SERMONS UPON GENESIS 24: 63

SERMON II
'And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide.' GEN. 24:63

I am now come to the necessity and profit of meditation, or motives to press to this duty. I shall urge such as will serve also for marks; for when it is well performed, you will find these effects wrought in you. Meditation is the mother and nurse of knowledge and godliness, the great instrument in all the offices of grace; it helpeth on the work of grace upon the understanding, affections, and life, for the understanding of the doctrine of godliness, for the provoking of godly affections, and for the heavenly life.
1. In point of understanding it is of great advantage to us in the entertainment of the doctrines of religion.
[1.] To give us a clearer and more distinct sight of them.
A man seeth the meaning, scope, and order of all points of religion, when he cometh to meditate on them. Knowledge without meditation is but an hearsay knowledge; we talk after one another like parrots, and as the moon that shineth with another luster without any light rooted in its own body: Rom. 2:20, ¡®Which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in law.¡¯ ¡®Morphrsin tes gnoseos¡¯, a map of knowledge; we have nothing but the lean apprehension of others. As the philosopher said, ¡®ta men legousin hoi neoi, alla ou pisteuousin¡¯, they repeat them by rote, without affection and belief; so we speak one after another by rote, but do not so distinctly discern the worth and excellency of Christianity as when we come to meditate upon it: John 4:42, ¡®Now we believe not because of thy saying, for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.¡¯ Most men¡¯s knowledge is but traditional; they never made an essay, and tasted the sweetness of Christ , or of their own thoughts. Oh! Do but try; bare apprehensions of the report of Christ is but tradition, not religion. When we come to exercise our won thoughts thereon, then we see him ourselves; the sight is more clear when it is steady and fixed. To one that passeth by, to see men dancing and frisking seemeth lightness and madness, but when he cometh nearer, and heareth the music, and observeth that they keep time, and pace, and measure with it, he findeth art in that which he thought frenzy. The beauty and excellency of religion is not discerned by a transient glance; when we come to meditate and so see what is our beloved above all beloveds, then we admire him. The Christian religion is not to be taken up by chance, but by choice; not because we know no other, but because we know no better; then our affections to it are the more rational, the judgment having had a clearer sight and trial.
[2.] That we may the better retain them.
When an apple is tossed to and fro in the hand, it smelleth of it when the apple is gone, as when civet hath been long kept in the box the scent remaineth when the civet is taken out. A constant light is a great friend to memory, and sermons meditated on are remembered long after they are delivered. We do not forget those friends whom we have entertained with any solemnity. Solemn and serious thoughts leave a charge upon the memory.
[3.] That they may be always more ready and present with us.
All sins do arise out of incogitancy or forgetfulness. As for instance, distrust: Heb.12:5, ¡®Ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children.;¡¯ Luke 24:6, ¡®He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee.¡¯ A temptation gets the start of holy thoughts. It were a mighty advantage to have truth always ready. Now this is the Spirit¡¯s office: John 14:26, ¡®But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.¡¯ But now, for an outward help, there is no such thing as meditation: Prov. 6:21, 22, ¡®Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about they neck: when thou goest, it shall led thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awaketh, it shall talk with thee; that is, shall be always present with thee. Continual meditation maketh religious thoughts actual and present.
