Selected quad for the lemma: blood_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
blood_n	eat_v	flesh_n	soul_n	6,923	5	5.6839	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A14923	The soules progresse to the celestiall Canaan, or heavenly Jerusalem By way of godly meditation, and holy contemplation: accompanied with divers learned exhortations, and pithy perswasions, tending to Christianity and humanity. Divided into two parts. The first part treateth of the divine essence, quality and nature of God, and his holy attributs: and of the creation, fall, state, death, and misery of an unregenerated man, both in this life and in the world to come: put for the whole scope of the Old Testament. The second part is put for the summe and compendium of the Gospell, and treateth of the Incarnation, Nativity, words, works, and sufferings of Christ, and of the happinesse and blessednesse of a godly man in his state of renovation, being reconciled to God in Christ. Collected out of the Scriptures, and out of the writings of the ancient fathers of the primitive Church, and other orthodoxall divines: by John Welles, of Beccles in the County of Suffolk.	Welles, John, of Beccles.	1639 (1639)	STC 25231; ESTC S119607	276,075	406

Christ was as verily separated from his body upon the Crosse for the remission of thy sinnes and that this is a seale of the new covenant which God hath made to forgive the sinnes of all penitent sinners that faithfully believe in the merits of his bloud-shedding Iohn 6.54 He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood saith our Saviour Christ shall live forever Exceeding great was the bounty and goodnesse of our Saviour in that hee did not onely assume our flesh and exalt it to the Throne of celestiall glory The saving participation of the body and blood of Christ Vers 56. but also feedeth us with his body and blood unto eternall life Oh the saving delicates of the soule Oh the Heavenly and Angelicall food to bee desired above all the delicates upon earth for He that eateth the flesh and drinketh the blood of Christ dwelleth in Christ and Christ in him This is meate indeed when wee eate it wee are changed not into the nature of our body but into the nature of it wee are the members of Christ By it we are sanct●fied and are united by his Spirit and fed with his body and blood This is the bread which came downe from Heaven and giveth life unto the world hee that eateth thereof shall never hunger this is the bread of grace Psal 34.10 Iohn 6.58 this is the bread of Life whosoever shall eate thereof shall live for ever neither is it onely heavenly but thou that eatest thereof art heavenly that is they that eate it savingly in the Spirit shall become heavenly This is the true Fountaine of life be that shall drinke of this water Iohn 4.14 shall never thirst but it shall become in him a fountaine of water springing up unto eternall life Esay 55.1 2 3 All yee tha● thirst come unto these waters and yee that have no silver make haste come buy without money let them that thirst come and come thou soule th●t ●rt vexed with the raging heate of sinne and if thou wantest the silver of thy merits make haste the rather if thou hast no merits of thine owne make haste the more ardently to the merits of Christ Vers 1. Make haste therefore and buy without money or money-worth here is Christ the habitation of the soule from which let not thy sinnes deterre thee and into which let not thy merits enter for what can be our merits our labours doe not ●●tiate neither is the grace of God bought with the silver of our merits Therefore heare O ye devout soules and eate that which is good and thou shalt be delighted with fatnesse John 6.63 These words are spirit and truth and the word of eternall life the cup of benediction 1 Cor. 10.16 is the communion of the blood of Christ 1 Cor. 6.17 and the bread which we breake is the participation of the Lords body wee cleave unto the Lord therefore we are one Spirit with him For wee are united unto him not onely by the communion of nature but also by the participation of his body and blood John 6. ● let us not therefore with the Jewes say How can this man give us his flesh to eate let us not pry into his power but let us admire his benevolence let us not examine his Majesty but reverence his goodnesse the manner of his presence I know not but his presence I believe and am certainely perswaded that it is inward and neere unto us for we are members of his body Eph. 5.30 John 6.56 flesh of his flesh and bone of his bones he dwelleth in us and wee in him My soule desireth to dive by cogitation into the secrets of this most profound abysse but cannot finde with what words to set forth and declare that infinite goodnesse and therefore am altogether amazed at the sight of the greatnesse of the grace of the Lord and the glory of his Majesty In this Supper of the Lord there is set before us a mystery to be trembled at and by all meanes to be adored of us there is the treasury and treasure of divine grace Gen. 2. ● We know in Paradise there was a tree of Life planted by God whose fruit might have conserved our first parents and their posterity by the fertility and felicity thereof There was also placed in Paradise a Tree of knowledge of good and evill but even that which was appointed by God for their life and salvation and for to exercise their obedience became unto them an occasion of death and condemnation Ezech. 47.12 while they obeyed their owne desires and the divels allurements Here is also prepared a Tree of Life whose wood is sweete whose leaves are for medicine and whose fruit for meate Revel 22.1 2. the sweetnesse thereof doth take away the bitternesse of all evill yea of death it selfe Unto the Israelites was given Manna that they might be fed with heavenly food here is that ●r●e manna of our soules which came downe from Heaven to give life unto the world Iohn 6.51 this is the heavenly bread and Angelicall meate of which whosoever eateth shall never hunger Col. 2.3 5. here is the true Arke of the Covenant that is the most sacred body of Christ wherein the treasures of all science knowledge and wisedome are layd up in store for all penitent soules that faithfully believe in his merits here is the true Mercie-seat in the bloud of Christ Rom. 3.25 which makes us happy and beloved in the most deare and beloved Christ Gen. 28.15 17 12. here is the gate of heaven indeed here is the Angell sladder Can heaven be greater than God can heaven be more united unto God than the flesh of humane nature which he hath assumed unto himselfe Heaven indeed is the throne of God but in the humane nature assumed by Christ resteth the holy Spirit Esay 11.2 God is in heaven but in Christ dwelleth the fulnesse of divinity Col. 2.9 Certainly this is a great and infallible pledge of our salvation by assuming our humane nature into the fellowship of the most holy and blessed Trinity in which all heavenly good is layd up in store for us how can hee forget those unto whom hee hath given the pledge of his owne body We are deere unto Christ how then can Satan be able to overcome us because Christ bought us at so deare a price we are deare unto Christ because he feeds us with his most deere and precious body and blood wee are deere unto Christ because wee are flesh of his flesh Ephes 5.2 3. and members of his body this is the only soveraine and precious Balmesome of all spirituall diseases this is the onely soveraigne medicine of immortality for what sin so great that Gods sacred flesh cannot expiate What sin so great that the quickning flesh of Christ cannot heale What sin so mortall that is not taken away by the death of the Sonne of

