willing is the Almighty the Soul be out of doubt of its Sanctification here and Salvation hereafter To which God of his infinite mercy for the merits of his Son by the conduct of his holy Spirit at last bring us Amen The End of the First Sermon The Second SERMON On Micah 2.7 Is the Spirit of the Lord straitned July the 20th 1673 Do not my words do good to him that walketh upright or uprightly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Word spoken upon his Wheels is like Apples of Gold in pictures of Silver I may say of this 'T is verbum super rotas a word in season then will the Sermon be most profitable when the subject is most seasonable The Text is like a well-drawn picture it hath an eye on every man as you will see anon I shall draw aside the curtain that so you may view it and it may view you I will waste no time in the beginning that I may want no time in the end I am shewing when this Ordinance of the Supper doth work for the Saints benefit and advantage I have hinted seven and shall now proceed methodically unto the eighth in order of which succinctly For enough is better than all 8 Then doth this Ordinance work for your good when your Souls are more corroborated and strengthned and your power is more encreased Observe it pray The Ministry of the Word begets spiritual life The Sacrament preserves and increaseth spiritual life The Word lays the Basis or Foundation of Grace the Sacrament carries on the Building The Word is instituted to implant Grace to work the truth of Grace where it is not The Sacrament is to promote the growth of it where it is The Ministry of the Word is a converting Ordinance the Sacrament is a confirming Ordinance That 's the breeding and this the feeding Ordinance If now you come to the Lords Table very weak your Graces very feeble your Faith and Love and other Graces very little If it may be said of you as it was of the Church of Philadelphia Rev. 3.8 Thou hast but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a little strength and then you go away stronger your Faith more encreased your hope more quickened your obediential and penitential resolutions more strengthned your corruptions more easily subdued temptations more easily repulsed your assections more raised and enlarged your hearts more established duties more spiritually performed the world more easily conquered and vanquished If now you find your selves more able to do to suffer for God or from God if now you are more fitted for active and passive obedience if you can go thorow all Christian duties with more alacrity and cheerfulness if you can apply the promises and live by Faith upon the Fatherly providence and faithful promises of God When thus you find it then hath this Ordinance been doing you good 9 When at and by the Sacrament your love to Jesus Christ is more enflamed when this little drop swells into an Ocean and this spark becomes a flame when it may be said of your love to God to Christ to his way day people Ordinances as is said of the Waters of the Sanctuary Ezek. 47.3 4 5. that 't is still higher and higher from the ankles to the knees thence to the loins and then unpassable so in the present case Is it possible we should be such constant Guests at the Lords-Table and daily see before our eyes a crucified Christ and yet go thence with so little love to him and longings after him Can we fee so much love in his heart to us and shall we be contented with so little love in our hearts to him Per vulnera videmus viscera 'T is an heart of Adamant that will neither impendere nor rependere which will neither begin in love nor love him then who has thus begun Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us in bestowing his Son upon us We call not upon people to behold things common and ordinary Paul calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 great love Eph. 2.4 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a love passing knowledg Heart-warming words indeed See Ephes 3.19 He laid down his precious life and dearest blood for us he died Nostro loco in our place and stead Nostro commodo for our benefit and good for our sin as the meritorious cause and for our good as the final cause Dan. 9.26 1 Pet. 3.18 Greater love than this can no man shew Did ever Mother love her own Child so as to wash it in her own blood thus lov'd he us Rev. 1.5 God so loved the world so How 's that so wonderfully so infinitely so but I cannot tell you how and therefore must leave it so admiring and not once attempting to express it but the Son of God can Even as the Father loved me so have I loved you Joh. 15.9 Here was the highest purest freest sweetest and choicest love that ever was in the world We conclude they love us who will speak kindly and courteously to us or a word in season for us much more if they will hazzard their lives and fortunes by espousing our cause and quarrel did not our dear Redeemer all this and more Lord now says the poor Christian thou hast laid down thy life and thereby hast manifested thy love to me Now will I part with my dearest lusts I will be their death and so shew my love to thee shall a damning lust live and a saving Christ die Shall the man die that kills my Son or Father and shall my Sin live which slays my Saviour Well if I can do no more I will do no less than love thee my dearest Lord with all my heart and might and strength The more vile thou wast made for me the dearer to my dying day shalt thou be unto me When thus it works then it does you good indeed 10 When your hearts which were before at a distance from him are by it drawn nearer to him and your desires are more drawn out after him There is a twofold distance between God and Man The one is natural as he is the Creator Man a creature He infinite Man finite this is an infinite distance The other is Moral as he is Holy and Man impure this is a greater distance than the former if we may suppose an infinito infinitius By nature we are all afar off from God n = * Non intervallo locorum sed pravitate morum by Grace through Christ we are made nigh Ephes 2.13 yet nigher we may be by much than yet we are and 't is our great business in every Ordinance to get nearer to him if you scan that famous place Heb. 10.22 Let us draw near with a true heart If now we find our confidence drawn more out after him and that we can rest more upon him and trust more in him if for what our Souls want we can with an humble boldness go to him and say Lord Here is
Christian man To take care that his Soul be not unthankful to his God Have I received any light or life or increase of grace and peace I will remember to my dying day though 't is wrought in me yet 't was not wrought by me Non nobis Domine non nobis Not unto us Lord not unto us Because not by us Lord not by us but by the Spirit of the Lord of Hosts Though I cannot praise thee so much as I should yet will I praise thee as much as I can Sacramenta Judaeorum umbra Christianorum Aug Enar in Psal 37 nobis 38 At the Jewish Passover was sung the 113. and some following Psalms and this they call'd the Great Hallelujah And the Sacraments of the Jews were but shadows unto ours In every thing we must give thanks but for this especially others stand without you are admitted into the Presence-chamber of the great King They feed on husks and trash you on the hidden Manna My flesh saith Christ is meat indeed and my blood is drink indeed All other food compar'd with this is cibi tantummodo umbra vana imago as Cameron speaks all shadow no substance To a worthy Receiver the choicest of mercies and blessings are here exhibited one calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Food made up all of Thanksgiving And having tasted so much nay drunk so deep of the cup of blessing does it not concern you now to sing Glory be to the Holy Ghost That praise is due to God from every Creature in the World and from every corner of the world I need not prove but 't is not comely for any but such as you Psal 33.1 'T is a garment that suites none but Saints Isa 61.3 You read there of the garment of praise The Jewish Doctors have a saying That the World subsists by three Pillars the Law the Worship of God and Thankfulness O let the high Praises of God be now and for ever in your lips and lives Hath the good Spirit of the Lord gone out before you in love and mercy Do you follow him now in praise and duty 'T is the happiness of the Saints in Heaven to enjoy God and 't is their only business in Heaven to bless God and is it not your wisdom as well as duty to be daily doing that on Earth besides which you shall have nothing to do to all Eternity in Heaven Hosanna's here and Hallelujahs hereafter 2 Walk charitably Do all the good you possibly can for the Spirit of the Lord and for the people of the Lord. I know your goodness extendeth not to God but let it the more to the Saints Yet you may plead for and vindicate his honour which is by many now laid in the dust many father their errors and blasphemies on the Spirit laying them at his door as if he were not the Spirit of Truth There are four sorts of men amongst us 1 Some who are all for Ordinances not eying at all the Spirit of the Lord for his teachings 2 Some are all for the Spirit Sans-ordinance men casting of Baptism the Ministry of the Word and this blessed Sacrament Beza in 1 Cor. 1.12 As Beza said so shall I Hoc Pestilentissimo morbo utinam nulli hodie laborarent Oh that none had this Plague-sore now 3 Others and not a few neither regard the Spirit nor men nor means nothing but mundum fundum 4 Only the sincere Christian is for all and he is the man to whom I address this counsel if you espouse not his cause who shall if in your stations as Magistrates