Psal. 89. 7. God is greatly to be feared in the Assembly of his Saints and to be had in Reverence of all that āre about him THERE are special Seasons wherein the Saints approach near unto God in this Life and wherein the Lord comes near unto them It pleaseth the Majesty of Heaven sometimes to admit poor Worms of the Earth to such sensible and sweet perceptions of himself as are found above all expressions and seems to be a transient glance upon that glory which glorified eyes more steadily behold above Believing we rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory or glorified joy as it is 1 Pet. 1. 8. And yet how sweet and excellent soever these foretasts of Heaven are Heaven it self will be an unspeakable surprize to the Saints when they shall come thither Now among all those Ordinances wherein the Blessed God manifests himself to the Children of Men none are found to set forth more of the joy of his Presence than that of the Lords Supper At that blessed Table are such sensible embraces betwixt Christ and Believers as do afford a delight and solace beyond the joy of the whole Earth And where such special manifestations of God are suitable dispositions and preparations should be found on our part to meet the Lord. And certainly we shall find reason enough for it if we well consider the importance of this Scripture before us God is greatly to be feared in the Assembly of his Saints and to be had in Reverence of all that are round about him wherein we have The 1. Object 2. Subject 3. Mode of divine Worship First The Object of Worship God God is to be feared In all divine Worship Men and Angels have to do with God All things saith the Apostle are open and naked to the eyes of him with whom we have to do Heb. 4. 13. with whom we have speech or business So it may be sensed when we Worship we draw nigh to God and that about the greatest concerns and weightiest business in the world Secondly The Subject or the Persons that approach unto God in his worship his Saints and all that are about him By Saints many Interpreters do in this place understand the Angels called Saints from the purity and holiness of their Nature and so make the next clause exegetical of this Those that before were call'd Saints in respect of their Nature are in the next words said to be such as are round about him his Satellites Attendants or those that stand as Servants about him to do his pleasure where they are described by their Office and both these seem to be grounded upon the precedent Verses Who in the Heaven can be compared to the Lord Who among the Sons of the Mighty or of God so the Angels are call'd Job 1. 6. can be likened to the Lord And though it be true that the Angels worship and serve the Lord with greatest reverence and dread for these are his nigh Ones or such as are round about him yet there is no necessity to limit this Scripture so narrowly by excluding the people of God on Earth they also are his Saints and more frequently so stiled though they be Saints of a lower Class and Order and they also are round about him as well as the Angels and when they worship him he is in the midst of them Matth. 18. 20. and the place where they Assemble to worship is call'd the place of his Feet Isa. 60. 13. But if we find not the Saints on Earth in the direct and immediate sense of this Text yet we must needs meet them in the rebound and consequence For if Creatures so much above us as the Angels do perform their Service and pay their Homage to the highest Majesty with so much fear and reverence shall not inferiour Creatures the poor Worms of the Earth tremble at his presence And this brings us to the third thing Namely the Mode or manner in which the Worship of God is to be performed viz. With great fear and reverence God is greatly to be feared Piscator Translates it Vehementer formidandus to be vehemently feared and opposes it to that formal careless trifling vain spirit which too often is found in those that approach the Lord in the duties of his Worship The Observation from hence will be this Observation That the greatest composedness and seriousness of spirit is due to God from all those that draw nigh unto him in his Worship And this is no more than what the Lord expresly requires at our hands Levit. 10. 3. I will be Sanctified in them that come nigh unto me So Heb. 12. 28. Let us have Grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and Godly fear for our God is a Consuming fire And as this disposition and temper of spirit is due to every act and part of Gods Worship so to accommodate this general to our particular occasion it is especially due to this great and solemn Ordinance of the Lords Supper It is the Observation of the Casuists that Sacramentum mortis articulus aequiparantur the Sacrament of the Lords Supper and the very point of death require equal seriousness a mans spirit should be as deeply solemn and composed at the Lords Table as upon a Dead-bed We should go to that Ordinance as if we were then going into another world The Primitive Christians used to sit up whole Nights in Meditation and Prayer before their participation of the Lords Supper and these Nights were call'd Vigiliae their Watches Such was the Reverence the Saints had for this Ordinance which they usually call d mysterium tremendum a tremendous Mystery that they would not give sleep to their eyes or slumber to their eye-lids when so great and solemn a day drew near And that all this solemn preparation is no more than needs will convincingly appear to us upon the following grounds and reasons First From the solemn nature and ends of this Ordinance for what is the express design and use of it but a lively representation of the Lords death 1 Cor. 11. 