duty and are at this time very desirous to reduce men to a right understanding of this great Ordinance and a reformation of their practice touching the same is all of it very true But notwithstanding their care and our endeavours in obedience both to God and them yet we find people very averse thereunto mighty unwilling to do their duties though it be their greatest concern so to do And probably this their backwardness may proceed from that very reason which you mention viz. the inconsiderate rashness and intemperate zeal of some who in the times of confusion have usurped the Office of the Ministery and either out of design or for want of understanding or both have put such a frightful character upon this holy Ordinance as hath unsetled and distracted the minds of many well-meaning Christians How much these men have to answer for who by this means have broken the Communion and disturbed the peace of the best reformed and most flourishing Christian Church in the whole World they themselves will one day find But I am glad to find you so well inclined as to desire to have your Judgment better informed that being the only true way to settle your mind and restore it to a calm quiet and peaceable temper again To satisfy therefore this your so just and godly desire I shall endeavour with all plainness to acquaint you with the genuine and true notion of this holy Sacrament but in order thereunto it may be convenient that in the first place I give you some account of Sacraments in general Sacraments are either properly or improperly so called A Sacrament improperly so called is when the word is used in a large sence for any sacred rite or religious duty And thus both the Jewish and Christian Writers use the word for those who have been conversant in the Writings of the former tell us that many of their sacred Rites are by them called by that name And those who have narrowly searched the Records of the ancient Fathers since the Institution of Christianity have observed That all or most Articles which are peculiar to Christian Faith and all or most duties of Religion containing that which sense or natural reason cannot of it self discern are by them commonly called Sacraments And in this sence the Church of Rome instead of her seven Sacraments may reckon seventy or seven-score or more if she please But there are Sacraments properly so called when in a restrained sence we apply the word to some few principal divine Ceremonies and then it imports in every such Ceremony two things viz. The substance of the Ceremony it self which is visible and somewhat else which is more secret in reference whereunto we conceive that Ceremony to be a Sacrament Of this latter sort we now understand the Word and of this kind we meet with two only in the Old Testament viz. Circumcision and the Passover and correspondent thereunto we find two only in the New Testament viz. Baptism and the Lord's Supper The Word Sacrament is variously taken and according to the different acceptations of it diversly defined Sometimes it is taken for the sign only and then it is stiled A visible sign of invisible grace Sometimes it is taken for the thing signified only and then it is called The free mercy of God offered to us in and by Christ Sometimes it is taken for the whole viz. both for the sign and the thing signified and the whole action thereabout and then it is said to be A Testimony confirming by an external sign the wholesome promises of God to Believers and as it were engraving them in their minds All which is compendiously delivered to us in our Church-Catechism in Answer to that Question What meanest thou by this Word Sacrament The Answer whereunto is this I mean an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us ordained by Christ himself as a means whereby we receive the same and a pledge to assure us thereof From all which it appears that there are four Conditions requisite in every Sacrament properly so called the want of any of which will overthrow the whole notion and nature of it 1. It must be of divine Institution For being a Seal of a divine promise of Eternal Life and such spiritual Grace as none can give but only God It cannot be instituted either by the Apostles or holy Angels or any other but only God. And therefore our Church when she defineth a Sacrament of the New Testament maketh this a necessary part of her definition that it is ordained by Christ himself Hence is it that the Evangelists when they relate the History of the Institution of this Sacrament are so careful to mention the Author and Instituter of it And St. Paul perswading the Church of Corinth to a due and orderly Celebration of this Sacrament is careful to acquaint them That what he delivered unto them he had received from the Lord 1 Cor. 11.23 2. It must have some visible sign For Sacraments are therefore used that by visible signs we may know and comprehend Heavenly and invisible things and therefore our Church in her definition of a Sacrament calleth it An outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace 3. It must have a divine Promise added to the sign that so the thing signified may be united therewith The promise must import spiritual grace here and Eternal Life hereafter Which Promise is as it were the Soul of the Sacrament for as man consists of Body and Soul so a Sacrament consists of a sign and thing signified And this is the inward and spiritual grace mentioned in the Definition 4. It must be given to the whole Church as a perpetual sign viz. as long as the outward form of the Church instituted by God shall continue For the Law concerning the form of outward Worship being changed the use of those Sacraments which were instituted during the continuance of that form is also changed So the Sacraments of the Old Testament are not now used in the New because the external Form of God's Worship is now changed So likewise Anointing the gift of Miracles c. though they were given to the Church of the New Testament yet because they were neither given to the whole Church nor for perpetuity they cannot properly be called Sacraments These are those four Conditions which ought jointly to meet in every Sacrament properly so called For Whatsoever wants a divine Institution a visible sign a divine promise added to that sign and a coaeval duration with the external Form of God's Worship in that Church to which it is given cannot properly be called a Sacrament This short account of Sacraments in general I thought fit to premise looking upon it as a good preparative for the better understanding of the true notion of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper in particular Parishioner I heartily thank you Mr. Pastor for the pains you have taken in thus clearing
