ritual improvement and advantage. He may hereby try you, how you will behave under fuch a difpen fation, if you will love him and cleave to him, even when he hides himself, or frowns upon you. Do not defpond, O believer, tho' God appear to frown or to fpeak bitter things against you; but cleave still 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 up to walk after the coun· fels 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 enquiries for him, therefore he retires; and thereupon the role from her floth, and went through all the streets of the city in queft of him, faying, faw ye him whom my foul loveth? fell him that I am fick of love. It were happy If your dif appointment had the fame effect on you, to make you rife and feek him more earneftly, and go further than you alid before. The spouse went a little further, she went further than the watchman, before fhe found him whom her foul loved; and fo mult you. You must go further than ministers, 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 banqueting-houfe is not yet fhut, tho' the communion table te uncovered; therefore ly still at the door, and cry fo much the more, Lord, others are ferved, and not. Is haft thou not one blefing for me, even

For me, O my father? Lord, I cannot depart without it, I must even de at thy threshold. Thus pray in faith and wait in hope, and God will come in due time.' It is good that thy foul should both hope, and quietly wait for the falvation of the Lord.

3dly, God's people do fometimes get gracious to-kens 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 xxviii. 16. Surely God was in this place, and I knew it not. There may be real communion when there is no fenfible communion. The two difciples going to Emmaus, their hearts did burn with love to Christ, and Christ con-verfed with them, when yet they knew it not. Or they may fometimes reckon what they have got at the fa-crament 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 or fmokings of grace which now are begot in their hearts. Haft thou, O communicant, got a crumb of grace? do not undervalue it tho' it be fmall, but be humble and thankful for it, for furely it is more than you deferve. 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 yon, and bless him he hath not fent you to the table of devils, and give you a portion with the damned.

Many are apt to think nothing is a reaft, uulefs they get fimiles from God, joy, peace and fenfible manifeftations of his love but there may be great bounty shown to us without thefe; particularly, if you have got any more fenfe 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 thro' his meditation; if you have any more hunger and thirst after Chrift, any more love to holiness · and the ways of Chrift, any more delire after his pre-fense in duties and o.dinances, any more fenfe of

your

your need of the fountain of his blood: then these 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 fpirit, when we do not feel his more abundant confolations. God may graciously accept of us, bold communion with us, and feal our pardon to us, tho' 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 God, tho' you have got no more comfort. Tho' you do not spring upward in joy, blefs God if you root yourfelves more downward in humility. Tho' you do not enjoy much of God in the ordinances here, yet be thankful if you get your defires more enlarged after the full enjoyment of God above. The kindness of God must not be overlooked, nor the day of small 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 cast down and fharply ex ercifed. Let us then feriously reflect upon our communicating, and fee if we can fay that our hearts were tingle and fincere in the performance of the duty, and in our covenanting with God, and if we continue ftedfaft with God therein; this may adminifter ground of comfort to us, upon our after-reflection, tho' our fouls were not lifted up with joy and comfort in the time of performance. God looks not fo much to people's fudden fits of paffion, or flashes of affecti on, as he doth to the fteady bent and tendency of a fincere foul.

Let

Let none then go from this ordinance with any harfh thoughts of Chrift, or at all give credit to these evil reports that Satan and our wicked hearts would bring up upon his good ways, but let us ftill love and praife him, and fpeak to the commendation of his grace and bounty, whatever way he take in dealing with us. Tho' we should get no more from him, furely it is great matter of praife, if he continue to ftrive with us by his fpirit, when he lets others fall dead afleep; if he keep us waking and reftlefs without him, when he fuffers others to ly ftiil 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 praife of free grace, that they have been kindly dealt with at his table; they have been priviledged with fpecial manifestations of God's love and favour at this holy or dinance.

Well then, O believers, hath the Lord distinguished 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 goodnefs 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 fuitable returns, and improve what you have got to his glory. And, for that end, I fhall give you the following advices;

I. Delight and folace yourselves in his prefence; fay, as in Pfalm cxvi. Return to thy reft, O my foul, for the Lord hath dealt.bountifully with thee: Make Chrift's love and favour the beloved centure of your

foul

foul. How much did Peter, folace himself in that manifeftation of Chrift's love and glory he had on the mount of transfiguration? It is good for us (faith 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 faw 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 say with the Pfalmift, I am continually with thee; I will ly down with thonghts of him at night, and when I awake I'll be fill with him. Beware of any thing that may be uneafy to him; it is a pity that fuch a bleffed guest should meet with any disturbance, or be finoked out of the house by fin: O then lay a strict charge on all your lufts, corruptions and worldly thoughts to depart, that they Jir not up nor awake your beloved till he pleafe, according to Cant. ii. 7.

III. Earneftly intreat him to stay with you: fay, Lord be not as a wayfaring man, that turns afide to lodge for a night, or a short time; but be thou my conftant guest. And, when he mints to go away, ftrive to detain and hold him by prayer, as Abraham did Chrift, Gen. xviii. 3. My Lord, if now I have found fa. vour in thy fight, pass not away from thy fervant : and with the two difciples going to Emmaus, Luke xxiv. 27. fay, Lord, abide with us; for it is towards evening, the day is far Spent: and it is faid, they conftrained him, and he went to tarry with them. In like manner plead with Chrift, Lord, it is towards night, and I know not what a black cloud is coming. on me or the Church; I need thy frengihning prefence beforehand: Lord, stay with me a while: I know not how far I may go, and what forms I may meet with, ere I get another fuch meal.

IV. Set