bitter things and 't is only Communion with God that can put sweetnesse into them Jesus Christ he was a man of sorrowes and what upheld his life onely Communion with God the Lord stood by me and strengthned me Now that which upheld the life of Christ that is it that doth uphold the life of every Christian and that is communion with God The same words Paul makes use of The Lord stood by me and strengthened me whose I am and whom I serve This is the mighty end that God aimes at in communion that he may sweeten all the course of our pilgrimage while we are going to heaven This is the bunch of grapes that God gives his people to feed upon in their wildernesse state they would be out of heart if they had no communion with him This is that sweet wood that is cast into the waters of Marah to make them sweet and pleasant 7. Therefore hath God communion with his people that he may prepare their hearts for desertions that they may be affected with them when they come and that they may not be dejected under them though they long continue that they may not think their cloud shall never be blown over though their Sun be hidden 1. That they may be affected with desertions Saith David Thou didst hide thy face and I was troubled If he had never seen the face of God he would never have been troubled for Gods hiding of his face The Saints of God if they had not some tasts of communion with him they would never be troubled for his withdrawment from them 2. That they may not be dejected under them David he calls to minde his song that he made in the night and the remembrance of that was exceeding sweet and exceeding pleasant unto him the remembrance of former communions that he had with God bore up his spirit when many troubles were upon him 8. End why God will have communion with his people it is to put them out of tast with all the pleasures of sin and the creature Phil. 4.7 And he peace of God which passeth all understanding keep your hearts and minds c. 'T is usuall when any epithite of God is added to a thing it signifies and notes the excellency of it it 's the peace of God a peace that comes from God a peace that brings to God a peace that makes us live like God in such sweetnesse and peace and contentment Now this peace it puts a mans mouth out of tast of any of the sweet nesses and of the pleasures of sin Thy loving kindnesse is betâ—e then life saith David And Let him kisse me with the kisses of his mouth for thy love is better than Wine saith the Church There is nothing puts us out of tast with the pleasures of sin so much as a soules tasting of communion with God when a soule hath drank the old wine it cares not for drinking of new because the old was better The loving kindnesse of God in communion with him is that which takes off the pallate from tasting sweetnesse any where else The more any soule is brought into communion with God the more doth it disrelish the pleasures of sin 9. End that God aims at in giving the Soule Coumunion with himself is that it might aggravate their sins in the day of Repentance Sins against Communion are great aggravations Solomon departed from the Lord when hee had appeared to him twice which migh tily aggravated his sin 1 Kings 11.9 God kept an exact account of his manifestations that he might aggravate Solomons sins in the day of his Repentance O when a soule comes to fit down and consider I have not onely sinned against so many mercies of God and so long tired out the Patience of God but I have sinned against Communion with God Jesus Christ took me into his banquetting house and his banner over me was love He stay'd me with flagons he comforted me with Apples his left hand was under my head and his right hand did imbrace me and yet I finned my self out of the sweet imbraces of Christ O how doth this melt the heart when it comes to mourn for sin the sense of the sweetness of his communion that he had with God puts double tears into his eyes and double sighs into his spirit There 's no such aggravation of sin as communion with God 10. Therefore God hath communion and fellowship with his people therefore doth he meet them that he might blesse them Exod. 20.24 Communion times are times when all requests are granted King Ahasuerus grants the request of Hester when he comes to sit with her at a banquet of wine The greatest blessing that ever the Saints do enjoy it is in times of communion with God O then how are their consciences filled with peace O how are their hearts filled with joy God makes large distributions of spirituall blessings when he admits the soul into communion with himselfe What blessing is there that the soule may not have when it hath communion with God in Ordinances 11. End of Gods communion with his people here is that his fellowship here may be the first fruits of glory hereafter When God will bestow any great mercy upon a man he gives him a tast of it before hand that he may set him upon more earnest and eager longings after it Gods people they have the first fruits of all their mercies in this world and the full crop of them all in another world When the soule is made to tast of the sweetnesse of communion with God O how it longs to be with God how many prayers doth the soule make to God that he would tak it home to himselfe that it might ever lye in his arms and ever dwell