WANDERING THOUGHTS.
2 COR. x. 4.
_Bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of
Christ._
1. BUT will God so _bring every thought into captivity to the obedience
of Christ_, that no _wandering thought_ will find a place in the mind,
even while we remain in the body? So some have vehemently maintained:
yea, have affirmed, that none are _perfected in love_, unless they are
so far perfected in understanding, that all _wandering thoughts_ are
done away: unless not only every affection and temper, be holy, and
just, and good, but every individual thought which arises in the mind,
be wise and regular.
2. This is a question of no small importance. For how many of those
who fear God, yea and love him, perhaps with all their heart, have been
greatly distrest on this account? How many, by not understanding it
right, have not only been distrest, but greatly hurt in their souls?
Cast into unprofitable, yea, mischievous reasonings, such as slackened
their motion towards God, and weakened them in running the race set
before them. Nay many, thro’ misapprehensions of this very thing, have
cast away the precious gift of God? They have been induced first to
doubt of, and then to deny the work God had wrought in their souls; and
hereby have grieved the Spirit of God, ’till he withdrew and left them
in utter darkness.
3. How is it then, that amidst the abundance of books which have been
lately published almost on all subjects, we should have none upon
_wandering thoughts_? At least none that will at all satisfy a calm and
serious mind? In order to do this in some degree, I purpose to enquire
I. What are the several sorts of wandering thoughts?
II. What are the general occasions of them?
III. Which of them are sinful, and which not?
IV. Which of them we may expect and pray to be delivered from?
I. 1. I purpose to enquire, first, What are the several sorts of
wandering thoughts? The particular sorts are innumerable; but in
general, they are of two sorts, thoughts that wander from God, and
thoughts that wander from the particular point we have in hand.
2. With regard to the former, all our thoughts are naturally of this
kind. For they are continually wandering from God: we think nothing
about him. God is not in all our thoughts: we are, one and all, as the
apostle observes, _without God in the world_. We think of what we love:
but we do not love God: therefore we think not of him. Or if we are
now and then constrained to think of him for a time, yet as we have no
pleasure therein, nay rather, as these thoughts are not only insipid,
but distasteful and irksome to us, we drive them out as soon as we
can, and return to what we love to think of. So that the world and
the things of the world, what we shall eat, what we shall drink, what
we shall put on: what we shall see, what we shall hear, what we shall
gain: how we shall please our senses or our imagination, takes up all
our time, and engrosses all our thought. So long therefore as we love
the world, that is, so long as we are in our natural state, all our
thoughts, from morning to evening, and from evening to morning, are no
other than wandering thoughts.
3. But many times we are not only _without God in the world_, but also
fighting _against him_: as there is in every man by nature a _carnal
mind which is enmity against God_: no wonder therefore that men abound
with _unbelieving_ thoughts: either saying in their hearts there is
no God, or questioning, if not denying his power or wisdom, his mercy,
or justice, or holiness. No wonder, that they so often doubt of his
providence, at least, of its extending to all events: or that even tho’
they allow it, they still entertain _murmuring or repining_ thoughts.
Nearly related to these and frequently connected with them, are _proud_
and _vain_ imaginations. Again: sometimes they are taken up with
_angry_, _malicious_ or _revengeful_ thoughts: at other times, with
airy scenes of pleasure, whether of sense or imagination: whereby the
earthy sensual mind, becomes more _earthy_ and _sensual_ still. Now by
all these, they make flat war with God; these are _wandering thoughts_
of the highest kind.
4. Widely different from these are the other sort of _wandering
thoughts_: in which the heart does not wander from God, but the
understanding wanders from the particular point it had then in
view. For instance: I sit down to consider those words in the verse
preceeding the text, _The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but
mighty thro’_ God. I think, “This ought to be the case with all that
are called Christians. But how far is it otherwise? Look round into
almost every part of what is termed the Christian world! What manner
of weapons are these using? In what kind of warfare are they engaged,
“While men, like fiends, each other tear
In all the hellish rage of war?
See how _these Christians_ love one another! Wherein are they
preferable to Turks and Pagans? What abomination can be found among
Mahometans or Heathens, which is not found among Christians also?”
And thus my mind runs off, before I am aware, from one circumstance
to another. Now all these are in some sense _wandering thoughts_. For
altho’ they do not wander from God, much less fight against him, yet
they do wander from the particular point I had in view.
II. Such is the nature, such are the sorts (to speak rather usefully,
than philosophically) of wandering thoughts. But what are the general
occasions of them? This we are, in the second place to consider.
