FIVE SACRAMENTAL SERMONS.
by John Willison
SERMON 1.—BEING A FAST-DAY'S SERMON BEFORE THE LORD’S SUPPER.—OF GOD’S WITHDRAWINGS FROM HIS PEOPLE, AND THEIR EXERCISE UNDER THEM.
"O the Hope of Israel, the Saviour thereof in time of trouble; why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a way-faring man, that turneth aside to tarry for a night?" — Jer. xiv. 8.
THIS
chapter was penned in the time of a great dearth in the land of
Judah, occasioned by a grievous drought and want of rain, which
fell out about the latter end of king Josiah’s reign:
which calamity the prophet pathetically laments, and takes as a
token of God’s withdrawing his gracious presence from
them; whereupon, ver. 7. he makes a most humble
confession of sin, in the name of the church, disclaims
anything of worth or merit in themselves, and pleads only the
glory of God’s name.
The prophet’s scope, in the
text and context is to deprecate God’s judgments, and
particularly that terrible one of his withdrawing his presence
from his church and people. "Why," says he, ver. 8, "shouldest
thou be as a. stranger in the land?" and ver. 9, "Leave us
not." So that he seems to pass from the consideration of the
stroke of drought to that of God’s withdrawing his
presence from them. Whence we may observe, that God’s
people dread and deprecate the withdrawing of his gracious
presence, more than the removal all their creature-comforts, or
any other judgment whatsoever.
More particularly, in the text we
have, 1. The gracious titles he gives to God, as the grounds on
which he pleads for his gracious favour and presence, "O the
hope of Israel!" i. e. the object of Israel’s hope,
whose wont and promise is the only foundation of their hope:
"the Saviour of Israel in the time of trouble," i. e.
the helper and deliverer of Israel in former times of
distress. And then, from these grounds he doth, in the second
place, humbly plead and expostulate the matter with God in a
twofold question: (1.) "Why shouldest thou be as a stranger in
the land?" i. e. Why shouldest thou behave to us at this
time as a stranger, in keeping at a distance from us, and
inclining, as it were, to drop all acquaintance and
correspondence with us? (2.) "Why shouldest thou be as a
way-faring man, that turns aside to tarry for a night?" i.
e. Why shouldst thou seem unconcerned about our interest
and welfare, like a traveller that comes into an inn, and never
inquires into, the affairs of it? Or why shouldst thou pay such
short sad transient visits, as if thou wast weary of us, and
ready to depart for good and all?
Doctrine.
That as it sometimes pleaseth God to withdraw himself, and
behave as a stranger to his church and people; so there is
nothing in the world that will be such matter of exercise and
trouble to the serious seekers of God, as such a
dispensation.
As this ii plainly founded on the
text, so also it is evident, from many other places of
scripture, and the practice of the saints therein recorded, Job
xxiii. 3—9; Psal. xiii. 1, 2; Psal. xxvii. 7.
In handling this doctrine, I
shall observe the following method: I. Premise some
things for the better understanding of it. II. Show when
it may be said that the Lord withdraws from, and behaves as a
stranger to his people. III. For what reasons and
grounds he useth to do so. IV. When it may be said, that
people are duly exercised about this melancholy dispensation.
V. Whence it is, that this dispensation is matter of
such exercise and trouble to the serious seekers of God.
VI. I shall make some improvement of the whole.
I begin with the first; viz. To premise some things
for the better understanding of this doctrine, and for
preventing mistakes.
1. However God doth at any time
withdraw from his people, yet we must remember, he never takes
away his loving-kindness from them, Isa liv. 10.
2. However God may withdraw the
sensible and comforting influences of his Spirit from his
people; yet he never withdraws his Spirit from them, as to his
real presence and inhabitation for the preservation and support
of their spiritual life, John xiv. 17.
3. God’s withdrawings from
his people are never either total or final, but only in part,
for a time, Heb. xiii. 5; Isa. liv. 7, 8. God never
leaves his people altogether, but is graciously present with
them one way or another; if not in respect of comfort, yet he
is with them in respect of grace; if not in a way of quickening
yet still in a way of support; if not in enlivening their
affections, yet it may be in enlightening their understandings;
if not giving sensible enjoyments, yet in giving hungry
desires: so that Lord is still with them some way or other.