as Ministers as Christians you plead not for it who will But walk charitably towards men that 's the duty I would press on you Has the Spirit of the Lord done you good do you now all the good you can to others shew your love to God by your love to your needy Brethren and your love to them by works of mercy Acts of charity do not impoverish but enrich Perhaps the Purse may be lighter but your Crown will be heavier Who ever heard or read of a man that liv'd charitably that died miserably Non memini me legisse malâ morte morâ—â—â— qui libenter opera charitatis exercuit Hieron Morison in his Itinirary Hierom in his Epistle to Nepotian tells us he never did nor did the royal Prophet Psal 37.25 26. One tells us of a fountain of Salt in Germany of which all the poor about it had Salt-water freely for their use but when once it was deny'd them it lost its vertue If once you harden your Hearts against or hide your faces from those pale faces and withered cheeks and maimed arms from those who have no bread to eat nor where to lay their heads well may the Spirit of the Lord suspend his influences at the next Communion and then it cannot heal nor seal nor do you good What greater incentive to shew mercy to others than a due sense of mercies received from God Do good to all as you are of ability and have opportunity but especially to the houshold of Faith 3 Walk contentedly Have you received good and much good at the Lords Table then be not so full of complaints if you have little of the worlds goods Is your grace increased have you got more assurance of your Lords love do not murmur though your Corn and Wine and other matters increase not Whilst those put gladness into your Hearts let not the want of these cause sadness to appear in your faces It is enough says Jacob Joseph is alive So say you It is enough the Spirit of the Lord is alive and hath enlivened and sealed 1 Tim. 6.8 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and comforted me at and by this precious Ordinance Shew us the Father says Philip and it sufficeth us The sight of God without riches or honours or lands or friends should satisfie your Souls Having food and raiment you should be content well Having food not fine fare Raiments not Ornaments and you have both nay much more viz. the Mediatory Righteousness of Christ to deck and adorn you and his precious Body and Blood to nourish you And whatever afflictions you meet with in or from the World still be contented They say whatever betides a Spaniard he will not change his pace whatever troubles betide you let no change appear in your Face Whether God give or take whether he stroke or strike Nimis delicatus es frater si hic vis gaudere cum mundo posthac regnare cum Christo Hierom. whether men hum or hiss fret not your selves shall you receive good from the hand of God What all good and no evil you are too delicate if you would have two Heavens one here and another yonder above the Clouds 4 Walk Compassionately Have you tasted there of the Lords graciousness can you tell of the great things the Spirit of the Lord hath by that Ordinance done for your Souls
graven Images shall be beaten or broken to pieces The next this people are stigmatized with are Covetousness and Oppression Quid non Auri sacra fames chap. 2.4 They covet fields and take them by violence and houses and take them away c. regarding neither right nor wrong provided they got it they cared not Quo jure quave injuria How graphically does the Poet describe this monster sin Phoc. even in Saint Pauls own terms 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Judgment denounc'd for this complicate sin you see 3 4 5. Their calamity shall be extraordinary their desolation is irrevocably determined and positively and peremptorily declared Behold against this Family do I devise an evil from which ye shall not remove your necks c. The third sin is contempt of and opposition against his Word his Ordinances and Officers Vers 6. and which did accent and aggravate the crime their delight in and approbation of such false Prophets as would speak Placentia and flatter them in their vicious and pernicious practises vers the 11th The Text under consideration is the Lords expostulation with this degenerated people for their foremention'd irreverence and contempt O thou that art named the House of Jacob is the spirit of the Lord straitned Are these his doings Do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly In this last clause two general parts 1. The Specification of a choice and precious priviledg viz. To have the Word and Ordinances to do one good this is a mercy of the first Magnitude I know you pray for it as such you prize it as such you praise him for it as such you wait this day for it as such your non-proficiency under the dews and droppings of the Sanctuary you lament as an heavy judgment Isa 6.10 11. Ergo. 2. The qualification of the persons to whom it appertains Privilegia non sunt amplianda them who walk uprightly rare ones indeed the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 do not so they say Privilegia sunt stricti juris Consider the form 't is Interrogative the matter or sense of this sentence 't is positive 'T is a Categorical proposition in which 1. The Subject or that which is spoken of viz. my words 2. The Predicat or that which is spoken of his words they do good Do not my words do good yea out all ifs or ands they do to such as are thus qualified i.e. walk uprightly In both are four things 1. The Author or Proprietor of them my words 2. The signal energy and singular efficacy of them do good 3. The grand duty required of such who shall receive good by them walking 4. The Modification of the duty here expressed uprightly A short explanatory must serve at present and then the observations resulting hence will be methodically proposed O Dicte 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 prius erat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in foem Qui diceris sed non es Drus Vos estis Israelite nomine non re Vat. Para us O thou that art named the House of Jacob i.e. who art called but really art not so you are an hypocritical generation Jacob that good old Patriarch was a man of godly simplicity Gen. 25.27 a man full of the fire of holy zeal O the care he had and the conscience he made of reforming his Family Gen. 35.2 3. a man of Prayer a great Wrestler with God Gen. 32.28 Hos 12.4 A great lover of my Word and Ordinances Were you as is said of Nathanael Israelites indeed in whom there is no guile Were you good indeed my words would do you good But you snarle at and quarrel with my Prophets Domino per laesos servos fit injuria because of those Judgments they have denounc'd against you the fault is not in them nor yet in me no 't is in your selves you complain of them unjustly and so doing you deal with me injuriously Luk. 10.16 Hos 13.9 Spiritus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Latine in Mascul Hebr. in Foem Graece in Neut Commode servit personae Divinae cui nulla sexus generisve diversitas tribuitur Is the spirit of the Lord straitned By the Spirit of the Lord Grotius and Friedlibius understand the patience longanimity mercy and goodness of the Lord others as Drusius Paraeus c. understand the Holy Ghost What is he so contracted is he reduced to such an exigence that he cannot inspire his Prophets and appoint them how and what to speak unto you how audacious is your pride and wickedness Is it for you to dictate to them what when and how to prophesie Dare you attempt to limit the holy Spirit of God Quae haec superbia impietas Paraeus Piscator 't is not for want of fulness in him to publish or perform good things that my Prophets have commission thus to thunder against your impieties An ista sunt opera Vatab. Cogitationes ejus Grot. Num exitio vestro delectetur non ita intelligendae sunt comminationes Prophetarum Are these his doings That is the way and method of the Almighty in his dealings and those in which he delights are ways of love and mercy he draws with the cords of men is full of candor and ingenuity if now he speak harshly and deal severely with you know this is not his usual course but only your present case calls for it Consult Isa 28.21 Hos 11.8 Do not my words do good c. q.d. Yea they do And if you break off your sins by true unfeigned repentance and believe my Prophets if you will but take care to walk regularly you shall surely find the influences of this my Spirit upon your Hearts causing my Word and Ordinances to work for your good I now proceed to the Observations From the Context take two Doct. 1. 'T is a doleful case and matter of saddest lamentation when a people by profession Gods stand in opposition against his Word Ordinances and Officers These Expostulations and pressing Interrogatories import no less Doct. 2. God will own and plead the cause of his Ordinances and Officers whoever dares to oppose or contemn them Thus he did against this people and thus he will Tua causa erit mea causa Luk. 10.16 He that despiseth them despiseshim They who do so shall hear from him O thou that art named Doct. 3. However men be called or accounted of by themselvs or others yet the Lord can easily discern and will opportunely discover what they are indeed He knows us intus in cute intus in corde Though the heart of man be grande profundum a great Deep Psal 90.8 yet he can fathom it Jer. 17.10 I the Lord search the heart He is a God of Knowledges 1 Sam. 2.3 Totus oculus All things are open naked anatomized before him Art named Doct. 4. The note is this 'T is not enough for a people to have a name or to be called good they must be
