thee in the Lord Yet because I am an humble Seruant to Christ both in my desires and affections aswell as I am the shaddow and Echo of my Author in this my translation Therefore I trust in the goodnesse of God and hope in the integritie of mine owne heart that I shall rather right thee then any way wrong him in presuming poorly to gleane after his rich haruest by aduenturing to propose and give thee a word or two of spirituall aduice and directions of mine owne vpon the receiuing of this blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper before I commend this Divine Pourtrait thereof to thee thee to it and you both vnto God When therefore thou resoluest Iam. 4.8 to draw neere vnto God that God may draw neer vnto thee by receiving and partaking of this his blessed Sacrament Thou must in the innocency of thy heart and the purity of thy soule 1 Pet. 5.6 first humble thy selfe vnder the mighty hand of God that hee may exalt thee Iam. 4.10 And cast thy selfe downe before him that hee may lift thee vp 1 Cor. 15.34 Thou must awake to live righteously and resolue to sinne no more but henceforth to become a new man and a new Christian Gal. 3.24 for they that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the lusts thereof Thou must set thy affections on things which are above and not on things which are on the Earth Phil. 3.20 Anâ— thy conuersation must bee iâ— heaven from whence thoâ— must expect thy Sauiour eveâ— the Lord Iesus Christ Gal. 5.25 Foâ— if thou live in the spirit thoâ— must also walke in the spirit Psal 4.4 Thou must tremble but nâ—… sinne and thou must examinâ— thy selfe vpon thy bed Psal 68 1â— Foâ— God will try thee as siluer iâ— tryed Thou must not deceive thy selfe Galat. 6.7 for God wilâ— not bee mocked Thou musâ— not be hot in thy sinnes anâ— cold and frozen in thy devotion and piety towardâ— God neither must thou seeme now to bee that in thy humility and zeale which thou art not Because Hypocrisie towards God proves treacherie towards our owne soules But runne thou a Contrary Course with thy heart and soule at thy receiving of this great act of thy Saluation this blessed Sacrament for bee thou the death of thy sinnes and then God will assuredly be the life of thy Soule As for those who either vnworthily receiue or carelesly deferre or wilfully contemne the receiving of this blessed Sacrament they doe assuredly spin out the webbe of their owne damnation and so being dead in the Lethargie of their owne securitie and prophanesse they hood-wincked ride post to Hell Consider and remember with thy selfe Ioel. 1.15 That the day of the Lord is at hand 2 Pet. 3.10 And that death and destruction comes from the Lord as a Thiefe in the night That death the grimme Pursivant and Sergeant of the Lord dâ—th neither spare nor pardon any sexe or age but with his fatall Dart and Mace without respect or difference aresteth as well the King as the begger the Priest as the people and the young as the old Wee must not therefore put farre from vs the evill day Amos. 6.3,4,5 nor stretch our selues on our beds of Ivorie nor sing to the sound of the Violl wherby the Prophet meanes all excesse of riot and vnderstandeth all degree of obscene pleasures and beastly voluptuousnesse For if we love God we must honour him and if we will honour him wee must loue him Amos 6.3,4,5 And not wearie him with our sinnes nor presse him downe with their burthen as a Cart is with Sheafes Consider wee againe That as there is but one way forvs to come into the world so that there are a thousand waies to go out of it That we are subiect to as many diseases as sinnes yea and that diseases doe as frequently and as insensibly steale into our bodyes as sinnes doe into our soules That wee are never neerer death then when we think our selues farthest from it and that when we suppose our selues to be strongest in Nature wee commonly are then weakest in Grace As also that a theeuish Impostume a poore Apoplexie a Cut-throat Squinancy or a fierce and furious visitation of the Pestilence doth many times in a moment of time violently snatch vs away from the world and the world from vs yea and which is more to be admired though no lesse to bee pittied That some times in the very twinckling of an Eye we are choaked with a Fly a Kernell of an apple a crumm of bread or a small Fish bone Or else have our braynes dashd out with a fall either from a Horse or a staire O therfore how seriously ought we to ponder in our hearts and how maturely and religiously to consider in our soules how extreame dangerous it is for vs to procrastinate and deferre and consequently how infinitely necessary expedieÌ„t it is for vs frequently to receiue this blessed SacrameÌ„t of the Lords Supper Consider wee further Iam 4.14 That wee cannot tell what shall betyde vs to morrow for that our life is but a Vapour that appeareth for a smal time and then vanisheth away 1 Pet. 1.24 That all flesh is grasse and all the glory of man is as the flower of grasse and that the grasse withereth the flower thereof falleth away Heb. 13.14 That we haue no abiding Citie heere but must therefore seeke one to come which is aboue That as the tree falleth it lyes That there is no sorrowing for our sins in the grave and that after our death there is no place nor hope left vs for a second repentance Heb. 10 31 And that it is a feare full thing to fall into the hands of the living God Armed in this manner with a lively faith towards God and with periect love and Charity towards our neighbour and having freed and cleared those sinfull spots of our hearts and reformed and cleansed those foule affections and imperfections of our soules by our vnfeigned godly repentance and sorow And having now assumed and taken vp a firme resolution ever hereafter Eph. 5.10 to approve and doe that which is pleasing to the Lord And contracted a solemne Covenant betweene God and our souls Eph. 5.11 never any more to have any fellowship with the workes of darkenesse but reprove them and not henceforth to dare to looke back with affection on our forepast deerest and darling sinnes but with infinite hatred detestation of them Then I say let vs follow the aduice of the Apostle Heb. 4.16 Let vs goe vp boldly to the Throne of Grace that wee may receive mercy Let vs goe boldly to this table to this pretious banket of the Lords blessed Supper and eat that sacred bread of his body and drinke that heavenly wine of his blood in a strong Confidence and CoÌ„memoration That Christ dyed for vs on the Altar of