they say a mortall body that cannot profit them for mortall foode is but for mortall life neither now hath Christ a mortall body to communicate to them because it is changed to an immortall body therefore they cannot receive his mortall body And if they say that they receive his glorified body they must fly from this text for at that time Christ had not a glorified body if they received then the same body which the Apostles received as they say they doe they cannot receive a glorified body because then Christs body was not glorified therefore they could not communicate with his glorified body Thus are they hedged in with rocks and the sands on every side of them they received a body neither mortall nor immortall it seemes it was a phantastical body if Christ had such a body let all men judge here they are at a stand Dan. 4.5 like one that cannot tell on his tale Nebuchadnezzar dreamed a dream and knew not what it meant and so doe they How absurd and heretically doe these Papists hold in their opinions and this surpasseth them all that Christ must bee applyed like Physicke as though his blood cannot profit us unlesse we drinke it swallow it like a potion is this the Papists union with Christ is this the manner whereby we are made one flesh with Christ Iohn 1. to eate his flesh and drinke his blood nay when he tooke our flesh unto him and was made man then we were united unto him in the flesh and not by receiving his body Christ tooke our flesh and nature we tooke not his but believe that he tooke ours now if you would know whether Christs body be in the Sacrament it is said unto you as Christ said unto Thomas touch feele and see in visible things God hath appointed our eyes to be judges For as by the Spirit wee discerne the spirituall objects so our sence discerneth sensible objects as Christ taught Thomas to judge of his body so may we and so should they if they were not as it were hood-winked through errour and mis-beliefe Christs saying to Thomas was that hee would have him believe it to be his body Iohn 20.27 for my body saith Christ may bee seene and felt and thus transubstantiation is found a lyar It is shewed before that every Sacrament is called by the name of the thing which it doth signifie and present The reason why the signes have the name of the things which they represent and signifie is to strike a deeper reverence in us Note to receive this Sacrament of Christ reverently sincerely and holily as if Christ himselfe were there present in body blood This is the reason why Christ calleth the signes of his body his body to cause us to take this Sacrament with feare and reverence because wee are apt to contemne it as the Jewes did their Manna Num. 12.6 The worthinesse of the Sacrament is to be considered three waies First by the Majesty of the Authour ordaining it ●●condly by the preciousnesse of the persons whereof it consisteth Thirdly by the excellency of the ends for which it was ordained The Lords Supper is a pledge and a symbole of the most neere and effectuall communion which Christians have with Christ The cup of blessing which we blesse Cor. 10.16 17. is it not the communion of the blood of Christ The bread of Christ which we breake is it not the communion of the body of Christ That is dwelling in our hearts abiding in us that is a most effectuall signe and pledge of our communion with Christ and hath divers similies set forth in holy Scriptures First of the Vine and Branches Secondly of the Head and Body Thirdly Joh. 15.5 of the Foundation and the Building Fourthly of one Loafe confected of many graines Fifthly Colos 1.18 of the Matrimoniall communion betwixt man and wife and is three-fold betwixt Christ and Christians the first is naturall betwixt our humane nature and the divine nature of Christ in the person of the Word the second is mysticall Eph. 5.31 32. betwixt our person absent from the Lord and the person of Christ God and man into one mysticall body the third is celestiall betwixt our persons present with the Lord and the person of Christ in his body glorified these three conjunctions depend each upon other The mysticall communion chiefly here meant is wrought betwixt Christ and us by the Spirit of Christ apprehending us and by our faith stirred up by the same Spirit Note apprehending Christ againe this union hee shall best understand in his mind Every one receiveth but few understand what they receive who doth most feele it in his heart but of all other times this union is best felt and most confirmed when wee doe duely receive the Lords Supper for then wee shall sensibly feele our hearts knit unto Christ and the desire of our soules drawne by faith and the holy Ghost as by the cords of love neerer and neerer to his holinesse This union betwixt the faithfull is so ample that no distance of place can part it so strong that death cannot dissolve it so durable that time cannot weare it out so effectuall that it breeds a fervent love betweene those that never saw one anothers faces and this conjunction of soules is termed the communion of Saints 1 Cor. 12 12 13. 27. which Christ effecteth by six especiall meanes First by governing them all by one and the same holy Spirit Secondly the enduing them all with one and the same faith Ephes 4.4 5. Thirdly by shedding abroad his owne love into all and every one of their hearts Rom. 5 5. Tit. 3.5 Fourthly by regenerating them all by one and the same baptisme Fifthly by nourishing them all with one and the same spirituall food 1 Cor. 10.17 Colos 1.18.22 Note Acts 4.32 Sixthly by being one quickning head of that one body of his Church which hee reconciled to God his Father in the body of his flesh Hence it is that the multitude of believers in the primitive Church were of one heart and of one soule in truth affection and compassion and this doth teach all Christians to love one another seeing they are all members of the same holy and mysticall body Ephes 4.3 whereof Christ is the head and therefore they should have all a Christian sympathy and fellow-feeling to rejoyce one in anothers joy to condole one anothers griefe to beare one with anothers infirmities Ephes 4.2 and mutually to relieve one anothers wants to this end hee bestoweth upon them all saving graces necessary to eternall life as the sense of Gods love the assurance of our election with Regeneration 2 Cor. 3.18 Justification and grace to doe good workes to feede soules Iohn 15.5 therefore of the poore and faithfull is the assured hope of life eternall For as it is said this sacrament is a signe and a sure pledge

unto as many as shall receive the same according to Christs institution Joh. 1.16 that hee will according to his promise by the vertue of his crucified body and blood as verily feed our soules to eternall life as our bodies are by bread and wine nourished to this temporall life and to this end Christ in the action of the Sacrament really giveth his body and blood to every faithfull receiver 1 Cor. 11.24 2.5 Christ is verily present in the Sacrament by a double union whereof the first is spirituall twixt Christ and the worthy receiver the second is sacramentall twixt the body and blood of Christ and the outward signes in the sacrament if you looke to the things that are united this union is essentiall if to the truth of this union it is reall if to the manner how it is wrought it is spirituall it is not our faith that makes the body and blood of Christ to be present in the Sacrament but the spirit of Christ dwelling in him and us Note our faith doth but receive and apply unto our soules those heavenly graces which are offered in the Sacrament the other being the sacramentall union is not a physicall or locall The Word and the Sacrament are the two briefly wherewith our Mother the Church doth nourish us but a spirituall conjunction of the earthly signes which are bread and wine with the heavenly grace which is the body and blood of Christ in the act of receiving as if by a mutuall relation they were but one and the same thing hence it is that in the same instant of time that the worthy receiver eateth with his mouth the bread and wine of the Lord hee eateth also with the mouth of faith the very body and blood of Christ not that Christ is brought downe from heaven to the Sacrament but that the holy Spirit by the Sacrament lifts up his minde unto Christ not by any locall mutation but by a devout affection so that in the holy contemplation of faith hee is at that present with Christ and Christ with him and thus believing and meditating how Christ his body was crucified and his pretious blood shed for the remission of his sins and the reconciliation of his soule unto God his soule is hereby more effectually fed in the assurance of eternall life than bread and wine can nourish his body to this temporall life There must be therefore of necessity in the Sacrament both the outward signes to be visibly seene with the eye of the body and the body and blood of Christ to be spiritually discerned with the eye of faith But the forme how the holy Ghost makes the body of Christ being absent from us in place to be present with us