season for the greatest work of all which is not fit for any work at all Shall the best Master be the last the least the worst served Why should our vain hopes of living long remit or abate our cares of living well and working hard Most never think of going faster till they are forc'd to think they shall not go much longer Let us mind our way and mend our pace Vprightly Doctr. 12. 'T is an important duty which concerns us all to walk uprightly Gen. 17.1 And 't is the priviledg of such to have the word of the Lord to work for their good They shall not hear in vain Their souls shall live Isa 55.3 But the proposition on which I purpose now to fix waving all the rest is this and it takes most of them in Doct. The spirit of the Lord is not so straitned but that he can cause his Word and Ordinances to do them good who walk uprightly St. Ambrose writing three Books to Gratian the Emperour concerning the Spirit of the Lord fronts his first with this passage Sp. S. non aut alienae potestati est subjectus aut juri sed suae libertatis arbiter omnia pro authoritate propriae voluntatis c. There are three great Ordinances of God 1 The Ministry of the Word 2 Baptism And the Lords Supper is the third The first we have dispatcht and in our last discourse the second was finish'd too to refresh your Memories give me favour to hint the heads thereof or some few only and them briefly Ad templū Dei pertinent parvuli sanctificati Sacramento Christi regenerati spiritu sancto qui certè per aetatem nondum possunt cognoscere Deum Aug. Epist 57. Darda circa Med. 1 It was proved by Scripture that the Infants of Christian Parents visible Professors are true Denizons of the visible Church and Kingdom of God and have a just right to and interest in Gods Magna Charta or Covenant of Grace That the truth of Grace in the Parents is not the rule we are to act by in admitting Infants to this Ordinance Surely he would never make that the condition upon which his Ministers must apply this his Ordinance which none but God himself can infallibly know let Parents be what they will vicious and scandalous if the Church cast not them out we must not cast theirs out A visible profession of Faith and Holiness in the Parents though there be not a conversation congruous to that profession intitles the Child to Baptism That Infants are capable of the Spirit of the Lord of saving Grace of Union with Christ of Regeneration of pardon of Sin all which are sealed in Baptism if any deny this they must then say either That these are not necessary unto Salvation or That no Child dying in his Infancy can be saved Both which are absurd enough That if Infants have no right to this Seal of the Covenant their condition under the Gospel is much worse and their priviledges less than were those of Jewish Infants under the Law theirs had one viz. Circumcision ours none That the Commandment for Circumcision being so express plain and legible in the Old Testament there is no more need of a new Commandment for Infant-Baptism in the New than for a new Commandment for the holy Observation of the Lords-day That the Covenant and not only the Commandment was then the principal ground and reason of Circumcision and is now of Baptism Circumcision was called the Covenant and not the Commandment and the contempt or violation of it was call'd the transgression of the Covenant not of the Commandment Vide Whitakerum contra Duraeum fusius hâc de re pag. 681. 682. and the despisers were threatned to be cut off for the violation of the Covenant not of the Commandment Gen. 17.10 13. That Esau and Ishmael were regularly circumcised as well as Isaac No Scripture rule was transgressed when Judas and Simon Magus when Ananias and Sapphira were baptized yet what they were you know the whole multitude of the Israelites were baptized 1 Cor. 10.1 2. Yet were not all true Believers vers the 5. That we cannot infallibly know but only charitably judg who are true Believers and that Though Infants cannot lay hold on Christ by the hand of Faith yet he can and will embrace them in the arms of his love and bless them That he whose child was uncircumcised by his neglect was in Gods account uncircumcis'd himself Exod. 12.48 't is so in this case of Baptism and if uncircumcised he was not admitted to the Passover no nor into the Sanctuary Ezek. 44.9 That the enemies of Infant-baptism deal not ingenuously in requiring from us an express Commandment for our practice whilst mandment for our practice whilst they cannot produce one for theirs Where is your command to keep the Infants of visible professors from this ordinance till they be six ten or twenty years of age or till they can make profession of their Faith Or where is your command to baptize Children when grown up if you insist upon example then where is your example for your admitting of Women to the Lords Supper But of this more the last time Secondly the Antiquity of this Ordinance was vindicated from the imputation of Novelty Nullus est Scriptor tam vetustus qui ejus originem ad Apostolorum seculum pro certo non refert Calvin and that assertion of Judicious Calvin in his Instit lib. 4. cap. 16. sect 8. and of learned Zanchy in Ephes 226 page was considered and confirmed by the concurrent Testimonies of the Ancients in the several Centuries as of Justin Martyr Irenaeus Origen Cyprian Ambrose Austin Nazianzen c. Thirdly The high and noble ends for which it was instituted The great usefulness and advantagiousness of it was shewed not only to those who are of maturer age but even to Infants Elect ones I mean ordinarily when they are baptized As the Spirit moving upon the waters produc'd a world Gen. 1.2 and brought forth living Creatures so the Spirit moving upon the Soul can produce the seeds of Grace in it Consult at better leisure the 27th Article of Religion and you will find it corresponding with the judgment of the Fathers with the most eminent Divines of these latter ages with the Holy Scriptures which is instar omnium All which assert the present Infants ordinarily in the act of Administration to clear this perhaps a more important truth than many in this Age are apprehensive of I refer you to what an eminent Doctor of our Church hath left up record D. C.B's Baptismal Regeneration It shall suffice now to mention only four or five Chrysostom calls Baptism our initiation Christ 1 Homil. in Act. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In Baptism the chief part is the spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by which the water becomes effectual Basil in answer to that question How are Christians saved makes this return 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
cadendi exempluÌ„ propositum est sed si ceciderie resurgendi non sit delectatio minorum lapsus majoruÌ„ Aug. in Psal 51. Their failings indeed are recorded but for our caution not for our imitation their errors are set up not as Stars to guide us but as Rocks to warn us not as Land-marks to go by but as Sea-marks to shun by Sit casus majorum timor minorum Aliorum perditio tua sit cautio Excellent is that of Saint Ambrose Lib. 4. Ep. pag. 127. In omnibus actibus tuis imitare bonos aemulare sanctos habeto ante oculos eorum exempla c. 3. We have an upright Rule to walk by the Word of God 't is that should guide us here by that we shall be judged hereafter This is a perfect Rule 2 Tim. 3.16 17. an upright and holy Rule so is not the Light within and as for the Spirit he is our guide Rom. 8.14 not our Rule Again 4. We have an upright way to walk in the way of his Commandments this is an underfiled and an undefiling way a pure and holy and perfect and pleasant way paths of life and peace and righteousness all which call for Uprightness Si vis esse beatus esto in via immaculatus Aug. in Psal 119.1 5. We have upright Companions to walk with indeed the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are not so the most do walk in crooked paths but in all ages there are some who are undefiled in the way whose Hearts are sound in Gods statutes and follow the Lord fully and keep themselves from their iniquities see St. Ambrose his Epistle to Florianus ubi supra 6. We have an upright a perfect account to give of our walkings and workings Though now we live as if we had no God to serve no Souls to save no accounts at all to give yet surely we shall be call'd upon anon to give account of all Luk. 16.2 We read of the Counsel which Alcibiades gave unto Pericles whom going to visit he found busied about his accounts Why dost thou trouble thy self says he in seeking to make thy accounts rather think of some course to free thee from making any account at all Doubtless there are who do thus but the greater sorrow and shame shall they have at the last day Does not the due consideration hereof lay a mighty obligation on us to walk uprightly Nothing had so great an influence on St. Austin to recall him from and to recover him out of his sinful ways and to engage him to live an holy and upright life as Metus mortis extremi judicii the fear of Death and the day of Judgment O that we were wise then would we remember our latter end 7. The Reward we shall receive will be an upright just and perfect reward Verily there is a reward for the Righteous A sure reward Prov. 11.18 A full reward 2 Joh. 8. An everlasting reward 2 Cor. 4.17 It shall be well with the righteous their labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. He is not behind with them now nor will he then They shall have Pleasures without pain Treasures without trash Riches without rust Honours without envy Crowns without cares and Life without death If the consideration of these things prevail not with us thus to walk what shall If they have no influence upon us what will