the blood of God according as the Apostle sayth in the Actes Actes 20.28 That God hath purchased the Church by his blood And behold my brethren to what a degree of glory of the Gospell caries you in the New Testament above his faithfull Seruants of the old wherefore here revoke to your mind and memory these passages of Pauls Epistle to the Galathians Gal. 4.4,5 God sent foorth his Sonne made of a Woman and made vnder the Law And writing to the Romanes againe likewise said Rom. 8.3 God sending his owne Sonne in the Similitude of sinfull flesh and for sinne condemned sinne in the flesh And before were passe to the Meditation of the ensuing words I pray obserue heere againe with mee in these This is my Body the cleare refutation of all which Superstition and humane Inuentions propose of the intercession and meditation of Saints and of their suffering for the expiation of the â—emporall paine of our sinnes which pretended sufferings and satisfactions are partly the treasure whereof the Bishop of Rome drawes his Indulgences and Pardons which makes that the Saints are a peece and part of our Sacrifice But Iesus Christ hath designed it and the price of our deliverance in these words This is my Body for hee said not This is a part of my Body and part of the bodyes of Saints who shall suffer for you If our Aduersaries consider that the Sacrament of the Lords Supper presenteth and exposeth to our eyes our Price and Ransome as some of the Ancients for that cause and reason tearme the Sacrament our Price and if they likewise consider that this Sacrament proposeth not to vs the bodies of men but the body of Christ they shall find that there is no other price for our Ransome and Redemption but this body And although these people which say That this Sacrament of the Lords Supper is the Abridgement of the mysteries of the Gospell doe they accuse it of Imperfection not to have proposed or given it all our Price and Ransome And those who daily make and create the body of Christ and who pretend daily to offer him wherefore doe they not content themselues But heer let them vnderstand and hearken to the thundring words of the Apostle writing to the Corinthians 1 Cor. 1.13 Is Christ divided hath Paul beene crucified for you I affirme that the Bread of this holy Supper sheweth vs also a Communion of the faithfull with Iesus Christ for as the same Apostle writes againe to the Corinthians 1 Cor. 10.17 Wee who are many are one Bread and one Body But it is a Communion with Iesus Christ To receive and not To give To receive I say of Iesus Christ the expiation and remission of our sinnes and not to give or conferre it to other mens merits A Communion to bee freed bought and vivified or quickned by him and not to free buy and vivifie with him The second Obiect of our Meditation is the Oblation of this body in these words Which is broken This is my Blood which is shed In the words This is my body you have seene Christ Iesus made capable to be this Sacrifice but in these latter words you see him actually to be a Sacrifice and here is given you to meditate and contemplate first the Immolation and then the Oblation of the Sacrifice The Sacrifice is a soveraigne honour given and yeelded to God which consists in an extreame vnmaking and dissolution of the Creature which dissolution and vnmaking is not nor cannot be extreame except by the destroying of the thing which is offered wherefore all things heretofore which were offered vp in Sacrifice to God were first to be destroyed For it is one thing to bee offered simply and another thing to be offered vp in Sacrifice As for example The Sacrificators the Levites and the first borne of Israel were offered vp to God But how not offered vp in Sacrifice because they still remained living All things then offered in Sacrifice ought firs to be destroyed if they were liquid or wet things without life they were to bee shed If solide things without life they were to be burnt Or if living things they were to bee killed and for witnesse and Testimony of a true death there must needs bee an effusion of the Beasts blood because blood being the seat of the Beasts life the separation of blood from the flesh shewed and figured the separation of life from the body and consequently an entire death And in the expiatory and propitiatory Sacrifices this was the more requisite and needfull for that these Sacrifices were satisfactions for typicall and carnall sinne But the absolute satisfaction and expiation for sinne must consist in the death and destruction of the thing offered because the Apostle peremptorily and truely tels vs Rom. 6.33 That the wages of Sinne is death from whence you first see wherefore it was that of necessity Christ must die For the wages of Sinne being death it must needs follow that he who placed himselfe an Vndertaker for Sinners must vndergoe the punishment ordained for Sinne Secondly from hence you likewise see wherefore it was that the blood of Christ was shed in his death and separated from his body to wit thereby to expresse and shew the truth of the death and expiation of Sinne as the