2. It is a great advantage to the work of grace upon the affections.
Ponderous thoughts are the bellows that kindle and inflame the affections; they blow up those latent sparkles of grace that are in the soul. Impure thoughts stain the heart, and convey a taint and filth to the soul: 2 Peter 2:14, ¡®Having eyes full of adultery.¡¯ When the fancy is rolled upon unclean objects, lust is kindled. Lust, revenge, covetousness, they are all fed with thoughts; a wicked spirit distilleth sin into the quintessence of villany, the imaginations of the heart are evil. So suitably good thoughts leave a forcible impression upon the soul. The papist talk of St. Francis and St. Clara, that had the wounds of Christ impressed on them. It is true, in a spiritual way, deep thoughts leave the wounds and sorrows of Christ upon the heart, and do crucify us; it is true morally, as well as mystically: ¡®I am crucified with Christ¡¯, Gal.2:20. Certainly you find this by experience, that when you know not things, you are not so thoroughly affected with them. Serious meditation hath this advantage, that it doth make the object present, and as it were sensible; therefore faith, which is a deep acting of the thoughts upon the promises, and upon the glory to come, is called ¡®hupostasis¡¯, ¡®the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen,¡¯ Heb. 11:1. It giveth the future blessedness a present subsistence in the soul, and therefore it must needs ravish it. It is a principle in nature, appetition followeth knowledge, and desire is answerable to that certain and clear judgment that we have of the worth, value, and dignity of the object. Now it is not enough that the judgment be once convinced, but that it stay upon the object, for things lose their virtue when we do not keep them in the eye of the soul. When the bird often leaveth her nest and is long absent, the eggs grow cold, and do not come to be quickened; so do our desires grow cold and dull, which otherwise by a constant meditation are hatched into some life. Instance in any affection. Hope and trust are ripened by constant thoughts of the grace, power, truth, goodness and unchangeableness of God: 2Tim. 1:12, ¡®I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against the day.¡¯ Presumption is an inconstant careless apprehension, and therefore soon overborne: Ps. 9:10, ¡®They that know thy name will put their trust in thee¡¯; that is, that seriously consider it; for the Hebrew word is used for consider; they that know what a God thou art, how merciful, true, and powerful thou art, they will trust thee.
So for fear, so far as it is sanctified it is fed by a consideration of the dreadfulness of Gods wrath and displeasure: Ps. 90:11, ¡®Who knows the power of thine anger? According to thy fear, so is thy wrath;¡¯ that is, who doth seriously consider of it? According to those awful apprehensions that they form within themselves doth God¡¯s wrath more or less move them.
So for desire, either of Christ or of heaven.
Of Christ:
A serious consideration of the excellency of Christ is that which ravisheth the heart. The spouse formeth a description of Christ, and then she saith he is all desires: Song of Sol. 5:16, ¡® His mouth is more sweet, yea, he is altogether lovely.¡¯ Enough to ravish all our desires. The value of things lieth hid when we do but slightly and superficially look upon them, but when we meditate of them, they are double to that which is seen at the first blush: Job 11:6, ¡®And that he would show thee the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is.¡¯ In natural things serious thoughts are necessary, much more in spiritual, because the mind, by long use, having been inured to earthly objects and profits, had need to be much raised. We see that we do insensibly receive taint from those objects with which we do converse, and therefore we had need to be often and serious in meditating of the excellencies of Christ, that by a spiritual art he may be as usual an object to us as the world.
So for heaven:
If we do not hold our hearts to the consideration of the glory of it, it doth not work upon us. Moses, Heb.11:26, ¡®Had respect to the recompense of the reward,¡¯ ¡®hepeblepe¡¯; he had an eye to it. The word noteth a serious and intent consideration; we should again and again consider it, and be sending our thoughts as spies into the land of promise, to bring us reports and tidings of it, as love between men is maintained by constant visits and letters. So for sorrow for sin past: Ps. 51:3, ¡®My sin is ever before me;¡¯ and Jer.31:19, ¡®Surely after that I was turned I repented; and after that I was instructed I smote upon my thigh; I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.¡¯ When we come deeply to consider our errors, and the unkindness of them, that begetteth a sad sense. So for hatred and displicency against sin. Evil affections are nourished by thoughts, and kept up in life and strength, for thoughts are ¡®pabulum animae¡¯, the food of the soul: Rom. 7:13, ¡®Sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good, that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.¡¯ the sinfulness of sin appears by considering the purity of the law, the majesty of God, and the kindness of Christ. So for joy and delight: the soul is feasted by meditation, it turned the promises into marrow: Ps. 63:5, 6, ¡®My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth, shall praise thee with joyful lips, when I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night-watches.¡¯ Hereby we discern their relish and savour: Ps. 34:8, ¡®Oh! taste and see that the Lord is good;¡¯ the thoughts, taste and the relish is left on the affections.
3. It is an advantage to the fruits of grace in the life; it maketh the heavenly life more easy, more sweet, more orderly and prudent.
[1.] More easy.
