The Communicant's Companion (continued)
6. The honors of his exalted state are marvelous.—He that was made a little lower than the angels, a worm and no man, is now the Lord of angels.
One in our nature is advanced to the highest honors, invested with the highest powers, having an incontestable authority to execute judgment, even for this reason, that he is the son of man; not only though he is so, but because he is so. This is the Lord's doing, and it is, and should be, marvelous in our eyes.
7. The covenant of grace, made also with us in him, is marvelous.—The terms of the covenant are wonderful, reasonable, and easy: the treasures of the covenant are wonderful, rich, and valuable. The covenant itself is well ordered in all things, and sure; admirably well, both for the glory of God, and the comfort of all believers. God in it "showeth us his marvelous loving kindness," and we answer not the design of the discovery, if we do not. admire it. Other things, the more they are known the less they are wondered at; but the riches of redeeming love appear more admirable to those that are best acquainted with them.
V. Here we must be caring what we shall render to him that has thus loved us. This wondrous love is love to us; and not only gives the greatest encouragements to us to come to God for mercy and peace, but lays the strongest engagements upon us to walk with God in duty and obedience. We are bound in conscience, bound in honor and in gratitude, to love him, and to live to him who loved us and died for us. This concern should much affect us, and lie very near our hearts, haw we may answer the intentions of this love!
We should be affected with a jealous fear, lest we prove ungrateful, and, like Hezekiah, render not again according to the benefit done unto us." We cannot but know something, by sad experience, of the treachery and deceitfulness of our own hearts, and how apt they are to start aside like a broken bow; and therefore we have no reason to presume upon our own strength and sufficiency. We are told of many who eat and drink in Christ's presence, and yet are found at last unfaithful to him; and what if I should prove one of those? This thought is not suggested here to alarm any that tremble at God's word, or to weaken the hands and sadden the hearts of those that are truly willing, though very weak; but to awaken those that slumber, and humble those that are wise in their own conceit. Distrust thyself, O my soul, that thou mayest trust in Christ only; fear thine own strength, that thou mayest hope in his. He that has done these great things for thee, must be applied to and depended on to work those great things in thee, which are required of thee. Go forth, therefore, and go on in his strength. If the same that grants us those favors, give us not wherewithal to make suitable returns for them, we shall perish for ever in our ingratitude.
We should be filled with serious desires to know and do our duty, in return for that great love wherewith we are loved. The affections of a grateful mind are very proper to be working in us at this ordinance. Does not even nature teach us to be grateful to our friends and benefactors? Let us be so to Christ then, the best of friends, and kindest of benefactors.
Come, my soul, here I see how much I am indebted, and how I owe my life, my joy, and hope, and all, to the blessed Jesus: and is it not time to ask with holy David, "What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me?" Shall I not take the cup of salvation, as he does, with this thought, "What shall I render?" Let David's answer to that question, which we find in the 116th Psalm, be mine.
"I love the Lord," (ver. 1.) Love is the loadstone of love; even the publicans love those that love them. Lord, thou hast loved me with an everlasting love; from everlasting in the counsels of it, to everlasting in the consequences of it: and shall not my heart, with this loving kindness, be drawn to thee? Lord, I love thee; the world and the flesh shall never have my love more: I have loved them too much, I have loved them too long; the best affections of my soul shall now be consecrated to thee, O God, to thee, O blessed Jesus! "Whom have I in heaven but thee? Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee." It is my sorrow and shame that I am so weak and defective in my love to thee: what a wretched heart have I, that I can think, and speak, and hear, and see so much of thy love to me, and be so little affected with it! So low in my thoughts of thee, so cool in my desires towards thee, so unsteady in my resolutions for thee! Lord, pity me, Lord, help me! for yet I love thee, I love to love thee. I earnestly desire to love thee better, and long to be where love shall be made perfect.