Apostle to the Hebrewes proves by legall figures that Iesus Christ must die and shed his blood in Sacrifice because saith hee Heb. 9.22 That according to the Law all things are purged and purified by blood and without the effusion of blood there is no remission So Iesus Christ by shedding his blood hath accomplished the figures of the Law and given vs this Consolation that the Ransome and expiation of our sinnes is entire and perfect And hence as it were in passing you learne two things I. That it is impossible that there is any propitiatory Sacrifice without blood and consequently impossible that the Masse wherein there is neither death nor effusion of blood be a propitiatory Sacrifice for sinnes as our Aduersaries call it II In the Lords Supper It was needfull that the body and blood of Iesus Christ was represented to vs distinctly and severally for that there were two signes to wit The Bread broken and the Wine filld out which was the Reason why Iesus Christ did not only say This is my Body broken but also takes the Cup and said This is my blood which is shed Because without effusion of blood there could be no remission of sinne From whence it followes That the taking and cutting away of the Cup in the Lords Supper which shewes the blood of Christ to bee separated from his body takes away from the mysterie of that sacred Supper it 's plenitude power perfection depriving it of the signe of the Condition requisite for the expiation of sinnes to wit the effusion of blood But this is told you but cursorily and as it were in passing Now the
towards him should wee have such stupid and senseles hearts that the Lords great compassion towards vs should nothing move or stirre them vp and such frozen soules that the burning charity of Iesus Christ dying for vs could not heate and inflame them in his love Should wee wilfully offend so great a goodnes in him when we see hee hath spared nothing for vs Or is it possible that so great yea so extream an ingratitude hath possessed our hearts and seized our soules as to displease God who hath loved vs so infinitely as not to spare his onely Sonne for vs. II. I speak of the foulnesse and odiousnesse of sinne which appeares in this Crosse for shal we not hate sinne which is so displeasing and odious to the eyes of our heavenly Father that he would redeeme and expiate it with the death of his Son Of a truth if we repute esteeme not Christs blood for a light and triviall thing needs must sin bee very odious grievous vnto vs and then needes must Iesus Christ crucified be vnto vs the powerfull motiue to crucifie the flesh with the lusts thereof and to mortifie in vs all that which is of the old man and of sinne III. We haue the example of our dutie In this Sacrament O Christian thou seest the sacrifice of the Sonne of God which is a lesson to teach thee to present thy body vnto God as a living holy and pleasing sacrifice The patterne and modell of thy sanctification consisteth in breaking and chasticing in thee the Old man as thou seest the body of Christ broken on the Crosse and consequently to dye vnto sinne as thou seest him dead What wilt thou now liue vnto that for which Iesus Christ dyed and his flesh which he crucified on the Crosse shall it againe reviue and assume life and full and perfect vigour in thy members Rom. 6 5. Must thou not bee made the very same plant with Iesus Christ conformably to his death to wit that the body of sin be destroyed in thee to the end that thou no more nor no longer serue sinne But amongst the parts of sanctification Charitie and loue towards our neighbours is particularly requisite and required in this Sacrament according to that of the Apostle Iohn 4.10,11 Heerein is that loue not that we loved God but that hee loved vs and sent his Sonne to be a reconciliation for our sinnes Adding likewise thereunto Beloved if God so loued vs we ought also to loue one the other Wilt thou refuse O Christian to loue and assist thy neighbour for whom thou seest that Christ Iesus refused not to shed his blood Wilt thou refuse to giue bread to him to whom Iesus Christ refused not his body See therefore in this Sacrament that which thou owest to thy neighbour to wit not onely to expose thy goods but thy life for him at least if thou thinke to haue any part in Iesus Christ according to that of Saint Iohn 2. Iohn 3.16,17 Heereby have wee perceived love that hee layed downe his life for vs therefore wee ought also to lay downe our lives for our brethren and whosoever hath the goods of this world and seeth his brother have need and shutteth vp his compassion from him how dwelleth the love of God in him Thou therefore who knowest not what it is to give vnto the poore and to comfort the afflicted art thou not amazed and confounded in thy selfe to consider and behold that Christ died for those with whose poverty and misery thou art so little or rather nothing at all moved or touched Thou also who contemnest thy neighbour as thy inferiour and vnworthy of thy company behold how our Saviour Christ placeth him at the same table with thee and nourisheth him with the same meat and gives him his owne Cup as to thy selfe and thou who livest in contention and division with thy neighbours behold how Christ in this Sacrament cals thee to the Communion of one and the same body and will that wee who are many be one onely bread and one onely body partaking of the same bread as the Apostle speakes to the Corinthians 1. Corint 10.3 The fourth Act and duety which must bee ingendered and propagated in our hearts by the meditation of this blessed Sacrament is patience and consolation in afflictions Dost thou see Gods Church persecuted It is the Body of Iesus Christ which is againe broken and his blood which is shed that which was the condition of this body on the Crosse and which