by union Ephes 5.32 Saint Paul termes a great mystery such as indeed our understanding cannot worthily comprehend The sacramentall bread and wine therefore are not bare signifying signes but such as therewith Christ doth indeed exhibit and give to every worthy receiver not onely his divine vertue and efficacy but also his very body and blood as verily as hee gave to his Disciples the holy Ghost by the signe of his sacred breath Joh. 20.22 or health to the diseased by the Word of his mouth Mar. 6.56 or touch of his hand or garment and the apprehension by faith is more forcible than the exquisite comprehension of sense or reason To conclude this point this holy Sacrament is that blessed bread which being eaten Luk. 24.30.31 opened the eyes of the Emmauites that they knew Christ 1 Cor. 12.13 this is that Lordly cup by which wee are made to drinke into one spirit this is that rocke flowing with hony 1 Sam. 14.27 that reviveth the fainting spirits of every true Jonathan that tasts it with the mouth of faith Judg. 7.13 this is that barly loafe which tumbling from above strikes downe the tents of the Midianits of infernall darknesse Eliahs angelicall Cake and water 1 King 1● 7 8. Psal 78.25 26. preserved him forty daies in Mount Horeb and Manna Angels food fed the Israelites forty yeeres in the wildernesse Exod. 16.15 Joh. 6.32 35.49.50 51.58 but this is that true bread of life and heavenly Manna which if wee shall duely eate will nourish our soules to eternall life and doth binde all Christians as it were by an oath of fidelity to serve the one onely true God Deut. 8.19 and to admit no other propitiatory sacrifice for sins but that one reall sacrifice which by his death Christ once offered up for all true believers Hebr. 9. and by which hee finished the sacrifices of the Law and effected eternall redemption and righteousnesse for all them that faithfully believe in him and so to remaine for ever a publike marke of profession to distinguish Christians from all sects and false Religions and seeing that in the Masse there is a strange christ adored not he that was born of the Virgin Mary but one that is made of a wa●er cake and that the offering up of this breaden God is thrust upon the Church as a propitiatory sacrifice for the quicke and the dead therefore all true Christians that have sufficient information and have means to escape invincible ignorance are to account the pretensed sacrifice of the masse Note as derogatory to the al-sufficient world saving merits of Christs death and passion for by receiving the Sacrament of the Lords Supper we all sweare that all reall sacrifices are ended by our Lords death and that his body blood crucified and shed for us is the perpetuall food and nourishment of our soule The bread of the Lord is given by the Minister but the bread which is the Lord is given by Christ himselfe Therefore when thou takest the bread at the Ministers hand to eate it then ronze up thy soule to apprehend Christ by a lively faith and to apply his merits to heale thy miseries Note and as thou eatest the bread imagine that thou seest Christ hanging upon the Crosse and by his unspeakeable torments fully satisfying Gods Justice for thy sinnes Iohn 19. and strive as verily to be partaker of the spirituall grace as of the Elementall signes for the truth is not absent from the signe Neither doth Christ deceive when he saith this is my body but hee giveth himselfe truely and indeed to every soule that spiritually receives him by faith For as ours is the same supper which Christ administred to his Disciples so is the same Christ verily present at his owne Supper not by any papall transubstantiation but by a Sacramentall participation whereby he doth truely feed the faithfull unto eternall life not by comming downe from heaven unto thee but by lifting thy heart unto Heaven The duty of the redeemer where hee sitteth at the right hand of God And when thou seest the wine brought unto thee apart from the bread then remember that the blood of

God What fiery darts of the divell can be so mortiferous that they cannot be quenched in the fountaine of divine grace What so great a staine of the conscience that his blood cannot purge Here is not felt the fire of Gods fury but the heat of his love here is the Sonne of righteousnesse Malac. 4.2 the present light of our soules our first Parents were brought into Paradise that most sweet and fragrant garden Gen. 2.8 the type of eternall beatitude behold the penitent conscience is here cleansed by the blood of the Sonne of God and by the body of Christ are nourished the members of Christ the head the faithfull soule is fed with divine and heavenly dainties the sacred flesh of God which the Angels adore in the unity of person which the Arch-angels reverence Psalm 18. at which the powers doe tremble and which the vertuous admire is the spirituall food of our soules Let the heavens rejoyce Psal 96.11 let the earth be glad but much more the faithfull soule upon whom such and so great benefits are bestowed Our most bountifull God Matth. 22.4 hath prepared a great feast hearts that be hungry must be brought unto it he that tasteth not thereof feeleth not the sweetnesse of this heavenly feast to believe in Christ is this heavenly feast but no man believeth Note unlesse he confesse his sins with contrition and repent him of the same Contrition is the spirituall hunger of the soule and faith is the spirituall feeding God gave Manna Exod. 16.4 the bread of Angels to the Israelites in the wildernesse In this feast of the new testament God giveth us the heavenly Manna that is his grace and forgivenesse of sins yea his Sonne Christ Jesus The Lord of the Angels is that spirituall bread which came downe from heaven to give light and life unto the world The desire is the food of the soule and the soule comes not to this mysticall feast unlesse it desires to come thereto Matth 25.8 Verse 10. and it cannot desire the heavenly sweetnesse if it be full of this worlds comforts at the comming of the Bridegroome the Virgins that had no oyle in their lampes staying too long were shut out so they whose hearts in this world are not filled with the oyle of the holy Spirit shall not be admitted by Christ to the participation of the joy of this holy feast but shall have the gate of indulgence the gate of mercy the gate of consolation the gate of hope Rom. 5.20 the gate of grace and the gate of good workes shut against them Our Saviour Christ hath yet another kinde of calling and happy is hee that heares and obey it Christ often knocks at the gates of our heart by holy desires Note devout sighes and pious cogitations and happy is hee that openeth unto him as soone therefore as thou feelest in thy heart any holy desire of the heavenly grace assure thy selfe that Christ knockes at thy heart make haste let him in lest hee passe by and presently shut the gate of his mercy against thee as soone as thou feelest in thy heart any sparke of holy motions or godly meditations perswade thy selfe that it is kindled by the heat of divine grace and love that is of the holy Spirit cherish and nourish it 1 Thes 5.19 that it may grow to be a fire of love in thee and take heed that thou quench not the Spirit 1 Cor. 3.17 and hinder the worke of the Lord our heart is the Temple of the Lord hee that destroyeth the Temple of the Lord shall feele his severe judgement and he destroyeth it whosoever refuseth to give place to the holy Spirit inwardly calling him by the Word In the old Testament the Prophets could heare the Lord speaking inwardly in them and so all the true godly doe feele those inward motions of the holy Spirit drawing them unto goodnesse Ephes 4.3 therefore all men must endeavour to keepe the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace A preparation to the receiving of the holy Communion of the Body and Blood of Iesus Christ THere is a hearing and a preparation before hearing there is a praying and there is a preparation before praying and there is a receiving and there is a preparation before receiving which if it be wanting the receiver receiveth uncomfortably the prayer prayeth vainly and the hearer heareth unfruitfully like those which doe eate before hunger or drinke before thirst this preparative before hearing praying and receiving for the health of our soules doth signifie the rules of physicke for preparatives are ministred alwaies