4. There are various degrees of
God’s withdrawing himself from his people; with some of
them the day is only dark and cloudy; with others it is
twilight, neither dark nor light; with many it is night: with
some, neither sun nor stars have for many days appeared; with
others (according to their apprehensions) it is a total
eclipse.
5. We should distinguish
betwixt God’s withdrawing from his people in point of
comfort, his withdrawing in point of grace. These two do not
still go together: for the first may be where the second is
not. A believer may be deprived of the shinings of God’s
love and favour, yet faith may be lively, desires strong, the
heart tender, and grace in a vigorous condition; but ofttimes
God withdraws in point of grace, as well as in point of
comfort: I do not mean in respect of the habit of grace, for
this can never be rooted out, where it is once planted; but
only in respect of the exercise and some particular degrees of
grace: these may be lost, so as the soul becomes weak, and
sometimes very feeble and languid in duty; the breath grows
cold, the pulse beats low, "and the things that remain seem
ready to die," Rev. iii. 2.
II.
The second thing proposed, was to show when it may be said that
the Lord withdraws, and behaves as a stranger to his
people.,
1. When he withholds his wonted
acts of kindness from them; sees them in trouble, and steps not
in for their relief, as in former times. Of this the church
complains, Isa. lxiii. 15, "Where is thy zeal and thy strength?
The sounding of thy bowels, and thy mercies toward me, are they
now restrained?" He suffered their enemies to gather strength,
to rise up and oppress them, and bring them very low; and did
not seem to regard their cry, nor show his mercy or power in
helping them; but withdrew his hand, and behaved as a
stranger that was not concerned about them. It was on this
account that Gideon reckoned God to be withdrawn from Israel,
when the angel of the Lord appeared to him, Judg. vi. 12, and
said, "The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour" But
Gideon was so much taken up with the distressed case of the
church in general, that waves the consideration of his own
particular case and says, verse 13, "O, my Lord; if the Lord be
with us, why then is all this befallen us? And where be all his
miracles which our fathers told us of?" q. d. If
the Lord were not withdrawn, and become as a stranger to us,
surely he would not have suffered the Midianites to oppress us
so sore and so long, without appearing for our help. In like
manner of times reasons a poor discouraged believer, if the
Lord were not withdrawn, why should my old lusts (which I once
thought were both killed and buried) rise up and trouble me?
Alas! I am left to struggle against them alone, and "iniquities
prevail against me;" I strive to stem the tide, but it grows
the more: "How long shall the enemy be exalted over me?"
2. When the Lord threatens to
remove the sign and symbols of his presence from his people,
viz. pure ordinances and sacraments; when he lets enemies
combine, and carry on their plots for this purpose; when our
springs are in hazard of being stopped or poisoned, and we put
to seek our "spiritual bread with the peril of our lives,
because of sword of the wilderness," Lam. v. 9. This hath been
the lot of God’s people in this land; now indeed we get
our bread at an easier rate, but alas! we do not prize it, nor
grow by it. May not God be provoked then to withdraw it, or
send us to the wilderness again to seek it?
3. When though the Lord continues
pure ordinances and sacraments with his people, yet denies
wonted blessing and benefit thereof to them, yea, blasts them;
according to that sad word, Mal. ii. 2, "If ye will not hear
and lay it to heart, I will even curse your blessings, yea, I
have cursed them already." This we fear is the case of many;
they have the word and sacraments in purity and plenty, but do
not find them blest; God's Spirit doth not concur with them,
and their souls do not thrive under them. Surely the Lord
behaves as a stranger to our assemblies, when our ministers are
straitened in preaching, and people are straitened in hearing;
when we that are sent to you, feel much coldness on our own
hearts, and have a number of cold hearts to deal with, and a
live coal is not brought from the altar to kindle
fire.
4. When the Lord frowns
on his people in the course of his providence, denies them
outward mercies, and denounces temporal strokes and calamities,
yea, actually brings them on, whereby his people are brought
very low; they look to God for pity, but no relief comes; their
distress is long continued, and their trials lengthened out. So
when Zion’s captivity was prolonged, she cried out, Isa.
xlix. 14, "The Lord hath forsaken me, my Lord hath forgotten
me.
5. The Lord behaves as a
stranger to his people, when he trusts them with dumb and
silent rods; trials whereof they understand not the language,
and whereby they reap no benefit. This was the case of
God’s people, Isa. lvii. 17, "For the iniquity of his
covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me and was
wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart."