"I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving," (ver. 17.) As love is the heart of praise, so praise is the language of love. What shall I render? I must render to all their due; tribute to whom tribute is due; the tribute of praise to God, to whom it is due. We do not accommodate ourselves to this thanksgiving feast, if we do not attend it with hearts enlarged in thanksgiving: this cup of salvation must be a cup of blessing; in it we must bless God, because in it God blesses us. Thankful acknowledgments of God's favor to us are but poor returns for rich receiving's; yet they are such as God will accept, if they come from an upright heart. "Bless the Lord, therefore, O my soul, and let all that is within me bless his holy name."
Speak well of him who hath done well for thee. Thank him for all his gifts both of nature and grace, especially for Jesus Christ, the spring of all. "As long as I live, I will bless the Lord, yea, I will praise my God while I have my being:" for he is the God of my life, and the author of my well-being: and when I have no life, no being on earth, I hope to have a better life, a better being in a better world, and to be doing this work for ever in a better manner.
"O Lord, truly I am thy servant, I am thy servant." (ver. 16.) I acknowledge myself already bound to be so, and further oblige myself by solemn promise to approve myself so. What shall I render? Lord, I render myself to thee, my whole self, body and soul and spirit, not in compliment, but in truth and sincerity; I own myself thy servant, to obey thy commands, to be at thy disposal, and to be serviceable to thine honor and interest: it will be my credit and ease, my safety and happiness, to be under thy government; make me as one of thy hired servants.
"I will call upon the name of the Lord." (ver. 13.) This is an immediate answer to that question, What shall I render? and it is a surprising answer. It is uncommon among men to make petitions for further favors, or returns for former favors; yet such a return as this, the God that delights to hear prayers will be well pleased with. Is God my Father? I will apply myself to him as a child, and call him Abba, Father. Have I an advocate with the Father? Then I will come boldly to the throne of grace. Are there such exceeding great and precious promises made me, and sealed to me? Then will I never lose the benefit of them for want of putting them in suit. As I will love God the better, so I will love prayer the better as long as I live; and having given myself unto God, I will give myself unto prayer, as David did, till I come to the world of everlasting praise.
"Return unto thy rest, O my soul." (ver. 7.) The God who has pleasure in the prosperity of his servants, would have them easy to themselves; and that they can never be, but by reposing in him; this, therefore, we must render. It is work that has its own wages: honor God by resting in him, please him by being well pleased in him. Having received so much from him, let us own that we have enough in him, and that we can go nowhere but to him with any hopes of satisfaction. Lord, whither shall we go? He has the words of eternal life.
"I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living." (verse 9.) A holy life, though it cannot profit God, yet glorifies him; and therefore it is insisted upon as a necessary return for the favors we have received from God. While I am here in the land of the living, I will walk by faith, having mine eyes ever towards the Lord, to see him as he reveals himself, hoping that shortly in that land above, which is truly the land of the living, I shall walk by sight, having mine eyes ever upon the Lord, to see him as he is.
God has here sealed to be to me a God all-sufficient: here therefore I seal to him, according to the tenor of the covenant, that, his grace enabling me, I will "walk before him and be upright."
"I will pay my vows unto the Lord." (ver. 14, 18.) Those that receive the blessings of the covenant, must be willing, not only to come, but always to abide under the bonds of the covenant. Here we must make vows, and then go away and make them good. More of this in the next chapter.
Chapter 11. Directions Concerning the Solemn Vows We are to Make to God in this Ordinance. religious vow is a bond upon the soul; so it is described, Num. 30:2, where he that vows a vow unto the Lord, is said thereby to bind his soul with a bond. It is a solemn promise, by which we voluntarily oblige ourselves to God and duty, as a "willing people in the day of his power."
The cords of a man, and bonds of love, wherewith God draws us and holds us to himself, call upon us by our own act and deed to bind ourselves; and these vows also are cords of a man, for they are highly reasonable; and bonds of love, for to the renewed soul they are an easy yoke, and a light burden.
