Chapter 6. Showing the Subject of Meditation
Chapter 6.
Showing the Subject of Meditation The next particular to be discussed is the subject-matter of meditation: what a Christian should meditate on. I have now entered on a large field, but I will only glance at things. I will only do as the disciples did: pluck some ears of corn as I pass along.
Some may say, Alas, I am so barren I don't know what to meditate on. To help Christians therefore in this blessed work, I will show you some choice select matter for meditation. There are fifteen things in the law of God which we should principally meditate on.
Sec. 1. Meditate on God's Attributes.
The attributes of God are the several beams by which the divine nature shines forth to us; and there are six special attributes which we should fix our meditations upon.
1. Meditate on God's Omniscience. His eye is continually upon us. He has a window open into the conscience; our thoughts are unveiled before him. He can tell the words we speak "in our bedroom," 2Kng 6.12. He is described with seven eyes, to show his
Omniscience, Rev 5.6. "You number my steps," Job 14.16. The Hebrew word signifies to take an exact account. God is said to number our steps when he makes a particular and critical observation of our actions. God sets down every passage of our lives, and keeps, as it were, a daybook of all we do, and enters it into the book. Meditate much on this Omniscience.
The effects of meditating on God's Omniscience:
(1) It would act as a curb to check and restrain us from sin. Will the thief steal when the judge looks on?
(2) It would be a good means to make the heart sincere. God has set a window at every man's breast: "Does he not see all my ways?" Job
31.4. If I harbour proud, malicious thoughts, if I look at my own interest more than Christ's, if I dissemble in my repentance, the God of heaven takes notice. The meditation of this omniscience
would make a Christian sincere in both his actions and his aims.
One cannot be a hypocrite without being a fool.
2. Meditate on the Holiness of God. Holiness is the embroidered robe that God wears. It is the glory of the Godhead:
"Glorious in holiness," Exo 15.11. It is the most orient 40 pearl of the crown of heaven. God is the exemplar and pattern of holiness. It is primarily and originally in God, as light is in the sun. You may as well separate weight from lead, or heat from fire, as to separate holiness from the divine nature. God's holiness is that by which His heart rises against any sin, as being most diametrically opposite to his essence: "You are of purer eyes than to behold iniquity," Hab 1.13.
Meditate much on this attribute.
The effect of meditating on God's holiness:
It would be a means to transform us into the similitude and likeness of God. God ever loves us, till we are like him. By meditation we are looking at the beams of holiness which are gloriously transparent in God. As we do, we grow like him, and become holy as he is holy. Holiness is a beautiful thing, Psa 110.3. It puts a kind of angelic brightness upon us; it is the only coin that will pass current 41 in heaven. By frequent meditation on this attribute, we are changed into God's image.
3. Meditate on the Wisdom of God. He is called "the only wise God," 1Tim 1.17. His wisdom shines forth in the works of providence.
He sits at the helm, guiding all things regularly and harmoniously.
He brings light out of darkness; he can strike a straight stroke with a crooked stick; he can make use of the injustice of men to do what is just; he is infinitely wise. He breaks us by afflictions, and upon these broken pieces of the ship, he brings us safely to shore. Meditate on the wisdom of God.
The effects of meditating on the wisdom of God:
(1) It would sweetly calm our hearts: a. When we see things go awry in public, the wise God holds the reins of government in his hand. And whoever would rule, God
over-rules. He knows how to turn all to good. His work will be beautiful in its season. b. When things go ill with us in our private concerns, the meditation of God's wisdom would rock our hearts quiet. The wise
God has set me in this condition, and whether health or sickness, His wisdom will order it for the best. God will make a medicine of poison. All things will be useful to me: either the Lord will expel some sin, or he will exercise some grace.
(2) It would silence murmuring.
4. Meditate on the Power of God. This power is visible in the creation. "He hangs the earth upon nothing," Job 26.7. What cannot
God do, when he can create? Nothing can stand before a creating power. He needs no pre-existent matter to work upon; he needs no instruments to work with; he can work without tools. He is the one before whom the angels veil their faces, and the kings of the earth cast their crowns.
He is the one who "shakes the earth out of its place," Job 9.6. An earthquake makes the earth tremble upon her pillars; but God can shake it out of its place. God can, with a word, unpin the wheels and break the axletree 42 of the creation. He can suspend natural agents, stop the lion's mouth, cause the sun to stand still, make the fire not burn. Xerxes, the Persian monarch, threw fetters into the sea, as if he would have chained up the unruly waters. But when God commands,
"the winds and sea obey him," Mat 8.27. If he speaks the word, an army of stars appears, Jdg 5.20. If he stamps with his foot, a host of angels are quickly in battle array. If he lifts up an ensign and but whistles, his very enemies shall be up in arms to revenge His quarrel,
Isa 5.26. Who would provoke this God?! "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God," Heb 10.31. Like a lion "he tears in pieces the adversaries," Psa 50.22. O meditate on this power of God!
The effect of meditating on the power of God:
It would be a great buttress to faith. A Christian's faith may anchor safely upon the rock of God's power. It was Samson's riddle, "Out of the strong came forth sweetness," Jdg 14.14. While we are
meditating on the power of God, out of this strong comes forth sweetness. Is the church of God low? He can "create Jerusalem as a praise," Isa 65.18. Is your corruption strong? God can break the head of this leviathan. Is the heart hard, is there a stone there? God can dissolve it. "The Almighty makes my heart soft," Job 23.16.
Faith triumphs in the power of God: out of this strong comes forth sweetness. Abraham, meditating on God's power, did not stagger through unbelief, Rom 4.20. He knew God could perform his promise, even contrary to the usual course of nature.43
5. Meditate on the Mercy of God. Mercy is an innate disposition in God to do good, just as the sun has an innate property to shine:
"You Lord are good, and ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercy to all those who call upon you," Psa 86.5. God's mercy is so sweet, that it makes all his other attributes sweet. Holiness without mercy, and justice without mercy, would be dreadful. Though the children of God are under some clouds of affliction, yet the sun of mercy is never completely out of sight. God's justice reaches to the clouds; his mercy reaches above the clouds. How slow is God to anger! He was longer in destroying Jericho, than in making the world: he made the world in six days; but he was seven days in demolishing the walls of Jericho. How many warning rounds God shot against Jerusalem, before he shot his destroying round! Justice goes by foot, Gen 18.21, but mercy has wings, Psa 57.1. The sword of justice often lies a long time in the scabbard and rusts, till sin draws it out and whets it against a nation. God's justice is like the widow's oil which ran a while, and ceased, 2Kng 4.6, But God's mercy is like Aaron's oil, which did not rest on his head, but ran down to the skirts of his garment, Psa 133.2. So the golden oil of God's mercy does not rest upon the head of a good parent, but it is poured on his children, and so it runs down "to the third and fourth generation," even the borders of a religious seed. Often meditate on the mercy of God.