Though God’s rod should have let him to see his sin, and
lay to heart the cause of the controversy, yet he took no
notice of it, but went on in his former course: many, though
God’s hand be lifted up, they will not see. They are not
bettered by his dispensations.
6. When the Lord denies access to
his people in duty, and breaks off his wonted correspondence
with them: they come to God’s ordinary meeting-places with
his people, ordinances both public and private, but he is not
there; they seek him, but still they miss him, so as they are
put to cry with that holy man, Job xxiii. 3, "O that I knew
where I might find him." O that I knew the place, the duty, the
sermon, the sacrament where I might find him; there I would go
and seek him; I try prayer, (saith the poor soul) but that
brings me not to him; "for when I cry out and shout he shutteth
out my prayer, as Lam. iii. 8. Alas! I got not access to God as
formerly, he carries now to me as an alien; for when I come and
knock, I find nothing but a shut door, and a silent God. In a
word, the Lord withdraws, and behaves as a stranger to his
people, when he withholds the manifestations of his
countenance, the operations of his Spirit, and the special
communications of light and life, which he useth to allow to
them that love him.
III.
The next thing was to inquire into the grounds and reasons, why
the Lord deals so with his people. I grant, the Lord may thus
withdraw from them out of his absolute sovereignty; but
commonly he doth it for the correction of sin, Isa. lix. 2.
As,
1. When they are guilty of gross
sins and scandalous out-breakings, such as cast a reproach upon
religion, and the good ways of the Lord, Isa. i. 13, 14. This
is plain in David’s case; see 2 Sam. xii. 14, compared
with Psal. li. 11.
2. When they turn earthly-minded
and prefer the delights of sense to precious Christ, then he
withdraws, Isa. lvii. 17. They that have a strong relish for
the flesh-pots of Egypt, are not fit to taste the hidden manna.
When the Gadarenes came that length as to prefer their swine to
Christ’s presence, he turned his back, and departed from
their coasts, Mat. viii. 28.
3. When we turn slothful and
formal in duty, and do not stir up ourselves to seek God’s
face, then he withdraws, as is plain from Isa. lxiv. 7; Cant.
iii. 1. If you put God off with bodies exercise, he will put
you off with empty ordinances and dry breasts : if you serve
him not with your spirits, he will deprive you of his Spirit.
Wherefore, if you would have the Lord be with you, ye must
shake off sloth, "Arise and be doing:" according to 1 Chron.
xxii. 16.
4. When we neglect or slight the
Mediator; by whom we have access and nearness to God, we
provoke the Lord to withdraw and turn a stranger to us. And
this we do,—When we do not look to Christ for strength to
perform duty, but trust to our own strength for doing it.—
When we make a saviour of our duties, and put them in
Christ’s room: and this we are prone to, especially when
we attain to any freedom or enlargement in duty. All is well
now, think we, God is well pleased, this will render us
acceptable to him, and atone for former guilt; and thus the
glorious Mediator is forgot, and the idol self is exalted in
his place; which is most displeasing to God.
5. When we miscarry under signal
manifestations and pledges of God's loving-kindness; turn
unthankful; remiss, and untender in our walk, after he hath
taken us into his presence-chamber, and set us under the banner
of his love. We are told how Solomon sadly miscarried, "even
after the Lord had appeared to him twice;" for which the Lord
was provoked to withdraw from him, 1 Kings xi. 9. And has not
the Lord appeared to some of you, at communion-seasons, oftener
than once or twice, and yet grievously have they miscarried
after all? Great cause have ye to mourn on this account, and
beg that the Lord may not plead a lasting controversy with you
for it.
6. When we sin under, and after
great afflictions or trials appointed to reclaim us, God is
provoked to leave us, Isa. lvii. 17. Has not God smitten some
of you, and brought you into the furnace, so that ye melted
under his hand? But when in pity he delivered you again, ye
soon forgot his dealings, and turned to your old ways. Is it
any wonder that he frown and behave as a stranger to you?
7. God is provoked to leave us,
when we do not entertain the motions and kindly touches of his
Spirit on our hearts; the spouse neglected these, so that her
beloved withdrew, turned a stranger to her, and it cost her
much travel and sorrow ere she got his countenance again, Cant.
v. 2,3,6,7.
8. When we grow hardened and
impenitent under provocations, so as we have neither a due
sense of our own sins, nor of the sins of the land we live in,
Hos. v. 15, "I will go and return to my place, till they
acknowledge their offences, and seek my face." Ah! was there
ever more guilt lying on a land, and less feeling of it, than
amongst us at this day?