before physicke Note and as the preparative which goes before maketh way to the physicke or else it would doe no good but hurt so unlesse examination goe before the Sacrament 1 Cor. 11.27 29. wee seale up the threatnings which are pronounced against us in stead of the promises which are made unto us for the Sacrament is a seale and sealeth good or evill as every other seale doth therefore all men ought carefully to examine themselves but they that are suspected of a crime doe not examine themselves but are examined of others lest they should be partiall in their owne cause but a faithfull Christian should examine himselfe of his crime Verse 31.32 Note and be his owne judge his owne accuser and his owne condemner for no man knowes the spirit of man but the spirit which is in man which will condemne him if he be guilty and tell him all that he hath done and with what minde he did it and what punishment he deserveth for the same this is the close sessions or private arraignement when Conscience sits in her chaire to examine accuse judge and condemne her selfe Eccles 18.19 because she will escape the just condemnation of God Thus have holy men kept their sessions at home and made their hearts the fore-man of the Jury and examine themselves Note as wee examine others The feare of the Lord stood at the doore of their soules to examine every thought before it went in and at the doore of their lips to examine every word before it went out so shouldest thou sit in judgement of thy selfe and call thy thoughts words and actions to give in evidence against thee whether thou be a Christian or an Infidell a sonne or a bastard a servant or a rebell a sincere believer or an hypocrite if upon examination thou find not faith nor feare nor love nor zeale in thy selfe let no man make thee believe thou art holy that thou art godly Note that thou art sanctified that thou art a Christian that thou art a believer because thou art worse then thou seemest to thy selfe to be therefore if my heart tell mee that I love God whom shall I believe before my selfe 1 Cor. 2.11 No man can search the heart of another man so Paul saith No man knoweth the spirit of any man

prevent him SEing the Divell is so apt and ready to assault and tempt the faithfull and the elect of God consider therefore thou devout soule in what danger thou art because the divell thine adversary is alwaies lying in wait for thee hee is an enemy for boldnesse most ready for strength most powerfull for subtilty most cunning for engines well stored in sight indefatigable into all shaps changeable he intiseth us into many sinnes and having inticed us hee accuseth us before Gods judgement seate 2 Cor. 2.11 2 Cor. 11.14 hee accuseth God to men and men to God and one man to another hee exactly considereth every ones inclination and then hee layes for them the snares of temptations for the devill when he assaulteth the soule of man first sets upon that part he findes softest and best affected for his purpose for him the easier to worke upon and if hee once be withstood and overcome hee doth not presently remove nor give over but comes againe to tempt with greater force that so hee may by tediousnesse and neglect overcome those whom by violence and force of temptations he could not overcome Against whom will he not be bold to use his subtill trickes when hee was so bold to set upon the Lord of Majesty himselfe with his craft and subtilty Math 4.2 3. when hee had fasted forty daies and forty nights what Christians will he spare when hee sought to winnow Christs Apostles like wheate He deceived Adam in his nature instructed whom then can hee not deceive in his nature corrupted he deceived Judas in the schoole of our Saviour Luke 22.31 and whom will hee not deceive in the world Gen. 3.4 5. the schoole of errours in all states the divels trecheries are to bee feared In prosperity hee lifts us up with pride in adversity he drives us downe to despaire if he sees a man delighted with frugality he intangleth him in the fetters of insatiable covetousnesse if hee sees a man of an heroicall spirit hee sets him on fire with flaming anger if he sees a man somewhat merrier then ordinary hee incites him to burne with lust those whom he sees to be zealous in religion he labours to entangle in vaine superstition those whom he sees exalted to dignities hee prickes them forward with the spurres of ambition when hee allureth man to sinne hee amplifieth Gods mercy and when hee hath cast him headlong into sinne then he shewes and amplifies Gods justice first hee will lead a man to presumption and afterwards he labours to bring him to desperation sometimes he assaults outwardly by persecutions sometimes hee assaults inwardly by fiery tentations sometimes he sets upon us openly and by force sometimes hee sets upon us secretly and by fraud in eating he sets before us gluttony in generating luxury in exercising sluggishnesse in conversing envie in governing covetous extortion in correcting rage in dignity pride he possesses the heart with evill cogitations in the mouth he puts false speakings in the other members wicked actions when wee are awake he moves us to evill workes when we are asleepe he moves us to filthy dreames so then at all times in every place and in every thing we must beware of the divels trecheries wee sleepe but hee watcheth wee are secure but he goes about like a roaring Lyon seeking whom he may devoure 1 Pet. 5.8 Consider therefore thou faithfull soule the trecheries of this most potent enemy and seeke the ayd of spirituall armes to defend thee from his subtilties let thy loynes be girt with the girdle of truth Eph. 6.14 and covered with the brest-plate of righteousnesse put on Christs perfect righteousnes thou shalt bee safe from the divels tentations Iohn 14.30 as Satan hath no power over Christ neither hath he power over the faithfull his members Let thy feet be shod with the preparation of the Gospell of peace so the fiery darts of the divell shall not hurt thee take the shield of faith to defend thee from the assaults of this most wicked enemy Eph. 6.15 Math. 17.20 Faith is that which removes Mountaines which is to be understood the mountaines of doubts persecutions and tentations if thou hast faith neither shall any thing be unpossible unto thee Vers 20. Exod. 12.17.12.13 The Israelites whose doore posts were figured with the blood of the paschall Lambe were not smitten with the destroying Angell so likewise those whose hearts are by faith sprinkled with the blood of Christ shall not be hurt by this destroyer faith relies upon Gods promises in the mercy of the Almighty and Satan cannot overthrow them that believe faith is the light of the soule and hath a bright eye a holy eare a cleane heart and a sure foote shee is the strength of hope the trust of truth the honour of amity and the joy of love and Satan cannot prevaile against it and the tentations of this malignant spirit are easily discerned through this light Mich. 7.19 By faith our sins are throwne into the profound sea of Gods mercy and in that the firy darts of the divell shall be easily quenched we must likewise put on the helmet of salvation that is Ephes 6.17 holy Hope endure tentation and expect an issue thereof by hope and thou shalt find comfort thereby For God is an Assister of them that contend and the crowne of them that overcome Vers 19. wee must also take the sword of the spirit that is the Word of God For the consolations of the Scripture will prevaile against the contradictions of the divell Nazianz. for by the Word Christ overcame all Satans temptations Math. 4.4 c. 11. and still the faithfull shall overcome the divell and all his subtilties To conclude by prayer thou hast great aid against tentations for as often as the little ship of thy soule is ready to be overwhelmed by the waves of tentation awake Christ by thy prayers we overcome visible enemies with striking but wee overcome our invisible enemies by powring forth prayers unfained fight thou O Christ both in us and for us that so through thee we also may overcome our deadly enemy with victory that in thee and through thee we may triumph gloriously Of the Morall Law of God the ten Commandements THe Law of God The morall Law of God and the Law of nature is all one though it was not given to man with solemne promulgation before the time of Moses yet was there a generall sense thereof given to Adam in his creation For when God gave him his nature and endued him with the use of reason and discourse he gave him capacity to understand his duty the which duty is nothing else but the observation of the Law of God and therefore when Adam had transgressed the commandements of God and had eaten the forbidden fruit the reason of his naturall soule could tell him his offence and then his conscience judged him he was afraid

