them out of the Puddle where they did ly like Beasts without sense of danger or shame and it quickens these rotten Trees for the producing of better Fruit. The first Life being opposite to Condemnation and Eternal Punishment belongs properly to the Blood that hath satisfied divine Justice and so removed Punishment and the second which is opposite to stupid and senseless both falling into sin and lying in it relates properly to the Water that after Propitiation and Pardon washes and sanctifies the sinner These two Lives are the two first Effluxes which proceeded out of Jesus Christ when his Body was pierced and both are inseparable as the Blood and the water were which flowed together out of his side Let none who finds himself clean from the filth and spots of his sin be afraid of Punishment for them I have found a Ransom for him Job 33.24 for the water came not without the Blood But let every one that hath a mind to be safe from Punishment which is taken off by the Blood seek for farther security in the purifying of himself from all the uncleanness of sin which the Water is to wash away for the Blood came not without water Christ came not by Blood alone but by water and Blood 1 Joh. 5.6 9. Over and above these two Lives whereof one consists in Pardon and removal of Punishment the other in Sanctification and enlivens us from dead works so as not thenceforward to deserve it as before there remains besides a third Life which consists in an absolute Redemtion from Death and other miseries This life as to the sure Title and Right is together with the two other purchased by the same Sacrifice but as to the real use and possession it is reserved for us in Heaven and there hid with Christ in God Coloss 3.3 Until it be revealed we appear as if we were dead these two Jewels lying in and being wrapped about with the dark Veils of human Mortality till that Christ becoming unto us actual Redemtion as well as actual Justice and actual Sanctification this third life succeeds to break the Cloud 10. Now the blessed Savior being by his Sacrifice the Author and giver of these three Lives shews himself by this Sacrament to be the preserver of them also and to this purpose sets up a Table by his Altar where he engages most solemnly to feed and nourish our Souls with the constant supply of his Mercies to the very day of eternal Salvation as really as he gives and we receive these Elements of Bread and Wine which are the usual meanes of sustaining mortal Bodies until the end of this short Life My Father worketh hitherto and I work with him Ioh. 95.17 God the father rested indeed upon the seventh day from the work of Creating and God the Son at the same day from the work of Suffering but neither of them will rest till the day of Redemtion from the work of preserving both what the Creation hath produced and what the Passion hath saved In the first Creation here is a Man and a Woman made of the Flesh and as it were of the very wounds of her Husband and there you find a Tree planted to maintain both their life and strength In the Deliverance of Egypt here is a People saved by the Sacrifice of the Passeover and lest so many rescued out of Egypt should faint and starve in the Desert there you see an Angel leading them the way with his Light keeping them cool under the Shadow of his Cloud and feeding them through all their journny with a miraculous sort of Meat Jesus is both in the Original and progress of Salvation the Truth foreshewed by these Figures When he dyed upon the Cross there he fullfilled that which had bin shadowed forth both by the Sleep and wound of Adam and by the killing of paschal Lambs And when he feeds from Heaven with a continual Effusion of Blessing those souls and lives which he hath bin pleased to redeem by the effusion of his own Blood He is the Truth both of the Tree and of the Angel which were appointed the one to maintain Man and the other to keep Israel 11. Christ relates to these four Figures as the Body which fulfils them and the Holy Communion relates to them on the other side as an Antitype that is as one Image may relate to another all to express the same object Upon the breaking the one and powring out the other of these consecrated Elements you see what Christ hath suffered as upon the wound of Adam and the death of the Passeover Abel Enoc and Israel might partly see what he should suffer And upon the nourishing nature of this Bread you see that which others have seen in the Tree of life and in the Angel raining down Manna what He would give But this is the advantage of the Holy Communion above all the ancient Figures Adam with his open Side and all Sacrifices with their Blood did foretel only Christs Passion and the Tree of life with all its fruit and the Angel with all his Food did foretel only his preserving Grace whereas this Sacrament alone represents both his Passion and Preserving and besides these another great Mystery by their mutual dependency What wee take and eat is made of a Substance cut bruised and put to the fire that shews my Saviors Passion and it was used in that manner that it may afford me wholesom food that shewes the Benefit which both he gives and I receive out of this dreadful Passion The Angels enjoy such an immortality and wear such Crowns as cost God nothing but the pain he took to give them ours are more precious and costly then so Our inheritance in Heaven is not less then Akeldamah a Possession bought with Christs Blood In this Sacrament here