The Communicant's Companion
upon them, and to prepare for them. We must in this ordinance faithfully promise, that however we may be tried, we will never forsake Christ, nor turn from following after him; though we should die with him, yet will we not deny him. But we have no reason to confide in any strength of our own, for the making good of this promise; nor can we pretend to such a degree of resolution, steadiness, and presence of mind, as will enable us to encounter the difficulties we may meet with. Peter, when he shamed himself, warned us to take heed lest we fall, when we think we stand. Here, therefore, we must receive strength for such trials, that we may overcome them by the blood of the Lamb, and by not loving our lives unto the death, and that the prospect of none of these things may move us.
4. How near our great change may be we cannot tell, perhaps nearer than we imagine: we are not sure that we shall live to see another opportunity of this kind; but this we are sure of, that it is a serious thing to die: it is a work we never did, and when we come to do it, we shall need a strength we never had. In this sacrament, therefore, from the death of Christ, we must fetch in grace to prepare us for death, and to carry us safely and comfortably through that dark and dismal valley. I depend not only on the providence of God, to order the circumstances of my removal hence for the best to me, but upon the grace of God to take out the sting of death, and then to reconcile me to the stroke of death, and to enable me to meet death's harbinger, and bear its agonies, not only with the constancy and patience that becomes a wise man, but with the hope and joy that becomes a good Christian.
V. Here we may receive the earnests of eternal bliss and joy.—Heaven is the crown and centre of all the promises, and the perfection of all the good contained in them; all the blessings of the new covenant have a tendency to this, and are in order to it. Are we predestinated? It is to the inheritance of sons. Called? It is to his kingdom and glory. Sanctified? It is that we may be made meet for the inheritance, and wrought to the self-same thing. This, therefore, we should have in our eye, in our covenant and communion with God; that eternal life which God who cannot lie promises. We must receive the Spirit in his graces and comforts, as the earnest of our inheritance. They that deal with God, must deal upon trust, for a happiness in reversion, a recompense of reward to come; must forsake a world in sight and present, for a world out of sight and future. All believers consent to this; they lay up their treasure in heaven, and hope for what they see not. This they depend upon; and in prospect of it they are willing to labor and suffer, to deny themselves, and take up their cross, knowing that heaven will make amends for all: though they may be losers for Christ, they shall not be losers by him in the end; this is the bargain. In the Lord's Supper, Christ gives us earnest upon this bargain, and what we receive there, we receive as earnest. An earnest not only confirms the bargain and secures the performance of it, but is itself part of the payment, though but a small part in comparison with the full sum.
We here receive the earnest of our inheritance; that is, We here receive the assurance of it. The royal grant of it is here sealed and delivered by the King of kings. God here says to me as he did to Abraham, "Lift up thine eyes now, and look from the place where thou art." Take a view of the heavenly Canaan, that land which eternally flows with better things than milk and honey,—Immanuel's land. Open the eye of faith, and behold the pleasures and glories of that world, as they are described in Scripture, such as eye hath not seen, nor ear heard; and know of a surety that all the land which thou seest, and that which is infinitely more and better than thou canst conceive, to thee will I give it, to thee for ever. "Fear not, little flock," fear not ye little ones of the flock, "it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Follow Christ and serve him, and you shall be for ever with him; continue with him now in his temptations, and you shall shortly share with him in his glories. Only be faithful unto death, and the crown of life is as sure to you, as if it were already upon your heads. Here is livery and seizin upon the deed. Take this and eat it, take this and drink it: in token of this, "I will be to thee a God:" that is, a perfect and everlasting happiness, such as shall answer the vast extent and compass of that great word. "But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city."
Come now, my soul, and accept the security offered. The inheritance secured is unspeakably rich and invaluable; the losses and sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with it; the title is good, it is a purchased possession, he that grants it has power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life. The assurances are unquestionably valid, not only the word and oath, but the writing and seal of the eternal God, in the Scriptures and sacraments: here is that, my soul, which thou mayest venture thyself upon, and venture thine all for; do it then, do it with a holy boldness.