1. And it is easy to observe, that the occasion of the former sort
of thoughts which oppose or wander from God, are in general, sinful
tempers. For instance. Why _is not_ God _in all the thoughts_, in any
of the thoughts of a natural man? For a plain reason: be he rich or
poor, learned or unlearned, he is an atheist; (tho’ not vulgarly
so called) he neither knows nor loves God. Why are his thoughts
continually wandering after the world? Because he is an idolater.
He does not indeed worship an image, or bow down to the stock of a
tree: yet is he sunk into equally damnable idolatry: he loves, that
is, worships the world. He seeks happiness in the things that are seen,
in the pleasures that perish in the using. Why is it that his thoughts
are perpetually wandering from the very end of his being, the knowledge
of God in _Christ_? Because he is an unbeliever; because he has no
faith, or at least, no more than a devil. So all these wandering
thoughts easily and naturally spring from that evil root of unbelief.
2. The case is the same in other instances, pride, anger, revenge,
vanity, lust, covetousness, every one of them occasion thoughts
suitable to their own nature. And so does every sinful temper, of which
the human mind is capable. The particulars it is hardly possible, nor
is it needful to enumerate. It suffices to observe, that as many evil
tempers as find a place in any soul, so many ways that soul will depart
from God, by the worst kind of wandering thoughts.
3. The occasions of the latter kind of wandering thoughts, are
exceeding various. Multitudes of them are occasioned, by the _natural
union_ between the soul and body. How immediately and how deeply is
the understanding affected by a _diseased_ body! Let but the blood
move irregularly in the brain, and all regular thinking is at an end.
_Raging madness_ ensues, and then farewell to all evenness of thought.
Yea, let only the spirits be hurried or agitated to a certain degree,
and a temporary madness, a _delirium_ prevents all settled thought.
And is not the same irregularity of thought in a measure occasioned by
every _nervous disorder_? So does _the corruptible body press down the
soul, and cause it to muse about many things_.
4. *But does it only cause this in the time of sickness, or
preternatural disorder? Nay, but more or less, at all times, even in
a state of perfect health. Let a man be ever so healthy, he will be
more or less delirious, every four-and-twenty hours. For does he not
_sleep_? And while he sleeps, is he not liable to _dream_? And who
then is master of his own thoughts, or able to preserve the order and
consistency of them? Who can then keep them fixt to any one point, or
prevent their wandering from pole to pole?
5. *But suppose we are awake, are we always so awake, that we can
steadily govern our thoughts? Are we not unavoidably exposed to
contrary extremes, by the very nature of this machine, the body?
Sometimes we are too _heavy_ too dull and languid, to pursue any chain
of thought. Sometimes, on the other hand, we are too _lively_. The
_imagination_, without leave, starts to and fro, and carries us away,
hither and thither, whether we will or no: and all this, from the
merely natural motion of the spirits, or vibration of the nerves.
6. *Farther, How many wanderings of thought may arise, from those
various _associations_ of our ideas, which are made entirely without
our knowledge, and independently on our choice? How these connexions
are formed we cannot tell: but they are formed in a thousand different
manners. Nor is it in the power of the wisest or holiest of men,
to break those associations, or to prevent what is the necessary
consequence of them, and matter of daily observation. Let the fire but
touch one end of the train, and it immediately runs on to the other.
7. *Once more. Let us fix our attention as studiously as we are able on
any subject, yet let either _pleasure or pain_ arise, especially if it
be intense, and it will demand our immediate attention, and attach our
thought to itself. It will interrupt the steadiest contemplation, and
divert the mind from its favourite subject.
8. *These occasions of wandering thoughts lie within, are wrought into
our very nature. But they will likewise naturally and necessarily arise,
from the various impulse of _outward objects_. Whatever strikes upon
the organ of sense, the eye or ear, will raise a perception in the mind.
And accordingly, whatever we see or hear, will break in upon our former
train of thought. Every man therefore that does any thing in our sight,
or speaks any thing in our hearing, occasions our mind to wander more
or less from the point it was thinking of before.
9. *And there is no question but those _evil spirits_, who are
continually _seeking whom they may devour_, make use of all the
foregoing occasions, to hurry and distract our minds. Sometimes by one,
sometimes by another of these means, they will harass and perplex us,
and so far as God permits, interrupt our thoughts, particularly when
they are engaged on the best subjects. Nor is this at all strange:
they well understand the very springs of thought, and know on which of
the bodily organs, the imagination, the understanding, and every other
faculty of the mind more immediately depends. And hereby they know, how
by affecting those organs, to affect the operations dependent on them.