The effects of meditating upon God's mercy:
(1) It would be a powerful loadstone to draw sinners to God by repentance, Rom 2.4. It would be like a cork is to the net, to keep
the heart from sinking in despair. Behold a city of refuge to fly to:
"God is the Father of mercies," 2Cor 1.3. Mercy as naturally issues from Him, as the child issues from the parent. God "delights in mercy," Mic 7.18. Mercy finds out the worst sinner; mercy comes not only with salvation in its hand, but with healing under its wings
(Mal 4.2).
(2) It would melt a sinner into tears. A prisoner reading a pardon sent to him from the king, fell weeping, and burst out into these words: "A pardon has done that which death could not do; it has made my heart relent."
6. Meditate on the Truth of God. Mercy makes the promise, and truth performs it: "I will not allow my faithfulness to fail," Psa 89.33.
God might as well deny himself as to deny his word. He is "abundant in truth," Exo 34.6. What is that? If God has made a promise of mercy to his people, he will be so far from coming short of his word, that he will be better than his word. God often does more than he has said, never less; he often shoots beyond the mark of the promise he has set, never short of it. He is abundant in truth. God may sometimes delay a promise, but he will not deny it. The promise may lie a long time, like seed hidden underground; but all the while it is ripening. The promise of Israel's deliverance lay four hundred and thirty years hidden underground; but when the time had come, the promise did not go a day beyond its reckoning, Exo 12.41. "The strength of Israel will not lie," 1Sam 15.29. Meditate on the truth of God.
The effects of meditating on the truth of God:
(1) It would be a pillar of support for faith. The world hangs upon God's power, and faith hangs upon his truth.
(2) It would make us ambitious to imitate Him. We should be true in our words, true in our dealings. Pythagoras was asked, "What makes men like God?" He answered, "When they speak truth."
Sec. 2. Meditate on the Promises of God.
The promises are flowers growing in the paradise of scripture; meditation, like the bee, sucks the sweetness from them. The promises are of no use or comfort to us till they are meditated upon.
Roses hanging in the garden may give a fragrant perfume, yet their sweet water is distilled only by fire. So too, the promises are sweet in reading them over, but the water of these roses, the spirit and quintessence of the promises, are distilled into the soul only by meditation. Incense smells sweetest when it is pounded and beaten.
Meditating on a promise, like the beating of incense, makes it most odoriferous and pleasant. The promises may be compared to a gold mine which only enriches when the gold is dug out of it. By holy meditation, we dig out that spiritual gold which lies hidden in the mine of the promise, and so we come to be enriched. Cardan 44 says there is no precious stone that does not have some hidden virtue in it. They are called precious promises, 2Pet 1.4. When they are applied by meditation, then their virtue appears, and they become precious indeed. There are three sorts of promises which we should chiefly meditate on:
1. Meditate on promises of Remission. "I, even I, am He that blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and will not remember your sins," Isa 43.25 — whereas the poor sinner may say,
"Alas! I am deep in arrears with God. I fear I have not filled his bottle with my tears, but I have filled his book with my debts." Well, only meditate on His promise, "I am he that blots out," etc. The word there in the original, to blot out, is a metaphor alluding to a merchant that, when his debtor has paid him, blots out the debt, and gives him an acquittance. So God says: "I will blot out your sin; I will cross out the debt-book." Ah, but (the poor soul may say) it may be a great while before then. I may be a long time under the convulsions of conscience. I may even pine away, and "my life draw near to the grave," Psa 88.3. Indeed, in the Hebrew it is, "I am blotting out your transgressions." I have taken my pen, and I am crossing out your score. Oh, but (the sinner may say) there is no reason why God should do this for me. Well, acts of grace do not go by reason: I will blot out your sins "for My name's sake." Oh, but (says the sinner) will
the Lord not call my sins to remembrance again? No, He promises an act of oblivion; I will not upbraid you with your sins, nor sue you with a bond that is cancelled: "I will remember your sins no more"
(Isa 43.25).Here is a sweet promise to meditate on; it is a hive full of the honey of the gospel.
2. Meditate on promises of Sanctification. The earth is not so apt to be overgrown with weeds and thorns, as the heart is to be overgrown with lusts: now, God has made many promises of healing,
Hos 14.4; and purging, Jer 33.8; promises of sending his Spirit, Isa 44.3. For its sanctifying nature, sanctification is compared sometimes to water which cleanses the vessel; sometimes to wind, which is the fan to winnow and purify the air; sometimes to fire, which refines the metals. Meditate often on that promise: "Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be white as snow," Isa 1.18. Scarlet is so deep a dye, that all the art of man cannot take it out. But behold here a promise: God will set the soul to whitening. He will make of a scarlet sinner, a milk-white saint. By virtue of this refining and consecrating work, a Christian is made partaker of the divine nature,
2Pet 1.4. He has a fitness to have communion with God forever.
Meditate much on this promise.
3. Meditate on promises of Remuneration. "The haven of rest," Heb 4.9. "The beatific sight of God," Mat 5.8. The glorious mansions, Joh 14.2. Meditation on these promises will keep us from fainting under our sins and sorrows.
Sec. 3. Meditate on the Love of Christ.
Christ is as full of love, as he is of merit. What was it but love, that He should save us, and not the angels? Among the rarities of the loadstone, this is not the least: that ignoring the gold and pearl, it should draw iron to itself, which is a baser kind of metal. Thus the rarity that Christ should ignore the angels, those more noble spirits
— the gold and pearl — and draw mankind to himself. How this proclaims his love! Love was the wing on which he flew to take our nature upon himself.
1. How transcendent is Christ's love to the saints! The apostle calls it a love that passes knowledge," Eph 3.19. It is such a love as God the Father bears to Christ; it is the same for quality, even though not equality: "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you," Joh
15.9. A believer's heart is the garden where Christ has planted this sweet flower of his love. It is the channel through which the golden stream of his affection runs.
2. How distinguishing is Christ's love! "Not many wise, not many noble are called," 1Cor 1.26. In the old law, God passed by the lion and the eagle, and took the dove for a sacrifice. Oh the depth of divine love, that God should pass by so many of noble birth and position, and that the lot of free grace should fall upon you!
3. How invincible is the love of Christ! "It is strong as death,"
Song 8.6. Death might take away His life, but not this love. And just as death could not wholly quench that divine flame of love, so neither could sin. The church had her infirmities, her sleepy fits, Song 5.2.
But though blackened and sullied, it is still a dove. Christ could see the faith, and overlook the failing. The artist who drew Alexander while there was a scar on his face, drew him with his finger on the scar.45 Christ puts the finger of mercy on the scars of the saints. He will not throw away his pearls for every speck of dirt. And what makes this love of Christ even more stupendous, is that there was nothing in us to excite or attract his love. He did not love us because we were worthy; but by loving us, he made us worthy.