Lay hold on eternal life, lay fast hold on it, and keep thy hold. Look up, my soul, look as high as heaven, the highest heaven; look forward, my soul, look as far forward as eternity, and let eternal life, eternal joy, eternal glory, be thine aim in thy religion, and resolve to take up with nothing short of these. God has been "willing more abundantly to show to the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel," and therefore has thus confirmed it, so as to leave no room for doubting, that by all these "immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us." Take him at his word, then, and build thy hope upon it. Be not faithless, but believing; be not careless, but industrious. Here is a happiness worth striving for; "run with patience the race that is set before thee," with this prize in thine eye.
We receive the foretastes of it.—We have in this ordinance, not only a ratification of the promise of the heavenly Canaan, but a pattern or specimen given us of the fruits of that land, like the bunch of grapes which was brought from the valley of Eshcol to the Israelites in the wilderness; a view given us of that land of promise, like that which Moses had of the land of Canaan from the top of Pisgah. As the law was a type and figure of the Messiah's kingdom on earth, so the gospel is of his kingdom in heaven; both are "shadows of good things to come," like the map of a rich and large country in a sheet of paper. Our future happiness is, in this sacrament, not only sealed to us, but shown to us; and we here taste something of the pleasures of that better country. In this ordinance we have a sight of Christ, he is evidently set forth before us; and what is heaven, but to see him as he is, and to be for ever beholding his glory? We are here receiving the pledges and tokens of Christ's love to us, and returning the protestations and expressions of our love to him; and what is heaven but an eternal interchanging of love between a holy God and holy souls? We are here praising and blessing the Redeemer, celebrating his honor, and giving him the glory of his achievements; and what is that but the work of heaven? It is what the inhabitants of that world are doing now, and what we hope to be doing with them to eternity. We are here in spiritual communion with all the saints coming in faith, hope, and love, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn; and what is heaven but that in perfection? In a word, heaven is a feast, and so is this; only this is a running banquet, that is an everlasting feast.
Come, my soul, and see a door here opened in heaven; look in at that door now, by which thou hopest to enter shortly. Let this ordinance do something of the work of heaven upon thee, God having provided in it something of the pleasures of heaven for thee. Heaven will for ever part between thee and sin; let this ordinance, therefore, set thee at a greater distance from it.
Heaven will fill thee with the love of God; in this ordinance, therefore, let that love be shed abroad in thine heart. In heaven thou shalt enter info the joy of the Lord; let that joy now enter into thee, and be thy strength and thy song. Heaven will be perfect holiness; let this ordinance make thee more holy, and more conformable to the image of the holy Jesus; heaven will be everlasting rest; here, therefore, return to God as thy rest, O my soul, and repose thyself in him. Let every sacrament be to thee a heaven upon earth, and each of these days of the Son of man, as one of the days of heaven.
Chapter 10. Helps for the Exciting of those Pious and Devout Affections which should be Working in Us While We Attend this Ordinance. onderful sights are here to be seen, where the Lord's death is shown forth; precious benefits are here to be had, where the covenant of grace is sealed; the transaction is very solemn, very serious, nothing more so on this side death. But what impressions must be made hereby upon our souls? How must we stand affected while this is doing? Is this service only a show, at which we may be unconcerned spectators? Or is it a marketplace, in which we may stand all the day idle? No, by no means; here is work to be done, heart-work, such as requires a very close application of mind, and a great liveliness and vigor of spirit, and in which all that is within us should be employed, and all little enough. Here is that to be done which calls for fixed thoughts and warm affections, which needs them, and well deserves them. What sensible moving's of affection we should aim at, is not easy to direct; tempers vary; some are soon moved, and much moved with every thing that affects them: from such it may be expected that their passions, which are strong at other times, should not be weak at this ordinance: and yet, no doubt, there are others whose natural temper is happily more calm and sedate, who are not conscious to themselves of such stirring of affections as some experience at this ordinance, and yet have as comfortable communion with God, as good evidence of the truth and growth of grace, and as much real benefit by the ordinance, as those that think themselves even transported by it. The deepest rivers are scarce perceived to move, and make the least noise. On the other hand, there may be much heat where there is little light, and strong passions where there are very weak resolutions. Like the waters of a land flood, which make a great show, but are shallow and soon gone. We must not, therefore, build a good opinion of our spiritual state upon the vehemence of our affection. A romance may represent a tragical story so pathetically, as to make a great impression upon the minds of some, who yet know the whole matter to be both feigned and foreign; bodily exercise, if that be all, profits little. And, on the other hand, there may be a true and strong faith, informing the judgment, bowing the will, and commanding the affections, and purifying the heart and life, where yet there are not any transports, or pathetical expressions. There may be true joy, where the mouth is not filled with laughter, nor the tongue with singing; and true sorrow where yet the eye doth not run down with tears. They whose hearts are firmly fixed for God, may take the comfort of that, though they do not find their hearts sensibly flowing out towards him.
