myself fince I came from the Lord's table, and rev ewing my communicating; and I fear I have not met with Christ there, nor got any comfort or fpiritual advan tage by the ordination. I think God is angry with me; and what fhall I do?"

Ans. ft, Granting it be fo that thou haft got no be. nefit by this ordinance, beware of laying the blame in the leaft upon the master of the feaft, who is a bounti ful Lord, and delights in mercy; but leave your complaint entirely upon yourtelf, and fearch for the cause of your difappointme: t in yourself. And it is likely upon due fearch, you will find, that either you have been flight in your preparations for the duty: your appetite hath not been tharpened with a fenfe of fpiritual wints; you have not been watchful over your heart, either before, in time of, or after your communicating; or perhaps you have gone about this work too much in your own ftrength, without coking to God for ftrength and quickening in the gofpel method. Jacob told his wives, Gen. xxxi. "I fee your father's countenance, it is not toward me as before." Now, what was the reafon of it?" Jacob (fay Laban's fons) "hath taken away all that was our father's," he hath enhanced his riches. Well, haft thou dealt thus with thy heavenly Father? Haft thou ro bed him of his glory in any measure by thy felfconfidence? Then it is no wonder that his countenance was not fo pleafant toward thee as at other times. Be humbled then for your defects and fhort-comings: And fay, "Lord, thou art righteous, but I am wicked."

2dly, God may hide his face from his people at the facrament, either for their trial, or for their fpiritual improvement and advantage. He may hereby try you how you will behave under fuch a difpenfation; if you will love him and cleave to him, even when he hides him.felf, or frowns upon you. Do not defpond, O believer, though God appear to frown, or to fpeak bitter things against you; but cleave ftill to him by faith, and blefs his name that he is at all in fpeaking terms with you, and not wholly filent to you, as he is to many, upon whom he will not bestow a reproof, but gives

them

them up to walk after the counfels of their own hearts. It is a great mercy to have God rebuking us for our good.

But the Lord may be hiding himself, to raise in you the greater earneftnefs and fervency in feeking after him. Thus he dealt with the spouse, Cant. iii. 3. She was too lazy and careless in her inquiries for him, therefore he retires; and thereupon the rofe from her floth, and went through all the streets of the city in queft of him, faying," Saw ye him whom my foul love h? Tell him that I am fick of love." It were happy if your disappointment had the fame effect on you, to make you rife and feek him more earnestly, further than you did before. The fpoufe went a little further, fhe went further than the watchmen, before the found him whom her foul loved; and fo nuft you. You must go further than minifters, ordinances, or facraments; go and look beyond all to Chrift himself. Go alfo further in refpect of diligence, fincerity, fpirituality, and heartholinefs. Do as blind Bartimeus did, when he thought Chrift was like to pafs by him without noticing him, Luke xviii. 39. "He cried fo much the more, q. d. Lord, pafs not by me, allow me one word from thy bleffed mouth, one crumb from thy gracious hand. O believer, do not limit God to the precife time of communicating, your feaft may be yet to come; for the banqueti g-houfe is not yet fhut, though the communion-table be uncovered: Therefore, lye ftill at the door, and cry fo much the more, "Lord, others are ferved, and not I: Haft thou not one blefling for me, even for me, O my Father? Lord, I cannot depart without it; I mult even die at thy threthold." Thus pray in faith, and wait in hope, and God will come in due time. "It is good that thy foul thould both hope, and quietly wait for the falvation of the Lord."

3aly, God's people do fometio es get gracious tokens of his bounty, and marks of his favour, when they are not well fenfible of it; fo that they have caufe to fay with Jacob at Bethel, Gen. xxvii. 16 Surely God was in this place, and I knew it not." There may be

real

real communion, when there is no sensible communion. The two difciples going to Emmaus, their hearts did burn with love to Chrift, and Chrift converfed with them, when yet they knew it not. Or they may fometimes reckon what they have got at the facrament to be nothing, because they got not what they were expecting. They were perhaps expecting peace, comfort, or joy, which they have not found; and this makes them overlook any revivings and fmokings of grace which now are begot in their hearts. Haft thou, O communicant, got a crumb of grace, do not undervalue it, though it be small, but be humble and thankful for it, for furely it is more than you deserve. It is not good manners for a stranger, when invited to a great man's table, to carve for himself; therefore be content with God's carving for you, and blefs him he hath not sent you to the table of devils, and given you a portion with the damned.