4. How immutable is Christ's love! "Having loved his own, he loved them to the end," Joh 13.1. The saints are like letters of gold, engraven upon Christ's heart, which cannot be razed out. Meditate much upon the love of Christ.
The effects of serious meditation upon the love of Christ:
(1) It would make us love Him back. "Can one tread on hot coals, and his feet not be burnt? Pro 6.28. Who can tread, by meditation, upon these hot coals of Christ's love, and his heart not be burnt with love for Christ?
(2) It would cause our eyes to flow with tears for our gospel unkindnesses. Oh that we should sin against so sweet a Saviour!
Did we have none to abuse but our friend? Did we have nothing to kick against but His love? Did Christ not suffer enough upon the cross, without us making him suffer more? Oh, if anything can dissolve the heart into mourning, it is ingratitude and unkindness offered to Christ! When Peter thought of Christ's love to him, Christ could deny Peter nothing.46 Yet, that Peter should deny Christ, this made his eyes water: "Peter went out and wept bitterly," Mat 26.75.
(3) It would make us love our enemies. Jesus Christ showed love to his enemies. We read of "the fire licking up the water," 1Kng 18.38.
It is usual for water to quench fire, but for fire to dry up and consume the water, which was not capable of burning, this was miraculous! Christ showed such a miracle: his love burned where there was no fit matter to work upon, nothing but sin and enmity.
He loved his enemies: the fire of his love consumed and licked up the water of their sins. He prayed for his enemies, "Father forgive them." He shed tears for those who shed his blood. Those who gave
Christ gall and vinegar to drink, to them he gave his blood to drink.
The meditation of this love should melt our hearts in love to our enemies. Austin 47 says Christ made a pulpit of the cross; and the great lesson he taught Christians was to love their enemies.
(4) It would be a means to support us, in case of Christ's absence.
Sometimes he is pleased to withdraw himself, Song 5.6. Yet, when we consider how entire and immutable his love is (Joh 13.1), the love of Christ will make us wait with patience till he sweetly manifests himself to us again. He is love (1Joh 4.16), and he cannot forsake his people overly long. He may take his leave, but not his last farewell, Mic 7.19. The sun may be gone awhile from us, but in due time it returns. The meditation of Christ's love may make us wait for the return of this Sun of righteousness. "For yet a little while, and he that shall come, will come," Heb 10.37. He is truth, and therefore He shall come. He is love, and therefore he will come.
Sec. 4. Meditate on Sin.
1. Meditate on the guilt of sin. We are in Adam as in a common head or root. In his sinning, we become guilty: "in whom all have sinned," Rom 5.12. By his treason, our blood is tainted; and this guilt brings shame with it, Rom 6.21.
2. Meditate on the defiling nature of sin. Not only is the guilt of Adam's sin imputed to us; but the poison of his nature is disseminated to us as well. Our virgin nature is defiled; the heart is spotted, 1Kng 8.38. How then can the actions be pure? If the water is foul in the well, it cannot be clean in the bucket. "We are all like an unclean thing," Isa 64.6. We are like a patient under the physician's hand, who has no sound part in him: his head is bruised, his liver swelled, his lungs decayed, his blood inflamed, his feet gangrened.
Thus it is with us before grace comes: darkness in the mind; slipperiness in the memory; hardness in the heart; stubbornness in the will — "from the sole of the foot, to the crown of the head, there is no soundness; only wounds and bruises, and putrefying sores," Isa
1.6. A sinner filthied with sin is no better than a devil in man's shape.
Also, what is sadly to be laid to heart, is the adherence of this sin. Sin is naturalized to us; the apostle calls it an encompassing sin, Heb
12.1, a sin that will not be put away easily. A man may as well shake off the skin of his body, as the sin of his soul; it sticks fast, like ivy sticks to the wall. There is no shaking off this viper till death. O meditate often on this contagion of sin. How strong is that poison, a drop of which is able to poison a whole sea! How venomous and malignant was that apple, a taste of which poisoned all mankind!
Meditate seriously on this.
The effect of meditating upon sin:
It would make the plumes of pride fall. If our knowledge makes us proud, then we have sin enough to make us humble. The best saint alive who is taken out of the grave of sin, still has the smell of the grave-clothes on him.
3. Meditate on the curse of sin. "Cursed be everyone who does not continue in all things written in the book of the law," Gal 3.10.
This curse is like a blight on fruit, which keeps it from thriving. Sin is not only a defiling, but a damning thing. It is not only a spot in the face, but a stab at the heart. Sin betrays us into the devil's hands, who like Draco,48 writes all his laws in blood. Sin binds us over to the wrath of God; and then what are all our earthly enjoyments if not like
Damocles' banquets, with a sword hanging over the head? 49 Sin brings forth the "roll written with curses" against the sinner, Zec 5.13. It is a "flying roll," ver. 2. It comes swiftly, unless mercy stops it.
"You are cursed with a curse," Mal 3.9. Thus it is, till the entail of this curse is cut off by Christ. O meditate on this curse due to sin.
The effects of meditating on the curse of sin:
(1) It would make us afraid to retain or entertain sin: a. Of retaining sin. When Micah had stolen his mother's money, and heard her curse him, he dared not keep it any longer, but restores it, Jdg 17.2. He was afraid of his mother's curse. What then is God's curse? b. Of entertaining sin. We would not willingly entertain someone in our house who had the plague. Sin brings a curse along with it, which is the plague of God that clings to a sinner.
Sin is like the water of jealousy which made "the belly swell, and the thigh rot," Num 5.22.
(2) It would make us flee from sin. While we sit under the shadow of this bramble, fire will come out of the bramble to devour us eternally, Jdg 9.15.
Sec. 5. Meditate on the Vanity of the creature.
When you have sifted out the finest flour that the creature affords, you will find something either to dissatisfy, or to nauseate. The best wine has its froth, the sweetest rose its prickles, and the purest comforts their dregs. The creature cannot be said to be full unless it is of vanity, as a bladder may be filled with wind. "In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits," Job 20.22. Those who think to find happiness here are sure to be deceived. Meditate on this vanity.
The world is like a mirror which represents that face which is not really in it.
The effects of meditating on our vanity:
(1) It would loosen our grip on earthly things. The meditation of this vanity would be like digging around the roots of a tree to loosen it from the earth. It would much loosen our hearts from the world, and it would be an excellent preservative against a surfeit. Let a Christian think this way to himself: Why am I so serious about vanity? If the whole earth were changed into a globe of gold, it could not fill my heart.