Because it calleth in all the rational help that may be. Reason, which otherwise would serve the senses, and be enslaved to appetite and worldly desire, now is employed in the highest an purest use; and therefore when reason is gained, which is the leading faculty, the work cometh on more easily. Meditation putteth reason in authority, and rescueth it from being prostituted to sense: 2 Cor. 10:5, ¡®Casting down imaginations,¡¯ ¡®logismous¡¯, reasonings, ¡®and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.¡¯ And then for sense it maketh our eyes to furnish us with matter: Job12:7, 8, ¡®But ask now the beasts, and they will teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee; and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.¡¯ Every element giveth in an help; he that doth not want an heart cannot want an object; the air, the sea, the earth giveth fuel for wisdom and spiritual advantage. But for want of consideration a man is worse that the beasts: Prov. 6:6, ¡®Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise..¡¯
[2.] More sweet.
It bringeth the heavenly life into more liking with us. Duty to worldly men is irksome and unsavoury, because they lose the sweetness and blessedness of communion with God: Ps.26:3, ¡®For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes; I have walked in thy truth.¡¯ This constraineth and enforceth to holiness, and gives encouragement to it. Others only attempt this work, but do not consider the fruit of it.
[3.] More orderly and prudent.
Others do good duties by chance: Phil.4:8, ¡®Finally, brethen, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think of these things.¡¯
III. That which I am now to do is to give you the rules to guide you in this weighty affair of the Christian life. There are rules to be observed to fit the soul, but those I shall handle under the term of helps. I handle such now as must guide the soul.
1. Whatever you meditate upon must be drawn down to application: Job 5:27, ¡®Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thy good.¡¯ in meditation our aim and design is to promote the good of our souls. The heathen Emperor Antoninus had observations, which he called ¡®ta eis emauton¡¯, ¡®things for myself;¡¯ that is the proper end of this exercise, things for ourselves. In conference we aim at the good of others, but the end of meditation is to fall directly upon our own souls. All the while we stay in generals we do but bend the bow; when we come to application we let fly the arrow, and we hit the mark when we come to return upon our own souls. Now this application must be partly by way of trial, partly by way of charge.
[1.] The first reflection upon ourselves must be by way of trial.
This should always be the close of all. How is it with thee, oh! my soul? or Is not this my state? When the apostle had taken a view of the doctrine of justification, he shutteth up all with a practical return upon his own heart: Rom. 8:31, ¡®What shall we then say to these things?¡¯ How am I concerned in this truth? So Nazianzen in his 41st Oration saith his custom was ¡®apochoresai Theo to micron¡¯, to go aside to converse with God, but always in the course of the duty he did ¡®heauton epismephasthai¡¯, search himself.
[2.] By way of charge and command.
You should charge yourselves to serve God with greater care. Meditation is as it were the heat of the cause, and after the debate you should give sentence, and issue forth a practical decree, as David; now I see ¡®It is good for me to draw nigh to God.¡¯ Ps 73:28. When he had been meditating of the providence of God in punishing the wicked, now, O my soul! thou seest what is best for thee, even to keep close to God. So in two psalms, when he had been meditating of the mercy and power of God, he layeth a charge upon his soul to bless God for his mercy: Ps. 103:22, ¡®Bless the Lord all his works, in all places of his dominion; bless the Lord, O my soul!¡¯ Of his power: Ps 104:35, ¡®Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more; bless thou the Lord, O my soul! praise the Lord.¡¯
2. Do not pry further than God hath revealed; your thoughts must be still bounded by the word.
There is no duty that a fanatic brain is more apt to abuse than meditation. When men are once able to raise their thoughts, they soar too high, and being puffed up with their fleshly mind, intrude themselves into things that they have not seen, Col. 2:18. They are dazzled with ungrounded subtleties, and so, like a lark that have flown high, of a sudden fall down again. David saith, Ps. 131:1, ¡®Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty, neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things to high for me.¡¯ In spiritual exercises you must stint your thoughts with what is revealed; ¡®me hu perphnonein par ho dei phronein, alla phrnein eis to sophronein eis to sophronein¡¯, Rom. 12:3, ¡®Not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith;¡¯ that is, as God hath revealed and dispensed the measure of faith to you. To pry into the mysteries of the divine decrees were to disturb affection, not to raise it; nice disputes feed curiosity, not religion. Again, regard must be had not only to the word, but your own abilities. Those that soar too high fall low enough ere they have done. Consider what is fit for your pitch and size. Again, do not leave bread and wine and gnaw upon a stone, or leave practical matters for intricacy of dispute.