And yet in this sacrament, where it is designed that the eye should affect the heart, we must not rest in the bare contemplation of what is here set before us, but the consideration thereof must make an impression upon our spirits, which should be turned as wax to the seal. If what is here done do not affect us for the present, it will not be likely to influence us afterwards; for we retain the remembrance of things better by our affections, than by our notions: "I shall never forget thy precepts, when by them thou hast quickened me." Here, therefore, let us stir up the gift that is in us, endeavoring to affect ourselves with the great things of God and our souls; and let us pray to God to affect us with them by his Spirit and grace, and to testify his acceptance of the sacrifice of a devoted heart, which we are to offer, by kindling it with this holy fire from heaven. "Awake, O north wind! and come thou south, and blow upon my garden." Come, thou blessed
Spirit, and move upon these waters, these dead waters, to set them amoving in rivers of living water: come and breathe upon these dry bones, that they may live. O that I might now be in the mount with God! That I might be so taken up with the things of the Spirit, and the other world, that for the time I may even forget that I am yet in the body, and in this world! O that I might now be soaring upward, upward towards God, pressing forward, forward toward heaven, as one not slothful in business, but fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, for here it is no time to trifle!
Let us then see, in some particulars, how we should be affected, when we are attending on the Lord in this solemnity, and in what channels these waters of the sanctuary should run, that we may take our work before us, and apply our minds to the consideration of those things that are proper to excite those affections.
I. Here we must be sorrowful for sin, after a godly sort, and blushing before God at the thought of it. Penitential grief and shame are not at all unsuitable to this ordinance, though it is intended for our joy and honor, but excellent preparatives for the benefit and comfort of it. Here we should be, like Ephraim, bemoaning ourselves; like Job, abhorring ourselves, renewing those sorrowful reflections we made upon our own follies, when we were preparing for this service, and keeping the fountain of repentance still open, still flowing. Our sorrow for sin needs not hinder our joy in God, and therefore our joy in God must not forbid our sorrow for sin.
Our near approach to God in this ordinance, should excite and increase our holy shame and sorrow. When we see what an honor we are advanced to, what a favor we are admitted to, it is seasonable to reflect upon our own unworthiness, by reason of the guilt of sin, and our own unfitness, by reason of the power of sin, to draw near to God. A man's deformity and defilement is never such a mortification to him, as when he comes into the presence of those that are comely, clean, and fashionable; and when we are conscious to ourselves, that we have dealt basely and disingenuously with one we are under the highest obligations to love and honor, an interview with the person offended cannot but renew our grief.
I am here drawing nigh to God, not only treading his courts with Christians at large, but. sitting down at his table with select disciples; but when I consider how pure and holy he is, and how vile and sinful I am, I am ashamed, and blush to lift up my face before him. To me belongs shame and confusion of face. I have many a time heard of God by the hearing of the ear, but now I am taken to sit down with him at his table. Mine eyes see him, see the King in his beauty; where/ore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.—What a fool, what a wretch have I been, to offend a God who appears so holy in the eyes of all who draw nigh unto him, and so great to all them that are about him? Wo is me, for I am undone, lost and undone for ever, if there were not a Mediator between me and God, because I am a man of unclean lips, and an unclean heart. Now I perceive it, and my own degeneracy and danger by reason of it, for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. I have reason to be ashamed to see one to whom I am so unlike, and afraid to see one to whom I am so obnoxious. The higher we are advanced by the free grace of God, the more reason we shall see to abase ourselves, and cry, God be merciful to us, sinners!