26. As often as ye eat this Bread and drink this Cup ye do shew the Lords death till he come Jesus Christ is therein set forth Crucified before us and not to make a bare representation of it to us as a thing wherein we have no personal interest or concernment but to represent his death lively and seal our title to it firmly This is my body which is broken for you ver 24. Now which of these is to be attended with a dead careless and slight spirit Is 't the representation of Christs death God forbid O if there be any subject of Meditation in the world able to drink up the very spirits of a man this is it The Sun fainted the Heavens mourn'd in black the very Rocks rent in pieces when this Tragedy was acted and shall our hearts be more senseless and obdurate than they at
another by intermediate Ejaculations If care of duty be once remitted you are not far from a sad change of your condition Fourthly Improve all Ordinances especially this great Sealing Ordinance for your farther confirmation and establishment Act your Faith to the uttermost of its ability upon Christ Crucified and comfort will flow in The more the direct acts of Faith are exercised the more powerful and sweet its reflex acts are like to be THE FIFTH MEDITATION UPON Joh. 1. 29. Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the Sins of the World THE scope of this Chapter is to prove the Divinity and Eternal God-head of Jesus Christ. One of those Arguments by which this great Article of Faith is confirmed and proved is the Testimony of John This testimony of John is the more remarkable because it was before Prophesied of him that when the Messiah should come this Messenger should go before his face to prepare the way for him Mal. 3. 1. Now among all the Testimonies that ever John gave of Christ none ever was or could be more full and clear than this in the Text. Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the Sin of the World In which words are remarkable 1. The Preface to his Testimony 2. The Testimony itself First The Preface or Introduction to Johns Testimony Behold there is a double use in Scripture of this word Sometimes it 's used by way of Inâ—…ication and sometimes by way of Excitation In the first it points out the person in the last it raises our affections to him In this place it hath both these Uses Behold the Lamb of God q. d. This is the great â—…xpectation and hope of all Ages This person whom you behold is the desire of all Nations Loe this is God manifest in flesh This is the great Sacrifice the Lamb of God Never did humane eyes behold such an object before Secondly The testimony it self which must be considered two ways as it respects 1. The truth and reality 2. The vertue and dignity of Christ its object First Johns Testimony respects the the truth and reality of the object this is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lamb of God the very Antitype to which all legal Sacrifices had respect and from which they derived all their value and vertue grace and truth came by Christ as he had said before ver 17. The Paschal Lamb and Lamb for daily Sacrifice were but the Types and Shadows of this Lamb of God Secondly His Testimony respects the vertue and dignity of Christ and his Blood He taketh away the Sin of the World The Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as a Learned Critick observes answers both the Hebrew words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Isa. 53. and signifies not only to bear but to bear away portando expiat expiando ausert efficitque ut remittatur By bearing sin he expiates it and by expiating takes it away or procures the mission of it The expression seems to allude to the scape Goat mentioned Levit. 16. 22. Thus Christ really and wholly takes away the sin of the world i. e. the sin of all Believers in the world for whom he was Sacrificed as Drusius well expounds it concurrent with the stream of sound Expositors So that this is a very full Testimony which John gives to Christ and it is given with great affection and admiration of him Behold yea admire in beholding the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world behold him with affections suitable to such an object Ecce persona à Deo ordinata in victimam ad expiandum peccata Behold the person appointed by God for a Sacrifice to expiate sin Now though this Scripture be very fruitful in practical observations yet it is not my purpose at this time to note or prosecute any of them except this one which rises from the praefatory particle or that note of admiration with which Johns Testimony of Christ is usher'd in Behold the Lamb of God And the note thence will be this Doct. That Jesus Christ the Lamb of God is to be beheld with admiration and affection suitable to such an object Christ is beheld by men three ways First Carnally with an eye of flesh So men saw him in the days of his flesh and despised him Isa. 53. 