The Case and Cure of a Deserted Soul, Chapter 13
CHAP. XIII. The third rule to judge in this caſe, is from conſideration of the meanes of grace.
THe third rule is the conſideration of the meanes of grace. In theſe, God is wont to meet his people, and to ſhew himſelfe unto them. Now by two things you may judge whether God hath withdrawne himſelfe.Conſider.
1 Conſider what frame of heart you have to the ordinances; What frame of heart you have to the ordinanceswhen God intends a bleſſing, he uſually prepares the heart to receive it; he keeps the method of the covenant, and therefore works in his people the diſpoſitions to which he hath promiſed a gracious preſence in his ordinances; one principall quality is a poor & hungring heart; for his promiſe is to powre out waters upon the chopped earth, and to fill them that hunger: ſo farre then as he upholds in thee an humble and thirſting ſpirit, he is graciouſly preſent with thee: ſpeake, oh you poore in heart, and you that ſeeke him with hungring affections; doth not the Lord meet you with comforts, and with influences of life? how oft doe you goe from his houſe with your hearts laden with his hid treaſures, and burning with an heavenly fire falling from his preſence upon you? oh the ſtreames of ſpirituall graces which water the valleys, while the mountaines are left parched and dried! if you be growne proud and liveleſſe, if your thirſtings after the ordinances are abated, you ſhall finde God proportionably hiding himſelfe, and locking up his mercies from you; you being dead in your ſelves, all things are dead unto you.
2 Conſider what quickning you finde in the uſe of the ordinances; Whatgood in the uſe of them.it may be time hath beene, when thou wert wont to finde God feeding thee with milke, and the honey of the Goſpel, and cauſing his glory to paſſe before thee in his houſe; but now thoſe dayes are gone, the word doth not warme thee, cheare thee, humble thee, quicken thee as in former dayes; but thou commeſt for Mannah to feed thy ſtarving ſoule, and findeſt none; thou commeſt in deadneſſe, and goeſt away without life; thou commeſt with diſeaſes and ſores of ſpirit, and art not healed; the Goſpell is hid unto thee; that miniſtery that is a ſhining & burning light to others, is to thee without power; others are melted, molded, cheared, elevated and ſtrengthened, and bleſſe the Lord, meeting him with gladneſſe and praiſe, who meeteth them with life and peace; but thou findeſt none of this: yea, the word that did ſinke into thy ſoule, as the dew that fals upon the tender herbe, is now of none effect, it cauſeth not thy heart to mourne, rejoyce, yeeld, feare, love as in times paſt: the goldencforeign, quod Rhodiis fertur contigiſſe. ſhowres are reſtrained, and thou art left as the mountaines of Gilboa.
Thou comeſt to the Lords table, but he bids thee not welcome, as he doth his children, his friends; he gives thee not ſo much as to taſte, or but to taſte of his cup, which others drinke of in thy ſight, to their ineſtimable comfort; nor to eat of his childrens bread: tell me then, hath not God withdrawne and eſtranged himſelfe? if a father will not bid his ſon when he comes into his houſe, ſo much as to drinke, or afford him a kinde looke, will he not ſay, My father is offended, and doth eſtrange himſelfe?
Time hath beene, when the company of the Saints was deare in thy eſteeme, and a ſweet conveyance of grace into thine heart, but now thy delight is not with them, nor art thou quickened by them, but converſeſt with them as the dead with the living.
Thus if the bleſſing of the ordinances be not upon thee, as before, know that God is not with thee as before.
Object. But may not a man conclude amiſſe, ſuppoſing God hath left him, becauſe he findes no good by the ordinances, may it not be a mans own fault, or may he not thinke he hath no profit when he hath?
Anſ. Yea, but the anſwer to this followeth in the place of ſeeming deſertions: onelyonly for the preſent I will propound one thing, which will cleare the caſe, whether you enjoy a comfortable communion with God in his ordinances; For there are flaſhes of fleeting affections, and tranſient and fading impreſſions which fall upon the hearts of men, but they are not ſuch as come from Gods ſpeciall preſence: know therefore, that if Gods ſaving preſence in his ordinances, doth diſtill the dewe of ſpiritual bleſſings upon thee, it makes thee growe, they are food indeed, and do incorporate themſelves into the ſoul and ſo become an effectuall nutriment: the ſtony ground received the ſeed with joy; and many of Iohns hearers did rejoyce in the light for a ſeaſon, but they were not changed by it, there was not a power in it, to bring them unto God, ſuch flaſhes are fading things: but they that receive the word, as an engraffed word, finde a mighty power in it turning the ſtock dayly into its owne nature, the Goſpell comes to them not in word onelyonly, but in power alſo, and in the holy ghoſt, 1 Theſ. 1.5. Where God is in his ordinances there is power. 1 Theſ. 2.13.