in his presence I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is best of all What was the ground that raised up such desires in Paul to be with Christ It was because here he had tasted of the sweetnesse of Christ and if Christ in this world was so sweet if a Christ on earth was so sweet then a Christ in heaven would be much more sweet And on this ground the Church calls to Christ Make hast my beloved and be thou like a Roe or young Hart upon the mountain of spices Cant. 8.14 And in Revel 22. when Christ had told the Church that he would return again unto her to have more communion with her she cries out Amen even so come Lord Jesus She puts her prayers to Christs promises and saith Amen Lord so let it be Application THere are three Uses I shal make of this point 1. Information 2. Examination 3. Exhortation 1. For Information Use 1 Is it so that the main end of God in the establishing and setting up of Ordinances is communion with himselfe Hence I draw these six inferences 1. Behold here the infinite delight that God takes in the society of all his Saints that he would set up all Ordinances
was in the Spirit on the Lords day when he was in the spirit of the Lord then he had communion with the Lord 2 Cor. 3. last we all with open face behold as in a glasse the glory of the Lord are changed into the same Image c. we see the glory of the Lord I but what is the eye by which you see it it is the spirit of the Lord. This is an unerring rule that such as the union is such the communion must be but the union that is spirituall and therefore the communion that must needs bee spirituall also 1 Cor. 6.17 They that are joyned to the Lord are one spirit 2. Such as the persons are enjoying communion such is the Communion of those persons now the persons enjoying communion they are spirituall persons therefore the communion that they enjoy is spirituall God is a spirit and the Saints are spirituall and therefore have communion one with another in a spirituall manner 3. Such as the meanes of communion is such is the communion it selfe now all the meanes of communion are spirituall therefore the communion it selfe must be spirituall The Ordinances they are all of them spirituall they are not carnall Ordinances though many persons use them carnally The words that I speake saith Christ they are spirit and they are life that is they be full of vigor full of power full of majesty and full of authority As no meanes attaine their end but such as are sutable to that end so no end orders the meanes but such as agree with it The communion the Saints have with God is a spirituall communion and therefore looke into your spirits whether or no you doe enjoy communion with God The VI and last Propertie of the Communion that the Soule hath with God it is a delightfull fellowship communion the Soule comes to take up its delight and complacency in the enjoyment of God when once it is brought into communion with him and God takes up his delight and complacency in the Soul when once hee comes to have communion with it There is no communion so delightfull as the communion that is made between God and the Saints There bee many most patheticall expressions in Solomons his Song of Songs holding forth the unexpressible sweetnesse and delight in this communion between Christ and the Soule but two of them are chiefly remarkable and to be taken notice of viz. Cant. 2.3 and 5.16 The words of the first Text are these As the Apple tree among the trees of the wood so is my beloved among the sons I sate downe under his shadow with great delight or as it is in the Hebrew I delighted my self greatly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chimmadti beeing the conjugation piel which much intendeth and augmenteth the signification of the roote and I sate downe or I desired exceedingly for the proper and radicall signification of the root 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chamad is he desired and in piel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chimmed hee desired greatly or exceedingly and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chimmadti I desired greatly and I sate downe to wit to enjoy him and communion with him and to tast the sweetnesse of his fruit and what followes and his fruit was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 matok lechikki sweet to my pallate according as I desired which made me to delight my selfe abundantly in the enjoyment of him and communion with him That is the force and emphasis of the first text But further as if this were not enough to expresse the sweetnesse and delightfulnesse of this communion therefore in that other text Cant. 5.16 these same roots 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chamad and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 matak are raised up higher as it were to expresse a higher degree of delight and sweetnesse in this spirituall communion between Christ and the Soule thus his mouth is most sweet yea hee is altogether lovely that is the expression in your translation But the original words which no translation in the world can reach nor rise to are those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chicko mamtackkim vecullo machamaddim and word for word translated they sund thus or to this sense his