(2) It would make us seek more solid comforts: the favour of God, the blood of Christ, the influences of the Spirit. When I see that the life which I fetch from the cistern is vain, I will go more to the spring. In Christ there is an inexhaustible treasury. When a man finds the bough is beginning to break, he lets go of the bough, and catches hold of the main tree. So too, when we find the creature is but a rotten bough, then by faith we will catch hold on Christ, the Tree of Life, Rev 2.7. The creature is but a reed; God is the rock of ages.
Sec. 6. Meditate on the excellence of Grace.
1. Grace is precious in itself. It is precious in faith, 2Pet 1.1.
Grace is precious in its origin: it comes from above, Jas 3.17; and precious in its nature — it is the seed of God, 1Joh 3.9. Grace is the spiritual enamel and embroidery of the soul. It is the very signature and engraving of the Holy Spirit. Grace does not lose its colour: it is such a commodity that the longer we keep it, the better it is; it changes into glory. Just as grace is precious in itself,
2. Grace makes us precious to God, as a rich diamond adorns those who wear it: "Since you were precious in my sight, you have been honourable," Isa 43.4. The saints who are invested with grace are God's jewels, Mal 3.17 — though sullied with reproach, though smeared with blood, yet they are jewels; all the world besides is but lumber. These are the jewels, and heaven is the golden cabinet where they shall be locked up safe. A gracious man is the glory of the
age he lives in, like Melanchthon, who was called the phoenix of Germany.50 So illustrious in God's eye is a soul bespangled with grace, that he doesn't think the world is worthy of him: "Of whom the world was not worthy," Heb 11.38. Therefore God calls his people home so fast, because they are too good to live in the world: "The righteous is more excellent than his neighbour," Pro 12.26.
3. Grace is the best blessing. It has a transcendency above all other things. There are two things that sparkle much in our eyes; but grace infinitely outshines them both:
(1) Gold. The sun does not shine so bright in our eyes as gold; It is the mirror of beauty; "money answers all things," Ecc 10.19. But grace weighs heavier than gold. Gold draws the heart from God; grace draws the heart to God. Gold enriches only the mortal part, grace the angelic. Gold perishes, 1Pet 1.7; grace perseveres. With the rose, the fuller it blooms, the sooner it sheds. It is an emblem of all other things besides grace.
(2) Gifts. These are nature's pride. Gifts and parts, like Rachel, are fair to look at, but grace excels them. I would rather be holy than eloquent. A heart full of grace is better than a head full of notions.
Gifts commend no man to God. It is not the paring of the apple that we esteem, however vermilion its colour, but the fruit. We do not judge better of a horse for his trappings and ornaments, unless he has good mettle. What are the most glorious parts, if there is not the mettle of grace in the heart? Gifts may be bestowed upon one for the good of others; but grace is bestowed for a man's own eternal advantage. God may send away reprobates with gifts, as Abraham sent away the sons of the concubines, Gen 25.6. But he bestows the inheritance only upon grace. Oh, often meditate on the excellence of grace!
The effects of meditating upon the beauty of grace:
(1) It would make us fall in love with grace. He that meditates on the worth of a diamond, grows in love with it. Damascene 51 calls the graces of the spirit the very characters and impressions of the
divine nature. Grace is that flower of delight which, like the vine in the parable, "cheers the heart of God and man," Jdg 9.13.
(2) It would make us earnest in the pursuit of grace. We dig for gold in the mine; we labour for it in the furnace. If we meditate on the worth of grace, we would dig in the mine of ordinances for it! What labour and wrestling we would have in prayer! We would put on a modest boldness and not take a denial. "What will you give me" asks Abraham, "seeing that I go graceless?" (Gen 15.2) So your soul would say, "Lord, what will you give me, seeing that I go graceless; who will grant me to drink of the "water of the well of life!" (Joh
4.14) (3) It would make us endeavour to be instrumental to convey grace to others. Is grace so transcendently precious, and yet I have a child who lacks grace? O that I might be a means to convey this treasure into his soul! I have read of a rich Florentine, who being about to die, called all his sons together, and said these words to them, "It greatly rejoices me, now upon my death-bed, that I will leave you all wealthy." But a parent's ambition should rather be to convey sanctity, so that he may say, "O my children, it rejoices me that I will leave you gracious; it comforts me that, before I die, I will see
Jesus Christ live in you."
Sec. 7. Meditate on your Spiritual Estate.
Enter into a serious meditation on the state of your souls; while you are meditating on other things, do not forget yourselves: the great work lies at home. It was Solomon's advice, "know the state of your flock," Pro 27.23. Much more should you know the state of your soul.
For lack of this meditation, men are like travellers, skilled in other countries, but ignorant of their own. So they may know other things, but they do not know how it goes with their souls, whether they are in a good or bad state. There are few who, by holy meditation, enter within themselves.
There are two reasons why so few meditate on the state of their souls:
1. Self-guiltiness. Men are loth to look into their hearts by meditation, lest they find that which would trouble them. The cup is in their sack (Gen 44.12). Most are like tradesmen in this, who being ready to fail in their estates, are loth to look into their account books lest they find their estate is low. But would it not be better for you to enter into your heart by meditation, than to have God, in a sad manner, enter into judgment with you?
2. Presumption. Men hope all is well. They will not take their land upon trust, but will have it surveyed. Yet they will take their spiritual estate upon trust, without any surveying. They are confident that their case is good, Pro 14.16; 52 it is not to be disputed. Yet this confidence is only conceit. How confident the foolish virgins were, even though they had no oil in their lamps! "They came knocking"
(Mat 25.11) — it was a peremptory knock — they had no doubt of admittance. So too, many who are not sure of their salvation, are
[falsely] secure; they presume that all is well, never seriously meditating whether they have oil or not. O Christian, meditate about your soul. See how the case stands between God and you. Do as merchants do: count up your estate so that you may see what you are worth. See if you are rich toward God, Luk 12.21.
Meditate about three things.
1. Meditate about your debts: see if your debts are paid or not; that is, if your sins are pardoned: see if there are no arrears, no sin in your soul left unrepented of.
2. Meditate about your will: see if your will is made up yet. Have you resigned all interest in yourself? Have you given up your love to God? Have you given up your own will? This is how to make up your will: meditate about the will. Make your spiritual will in the time of your health. If you put off making up your will till death, it may be an invalid will. Perhaps God will not accept your soul then.
3. Meditate about your evidences. These evidences are the graces of the Spirit; see whether you have any evidences. What desires do you have after Christ? What faith do you have? See whether there is no flaw in your evidences: are your desires true? Do
you desire heavenly principles [to live by], as well as heavenly privileges? O meditate seriously upon your evidences! To sift our hearts in this way by meditation is very necessary. If we find that our estate is not sound, the mistake is discovered, and the danger is prevented. And if it is sound, then we will have the comfort of it.
