[6.] Sixthly, 1 answer. When closet-duties fit a man for those other duties that lie Tiext his hand, then doubtless he hath had com-munion with God in them. When private duties fit a man for public duties, or when private duties fit a man for the duties of his place, calling, and condition, wherein God hath set him, then certainly he hath had fellow- ship with God in them, Eccles. ix. 10. When a man in closet duties finds more spiritual strength and power to perform the duties that are next incumbent upon him, then assuredly he hath met with God; when private prayer fits me more for family prayer, or public prayer, then I may safely conclude that God hath drawn near to my soul in private prayer ; or when one closet duty fits me for another closet duty, as when praying fits me for reading, or reading for praying ; or when the more external duties in my closet, viz., reading or praying, fits me for those more spiritual and internal duties, viz., self-examination, holy meditation, soul-humiliation, &c., then I may rest satisfied that there hath been some choice intercourse between God and my soul. When the more I pray in my closet, the more fit I am to pray in my closet ; and the more I read in my closet, the more fit I am to read in my closet ; and the more I meditate in my closet, the more fit I am to meditate in my closet ; and the more I search and examine my heart in my closet, the more fit I am to search and examine my heart in my closet ; and the more I humble and abase my soul in my closet, the more fit I am to humble and abase my soul in my closet : then 1 may be confident that I have had communion with God in my closet.
Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 269
[7.] Seventhly, I answer, That all private communion with God ia very soul-humbling and soul-abasing. Abraham was a man that had much private communion with God, and a man that was very vile and low in his own eyes : Gen. xviii. 27, * And Abraham answered and said. Behold, now I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes.' In respect of my original, saith Abraham, ' I am but base dust and ashes ;' and in respect of my deserts, I deserve to be burnt to ashes. There are none so humble as they that have nearest communion with God, Gen. xxviii. 10-18. Jacob was a man that had much private communion with God, and a man that was very little in his own eyes : Gen. xxii. 10, *I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy ser- vant;' or, as the Hebrew hath it, 'I am less than all thy mercies.' When Jacob had to deal with Laban, he pleads his merit ; but when he hath to do with God, he debaseth himself below the least of his mer- cies. Gen. xxxi. 38— il. Moses was a man that had much private com- munion with God, as I have formerly evidenced, and a man that was the meekest and humblest person in all the world : Num. xii. 3, ' Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men that were upon the face of the earth.'
Josephus, writing of Moses, saith, if he may be believed, * that he was so free from passions, that he knew no such thing in his own soul; he only knew passions by their names, and saw them in others, but felt them not in himself.' And so, when the glory of God appeared to him, he falls upon his face. Num. xvi. 22, in token of humility and self- abasing. David was a man that had much private communion with God, as is granted on all hands; and how greatly doth he debase himself and vilify himself! 1 Sam. xxvi. 20, 'The king of Israel is ccme out to seek a flea ;' and what more weak and contemptible than a flea ? So chap. xxiv. J 4, ' After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea?' As if David had said, ' It is not worth the while, the labour ; it is below the dignity and honour of the king of Israel to take such pains and to pursue so violently after such a poor nothing as I am, who hath no more strength nor power to bite or hurt than a dead dog or a poor flea hath.' So Ps. xxii. 6, ' But I am a worm, and no man.'^ Now, what is more weak, what less regarded, what more despicable, what more trampled under foot than a poor worm ? The Hebrew word tolagnath, that is here rendered worm, signifies a very little worm, such as breed in scarlet, which are so little that a man can scarcely see them, or perceive them. Thus you see that holy David debaseth himself below a worm, yea, be- low the least of worms. No man sets so low a value upon himself as he doth who hath most private communion with God. The four-and- twenty elders cast down their crowns at the feet of Jesus Christ, Rev. iv. 10, 11. Their crowns note all their inward and outward dignities, excellencies, and glories ; and the casting down of their crowns notes their great humility and self-debasement. When Christians, in their closets and out of their closets, can cast down their crowns, their duties, their services, their graces, their enlargements, their enjoyments, &c., at the feet of Jesus Christ, and sit down debasing and lessening of them-
' As Nazianzen said of Alhanasius, lie was Li^h in woilb, and humble in heart.
270 THE PRIVT KEY OP HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.
selves, then certainly they have had a very near and sweet communion with God.>
Chrysostom hath a remarkable saying of humility : ' Suppose,' saith he, ' that a man were defiled with all manner of sin and enormity, yet humble, and another man enriched with gifts, graces, and duties, yet proud, the humble sinner were in a safer condition than this proud saint'
When a man can come ofiF from closet-duties, and say, as Ignatius once said of himself, Non sum dignus did minimva, I am not worthy to be called the least, then certainly he hath had fellowship with God in them. All the communion that the creature hath with God in his clo- set is very soul-humbling and soul-abasing. In all a man's communion with God, some beams, some rays of Ajie glory and majesty of God, will shine forth upon his soul. Now all divine manifestations are very humbling and abasing, as you may clearly see in those two great in- stances of Job and Isaiah : Job xlii. 5, 6 ' I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee : Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.' Isaiah vi. 1, 5, ' In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Then said I, Woe is m.e ! for I am undone ; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips : for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.* What sweet communion had Elijah with God in the \o^ cave I