mouth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chic-co or the place of his mouth is all sweetnesse full of nothing but sweetnesse for the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mamtakkim is a nowne in the plurall number importing dulcedines sweetnesses that is all sorts of sweetnesse or sweetnesse it selfe and all the species or kinds of sweetnesse are all laid up and hid as it were in the palate of his mouth to bee tasted by Soules taken up to communion and fellowship with him that is the force of the first word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mamtakkim sweetnesse from the former root 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 matak hee was sweet and the other word in this text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vecullo machamaddim hath the like and no lesse emphasis importing this and he is all desires or delights or all of him all and every whit or part of him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cullo is nothing out delights 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 machamaddim being also from the former root 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chamad he desired a nowne in the plurall number setting forth him and all the parts of him to bee pleasures and delights that is most pleasant most lovely and delightfull even to be all delights and desires that is most desirable and most worthy to bee the object of all desires and therefore he is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chemdat col haggojim the desire of all nations Hag. 2.8 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 zeh dodi this and such is my beloved so sweet so delightfull is the tasting of his fruit in the enjoyment of him communion with him saith the beleeving soule to invite all the daughters of Jerusalem to come and partake of such exceeding delight and sweetnesse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 betzillo under his shaddow for no shaddow yields such shelter no shaddow yeelds such comfort as the soule sitting under Christ as a shaddow that is enjoying her communion and fellowship with him What delight doth the tender Father take to have communion with his beloved child and the loving husband take to have communion with his beloved wife what delight doe friends take in having coÌ„munion with each other O how much more and how much higher is the delights of Christ raised in having communion with the Saints and the delights of the Saints raised in enjoying communion with Christ And hence in the same chapter Cant. 2.14 The â—ice of Christ to the Church is thus O my dove that art in the clifts of the Rocks in the secret places of the staires let me see thy countenance let me heare thy voice for sweet is thy voice and thy countenance is comly So much for the properties of communion Thirdly I come to the acts of communion and they are many and various I le name the chiefe of them 1.
man Prov. 5.19 concerning his wife let her brests satisfie thee at all times and bee thou ravished alwaies with her soule now the Lord Christ his people satisfie him at all times it is all the portion hee lookes for Isa 62.4 hee calls her name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chephtzi bah or Hephzibah my delight in her 5. Act of communication is communication of secrets love gives gifts and it gives counsells too The carriage of a Saint in communion when he receives the communication of Secrets must bee thus 1. He must come with holy and sanctified thoughts of God 2. He must come with apprehensions thoughts of his owne vileness To him will I look saith God that is of an humble heart With an eye of inspection no but with an eye of respect with an eye of compassion and with an eye of approbation 3. He must come with seriousnesse of spirit and with solidity of heart to the Ordinances if he would enjoy communion with God in them and have the secrets of God revealed to him 4. All a mans graces should be acted when he comes to attend upon God And 5. He must bring the Lord Jesus Christ in his armes as we perform no service but by him so we have no communion with God but through him Christ is a two fold Mediator First of reconciliation for enemies and strangers Secondly for communion and communication of secrets to those that are reconciled Now in all those and all other acts of spirituall communion there is one speciall and choice qualification of them that they are performed and acted with much intimacy or with very intimate and familiar correspondence between Christ and the soule which appears in these particulars 1. The soule hath a great deal of intimacy in those acts of communion with Christ for it lookes upon him as reconciled as one that bears nothing but good will to it It 's ungodly men that look upon God as a stranger God shewes them the back and not the face Jer. 18.17 but 't is not so with his people he doth remove all clouds he shewes them his face he doth cause his face to shine upon them Psalm 104.37 My meditations of him shall be sweet Mark what is that which sweetens Davids meditation of the Lord Truly the reason was this because he looked upon God as reconciled and at peace with him therefore whatsoever was in God was his Not to look upon God as a Judge but as a husband as a Father reconciled and so the soule