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and not come reeking from the world into God's presence. There must be a time to raise the soul into a zealous height and ardour ; there must be a blowing of the fire, for here you come to flame, your thoughts are to flame out in great and raised ascents : Cant. i. 12, 'While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.^ Wood doth not blaze and flame as soon as it is laid on.
[2.] Those solemn and preparative thoughts are chiefly to be spent in these two things — the nature of the supper, and the love of Christ in the institution of it.
(] .) The nature of the supper. You are ' to consider the great things that are offered to you, and the great blessings and benefits which God cometh to represent, exhibit, and seal up to your souls : Mat. xi. 7, ' What went ye out into the wilderness for to see ? ' Christ examineth the grounds of their resort and concourse to him. It is good to consider what we are about, and the dainties of the banquet we are invited to, what assurance the outward signs are to give you, what communion we have with Christ and his graces. We are barren, because we do not consider our work, and the nature and importance of it.
(2.) The love of Christ in the institution of it. (1.) The time when it was instituted : 1 Cor. xi. 23, ' The Lord Jesus Christ the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread.' The Lord Jesus Christ had thoughts of the greatest good to man when man was executing the greatest spite and malice against him. And the rather because it is an act of mercy that Christ frequently useth to surprise sinners in the midst of their wickedness. When Saul was breathing out threatenings against the disciples, God had a design of love to him, and smites him from his horse. Some are smitten with conviction in the height of provocations. We read in ecclesiastical story of a young man that came to stab St John who was converted by him ; so many come to jeer and catch at a sermon, and have been converted by it. (2.) The rights which he instituted, appointing bread and wine, symbols of pleasure and delight. As a physician conveys health to us in a golden pill, so doth Christ convey spiritual nourishment to us by those elements which we take pleasure in. The outward observance is com- fortable. God doth not require us to lance ourselves, and to exercise the body with whips and cords ; the rites are not bloody, as in circum- cision, but bread and wine. And yet this is nothing to the inward sweetness, meat and drink which the world knows not off : John iv. 32, ' I have meat to eat which ye know not of.'
(3.) The advantage and relief that faith has from these things of sense. God speaketh to you now, not by words, but things. He doth as it were embody religion, and represent it to the senses ; Gal. iii. 1, ' 0 foolish Galatians ! who hath bewitched you, that you shotild not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth crucified among you ?' that is, in the word or sacraments ; here God doth as it were hold forth Christ dying before your eyes. It is a pleasure to see things by picture, though we know the person ; so though we have an image of Christ in the word, and may know his person there, yet it is a great relief to us to see Christ in the supper by
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these outwnrd symbols, where sense may teach faith what strength of grace and what sweetness of comfort to expect from Christ. These thoughts through the blessing of God will raise the soul into a frame of religion, that when you come to this ordinance you will not be so dry and barren.
2. Wandering when the heart is prepared and set towards God, how shall we do to keep it from roving, and prevent those excursions which are apt to carry away the heart.
[1.] Get an awe and dread of God. Labour to have the deepest apprehensions of the presence of God as possibly may be. Strong •itfections, especially fear, lock up the mind, and do not suffer it to flit abroad. Now fear is not unseasonable to this duty, but rather proper, because of the excellent mysteries by which God condescendeth and approacheth us. Chrysostom calls it tennbilis mystica mensa, the dreadful mysterious table, and therefore now our apprehensions should be most aweful. When Jacob had a sight of God, says he, Gen. xxviii. 17, ' How dreadful is this place ! ' And the psalmist saith, Ps. Ixviii. 35, ' 0 God ! thou art terrible out of thy holy places.' Mixed affec- tions do best in the sweetest worship : Ps. ii. 11, ' Serve the Lord with. fear, and rejoice with trembling;' Hosea iii. 5, ' They shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days.' Here we are to have dis- tinct thoughts of his holiness and goodness, and therefore we should fear before him, lest we forget ourselves to be poor guilty creatures ; and fear confineth the soul, and will not suffer it to run abroad.