Having premised these things the fourth Query comes next in order to be discussed go along with me and it shall be fully resolved 4 Q. When does this Ordinance of the Supper work for their good who thus walk An account hereof take in the Twelve following particulars Then it doth such good and much good 1 When it makes them more zealous for God for his Way and Truth and in his Worship Zeal is Amor intensus the flame of Love as Aquinas describes it 'T is ignis quidam flagrantissimi amoris Usque ad Oâ—â—â—vum graâ—am as St. Austin long before him Or if you will 't is a compound of Love and Anger a mixt affection it carries forth ones love to God and his anger against sin in the most intense degree It consists in an earnest prosecution of what is good and in a vehement detestation of what is evil O the excellency of this frame of spirit You know 't is the spirit of wine that commends it the sparkle that gives worth to the Diamond as life gives an excellency to being so vivacity in operating gives an excellency to life this is that the Lord calls for in Rom. 12.11 this he owns and crowns Numb â— 25.11 This is most prevalent with God for good Jam. 5.16 Elijah's prayer fetcht fire from Heaven because it carried fire to Heaven Grace turns a Sinner into a Saint Zeal turns a Saint into a Seraphim Much more of this you heard the other day from Revel 3.19 Be zealous therfore If when you come to this Ordinance with chill and dull and frozen affections and dead hearts and there find them wrought upon and you go thence more brisk and lively more full of love to God and hatred of sin if now you can plead the cause of God and defend the Faith with more courage and resolution if now you can suffer for God more chearfully whose dearly beloved Son you here see suffer'd so much for you if now you can perform every holy duty with more vigour and activity if you who were so remiss and cold and slothful in the business of Religion in the great concerns of God and your Souls are now more rouzed quickned excited and enlarged When thus it works then it does you good indeed 2 When their Hearts are thaw'd and melted so that they can sorrow after a godly manner in the sight and sense of sin Tears are precious things one calls 'em the Wine of Angels another the fat Sacrifice Such Sacrifices were most acceptable Levit. 3.3 4 5. The Prayers of the Saints move their Tears compell the Lord to shew mercy says Jerome Were they not very precious he would not keep a bottle for them They never run in the right channel but when they are shed for sin then only they do us good as St. Chrysostom well observes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For this end were they made Philosophers tell us That only reasonable and sinful Creatures can gaudere maerere rejoyce and weep To speak properly no other upon earth can If now when you come to this Ordinance your Eyes affect your Hearts so that you can inwardly grieve and outwardly weep bitterly for your sin as one that is in heaviness for his only Son or first-born If when you behold a bleeding Christ you have bleeding Hearts a broken Christ you have broken Spirits then does this Ordinance work for your good In the time of the Law the Passover was to be eaten with bitter Herbs Exod. 12.8 those Herbs were five say the Jewish Doctors The Passover was a lively Type of Christ who is our Passover
my treasure my fullness my All I am dead but to thee I come for life and quickning grace I have a proud heart but unto thee do I address my self I know thou who givest more and better grace to the humble canst give me grace to be more humble I am impotent but to thee I come for strength against my corruptions and for holy duties Lord I am nothing I have nothing I can do nothing I am good for nothing I cannot plead my merits but thy mercy unworthy I am to live unfit I am to die When thus we find it with us at or after a Sacrament then has it been working for our good 11 When you have the Covenant of Grace sealed and the Characters thereof impressed upon your hearts when Sacrament-days are healing and sealing days the Saints are sealed with the holy Spirit of Promise such sacred stamps he sets upon their Souls as shall never be obliterated Many a child of God has here had monumentum aere perennius when by this Ordinance you gain such full evidences of his love such influences of his Grace such experiences of his Truth such assistances from his Spirit such ratifications and confirmations of the Gospel-promises as you never had before When thus you find it with you you may safely and solidly conclude it has been working for your good 12 Once more and in a word When more glorious conquests over your spiritual enemies are obtained when prevailing lusts are vanquished and fiery temptations are quenched and all these wonders one drop of his precious blood when taken down by Faith can do when you can go from this Ordinance triumphing over and trampling upon the neck of your unbelief and pride c. and this some have done when you can come from the Sacrament as Israel did out of the Red Sea and see your spiritual enemies bleeding gasping dying dead your lusts destroyed but your Souls preserved When thus you feel and find it surely the Sacrament has done you good and much good Q. 5. How doth it appear that the Spirit of the Lord is not so straitned but that he can cause this Ordinance to work for your good Answ 'T is a truth written with a Sun-beam 't is tanquam ex tripode dictum None of those Oracles may vye with this The Spirit of the Lord hath owned and blessed it to others and therefore can to you The Spirit of the Lord is God and what cannot a Great Almighty God do What will not a good and gracious God do by his Ordinances for his people His arm is not shortned nor love lessened or impaired Of all the Fathers were I confined to one alone I should fix on Ambrose Vide S. Ambrosii de sp s lib. 1. cap. 1 3 6 7 9 11 14 20. Lib. 2. cap. 4 9. 12. Lib. 3. cap. 5 12 14 17 23 Tom. 4. for he hath writ enough to evince the Deity and divine operations of the Holy Ghost from him I might extract what would abundantly confirm the Proposition under our present consideration but I forbear As St. Paul reasoned concerning the Resurrection of the dead saying in his Apology for himself before King Agrippa Act. 20.8 Why should it be thought a thing unreasonable with you that God should raise the dead So may I say to you in this Apology for the power of the Spirit Why should it be thought a thing unreasonable for the Spirit of the Lord to do all these things in at and by this sacred and solemn Ordinance The Doctrine under debate neither exceeds the bounds of Faith nor is it contrary to the experience of the Saints Doubtless some within these walls have had sweet experience of the powerful influences and mighty workings of the Spirit of the Lord in their Hearts and upon their Spirits at this Ordinance But we will review and succinctly reflect upon some of the forementioned particulars we shall fix on four or five the rest you may clear up to your selves in your private Meditations I remember that Athenagoras an Athenian but a Christian Philosopher disputing for the Resurrection of the Dead hath a passage which is pertinent to what I have in hand The impotency of an Agent ariseth either from his ignorance something he would do but knows not what nor how or from his insufficiency or weakness though he knows what and how to effect yet a power is wanting to accomplish and bring it to pass neither of which says he truly can be affirmed of God who is infinitely wise and powerful The same say I of the Spirit of the Lord He is a Spirit of Wisdom and Power and both infinite they are really the same with his Essence 1. He knows how to break the Heart for Sin and he can as easily bring it into a melting mourning frame alas we may pray and hear and wait in the use of means and yet our Hearts remain as hard as Adamant Fortiter yet Suaviter but when the Spirit of the Lord once takes them in hand he works irresistibly and effectually a nullo duro corde respuitur when he breaks in and breaths upon the Soul then it begins to thaw and melt and mourn We read of Peters sins exceeding great and very many were they sadly circumstantiated highly aggravated Mat. 26.75 Peter even now and but just now had a forewarning from Christ Peter was dearly belov'd of Christ none of the Twelve more John ever excepted He was the first whom Christ call'd to be an Apostle Peter was often admitted when others were excluded He yielded easily to the Temptation and that of a poor silly Damsel He sinned not in a corner once and again and a third time denies Christ with cursing and swearing c. yet when our Blessed Saviour began to look and the Spirit of the Lord set in to work then Peter went out and wept bitterly Mat. 26. ult A strange look and a strong look it was that thus quickly broke his heart in pieces he lookt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Theophylact observes with a look of love with a benign aspect Christ looks the Spirit works the Conscience stirs and out he goes and weeps exceedingly 2. He knows how to break the Heart from Sin and can easily do it be it a darling lust a Delilah never so near or dear a peccatum in deliciis He can make a full a final a total and an eternal Divorce between you and them though your lusts were mighty Hosts he can lay them dead at your feet I appeal from Gods Book to your own Breasts for the proof hereof 3. He can increase your Graces are they weak he can strengthen them if little he can increase them There is no Corruption so strong but he can make it weak no Grace so weak but he can make it strong This Men cannot Means cannot Angels cannot but He can 4. He can make you Holy as he is Holy that is for Quality not for Equality Holy in