IV.
The fourth thing was to show when it may be said that people
are rightly exercised under such a dispensation, as this of the
Lord’s withdrawing, and behaving as a stranger to
them.
1. We may be said to be rightly
exercised under it, when we are truly sensible of our loss, and
of our sins, as the procuring cause thereof; and hence are
brought heartily to mourn and "lament after the Lord," as the
prophet doth in the text and context, and as Israel did in the
days of Samuel, 1 Sam. vii. 2.
2. When we place all our comfort
and happiness in the favour and presence of God, and are
unsatisfied with all other comforts without this; count all
worldly things but loss and dung; look on sun, moon, health,
wealth, honours, pleasures, houses, relations, yea, life and
breath, as most empty and comfortless things without God; so
did the prophet in the text, when he addresses himself with
this title, "O the hope of Israel!" q.d. All our hope
is in thee, and we are poor, miserable, and hopeless creatures
without thee; and so did the Psalmist, when he saith, Psal.
lxxiii. 25, "Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none
upon earth that I desire besides thee."
3. When we are at pain to engage
our whole hearts, and all the powers and faculties of our
souls, to seek after a withdrawing God: "With my whole heart
have I sought thee," saith David, Psal. cxix. 10. And because
our hearts are deceitful, and ready to start aside from this
work, we should be laying ties and engagements on them to be
sincere and fervent about this work, for God takes special
notice of such who do; Jer. xx. 21, "Who is this that engageth
his heart to approach unto thee."
4. When we diligently lay hold on
all opportunities, and use all appointed means for finding an
absent God; like the spouse that sought her beloved about all
the city, both in the streets and broad ways, Cant. iii. 2. In
all duties and ordinances, both private and public, our souls
should follow hard after him, and pursue him closely, as
it were, from one ordinance to another, Psal. lxiii. 8.
5. When we wrestle with him in
prayer for his gracious return to us, and fill our mouths with
arguments in pleading with him, as the prophet doth in the text
and context :—He pleads the glory of his name, "Do it for
thy name’s sake."—He pleads their hopeless and
helpless case without him, who was the fountain of all help and
comfort: "O the hope of Israel and Saviour thereof."—He
pleads the former experiences they had of his kindness to thorn
in their helpless condition: "O Saviour of Israel in the time
of trouble."—He pleads his power; ‘it was very easy
for him to relieve them, whatever straits they were in: "Why
shouldest thou be as a man astonished, as a mighty man that
cannot save?"—He pleads the outward symbols and pledges of
his presence he had given them, his temple, his ark, and
oracles: "Thou O Lord, art in the midst of us."—He pleads
the covenant-relation they stood in to him "We are called by
thy name." Upon all which accounts, we beseech thee leave us
not.
6. We are duly exercised under
God’s withdrawings, when we hold on in our close pursuits
after him, notwithstanding of discouragements and
disappointments, like Mary Magdalene, John xx. who would not
leave the sepulchre when others left it, but searched it over
and over again, and waited on with patience, still looking for
him, till at length she found her beloved. Thus was the
psalmist exercised, Psal. xxv. 15, 16, "Mine eyes are ever
toward the Lord.—Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon
me, for I am desolate I and afflicted."
7. When we are unsatisfied with
the best means and ordinances, unless we find God in them:
David was not content with his enjoying the tabernacle, the
ark, sacrifices, the passover, and other of God’s pure
ordinances: but in the midst of all, "his heart and flesh cried
out for the living God," Psal. lxxxiv. 2. Hypocrites, if they
have the outward means, are well satisfied; for God’s
presence and absence are all one to them: but sincere believers
will not be put off so; if God be not in the ordinances,
nothing can please them, not the most powerful sermons, though
an angel were to preach them; nor the most lively communions,
though a glorified apostle should come and dispense them. The
absence of God is such a great want to them, that nothing in
heaven or earth can fill up, but himself.
V.
The fifth thing is to show, whence it is that the Lord’s
withdrawing and behaving as a stranger to his people, is such a
matter of exercise and trouble to them.