is Death represented there Life the Life is mine the Death my Saviors and ô blessed Jesus this my Life comes out of thy Death and the Salvation which I hope for is purchased with all the pain and Agonies which Thou didst suffer 12. Here Melchisedek and Aaron wait upon Jesus Christ at this Table as Moses and Elias did on the Mount These two great Priests stand to soreshew what Christ alone is to perform For there is Aaron the Priest with Blood and here Melchisedek with Bread There Aaron breaks sheds and destroies here Melchisedek feeds and blesses Nay both are one in Jesus Christ First Christ appears to Sacrifice upon the Cross as Aaron did at his Altar with Flesh and Blood and as in Melchisedeks case and figure with his own Flesh and his own Blood Then as Aaron did use to enter once every year into the Sanctuary Christ once for all is ascended into Heaven thence to bless us Act. 3.26 And this blessing is the strength the Food and Refreshment which Melchisedek brought in a figure that with the help of these good Things both Abraham and his Followers that is all sincere Christians may
cheerfully go on their way notwithstanding their own weakness and all the dangers of their life Thus here is a double Blessing which I wait for both what Aaron shewed by his Blood and what Melchisedek shewed by his Bread 13. Author of my Salvation and of these Mysteries which express it bestow on me these two Blessings which this Sacrament shews together Grace for Grace Mercy and strength to keep Mercy Hosanna O Son of David save and preserve Save me that I may not fall under the hand of the Destroyer and preserve me that after this Salvation I never fall by my own hand But keep and set forward in me notwithstanding all mine Infirmities the work of thy faithful Mercies Grant that I may not increase my Guilt by my abusing of what thou gavest My Savior my Preserver give me alwaies what thou givest once Create a new heart within me but bless and keep what Thou createst and increase more and more what Thou plantest O Son of God and Tree of Life feed with thy sap this tender Branch which without thee cannot but wither and strengthen in thee a bruised Reed which without thee cannot but fall Father of everlasting Compassions forsake not in the Wilderness a feeble Israelite whom thou hast brought a little way out of Egypt And let not this poor Soul of mine which thou hast blessed with some desires and helped a while with some tendency towards an Eternal Salvation ever faint and fall from the right way The Angel in the Wilderness could undoubtedly rain as much Manna as the Paschal Lambs could shed Blood Jesu the Truth both of those Lambs and of that Angel Thou art as able to perfect me with thy Blessings out of thy Throne as thou wert to redeem me by thy Sacrifice on thy Cross Jesu Author Object and Truth of this which by thine appointment I am bidden now to take perform in me by thy sufferings what Thou dost exhibit Eternal Life by this thy Body broken give also Nourishment and maintenance thereby to this same Life for this is the Bread of Heaven Amen SECTION IV. Concerning the Communion as it is not a Representation only but a Means of Grace 1. HItherto we have considered this holy Sacrament first as a standing Memorial of that Passion wherein Christ Jesus once offered himself up to God as Sacrifice and secondly as a sign of that nutritive and corroborative Grace the true Efflux of that Sacrifice by which sign he daily offers himself to us under the notion of Meat For his Flesh is meat indeed and his Blood is drink indeed Joh. 6.55 And I ingeniously confess that the most general use of the blessed Communion runs upon these two Notions and that these two main Resemblances between the Bread and Christs Body which qualify the consecrated Bread and the consecrated Wine in the same manner to bear the Character of a Sacrament do likewise sufficiently qualify it to bear another honor which it enjoys of being called the Lords Body However it is most certain that when the Fathers call it so which Christ himself taught them to do they justify both His and their speech upon the account of resemblance and of this commerce most usual between Representations and objects represented of enterchanging their own names Read the 23. Epist of St. Austin ad Bonif. 2. So for example in the Prophetic Visions and Dreams which most commonly were nothing else then extemporary Sacraments of Things then revealed by God those are most constantly said to be these The 7 Ears of Corn are 7 years by the interpretation of Joseph Gen. 41.26 The seven Stars are seven Angels in the Revelation of St. John 1.20 The Sower is the Son of Man The Tares are the wicked The Harvest is the end of the World in the Parables of Jesus Christ Matth. 