules of our streets–and of David's day–this is
not the case. These display little understanding and we are not to be
like they. You are a reasoning man–act reasonably! You have
understanding–do not act under mere impulse, blind willfulness, or
ignorant folly. Here is the point, Brothers and Sisters–what we need
is to come to an understanding with God and to stay in that condition.
The horse does not understand his driver's wishes, except as he
intimates them through the bit and bridle. When he is to turn, when he
is to quicken his pace and when he is to stand still, he must be told
through the rein, for, apart from the bit in his mouth, he has no
understanding of the man's mind.

That thought which works in the mind of his driver is not working in
the mule's mind and, therefore, he has to feel a pull at his mouth to
make him know his master's desire. We need to come to an understanding
with God. "Be you not unwise, but understanding what the will of the
Lord is." Be sensitive to the Spirit of God! So dwell in God that He
shall dwell in you and His indwelling shall cause you to feel at once
what it is that He would have you to do. May your will be so in accord
with the Lord's will that you will only what He wills! This is the
highest form of understanding that I know of–may we never rest till we
have it. "Give me understanding and I shall keep Your Law." You know
how we say, "I should like to come to some understanding with that
man," for you feel that without it your relations are unsatisfactory.
When two friends really understand each other's purpose and enter into
each other's design, then they act as if they were one. Be you so near
to God in heart that you can be guided with His eyes because you
understand the mind of your heavenly Father and are in full sympathy
with Him!

But the Psalmist also adds, concerning the horse and the mule, that
having no understanding, they are creatures with much self-will and
waywardness. "Their mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest
they come near to you." If you look at the Revised Version, you will
find it is, "else they will not come near to you." And Calvin has it,
"lest they kick at you." This is a very obscure passage as to the
words, but it is not at all doubtful as to its sense, for the point is
that the animal will not do what it should do, but it will obstinately
do what it ought not to do–until it gets the bit in its mouth to
compel it to do its master's will. So is it with ourselves, but so it
should not be! At one time we find men rashly rushing near to God–they
have no reverence, no holy trembling and awe. Some appear to be as
familiar with God as if He were one of them. Thus the Lord complains in
the Psalm, "You thought that I was altogether such an one as yourself."
Such vain people need a bit, lest they come near to God. They need to
hear the voice which cries, "Draw not near here: put off your shoes
from off your feet." Oh, for more holy reverence!

Others will not come near to God at all and need a bit because they run
off from the Lord into infidelity, blasphemy, or open vice. These
endeavor to carry out their own wild wills, throwing up their heels as
they please, and prancing over hill and plain with a defiant contempt
of rule and order. We know that kind of people–let us not in any
measure grow like they. There are horses and mules that will kick,
bite, and do grievous harm to these round about them unless they are
restrained with straps and harness. I am afraid I know some kicking
saints as well as kicking sinners and I am more afraid of these kicking
professors than of the outwardly wicked. I would sooner be bitten by a
wolf than by a sheep, that is to say, I could more readily bear injury
from an ungodly man than from a professed Believer. A kick from a
Christian causes very serious wounding to a gracious heart. "It was not
an enemy: then I could have borne it." Remember the question and
answer–"What are these wounds in your hands? Those with which I was
wounded in the house of my friends." These are wounds, indeed, which
our Lord receives from a traitorous disciple. "Be you not as the horse,
or as the mule, whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest
they kick at you." Kick not at the will of your Lord! Kick not at the
doctrines of His Word. Kick not at the precepts of His house. Kick not
at His servants. Kick not at His Providences. Kick not at His Cross.
Surely, I need not further urge you to avoid this unlovely character.
None of you would wish to be as the horse, or as the mule.

III. I will now dwell for a few minutes upon AN INFLICTION TO BE
ESCAPED. If you mean to be like the horse or the mule, you may readily
be so, but you will have to pay the penalty. If the Lord means to save
you, He will use a bit and a bridle upon you, if you render them
necessary by your willfulness. If you will be guided by His eyes, there
will be no need for such stern work–but if you are stubborn, He will
not spare you.

I may say of this bit and bridle, that such trappings are a curb upon
freedom. A man would not endure to go about wearing a bit and a bridle,
yet many a child of God is in that condition spiritually because he is
not subdued to the will of

the Lord. Because he is not tender of conscience, because he is
frequently disobedient, because he does not carry out his Lord's will,
he has to suffer severe discipline and labor under serious
disadvantage. If the man were willingly obedient to the Divine will,
things would go more happily with him.