What gladness it was to Hezekiah, when he could say, "Remember now, O Lord, how I have walked before you in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight," Isa
38.3. So, what unspeakable comfort it will be, when a Christian, upon a serious meditation and review of his spiritual condition, can say, I have something to show for heaven; "I know I have passed from death to life," 1Joh 3.14. And as a holy man once said, "I am
Christ's, and the devil has nothing to do with me." (Joh 14.30) Sec. 8. Meditate on the Small Number of those who will be saved.
"But few are chosen," Mat 20.16. Among the millions in Rome, there are but few senators; and among the swarms of people in the world, there are but few believers. We read of four sorts of ground in the parable of the sower, and only one good ground. Mat 13.3-8. How few in the world know Christ! How few believe in him! "Who has believed our report?" Isa 53.1. How few strike sail to Christ's sceptre!
53 (Luk 19.14). The heathen idolaters and Mahometans possess almost all of Asia and Africa; in many parts of the world the devil is worshipped; Satan takes up most climates and hearts. How many formalists there are in the world, "having a form of godliness," 2Tim
3.5. They are like wool that receives a slight tint, not a deep dye; their religion is a paint which a storm of persecution will wash off; it is not an engraving. These may look like Christ's doves, but they are the serpent's brood. They hate God's image, like the panther that hates the picture of a man. O, often meditate on the small number of those who will be saved.
The effects of meditating on the small number that will be saved:
(1) It would keep us from marching along with the multitude. "You shall not follow a multitude," Exo 23.2. The multitude usually goes wrong: most men walk "after the course of the world," Eph 2.2 — that is, the lusts of their hearts, and the customs of the times. They march after the prince of the air. The meditation of this would make us turn off the common road.
(2) It would make us walk tremblingly. Few find the way; and when they have found it, few walk in the way. Thoughts of this would work holy fear, Heb 4.1 — not a despairing fear, but a jealous and cautious fear. This fear is what the eminent saints of God have had.
Austin says of himself, that he knocked at heaven's gate with a trembling hand. This fear is joined with hope. "The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his mercy,"
Psa 147.11. A child of God fears, because the gate is narrow; but he hopes, because the gate is open.
(3) It would be a whetstone 54 to industry. It would put us upon working out our salvation (Phi 2.12); if there are so few who will be crowned, then it would make us all the swifter in the race. This meditation would be an alarm to sleepy Christians.
Sec. 9. Meditate on Final Apostasy.
Think what a sad thing it is to begin to build in religion, and not be able to finish (Luk 14.30). Joash was good while his uncle Jehoida lived. But after he died, Joash grew wicked, and all his religion was buried in his uncle's grave. We live in the fall of the leaf; how many have fallen to damnable heresies! (2Pet 2.1). Meditate seriously on that scripture, "It is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they should fall away, to renew them again unto repentance," Heb 6.4-6. A man may be enlightened, and that may be from a double lamp — the word and Spirit — but these beams, even though they are irradiating, yet they are not penetrating. It is possible that he may have a taste of the heavenly gift; he may taste but not concoct it; or as one says, a cook may taste the food he
prepares, but not be nourished by it. This taste may not only illuminate, but refresh; it may carry some sweetness in it; there may be a kind of delight in spiritual things. A man may go even this far, and yet fell away finally. Now this will be very sad, because it is such a God-affronting and Christ-reproaching sin: "Know therefore that it is an evil and bitter thing, that you have forsaken the Lord," Jer 2.19.
Meditate on final relapses.
The effects of meditation upon apostasy and fallen hypocrites:
(1) It would make us earnest in prayer to God for a sound heart.
"Make my heart sound in your statutes," Psa 119.80. Lord, let me not be an alchemy Christian; 55 work a thorough work of grace upon me. Though I am not washed perfectly, let me be washed thoroughly, Psa 51.2. That which begins in hypocrisy, ends in apostasy.
(2) It would make us earnest in prayer for perseverance. "Uphold my steps in your paths, that my footsteps not slip," Psa 17.5. Lord, hold me up, that I may hold out. You have set the crown at the end of the race; let me run the race, that I may wear the crown. It was
Beza's 56 prayer, and let it be ours, "Lord perfect what you have begun in me, that I may not suffer shipwreck when I am almost at the haven."
Sec. 10. Meditate on Death.
We say we must all die, but who is the one that seriously meditates upon it?
1. Meditate on the certainty of death. "It is appointed for all once to die," Heb 9.27. There is a statute issued.
2. Meditate on the proximity of death. It is near to us. We are almost setting our feet on the dark entry of death. The poets painted time with wings: it not only rides post, but it flies, and it carries us upon its wings. The race is short between the cradle and the grave.
The sentence of death is already passed; "to dust you shall return,"
Gen 3.19. So our life is but a short reprieve from the death granted to
a condemned man. "My age is as nothing," Psa 39.5. Indeed, if it were possible to take something out of nothing, our life is less than nothing when reckoned with eternity.
3. Meditate on the uncertainty of the time. We have no lease, but may be turned out in the next hour. There are so many casualties, that it is a wonder if life is not cut off by untimely death.
How soon God may seal to us an eviction notice! Our grave may be dug before night. Today we may lie upon a pillow of down, and tomorrow we may be laid upon a pillow of dust. Today the sermon bell sounds, and tomorrow our passing bell may sound.
4. Think seriously that dying is done but once, and after death there is nothing to be done. If you die in your impenitency there is no repenting in the grave. If you leave your work at death half-done, there is no finishing it in the grave. "There is no work, nor device, nor wisdom in the grave where you are going," Ecc 9.10. If a garrison surrenders at the first summons, there is mercy; but if it stays till the red flag is hung out, and the garrison is stormed, there is no mercy then. Now it is a day of grace, and God holds out the white flag of mercy to the penitent; but if we stay till
God holds out the red flag, and storms us by death, then there is no mercy. There is nothing to be done for our souls after death. O meditate on death! It is reported about Seleucus 57 that the first piece of household stuff he brought to Babylon was a tombstone. Think often of your tombstone.
The admirable effects of meditation on death:
(1) It would pull down the plumes of pride. You are but animated dust; shall dust and ashes be proud? You have a grassy body, and will shortly be mowed down, Isa 37.2. "I have said you are gods,"
Psa 82.6; but lest they grow proud, he adds a corrective: "you shall die like men," ver. 7. You are dying gods.
(2) It would be a means to give a death's wound to sin. There is no stronger antidote against sin, says Austin, than frequent meditation upon death. I am now sinning, and tomorrow I may be dying; what if death should take me doing the devil's work? Wouldn't it send me
to him to receive double pay? Carry thoughts of death about with you always, like a table-book; and when sin tempts you, pull out this table-book and read in it, and you will see sin vanish. We should look at sin in two mirrors: the mirror of Christ's blood, and the mirror of death.
(3) It would be a bridle for intemperance. Shall I pamper the body which must lie down in the house of rottenness? (Job 13.28) Our
Saviour at a feast breaks into the mention of his burial, Mat 26.12.