Add to this, that they can inject a thousand thoughts, without any of
the preceding means: it being as natural for spirit to act upon spirit,
as for matter to act upon matter. These things being considered, we
cannot admire, that our thought so often wanders from any point which
we have in view.
III. 1. What kind of wandering thoughts are sinful, and what not, is
the third thing to be inquired into. And first, all those thoughts
which wander from God, which leave him no room in our minds, are
undoubtedly sinful. For all these imply practical atheism, and by these
we are without God in the world. And so much more are all those which
are contrary to God, which imply opposition or enmity to him. Such
are all murmuring, discontented thoughts, which say in effect, We will
not have thee to rule over us: all unbelieving thoughts, whether with
regard to his being, his attributes, or his providence. I mean his
_particular providence_ over all things as well as all persons in the
universe: that _without_ which _not a sparrow falls to the ground_,
by which _the hairs of our head are all numbered_. For as to a _general
providence_ (vulgarly so called) contradistinguished from a particular,
it is only a decent, well-sounding word, which means just nothing.
2. Again. All thoughts which spring from sinful tempers, are
undoubtedly sinful. Such, for instance, are those that spring from a
revengeful temper, from pride, or lust, or vanity. _An evil tree cannot
bring forth good fruit._ Therefore if the tree be evil, so must the
fruit be also.
3. And so must those be, which either produce or feed any sinful temper:
those which either give rise to pride or vanity, to anger or love of
the world, or confirm and increase these or any other unholy temper,
passion, or affection. For not only whatever flows from evil is evil,
but also whatever leads to it; whatever tends to alienate the soul from
God, and to make or keep it _earthly_, _sensual_, and _devilish_.
4. Hence even those thoughts which are occasioned by weakness or
disease, by the natural mechanism of the body, or by the laws of vital
union, however innocent they may be in themselves, do nevertheless
become sinful, when they either produce or cherish and increase in us
any sinful temper: suppose the desire of the flesh, the desire of the
eye, or the pride of life. In like manner the wandering thoughts which
are occasioned, by the words or actions of other men, if they cause
or feed any wrong disposition, then commence sinful. And the same we
may observe of those which are suggested or injected by the devil.
When they minister to any earthly or devilish temper (which they do,
whenever we give place to them, and thereby make them our own) then
they are equally sinful, with the tempers to which they minister.
5. But abstracting from these cases, wandering thoughts, in the latter
sense of the word, that is, thoughts wherein our understanding wanders,
from the point it has in view, are no more sinful than the motion
of the blood in our veins, or of the spirits in our brain. If they
arise from an infirm constitution, or from some accidental weakness or
distemper, they are as innocent as it is to have a weak constitution,
or a distempered body. And surely no one doubts but a bad state of
nerves, a fever of any kind, and either a transient or a lasting
delirium, may consist with perfect innocence. And if they should arise
in a soul which is united to an healthful body, either from the natural
union between the body and soul, or from any of ten thousand changes,
which may occur in those organs of the body, that minister to thought:
in any of these cases they are as perfectly innocent as the causes from
which they spring. And so they are when they spring from the casual,
involuntary associations of our ideas.
6. If our thoughts wander from the point we had in view, by means of
other men, variously affecting our senses, they are equally innocent
still: for it is no more a sin, to understand what I see and hear, and
in many cases cannot help seeing, hearing, and understanding, than it
is to have eyes and ears. “But if the devil injects wandering thoughts,
are not those thoughts evil?” They are troublesome, and in that sense
evil; but they are not sinful. I do not know that he spoke to our Lord
with an audible voice; perhaps he spoke to his heart only, when he said,
_All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship
me_. But whether he spoke inwardly or outwardly, our Lord doubtless
understood what he said. He had therefore a thought correspondent to
those words. But was it a sinful thought? We know it was not. _In him
was no sin_, either in action, or word, or thought. Nor is there any
sin in a thousand thoughts of the same kind, which Satan may inject
into any of our Lord’s followers.
7. *It follows, that none of these wandering thoughts (whatever unwary
persons have affirmed, thereby grieving whom the Lord had not grieved)
are inconsistent with perfect love. Indeed if they were, then not
only sharp pain, but sleep itself would be inconsistent with it: sharp
pain; for whenever this supervenes, whatever we were before thinking
of, it will interrupt our thinking, and of course draw our thoughts
into another channel: yea, and sleep itself, as it is a state of
insensibility and stupidity: and such as is generally mixt with
thoughts wandering over the earth, loose, wild and incoherent. Yet
certainly these are consistent with perfect love: so then are all
wandering thoughts of this kind.