is the Fountain the Sacrament is the Conduit Faith is the Cock the heart is the Vessel Turn but this Cock and the oyl of joy and peace will flow in abundantly into your Souls from the fountain of living waters There are two special seasons for a Christian to act faith in the former when under sore afflictions then he must live by Faith Faith is an inquisitive grace it will not be quiet till it have found out the Sin that hath provokt God and procur'd the rod Faith then eyes the Sin to humble the Soul and the promise to comfort the Soul Faith eyes the hand inflicting and works patience and it eyes the sin procuring and works repentance When God is striking for sin Faith will be striking at sin Faith will make great afflictions little bitter potions sweet unbelief makes short afflictions long and easie burdens heavy Faith will enable the Soul to pray Prayer i◠the very breath of Faith Faith is all for Prayer and Prayer is all for Faith the latter when about divine Institutions and holy Ordinances what Christ said to his Disciples Joh. 15.5 that faith Faith to us Without me ye can do nothing Nothing acceptable to God nothing profitable to your selves 2. Act Love and Charity now 's the time to have your Hearts fired inflamed with love to God and filled with love to Man As the Sacrament receiv'd without Faith is receiv'd without fruit so if receiv'd without love 't is receiv'd without life Love puts life into a Communicant and Love puts life into a Sacrament When the Lord Jesus was a dying on the Cross he stretcht out his Arms to both Malefactors to teach us surely when we come unto this Ordinance to be in charity with all men All men love their Friends but Communicants should love their enemies Amare est bonum alicui velle non nostrâ sed ejus causâ Aqu Amicos in te inimicos propter te Aug. else what do they more than others Mat. 5.47 The Spirit of the Lord is a Spirit of Love and loves to do good to such as live in love But we cannot live in love may some say No It may so happen you cannot live in peace I am for peace saith David but when I speak they are for war Well but you may live in love you may love them though they hate you If so you do your duty is done and you may come in hope and assurance to receive good by this Ordinance carry these two things along with you 1. 'T is connatural to a Sinner to hate a Saint if he chance to love him 't is because he is of a sweet nature or for some external Considerations not because he is of a sanctify'd nature Holiness is the thing he disgusts and hates 2. If any man love not the Lord Jesus think it not strange if he hate you never court his favour for his love is not worth the having who thinks not Christ worth loving See Tertullian's Book to Scapula who was a great enemy to Christians the beginning of it 3. Renew your Repentance and the Spirit of the Lord will do you good by this Ordinance The Jews before the Passover cleansed all their Vessels which they suspected might have any leaven in them they burned all they could find and what they could not find they cursed Thus should we do by our sins we should search every corner of our hearts and every passage of our lives if possible We should go with a Melius inquirendum What have I done since the last time I was at the Lords-Table What sin have I lapst into what dishonour have I done to God what disservice to Religion and now repent of all Do as the Royal Prophet did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Calculavi Consultavi Psal 119.59 I considered my ways and turn'd my feet into thy Testimonies I considered i.e. I set my head and heart and mind on work I turned them over and over upside down I weighed them in the ballance I thought on them i.e. what they were whither they did tend in what they would end I saw they were not good holy right I durst not own them at the great day and I turned I saw 't was high time to turn I busied not my self about other mens ways and works my own found me work enough A serious Consideration of our ways helps us to a sight of the evil of them a sight of the evil of our ways helps us to godly sorrow for them 2 Cor. 7.10 and godly sorrow worketh repentance The Dunghill is never so lothsom and offensive as when you stir in it you never so fully discern the Bran as when you sift the Corn you will never discern sin mourn for sin or turn from sin till you consider your ways O pray remember only the true penitent is the right qualify'd Communicant Say Lord here is the sin by search I have found it out that hath so highly dishonoured thee so greatly troubled me 't is this that soiled my Evidences cankered my Assurance I loth my self now and repent in dust and ashes Apposite to what I have in hand is that passage of St. Ambrose Ita nos quando ad altare Domini communicaturi accedimus venemum pessimum viz. Iracundiā invidiam suberbiam avaritiam haec sunt animarum venena ista prius repellamus c. Feria 2. post Dom. 1. Quadrag the subject or argument of his Sermon is The universal or general day of Judgment Serpens cum venerit ad bibendum aquam priusquam bibit extra fontem evomit venenum suum Even as a Serpent coming to drink first it vomits up its poyson and then drinketh so when we come to the Lords Table we must first by humble confession which is vomitus sordium animae cast up and vomit out our poyson the worst of poysos viz. Anger and Hatred Envy Pride and Covetousness Sacriledg Theft and Luxury these are the poysons the bane of the Soul away with these and then we shall be satisfied with those Spiritual dainties and Heavenly viands viz. the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Athenagoras the Athenian Philosopher hath a parallel passage in the very beginning of his Book de Resur Mortuorum Nec Medicus infundere salutare pharmacum aegroto corpori apte potest nisi vitiosa prius expurgârit aut affluentem purulentilentiam cohibuerit c. Fourthly Constantly and conscientiously wait diligently and duly attend upon the Lord in every Ordinance if you would have the Spirit of the Lord to do you good in and by This let this be your practice and it shall be your praise if it be somewhat painful yet you shall find it very gainful it is your duty and your glory too The Merchants Ship takes not in all its Lading at one Port nor does the Christian enrich himself with treasures of grace and peace at one Ordinance only He hath instituted none to be kickt at or neglected
ever thus I may in no wise maintain He is a great King and Soveraignty would and should be waited on It is good for a man to attend and wait on God in all his appointments Increase of grace strength and power against sin assurance of his love come too soon to that man who thinks Gods time of sending them is too long or late I will shut up this Discourse with that memorable passage of the Prophet Isaiah ch 30.18 Therefore will the Lord wait that he may be gracious unto you and therefore will he be exalted that he may have mercy upon you for the Lord is a God of Judgment Blessed are all they that wait for him And that of Habakkuk The vision is yet for an appointed time but at the end it shall speak and not lie though it tarry wait for it because it will surely came it will not tarry So say I the Sacrament is for an appointed time but in due time the Spirit of the Lord will speak peace though he tarry wait for him because he will surely come and give in more life and light and grace and peace yea joy without measure and joy without mixture Now to God the Father c. The End of the second Sermon The Third SERMON On Micah 2.7 Is the Spirit of the Lord straitned July the 27th 1673 Do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly T was excellent Counsel which an eminent German Divine once hinted to a young Preacher Luther Cum vides populum attentissime andientem conclude eo alacriores redibunt When you observe the people hearing most attentively conclude your discourse quickly and they will return with more alacrity This numerous Assembly gives in evidence enough thereof The Logical resolution of these words you heard before and the observations thence deduced The Propositions under debate cleared and several Queries resolved we are now upon the Sixth 'T is this Q. 6. What course shall a Christian take that he may have the Spirit of the Lord to do him good by this Ordinance of the Supper The Directions are many we have dispatcht four and now proceed to the fifth in order which is this Fifthly Be thankful to God for what good you have any time got by this precious Ordinance For Gratiarum actio est ad plus dandum invitatio He who can cordially praise him for a little life and strength and grace and peace shall soon have more than a little to thank him for the most expeditious way to get what at any time we want is to be grateful for that we already have others have only the shell you have had the kernel they nothing but bones and you the marrow Have you had any quicknings any refreshings from the Spirit of the Lord at this Table then say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bless the Lord O my Soul A Sacrament in its full extent compriseth two things A visible and an invisible part the Schools call that Sacramentum this rem Sacramenti Excuse this short digression pray upon this occasion If they of the Romish Church will stand their ground and be true to their own Principles it will appear to every vulgar capacity that they have none of this Sacrament amongst ' em For before they take and eat the visible part is gone both being converted into the Body and Blood of Christ for thus their Council or rather their Conspiracy at Trent or if you will that transcendent thing call'd Pope defines Transubstantiation 'T is a change of the whole substance of the Bread into the whole substance of the Body of Christ and of the Wine into his Blood Sess 13. Can. 2 and this change is wrought ere any take or eat This is a novel opinion a new Article of the Romish Creed of the same date with Pius the fourth without any basis or foundation in the Holy Scripture Vide Alanum de Euch. lib. 1 cap. 34. pag. 419. See that unanswerable piece of Bishop Morton in 8. Books against the Romish Mass as their own Scotus and Cameracensis and Cajetan confess Nay Bellarmine himself says Non tam ex Evangelio quam ex Ecclesiae authoritate constat But to return When this change is made where is that outward and visible part which their School-Divines call Sacramentum But have my Beloved by a lively faith fed on and been strengthned by this Heavenly Manna then take heed of unthankfulness 2. Chron. 