is presented to thee in this Sacrament the same is the condition of the mysticall body on earth What my brethren doe wee so often see Christs body broken by the Sacrament to bee afterwards so strangly affrighted and astonished to see the Church which is the body of Christ to suffer the like measure and fortune here on earth Let vs therefore learne by this Sacrament That Iesus Christ crucified is our ensigne here on earth and that wee thereby know that we are asommoned and called to his Crosse and that wee are indeed his true body and members if wee suffer with him to the end that we may likewise be glorified with him Say then all yee who see this Sacrament Heb. 13.13 Let vs goe forth therefore to him out of the Campe bearing his reproach Col. 1.24 Let vs accomplish and beare the sufferings of Christ in our flesh for his bodies sake which is his Church yea let vs every where 2. Corint 4.10 beare about in our bodies the death of Iesus Christ and that the life of our Lord Christ may bee manifested in our mortall bodies and all in general let vs comfort our selues in our afflictions and present and figure this beleife to our hearts and minds that they come not from God who punisheth our sinnes in his wrath and indignation sith this Sacrament testifieth that those punishments and revenges have alighted and fallen on Iesus Christ himself when his body was broken and his blood shed and spilt on the Crosse but they proceed simply from God chasticing correcting approving and teaching vs as a Father 1 Cor. 11.32 that wee bee not condemned with the world Hebr. 12.10 that here below being made Partakers of his holynesse wee may hereafter in heaven bee made Partakers of his felicity and glory The fifth Function which the blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper should produce in vs is our hope of heavenly felicitie according as Christ Iesus himselfe said to his disciples at the celebration of this Sacrament Mat. 26.29 I will drinke no more of the fruit of the vine vntill that day that I shall drinke it new with you in my Fathers Kingdome by which words Iesus Christ will now raise and elevate our hearts from the feast which he makes vs here below in his favour to that which he will hereafter make vs above in his glory and whereof he feast or banquet which he makes vs here
the Crosse and for the free reconciliation and full satisfaction and redemption of our sinnes And having thus filled our hearts with sacred Ioy and replenished our soules with spirituall and heavenly gladnesse by receining of this most blessed Sacrament we must then have an infinite watchfull eye over our hearts and place a most strong and religious guard over our soules that wee doe not hencefoorth once presume to hearken to sin or so much as give way or dare to consent to looke or listen after the treacherous lures and temptations of the world the flesh or the devill and so to fall backe into a spirituall relapse of sinne which is ten thousand times worse and infinitly more dangerous and pernitious then that of any Corporall disease whatsoever For it is a wofull yea a wretched misery which leaues vs no hope of better fortunes nor place for worse 2 Pet. 2.22 If with the Dogge wee returne to our owne vomit and with the Sow that wee againe wallow in the filthie mire of our former beastly sinnes and transgressions For then our end will bee farre worse then our beginning Hos 4.7 Then God will change our glory into shame And then wee shall make our selues guilty of the body and blood of Christ which without his all saving grace and mercy is the high way to endlesse perdition and the true way to eternall damnation No No farre be such vngodly and rebellious thoughts from our hearts and such vnspirituall treason against God from our soules And let vs who are the seed of Abraham by nature and the Sonnes of God by Grace Hos 10.12 still breake vp the fallow ground of our hearts with a holy repentance and sorrow for our sinnes and with a constant and inuiolable resolution never to sinne more and as therefore we have received Christ Jesus by faith Collos 2.6 So let vs walke in him Thes 1.11 and walke worthy of him who now calles vs to his Kingdome of glory and which is more who in a spirituall Contract Hos 2.19 hath vnited and maried vs to himselfe in righteousnesse In which regard and consideration because wee are so highly beloued of God and so infinitly honored with the name of Christians wherein wee ought more to insult and triumph then in all things else which are vnder Christ Let vs I say forsake the stincking garlicke and vnions of Egypt I meane our old beastly sinnes and transgressions and for ever hencefoorth smell to the sweet Roses and Lilies of Heaven the delectable love and promises of our Saviour Christ Iesus vnto vs which are so sweetly watred with his pretious blood and so odoriferously perfumed not with fragarant odors or costly spices of Arabia but with the rich myrrh of Gods sacred mercy and with the sweet and pretious frankincense of his divine fauour and loving countenande towards vs. Psal 134.2 Let vs I say lift vp our hands to his holy Sanctuary prayse the Lord Ier. 31.3 for that he loves vs with an everlasting love and that by the blessed death and passion of his Sonne Christ Psal 68.20 hee is become our God and the God that saveth vs The which If we religiously constantly performe Ier. 31.12 Then our soules shall bee as a watred Garden and wee shall know no more sorrow Then wee shall be as the Hos 14.6 Dew vnto Israel and God will make vs grow as Lilies will fasten our roots as the trees of Lebanon Then 2 Cor. 3.18 wee shall see God face to face in his Kingdome of glory and there both live and raigne with him eternally 1 Tim 4.8 And then hee will crowne vs with a Crowne of righteousnesse which hee hath reserued