The bit is not applied unless it is found necessary, but it will be
applied if necessary. My text says, "Whose mouth must be held in with
bit and bridle. Mark that, "must." That must arises out of the nature
of the creature dealt with. Some men, if they are to go to Heaven, must
be poor on the road, or must be sick, or must be defeated, or must be
misunder-stood–not because there is any real necessity, apart from
their obstinate, cross-grained nature–but because they, themselves,
render it necessary. God is resolved to save them and, therefore, he
will drive them to salvation with bit and bridle rather than leave them
free to rush downward to Hell through the indulgence of their own
passions and ambitions!

Dear Friends, what a wretched descent is this from being guided by
God's eyes! In the first case we have an intelligent servant so in
accord with his Lord that a look suffices to set him running in the way
of obedience. And in the second case we have an avowedly Christian man
so out of accord with God that he has to be treated like a mule which
will only yield under compulsion and only obey as it is made to smart!
I do not know, dear Brothers and Sisters, if this description applies
to any of you, but if it does, kindly take it home–and if I seem to be
personal to you–well, I intend to be personal and, therefore, I dare
not apologize. I am afraid that many of us ought to make it more
personal to ourselves than we are likely to do. There is a hair of the
mule's tail in every one of us!

"Be you not as the horse, or as the mule," or you shall have your mouth
held in with bit and bridle. That is always a very unpleasant matter.
It is not comfortable, even to a mule, to wear bit and bridle, and it
certainly must be very unpleasant to a man. I have known Brothers and
Sisters whom God could not use in the conversion of many souls, for
they could not bear prosperity. The Lord did bless the preacher, once,
and he grew so great in his own esteem that he was not bearable to
these around him. For the man's own sake the good Lord saw that it was
not safe to let him be useful. Here is a man who formerly succeeded in
business, but he grew so worldly, so purse-proud, so forgetful of God,
that it was necessary to take his wealth away from him! And it has been
done–and now he is devout and lowly.

Another man, when he is in health and strength, is so full of levity
and carelessness that he plays the fool. And, in order to keep him
right, it is necessary to let him have a sluggish liver, or an aching
head, or a sick home, or something else which may sober him. My Friend,
if God means to get you to Heaven, He will lead you there gently if you
will freely go. But if you are obstinate and hard, He will thrust the
bit between your jaws and drive you there. The less willfulness the
less harness, but if need be, you shall wear all the paraphernalia of
an unquiet horse, for the great Trainer will have the upper hand of you
and thus He will save you! The Lord would be glad for you to go without
these disagreeable things, but if you will have them, you shall have
them.

I know a person who is always grumbling and I do not wonder that he
always seems to have cause for it. It is like the child that I heard
crying and its mother said to it, "Hold your tongue! If you cry for
nothing, I will soon give you something to cry for." Many a child of
God has found something to cry for as the result of wanton murmuring.
Some Hearers even go to the House of God and complain that the preacher
says this, and does not say that, and omits the other. Before long the
Lord removes the preacher they complained of and they have nobody to
feed their souls–and then they begin to wish they had the old preacher
back again! Well, well, if you make rods for your backs, God will use
them upon you! It is His custom not to let anything lie idle in His
House. So, if you are busy making a rod, He will be busy in putting it
to its proper use.

But all this is unnatural to the child of God. Your children do not go
about your house with bits in their mouths and bridles on their heads.
God would not have his own regenerated ones going up and down in the
world all bitted and bri-dled–but it shall be so sooner than they
shall be lost! Disobedience is ruin–from that He must deliver His
people. If we take delight in holiness, we shall not need rough usage.
Here is the sweet alternative–"I will instruct you and teach you in
the way which you shall go: I will guide you with My eyes." This is
God's way! Oh that it may be our way! May the good Spirit lead us into
it! Do not drive your Savior to be stern with you. Do not choose the
way of hardness–the brutish way, the mulish way. "Be you not as the
horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding," for then you will
become sad, gloomy, dull, stupid and full of disquietude. It is
essential that your iniquities should be subdued and they shall be. He
will save you–save you from rebellion, save you from self-seeking and
self-will. He will bend you to His holy will.

And if it cannot come to pass anyway else–then the bit and the bridle
shall conquer you! O Souls, submit yourselves to God. Vex not His Holy
Spirit by hardness of heart.

IV. Now I close by noticing A FREEDOM TO BE ATTAINED. There are
children of God who wear no bit or bri-dle–the Lord has loosed their
bonds. To them, obedience is delight–they keep His commands with their
whole heart. The Son has made them free and they are free, indeed!