32.25 O remember that But But Hezekiah remembred not to render unto the Lord according to the benefit done unto him O what a blot was that But in that good Kings scutcheon When you come next to the Lords Table bring Harps in your hands they are emblems of praise Heb. 5.8 The Spirit of the Lord will not I had almost said he cannot but do you good if humble and thankful for what good he hath done you already Sixthly Grieve not the Spirit of the Lord if you would have him to do you good by this Ordinance He is a delicate person if you grieve him he may nay will grieve you Has he begun in love to melt and mollifie your flinty hearts to increase your graces to speak peace unto your Souls if you now distaste him he may withdraw and leave the work at a sad and long stand you may hear no more of him of many days nay months or years Grieve not the holy Spirit of God why Paul gives his Ephesian Converts a cogent reason why they should not Ephes 4.30 thereby ye are sea led to the day of redemption if you do you may be the first will rue it you shall be without the witnessings and sealings of the Spirit for a longer time than you are aware of But how or when is the Spirit of the Lord grieved I answer briefly When his Ordinances are not attended his commands are not obeyed his comforts are not prized his graces are not acted and improved his assistance in duties is not desired his motions are not regarded In a word if you will not have the Spirit for your Counsellor you cannot expect him long to be your Comforter lay not a bar in his way and he still will do you good by this holy Ordinance Seventhly Heighten your hopes and expectations when you are about this Ordinance if you would have the Spirit of the Lord to do you good by it There is much good laid up for you come on then Sirs and quicken your hopes great expectations from God greatly honour the greatness of God and wonderfully advantage you 'T is as displeasing to him and as prejudicial to you when you believe little as when you do little Open your mouths and hearts wide you have not only Gods power for it but his promise too to fill you One reason why you receive so little good at it is because you look for so little good by it when your faith is very weak and your expectations are very low you do
then be not supercilious and censorious but candid and ingenuous towards others who come thence without any sense of increased grace or evidences of his love and favour Job 6.14 To him that is afflicted melted in the furnace of Affliction pity should be shewed Is it not enough that God doth grieve them by the suspension of his influences but must you add unto their sorrows and why should you insult over them Are you Saints so are they Though they walk in darkness yet they are children of Light Know and do your duty pray for them and pray with them Can you go from promise to promise and say These are mine Or from Ordinance to Ordinance and say By all these the Spirit of the Lord hath done and still is doing me good Well be you thankful but be not proud nor supercilious be not high-minded but fear At the next Communion he may vail his Face from you and reveal his love to them whom now you brow-beat Psal 30.6 7. He may turn your Wine into water and their water into wine he may do them much more and you much less good at the next address you make unto the Lords Table Let not such as are high and rich in grace and peace censure them that are poor and low and do not you that are low envy them that are high but bear ye one anothers burdens rejoyce in one anothers Graces mutually promote the work of Holiness be less in censuring and more in praying Oret Apostolus pro plebe oret plebs pro Apostolo pro se omnia membra orent caput pro omnibus interpellat Aug. in Psal 38. the Pastor for the People the People for their Pastor one member for another ever remembring that Jesus Christ our merciful high Priest is pleading and interceding for us all Egregia laus non modo non satiscere sed indies proficere in melius Grot in Rev 2 19 5 Walk fruitfully Make it your business to do all the good you can Wherefore doth the Spirit of the Lord at any time or by any means do you good but only to make you better and to enable you to do better Go then and abound in the work of the Lord let your last be more than your first more for quantity better for quality Be filled with the fruits of righteousness This Ordinance concerns the Soul may be the last is the purchase of Christ is a good gale for Heaven Study then to be fruitful which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God Be more vigorous in every holy duty more zealous for the advancement of Gods Glory Follow the Lord fully faithfully and chearfully Study how you may answer his expectations from you his dispensations to you and the many obligations that are upon you Hath he done more for you do you the more for him or your answer and account at the last day will be sad indeed You love to see every thing you have fruitful much more doth the Spirit of the Lord love to see you so O how happy were we yea Foelices ter amplius might it but as truly be said of us as it was of Joseph Joseph is a fruitful Bough Gen. 49.22 Naturalists say of the Pomecitron that it bears fruit at all times of the year this is the Emblem of an Evangelical Communicant As a plant differs from a stone by vegetation and a Beast differs from a plant by sense and a Man differs from a Beast by speech and reason so should a Communicant differ from other men by fruitfulness Come then and spread your branches send forth your spices as Aromatick Trees in Lebanon Christ chides a little Faith Mat. 14.31 but admires and applauds a great Faith Jer. 11.16 Joh. 15.8 Mat. 25 30 Non tantū de non servato sed de non aucto munere damnabuntur homines Profp O woman great is thy Faith Scholars are not at ease till they have taken all their Degrees though it cost them dear and why should Christians till they come to a Non ultra Our blessed Saviour did only two terrible wonders the one was the drowning of the Swine Mat. 8. and yet that was only done by his permission The other was his cursing and blasting of the barren Fig-tree and that was symbolical not done in spleen to the Tree but only to manifest his indignation against an unfruitful profession Let us view that Text Mar. 11.13 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 subaudi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ubi enim erat tempus erat ficuum vel tempestivae ac maturae trant ficus Accentus enim spiritusque distinctiones negligebant veteres Mark 11.13 Seeing a Fig-tree afar off having leaves he came if haply he might find any thing thereon but when he came to it he found nothing but leaves For the time of Figs was not yet You will say was not this a cruel act or unreasonable had it been a time for Figs the blasting of it had been reasonable and just I answer the words in the original are not rightly comma'd and accented if they were they would run thus For where he was it was a time of Figs as one well observes viz. Learned Heinsius on Mark 11.13 You have been some of you at least three or four days together at the Lords Table upon this signal and special occasion besides your Communions in course every first Lords-day in the Month. You are planted in a fruitful Hill Isa 15.1 The Sun-beams of mercies Zions silver-drops have fallen on you you hear more of God and from God in one day than some thousands in the world have done in all their lives These are your enjoyments what now are your improvements your receipts are high let not your returns be low if he find you without fruit he will leave you without excuse Nay he may deal with you as with that barren Fig-tree blast and not bless you But my hopes are and my prayers shall be for you as St. Paul's were for the Philippians that your Faith and Love and all your Graces may abound Phil. 1.9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet more and more 6 Walk closely Keep close that 's my meaning to this precious Ordinance where you have so happily met with all this good from the Spirit of the Lord those sweet experiences you have had of his quickening and strengthening influences should engage you if it will not others to a more constant and diligent attendance upon him in this solemn Ordinance The Question once was Mat. 22.12 How camest thou in hither not having on the Wedding garment The Question I must invert and put it thus to you Having on the Wedding-garment how comes it now to pass that you go out Do vestures or gestures or the prayers of the Church deter or drive you hence would you not complain of us should we excommunicate or cast you out and is it well done in you thus to
