Christ the fountain of lifeChrist the fountaine of life

If a man come to an Ordinance and find nothing there,¹ and yet when he is gone, he is satisfied, he is well enough; that soul hath either no life at all, or life in a swoon, or cold without stirring and motion; there is not an hungering desire after him, when you can come and go away unsatisfied, and yet be well contented too.

If a man come to an Ordinance and find nothing there,¹ and yet when he is gone, he is satisfied, he is well enough; that soule hath either no life at all, or life in a swound, or cold without stirring and motion; there is not an hungering desire after him, when you can come and goe away unsatisfied, and yet be well contented too.

1. 1Note this.

Secondly, feeding hath another work,¹ the former is but a preparation, or supposition of feeding, but a man also then feeds when he finds some sweetness, and relish in the meat that he eats, that doth ever accompany feeding, and is a sign that a man doth feed, the stomach doth well affect the meat it feeds on; have you then found some sweet relish in the Ordinances, the Gospel is a sweet savour to them that are saved, 2 Cor. 2.15, 16. and as for savour to smell, so, as a sweet savour to the taste; do you therefore find some kind of sweetness, a spiritual sweetness in the Word you hear, or read, or Sacraments you receive, or prayers that you make? Are they such a comfort or sweetness to you, that you find in this or that promise, or commandment, or doctrine, any word of life? Do you find strength, and sweetness in it? It is an evident sign of life, because you find sweetness in it, its a sign of health to relish a sweetness in our meat; for a sick man, it may be, eats, and drinks, but he finds no sweetness in it, and that is a part of his complaint