and layd vp for his elect Children and Seruants Of which blessed number I beseech thee O God who art our Creator and Reedeemer for thy promise sake for thy Sions sake and for thy Sonne Christ Iesus his sake to make vs Amen Thy Christian Friend IOHN REYNOLDS THE DIVINE POVRTRAIT OR A TRVE AND liuely Representation of the blessed Sacrament of the LORDS SVPPER With our due Preparation how to receiue it worthily Vpon these words of our Saviour This is my Bodie c. THe Sacrament of the * Eucharist Lords Supper because of its excellencie hath bin and is worthily tearmed a Mysterie for this Sacrament collecteth and gathereth together all that the new Testament hath of most admirable and most excellent and discovereth vnto vs the Treasures of Wisedome and Intelligence which are hidden in Iesus Christ And truely that which men and Angels themselues have most to admire in this new Testament are especially two things The one is the meanes whereby Saluation hath beene purchased and procured to poore sinners The other the meanes wherby this Saluation being first merited procured and given to them by Iesus Christ is afterwards applyed and administred to them In the first is seene the height and depth the length and bredth of Gods mercy in sending here below on Earth his onely Sonne in the forme of sinfull flesh and for exposing him to the shamefull death of the Crosse for sinfull Creatures and conioyntly therewith is likewise seene the infinit vertue of Christs blood to redeeme and expiate the sinnes of the world and to obtaine eternall life and glory for those who were dangerously ingulphed and almost lost in the death and misery thereof In the second is remarked and seene that by the means of faith repentance wretched sinners are so vnited to the Sonne of God as if they were composed of that body whereof hee is the head and they the members and by this Communion are made Partakers of all the graces and benefits which Iesus Christ hath deserued and purchased for them Now this blessed Sacrament of the Lords holy Supper which is as visible as his Sacred written Gospell and Divine Testament produceth and exposeth to vs thâ—se two efficable points and considerations One way the bread broken and wine filled out presenteth to our eyes the first To wit the body of Iesus Christ broken and his blood shed and spilt on the Crosse for the remission of mens sinnes And on the other part mans action in taking and eating this bread and drinking this wine denoteth and sheweth vs the interiour action of the soule who being hungry and thirsty hath iustly her recourse to this body and blood offered vp to God on the Crosse and there findes her peace and societie vniting her selfe by faith vnto Iesus Christ the Head spring and fountaine of righteousnesse and life Wherefore one way to contemplate the wonders of God towards vs and the other our duties towards him that hereby wee may partake worthily of this blessed Sacrament It is needlesse for vs to extend the eyes of our vnderstandings any farther then to this very same Sacrament which in it selfe will furnish vs with all things needfull and requisite for the pertinent disposition of
prayer which done they rendered thankes to God for that he had brought and established them in a Countrey which abounded with all prosperity and plenty of Bread and Wine in Comparison of the misery and dearth wherin their Fathers had lived in Egypt As in very deed all beleeued and held That the vnleauened Bread which God had appointed and instituted for Easter was a true simbole and figure of the bread of misery and affliction which the Israelites had eaten during their captivitie in Egypt Now Christ Iesus who would not permit or suffer that Iewish Ceremonies should any longer remaine in the Christian Churches insteed of the Passeouer or Feast of Easter placed and instituted his blessed Supper as hee had formerly appointed and introduced Baptisme insteed of Circumcision leaving in all Christian Churches none but these two figures and Sacraments in place and steed of all that great multitude which were formerly vnder the old Law And according as the seruice of the new Testament was spirituall It was also conuenient and fitting those few Ceremonies which Christ instituted were likewise simple and easie as depending and having relation to the Nature and Condition of the Evangelical Law and seruice which is wholly spirituall and heavenly whereunto these Ceremonies were tyed and conioyned In which regard Iesus Christ in his Supper tooke no figure of any formerly prepared meat procured with cost or care or which could not be hourly provided and had as was the Paschall Lambe but tooke simplie Bread and Wine as in the same sort and manner that in the Sacrament of Baptisme insteed of the painefull and grievous Circumcision hee instituted the easie and simple aspersion of water Now for that Iesus Christ hath substituted his blessed Supper insteed of the feast of Easter It followes of necessitie that there must bee some resemblance and conformitie of the Lords Supper to the Feast of Easter and of the actions of Christians in receiving the same to the actions of the Iewes in eating of their Paschall Lambe But as this great Feast and Passeover of the Iewes was a Sacrament and religious mysterie so notwithstanding it was yet more to feed the mind then the body wherefore wee must obserue and remember that besides yea above the eating of the mouth there was the eating of the mind which was a holy and religious meditation whereby their soules should be refreshed and comforted according to the quality and Condition of the Churches of their time That which they did eat with their Corporall mouthes was a Lambe some bitter hearbes and vnleavened bread And that which their minds and heart ought to meditate on was the grace