2941 OF SPIRITUAL 'MINDEDNESS. xvii. 17. 1 Pet. ii. 23.) 'Desire, saith he, the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.' But what encouragement have we thereto l if so be, saith he, you have tasted that the Lord is gracious ! If, in and by the dispensation of this word, you have had experience of the grace, the goodness, the kindness of God to your souls, you cannot but desire and delight in it; and otherwise youwill not do so. When men have sat some good while under the dispensation of the word, and in-the enjoyment of other ordinances, with- out tasting in and by them that the Lord is gracious, they will grow weary ofit and them. Wherefore prayer is the way of his appointment for the application of our souls to him, to obtain a participation of all needful grace, which, therefore, he has propos^d to us in the promises of the covenant, that we may know what to ask, and how to plead for it. In the sacraments the same promises are sealed to us, and the grace repre- sented in them effectually exhibited. Meditation con- firms our souls in the exercise of faith about it, and is the especial opening of the heart to the reception of it. By these means, I say, doth God communicate all supplies of renewing, strengthening, and sanctifying grace to us, that we may live to him in all holy obedi- ence, and be able to get the victory over our tempta- tions. Under this apprehension, believers approach to God in the ordinances of his worship : they come to them as the means of God's communication to their souls; hence they cleave to them with delight, so far as their affections are renewed. So the spouse testifi- eth of herself I sat down under his shadowwith great delight. Cant. ii. 3. In these ordinances is the pro- tecting, refreshing presence of Christ. This s',te rest- ed in with great delight.
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