They are free, first, because they are in touch with God. God's will is
their will. They answer to the Lord as the echo to the voice. Happy is
he who can say, "Whatever You desire, O my Lord, I would desire it
because You desire it." Then is it safe for the Lord to leave the man
free from compulsion. It is written, "Delight yourself also in the
Lord; and He shall give you the desires of your heart." This large
liberty can only be promised to these whose desires are in accordance
with their heavenly delight. When the desires run towards God with
delight, they shall surely be granted. When you and God have come to a
good, clear understanding with each other, so that you yield to Him in
all things. Then He will hear your prayers and give you the blessing
which makes rich and adds no sorrow. When you rejoice in Christ Jesus,
in whom the Father is well pleased, then will the Lord be pleased with
you! When you cry to Him in the day of trouble, coming to the Mercy
Seat, where He delights to dwell, then He will meet with you and lift
up the light of His Countenance upon you.

You shall be free, next, because you are tutored. The Lord cannot trust
our wild nature–He gives freedom where He gives His Spirit–"Where the
Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." How does our Lord put
it?–"Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly
in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls." He gives rest
through His blood. He makes you find rest through learning of Him and
bearing His yoke. It is only a horse that has been long taught and
trained by great skill that can be trusted to go through a performance
without bit or bridle. I sometimes hope there will come a day when
these who drive horses will not need to carry whips, because the noble
animals have been so trained by kindness as to answer to a word. I fear
that time is a long way off but I have greater hope of you, beloved
Brothers and Sisters, that you will be so trained that no constraint
but that of the love of Christ will be needed to be put upon you. The
Law was not made for a righteous man. I hope we shall not need Church
discipline, or Providential discipline, because we have been trained to
joyful, watchful, exact obedience. Oh, that it were so! Teach me, O
Lord! Teach me Your way. Show me what You would have me to do. Make me
to know the perfect love which casts out fear. When we are thus
instructed, the Lord will leave us by His sweet Grace to be encompassed
about by mercy and to be guided by His eyes.

We shall be free, again, because always trusting. Look at the 10th
verse–"He that trusts in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about."
Faith gives life and more faith gives light and liberty. When we
completely trust in God, we shall do His will completely. When we raise
no questions with God–when our reliance upon Him is without reserve;
when we know by faith that His will and way for us are perfect–then we
shall run in the way of His Commandments because He has enlarged our
steps. When we have received life more abundantly through a growing
faith, it will be safe for our Lord to take away all bits and
bridles–but not till then. When, through Grace, faith has triumphantly
mastered our whole being, we shall be victorious over the law of sin
and death which dwells in our members and tends to unrighteousness. And
then shall the yoke be taken away and the burden be removed. Blessed
freedom this!

Especially free because tender. "Be you not as the horse, or as the
mule"–these are thick of skin, tough of mouth– and so they are
mastered by hard means. If we become as tender as the apple of an eye,
God will guide us with His eyes. If we avoid even the appearance of
evil and shun every false way with delicate sensitiveness of mind, we
shall hear little about bits and bridles and the many other sorrows
which shall be to the wicked. Ah, dear Brothers and Sisters, what a
difference there is between one man and another even in the same
Church, holding the same faith! One Christian man needs repeated and
urgent warnings, while another is distressed with half a word of
admonition! It is hard to stir one to generosity, or to any exertion in
the Lord's cause, while another is earnest at once. Love works more in
some than fear can produce in others. We have to use strong arguments
and sharp cuts of the whip with certain sluggish minds, while others
are all sensitiveness and take to themselves censures which were never
meant for them.

Oh for a tender heart! May the heart of stone be taken away and a heart
of flesh be granted! May we be to the Lord's will as sensitive as the
mercury to air and heat! The wave is flowing and a cork upon the water
is carried wherever the current moves. That same wave merely ripples at
the side of a man-of-war–it does not stir in the least degree. Saintly
souls feel the ripples of the Holy Spirit, while self-sufficient
professors know nothing of anything less than a tornado!

Crave as a choice gift the renewal of a right spirit within you and
that right spirit will be eminently tender and pliant to the will of
the Lord. My Brothers and Sisters, my longing is that you and I may
stand with our faces towards the Lord, watching for the faintest
indications of the Divine will. May we be humble, teachable and mild!
May our soul be even as a weaned child!

All this will lead to high joy. See how the Psalm ends, "Shout for joy,
all you that are upright in heart"! When the bit is taken from the
mouth, the tongue will show forth the praises of the Lord! When the
bridle is gone, the mouth is free to sing to the Most High! If the
heart is well adjusted, there will be music in the life. When we follow
the Lord's guidance with alacrity, peace shall be our companion–and
joy shall hover over us like a guardian angel! This world will be the
vestibule of Heaven when we begin, even now, to rehearse that perfect
obedience which is the essential condition of bliss. Beloved, all this
the Holy Spirit must work in our hearts, or it will never be there. Cry
to Him for it in the name of Jesus, and the Lord will give you an
answer of peace!

PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON–Psalm 32.