Feeding on thoughts of death would be an excellent preservative against a surfeit.
(4) It would make us manage time better, and pack much work into a little space. Many meet in taverns to while away the time; the apostle bids us to redeem it: "redeeming the time," Eph 5.16. Our life should be like jewels: though little in bulk, they are great in worth. Some die young, yet with gray hairs upon them. We must be like the grass of the field, useful — not like grass on the house-top, which withers before it grows up, Psa 129.6. To live and not be serviceable, is not life, but time.
(5) It would make us lay in provision against such a time. It would spur us on in the pursuit after holiness. Death is the great plunderer; it will shortly plunder us of all our outward comforts.
Our feathers of beauty and honour must be laid in the dust, but death cannot plunder us of our graces. The commonwealth of Venice have this inscription in their armoury: "Happy is he that in time of peace, thinks of war." He that often meditates on death, will prepare for its coming.
Sec. 11. Meditate on the Day of Judgment.
"God has appointed a day in which he will judge the world." Act 17.31.
1. Meditate on the solemnity of this trial. The trumpet shall sound to summon all the world before the judge, 1The 4.16; and Jesus Christ shall "come in the glory of his Father, with all his holy angels," Mat 16.27.
2. Meditate on the universality of this trial. "We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ," 2Cor 5.10. Kings and nobles, all must come to the bar; there is no exemption. I have read of a wicked king who on his death-bed fell a-weeping. His brother asked him why he wept "To think," he says, "that I, who have judged others, am now going to be judged myself."
3. Meditate on the impartiality of the trial. Christ will do justice; "He will judge the world in righteousness,'' Act 17.31. There are no bribes taken in this court; no relations take precedence here.
The Thebans pictured their judges blind, and without hands; blind, that they might not respect persons; without hands, that they might take no bribes. Christ's sceptre is a "sceptre of righteousness," Heb
1.8. It is not nearness of blood that avails; nor will he be bribed with a tear.
4. Meditate on the exactness of the trial. It will be very critical; "He will thoroughly purge his threshing floor," without a grace or a sin that Christ's fan will not discover, Mat 3.12; he will judge the heart as well as the fact.
5. Meditate on the outcome and consequence of this trial.
There will be a discrimination made. He will separate the good from the bad, Mat 25.32. The wheat and the chaff may both grow together, but they shall not lie together (Mat 13.30).
Meditate often on this court of judicature, from which there is no appeal. Feathers swim upon the water, but gold sinks in it; light feathery Christians float in vanity — they do not bear in mind the Day of Judgment — but serious spirits sink deep into the meditation of it. Most men put far away from them the evil day, Amos 6.3. They report of the Italians, that in a great thunderstorm they used to ring their bells, and shoot off their cannons, so that the sound of their bells and the roaring of their cannons might drown out the noise of the thunder. So too, the devil delights men with the music of the world, so that the noise of this should drown the noise of the Day of Judgment, and make them forget the sound of the last trumpet (1Cor
15.52).
Most men are guilty, and therefore they do not love to hear of the courts. When Paul preached of judgment, Felix trembled, Act 24.25, for he had a bad conscience. Josephus tells us of Felix, that he was a wicked man: he had enticed the woman that lived with him (Drusilla by name) away from her husband; and when he heard of judgment, he fell trembling. O, I beseech you, meditate on this last and solemn day! While others are thinking how they may get riches, let us think to ourselves how we may abide the day of Christ's coming.
The effects of meditating on the Day of Judgment:
(1) It would make us examine all our actions. Christ will come with his fan and his sieve: will this action of mine abide the test at that great day?
(2) It would make us labour to approve our hearts to God, the great judge and umpire of the world. It is no matter what men think of us, but what is our Judge's opinion of us? To Him we must stand or fall. The meditation of the Day of Judgment would make us endeavour to be like Moses, who was "fair" to God, as the original has it, Act 7.20. The galaxy, or Milky Way, as the astronomers call it, is a bright circle in the heavens containing many stars; but they are so small that they have no name, nor are they taken notice of by the astronomers. Give me leave to apply that: possibly others may take no notice of us — we are so small as to have no name in the world — and yet if we are true stars, and can approve our hearts to God, then we will hold up our heads with boldness when we come to stand before our Judge.
(3) It would make us labour after an interest in Christ. There is no standing before Christ, except by being in Christ. If Christ is yours, then all is well — no matter what is charged — if all is discharged,
Rom 8.33-34. There is no way in the world to stand in the Day of Judgment, except by making Christ a party to your case. Make him your friend, and then your Judge will be your advocate, 1Joh 2.1.
(4) It would make Christians less censorious; they would not reprobate 58 others so fast; who are you to judge another? Do you take Christ's sceptre into your hand? Dare you sit in judgment of
your brother? Perhaps when the critical day comes, he may be found gold, and you chaff. It is true, we may judge men's way, but not their persons, Rom 14.10. But why do you judge your brother?
We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
(5) It would yield much comfort to a Christian, and that would be in two cases: a. In case of weakness of grace. A poor Christian, when he sees his grace so defective, is ready to be discouraged. But at the Day of Judgment, if Christ finds but a drachm 59 of sincerity, it will be accepted. If yours is true gold, even though it may be light, Christ will put his merits into the scales, and make it current. If you have no sin of allowance, (Rom 7.15) you shall have grains of allowance.
I may allude to that passage in Amos 9.9. "Yet not the least grain shall fall to the earth." He that has but a grain of grace, not the least grain shall fall to hell. b. In case of censures and slanders. The saints arrive here through strange reports, 2Cor 6.8.60 There is no walking in the world nowadays, however warily we tread, without catching some specks of dirt. John the Baptist's head on a platter is a common dish in this age. It is ordinary now to bring in a saint beheaded of his good name. But at the Day of Judgment, Christ will unload his people of all their calumnies and reproaches. He will at that day wash his spouse so white, that she will not only be guiltless, but spotless; her black spots of reproach shall be taken away, "He will present his church glorious, not having spot or wrinkle," Eph 5.27.
Sec. 12. Meditate on Hell.
1. Meditate on the pain of loss; "and the door was shut," Mat 25.10. To have Christ's face veiled over, and a perpetual eclipse and midnight in the soul — to be cast out of God's presence, in whose presence is fulness of joy — this aggravates and embitters the condition of the damned; it is like mingling gall with wormwood (Jer
9.15).
2. Meditate on the pain of sense. The Photinians 61 hold that there is no hell, but they speak in a dream — "The wicked shall be turned in to hell," Psa 9.17. And here meditate on two things: (1) The place of hell; (2) The company.