Ambrose his Counsel with you Toto animo odi damna quod diligit mundus Tanquam mortuus a labe affectu illius te separa Epistolarū lib. 4. Floriano sicut sepultus nil habeas carum de saeculo tanquam defunct us omni terreno te abdica negotio contemne vivens quae post mortem habere non poteris 10 Walk watchfully 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 uprightly As it is not enough that you be and do good for a day or two before you come to the Sacrament but your care must be to walk uprightly so it must be your care when you are gone thence to walk thus Go then and sin no more Joh. 5.14 no more so wilfully so prefumptuously To sin after a Sacrament is to sin with a witness To sin against clearest light and dearest love provokes exceedingly and yours will be found of this nature To provoke God in a Wilderness is not so bad or sad as to provoke God in a Paradise 'T was an aggravation of Eves sin to listen to the whisperings of the Serpent when placed there 't is so for you who have been sealed with the holy Spirit of promise now to listen to the delusions of that lying Spirit Enar. in Psal 29 Adam in stercore says St. Austin est cautior quam Adam in Paradiso Sacramentum est juramentum every wilful iniquity now comes little short of perjury There are some sins which the fallen Angels were never guilty of they sinned not against the Patience of God non expectavit Angelos they suffered immediately as they had sinned Nor against the tenders and offers of Grace the golden Scepter was never held out nor pardon offer'd to them Nor against the Death and Passion of Jesus Christ he died not for them if now we sin not out of weakness but out of wilfulness our sins will be found such as the Devils themselves are not guilty of What higher priviledg is or can mortal man be capable of on this side Heaven than to be feasted at the Lords Table with these Heavenly viands Now the greatness of the Priviledg adds to the greatness of the crime Ubi sublimior praerogativa ibi major culpa Salv. de Gub. Dei lib. 4 pag 128. your sins after a Sacrament cannot take Christ from you but they may take rest from you Psal 38.3 They cannot take Grace from you but they may take peace from you God may break your bones and leave you long in the dark you may never recover that comfort and assurance which you had before Wicked men have their Heaven here and their Hell hereafter and some good men have their Hell here and their Heaven hereafter Now Sirs you have been at the Lords Table you have seen what Sin cost Christ what buffetings what bruisings what woundings what bleedings and shall not this engage us to greater circumspection to our dying day having received so much good from the Spirit of the Lord shall not we watch our ways and keep our Hearts and Eyes and Tongues Obstrue quinque Fenestras i.e. quinque sensus ut luceat Domus Prov. Arab. and All with more care and diligence If Israel play the Harlot yet Judah must not transgress Having now been at such an Ordinance as this shall we again return to break his Commandments Every mercy is a motive to duty and to walk circumspectly watchfully wisely uprightly is one without dispute Eph. 5.15 Mark 13.37 Col. 4.5 Let not the increase of our mercies be the decrease of our duties Though we walk in yet let us not walk after the Flesh but after the Spirit of the Lord who by this Institution hath done us all this good Once more Walk Penitently You must renew your repentance as well after as before this Ordinance Call to remembrance the deadness of your Hearts the coldness of your Love the unactiveness of your Faith the many wandrings and distractions of your minds and spirits when about this duty There are some special seasons for the renewing of repentance As 1. When you are a dying though we must not defer it till death yet we must be sure to renew it at death We should take our fill of repentance before we take our leave of repentance thus St. Austin did he caus'd the Penitential Psalms to be fixt before him on the wall and as he lay in bed he wept and read and read and wept abundantly Intuebatur legebat jugitr ac ubertim flebat as Possidonius relates it De vita Aug. cap. 31. 2. And when you are suffering for God or from God under some great afflictions though repentance must not be limited to a time of affliction yet it must be renewed in a time of affliction for Gods end and design in and by them is not to break our backs but to break our hearts Once more 3. When you are a doing or have done any great and more solemn duty What is there nothing now you have been at this Ordinance to renew your repentance for was all so well done did corruption act so weakly and Grace so vigorously and strongly was the evil spirit so chained and restrained and did the good Spirit of the Lord so enlarge enliven and strengthen is there no need of praying over your prayers again of repenting that your repentance was no more Evangelical Did you thorowly consider as you ought your Saviors Passion in the matter and quality of it in its bitter ingredients and heightning circumstances of it or your own sins the meritorious cause of it You had some light about this in your heads but was it attended with power and efficacy upon your hearts for the clearest notions without suitable impressions will not advantage you And thus have we dispatcht the counsels which concern you Saints and also resolv'd the seventh Query If thus you walk you will much honour the Spirit of the Lord who is the great Agent in your Regeneration Illumination Conversion and in your proficiency by this sacred institution And as you are concern'd to honour the Son for what he hath done without so are you concern'd to honour the Spirit for what he hath done within You will honour this Ordinance too and advantage your selves and you will be instrumental to bring in others whose hearts are too full of disgusts and prejudices against this high and holy Institution I told you of something I had to say to sinners I could be well contented to say nothing at all had I none at all to speak to But there are two ranks or sorts of them 1. Such as peremptorily but most perniciously and erroneously assert that they are above Ordinances this or that Sans-or supra-ordinance men in what predicament to place them how to call them or how to cure them I well know not Is not the Spirit of the Lord straitened can he do his people good by this Ordinance why then is there no breaking of Bread no Sacrament of the Lords Supper
us if so you will of God if so you dare of his Decrees Ordinances this or that but assure your selves he can as soon cease to be God as cease to be good or just he will lay the fault where you will not like it whence you shall never be able to remove it even at your own doors Therefore be advised 1. Cherish not any longer such undervaluing thoughts of this mysterious holy and precious Ordinance Judg not rashly nor falsly of the things of God I am speaking for God and for his Institutions and though it be an easie matter to slight me your Minister yet I fear it will be no easie province to answer your Maker for the contempt you do to his sacred Ordinances 2. Break off your Sins by repentance and that speedily though a late repentance may be a true repentance yet you will find that a late repentance will prove an hard repentance a disease the longer it grows upon a man the harder it is to be cured Be quick in this duty lest God be quick in judgment Rev. 2.3 Repent or else I will come unto thee quickly Mark that quickly Lament and weep over your Souls for the loss of all that good you might ere this day have got by this Ordinance Now get your persons clothed with his Righteousness your natures cleansed by his Spirit your sins pardoned in his blood and doubt not if then you come but the Spirit of the Lord will do you good by this Ordinance The good Lord follow this work of Conviction with a work of Conversion And make this word effectual to confirm the doubtful to quicken the slotful to encourage the fearful Go to God though you cannot go in Faith yet go for Faith though you cannot yet he can reform your lifes and put you into a right frame for communion with him in this Ordinance We are now arrived at the last Enquiry Q. 8. What soul-reviving comforts doth this truth afford to the people of God who care take and conscience make of walking uprightly Resp I will not presume too far upon your patience and therefore shall not launch out into this vast Ocean take an account of them in these ten particulars and these ten rather in Figures than in words at length Is the spirit of the Lord at liberty and has he a sufficiency of power to enlighten and strengthen and comfort and to do you good by this Sacrament Here is comfort for you in ten cases or respects 1. As to the weakness of these Sacramental Elements alas what is a little morsel of bread or a sip of Wine and a few words spoken over them no Transubstantiating words we abhor all thoughts of that Doctrine which is so contrary to our Senses to Reason to the Scriptures to the comfort of the Saints to the honour of Christs glorious Body all which is abundantly evinced by our Divines True it is indeed they are poor and weak things in themselves but you must remember they are of divine Institution this is an Ordinance of the great God who hath own'd it and can and will bless it Though these outward Elements be weak yet the Spirit of the Lord is strong he delights to do great things by weak means What is the word if abstractly considered but a dead letter yet 't is the power of God unto Salvation to them that believe 't is mighty through God it transforms the heart reforms the life by it the dead in sin are quickened sinners are turned from darkness unto light and this is a greater work to turn the Soul from a state of Sin to Grace than from Grace to Glory By it Lepers are cleansed afflicted Consciences comforted c. What is a little water in Baptism to a tender Infant 't is in it self but a mean thing but water-baptism is of divine sanction and institution Joh. 1.33 He that sent me to Baptize with water and Infant-Baptism is so too Mat. 28.19 Go disciple ye all Nations Posito toto generali pars ejus negari non debet How Baptizing them c. and the Spirit of the Lord can do us good by it yea our tender Infants too even in their Minority much more when they arrive at years of Discretion He can and hath made his Elect who were baptized at ten days as careful to repent to believe and obey the Gospel as those ever were who were twenty years of age ere they were dipped Say men what they will of it or against it that it is a sign or shadow this or that if God set us a shadow a brazen Serpent it shall not be in vain to look up unto it Do not less prize or use the institution being well assur'd of the Lords Benediction I told you but even now That the meanness of the Element adds more to the honour and wonder of the Sacrament And that it derives its being and value from its Author I refer you for more of this to St. Ambrose his fourth Book de Sacr. chap. 4. Tom. 4. pag. 173. And to Bishop Reynolds his Meditations on the Holy Sacraments chap. 4. 