2. Carnal eyes saw no beauty in him that he should be desired Secondly Fiducially by the eye of Faith believing is seeing Christ Joh. 6. 40. Faith is to the Saints instead of eyes by it they make Christ present though the Heavens have received him out of our carnal sight Thirdly Beatifically by the glorified eye So the spirits of just men made perfect do by their mental eye see him in glory and all the Saints after the Resurrection shall with these Corporeal eyes see their Redeemer according to Job 19. 26 27. The sight of Christ by Faith which is all the sight of him that any man now hath or can have in this world as it is much more excellent than the first for blessed are they that have not seen and yet believe Joh. 20. 29. So it is much inferiour to the last 1 Cor. 13. 12. For now we see darkly through a glass but then face to face But though it be an inferior Vision in respect of that which is immediate and perfect yet the eye of Faith is a precious eye and the Visions of Christ by Faith are ravishing Visions and he that beholds Christ the Lamb of God by a steddy fixed eye of faith cannot but admire and be deeply affected with such a sight of him The views of Christ by Faith are ravishing and transporting views 1 Pet. 1. 8. Whom having not seen ye love in whom though now ye see him not yet believing ye rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory It is a disparagement to so glorious an object as Christ to behold him and not wonder to see and not love him Certainly the admiration love delight and joy of our hearts are all at the command of Faith For let us but consider what ravishing excellencies are in Christ for the eye of a Believer to behold and admire First God is in Christ 2 Cor. 5. 19. He is God manifest in the flesh 1 Tim. 3. 16. A God Incarnate is the worlds wonder Here is Finite and Infinite joyn'd in one Eternity matcht with Time the Creator and Creature making but one Person The Lord hath Created a new thing in the Earth a Woman shall compass a Man Jer. 31. 22. 'T is an argument of weakness to admire little things and of stupidity not to admire great things Many Miracles saith one were wrought by Christ in the flesh but the greatest of all Miracles was his assumption of Flesh. Secondly The Wisdom of God is in Christ yea in him are hid all the treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge Col. 2. 3. Never did the Divine Wisdom display its glorious beams in the eyes of Men
the cup of the New Testament in my Blood which was shed for many for the remission of sin And what footing could thy Faith find for Pardon and Salvation any where else 'T is Christ Crucified that Faith claspes as the last and only hope and refuge of a poor Sinner Here all Believers drop Anchor This is that blessed object on whom they take the dead gripe or last grasp when their eye-strings and heart-strings are breaking When you see the Blood of Christ flowing forth how can Faith be silent in thy soul When he bids thee as it were to put thy finger into his side shews thee his hands and his feet there it will cry out in thy soul my Lord and my God Secondly The flowing spring of Repentance is here if there be any fire that can melt or hammer that can break a hard heart here it is Zech. 12. 10. They shall look upon me whom they have pierced and mourn Nothing laies a gracious soul lower in it self than to see how low Christ was laid in his Humiliation for it Here the evil of sin is also represented in the clearest glass that ever the eye of man saw it in The sufferings of the Son of God discover the evil of sin more than the everlasting torments of the Damned can do So that if there be but one drop of Spiritual sorrow in the heart of a Christian here me-thinks it should be seen dropping from the eye of Faith Thirdly The most attractive object of love is here Put all Created Beauties Excellencies and Perfections together and what are they but blackness and deformity compared with lovely Jesus My Beloved saith the enamour'd Spouse is white and ruddy Cant. 5. 10. Behold him at the Table in his perfect Innocency and unparallel'd sufferings This is he who was rich but for our sakes became poor that we through his poverty might be rich 2 Cor. 8. 