3. When you meditate of God you must do it with great care and reverence; his perfections are matters rather of admiration than inquiry.
Some dispute whether it be best to meditate of God¡¯s essence or no. Certainly as it is discovered to us in his attributes it is very comfortable and useful: Ps. 104:34, ¡®My meditation of him shall be sweet, I will be glad in the Lord.¡¯ And though you should get as large thoughts as possibly you can of his majesty and power, yet you must not pry too curiously into his nature, lest you be oppressed by his glory. The mysteries of the trinity are matters of belief rather than debate, we may well cry out, ¡®ho bathos¡¯, Oh, the depth! it is enough to know that it is so, we cannot search how. It is said, I Tim. 6:16, ¡®Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen, nor can see;¡¯ and Ps. 18:11, ¡®He hath made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him were dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies.¡¯ God is said to dwell in light to show his majesty, and to dwell in darkness to show his incomprehensibleness. Do not entangle yourselves while you go about to raise your zeal; the full knowledge of these things is our portion in heaven.
4. In meditating on common things, keep in mind a spiritual purpose.
God hath endowed man with a faculty to discourse, and employ his mind on earthly objects to spiritual purposes: Eccles. 3:11, ¡®He hath set the world in their heart.¡¯ ¡®Mundum tradidit disputationieorum;¡¯ the meaning is, he hath endowed him with natural light to contemplate on his handiwork. The mind is soon apt to grow common and vain, and therefore here you have need of more care and watchfulness: Ps. 8:34, ¡®When I consider the heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained, what is man that thou are mindful of him, and the son of man that thou visitest him?¡¯ Basil calleth them ¡®didasmaleion kai paideuterion psuchon¡¯, a school to teach us not knowledge but religion: Ps. 19:1, ¡®The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork.¡¯ Philosophers study the creatures to find out their natural causes, we to find out arguments of worship and religion.
5. Take heed of creating a snare to your souls.
Some sins are catching, like fire in straw, and we cannot think of them without infection and temptation; the very thoughts may beget a sudden delight and tickling, which may pass through us like lightning, and set us all on fire: Ezek. 23:19, ¡®She multiplied her whoredoms in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.¡¯ Thought the prophet speaketh of spiritual fornication, yet there is a plain allusion to outward; it is an allusion to an unchaste woman, who feedeth a new fire by remembering her vile lusts. Some temptations cannot be supposed without sin; it is less dangerous to suppose the temptation of Peter than the temptation of Joseph, of Peter that was tempted to deny his master, than of Joseph who was tempted to folly with his mistress. This direction is not unnecessary; you know not how apt a carnal heart and busy devil may be to taint the best duties, and how soon an innocent thought may degenerate into an unclean glance. The apostle would have some sins not named among the saints: Eph. 5:3, ¡®But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be once named among you as becometh saints.¡¯
6. Meditate of those things especially which you have most need of.
There is the greatest obligation upon the heart. The matter is not arbitrary; there you will find most help, and there the benefit will be most sensible. Seasonable thoughts have the greatest influence. The servants of God have sometimes meditated on his power, sometimes on his mercy, sometimes on his providence, according as their affairs and temptations call for it: Ps. 56:3, ¡®What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.¡¯ In a time of fear he would think of arguments of trust.
