The Communicant's Companion
with boldness, but upon a throne of glory and a throne of government, which obliges thee to come with caution. Remember that "God is in heaven, and thou art upon earth; and therefore let thy words be few:" "Be still, and know that he is God," that he is great, and keep thy distance. Let an awful regard to the glories of the eternal God, and the exalted Redeemer, make thee humble and serious, very serious, very humble, in thine approach to this ordinance, and keep thee so during the solemnity.
2. We must also worship him with godly fear, as a holy God, a God whose name is jealous, and who "is a consuming fire." We have reason to fear before him, for we have offended him, and have made ourselves obnoxious to his wrath and curse; and we are but upon our good behavior, as probationers for his favor. He is not a God that will be mocked, that will be trifled with; if we think to put a cheat upon him, we shall prove in the end to have put the most dangerous cheat upon our own souls. In this act of religion, therefore, as well as in others, we "must work out our salvation with fear and trembling."
IV. Let us come to this ordinance with a holy jealousy over ourselves, and a humble sense of our own unworthiness.—We must sit before the Lord in such a frame as David composed himself into, when he said, "Who am I, O
Lord God, and what is my father's house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?" Nothing prepares the soul more for spiritual comforts than humility.
1. It may be that we have reason to suspect ourselves lest we come unworthily. Though we must not cherish such suspicions of our state as will damp our joy in God, and discourage our hope in Christ, and fill us with amazement; nor such as will take off our chariot-wheels, and keep us standing when we should be going forward; yet we must maintain such a