From all the other parts of our work at the Lord's table, we may infer that this is one part of it: we must there make solemn vows to God, that we will diligently and faithfully serve him.
We are here to renew our repentance for sin, and it becomes penitents to make vows. When we profess ourselves sorry for what we have done amiss, it is very natural and necessary to add, that we will not offend any more as we have done; "if I have done iniquity, I will do so no more." We mock God when we say we repent that we have done foolishly, if we do not at the same time resolve that we will never return again to folly. Times of affliction are proper times to make vows; and what is repentance but selfaffliction? Trouble for sin was not the least of that trouble which David was in, when his lips uttered those vows of which he spoke so feelingly: "I will go into thy house with burnt-offerings; I will pay thee my vows, which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble."
Probably it was under this penitential affliction that he "sware unto the Lord, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob, that he would find a place for the ark." Vows against sin, resulting from sorrow for sin, shall not be rejected as extorted by the rack, but graciously accepted as the genuine language of a broken heart, and fruits meet for repentance.
We are here to ask and receive mercy from God, and it becomes petitioners to make vows. When Jacob found himself in special need of God's gracious presence, he vowed a vow, and set up a stone, for a memorial of it. And Hannah, when she prayed for a particular mercy, vowed a vow, that the comfort she prayed for should be consecrated to God. Great and precious things we are here waiting to receive from God; and therefore, though we cannot offer any thing as a valuable consideration for his favors, yet it becomes us to promise such suitable returns as we are capable of making. When God encourages us to seek to him for grace, we must engage ourselves not to receive his grace in vain, but to improve and employ for him what we have from him.
We are here to give God thanks for his favors to us; now, it becomes us in our thanksgivings to make vows, and to offer to God, not only the calves of our lips, but the works of our hands. Jonah's mariners, when they offered a sacrifice of praise to the Lord for a calm after a storm, as an appendix to that sacrifice, made vows. The most acceptable vows are those which take rise from gratitude, and which are drawn from us by the mercies of God.
Here I see what great things God has done for my soul, and what greater things he designs for me: shall I not therefore freely bind myself to that, which he has by such endearing ties bound me to?
We are here to join ourselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant; and it is requisite that our general covenant be explained and confirmed by particular vows. When we present ourselves to God as a living sacrifice, with these cords we must bind that sacrifice to the horns of the altar: and, while we experience in ourselves such a bent to backslide, we shall find all the arts of obligation little enough to be used with our own souls. As it is not enough to confess sin in the gross, saying, I have sinned, but we must enter into the detail of our transgressions, saying, with David, "I have done this evil;" so it is not enough in our covenanting with God, that we engage ourselves in the general to be his; but we must descend to particulars in our covenants, as God does in his commands, that thereby we may the more effectually both bind ourselves to duty, and remind ourselves of duty. If the people must distinctly say Amen to every curse pronounced on Mount Ebal, much more to every precept delivered on Mount Horeb.
Come then, my soul, thou hast now thy hand upon the book to be sworn; thou art lifting up thy hand to the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth; think what thou art doing, and adjust the particulars, that this may not become a rash oath, inconsiderately taken. God is here confirming his promises to us by an oath, to show the immutability of his counsels of love to us. Here, therefore, we must confirm our promise to him by an oath, to walk in God's law, and to "observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our God." Some of the oriental writers tell us, that the most solemn oath which the patriarchs before the flood used, was, by the blood of Abel, and we are sure that the blood of Jesus is infinitely more sacred, and speaks much greater and much better things than that of Abel. Let us therefore testify our value for that blood, and secure to ourselves the blessings purchased by it, by our sincere and faithful dealing with God in that covenant, of which this is the blood.
The command of the eternal God is, that we "cease to do evil, and learn to do well; that we put off the old man, and put on the new." And our vows to God must accordingly be against all sin, and to all duty; and under each of these heads we must be particular, according as the case is.