and favour which God had bestowed on them in delivering them from the miserable seruitude and slavery wherin their Fore-fathers had lived in Egypt and for bringing them to enioy the fruits and fatnesse of the Land of Canaan So that at the same time which their bodyes did eate their soules likewise had their spiritall meate and food and tasted how good and gratious God was to them by giving them their deliverance In the same manner Iesus Christ instituting his Blessed Supper at Easter proposed to Christians a double forme of eating the one of the mouth which was that of Bread and the other of the Soule which was the meditation of the great goodnesse and mercy of God whereby Iesus Christ having beene crucified to death for vs hath victoriously and gloriously delivered vs from all our miseries Now let vs here remark obserue the excellēt sympathy conformitie wherevnto the Israelites were called at their Passeover or Feast of Easter to the meditation wherin our Saviour Christ called Christians in his blessed Supper to relish the goodnesse of God The Iewes in their Passeover considered that by the blood of a Lambe their Forefathers were delivered from the destroying and persecuting Sword of the Angell the slayen and immolated Lambe being the Ransome of the first borne And in the fraction or breaking and eating of the Bread of the Eucharist wee Christians doe consider That the body and blood of Iesus Christ as of an immaculate Lambe without spot or blemish hath beene offered vp to God in Sacrifice and that by this Ransome wee are delivered delivered from the destroying Sword of the Angell to wit from all the power and malice of Sathan As the Apostle tels the Corinthians 1 Cor. 5.7 that Christ our Paschall Lambe hath beene sacrificed vp for vs. As then the Iewes considering the Lambe meditated and celebrated the goodnesse of God for giving deliverance to their Forefathers by the Ransome of a Lambe So wee Christians should feast our minds and refresh our hearts with the meditation of Gods singular goodnesse towards vs which is infinitly greater and more admirable in that hee hath delivered vp his owne yea his onely Sonne to death for the Ransome of wee poore and wretched Sinners wherein appeares a dilection and loue which surpasseth all vnderstanding and wherein faithfull Seruants of the Lord you may apparantly see the excellency of your aduantage and benefits above those of the ancient Testament That which they meditated in their Passeover was a temporall deliverance That which you meditate in the Lords Supper is a deliverance both spirituall and eternall That which they considered for a Ransome and deliverance from the Angels Sword of persecution and pestilence was a simple terrestriall and carnall Lambe But that which you meditate on for your Ransome in this sacred Supper is the proper body of Gods onely Sonne crucified and slayen for your Sinnes The Ioy and refreshing which the Israelites conceived in their hearts and minds by their meditation was their delight and contentment to have beene delivered from Pharoah and to bee brought into the promised Land of Canaan But what is this in Comparison of the Ioy and refreshing which our soules conceiue to see and contemplate the vnspeakable goodnesse of God whereby you are delivered from eternall death and conducted and brought into a spirituall and heavenly Canaan O therefore if those of the Church of Rome would consider how great how excellent how inexpressable this feeding and refreshing of our soules is by this meditation They would not then say that wee returne empty from this blessed Sacrament It is then the Church of Christ which hath the true eating and true refreshing and sacietie thereof and there onely it is where true peace and felicity is to be found And therfore it is that the word of God teacheth vs concerning the ancient Israelites That what content soever they receiued by their Passeover there yet remayned in their memories a degree of slavery and seruitude Rom. 1.15 whereof they were still afraid and the Reason of it was that the curse of the Law still echoed and resounded aloud in their eares and that the promises of remission and pardon for their sinnes were still concealed and obscured from them and the death of Christ crucified for the
but also to expose himselfe to death in this forme and shape of a Seruant yea to the shamefull death of the Crosse which is the very meditation of the Apostle to the Philippians Philip. 2.6,7,8 Iesus Christ being in the forme of God thought it no robberie to make himselfe equall to God But he made himselfe of no Reputation and tooke on him the forme of a Seruant and was made like vnto man and found in the shape of a man who humbled himselfe and became came obedient to death yea to the death of the Crosse And the same Apostle ravished in this meditation saith in another place Rom. 8.32 Who spared not his owne Sonne for vs but gaue him for vs all to death Hee saith not simply that he hath given him but that he hath not spared him as if he should have said hee made no difficulty to expose him for vs to extreame paine and torments A degree of Charity which the Angels themselues cannot sufficiently comprehēd and therefore the Apostle postle requireth in vs the Spirit of wisedome and revelation to wit that the eyes of our vnderstanding bee so illuminated Ephes 3.13 that wee may know what is the length breadth height and depth of this love of God towards vs. In a word vpon this obiect let vs briefly collect and consider against our adversaries of the Church of Rome That in this holy Supper and Communion the body of Iesus Christ is not simply proposed as vnderstanding it to bee a body nor the blood as taking it for blood but the body as vnderstanding it to be broken and the blood as taking it to bee spilt Because