Thus I wish to all in generall Of the Crosse of Christ and of his holy suffering for our sinnes BEhold thou faithfull soule the griefe of him that suffered Rom. 3.24 25 26. the wounds of him that hanged the torments of him that died on the Crosse that head at which the Angels tremble is crowned with thornes that face which was most beautifull above the sonnes of men is defiled by the spittings of the ungodly those eyes which were more brighter then the Sunne are darkned in death those eares which were wont to heare Angelicall praises did ring with the proud speeches and derision of wicked men Mat. 27 29 c. sinners that mouth which taught the Angels hath no other drinke but Gall and Vinegar those feete which are to bee adored those hands Iob 9.8 which stretcheth forth the Heavens are stretched forth and nayled on the Crosse that body which was the most sacred Temple of the Deity is whipped and wounded with the speare Iohn 19.34 37. neither remaines there any part in him whole save onely a tongue and that to pray for them which crucified him Christ declared himself to be the Sonne of God three manner of waies First by his power or working of miracles Secondly by the holy Ghost appearing in visible signes hee that raigneth with the father in the Heavens is grievously by sinners afflicted on the Crosse God suffers God dies God powreth forth his blood upon the Crosse and all for the redemption of man judge therefore the greatnesse of the danger by the greatnesse of the price judge the danger of the disease by the valew of the remedy Surely those wounds in sinfull man were great and dangerous indeed which could no otherwise be cured but by the wounds of the everliving and quickning flesh of Christ and the disease most dangerous which could not bee c●red but by the death of the Physitian Consider thou faithfull soule the heavie and fierce displeasure of God against us after the fall of our first Father Adam and his posterity after him that nothing could appease his anger for our sins but the ignominious suffering of his deare and only begotten Sonne upon the corsse Christ his eternall and well beloved Sonne became suter to God his Father for us yet his anger was not turned from us he by whom the world was made Hebr. 1.2 Thirdly by his resurrection from the dead interceded for us became our advocate and tooke the cause of us miserable sinners upon himselfe and yet his anger was not turned from us our Saviour tooke upon him our flesh that by the glory of the divinity communicated unto the humanity hee might expiate and purge our sinfull flesh Eph. 2.13 c. that by the saving vertue of his most perfect righteousnesse communicated unto our nature he might wipe away that venomous quality of our sin which cleaveth so fast unto us and in stead thereof conferre grace upon us Esay 9. 2 Cor. 5.21 and yet the anger of his father was not turned away from us our sins and the punishment due unto them he taketh upon himselfe his body is bound whipped wounded pierced crucified and buried Matth. 27. Luk 22.44 his blood like a dew most copiously distilled downe all his members at his passion his most holy soule is made sorrowfull above measure even unto death hee feeleth the paines of hell the eternall Sonne of God cryeth out that he is forsaken of God so great was his anguish Vers 46. so great was his bloody sweat that he that comforteth the Angels stood in need of an Angel to comfort him hee dyed for us sinners who is the authour and giver of life to every living thing 1 Pet. 3.18 If God be so highly offended with the most just and holy One what shall become of us sinners how will God punish us for our sins who is so wrathfully displeased with his owne Sonne for the sins of others and if his Sonne was so grievously punished for us shall we his servants thinke to escape unpunished what shall the Reprobate suffer if such be the sufferings of his best beloved Surely if our hearts be not harder then the Adamant and more flinty than a stone they must needs be wounded and bleed within us to thinke how Christ was wounded for our sakes For Christ truely tooke our infirmities upon himselfe Esay 53.4 and bare our griefes and healed our sicknesses that which in us merited eternall punishment and condemnation Mat. 8.16.17 thou Lord Jesus tookest upon thy selfe that burthen which would have pressed us downe into hell thou tookest our sins upon thy selfe Rom. 3.24 c. and bestowedst thy righteousnesse upon us death which is due unto us thou undertookest thy selfe and conferredst life upon us we cannot therefore by any meanes doubt of thy grace or despaire by reason of our sinnes therefore if thou shalt confesse with thy mouth the Lord Jesus Rom. 10.9 10. and believe in thine heart that God raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved for by faith we apprehend that Christ hath given satisfaction for us he bare the iniquities of those that are his he suffered for the sins of many he interceded for the transgressors Note 4 Esd 4.66 c. for he should have had very few just unlesse in mercy he had received sinners and remitted the sins of the unjust How then shall Christ judge according to severity the sins of the penitent which he hath taken upon himselfe how shall he condemne him that is guilty of sin for whom he dyed Joh. 15.13 will he condemne those whom hee loveth and calleth his friends will he condemne those for whom he hath intreated will he condemne those for whom hee dyed no Lift up thy selfe therefore Psal 42.14 43.5 Ezech. 18.22 O devout soule and forget thy sins for the Lord hath forgotten them hath forgiven them whom then dost thou feare as the punisher of thy sins but the Lord who himselfe hath made satisfaction for thy sins if any other had paid the price of my redemption I might have doubted Esay 53. whether the just Judge would have accepted of that satisfaction if either man or Angel had satisfied for my sins yet still I might have doubted whether the price of my redemption were sufficient but now there is no place for doubt all doubt is taken away and removed from the faithfull and penitent sinner how can it be that hee will not accept of that price which himselfe hath paid Psal 25.9 Psal 43.15 Psal 42.6 how can that but be sufficient which is from God himselfe Why art thou yet troubled O devout soule all the waies of the Lord are mercy and truth just is the Lord and just are his Judgements Why art thou so troubled O my soule let both the Mercy and Justice of God raise thee up if God be just hee will not exact double satisfaction for one

our soule The second thing in the cure of our soules is the soveraigne matter by which the diseased soule is cured the most soveraigne balsome the sacred blood of the Lambe of God of the Sonne of God shed for the redemption of man-kind 1 Pet. 2.24 for so saith his holy Apostle Saint Peter who his owne selfe bare our sins in his body on the tree that we being delivered from sin should live in righteousnesse by whose stripes we were healed our sins are taken from us by his bearing them our wounds are cured by his wounds our eternall death prevented by his temporall death for but the Sonne of God No physicke but the blood of Christ can cure a wounded soule Christ Jesus there is no Empyricke no quintessence no physicke can cure a wounded soule so venomous is sin and so incurable are the wounds that sin hath made onely the blood of the holy Lambe is altogether able to deliver and heale them and that is both so certaine and present in vertuous operation as that one drop rightly applyed is able and sufficient to cure the wounds of a world of soules The last thing in the cure of our soule is the manner of applying this most soveraigne medicine The manner of applying Christ Hebr. 11.6 Christ Jesus and that is by a true and lively faith for without faith it is impossible to please God and without faith it is impossible to apprehend the Sonne of God neither let this seem strange to a Christian judgement that wee should be able by faith to apprehend Christ and to apply him to our repentant soules for hee himselfe hath taught us that whatsoever wee shall aske in prayer Matth. 