9. This is he that parted with his honour first and his life next yea he parted with his honour in his Incarnation that he might be capable to part with his life for our Redemption Behold here the degrees of his Sufferings and by them measure the degrees of his Love Behold in his death as in the Deluge all the Fountains beneath and the Windows of Heaven above opened the Wrath of God the Cruelty of Men the fury of Hell breaking in together upon him and his soul surrounded with sorrow And how can this be represented and thy soul not astonished at this amazing matchless love of Christ Surely one flame doth not more naturally produce another than the love of Christ thus represented to a gracious soul doth produce love to Christ and that in the most intense degree Use 1. How naturally doth this Doctrine shame and humble the best hearts for their sinful discomposures vanity and deadness for the rovings and wanderings of their hearts even when they come near the Lord in such a solemn Ordinance as this is The Holiest man upon Earth may lay his hand upon his breast and say Lord how unsultable is this heart of mine to such an object of Faith as is here presented to me Doth such a temper of spirit suit thine awful presence Should the represented Agonies and sufferings of Christ for me be beheld with a spirit no more concerned pierced and wounded for sin O how can I look upon him whom I have pierced and not mourn and be in bitterness for him as for an only Son a First-born O the stupifying and benumming power of sin Oh the efficacy of Unbelief It was charged upon the Israelites as the great aggravation of their sin that they provoked God at the Sea even at the red Sea the place where their miraculous Salvation was wrought But Lord Jesus my hard heart provokes thee in an higher degree even at the red Sea of thy precious invaluable Blood by which my eternal Salvation was wrought O my God what a heart have I Did the Blood of Christ run out so freely and abundantly for me and cannot I shed one tear for my sins that pierced him O let me never be Friends with my own heart till it love Christ better and hate sin more Use 2. This Scripture hath also an awaking voice to all that come nigh to God in any of his Ordinances especially in this Ordinance O Christians bethink your selves where you are and what you are doing Know you not that the King comes in to see the Guests Yea you do know that God is in this place an awful Majesty beholds you All the Churches shall know that I am he that searcheth the heart and the reins and will give to every one as his work shall be Rev. 2. 23. Thy business Christian is not with Men but with God and the solemnest business that ever thy thoughts were versant about Thou art here to recognize the sufferings of thy Redeemer to take the seals and pledges of thy Salvation from the hand of his spirit imagine the same thing which is now to be done spiritually and by the ministry of Faith were but to be performed visibly and audibly by the ministry of thy sense Suppose Jesus Christ did personally shew himself at this Table and were pleas'd to make himself known in breaking of Bread as once he did to the Disciples Suppose thou sawest him appear at this Table as he now doth appear in Heaven as a Lamb that had been slain Imagine thou heardest him say Believer this precious Blood of mine was shed for thee there be Millions of Men and Women in the world naturally as good as thee that shall have no interest in it or benefit by it But for thee it was shed and for the remission of thy sins my Blood was the only thing in the world that was equal to the demerit of thy sins and it hath made full satisfaction to God for them all Thy sins which are many are therefore forgiven thee my Blood hath purchased the eternal Inheritance of glory for thee and this day I am come to delâ—…er the seals and pledges thereof into thine hand Take then the seals of eternal Salvation this day Take thine own Christ with all that he is and hath in thine arms Whatever I have suffered done or procured for any of my Saints I have suffered done and procured the same for thee Why all this is here to be done as really and truly though in a more spiritual way at this Table and shall not such business as this is fully fix and engage thy heart What then shall do it Awake Faith awake Repentance awake Love yea let all the powers of my soul be throughly awakened this day to attend the Lord. THE SECOND MEDITATION UPON Jer. 12. 2. Thou art near in their mouth and far from their reins THIS Scripture gives us the Character and description of an Hypocrite and he is here described two ways viz. 1. By what he hath 2. By what he hath not
have the wings of a Dove to flie away from this polluted world this unquiet world and be at rest 1. Infer Then certainly there is an Heaven and a state of glory for the Saints Heaven is no dream or night Vision It is sensibly tasted and felt by thousands of Witnesses in this world they are sure it is no mistake God is with them of a truth in the way of their duties They do not only read of a glorified eye but they have something of it or like it in this world The pure in heart do here see God Matth. 5. 8. The Saints have not only a Witness without them in the Word that there is a state of glory prepared for Believers but they have a witness in themselves These are not the Testimonies of craz'd brains but of the wisest and most serious of men not a few but a multitude of them not conjecturally delivered but upon taste feeling and tryal O blessed be God for such sensible Confirmations such sweet praelibations 2. Infer But O what is Heaven and what â—…hat state of glory reserved for the Saints Doth a glimps of Gods presence in a duty go down to the heart and reins O how unutterable then must that be which is seen and felt above where God comes as near to men as can be Rev. 22. 