The Communicant's Companion
an alloy to the enjoyments of that world, as they are to those of this world.
All tears shall there be wiped away, even those for sin.
On the other side, whatever is here thy delight and pleasure, shall there be perfected. The knowledge of God, joy in him, and communion with him, are here, as it were, thy running banquets; there, they shall be thy continual feast. The work of grace begun in thee, is that which reconciles thee to thyself, and gives thee some pleasure now in thy reflections upon thyself.
This work shall be there completed, and the finishing strokes given to it, by the same skillful and happy hand that began it.
Come now, my soul, and," neglect not the gift that is in thee, but meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them." "Be thou in them," as in thy business, as in thine element. Think of the things of the invisible and unchangeable world, till thou findest thyself so affected with them, as even to forget the things that are hare below, that are here behind, and look upon them with a holy negligence, that thou mayest, with greater diligence, reach towards "the things that are before, and press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling."
II. We must not only meditate, but we must pray and cry earnestly to God for assistance and acceptance in what we do. When the apostle had reckoned up all the parts of the Christian's armor, he concludes with this, "Praying always." Prayer must gird on the whole armor of God; for, without prayer, all our endeavors are vain and ineffectual. Therefore, in our preparations for the Lord's Supper, time must be spent, and pains taken in prayer, for two reasons:—
1. Because this is a proper means of quickening ourselves, and stirring up our graces.— One duty of religion is of use to dispose and fit us for another; and the most solemn services ought to be approached gradually,