13.37.38.39 If by chance we meet with Pictures that represent the Tabernacle or the Ornaments of Aaron we usually say pointing at some of these Figures This is the outward Court this is the Sanctuary here is the brazen Altar and there you see the Plate of pure Gold that none was allowed to wear except the High Priest of Israel just as walking in the Palaces and Galleries of great Persons we say without thinking to speak improperly that we have seen the 12. Sibyls the 12. Cesars the Temple of Ephesus c. that is the Representations of all these Now 't is certain that no Visions nor Images have ever bin more intended for this end of Representing then the true Sacraments have bin therefore it were most unreasonable to think that these sacred Images should want that Priviledg which all other altho casual and profane are allowed to have viz. to take the name of their Objects Nay since the Paschal Lamb the Circumcision and the Baptism have it for one is called the Passover the other the Covenant and the other the Burial of Christ why should the Holy Communion be without it Besides it is not conceivable that Christ who had yet in his hands that Paschal Bread which was called by the Jews the Bread of Affliction which their Fathers did eat in Egypt because it was the Memorial of it may not be understood after the same manner when a moment after He calls it his Body 3. Nevertheless altho the literal and immediate sense of these Words This is my Body comes to no more as Tertullian and S. Augustin with many more have in express terms declared it and as all ancient liturgies must needs understand it whensoever they call the Eucharist Type Image or figure for the proper and immediate use of Images is to represent Things If they chance also to have them in themselves or to convey them over to others it is upon another account as being vessels or utensiles c. which office is extrinsecal to Sacraments Nevertheless I say the end of the blessed Communion the exigency and pious desire of Communicants and the strength of other Places of Scripture require a great deal more in the Eucharist then a meer Memorial or Representation 4. 1. The proper end of the holy Communion which is to make us partakers of Christ in another manner and degree when with faith and repentance wee take and tast those holy Mysteries then when with the like dispositions wee do hear the Holy Gospel 2. The Exigency and honest desire of Communicants who seek no more for a bare Representation or Remembrance of Christ crucified at this Holy Table then Mary and other devout women did for winding Sheets or Napkins about his Grave I want and seek my Savior himself and I watch for all the opportunities of coming to his Sacrament for the same purpose that once made S. Peter and S. Iohn run so fast to his Sepulcher because I hope to find Him there 3. Lastly the full sense and importance of other Places in Scripture which allow the Holy Communion a much greater Vertue then is that of representing only The Cup
in this inferior part of the kingdom where this Patriarck was faithfull it it a sufficient assurance that in time He will also make them sit in that other Palace where this holy Man is now happy and whosoever are admitted to the Dinner of the Lamb slain Matth. 22.4 unless they be wanting to themselves must not doubt of being admitted to that wedding Supper of the same Lamb who once was dead but now is Living for ever Luk. 14.16 Revel 19.9 4. The consequence and connexion that these two Festivals have one with the other was most sweetly alluded to by our Savior when he asked the Disciples who talked of sitting at his Right hand in his Glory whether they could pass to it throught the same Baptism and the same Cup. Mark 10.37.38 And S. Paul meant as much when he said that by the holy Eucharist we set forth the Lords death til he come 1. Cor. 11.26 Both referring and continuing this holy Mystery to the second Coming of Christ not only as to the End where it must cease but chiefly as to the Scope that it looks to and to that happiness at his coming where it must be fullfilled And truly since our Savior scarce ever speaks of his own death but as a forerunner and Preparative to his Resurrection and often joines in one Clause and delivers as it were with one breath both his Crucifiction and his Glory Mark 10.34 it it very fit unless we put asunder these two Things which Christ commonly did put together that the Sacrament which he instituted purposely to represent the one which is already accomplished should at the least cast an Eye towards the other which we look for 5. Nay it must look and lead that way upon another and much stronger necessity Our Savior hath given us three kinds of life by his Passion and He promises to nourish and maintain us in every one of them by these tokens of Bread and Wine which he hath made his Sacrament This Sacrament affords help and improvement for two as t is said before but there is a third more that we are not yet come to This is that eternal Life for which this present world is too vile an Element and we our selves as yet too vile vessells Till we acquire by Grace and pious Endeavors a greater Perfection and till we grow to that stature as may fit us to bear up that weight of Eternal Glory we are neither of age to enjoy our Inheritance nor of ability to manage well that great Estate and wear those noble Ornaments that attend it and therefore it lyes hidden from us with Christ in God and as it were under his Custody I Know whom I have believed and I am perswaded he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that Day 2. Tim. 1.12 that is by Faith we deposit this great Treasure in the hands of God to keep and God by this Sacrament assures us and engages himself that he will both keep it safe for us and restore it to us whensoever we are fit for it 6. This third use is the Crown and the Accomplishment of the two other And tho the Sacrament hath three Faces and looks three several waies the Past the present and the future yet as to the main end these three aim at one and the same Glory The first use of this Sacrament is to set out as new and fresh the great and holy Sufferings which have purchased our Title to