hath an interest in whatsoever is his Thus God is said Psalm 116.7 to be the rest of the soul Return to thy rest O my soul Thy rest for truly wheÌ„ the soule wanders from God it is restlesse That 's an excellent expression Psalm 38.10 My heart panteth you read it but in the Originall it is thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 libbi secharchar my heart went about to and fro like a Merchant For it is from the root 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sachar which signifieth to go about or to run hither and thither properly to traffick and play the Merchant in buying and selling So the soule runs to this creature and is trading with that creature But when once the soule pitcheth upon God it rests there as upon a rock of ages 2. Their fellowship with Christ is in things of the highest nature therefore there 's a great deal of intimacy A man may have acquaintance in ordinary things but familiarity in things of the highest concernment must needs argue a great deal of intimacy your fellowship is in the Spirit As the Devill is an enemy to your fellowship with God in heavenly things and things of Eternity Ephes 6.12 So the intimacy you have with Jesus Christ is in things spirituall and of an eternall concernment and they are these foure 1. 'T is fellowship with Christ in his graces in the graces of his spirit We have an Unction from the holy one 1 John 2.22 2. 'T is fellowship with Christ in the motions of his spirit they that have received the spirit of Christ are led by that spirit Rom. 8.14 3. 'T is fellowship with Christ in the sealings of his spirit After you believed you were sealed by the spirit of promise Ephes 1.13 4. 'T is fellowship with Christ in the earnest of his spirit which I think is more then the sealing sealing puts the state out of controversy but earnest gives a man a tast of that glory before hand As a wicked man in this life by the spirit of bondage doth receive a judgment a kind of sense and tast of hell in his soule before hand Heb. 10.27 So doth the Lord let into the souls of his people a fore-tast of glory Here is a great deale of familiarity In the third place this intimacy that the Saints have with the Lord Jesus consists in this they do come to him with boldnesse and have accesse with boldnesse to the Throne of grace It is called drawing neer Heb. 10.22 All ungodly men they stand afar off from God he comes to God as a stranger he is afraid of him But the drawing neer of the children of God it is called Job 22.26 A listing up their face to God They shall have boldness in the presence of God as a man that lifts up his face without fear in the presence of his intimate and familiar friend Hos 14.6 7. Their small shall be as the Wine of Lebanon It is an observation of Galen all other things grow old and will grow the worse for time but Wine the longer you keep it the better will it be time doth not make it grow worse and that is the reason of that expression of our Saviour He that hath tasted of old Wine doth not by and by desire new Now they shall come into the presence of God and their services shall be accepted of him as the Wine of Lebanon What is that That is as one saith the older they be and the oftner they come into the presence of God the more acceptation they finde with him because their smell is as the Wine of Lebanon In the fourth and last place they have a great deal of intimacy which appears in this they are alwaies calling one another to further fellowship and are never satisfied Our Saviour Christ is alwaies crying Open to me my Love my Sister and my Spouse and the Church she is alwaies calling the Spirit saith come and the Bride saith come come away my beloved come away like a Roe or a young Hart upon the mountain of spices By these Mountains of spices I conceive to be meant the promises and the Lords making hast upon them is for the accomplishment of them Set me as a Seal upon thine heart All this â—s nothing else but the Church still calling to the Lord for further fellowship True grace is a spark begun here and it will never cease aspiring till it hath got to him that is the fountain of all in
Mutuall manifestation 2. Mutuall contemplation 3. Mutuall admiration 4. Mutuall delight and satisfaction 5. Mutuall communication of secrecy The first act of communion is manifestation and that 1. Of God to man 2. Of man to himselfe 1. â—f God to man and that three waies of his Presence of his Glory and of his Grace 1. Of his presence Saith Jacob Gen. 28.16 God is in this place And John 14.21 I will manifest myselfe to him 2. Of his glory Psalm 63.3 Iosee thy power and thy glory so as I have seen thee in the Sanctuary 3. Of his grace Heb. 4.16 Let us come boldly to the throne of grace c. God in Gospell-Ordinances through Jesus Christ sits upon a Throne of grace and when we go unto the throne of grace to receive from him we must go with boldnesse Now there are two chief acts that you are to exercise about this presence of God when it manifests it self to you in the use of Ordinances 1. The foule sees and observes this presence of God manifesting it selfe and beholds it It is Davids wish Psal 27.4 That I might dwell in thy House to behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in his Temple As the Ordinances of God are the glory of a people so the presence