1. Because of the incomparable
sweetness and advantage they enjoy in his gracious presence,
while they have it; for this is the sum and compend of all
blessings, and hath all good things wrapt up in it. The divine
presence brings light and life, health and strength, peace and
comfort, yea, complete satisfaction to the precious soul that
doth enjoy it; no wonder then, that. the people of God should
be so much concerned for the want of it; for then they may cry
out with Micah, and with just ground too, "They have taken away
my gods, and what have I more?" Judg. xviii. 24.
2. Because of the effects and.
consequences of God’s withdrawing. from the soul; which
being very sad and melancholy, are matter of great of exercise
and trouble to God’s people: as for instance,
(1.) There follows usually on it,
a great darkness upon the spirit; as, when the sun goes down,
darkness covers the face of the earth; so when God withdraws;
thick clouds vail the face of the understanding, and the whole
soul; so that the poor disconsolate soul is bewildered, knows
not his way, nor what course to take, but is made to complain,
as in Lam. iii. 2, "He hath brought me into darkness, and not
into light." Alas! saith he, I know not where I am, nor how it
is with me; I know not God's mind nor will towards me; I see
not any comfortable sign, neither know I the time how long; I
meet with many dark providences; dark ordinances, dark
communions, all is dark to me.
(2.) Not only darkness, but much
deadness and stupidity also seizes upon the deserted soul. Why
are our spirits so dead in prayer, in hearing, and so dead in
communicating? Is it not because the Lord is withdrawn? What
these two sisters said to Christ, John xi, "Lord, if thou hadst
been here, my brother had not died;" may be well said by such a
poor soul, Lord, if thou hadst been here present in such a
duty, in such a sermon or communion, my heart had not been so
dead; for why, as Moses saith, Deut. xxx. 22, "He is thy life;"
so when our life withdraws, we are dead, and all things are
dead to us.
(3.) There follows also an
unspiritedness and disability for duty: the soul hath neither
heart nor hand for prayer, for reading, hearing, communicating,
meditation, self-examination, or any duty. Deserted Heman
saith, "I am as a man that hath no strength," Psal. lxxxviii.
4. David's complaint is much the same Psal. xl. 12, "Mine
iniquities have taken hold on me, I am not able to look up."
His spiritual strength was so wasted, that he was scarce able
either to speak or look to God. Now, what is the cause of all
our weakness or incapacity for duty? Oh! the Lord is withdrawn.
It is a true word our Saviour saith, John xv. 5,
"Without me ye can do nothing." It were happy for us, that
we were most sensible of this truth, for we are most apt to
trust to our own strength, and think still we can do well
enough for ourselves: like Samson, when he had sinned away both
his God and his strength, yet he went forth to shake himself as
at other times, "but wist not that the Lord had departed from
him." So many are insensible of the Lord’s departure, they
go to communions, and think to shake themselves, as at other
times; but Oh! there is a benumbednees and weakness that has
seized on their spirits, they cannot now lift up their souls at
his table.
(4.) There usually follows, on
God’s withdrawing, great witheredness and barrenness on
the souls of his people; their leaf fades, their fruit drops,
and they quickly turn like the mountains of Gilboa, "on which
there is neither dew nor rain," John xv. 6, "If a man abide not
in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered." It is
his gracious presence only that can make us "fat and
flourishing in the courts of our God."
(5.) We become exposed and
liable to manifold dangers and enemies; for when God withdraws,
our defence withdraws too. Hence Moses comforts Israel against
their enemies, Num. xiv. 9, "Ye need not fear them," saith he,
"for their defence is departed from them, the Lord is with us."
The Lord’s presence is his people’s defence against
all the assaults of their enemies, whether from within or from
without, against the power of their lusts, the policy of the
devil, and cruelty of the wicked: but if their fence be
removed, they are exposed to them all.
(6.) Another effect, which
is matter of sad exercise, is, great trouble and anxiety of
mind for former unkindness and ingratitude to God. Hence the
psalmist saith, Psal. lxxvii. 3, "I remembered God, and was
troubled." Formerly he had remembered God, and was comforted;
his meditation of him was sweet, but now it was far otherwise:
Oh! says he, I now remember my unkindness to him that was so
good to me; my conscience upbraids me for my unsuitable
carriage: "Is this thy kindness to thy friend?" Where are all
thy former purposes and resolutions? Thy promises and vows made
at sacraments? Are they all come to this? Oh! thou hast sinned
thy God and friend away from thee! It was the thoughts thereof
that broke Peter’s heart, and made him weep so
bitterly.
(7.) There follows on it
very melancholy and unwelcome thoughts of death and judgment.