Everlasting Happiness the second is both to represent the quality and to afford us the help of all necessary Graces true Effluxes of these Sufferings to capacitate us towards it and the third is to assure us that when we are capacitated by these Graces God and his Christ will faithfully surrender to us the Purchace it self that is eternal Happiness And these three Parts put together make up the proper and true sense of these words Take and eat this is my Body for the consecrated Bread is not said to be the Lords Body only because it represents the Lords Body but because also as to our present use on Earth it doth as good as exhibit it and as to our Happiness in Heaven bought with the price of this Body it is the most solemn Instrument to assure our Title to it 7. Thus the consecrated Elements are no more the Body and Blood of Christ in that sense that Pictures and Maps set about Rooms are commonly called Kings and Countries only because they represent them but as Patents also granted by Kings or other Deeds and Evidences left in our houses by our Ancestors are called Lands Estates and Manors because they convey over to us most really both the Title and Possession of all the goods which they mention Represent to your mind Jacob dividing among his Children every Parcel of his Estate and withal surrendring the Titles that belong to each Division take thou this Joseph this is the Field which my Grand Father Abraham bought of Hephron and you Manasehs come you hither this is the Land which I got from the Amorite It is most certain that the surrendring such Instruments altho in themselves but Papers or Parchments is in very deed nothing less then giving away the very Lands And Deeds and lands may very well go together under one Name since by giving whether Deeds or Lands whether Patents or Priviledges Fathers and other Benefactors do both intend and effect the same Thing If it happen somtimes among men that Right and Possession take not one way that our best Titles are laid aside and that we cannot enjoy those Estates whereof either our Kings or Fathers have left us most clear Evidences this falls out so by unhappy Rencounters of either weakness or injustice or ignorance which are not to be found in Christ Here then Christ our blessed Savior being desirous before his death as by a Deed of his last will to settle upon his true Disciples both such a measure of his Grace in this life as might in part make them Holy and after this life such a fullness of all Blessings as might make them eternally happy He delivers into their hands by way of Instrument and Conveyance the blessed Sacrament of his Body and Blood the true Root and stem of all Blessings in the same manner as to his Intention but in a surer way as to the Event and effect as Kings use to bestow Dignities by the bestowing of a staff or sword and Fathers pass as much as they please of their Estates on their Children by giving them some few writings 8. The true reason of all this is because the Giver is not able to transfer into his Friends hands Houses and Lands because they are of an immoveable Nature and therefore this must be supplyed by substituting in stead of Lands some Ceremonies forms or tokens which may visibly pass from hand to hand and shew to all ends and purposes both the Intention that the one hath to
pass away and the power which the other hath to take and enjoy what is given him Now Christ and his Estate his Happiness and his Glory his Eternity and his Heaven are not Things that may be moved more easily then the Mountains or the Earth and therefore not to be disposed of in any other real manner then great immoveable Estates are Therefore the Kingdom of Israel was once conferred upon David with some drops of that Sacred Oil which Samuel poured on his head 1 Sam. 16.13 The Body and Blood of Jesus Christ is in full value and Heaven with all its fulness is in sure Title instated on true Christians by those small portions which they receive at the Blessed Communion the Minister of Christ having as to this effect as much power from his Master for what he acts as any Prophet or any Angel ever had for what they did 9. Hence it appears what crime it is not to discern the Lords Body It is to do worse then Esau did who sold his Birthright for a trifle it is to value at the same rate the Anointing of a Prophet and the composition of a Perfumer it is to take the Lords Body for a despicable Morsel of Bread In a word 't is to perform the action of a Beast that devours but the gross and earthy Matter of this Sacrament and have nothing of a Christian or rational creature who elevates his Soul to that Body which by Christs institution it represents and to the Price of that Body which it promises For since the proper essence of Sacred signs or Sacraments consists not in what they are in their nature but in what they signify by divine institution hence it happens infallibly that when the Sacraments are abused the injury must needs light not upon them in their own natural Being Bread Wine and Water which upon this account are not at all considerable but upon the Holy mysteries the Body and Blood of Christ himself who is the main object of their formal Being that is their Signification And therefore the Apostle speaks most exactly when he saies that whosoever eats of this Bread unworthily doth not discern or doth not sanctify but uses as a common and profane thing the very Body of Jesus Christ 11. In this profane want of Discerning 't is