of God is the glory of the Ordinances and the soule that enjoyes communion with God it eyeth and seeth the glorious presence of God in Ordinances 2. There 's not only an act of beholding but there 's an act of adoring the presence that we do behold doing homage to it The Angels that have a more immediate communion with God then we have they fall down before God and adore him And so the Prophet Esay Esay 6.5 Then said I wo is me for I am undone because I am a man of uncleanelips for mine eyes have seen the King the Lord of hosts And Rev. 4.10 And the twenty foure Elders cast down their Crowns at his feet and fall down before him c. Secondly there 's an act of Revelation of man to himselfe to know himselfe Man in himself is dark in discoveries of himself 2 Cor. 4.6 For God who commanded the light to shine out of darknesse hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Prov. 20.27 The spirit of a man is the candle of the Lord searching all the inward parts of the belly 'T is not the presence of the Lord in heaven but the presence of the Lord in Ordinances that is the candle of the Lord. Now in this act of the Revelation of man to himselfe 1. It discovers the secrets of the heart 1 Cor. 14.25 And thus are the secrets of the heart made manifest 2. It discovers the principles and grounds and ends of his action the Word of God discovers it to him and the presence of God in it 3. It passeth a sentence upon a man according to that light Ezek. 20.3.4 Son of man wilt thou judge them that is by Ordinances A soule is then judged by Ordinances First When it is mightily ashamed in the Divine presence for its non-conformity unto God and Secondly when it takes the judgement that the word gives and lies down with silence under it This is the first act of communion an act of manifestation of God to man of man to himselfe Of God to man of his Presence of his Glory of his Grace Of man to himselfe in the secrets of his heart and in the principles and grounds of his heart The second act of communion is mutuall contemplation the soule doth continually converse with Christ by secret meditation and contemplation There is a beholding of the beauty of Christ which is called the beauty of holinesse Holinesse is the beauty of a Saint and Christ is the beauty of holiness The Saints set forth Christ to be the fairest of ten thousands fairer then the children of men Christ replies again O thou fairest among women The Saints they behold and contemplate the beauty of Christ and Christ he beholds the beauty and contemplates the excellency of the Saints The Saints they are taken up with the love of Christ and Christ he is taken up with the love of them thus they admire the vertues one of another You know 't is never well with friends unless they be together what a shift will lovers make to enjoy each other So it is between the Soule and the Lord Psalm 139.18 When I awake I am still with thee Why a man might have told David God is in heaven and thou art upon the earth In my bodily presence I am from him not with him but in the presence of spirit and in the meditation and contemplation of soule I do never ly down I do never rise up but I am with thee By the Covenant of Grace and the Ordinances of the Gospell you are come to God the judge of all things you have intimate fellowship with him as well as with the Saints Austin saith The soule doth often and familiarly walk the streets of the new Jerusalem Seeing there the Patriarchs and the Prophets and the Lord Jesus Christ This the soule doth by fiduciall reasoning and by high and glorious meditation and contemplation The third act of communion is mutuall admiration the soule is admiring those excellencies that are in God and Christ is admiring those excellencies and being ravished with the beauties that are in them Thou hast ravished my heart my Sister my Spouse Cant. In the Book of Exodus 't is said the High Priest carried the names of the children of Israel upon his Breast-plate A Jewell set in the Breastplate of Christ O how shining and glorious is it The Saints as Jewells are very taking but being set in Christs Breast-plate are more taking This is my beloved this is my friend O you daughters of Jerusalem 4. The fourth act of communion between Christ and the soule doth consist in mutuall delight satisfaction contentment and rejoycing in each other There was a great fellowship and communion betwixt David and Jonaâ—han and they rejoyced in each other There 's a great fellowship and communion betwixt wife and husband â—eâ—her be as the loving hind to thee and Esay 62.5 I will rejoyce over thee as a Bride-groom rejoyceth over the Bride O the contentment that the soule takes in Christ and the contentment Jesus Christ againe takes in the soule that he hath communion withall Isa 53.11 Hee shall see of the travell of his soule and shall be satisfied Psal 17. last I shall bee satisfied when I awake with thy likenesse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chelek Jehovah guammo The Lords portion is his people in Deut. 32.9 and so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chelki Jebovah amerah naphshi The Lord is my portion saith my soule Lam. 3.24 therefore the Soule studies Christ and Christ studies the Soule the king shall take pleasure in thy beauty you know the command is unto a