When God is present with the believer, he can say as in Psal.
xxiii. 4, "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me." But O! it is
melancholy to think of going through that valley without him,
and of appearing before him while he frowns and behaves as a
stranger or enemy to us.
(8.) Sometimes there follows a
revived sense of wrath, old wounds begin to open and bleed
afresh; the deserted soul is driven back to the foot of mount
Sinai, and begins to bear its thunders and curses renewed,
though he once thought they had been all silenced by the blood
of Christ. Thus it was with Heman, Psal. lxxxviii. 7, "Thy
wrath lieth hard upon me," &c.
Lastly, The fears of utter
rejection is another consequence, that oft proves matter of sad
exercise to the deserted soul. Alas! I fear my cause shall
never be better, that my sky shall never break, nor my clouds
dissipate; that I shall never recover God’s presence
again, but be banished eternally from it; so with the psalmist,
Psal. lxxvii. 9, 10, "Has God forgotten to be gracious? Hath he
in anger shut up his tender mercies?’ And Psal. cxix. 8,
"O forsake me not utterly."
APPLICATION.
Use I. Of Information.
1. Hence we may
informed, that there are but few true seekers of God among us,
seeing there are few to whom God’s withdrawing is matter
of much exercise or trouble; few mourning on this account, like
the prophet, and crying, "Why art thou such a stranger to my
soul?" Many are troubled for other trifling losses, but few
that can say with David, Psal. xxx. 7, "Thou didst hide thy
face and I was troubled."
2. We may see, the misery of
those who are far from God now, and are like to be deprived of
his presence for ever, Psal. lxxiii. 27. Unrenewed persons
desire not God’s presence here, but say to him, "Depart
from us," John xxi. 14, and alas! their choice is their
judgment, and shall be so for ever; for the judge’s
sentence against them will be, "Depart from me," &c. If the
Ephesians sorrowed most of all for that parting word of Paul to
them, "Ye shall see my face no more," Acts xx. 38, how much
more will such a word from Christ’s mouth at the last day
be piercing and heart -breaking to the ungodly for ever?
3. How sad must the case of those
be, from whom God withdraws, not to return again! The Spirit of
God comes, and strives for a time many; but, when resisted and
grieved, he goes away from an unconverted soul, he seldom
returns to strive any more. When the Spirit of the Lord
departed from Saul, he came not again, but, an evil spirit in
his place, 1 Sam. xvi. 14.
4. Believers should not conclude
that God has cast them off, because he is a stranger to them
for a time; for this hath been the lot of the dearest of
God’s children, yea, even of his own beloved Son himself
when in this world.
Use II. Of Reproof.
1. To those who are so great
strangers to religion, and the state of their own souls, that
they know not what God’s presence or absence is; and so
indifferent are many about this matter, they never inquired to
this day, whether God be a stranger or a friend to their
souls.
2. To those believers, towards
whom God may be behaving as a stranger; and yet they are
insensible of it. They are become so unwatchful, and so much
charmed with the delights of sense, and their spiritual senses
so dull, that they are fallen into Samson’s condition,
Judg. xvi. 20, "He wist not that the Lord had departed from
him."
3. To those who, though they be
sensible of the Lord’s withdrawings, yet are not
duly affected therewith. It is not a matter of serious
soul-exercise to them, as it was to Jeremiah in the text and to
Job, Job xxiii. 3—9, and to the Israelites, 1 Sam. vii. 2,
"Who lamented after the Lord.
4. To those who are so far from
being suitably exercised and affected with the Lord’s
withdrawings from them, that they are still sinning him farther
away; by their formality in duty, untenderness of walk,
slighting of the Spirit’s motions, and venturing on sins
against light. O believer! "is this thy kindness to thy friend?
Dost thou thus requite the Lord?" We do not marvel to see
persecutors, and haters of God, driving him away, or to see
Christ receiving wounds from his enemies: but O! it is sad,
that precious Christ should get such wounds in the house of his
friends.
Use III. Of exhortation, to two sorts of persons.
1. To those who are strangers
to God, and know nothing of his presence. 2. To those who have
known it, but he is become a stranger to them.
As to the first sort, I exhort
you, in the name of the Lord, to bethink yourselves, and
consider your misery in this state; for "lo, they that are far
from God shall perish." It is the character of those who are in
a lost state, to be "without God in the world." Now, your
misery, while; such, is inexpressible.—You are utterly
unfit to come to the Lord’s table; for "what communion can
there be between light and darkness !" Or, between those that
have hitherto been strangers and enemies to one another.