2ly Here is comfort for you in case of bitter taunts and Satyrical or Sarcastical speeches which you may meet with from ignorant sensual and secure Sinners because of your constant and conscientious attendance upon God in this Sacred Ordinance Nazianzen said long since 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In all Ages the most serious holy men are represented as the most vicious wicked men have no favour from God and good men shall have no favour from them whilst they have virulent Tongues or violent hands If the Son of God was crown'd with thorns let not the Saints of God expect a crown of Roses As the Lilly amongst the Thorns as the lamb amongst the Wolves so is the Spouse amongst the Daughters They will do by you as Stunica did by Erasmus observe and review all your works and pick and cull out only what they conceive is worst but those perhaps as did his may prove your greatest truths and vertues However solace your selves in this The Spirit of the Lord is doing you good and never the less for their saying or doing you evil what though you hear ill whilst you fare well their reproaches shall hurt you no more than the Dog does the Moon which he cannot bite though he bark all night at it Apol. pro Christianis Antonin Virtus nihil est imminuta propter existimationem vulgi Nobis temerariae quorundam calumniae sanctioris vitae institutum non obscurant nec per eas gloriae nostrae coram Deo aliquid decedit as Athenagoras told Antoninus and Commodus in his Apology for the Christians a Diamond sparkles never the less nor is it any whit the less precious because an ignorant or a blind man disparageth it 't is so in this case their reproachings tend to your greater glory they will wish but perhaps when 't is too late they had been fitted
for admitted to and shared with you in this Sacred Ordinance 3ly Here is matter of comfort for you in respect of the meanness of the men or weakness of the persons by whom it is dispensed We are not Prophets we pretend to no such inspirations or immediate calls as they had we are not Apostles we have no immediate call from Christ to preach the Gospel to all Nations we cannot do not dare not pretend to an infallible conduct of the Spirit as they had and some ignorantly and impudently now challenge to themselves No we are men men subject to like passions and perturbations temptations and infirmities as they were and perhaps to more than you are you know it we confess and lament it Guilty were we of sin before we could do any thing and ever since we could do any thing we have done nothing without sin But in this may you and we not little solace our selves Though we can do you little good very little good yet the Spirit of the Lord can do you very much All we can do is to endeavour it but the conversion of Souls is not ours but Gods work we may 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speak what is in it self perswasive but 't is the Spirit of the Lord alone that can and must 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 actually perswade you The efficacy of the Word and Sacraments depends not upon the arts or parts or gifts or graces or greatness or goodness of men but upon the power institution and blessing of God Is a golden treasure ever the worse because 't is laid up in an earthen vessel or is water the less sweet because conveyed to your cisterns in leaden pipes Mark well the Text in hand and you will find the great stress laid upon your own upright walking if you expect a blessing a parallel you have in Heb. 4.2 The word preached did not profit them not being mixed with faith in them that heard it It is not said Not being mixed with faith in them that preach it but in them that heard it In short the spirit of the Lord can do great and mighty things as by poor and weak means so he can do great and mighty things by poor and weak men He imployed not at the first publication of the Gospel any mighty Monarchs or noble Lords or profound Philosophers for the Conversion of the Nations whose Majesty Authority and Wisdom might have had a powerful and prevailing influence on their inferiours No a few poor Fishermen are the men 2 Cor. 4. that the excellency of the power might be and appear to be of God alone and not in or of man at all Men and means are productive of nothing if they operate only from an inherent or natural vertue but when they have a divine stamp upon them the Spirit of the Lord can do great and mighty things by them 4ly Here is comfort for you in case of temptations to disbelieve the Godhead or Deity of the Holy Ghost other mediums are urged to evince his Divinity but the Ancients make much use of this viz. the glorious operations and most mighty and powerful works done by him as Cyril and Châ—â—â—ostom and Ambrose de Sp. sancto He that can quicken dead Souls subdue such strong lusts implant and increase Grace and bless the Ordinances and all this by an immediate primary underived power as the Spirit doth certainly he is more than a meer creature he is truly God for these are works for a God and for a God only O the boundless incomprehensible and infinite power of the Spirit What all the Creatures yonder above the Clouds with these on Earth cannot that he can do omnipoteutissima facilitate Aug. Epist 107. ad vitalem non procul a fine as an Ancient elegantly expresseth it when he will work who shall let him Isa 43.13 He acts omnipotenter insuperabiliter this speaks him to be God indeed He is not strained he can do his people good by his institutions 5ly Here is comfort for you too in case of mighty oppositions from the flesh when you are about any holy and religious exercises there is no one duty in the whole course of Christianity but it is sure to meet with one impediment or other The Flesh if nothing else do wil belusting against the Spirit corruption will be opposing grace so that you cannot do the things that you would and should The agency and enmity of the flesh appears both in the matter and manner of our performances Sometimes it hinders from duty from praying hearing and receiving sometimes in duty nay it ever hinders us in the manner abating the vigor and fervour or lessening the alacrity of our Souls in duty your own experience is proof sufficient but here is comfort for you in this present case the Spirit of the Lord is not shortned nor straitned he can help your infirmities subdue corruptions quicken graces and in spite of all oppositions he can bless his own Institutions He can make mountains to become plains and cut a way through the hard rock Zach 4.9 Behold I am the Lord the God of all flesh is there any thing too hard for me Jer. 32.27 It may poor Soul be too hard for thee but not for me this is applicable to the Spirit in the personal consideration of God and it is no less comfortable than applicable A Child of God fain would do more but cannot a wicked man may do more but will not the godly mans heart is larger than the duties a wicked mans duties are larger than his heart 't is the complaint of a gracious Soul O how do my corruptions hinder in these holy duties But O says the other how do these duties hinder me in the pursuit of my lusts A godly man is griev'd because he cannot do all the good that he would and the other because he cannot do all the evil that he would 'T is the burden of a Saint the greatest trouble upon his Spirit that he can pray no more fervently hear no more profitably receive no more worthily so to bungle and baffle and trifle is his great trouble but he hath this to comfort him The good Spirit of the Lord to assist and help him in every duty and he knows that his arm is not shortned 6ly Here is comfort for you as in case of the activeness of the flesh so in case of the weakness of the Spirit i.e. of Grace you find that you are wofully and wonderfully straitned in your selves you complain of the narrowness of your Hearts the unactiveness of Grace you are not so humble and holy not so tender-hearted and enlarged your lives are nothing so blameless and harmless as you could wish and this to you is matter of saddest Lamentation and deepest Humiliation But remember pray the Spirit of the Lord is not straitned though you be he is not and this is matter of consolation though you be impotent chill and dull yet if you be sensible