21.22 if we believe wee shall have it whereby he maketh faith the covenant and condition of prayer and promiseth that such prayer that is directed to him by a living faith shall onely and alwaies prevaile No resistance against a true faith against which there is no resistance therefore to apprehend apply Christ to our wounded soules we must reach with our hands of faith to his Fathers bosome take him from the altar of his crosse and by faith apply his precious blood nay his bloody body to our wounded soules for he that doth it faithfully doth it effectually and shall doubtlesse find assurance in himselfe that the wounds of his soule are cured and that sin is for ever dis-inabled from hurting him that hath Christ fully applyed for where he is in mercy there is assurance and safety of divine protection and this is the order that all Christians should take in repentance and spirituall sorrow First to prepare their soules then to apply Jesus Christ their salvation Note in whom there is safety without whom none To declare the manner and the causes of godlesse sorrow and false repentance wee will avoid them for their number and variety let the true judge the false and let this true forme of repentance here prescribed teach the Christian Reader to avoid all dissimulation and hypocritical sorrow for sin Hypocriticall sorrow is in God hatred 2 Cor. 7.10 11. and remember that godly sorrow causeth repentance not to be repented of but worldly sorrow causeth death But gentle Reader let mee admonish thee that we despise not Christ because upon his crosse he hanged betweene two thieves neither that wee honour thieves Mat. 27.38 39. because they hanged upon the crosse with Christ for that which is but meere truth is no truth and the best vertue is ever placed betweene two extremes This Doctrine of Repentance and spirituall sorrow doth remember all men very needfull admonishments First seeing that sin is the cause for which we repent us and by whose poyson our soules are so grievously infected and so fouly deformed and wounded it ought to move all men to a loathing and detestation of sin by which we are grieved in our selves and brought in hatred and displeasure of Almighty God Note for if wee so carefully avoid all such annoyances as bring any little taste of griefe to our bodies in this temporall life wee ought much more to avoyd sin which causeth such extremity of griefe in our soules and doth both deprive us of Gods favour and bringeth an everlasting destruction upon us Secondly seeing there is no repentance profitable to salvation but that which is caused in us by the moving of Gods holy Spirit it behoveth all men to be serious in their repentance and not to content themselves with a slender examination of their sins and then returne againe to their former remissenesse and disobedience but to be heedfully carefull to repent them of all sinne and to be constant in that care without alteration without interruption and that our repentance respect rather a shame and griefe to have offended so gracious a God then any feare of temporall or eternall punishment Saul and Ahabs repentance lest as did Saul and Ahab by such false and feigned repentance they lose their soules Thirdly seeing the soule cannot be cured but by repentance neither can apply or apprehend Christ Jesus unlesse it be first prepared and made fit by the exercise of these duties and not to satisfie themselves with the exercise of one or two of them but to endevour them all because they are all necessary to repentance for as in the Commandements of the Law he that faileth in one breaketh all so in these duties of repentance he that neglecteth one The danger of presumption profiteth by none but annihilateth the purpose of his spirituall sorrow Let no man therefore flatter himselfe with this presumption that if hee hath beene an extortioner a thiefe or a godlesse person that his repentance will suffice though hee be sorry for his sins and acknowledge them to God though these be very needfull and necessary duties yet they are not all the duties of our soule in our preparation to repentance therefore if hee hath extorted Luk. 19.8 or as Zacheus did taken by forged cavillation from any man that is by indirect or dishonest course or meanes Verse 9. hee must repent as Zacheus did and make restitution as farre as he can otherwise salvation can never come to his house therefore as they are all necessary so are they all joyntly necessary every man being bound to all these as God and grace shall enable him Fourthly seeing Christ Jesus is that Physician and that onely salve which is able to cure a wounded soule and that without him there is no working no cause no meanes of spirituall deliverance from sinne We must sell all to purchase Christ and griefe of a wounded conscience Therefore it most neerely concerneth all men to endeavour all meanes to purchase this Christ their salvation and righteousnesse and to despise all things in respect of him their Saviour and the onely soveraigne salve to heale their wounded conscience And seeing wee have Jesus Christ proposed us to be our salvation The

willingnes of Christ to bee apprehended of the faithfull who is alwaies willing and ready to bee apprehended and applyed to our soules by whom wee onely enjoy the peace of conscience and the hope of Heaven therefore no man ought to affy and have any confidence in the pardons of Popes dispensations indulgences and such trash and merchandise whereby the besotted and blinded people of this world is wonderfully delighted for such dangerous pedling stuffe Note must not bee thought to have equall vertue with the blood of Christ or that they have any power in the cure of soules but on the contrary they surfeit the conscience and poyson the soules of them that trust in them inlarging the wounds both in number and griefe Dangerous Physicke and maketh the soule incapable of cure and most unfit to have the precious blood of Christ Jesus applyed unto it Lastly seeing there is no meanes to apprehend and apply this Christ the physicke and Physitian of our soules but onely by a true and lively justifying faith Christ cannot be apprehended but by a true faith only therefore it most necessarily concerneth all men to have this meanes of apprehending Christ because as it is said The salve though most soveraine cannot profit the sore unlesse it bee applyed by faith that being the maine act of our spirituall health all other offices and duties being but circumstances to assist and forward this act Moreover the faith by which wee apprehend Christ must be more then a generall faith for it profiteth not to our health and salvation to know onely that Jesus Christ is the present cure of our soules unlesse we also by a confident and a lively faith apprehend and apply him to the sore of our soules Againe seeing Christ is our only salvation and seeing faith is the only meanes of apprehending him we ought not to seeke or appoint any other meanes or matter of salvation neither any other manner of applying it and therefore no man ought to ascribe righteousnesse to himselfe or his workes or to the supererogating workes of his friends but onely to Jesus Christ and that this Christ is onely apprehended by a saving faith for by faith we live Note by faith we walke by faith wee are justified and our hearts purified by it we vanquish the world and without it it is impossible to please God Let us therefore often meditate this doctrine of repentance what feare what care what affliction is in the soule at such occasion let us practise it in our selves and pity it in others let us condemne sinne to bee the greatest cause of such misery and let us condemne our selves to be the greatest cause of that sinne When wee exercise this spirituall office of repentance let us bee carefully busie in the duties thereof A necessary resolution let us search the wounds of our soules expell and empty the rottennesse and putrefaction thereof search and dresse them search them by a serious examination of our sins and dresse them by an humble and hearty acknowledgement How to dresse the wounds of our soules let us also examine the actions and particulars of our lives let us compare them with our duties and those that