(1) Meditate on the place of hell. It is called "a place of torment,"
Luk 16.28. There are two things especially in hell that torment. a. The Fire. It is called a lake of burning fire, Rev 20.15. Austin,
Peter Lombard, Gregory the Great, say this fire of hell is a material fire, though they say it is infinitely hotter than any culinary fire which is but painted fire compared to this. I wish none of us may know what kind of fire it is; but I rather think the fire of hell is partly material, and partly spiritual; the material fire is to work upon the body, the spiritual to torture the soul. This is the wrath of God, which is both fire and bellows; "Who knows the power of Your anger?" Psa 90.11.
Obj: But, it may be objected, if there is any material fire in hell, it will consume the bodies there.
Ans: I answer, it will burn without consuming, as Moses' bush did, Exo 3.2. The power of God silences all disputes: If God, by his infinite power, could make the fire of the three children not consume them (Dan 3.27) can he not make the fire of hell burn and not consume? Austin tells of a strange salt in Sicily which swims if it is put in the fire; that same God who can make salt swim in the fire, contrary to its nature, can make the bodies of the damned not consumed in the fire. b. The worm. "Where the worm never dies," Mar 19.48. Homer, in his Odyssey, imagines that Tityos' liver was gnawed by two vultures in hell. This never-dying worm which Christ speaks of, is the gnawing of a guilty conscience.
Melanchthon calls it a hellish fury: those who will not hear their conscience preaching, will feel their conscience gnawing. And so great is the extremity of these two, the fire which burns, and the worm which bites, that there will follow "gnashing of teeth," Mat
8.12. The damned will gnash their teeth out of horror and anguish.
That must be a sad cheer, as Latimer says, where weeping is served up for the first course, and gnashing of teeth for the second. To endure this will be intolerable, and to avoid it will be impossible.
(2) Meditate about the company in hell: the devil and his angels, Mat 25.41. Job complains that he was a companion to owls, Job
30.29. What will it be like to be a companion to devils? Consider 1.
Their ghastly deformity; they make hell look blacker. 2. Their deadly antipathy; they are fired up with rage against mankind: first they become tempters, and then tormentors.
Meditate much on hell. Let us go into hell by contemplation, so that we may not go into hell by condemnation. How restless is the condition of the damned! The ancients pretend of Endymion, that he got leave of Jupiter to always sleep.62 What would the damned in hell give for such a license! In their pains is neither intermission nor mitigation.
The effects of serious meditation on hell:
(1) It would make us fear sin as hellish. Sin is hell's fuel. Sin, like Samson's foxes, Jdg 15.5, carries devouring fire in its tail.
(2) It would cause rejoicing in a child of God. The saint's fear of hell is like the two Marys' fear: "They departed from the sepulchre with fear and great joy," Mat 28.8. A believer may fear to think of the place of torment, but rejoice to think he will not come into this place. When a man stands upon a high rock, he trembles to look down into the sea; yet he rejoices that he is not there struggling with the waves. A child of God, when he thinks of hell, rejoices with trembling. A prison is not made for the king's sons to be put in. A great naturalist observes that nothing will quench fire as quickly as salt and blood. Whether it is so or not, I am sure that the saltbrinish tears of repentance, and the blood of Christ, will quench the fire of hell for a believer. Christ himself has felt the pains of hell for you — the Lamb of God being roasted in the fire of God's wrath. By this burnt-offering, the Lord is now appeased towards his people.
Oh how the godly may rejoice! "There is no condemnation for those
who are in Christ," Rom 8.1. When the Son of God was in the furnace, Dan 3.25, the fire did the three children no hurt; so Christ being for a time in the fiery furnace of God's wrath, that fire can do a believer no hurt. The saints have the garment of Christ's righteousness upon them, and the fire of hell can never singe this garment.
Sec. 13. Meditate on Heaven.
From the mount of meditation, as from mount Nebo, we may take a view and prospect of the land of promise. Christ has taken possession of heaven in the name of all believers; "Where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus," Heb 6.20. Heaven must be a glorious city, which has God both for its builder and inhabitant.
Heaven is the extract and quintessence of all blessedness. There the saints shall have their wish. Austin wished that he might have seen three things before he died: Rome in its glory, Paul in the pulpit, and Christ in the flesh. But the saints will see a better sight: they will not see Rome, but heaven in its glory; they will not see Paul in the pulpit, but on the throne, and they will sit with him. They will not see
Christ's flesh veiled over with infirmities and disgraces, but in its spiritual embroidery — not a crucified, but a glorified body. They will
"behold the King in his beauty," Isa 33.17. What a glorious place this will be! In heaven "God will be all in all," 1Cor 15.28. Beauty to the eye, music to the ears, joy to the heart; and he will be this for the poorest saint, as well as the richest. O Christian, you who are now at your hard labour, perhaps following the plough, you will sit on the throne of glory, Rev 3.21. Quintus Curtius 63 writes of one who was digging in his garden, and all of a sudden he was made king; and a purple garment, richly embroidered with gold, was put upon him. So shall it be done to the poorest believer: he shall be taken from his labouring work, and set at the right hand of God, having the crown of righteousness upon his head.
Meditate often on this Jerusalem above.
The effects of meditation on heaven:
(1) It would excite and quicken obedience. It would put spurs to our sluggish hearts, and make us "abound in the work of God, knowing that our labour is not in vain in the Lord," 1Cor 15.58. The weight of glory would not hinder us in our race, but cause us to run faster: this weight would add wings to our duty.
(2) It would make us strive after purity of heart, because only the "pure in heart shall see God," Mat 5.8. It is only a clear eye that can look upon a bright transparent object.
(3) It would be a pillar of support under our sufferings; heaven will make amends for all. One hour's abode in heaven will make us forget all our sorrows. As the sun dries up the water, so one beam of God's glorious face will dry up all our tears.
Sec. 14. Meditate on Eternity.
Some of the ancients compared eternity to an intellectual sphere, whose centre is everywhere, and circumference nowhere. Eternity to the godly is a day which has no sun-setting, and to the wicked it is a night which has no sun-rising. Eternity is a gulf which may swallow up all our thoughts. Meditate on that scripture, "And these shall go away into ever-lasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal," Mat 25.46.
1. Meditate on eternal punishment. The bitter cup out of which the damned drink, shall never pass away from them. The sinner and the furnace shall never be parted. God's vial of wrath will always be dripping upon a wicked man. When you have reckoned up as many myriads and millions of years, indeed, as many ages as to pass the bounds of all arithmetic, eternity has not yet begun. This word ever breaks the heart: if the tree falls hell-ward, so it lies to all eternity.
Now is the time of God's long-suffering, 2Pet 3.9. After death will be the time of the sinner's suffering long, when he shall "suffer the vengeance of eternal fire," Jude 1.7.