7. Whatever you meditate upon, take heed of slightness.
Transient thoughts leave no impression. See that you meditate but of one thing at once. ¡®Hoc age,¡¯ mind the work you are about, is a good rule in meditation as well as prayer, the thoughts should be under a restraint and wise confinement. A skipping mind, that wandereth from one meditation to another, seldom profiteth. In meditation be not like the dogs of Nile, that snatch here and there, or like the bee, that passeth from flower to flower. A constant fixed light worketh most. The apostle speaketh of apostates that they have flashy tastes: Heb. 6:4, 5, ¡®They were once enlightened, and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come.¡¯ They had vanishing and fleeting motions: James 1:25, ¡®He that looketh into the law of liberty,¡¯ ¡®ho de parakupsas¡¯, he that boweth down to take a deliberate view; it is a metaphor taken from them that stoop down, and bend their bodies toward a thing that they may narrowly pry into it. The same word is used to imply that narrow search which the angels use to find out the mysteries of salvation by: I Peter 1:12, ¡®Which things the angels desire ¡®parakupsein¡¯, to look into,¡¯ an allusion to the cherubim, whose faces bowed down towards the ark, as desirous to see the mysteries therein contained. There must be a deep sight and serious inculcation: Luke 2:19, ¡®But Mary kept all these sayings, and pondered them in her heart¡¯, ¡®sumballousa¡¯; she examined, compared them, traversed them to and fro in her mind, which is afterwards expressed, ver. 51, ¡®She kept all these sayings in her heart.¡¯ There is a folly in man, when once we apprehend a thing; curiosity being satisfied, we begin to loath it, the first apprehension having as it were deflowered it, but at last they lose their power and virtue. When digestion is precipitated there is no nourishment, and when the meditation is not deep and ponderous we have no comfort, no lively perception and feeling of it in our hearts. A glance doth not discover the worth of anything; he that doth but cast his eye upon a piece of embroidery doth not discover the art of it.
8. Come not off from holy thoughts till you find profit by them, either sweet tastes and relishes of the love of God, or high affections kindled towards God, or strong resolutions begotten in yourselves.
Usually God droppeth in sweetness into the hearts of his people, as all those ecstasies of love in the Canticles were occasioned by meditation. But we cannot always expect raptures and high elevations; it is some fruit if it maketh you fall to prayer and holy complaints.
9. Be thankful to God when he blesseth you in meditation, or else you will find difficulty in the next.
Christians often forget to return God the glory: Song of Sol. 1:4, ¡®Draw me, we will run after thee, the king hath brought me into his chambers; we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy loves more than wine; the upright love thee.¡¯ That which goest up in vapours cometh down in showers. So the psalmist, Ps. 67:5, 6, ¡®Let the people praise thee, O God, let all the people praise thee; then shall the earth yield her increase, and God even our own God, shall bless us.¡¯ There is a mutual access and recess between the rivers and the sea, so there is between blessings and praises. In this duty God is jealous lest we should give the honour to ourselves, because there is so much work of our own thoughts: Ps. 63: 4, 5, ¡®Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee: thus will I bless thee while I live, I will lift up my hands in thy name.¡¯ Not only in my necessity, but forever, for such sweet experiences.
10. Do not bridle up the free spirit by the rules of method.
That which God calleth for is religion, not logic. When Christians confine themselves to such rules and prescriptions, they straiten themselves, and thoughts come from them like water out of a still, not like water out of a fountain. Voluntary and free meditations are most smart and pregnant. In all arbitrary directions, that make only for the conveniency of the duty, you must remember we come to you like Paul to the Corinthinians: 1 Cor. 7:12, ¡®To the rest speak I, not the Lord.¡¯ We do not prescribe, but advise.
11. Your success in the duty is not to be measured by the multitude and subtlety of the thoughts, but the sincerity of them.
Christians puzzle and disquiet themselves because they look too much at gifts; you should covet the best gifts, but not inordinately: Ps.51:6, ¡®Thou desirest truth in the inward parts.¡¯ In prayer God looketh more to the impulses of zeal than the flowers of rhetoric; so in meditation, if we are less subtle, it is no matter, so we be more devout.
12. You must begin and end all in prayer.
Duties are subservient one to another. In the beginning you must pray for a blessing on the duty, and in the end commend your souls and resolutions to God. There is no hope in your own promises, but God¡¯s. They were in an high pang of zeal when they offered so freely to the service of the house of God; but David prays, 2 Chron. 29:28, ¡®O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this for ever in the imaginations of the thoughts of the heart of they people, and prepare their hearts to seek thee.¡¯ Our motions are fleeting and vanishing; God must preserve in us these resolutions of consecrating ourselves and all that is ours to him.
 
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