in that consisteth all the merit of our salvation and all the cause of our life From whence it followes That the action wherewith wee receiue the body and blood of Christ cannot choose but bee spirituall to wit an action of the soule and no way of the body because the bodie cannot bee taken as vnderstood broken nor the blood as meant shed except by Faith For those forepast and betided things on the crosse that is to say the breaking of the body and the effusion of blood cannot bee giuen or presented to the soule but by the meditation of Faith The third obiect of our Meditation is the fruit and benefit of this obligation which were received by Christs body and blood in these words Broken for you Shed for many for the remission of sinnes And heere two considerations againe present them to vs I. Of the persons for whome Iesus Christ is offered II. The profit and benefit which it brings them Of the persons vnderstanding that he offereth himselfe for wretched and sinfull creatures who in regard of his excellent being are nothing but dust and ashes and as it were formed but yesterday but which is more for creatures infected with sinne guilty of rebellion against him and professed enemies of his divine maiestie both in their thoughts and wicked workes and actions which the consideration of the Apostle to the Colossians thus expresseth Col. 1.21 You which in times past were strangers and enemies because your minds were set in evill workes he now also hath reconciled in that body of his flesh to make you holy and vnblameable and without fault in his sight And also writing to the Romans saith Rom. 5.6,7,8 For Christ when we were yet of no strength at his time dyed for the vngodly adding againe farther doutblesse one will scarse die for a righteous man but yet for a good man but God setteth out his love to vs seeing that whiles we were yet Sinners Christ died for The other consideration proceeds from the profit and benefit which it brings vs and Iesus Christ defines it whē he saith that it is for the remission of sins And this is the profit and benefit which to expresse the Prophets aleage that our sinnes have beene throwen into the bottome of the Sea and that God remembreth them no more and that as farre distant as the East is from the West so farre from him the Lord hath cast away our sinnes and the figures vnder the Law to wit that of the Goat Hazazel teaching that our sinnes have beene caried into a desert and vnhabitable Countrey never to returne more in Gods sight and Presence Which beleeving wee see all evils as they are paines and torments to have lost their being in the faithfull righteous man yea and that death it selfe is swollen vp in victory and the Law with his curses which were as a contrary obligation is quite rased out defaced by the blood of the Sonne of God cleare abolished cancelled and fastened to his Crosse as the Apostle teacheth to the Colosians Col. 2.14 Likewise Sathan who performed nothing but as the Executioner of Gods iustice against Sinners by this alone death found all his power to be vanquished and overthrowen as the Apostle sheweth vs in the same Chapter of the same Epistle to the Colossians in these words Col. 2.15 Christ hath spoyled the Principalities and Powers and hath made a shew of them openly and hath triumphed over them on the Crosse But besides that our enemies and afflictions are taken away and defaced by this oblation of Iesus Christ so likewise all sorts of profits and benefits are put in place thereof as many promses as there are they are so many Yeas and Amens in Christ Iesus life is given which is a new spirituall and divine life by regeneration and the new heavenly Sanctuary is opened vnto vs Heb. 10.19 for there wee have leave and liberty to enter by the blood of Christ and therefore it is that the earthly vaile of the Templerent in peeces at his death The Kingdome of God is given vnto vs and wee are made children and heires to possesse and enioy all the goods and treasures of God as the Apostle saith Gal. 4.6,7 That Iesus Christ having beene made subiect vnder the Law hath redeemed vs from the Law to the end that wee should receive the adoption of children and that if wee are children wee are also heires of God by Christ Iohn 17.11 yea God himselfe is given to vs in his Sonne to the end that wee be in him and he in vs 1. Cor. 1. and likewise that one day he be all things in all III. Poynt or generall Head These are the Meditations which the words of Iesus Christ in his Supper requireth of vs And now come wee to see the acts functions which these Meditations ought to produce in our hearts the which likewise result and descend from these words of Iesus Christ These actes and functions are fiue to wit I. The feeling of our misery and a godly sorrow for having sinned II. The beliefe and assurance of the remission of our sinnes III. The sanctification of the soule and particularly of Loue and Charitie towards our neighbour IIII. Our consolation and patience in afflictions V. Our hope of heavenly felicitie