I. We must here, by a solemn vow, bind ourselves against all sin; so as not only to break our league with it, but to enter into league against it. The putting away of the strange wives, in Ezra's time, was not the work of one day or two, but a work of time; and therefore Ezra, when he had the people under convictions, and saw them weeping sore for their sin in marrying them, very prudently bound them, by a solemn covenant, that they would put them away. If ever we conceive an aversion to sin, surely it is at the table of the Lord; and therefore we should improve that opportunity to invigorate our resolutions against it, that the remembrance of those resolutions may quicken our resistance of it, when the sensible impressions we are under from it are become less lively. Thus we must, by a solemn vow, cast away from us all our transgressions, saying, with Ephraim, "What have I to do any more with idols?"
We must solemnly vow that we will not indulge or allow ourselves in any sin. Though sin may remain, it shall not reign; though those Canaanites be in the land, yet we will not be tributaries to them. However it may usurp and oppress as a tyrant, it shall never be owned as a rightful prince, nor have a peaceful and undisturbed dominion. I may be in some particular instances, through the surprise of temptations, led into captivity by it; but I am fully resolved, through Christ, never to join in affinity with it, never espouse its cause, never plead for it, nor strike in with its interest.
Bind thyself with this bond, O my soul, that though, through the remainders of corruptions, thou canst not say thou hast no sin; yet, through the beginnings of grace, thou wilt be able to say thou lovest none. That thou wilt give no countenance or connivance to any sin; no, not to secret sins, which, though they shame thee not before men, yet shame thee before God and thine own conscience; no, not to heart sins, those firstborn of the corrupt nature, the beginning of its strength. Vain thoughts may intrude, and force a lodging in me, but I will never invite them, never bid them welcome, nor court their stay. Corrupt affections may disturb me, but they shall never have the quiet and peaceable possession of me: no, whatever wars against my soul, by the grace of God, I will war against it, hoping in due time to get the dominion, and have the yoke broken from off my neck, when "judgment shall be brought forth unto victory," and grace perfected in glory.
We must solemnly vow, that we will never yield to any gross sin, such as lying, injustice, uncleanness, drunkenness, profanation of God's name, and such like, which are not the spots of God's children. Though all the high places be not taken away, yet there shall be no remains of Baal, or of Baal's priests and altars in my soul. However my own heart may be spotted by sins of infirmity, and may need to be daily washed, yet, by the grace of God, I will never spot my profession, nor stain the credit of that by open and scandalous sin. I have no reason to be ashamed of the gospel, and therefore it shall be my constant endeavor, not to be in any thing a shame to the gospel; it is an honor to me, I will never be a dishonor to it; I will never do any thing, by the grace of God I will not, which may give just occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme that worthy name by which I am called. So shall it appear, that I am upright, if I be innocent from these great transgressions.
We must solemnly vow, that with a particular care we will keep ourselves from our own iniquity. That sin, with which, in our penitent reflections, our own consciences did most charge us, and reproach us for, that sin we must in a special manner renew our resolutions against. Was it pride? Was it passion? Was it distrust of God, or love of the world? Was it an unclean fancy, or an idle tongue?—What-ever it was, let the spiritual force be mustered and drawn out against that. The instructions which Samuel gave to Israel, when they were lamenting after the Lord, are observable to this purpose—"If ye do return to the Lord with all your hearts," and would be accepted of him therein, "then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth."
Was not Ashtaroth one of the strange gods or goddesses? Yes; but that is particularly mentioned, because it had been a beloved idol, dearer than the rest, that especially must be put away. Thus, in our covenanting with God, we must engage against all sin, but in particular, against that which, by reason of the temper of our minds, the constitution of our bodies, or the circumstances of our outward affairs, does most easily beset us, and we are most prone to.