Remember, it is only a feast for friends: strangers to God are
debarred.—Your state is most uncomfortable; the sun hath
never risen upon you; God’s face hath never shined upon
you; it is still dark night with you, and you sit "in the
region and shadow of death ." —You are under the dominion
of Satan, the prince and ruler of darkness.—You are under
the heavy clouds of God’s wrath and indignation.—You
sit constantly on the very borders of hell. —O sinner!
consider what a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds
and thick darkness, a dying hour will prove to thee. When thy
soul is stepping forth into another world, how ready will it be
to shrink back, and say, How shall I appear before that God,
who has always been a stranger to me and with whom I never had
the least acquaintance! Can I look for any thing but a frowning
Judge, and a fearful sentence? O strangers, come and "acquaint
yourselves with God now," accept of his offers of mercy, and
"be at peace" with him through Christ; and "thereby shall good
come unto you."
As to the second sort, viz, those
who have had acquaintance with God, but he is become a stranger
to them. O poor soul, be suitably affected with this
dispensation; let it be [a] matter of exercise to thee
on a fast-day before the communion: it will be a heartless and
fruitless communion if God continue as a stranger to thee;
therefore be not easy under his withdrawings.
Consideration 1.
Your soul's grievances can never be removed while God keeps at
a distance from you; but they will still be growing greater; as
for instance, while he is a stranger, you cannot have light for
your darkness, but darkness will be increasing; you cannot have
life for your deadness, but you will still be growing deader in
spiritual things; you cannot have appetite for your food, but
you will always be turning the more indifferent about it; you
cannot have protection from your enemies, but you will still be
brought the more under their power. Things will still be
growing worse, the longer God is a stranger to thy soul.
2. Ordinances can neither be
pleasant nor profitable to thee, while God is a stranger to thy
soul; you cannot see any beauty in them, while God is absent;
for without the Lord’s presence, ordinances are dead, and
a dead thing can have no beauty. It is his presence that puts a
lustre on ordinances, and makes them shine, so as to confirm
the friends of the gospel, and make enemies ashamed of their
opposition. It is his presence that puts life in communions,
and life in communicants, and causes them to prefer a day in
"God’s courts to a thousand elsewhere." It is his presence
that makes ordinances fruitful, and his people's souls to
thrive under them. O! why have you such lean souls and barren
hearts under ordinances? It is because the Lord is a stranger
to them. Would you have your food’ blest, gospel-seasons
fruitful, and your souls under the influence thereof, like
watered gardens? Then seek the Lord's presence, 1Cor. Iii. 7,
"It is not he that planteth, nor he that watereth, but God that
gives the increase.
Quest. Seeing God is setting a solemn appointment to meet with us at this occasion, and it highly concerneth us to make ready to meet with him: How shall we be exercised on this fast-day, so as to get distance removed, and breaches made up, that God may not be a stranger to us on the feast-day?.
ANS. I shall give you some advice; and draw to a close.
1. Make no harsh construction
of God's dealings with your souls, whatever they be, but
justify him; leave your complaints upon yourselves, and blame
your sins, that separate betwixt you and your God, Isa. Lix. 2.
We have a challenge from God that may soon silence all out
murmuring, Jer. ii. 17, "Hast thou not procured this to
thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God?"
2. Be still restless,
dissatisfied, and uneasy in your minds, till the distance and
estrangement be removed: and be expressing your uneasiness by
frequent sighs, complaints, and lamentations after God; sit as
a widow in his absence and let none have your love but him
alone; refuse all other comforters, till he himself return;
imitate the church’s practice, Lam. i. 16, "For these
things I weep, mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water,
because the comforter that should relieve my soul, is far from
me."
3. Search diligently for the
cause of the Lord’s estrangement from you, as the psalmist
did, Psal. lxxvii. 6, "I communed with mine own heart, my
spirit made diligent search." Oh! where is the idol? What is
the sin that hath been the Achan in the camp, and provoked God
to turn his back? And as soon as you find it out see that you
cast out the accursed thing. Let not thine eye pity, neither do
thou spare it; for it has taken thy Lord away from thee. If
thou canst not find it,. then go humbly to God, and cry with
Job, "Show me wherefore thou contendedst with me," Job x. 2.