is my Blood which is shed for you This Meditation hath three Points and Obiects I. The body and blood of Iesus Christ in these words My Body My Blood II. The Oblation of this Body and of this Blood in these words Which is broken which is shed III. The Fruit of this oblation intimated in these words Broken For You Shed For Many for the remission of Sinnes In the first of these when you heare Iesus Christ proposing his body and his blood the meditation then required of you is That it being so that we have so expos'd our selues to the wrath and so incurred the indignation and revenge of God by reason of our sinnes and transgressions that the Iustice of God must bee satisfied consequently that either wee must beare Gods wrath and malediction and so for ever stoop and faint vnder the heavie burthen thereof or else that some other thing must bee substituted in our steed and place to satisfie the Iustice of God But nothing could bee found out in the whole world to bee appointed in the place of man and worthily to satisfie for his sinnes From the beginning of the world beasts have beene offered and these Sacrifices of beasts by the sense and feeling which our conscience hath ever given to men of a sufficient valable satisfactiō for sin have been practised in all the whole world In the old Law a man came and put his hands on the head of the beast which was to bee sacrificed as putting her in his place and roome with an intent and hope to discharge and transferre his sinnes on her but contrariwise natural reason sheweth that that could no way appease or satisfie God For Gods Iustice being of it selfe most perfect can no way content it selfe with a payment or satisfaction so vnequall and imperfect to the Debt because all the beasts of the Earth placed and numbred vp together are not equivalent or to bee compared in valew to one man Heer then O here is the Sacrifice or Victime after which without knowing it all the world sighed and respired in offering these Sacrifices and this is the Sacrifice which all others ought to reverence and looke on When therefore you heare Iesus Christ saying This is my Body you must figure and represent him to you as proffering and offering vp to God his Father these admirable words and speeches recited by the Apostle to the Hebrewes Hebr. 10. Thou wilt have no Sacrifice or offering but thou hast given and appropriated mee a body Thou hast taken no delight in Sacrifices And then I haue said heer I am I come And in the beginning of the Booke it is written of mee that I doe thy will O God So heer Christ Iesus comming to present himself in the place and steed of all these Sacrifices which had beene offered vp vnder the Law and which were daily reiterated continued because as the same Apostle said in the same Chapter Ibid. v. 4. That it was impossible that the blood of Buls and Goats should take and wash away Sinnes And therefore my beloved brethren obserue heer the readinesse and favour which the providence of God makes and provides for you of a most conuenient and requisite Victime and Oblation When Isaac was to bee sacrificed there was a Ramme found tyed by the Hornes to a bush to bee sacrificed for him But here O Sinners behold in these words This is my body that great Sacrifice and Oblation which the wonders of Gods divine providence haue addressed and sent you and reioice that heer is the true Sacrifice or Victime which comes to assist and defend you from Gods heauy wrath and Indignation But Iesus Christ as being simply God could not present himselfe in a Sacrifice for men for there wanted a humane Sacrifice because Sinne had beene committed and perpetrated by man wherefore our Saviour Christ tels you This is my body Hee saith not This I am but This is my body therby purposely to conduct and lead you to the mysterie of his Incarnation whereby he is descended from Heaven hath taken and assumed a carnall body and is made man for vs so that conioyntly with these words you at one time see your great Sacrifice taken from Earth and yet descended from heaven Taken from Earth for it is a body descended from Heaven for it is My Body said our Saviour Iesus Christ that is to say of mee true God with the Father Heer therefore is the wonder which you ought to meditate on That nothing being found in all the world no nor in the infinit multitude and infinitie of all Gods Creatures which could be capable to bee our ransome towards God Then loe Iesus Christ himselfe the only Sonne of God descended so low as he made himselfe man and a creature to the end that hee might bee offered vp a Sacrifice for vs Hee whose Essence was wholly simple and spirituall assumed a body and being materiall and carnall Hee who was inuisible to our eyes hath made himselfe conspicuous and visible to vs permitted and suffered himselfe to be beaten tyed and nayled to a Crosse yea to bee runne thorow with a Speare and in a word capable to be sacrificed And heer you may know and find why Iesus Christ holding the Bread said not This is my Divinity but This is my Body That is to say because not his Divine but onely his Humane nature could bee offered vp in Sacrifice The Divinity is well considered but still as offering not as offered according as the Apostle said to the Hebrewes Heb. 9.14 That Iesus Christ offered himselfe vp to God by the eternall Spirit By which means It is not the eternall Spirit which hath beene offered For that which was offered was to die But the body hath been offered by the eternall Spirit And here ariseth vnto vs another wonder to wit that although Christs humane nature be offered neverthelesse it is of as great a price and value as if his Divinity it selfe could have beene offered and the reason hereof is because this his humane nature composed not but one and the same person with the divine nature For this body which was crucified was personally vnited to the eternall Spirit and this miracle or wonder is given you for your meditation in that Iesus Christ holding the bread said not indefinitly This is my Body which is broken for you but This is my Body as if hee said This is a humane Body and yet mine to the end wee might know that this vivifying or quickning flesh that is to say to bee a worthy Ransome for the life of the world Sith it is the flesh of a man who is both God and man In the Leviticall Law Moses sprinkling of blood when God contracted Alliance with the Israelites said This is the blood of the Testament which God hath ordained for you But this blood was the blood of Beasts Now heer in the Sacrament of his Supper is proposed and presented to you