Knowest thou thine own self, O my soul? If thou dost, thou "knowest thine own sickness, and thine own sore," that is, thine own iniquity: bring that hither and slay it; let not thine eyes spare, neither do thou pity it. Hide it not, excuse it not, stipulate not for leave to reserve it as Naaman did for his house of Rimmon; though it hath been to thee as a right eye, as a right hand, as thy guide and thine acquaintance, it hath been a false guide, an ill acquaintance, pluck it out, cut it off, and cast it from thee. Now come and fortify thy resolutions in the strength of Christ against that; fetch in help from heaven against that; be vigorous in thy resistance of that, and how many soever its advantages are against thee, yet despair not of a victory at last.
We must solemnly vow, that we will abstain from all appearance of evil; not only from that which is manifestly sin, and which carries the evidences of its own malignity written on its forehead, but from that which looks like sin, and borders upon it. Wisdom is here profitable to direct, so that we may not on the one hand indulge a scrupulous conscience, and yet on the other hand may preserve a tender conscience. Far be it from us to make that to be sin which God hath not made so; and yet in doubtful cases it must be our care and covenant to keep the safer side, and to be cautious of that which looks suspicious; "he that walks uprightly walks surely." What we find to be either a snare to us, and an occasion of sin, or a blemish to us, and an occasion of scandal, or a terror to us in the reflection, and an occasion of grief or fear, it may do well expressly to resolve against, though we be not very clear that it is in itself sinful, nor dare censure it as evil in others; provided that this vow be made with such limitations that it may not afterwards prove an entanglement to us, when, either by the improvement of our knowledge, or the change of our circumstances, it ceases to have in it an appearance of evil.
And art thou willing, my soul, to come under this bond? Wilt thou put far from thee the accursed thing? Wilt thou in this ordinance make a covenant with thine eyes, and oblige them not to look on the wine when it is red, nor to look on a woman to lust after her? Wilt thou shun sin as the plague, and engage thyself, not only never to embrace that adulteress, but never to come nigh the door of her house? Thy vow being like that of the Nazarite, not to drink of this intoxicating wine; let it be then like his, not to eat any thing that cometh of the vine, "from the kernel to the husk." Abandon sin and all its appurtenances; cast out Tobiah and all his stuff. Resolve to deny thyself in that which is most desirable, rather than give Satan any advantage; to abridge thyself even in that which is lawful, rather than come within the confines of sin, or bring thyself into danger of that which is unlawful.
"Happy is the man that feareth always."
We must solemnly vow, that we will have no fellowship "with the unfruitful works of darkness, neither be partakers of other men's sins." We live in a corrupt and degenerate age, in which iniquity greatly abounds. Our business is not to judge others; to their own masters they stand or fall, but our care must be, to preserve ourselves, and the purity and peace of our own minds; our covenant therefore must be, that we will never "walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners." When David engaged himself to keep the commandments of his God, pursuant to that engagement, he said to evil-doers, "Depart from me." And St. Peter reminded his new converts of the necessity of this care;—" Save yourselves from this untoward generation."
Let the Psalmist's vow be mine then. Having hated the congregation of evil-doers, such as drunkards, swearers, filthy talkers, and scoffers at godliness, "I will not sit with the wicked." Though I cannot avoid being sometimes in the sight and hearing of such, yet I will never take those for my chosen companions and bosom friends in this world, with whom I should dread to have my portion in the other world. Religion in rags shall be always valued by me, and profaneness in robes despised. Having chosen
God for my God, his people shall always be my people; "Lord, gather not my soul with sinners." If thou art in good earnest for heaven, resolved to swim against the stream, thou wilt find that sober singularity is an excellent guard to serious piety. On all that glory let there be this defense.