A sight of Christ Crucified should increase, excite our penitential shame and sorrow, and that evangelical repentance, in which there is an eye to the cross of Christ. It is prophesied, nay, it is promised, as a blessed effect of the pouring out of the Spirit, in gospel times, "upon the house of David, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that they shall look on him whom they have pierced, and shall mourn." Here we see Christ pierced for our sins, nay, pierced by our sins: our sins were the cause of his death, and the grief of his heart. The Jews and Romans crucified
Christ; but, as David killed Uriah with his letter, and Ahab killed Naboth with his seal; so the handwriting that was against us for our sins, nailed
Christ to the cross, and so he nailed it to the cross. We had eaten the sour grapes, and his teeth were set on edge. Can we see him thus suffering for us, and shall we not suffer with him? Was he in such pain for us, and shall not we be in pain for him? Was his soul exceeding sorrowful, even unto death, and shall not ours be exceeding sorrowful, when that is the way to life?
Come, my soul, see by faith the holy Jesus made sin for thee; the glory of heaven made a reproach of men for thee; his Father's joy made a man of sorrow for thy transgressions; see thy sins burdening him when he sweat, spitting upon him, and buffeting him, and putting him to open shame; crowning him with thorns, and piercing his hands and his side; and let this melt and break this hard and rocky heart of thine, and dissolve it into tears of godly sorrow. Look on Christ dying; and weep not for him, (though they who have any thing of ingenuousness and good nature, will see reason enough to weep for an innocent sufferer,) but weep for thyself, and thine own sins; for them be in bitterness, as one that is in bitterness for an only son.
Add to this, that our sins have not only pierced him, as they were the cause of his death, but as they have been the reproach of his holy name, and the grief of his Holy Spirit. Thus we have crucified him afresh, by doing that which he has often declared to be a vexation and dishonor to him, as far as the joys and glories of his present state can admit. The consideration of this should greatly humble us; nothing goes nearer to the quick with a true penitent, nor touches him in a more tender part than this: "They shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me." A strange expression, that the great God should reckon himself broken by the sins of his people! No wonder it follows, they "shall loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed." Can we look upon a humbled, broken Christ, with an unhumbled, unbroken heart? Do our sins grieve him, and shall they not grieve us? Come, my soul, and sit down by the cross of Christ, as a true mourner; let it make thee weep to see him weep, and bleed to see him bleed. That heart is frozen hard indeed, which these considerations will not thaw.
The gracious offer here made us, of peace and pardon, should excite and increase our godly sorrow and shame. This is a gospel motive; "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand;" that is, the promise of pardon upon repentance is published and sealed, and whoever will, may come and take the benefit of it. The terrors of the law are of use to startle us, and put us into a horror for sin, as those that are afraid of God; but the grace of the gospel contributes more to an ingenuous repentance, and makes us more ashamed of ourselves. This rends the heart, to consider God so gracious and merciful, so slow t6 anger, and ready to forgive. Let this lovingkindness melt thee, O my soul! and make thee to relent more tenderly than ever.