proportion not thereto let us call them our errors and our sinnes and the wounds of our soules let us by meanes of faith and prayer referre our defects to bee supplyed to the most absolute satisfactory righteousnesse of our Saviour Jesus Christ The righteousnesse of Christ must supply all our defects what we finde sin let us call it sin let us not flatter our errors nor smooth our deformities and defects in our selves let us not pretend health when wee are dangerously sicke nor safety when wee are mortally wounded We must not foster nor favour no sinnes let us not favour our sins be it a sin of profit or a sin of pleasure in this cause let us despise both let us be sorry for all acknowledge all and earnestly pray for the remission of all if we have gained possessions and wealth by theft extortion or forged cavillation let us restore as our present estate shall enable us let us be ashamed that Zacheus the Publicane shall restore his extortions foure-fold and we not to restore the principall Shun all such sin as the plague or leprosie because we know that salvation will not come to the house that is so infected but as of necessity all sin must bee cured All sinne of necessity must be cured otherwise there is no cure in our repentance let us hate all sin without dispensation of any otherwise we repent not but flatter our selves in presumption and vaine confidence and because nothing can apprehend and apply salvation to our soules but onely by the hands of saving faith let us therefore bee sure that our faith bee lively and stedfast faith let us trie it by the evidence of our workes they will beare us witnesse and testifie what it is and of what nature Workes must try our faith for as our faith in Christ doth justifie us before God so the workes of our faith doe justifie us in the sight of men If the fruit of our faith be good our faith it selfe then must needs be good and availeable to apprehend and apply Jesus Christ our salvation Let us therefore be plentifull in the exercise of good actions that our conscience may testifie our faith and that our faith may bee able to execute the holy office assigned it We must be plentifull in good workes and why when wee have the assurance of this faith let us then with stedfast confidence looke up to Heaven let us seeke him whom our soule loveth and when we have found him let us expose before him the calamity of our soules and our present condition wee are in let us lay open our sins discover our wounds declare our endeavour and report our faith when we have thus done wee may assure our selves that our Saviour will rejoyce at our recovery be glad of our conversion and returne and will shew us his righteousnesse and will also willingly yeeld himselfe unto our faith and give us free liberty in the use of his righteousnesse Apprehension of Christ Let us busily apply our cares to apprehend him in his righteousnesse and stretch our hands of faith to the altar of his Crosse and with a wonderfull degree of comfort apply his sufferings his wounds and his death to heale the wounds which sin hath made in our soules Note and infuse his most precious blood into them and with that blood shall enter the spirit of health and everlasting safety Thus in an instant shall wee finde the happy alteration of our soules and wee that but then were in spirituall griefe The happy alteration of our soules anguish and tribulation shall now finde joy and strength in our soules and our soules that were before wounded deformed and full of the markes of sinne shall now

but the spirit which is in man that is no man feeleth the heart of man so well as himselfe and yet himselfe though he hath lived with it ever since hee was borne doth not rightly know his owne heart unlesse hee examine it narrowly no more then he knoweth his owne bones or his veines sinewes arteries or his muskles how they are in his body and where they lie or what they doe this may seeme strange yet it is true for Christ saith to his Disciples Luke 9.55 You know not of what Spirit yee are that is you thinke better of your selves than you are and know not what the clocke striketh within you for there is a zeale without knowledge and a knowledge without zeale there is faith without obedience and there is obedience without faith there is love without feare and there is feare without love and both are hypocrites Judg. 16.18 Therefore as Delilah searched where the strength of Sampson lay so let every one search where their owne weaknesse lieth and strengthen themselves by faith and alwaies be filling the empty gap by endeavouring to supply the want of their owne defects Holy and godly men are distinguished in their ends for the children of God propose the glory of God and levell all their thoughts speeches and actions as if they were messengers sent to carry him presents of honour Thus did David when he said Psal 103. All that is within me praise the Lord but the children of this world without feare or reverence extoll themselves and their owne worthinesse and set up their owne glory for their marke like Nebuchadnezzar which said Dan 4.30 For the honour of my majesty Therefore they speake and looke and walke as if they did say to their tongue eyes and feete and apparell as Saul said to Samuel Honour me before this people 1 Sam. 15.30 The ungodly when they have received the Sacrament into their bellies thinke all is well and have done all that they went for as Micah when he had received a Levite into his house Judg. 17.30 thought that God loved him for the Levites sake but as the Levite did not profit him because he received nothing but the Levite so the Bread and Wine doth not profit them because they receive nothing but Bread and Wine for want of faith Marvell not then if you have not felt that comfort after receiving of the Sacrament which you looked for because you did not receive it as you ought for it yields comfort to none but to them which prepare their hearts and examine themselves before and apprehend Christ by a lively faith apply his merits to heale their miseries Iohn 13.30 Some receive the outward signe without the spirituall grace as did Iudas some receive the spiritual grace without the outward signe as the Saint thiefe on the crosse and all the faithfull who dying desire it but cannot receive it through some externall impediments But the worthy receivers to their comfort receive both the bread of the Lord and the bread which is the Lord. But some receive the bread of the Lord but not the bread which is the Lord. for it is not the mouth but the heart which receiveth comfort now there is many which bring a mouth to receive but not a heart to believe these goe away from the Sacrament to despight Christ as Iudas went from the Lords Supper to betray him but the faithfull believer goes away like one which hath received a cheerefull countenance from his Redeemer and his thoughts are joy and gladnesse as one which hath received the hope of salvation As hee that hath eaten sweet meate hath a sweet breath so they which have eaten Christ with the mouth of faith all their sayings and doings are sweet like a perfume to men and incense to God their peace of conscience and joy of heart and desire to doe good will tell them nay resolve them whether they have received the bare signes or the thing signified for every one which receiveth this Sacrament of the Lord shall either feele himselfe better after receiving it like the Apostles or find themselves the worse after it like Iudas to conclude examine your selves before you presume to come to receive the Sacrament of the Lords Supper Adam the first man was forbidden to eate of the fruit of one tree which was fore-shewed to be mortall and hee did hasten to eate thereof wee the children of the second Adam are commanded to eate of the lively and saving fruit the body and blood of Christ to our Salvation yet how slacke are wee to partake thereof and to prepare our selves thereunto The first steppe therefore of true preparation is to search the Scriptures which teacheth the mystery of this Communion and the institution of the same and also the signification of the outward signes which are bread and wine and the things signified the body and blood of Christ shed for all true believers 1 Cor. 11.25 the end the receiving thereof is to retaine the remembrance of the death and passion of Christ which he suffered for our sinnes by the true receiving of this Sacrament wee are united unto the love of God in and by the death of Christ and are made heires by adoption of eternall salvation in Note by and with Christ The true receiving of this blessed Sacrament must be in sincerity with a penitent heart and faith unfained but sinners who come thereunto unworthily eate and drinke their owne damnation Therefore we must before wee come thereunto 1 Cor. 11.27 cleanse our soules from all sinne which cannot bee done without diving into our owne soules with an impartiall search to finde our owne corruption and truely repent us of our sinnes Vers 28. it is not fit to come to this holy banquet abruptly as men doe to their ordinary feasts where they ceremoniously and pharisaically will wash their hands before they eate but to this most holy Supper wee must not presume to come without inward washing of our soules from sinne for if unwashed hands prophane the meate for the belly how much more unwashed hearts the sacred Sacrament the food of the soule Let us therefore by inward examination Ecclus. 