3 4. The Throne of God and the Lamb shall be in it and his Servants shall serve him and they shall see his face And 1 Thes. 4. 17. And so shall we be ever with the Lord. O what is that Ever with the Lord. 〈◊〉 Christians what you feel and taste here by Faith is part of Heavens glory but yet Heaven will be an unspeakable surprizal to you when you come thither for all that It doth not yet appear what we shall be 1 Joh. 3. 1 2. 3. Infer See hence the necessity of casting these very bodies into a new mold by their Resurrection from the dead according to that 1 Cor. 15. 41. It is sown in weakness but raised in power How else could it be a Co-partner with the soul in the ineffable joys of that presence above Certainly my Friends that which is to be a Vessel to contain such strong liquor as this had need be strongly hooped lest it flie to pieces as old Bottles do when fillâ—…d with new Wine The state of this Mortality cannot bear the fulness of that joy Hold Lord stay thy hand said a choice Christian once thy Creature is but a clay Vessel and can hold no more If a transient glimpse of God here be felt in the very reins if it so work upon the very body by sympathy with the soul O what vigorous spiritual bodies doth the state of glory require And such they shall be Phil. 3. 21. like unto Christs glorious Body 4. Infer Is God so near to his People above all others in the world how good is it to be near them that are so near to God O it would do a mans heart good to be near that Person who hath lately had God near to his soul. Well might David say Psal. 16. 3. All my delight is in the Saints and in the Excellent of the Earth And again Psal. 119 63. I am a Companion of all such as fear thee O this is the beauty of Christian fellowship this is the glory of that Society not the communication of their gifts but the Savour of God on their Spirits If any thing be alluring in this World this is 1 Joh. 1. 3. That ye may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Christ Jesus It 's said Zech. 8. 23. of the Jews the time shall come when there shall be such a presence of God among that People that ten men out of all Languages shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew saying we will go with you for we have heard that God is with you Christians if there were more of God upon you and in you others would not be tempted to leave your Society and fall in with the Men of the World they would say we will go with you for God is with you 5. Infer If God be so near to the heart and reins of his People in their duties O how assiduous should they be in their duties It 's good for me to draw nigh to God Psal. 73. 28. Good indeed the World cannot reward the expence of time at this rates with all its glory Jam. 4. 8. Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you Thou meetest him that rejoyceth and worketh Righteousness those that remember thee in thy ways Isa. 64. 5. It would be an encouragement indeed if I might thus meet God in the way of duty but that 's but seldom I can so meet God there in sensible powerful out-lets of his grace and love I am mostly dead and cold there I feel not Communion with God going down to my heart and reins First you draw nigh to God but is it in truth or in meer formality God is only nigh to such as call in truth upon him Psal. 145. 18. Secondly If your hearts be sincere yet are they not sluggish Do you stir up your selves to take hold of God many there be that do not Isa. 64. 7. and Cant. 5. 3 5. Thirdly Have you not grieved the Spirit of God and caused him to withdraw from you O remember what Pride and Vanity hath been in you after former manifestations Eph. 4. 30. Fourthly Nevertheless wait for God in his ways his coming upon our souls is oftentimes yea mostly a surprizal to us Cant. 6. 12. Or ever I was aware my soul made me as the Chariots of Aminadab 6. Infer What steddy Christians should all real Christians be For loe what a Seal and Witness hath Religion in the breast of every sincere Professor of it True Christians do not only hear by report or learn by Books the reality of it but feel by experience and have a sensible proof of it in their very hearts and reins their reins instruct them as it is Psal. 16. 7. They learn by spiritual sense and feeling than which nothing can give greater confirmation in the ways of God There are two sorts of knowledge among men one Traditional the other Experimental This last the Apostle calls a knowing in our selves Heb. 10 34. and opposes it to that traditional knowledge which may be said to be without our selves because borrowed from other men Now this experience we have of the powers of Religion in our souls is that only which fixes a mans spirit in the ways of Godliness It made the Hebrews take joyfully the spoiling of their goods no arguments or temptations can wrest truth out of the hand of experience non est disputandum de gustu For want of this many Professors turn aside from truth in the hour of tryal O Brethren labour to feel the influences of