Wretch that I have been, to spit in the face, and spurn at the bowels, of such mercy and love, by my willful sin! to despise the riches of gospel grace! I am ashamed, yea even confounded, because I do bear the reproach of my youth. Doth God meet thee thus with tenders of reconciliation? Doth the party offended make the first motion of agreement? Shall such an undutiful, disobedient, prodigal son as I have been, be embraced and kissed, and clothed with the best robe? This kindness overcomes me. Now, it cuts me to the heart, and humbles me to the dust, to think of my former rebellions; they never appeared so heinous, so vile, as they do now I see them pardoned. The more certain I am that I shall not be ruined by them, the more reason I see to be humbled for them. When God promised to establish his covenant with repenting Israel, he adds, "that thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more, because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee." To see God provoked, causes a holy trembling; but to see God pacified, causes a holy blushing. The day of atonement, when the sins of Israel were to be sent to a land of forgetfulness, must be a day to afflict the soul. The blood of Christ will be the more healing and comforting to the soul, for its bleeding afresh thus upon every remembrance of sin.
II. Here we must be confiding on Christ Jesus, and relying on him alone, for life and salvation. When we mourn for sin, blessed be God, we do not sorrow as those that have no hope; true penitents are perplexed, but not in despair; cast down, but not destroyed. Faith in Christ turns even their sorrows into joy, gives them their vineyards from thence, and even the valley of Achor (of trouble for sin) for a door of hope. We have not only an all-sufficient happiness to hope for, but an all-sufficient Savior to hope in.
Here, therefore, let us exercise and encourage that hope; let us trust in the name of the Lord Jesus, and stay ourselves upon him; come up out of this wilderness, leaning upon our Beloved. Come, my soul, weary as thou art, and rest in Christ; cast thy burden upon him, and he shall sustain thee; commit thy way to him, and thy thoughts shall certainly be established; commit thyself to him, and it shall be well with thee; he will keep, through his own name, that which thou committest to him.
Commit thyself to him, as the scholar commits himself to his teacher, to be instructed, with a resolution to take his word for the truth of what he teaches; as the patient commits himself to the physician to be cured, with a resolution to take whatever he prescribes, and punctually to observe his orders; as the client commits himself to his counsel, to draw his plea, and to bring him off when he is judged, with a resolution to do all things as he shall advise; as the traveler commits himself to his guide, to be directed in his way, with a resolution to follow his conduct; as the orphan commits himself to his guardian, to be governed and disposed of at his discretion, with a resolution to comply with him. Thus must we commit ourselves to Christ.
We must confide in his power, trusting in him as one that can help and save us. He has an incontestable authority, is a Savior by office, sanctified and sealed, and sent into the world for this purpose; help is laid upon him.
We may well offer to trust him with our part of this great concern, which is the securing of our happiness; for God trusted him with his part of it, the securing of his honor, and declared himself well pleased in him. He has likewise an unquestionable ability to save to the uttermost; he is mighty to save, and every way qualified for the undertaking; he is skillful, for treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid in him; he is solvent, for there is in him an inexhaustible fulness of merit and grace, sufficient to bear all our burdens, and to supply all our needs. We must commit ourselves, and the great affairs of our salvation unto him, with a full assurance that he is "able to keep what we commit to him against that day," that great day, which will try the foundation of every man's work. We must confide in his promise, trusting in him as one that will certainly help and save us, on the terms proposed. We may take his word for it, and this is the word which he has spoken—" Him that cometh unto me I will in nowise cast out;" a double negative, "I will not, no, I will not." He is engaged for us in the covenant of redemption, and engaged to us in the covenant of grace, and in both he is the Amen, the faithful witness. On this, therefore, we must rely, the word on which he has caused us to hope. God has spoken in his holiness, that he will accept us in the Beloved, and in that "I will rejoice; I will divide Shechem; Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine." Pardon is mine, and peace mine, and Christ mine, and heaven mine: "for faithful is he that promised, who also will do it."
Come then, my soul, come thou, and all thy concerns, into this ark, and there thou shalt be safe when the deluge comes; flee, flee to this city of refuge, and in it thou shalt be secured from the avenger of blood. Quit all other shelters; for every thing but Christ is a "refuge of lies, which the hail will sweep away." There is not salvation in any other but in him; trust him for it therefore, and depend upon him only. Reach hither thy ringer, and, in this ordinance, "behold his hands; reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into his side," and say, as Thomas did, "My Lord, and my God!" Here I cast anchor, here I rest my soul. "It is Christ that died, yea rather that is risen again, and is, and will be, the author of eternal salvation to all them that obey him." To him I entirely give up myself, to be ruled, and taught, and saved by him; and in him I have a full satisfaction. I will draw near to God for mercy and grace, in a dependence upon him as my righteousness; I will go forth, and go on, in the way of my duty, in a dependence upon him as my strength; I will shortly venture into the invisible, unchangeable world, in a dependence upon him as the "captain of my salvation;" who is able to bring many sons to glory, and as willing as he is able. "Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief."