Lord, what is the evil, the sin, or lust which thou rebukest,
and for which thou pleadest the controversy? Have I quenched
thy Spirit? Have I neglected duty? Was I formal in
communicating, or unthankful for former intimations of thy
love? "Lord, what I see not, teach thou me; make me to know my
transgressions, and my sin."
4. Seek to be deeply humbled for
every evil and sin that you are convinced of; particularly, for
the heinous aggravations of them; say, O Lord! I am guilty in
thy sight; I have sinned against more light, more mercies, more
vows, and more proofs of thy loving-kindness, than others: I
have gratified Satan, hardened the wicked, reproached religion,
and dishonoured God more by my sins, than others do; so that
thou mayest justly frown on me, and make the solemn day, which
will be a day of feasting, rejoicing, and gladness to thy
children, a day of darkness, gloominess, and distress to
me.
5. Plead by faith the
Redeemer’s blood, for; removing the estrangement, and
bringing thy soul nigh to God; for nothing else can do it,
according to Eph. ii. 13. Say, Lord, though I deserve not to
taste of thy supper, but to meet with a frown instead of a
smile, a breach instead of a blessing, a cup of wrath instead
of the cup of the New Testament; yet behold the blood of my
Surety, and be merciful to me. Lord! I have broken all thy
commands; but has not my Surety fulfilled them all? I have
indeed affronted thy justice; but has not my Surety satisfied
it? I have deserved thy wrath; but he has endured it. Remember
not what I have done against thee, but what he hath done and
suffered for me; and let rue be accepted in him who is thy
beloved Son.
6. While God carries as a
stranger to thee, be not thou a stranger to the throne of
grace, but continue instant in prayer for the return of his
gracious presence; plead the great need you have of it, and the
helpless case you are in without it. Beg, however he deal with
you now, that he may not be a stranger to you on the feast-day.
Say, Lord, if thy presence go not with me, carry me not hence."
What will a communion feast avail me without communion with
thyself in it? I go not there for bread and wine, but I go to
see Jesus: and what wilt thou give me, if I go from thy table
Christless? O let Christ appear be made known to me in the
breaking of bread. Let me enjoy thy lightsome and reviving
company in this state of pilgrimage and trouble. Descend into
my heart by the influences of grace, and quickenings of thy
Spirit, and let me ascend unto thee, by the breathings of
faith, love and desire. Lord, grant the request of an
importunate petitioner, and come over the mountains of my
guilt. Lord, stand not at a distance behind the wall, but show
thyself through the lattice of thy ordinance, and let me use
the goings of my God and my King in the sanctuary. Oh! let me
not go away empty from an inexhaustible treasure, cold from the
sun, dry from the fountian, hungry, sad and comfortless from a
feast of love. But Oh! let me meet with my Saviour there, see
his face, and hear his voice; and let me come from his table
with my pardon sealed, my corruptions subdued,, my graces
quickened, my heart enlarged, and my soul refreshed and
encouraged to run in the ways of thy commandments, and so
inseparably united to thee, that no temptation maybe ever able
to dissolve the union."
OBJECT. Oh! saith some poor souI, I fear all my endeavours will be in vain; for I have communicated unworthily before; I have shed the blood of Christ, and sinned against light; so that I doubt and fear that my day of grace is past, and I am cast out of God's sight.
ANS. However dark your case may be, yet surely it is no darker than Jonah's was in the whale's belly; who, though he never read or heard of any in such distress: yet when he is concluding, I am cast out of God's sight, he aims at a believing look to God in Christ, "Yet will I look again toward the holy temple," Jonah ii. 4. Mind also Abraham's case, though he was an hundred years old, and his body as good as dead, yet he believed in God that raised the dead; yea, he believed and hoped against hope. Lord, help us to imitate him. Amen.
Author
John Willison was born in the year 1680, in the neighborhood of Stirling, Scotland. Not much is know about his personal and private life, but soon after he competed his academic career, he received a unanimous call to serve as pastor from a parish in Brechin in 1703. About the year 1718 he was transferred to Dundee where he remained for the remainder of his life, serving a large congregation. He served as a faithful minister of the gospel for 47 years until his death on the 3rd of May, 1756. John Willison was a man of great piety and a staunch defender of the faith. We are indeed fortunate to have extant copies of his sermons and his polemical works, from which the above sermon is derived.
This is the first of five of his "Five Sacramental Sermons."
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