earnest, and vehement desires ; here you have desire upon desire ; here you have the very flower and vigour of his spirit, the strength and sinews of his soul, the prime and top of his inflamed affections, all strongly working after a fuller enjoyment of God. Look, as the espoused maid longs for the marriage day, the apprentice for his freedom, the captive for his ransom, the condemned man for his pardon, the traveller for his inn, and the mariner for his haven ; so doth a soul, that hath met with God in his ordinances, long to meet with God in heaven. It is not a drop, it is not a lap and away, a sip and away, that will suflBce such a soul. No. This soul will never be quiet, till it sees God face to face, till it be quiet in the bosom of God. The more a samt tastes of God in an ordinance, the more are his desires raised and whetted, and the more are his teeth set on edge for more and more of God. Plutarch saith, that when * once the Gauls had tasted of the sweet wine that was made of the grapes of Italy, nothing would satisfy them but Italy, Italy.* So a soul that hath tasted of the sweetness and goodness of God in ordinances, nothing will satisfy it, but more of that goodness and sweetness.' A little mercy may save the soul, but it must be a great deal of mercy that must satisfy the soul. The least glimpse of God's countenance may be a staff to support the soul, and an ark to secure the soul, and a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by nigiit to guide the soul ; but it must be much, very much of God, that must be enough to satisfy the soul.
(5.) TJie fifth reason. The fifth and last reason why the Lord is graciously pleased to give his people some sense of his love, and some assurance of his favour in ordinances, is, That they may have where- withal to silence and stop the mouths of wicked and ungodly rnen, whose words ai^ stout against the Lord; who say, it is in vain to serve God, and what profit is there in keeping his statutes and ordinances, and in walking mournfully before the Lord of hosts? Mai. iii. 13, 14. Now the Lord causes his face to shine upon his people in ordinances, that they may stand up, and bear him witness before the wicked world, that he is no hard master, that he reaps not where he sows not.* In ordinances he kisses them, and there he gives them his love, and makes known his goodness and glory, that his children may, from their own experiences, be able to confute all the lies and clamours of wicked men against God and his ways. And blessed be God, that hath not left himself without witness, but hath many thousands that can stand up before all the world and declare, that they have seen 'the beauty and glory of God in his sanctuary,' that they have met with those joys and comforts in the ways of God, that do as far surpass all other joys and comforts, as light does darkness, as heaven does hell, that they
1 It is not drops, but swimming in the ocean, that will satisfy a soul that hath looked into paradise. » Plutarch in vita Camilli.
* A full enjoyment of God is the most sparkling diamond in the ring of glory.
* The saints, by the gracious experiences that they have of the sweet breathings of God upon them in ordinances, are able to confute, muzzle, halter, or button up the mouths of vain and wicked men, who say unto the Lord, ' Depart from us ; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him ? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him ?' Job xxi. 14, 15. [The peculiar ex- pression ' button up,' i.e. shut up, of this note, is another Shakesperean word ; e.g. ' Hia heart is buttoned up,' Comedy of Errors, iv. 2. — G.]
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have met with such heart-meltings, such heart-humblings, such heart- revivings, such heart-cheerings, as they have never met with before, in all their days.
Ah ! say these souls, ' One day in his courts, is better than a thou- sand ' years elsewhere, Ps. Ixxxiv. 1 0. Oh we had rather with Moses lose all, and be whipped and stripped of all, than lose the sweet enjoy- ments of God in ordinances. Oh in them, God hath been light and life, a joy and a crown to our souls. God is tender of his own glory, and of his children's comfort; and therefore he gives them such choice aspects, and such sweet visits in ordinances, that they may have argu- ments at hand to stop the mouths of sinnei-s, and to declare from their own experience, that all the ways of God are ways of pleasantness, and that all his paths drop fatness, Prov. iii. 17, Ps. Ixv. 11. And thus much for the reasons, why God lifts up the light of his countenance upon his people in ordinances. Before I pass to the next particular, it will be necessary that I lay down these cautions, to prevent weak saints from stumbling and doubting, who have not yet found the Lord giving out his favours, and making known his grace and love, in such a sensible way to their souls, in breaking the bread of life, as others have found.
(1.) The first caution. Now, the first caution I shall lay down is this, TJiat even believers may sometimes come and go from this ordinance, without that comfort, that assurance, that joy, that refreshment thai others have, and may meet with. And this may arise, partly from their unprepared ness and unfitness to meet with God in the ordinance, 2 Ohron. xxx. 19, 20, 1 Cor. xi. 20-34; and partly from their playing and dallying with some bosom sin ; or else it may arise from their not stirring up themselves to lay hold on God, as the prophet Isaiah com- plains, ' There is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee,' Isa. Ixiv. 7 ; or else it may arise from the Spirit's standing at a distance from the soul. It may be, O soul, that thou hast set the Comforter, the Spirit a-mourning; and therefore it is, that he refuses to comfort thee, and to be a sealing and witnessing Spirit unto thee. Thou hast grieved him with thy sins, and he will now vex thee by his silence ; thou hast thrown the cordials against the wall; thou hast trampled his manna under thy feet; and therefore it is that he hath veiled his face, and changed his countenance and carriage towards thee ; thou hast been unkind to the Spirit ; and therefore he carries it towards thee as an enemy, and not as a friend, Ps. Ixxvii. 2, Gen. xxxi. 5.
(2.) The second caution is this, That though God doth in this ordinance withhold comfort and assurance from thee, yet thou m,ust hold on in the duty, thou m'ost wait at hope's hospital. At this heavenly pool, thou must lie till the angel of the covenant, the Lord Jesus, comes and breathes upon thee ; at these waters of the sanctuary thou must lie, till the Spirit moves upon thy soul ; thou must not neglect thy work, though God delays thy comfort; thou must be as obedient in the want of assurance, as thou art thankful under the en- joyment of assurance.' Laban often changed Jacob's wages, yet Jacob