Having thus committed thyself, my soul, to the Lord Jesus, comfort thyself in him. Please thyself with the thoughts of having disposed of thyself so well, and of having lodged the great concern of thy salvation in so good a hand; now "return to thy rest, O my soul," and be easy. Every good Christian may by faith triumph as the prophet does, pointing at Christ: "The Lord God will help me, therefore shall I not be confounded, therefore have I set my face like a flint," in a holy defiance of Satan and all the powers of darkness; "and I know that I shall not be ashamed. He is near that justifieth me, who will contend with me?" Take the Bible, turn to the 8th of the Romans, and read from verse 31, to the end of the chapter; if ever blessed Paul rode in a triumphant chariot on this side heaven, it was when he wrote these lines, "What shall we then say to these things," &c. Apply those comforts to thyself; "O my soul, thou hast said of the Lord, he is my Lord; rejoice in him, then, and be exceeding glad. Thy Redeemer is mighty, and he rides upon the heavens for thy help, and in his excellency on the sky
—"Do thou, then, ride upon the high places of the earth, and suck honey out of this rock, and oil out of this flinty rock." Having made sure of thy interest in Christ, live in a continual dependence upon him; and being satisfied of his love, be satisfied with it: thou hast enough, and needest no more.
III. Here we must be delighting in God, and solacing ourselves in his favor.—If we had not a Christ to hope in, being guilty and corrupt, we could not have a God to rejoice in; but, having an Advocate with the Father, so good a plea as Christ dying, and so good a pleader as Christ interceding, we may not only "come boldly to the throne of grace, but may sit down under the shadow of it with delight, and behold the beauty of the Lord." That God who is love, and the God of love, here shows us his "marvelous lovingkindness; causeth his goodness to pass before us; proclaims his name gracious and merciful." Here he gives us his love, and thereby invites us to give him ours. It is a love-feast, the love of Christ is here commemorated, the love of God here offered; and the frame of our spirits is disagreeable, and a jar in the harmony, if our hearts be not here going out in love to God, the chief good, and our felicity. They that come hither with holy desires, must refresh themselves here with holy delights. If we must "rejoice in the Lord always," much more now; for a feast was made for laughter, and so was this for spiritual joy; if ever "wisdom's ways be ways of pleasantness," surely they must be so when we come to "eat of her bread, and to drink of the wine which she hath mingled."
Put thyself then, my soul, into a pleasant frame; let the joy of the Lord be thy strength, and let this ordinance "put a new song into thy mouth." Come and hear the voice of joy and gladness.
Let it be a pleasure to thee to think, "that there is a God, and that he is such a one as he hath revealed himself to be." The being and attributes of God are a terror to those that are unjustified and unsanctified; nothing can be more so: they are willing to believe "there is no God, or that he is altogether such a one as themselves," because they heartily wish there were none, or one that they could be at peace with, and yet continue their league with sin: but to those who, through grace, partake of a divine nature themselves, nothing is more agreeable, nothing more acceptable, than the thoughts of God's nature and infinite perfections. Delight thyself, therefore, in thinking that there is an infinite and eternal Spirit, who is self-existent and self-sufficient, the best of beings, and the first of causes; the highest of powers, and the richest and kindest of friends and benefactors; the fountain of being and fountain of bliss; the "Father of lights, the Father of mercies."
Love to think of him whom thou canst not see, and yet canst not but know; who is not far from thee, and yet between thee and him there is an infinite, awful distance. Let these thoughts be thy nourishment and refreshment.