IV. 1. From what has been observed, it is easy to give a clear answer
to the last question, What kind of wandering thoughts we may expect and
pray to be delivered from?
2. From the former sort of wandering thoughts, those wherein the heart
wanders from God: from all that are contrary to his will, or that leave
us without God in the world, every one that is perfected in love, is
unquestionably delivered. This deliverance therefore we may expect:
this we may, we ought to pray for. Wandering thoughts of this kind
imply unbelief, if not enmity against God. But both of these he will
destroy, will bring utterly to an end. And indeed, from all sinful
wandering thoughts we shall be absolutely delivered. All that are
perfected in love are delivered from these; else they were not saved
from sin. Men and devils will tempt them all manner of ways. But they
cannot prevail over them.
♦2. With regard to the latter sort of wandering thoughts, the case
is widely different. ’Till the cause is removed, we cannot in reason
expect the effect should cease. But the causes or occasions of these
will remain, as long as we remain in the body. So long therefore we
have all reason to believe, the effects will remain also.
3. *To be more particular. Suppose a soul, however holy, to dwell
in a distempered body. Suppose the brain be so throughly disordered,
as that _raging madness_ follows: will not all the thoughts be wild
and unconnected, as long as that disorder continues? Suppose a fever
occasions that _temporary madness_, which we term a delirium, can there
be any just connection of thought, ’till that delirium is removed?
Yea, suppose what is called a _nervous disorder_, to rise to so high
a degree, as to occasion at least a _partial madness_, will there not
be a thousand wandering thoughts? And must not these irregular thoughts
continue, as long as the disorder which occasions them?
4. Will not the case be the same, with regard to those thoughts
that necessarily arise from violent pain? They will, more or less,
continue while that pain continues, by the inviolable order of nature.
This order likewise will obtain, where the thoughts are disturbed,
broken or interrupted, by any defect of the apprehension, judgment or
imagination, flowing from the natural constitution of the body. And how
many interruptions may spring from the unaccountable and involuntary
association of our ideas? Now all these are directly or indirectly
caused by the corruptible body pressing down the mind. Nor therefore
can we expect them to be removed, ’till _this corruptible shall put on
incorruption_.
5. And then only, when we lie down in the dust, shall we be delivered
from those wandering thoughts which are occasioned by what we see and
hear, among those by whom we are now surrounded. To avoid these we must
go out of the world. For as long as we remain therein, as long as there
are men and women round about us, and we have eyes to see and ears to
hear, the things which we daily see and hear, will certainly affect our
mind, and will more or less, break in upon and interrupt our preceding
thoughts.
6. And as long as evil spirits roam to and fro in a miserable,
disordered world, so long they will assault (whether they can prevail
or no) every inhabitant of flesh and blood. They will trouble even
those whom they cannot destroy: they will attack if they cannot conquer.
And from these attacks of our restless, unwearied enemies, we must not
look for an entire deliverance, till we are lodged _where the wicked
cease from troubling, and where the weary are at rest_.
7. To sum up the whole. To expect deliverance from those wandering
thoughts which are occasioned by evil spirits, is to expect that the
devil should die or fall asleep; or at least should no more go about as
a roaring lion. To expect deliverance from those which are occasioned
by other men, is to expect either that men should cease from the
earth; or that we should be absolutely secluded from them, and have no
intercourse with them: or that having eyes we should not see, neither
hear with our ears, but be as senseless as stocks or stones. And to
pray for deliverance from those which are occasioned by the body, is
in effect to pray that we may leave the body. Otherwise it is praying
for impossibilities and absurdities; praying that God would reconcile
contradictions, by continuing our union with a corruptible body,
without the natural, necessary consequences of that union. It is as if
we should pray to be angels and men, mortal and immortal at the same
time. Nay, but when that which is immortal is come, mortality is done
away.
8. Rather let us pray, both with the spirit and with the understanding,
that _all_ these _things may work together for our good_: that we may
suffer all the infirmities of our nature, all the interruptions of men,
all the assaults and suggestions of evil spirits, and in all be _more
than conquerors_. Let us pray, that we may be delivered from all sin,
that both root and branch may be destroyed; that we may be _cleansed
from all pollution of flesh and spirit_, from every evil temper and
word and work: that we may _love the Lord our God with all our heart,
with all our mind, and with all our soul, and with all our strength_:
that all _the fruit of the spirit_ may be found in us; not only _love,
joy, peace_; but also _long-suffering, gentleness, goodness; fidelity,
meekness, temperance_. Pray that all _these things may flourish and
abound_, may increase in you more and more, ’till an abundant _entrance
be ministered unto you, into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord Jesus
Christ_!