18.19 impartiall accusation and absolute condemnation of our selves for sinne make our selves fit to come to this holy Table This caveat is no inhibition but a terrifying of the soule not to presume to come to this holy Table without purification and sanctification Note Math. 7.6 and not with polluted hands and hands full of bribery and extortion or to take it with lips defiled with blasphemy cursing and lying or to put it into a stomacke gorged with drunkennesse gluttony and with a heart fraught with envie 1 Cor. 5.7 8. making no difference of the Lords body We must therefore lay aside all our old sinnes and put on the new man a righteous a holy Note and Christian conversation and disposition wee must bee

holy and heavenly minded towards God we must be friendly and loving to our neighbours slow in taking advantages renewing or revenging of wrongs wee must be humble and lowly in our owne eyes meeke and sober in all our actions and because herein are exhibited and offered things of such wonderfull valew and price to the worthy receivers wee must bee cleansed of our spirituall leprosie before wee presume to communicate in the company of Saints We must therefore assure our selves that we are in the number of those to whom these holy things doe appertaine for whosoever is prophane in his person and an unsanctified creature let him forbeare to come to this holy banquet till he have first used the meanes of better assurance by repentance for his sinnes and amendment of his corrupt and sinnefull life let him often call upon God by zealous and faithfull prayers for the remission of his omissions and transgressions let him earnestly crave the assistance of his holy spirit to assist him in the mortifying and beating downe of sinne and that his heart and conscience may be sanctified and made fit for so holy an exercise When he is thus cleansed let him shew himselfe to the Priest his Pastour and let him take knowledge by his outward confession of his inward contrition And then in all reverence and in the feare of God let him come to this holy Table let him eate the body and drinke the blood of that Lambe that taketh away the sinnes of all penitent sinners and will present him pure unto the Lord for the Lords eye is pure and can abide no wickednesse the Sacrament is holy touch it not rashly if thou have not the wedding garment of sincerity come not thereto Math. 22.11 12 13. for the Lord will finde thee out and thrust thee forth out of his presence among the unbeleevers whose portion shall bee with the divell and his angels Let us therefore search and examine our waies let us lift up our hands with our hearts unto God and feed on this holy mystery 1 Cor. 11.25 26 the life of our soules in remembrance that Christ died for us untill his second comming Blesse me O Lord so that my sins may wholly be remitted by thy blood my conscience sanctified by thy Word my mind enlightened by thy Truth my heart guided by thy Spirit and my will in all things subdued to thy blessed Will and pleasure Blesse mee with all graces which I want and increase in mee those good gifts which thou hast already bestowed upon mee Of the Ordinance of Christ concerning the translation of the Sabbath THe Primitive Church had farre greater reason to celebrate Sunday in memory of Christs resurrection then to keepe the Sabbath because that by his resurrection from the dead Isay 65.17 66.12.13 there is wrought a new spirituall creation of the world without which all the sonnes of Adam had beene turned to everlasting perdition and destruction and so all the workes of the first creation had ministred no consolation unto us In respect of this new spirituall creation 2 Cor. 5.17 18. Rev. 21.1 Gal. 6.15 1 Pet. 2.10 Ephes 4.24 Colos 3.10 Matth. 26.28 2 Pet. 3.13 Isay 66.12.13 Chro 4.9 c. the Scripture saith that old things are passed away and all things are become new new creatures new people new men new knowledge new Testament new Commandements new Heaven new Earth and therefore there is in stead of the old a new holy day to honour and praise our Redeemer and to meditate upon the workes of our redemption and to shew the new change fo the old Testament because that on this day Christ rested from all the sufferings of his passion and finished the glorious worke of our redemption If the finishing of the worke of the first creation whereby God mightily manifested himselfe unto his creatures deserved a Sabbath for to solemnize the memoriall of so great a work Esay 58.13 to the honour of the worker and therefore God calls it mine holy day much more doth the new creation of the world effected by the resurrection of Christ whereby he mightily declared himselfe to be the Sonne of God Rom. 1.3 4. deserve an holy festivall for the perpetuall commemoration thereof to the honour of Christ and therefore most worthily called the Lords day Apoc. 1.10 for as the deliverance out of the captivity of Babylon being greater tooke away the name from the deliverance out of the bondage of Egypt Jer. 23.7 8. 16.13 so the day whereon Christ finished the redemption of the world did more justly deserve to be kept holy than that day wherein God ceased from creating the world Gen. 2.2 as therefore in the creation the first day wherein it was finished was consecrated for a Sabbath Lev. 23.32 Neh. 13.19 so in processe of time after our redemption the first day wherein it was perfected was dedicated to a holy rest The Jewes kept their Sabbath on the last day of the week beginning it with the night when God rested from finishing the worke of his creation but Christians honour the Lord better on the first day of the weeke when the Lord arose They kept their Sabbath in remembrance of the worlds creation but Christians celebrate it in memoriall of the worlds redemption Matth. 28 1. Acts 20.7 2.46 yea the Lords day being the first day of the creation and redemption puts us in minde both of the making of the old world and redeeming of the new world Many godly Writers doe record many memorable things which were done upon the first day of the weeke as so many types that the chiefe worship of God should under the new Testament be celebrated upon this day Exod. 31. as that on this day the cloud of Gods Majesty first sate upon his people Aaron and his children first executed their Priest-hood God first solemnely blessed his people the princes of his people first offered publikely unto God the first day wherein fire descended from heaven the first of the world of the yeere of the moneth of the weeke all shadowing that it should be the first and chiefe holy day of the new Testament Gen. 17.12 and circumcision being commanded on the eighth day which was foreseene by the holy Fathers and Prophets to be a type of the Lords day Esay 58.13 that the Sabbath should cease and give place to the eight or first day of the weeke If this mysterie were so clearely seene by the Fathers and Prophets under the shadowes of the old Testament 2 Cor. 4.4 surely the God of this world hath deepely blinded their mindes who cannot see the truth thereof under the cleere shining light of the Gospel This change of the Sabbath under the new Testament was nothing but a fulfilling of that which was solemnly prefigured and fore-prophesied under the old 1 Cor. 14.36 37 therefore all true Christians according to the Lords minde and Commandement