2. Meditate on life eternal. Once the soul has landed on the heavenly shore, it is past all storms. The glorified soul shall be forever bathing itself in the rivers of pleasure, Psa 16.11. This is what makes heaven to be heaven: "We shall be ever with the Lord," 1The
4.17. Austin says, "Lord, I am content to suffer any pains and torments in this world, if I might see your face just one day." But alas! If it were only for a day, then to be ejected from heaven would rather be an aggravation of misery; but this phrase, "ever with the Lord," is cumulative, and it makes up the garland of glory — a state of eternity is a state of security.64
The effects of meditating on eternity:
(1) It would make us very serious in what we do. Zeuxis 65 being asked why he took so long with a picture, answered, "I paint for eternity." The thoughts of an irreversible condition after this life, would make us pray and hear as for eternity.
(2) It would make us overlook present things, as flitting and fading.
What is the world to one who has eternity in his eye? It is but the smallest part of a point which, as mathematicians say, is just nothing. He that thinks of eternity will despise "the pleasures of sin for a season." (Heb 11.25) (3) It would be a means to keep us from envying the prosperity of the wicked. Here they ruffle in their silks, but what is this to eternity?
As long as there is such a thing as eternity, God has time enough to reckon with all his enemies.
Sec. 15. Meditate on your Experiences.
The last subject of meditation is your experiences. Look over your receipts.
1. Hasn't God provided liberally for you, and granted you those mercies which he has denied to others who are better than you? Here is an experience: "The God who has fed me all my days," Gen 48.15. You never feed without mercy carving for you; you never go to bed without mercy drawing the curtain, and setting a guard of angels around you. Whatever you have is out of the treasury of free grace. Here is an experience to meditate on!
2. Hasn't God prevented many dangers? Hasn't He kept watch and ward about you?
(1) What temporal dangers God has screened off from you! Your neighbour's house is on fire, and it has not kindled your dwelling.
Another is infected, and you are free. Behold the golden feathers of protection covering you (Psa 91.4).
(2) What spiritual dangers God has prevented! When others have been poisoned with error, you have been preserved. God has sounded a retreat to you; you have heard "a voice behind you saying, This is the way, walk in it," Isa 30.21. When you have enlisted yourself, and taken pay on the devil's side, that God should
"pluck you as a brand out of the fire" — that he should turn your heart; and now you espouse Christ's quarrel against sin. Behold preventing grace!
Here is an experience to meditate on.
3. Hasn't God spared you a long time? Why is it that others are struck dead in the act of sin — such as Ananias and Sapphira, Act 5.5,
10 — and yet you are preserved as a monument of God's patience?
Here is an experience: God has done more for you than for the angels. He never waited for their repentance, but he has waited for you year after year. Therefore "the Lord will wait, that he may be gracious," Isa 30.18. He has not only knocked at your heart in the ministry of the word, but he has waited at the door, (Rev 3.20). How long his Spirit has striven with you, like an importunate suitor that has received many denials; yet He will not give up his suit. I think I see justice with a sword in its hand ready to strike, and mercy steps in for the sinner saying, "Lord, have patience with him a while longer." I think I hear the angels say to God, as the king of Israel once said to the prophet Elisha, "Shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?"
2Kng 6.21. So too I think I hear the angels say, "Shall we take off the head of such a drunkard, swearer, blasphemer?" And mercy seems to answer as the vinedresser did, "Let him alone this year," Luk 13.8; see if he will repent first. Isn't this an experience worth meditating upon? Mercy turns justice into a rainbow; the rainbow is a bow
indeed, but it has no arrow in it — that justice has been like the rainbow without an arrow, that it has not shot you to death. Here is a receipt of patience to read over, and to meditate on.
4. Hasn't God often come in with assisting grace? When he has bid you to mortify such a lust, and you have said as Jehoshaphat did, "I have no might against this great army," 2Chr 20.12, then God has come in with auxiliary forces: "His grace has been sufficient,"
(2Cor 12.9). When God has bid you to pray for such a mercy, and you have found yourself unfit for it, your heart was at first dead and flat
— but all of a sudden you are carried above your own strength. Your tears drop, your love flames — God has come in with assisting grace.
If the heart burns in prayer, God has ignited that fire! The Spirit has been tuning your soul. And now you make a sweet melody in prayer.
Here is an experience to meditate on.
5. Hasn't God vanquished Satan for you? When the devil has tempted you to infidelity, to self-murder — when he would make you believe either that your graces were but a fiction, or that God's promise was but a counterfeit bond — now that you have not been foiled by the tempter, it is God who has kept the garrison of your heart. Otherwise the devil's fiery darts would have entered. Here is an experience to meditate on.
6. Haven't you had many remarkable deliverances? When you have been even at the gates of death, God has miraculously restored you, and renewed your strength like the eagle — may you not write it down as Hezekiah did? "The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick and recovered from his sickness," Isa
38.9. You thought the sun of your life was completely setting; but God made this sun turn back many degrees. Here is an experience for meditation to feed upon. When you have been imprisoned, your foot taken in the snare, and the Lord has broken the snare, indeed, when he has made those break it who were the instruments of laying it for you: behold, this is an experience to meditate on. O let us often revolve in our mind our experiences! If a man had medicinal receipts, he would often look them over. You who have rare receipts of mercy, often look over those receipts, by meditation.
The effects of meditating on our experiences:
(1) It would raise us to thankfulness. Considering that God has set a hedge of providence about us, he has strewed our way with roses.
This would make us take the harp and viol, and praise the Lord, and not only praise, but record it, 1Chr 16.4.66 The meditating
Christian keeps a register or chronicle of God's mercies, so that the memory of them does not decay. God would have the manna kept in the ark many hundreds of years, so that the remembrance of that miracle might be preserved. A meditating soul takes care that the spiritual manna of an experience be kept safe.
(2) It would engage our hearts to God in obedience. Mercy would be a needle to sew us to him. We would cry out like Bernard, "I have,
Lord, two mites — a soul and a body — and I give them both to you."
(3) It would serve to convince us that God is no hard master. We might bring in our experiences as a sufficient confutation of that slander. When we have been failing, hasn't God taken us by the hand? "When I said my foot slips, your goodness, O Lord, held me up," Psa 94.18. How often has God held our head and heart when we have been fainting! And is he a hard master? Is there any master besides God who will wait upon his servants? Christians, summon your experiences. What vails 67 you have had! Psa 19.11.68 What inward serenity and peace, which neither the world can give, nor death take away! A Christian's own experiences may plead for God against those who desire to censure his ways, rather than test them, and to object to them, rather than walk in them.
(4) It would make us communicative to others. We should be willing to tell our children and acquaintances "what God has done for our souls," Psa 44.1. At such a time we were brought low, and God raised us up; at such a time in desertion, and God brought a promise to remembrance which dripped with comfort. Meditation on God's gracious dealing with us would make us transmit and propagate our experience to others, so that the mercies of God
shown to us may bear a plentiful crop of praise when we are dead and gone.