hard to say whether the Sin or the Punishment be the greater For the sin is abominable since not the Bread but Christ himself suffers the wrong the Bread being not here concerned at all nor more abused by the Villain that abuses the Sacrament then is the Earth the water or any other common matter of human Bodies by the Murtherer that kills a Man or then are Brass and Marble by the Rebels who pull down their Princes Statues or then Parchment Paper and Ink by that unnatural Son who tears and tramples upon the Deeds and the last will of his Father Only there is this difference that in these last Instances the Outrage proceeds but from the Earth the Brass the Marble the Paper and other such common Matter to the Man King or Fathers persons who should have bin considered and who alone suffer the wrong whereas in abusing the blessed Sacraments the sin flys a great deal higher namely to the very Face of Jesus Christ for whose Body and Blood they stand So that as the Holy Communion is not exposed in the Church under the notion of Bread and Wine the faithful Communicants do appear there to receive Christ and the faithless to abuse Him 11. But if this Attemt is impious the Punishment that attends it is most dreadful It is a very sad mischance when Dogs or Apes tear like lose paper all to fitters the Titles and assurances of a good Estate and who would not pitty that wretch who in his mad Passion had thrown into the sea the very Keyes which were given him to Justify the Propriety of vast Treasures in such Houses as these keyes might open Blind Villains you cannot discern either among these Papers the Original Deeds of your Estate or among all these Instruments the keyes that might both assure and give you admittance to immense Riches Whensoever you eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup thus unworthily unhappy men you do not discern the Pledges of your Salvation nay most Impious as you are you neither discern nor will honor the Body and Blood of your Savior which would bring salvation to you At once both impious and unhappy men you despise and cast away from you both the Salvation and the Savior 12. Lord Jesu who hast ordained this Mystery for a Communion of thy Body for a Means of advancement and proficiency in Holiness and for an infallible Pledg of Eternal Salvation which thou hast purchased by thy Body and which thou preparest thy People to receive by this Proficiency in Holiness now Lord in mercy look on me help my unbelief increase my Faith and order the Soul of thy Servant who is to take these Holy Things Then since thou thy self originally givest them tho not immediatly but by the ministry of thy Disciples * Joh. 4.1 2. In giving them bless them also and bless them whilst I receive them that they may be efficacious to settle me in the Communion of thy Sufferings which they exhibit and shew forth to feed me with that living Bread which they present and to sanctify me for that eternal Happiness which they promise O Lord thou knowest my simpleness my Growning is not hid from thee look on a poor Sinner at thy Table as thou didst on him who hung by thy Cross O Lord my God remember me now when thou art come into thy Kingdom * Luke 23.42 Amen 13. Eternal Priest who art gon up on high there to receive Gifts for men fill my Heart I beseech thee with blessings out of thy holy Seat as now thou fillest my Mouth with the Holy Things of thy Church and so dispose me by thy Grace to eat both spiritually and really the Flesh of that Sacrifice which thou didst offer without the Gate and which this Sacrament sets before me here in thy Courts that thence I may be admitted into that Holyest Sanctuary which thy Sacrifice hath opened and which this Sacrament invites me to This is the Bread which the Lord hath prepared for his Children and which he sends me now by the hand of one of his Angels O that in the strength of this Meat I may walk as Elijah did my fourty daies or as Israel my fourty years and come at last to that Holy Mountain where without the help of any Bread or the Ministry of any Angels I shall see my God face to face Eternal and blessed and blessing Spirit of God bless me now and help me to drink so worthily of this fruit of the Vine that I may drink it new in the Kingdom of my Father Amen SECTION VI. Of the Holy Eucharist as it implies a Sacrifice And first of the Commememorative
pour out all our Grief our Prayers and our Praises before the Lord in so happy a conjuncture The primitive Christians did it so who did as seldom meet to preach or pray without a Communion as did the old Israelites to worship without a Sacrifice On solemn daies especially or upon great Exigencies they ever used this help of Sacramental Oblation as the most powerful Means the Church had to strengthen their Supplications to open the Gates of Heaven and to force in a manner God and his Christ to have compassion on them The People of Israel for the better performance of Prayer and Devotion went up to the Tabernacle and the Temple because besides other Motives both these were Figures of that Body which was to be sacrificed Wherefore Christ calls his Body this Temple Joh. 2.19 and the first Christians went up to their Churches there to meet with these Mysteries which do represent him both as already sacrificed and yet as in some sort offering and giving up himself Those in worshipping ever turned their Eyes their Hearts their hopes towards that Altar and Sacrifice whence the High Priest was to carry the