Many are apt to think nothing is a feaft, unless they get fmiles from God, joy, peace, and fenfible manifeftations of his love: But there may be great bounty fhown to us without these; particularly, if you have got any more fense of fin's evil, or concern for the hardness of your hearts: If you have got any higher efteem of Chrift, and of the contrivance of falvation through his mediation; if you have any more hunger and thirst after Chrift, any more love to holiness and the ways of Christ, any more defire after his prefence in duties and ordinances, any more fenfe of your need of the fountain of his blood: Then all thefe are gracious tokens of his bounty to your fouls, for which you have caufe to blefs and magnify the Lord. We may enjoy the faving influences of the Spirit, when we do not feel his more abundant confolations. God may gracioufly accept of us, hold communion with us, and feal our pardon to us, though he do not teftify it by giving in extraordinary joys. The trueft communion with God is to enjoy communion with him in his graces, whereby our fouls are made conformable unto God, and are ftamped with his image. Well, if you have got any more grace, be thankful to Goa, though you have got no more comfort. Though you do not fpring upward in joy, blefs

God

God if you root yourfelves more downward in humility. Though you do not enjoy much of God in the ordinances here, yet be thankful if you get your defires more enlarged after the ful! enjoyment of God above. The kindnefs of God muft not be overlooked, nor the day of fmall things defpifed; but the leaft crumb of grace is to be noticed and received with thankfulness, and this is the way to get more.

We are not to judge of our profiting in duty, and of our gaining by ordinances, by our prefent feeling and receiving of fenfible comforts: For the fouls of God's people may be in a thriving ftate of grace, even when they are much caft down and tharply exercised. Let us then seriously reflect upon our communicating, and fee if we can say that our hearts were fingle and fincere in the performance of the duty, and in our covenanting with God, and if we continue stedfaft with God therein; this may adminifter ground of comfort to us, upon our after-reflection, though our fouls were not lifted up with joy and comfort in the time of performance. God looks not fo much to peoples fudden fits of paffion, or flashes of affection, as he doth to the bent and tendency of a fincere foul.

Let none then go from this ordinance with any harsh thoughts of Chrift, or at all to give credit to thefe evil reports that Satan and our wicked hearts would bring up upon his good ways: But let us still love and praife him, and fpeak to the commendation of his grace and bounty whatever way he take in dealing with us. Though we fhould get no more from him, furely it is great matter of prafe, if he continue to trive with us by his Spirit, when he lets others fall dead afleep; if he keep us waking and reftlefs without him, when he fuffers others to ly still in careless fecurity; if he keep us ftill hoping and waiting in the way of duty, when others are funk into the gulf of defpair. Whoever they be that fincerely "truft in God's mercy, their hearts shall at last rejoice in his falvation," Pfal xiii 5.

Secondly, As to the fecond fort of communicants before mentioned, namely, thofe of God's people, who cannot but acknowledge, to the praise of free grace, that VOL. I.

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they have been kindly dealt with at his table; they have been privileged with fpecial manifeftations of God's love and favour at this holy ordinance.

Well then, O believers, hath the Lord diftinguished you from others at this occafion? Hath he taken you into his banqueting house, and dealt bountifully with your fouls? Hath he feafted you with the goodness of his houfe, and allowed you his gracious prefence, and the fpecial intimations of his love? Then, to be fure, you are under the highest obligations of love and gratitude to him: God looks for more at your hands than others, be careful to give him suitable returns, and improve what you have got to his glory. And, for that end, I fhall give you the following advices.

1. Delight and folace yourselves in his prefence; fay, as in Pfal. cxvi. "Return to thy reft, O my foul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee:" Make Christ's love and favour the beloved centre of your soul. How much did Peter folace himself in that manifefta tion of Christ's love and glory he had on the mount of transfiguration? "It is good for us (faid he) to be here, let us build three tabernacles, one for thee, one for Mofes, and one for Elias." Not a word of building one for himself: He was fo fatisfied and delighted with the glory he saw in Chrift, that he was content to ly without doors to behold it: Neither cold nor rain could make him faint or weary.

II. Is Chrift come into your foul? Take care to entertain him fuitably, and attend him duly; wander not from his prefence, but keep clofs by him, and follow hard after him, that you may be able to fay with the Pfalmift, I am continually with thee; I will ly down with thoughts of him at night, and when I awake I'll be ftill with him." Beware of any thing that may be uneafy to him; it is a pity that fuch a bleffed gueft fhould meet with any disturbance, or be smoked out of the house by fin: O then lay a ftrict charge on all your lufts, corruptions and worldly thoughts, to depart, that they "ftir not up nor awake your beloved, till he please," according to Cant. ii. 7.

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