II. We must here by a solemn vow, bind ourselves up to all duty. It is not enough that we depart from evil, but we must do good; that we separate ourselves from the service of sin, and shake off Satan's iron yoke; but we must devote ourselves to the service of Christ, and put our necks under the sweet and easy yoke of God's commandments, with a solemn promise faithfully to draw in that yoke all our days. We need not bind ourselves to more than we are already bound to by the divine law, either expressly or by consequence; either as primary duties or secondary, in order to them. We are not called to lay upon ourselves any other burden than necessary things, and they are not heavy burdens, nor grievous to be borne; but we must bind ourselves faster and by additional ties, to that which we are already bound to.
We must, by a solemn vow, oblige ourselves to all the duties of religion in general.— Jacob's vow must be ours, "Then the Lord shall be my God."
Having avouched him for mine, I will fear him and love him, delight in him and depend upon him, worship him and glorify him, as my Lord and my God. Having owned him as mine, I will ever eye him as mine, and "walk in his name." David's vow must be ours; that we will "keep God's righteous judgments;" that we will keep in them as our way, keep to them as our rule; that we will keep them as the apple of our eye, keep them always unto the end.
In the strength of the grace of Jesus Christ, we must here solemnly promise and vow, (1.) That we will make religion our business.—It is our great business in this world, to serve the honor of him that made us, and secure the happiness we were made for: this we must mind as our business, and not, as most do, make a by-business of it. Religion must be our calling; the calling we resolve to live in, and hope to live by: in the services of it we must be constant and diligent, and as in our element. Other things must give way to it, and be made, as much as may be, serviceable to it. And this must be our covenant with God here, that, however we have trifled hitherto, henceforward we will mind religion as. the one thing needful, and not be slothful in the business of it, but fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. And art thou willing, my soul, thus to devote thyself entirely to the service of thy
God? Shall that engage thy cares, fill thy thoughts, command thy time, and give law to the whole man? Let this matter be settled then, in this day's vows, and resolve to live and die by it.
(2.) That we will make conscience of inside godliness.—Having in our covenant given God our hearts, which is what he demands, we must resolve to employ them for him; for without doubt, he is a Jew, he is a Christian, that is one inwardly; and that is circumcision, that is baptism, that is true and pure religion, "which is of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter;"—that we are really, what we are inwardly: and they only are the true worshippers, that worship God in the spirit. This is the power of godliness, without which the form is but a carcass, but a shadow. "The king's daughter is all glorious within." This, therefore, we must resolve in the strength of the grace of God, that we will keep our hearts with all diligence, keep them fixed, fixed upon God; that the desire of our souls shall ever be towards
God; our hearts shall be lifted up to God in every prayer, and their doors and gates thrown open to admit his word; and that our constant care shall be about the "hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible;" so approving ourselves to God in our integrity, in every thing we do in religion.
(3.) That we will live a life of communion with God.—Without controversy, great is this mystery of godliness; if there be a heaven upon earth, certainly this is it, by faith to set the Lord always before us, having an eye to him with suitable affections, as the first cause, and last end, of all things that concern us; and so having communion with him in providence as well as ordinances. When we receive the common comforts of every day from his hand with love and thankfulness; and bear the common crosses and disappointments of every day, as ordered by his will, with patience and submission; when we commit every day's care to him, and manage every day's business and converse for him, having a constant habitual regard to God in the settled principles of the divine life, and frequent actual outgoings of soul towards him in pious ejaculations, the genuine expressions of devout affections; then we live a life of communion with God. Did we know by experience, what it is to live such a life as this, we would not exchange the pleasures of it, for the peculiar treasures of kings and provinces.
Engage thyself, then, my soul, elevate thyself to this spiritual and divine life, that every day may be thus with thee a communion-day, and thy constant fellowship may be with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ, by the Spirit. Let me resolve henceforward to live, more than I have hitherto done, a life of complacency in God, in his beauty, bounty, and benignity; a life of dependence upon God, upon his power, providence, and promise; a life of devotedness to God, to the command of his word, to the conduct of his Spirit, and the disposal of his providence; and thus to walk with God in all holy conversation.