Let it be a pleasure to thee to think of "the obligations thou liest under to this God as the Creator." He that is the former of my body, and the Father of my spirit, in whom I live, and move, and have my being, is upon that account my rightful owner, my sovereign ruler, whom I am bound to serve.
Because he made me, and not I myself, therefore I am not mine own, but his. Please thyself, my soul, with this thought, that thou art not thine own, but his that made thee; nor left to thine own will, but bound up to his; not made for thyself, but designed to be to him for a name and a praise. Noble powers are then intended for a noble purpose. Delight thyself in him, as the felicity and end of thy being, who is the fountain and cause of it. Were I to choose, I would not be mine own master, my own carver, mine own center; no, I would not, it is better as it is. I love to think of the eternal God, as the just director of all my actions, to whom I am accountable, and the wise disposer of all my affairs, to whom I must submit. I love to think of him as my chief good, who, having made me, is alone able to make me happy; and as my highest end, "of whom and through whom, and to whom, are all things."
Let it be a pleasure to thee "to think of the covenant relations wherein this God stands to thee in Jesus Christ." This is especially to be our delight in this sealing ordinance: though the sacrament directs us immediately to Christ, yet through him it leads us to the Father. He died, "the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God." To God therefore we must go as our end and rest, by Christ as our way; to God as a Father, by Christ as Mediator.
Come then, my soul, and see with joy and the highest satisfaction, the God that made thee entering into covenant with thee, and engaging to make thee happy. Hear him saying to thee, my soul, "I am thy salvation, thy shield," and not only thy bountiful rewarder, but "thine exceeding great reward;" I am and will be to thee a God all-sufficient; a God that is enough.
"Fear thou not, for I am with thee," wherever thou art; 'be not dismayed, for I am thy God;" whatever thou wantest, whatever thou losest, call me God, even thine own God. When thou art weak, I will strengthen thee, yea, when thou art helpless, I will help thee; yea, when thou art ready to sink, "I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." The God that cannot lie has said it, and here seals it to thee, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." Let this be to thee, my soul, the voice of joy and gladness, making even broken bones to rejoice. Encourage thyself in the Lord thy God. He is thy Shepherd, thou shalt not want any thing that is good for thee. "Thy
Maker is thy husband, the Lord of hosts is his name;" and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. He shall rest in his love to thee: rest then in thy love to him, and rejoice in him always. The Lord is thy lawgiver, thy king that will save thee: swear allegiance to him, then, with gladness and loud hosannas. "Let Israel rejoice in him that made him, (that new-made him;) let the children of Zion be joyful in their King." What wouldst thou more? This God is thy God for ever and ever. Stir up thyself, my soul, to take the comfort which is here offered thee. Let this strengthen the weak hands, let it confirm the feeble knees. If God be indeed the "health of thy countenance and thy God, why art thou cast down, why art thou disquieted?" Die not for thirst when there is such a fountain of living waters near thee, but draw water with joy out of these wells of salvation. Shiver not for cold when there is such a reviving, quickening heat in these promises; but say with pleasure, "Ah, I am warm, I have seen the fire!" Faint not for hunger, now thou art at a feast of fat things, but be abundantly satisfied with the goodness of God's house. The God whose wrath and frowns thou hast incurred, here favors thee and smiles on thee; let this therefore give thee a joy greater than the joy of harvest, and far surpassing what they have that divide the spoil. Though thou canst not reach to holy raptures, yet compose thyself to a holy rest.
Delight thyself always in the Lord, especially at this ordinance, and, by thus taking the comfort of what thou hast received, thou qualifiest thyself to receive more; for then he shall give thee the desire of thy heart. The way to have thy heart's desire is to make God thy heart's delight. Triumph in his love, and thine interest in him: his benignity is better than life, let it be to thee sweeter than life itself. "Behold, God is my Savior, God is my salvation; I will trust and riot be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength, and therefore my song: the strength of my heart and my portion for ever."
When thou comest to the altar of God, call him, "God thy exceeding joy"—"thy God, thy glory."