Blood into the Sanctuary and these looking toward the Cross and their crucified Savior there through his Sufferings hope for a way towards Heaven being encouraged to this hope by the very Memorial which they both take to themselves and shew to God of these Sufferings Lastly Jesus our Eternal Priest being from the Cross where he suffered without the Gate gon up into the true Sanctuary which is Heaven there above doth continually present both his Body in true reality and us as Aaron did the twelve Tribes of Israel in a Memorial Exod. 28.29 and on the other side we beneath in the Church present to God his Body and Blood in a Memorial that under this shadow of his Cross and image of his Sacrifice we may present our selves before him in very deed and reality 5. O Lord who seest nothing in me that is truely mine but Dust and Ashes and which is worse sinful flesh and Blood look upon what I have of thee some small Remnant of thine Image some small beginnings of thy Grace and some light sparks of thy Spirit But because all these are defective supply them O Lord with thy mercy and with the Sacrifice of thy Son Not unto us O Lord not unto us but to thy Name and thine Anointed give the praise Turn thine Eyes O Merciful Father to the satisfaction and Intercession of thy Son who now sits at thy Right Hand to the Seals of thy Covenant which lye before thee upon this Table and to all the wants and distresses which also thou seest in my heart O Father glorify thy Son whom thou hast sent into this World O Son bless thou this Sacrament which thou hast ordained for thy Church and send with it some influence of that Spirit whom thou hast promised to all Flesh that by the help of these Mercies the World the Church our Flesh and Souls may glorify thee now and ever Father Son and Holy Spirit Amen SECTION VII Concerning the Sacrifice of our own Persons 1. IT is either the Error or the incogitancy of too many Christians which makes them somtimes beleive and oftener live as if under the Gospel there were no other Sacrifice but that of Christ upon the Cross It is very true indeed there is no other nor can there be any other sufficient and proper for this end of satisfiing Gods Justice and expiating our sins I have troden the Winepress alone and of the People there was none with me I looked and there was none to help Esay 63.3.5 In this respect tho the whole Church should in a Body offer up her self as a burnt Sacrifice to God yet could she not contribute more towards the bearing up or bearing away the wrath to come then all those Innocent souls who stood neer Jesus Christ when he gave up the Ghost did towards the darkning of the Sun or the shaking of the whole Earth But that which is not so much as useful much less necessary to this Eternal Sacrifice which alone could redeem Mankind is indispensably both necessary and useful that we may have a share in this Redemtion So that if the Sacrifice of our selves which we ought to offer up to God cannot procure Salvation it is absolutely necessary to receive it 2. As the old Law never introduced Aaron officiating before the Lord without the whole People of Israel represented both by the twelve stones on his Ephod and the two other on his shoulders Exod. 28.12.30 The Gospel most commonly describes Jesus Christ and his Church not only as two Parties that do nothing the one without the other but somtimes also as one Person alone as particularly 1. Cor. 12.12 Christ acts officiates and suffers for his Body in that manner that doth become the Head and the Church imitates and follows all the motions and sufferings of this heavenly and holy Head in such a manner as is possible to its weak Members 3. The main if not the whole Divinity of S. Paul as well in point of faith as of Christian life runs upon this Conformity both of actions and sufferings And that of S. Iohn likewise upon this same Communion The truth is Our Savior had neither Birth nor Death nor Resurrection here on Earth but such as we ought to conform us to as he hath neither Ascention nor Throne nor Everlasting life nor Glory but such as we may also have in Heaven common with him 4. This Conformity or likeness to Christ which as the Hebrewes use to spake is the foundation and Pillar that is the grand Principle of the whole Christian institution relates more directly to our duty about his Sufferings and then to our happiness about his Exaltation And the Communion which is the other great fundamental that S. Iohn hath still in his Mouth points more at this and presupposes that And both make up a full Comment upon the words which our Savior so often commanded his Disciples to follow him thereby signifiing both the Labor and the success of this most Important Journy for without doubt we shall follow him into Heaven if we will follow him here on Earth and we shall have Communion with him in his Glory if we will keep Conformity with him here in his Sufferings 5. These three expressions to Follow to be like or have Conformity and to have Communion which are the most essential Clauses in the charter and charge of christianity are not to be limited to the imitation of Christs Moralls only as when he bids us be Holy as he is Holy c. but they oblige all his Disciples to follow and imitate him likewise as much as in them lies throughout all the other parts of his life and the very functions of his Offices For we must be regenerated in his Birth dye on his Cross be buried in his Grave bear his shame in his Tribulations in