destructive to our selves This is to add sin to sin and by that means to heap up wrath against the day of wrath upon our own heads Now that to Do this is a duty incumbent upon us by vertue of a Divine Command I have plainly shown you and the want of opportunity you have no reason to complain of being so often and so earnestly invited thereunto And therefore unless you have some just impediment to hinder your present compliance with that command you have no reason to decline your duty nor any cause to fancy to your self such a liberty as you now enquire after 3. Consider That the solemn profession of our Christian Faith according to Gods Ordinance is a Duty which all Christians ought most readily and upon every just occasion to perform Luke 12.8 9. Whosoever shall confess me before men him shall the son of man confess also before the Angels of God. But he that shall deny me before men shall be denied before the Angels of God saith our blessed Saviour Thereby plainly intimating that whosoever shall be ashamed to own him and to confess their Faith in him in this World them will he disown and be ashamed of at the great and last day Now the Celebration of this holy Feast is one of the most memorable actions of our life wherein we are most solemnly to Commemorate the dying love of the blessed Jesus 1 Cor. 11.24 26. For this we ought to do in remembrance of him And as often as we do it we are to shew forth the Lord's death till he come i. e. We are herein to commemorate all that the holy Jesus hath done and suffered for us and not be ashamed to confess our Faith in a dying Saviour And that all this is according to God's Ordinance is plain because it is a duty incumbent upon us by vertue of a Divine Command Unless therefore you can dispense with your duty to God and content your self to dissemble your Christianity unless you can perswade your self that the profession of your Faith in Jesus a thankful acknowledgment of all that he hath done and suffered for you and a publick owning of all those favours and benefits which you have received from him be things indifferent to you It will be in vain to pretend such a liberty as you now enquire after By this time Neighbour Parishioner I hope you are satisfied that neither you nor any other who pretend to Christianity are left at liberty in this case That to Do this or leave it Vndone as they please is no part of that liberty wherewith Christ hath made them free Parishioner I thank you Mr. Pastor for the pains you have taken with me which by God's blessing upon them have not been in vain they have had their design'd effect for I am now very well satisfied that it is not a thing indifferent but a Duty But pray Sir be not offended if I trouble you with another Question Pastor No my good Neighbour I shall not pray be free and rest assured that you cannot better please me than by giving me an opportunity of offering you all the satisfaction that is in my power Parishioner My next Question Sir is this Obj. 2. If this command be so strict and general and our obedience thereto so indispensible are not all then who live within the pale of the Church whether good or bad without any exception to be admitted thereunto Pastor You may remember that in answer to your former Question I did intimate to you that there are some cases which though they do not lessen the Duty yet do limit the command as to our present actual obedience thereunto For as our Saviour forbade the casting of Pearl before Swine and the giving of the Childrens Bread to Dogs so hath he left power with his Church to make a difference between worthy and unworthy Receivers and where the case is so manifest as to come within her Cognizance to judge who are so and who are not And besides those cases before intimated there are some other wherein the Church doth with good reason take upon her to restrain and keep back some from prophaning this holy Sacrament and ruining themselves Especially these that follow 1. When men are grosly ignorant so little knowing in the things of God so much unacquainted with the Religious part of their duties that in this case what the Prophet Jonah said of many thousands in the great City of Nineveh is but too truly verified in them Jonah 4.11 They cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand And of this sort God knows we have too many in our days who are so sottishly ignorant of what concerns God and themselves at least the better part of themselves viz. their immortal Souls that though the light of the Gospel shine so gloriously yet still they sit in darkness though the glorious truths thereof be daily preached so plainly asserted and so frequently inculcated upon them yet are they no more improved in their knowledge of them than those poor Indians who never heard of the Gospel 'T is strange indeed there should be such but not so strange as true Now such as these till they are better instructed in their Religion in general and in this part of their Religion in particular ought to be withheld from being partakers of this holy Sacrament For Our Church supposeth all those her Members who either do or are fit to receive the holy Sacrament Rubrick after the Communion Service to be persons of discretion i. e. persons of some competent knowledge able to discern between the Table of the Lord and their own Tables between this holy Feast and a common Meal What measure of knowledge there ought to be seeing God hath given us no standard to judge by I shall not presume my self wise enough to determine But that there ought to be some and a competent share of knowledge too will appear if we consider what qualifications our Church requires in those whom she admitteth to be Communicants They must be such as truly repent them of their former sins They must be such as stedfastly purpose to lead a new life such as have a lively Faith in God's mercy through Christ such as thankfully remember the sufferings and death of the blessed Jesus for their sakes Ch. Catech. and they must be in charity with all men All which do presuppose a good share of knowledge and a godly practice of what they know Besides all who are admitted to the Lord's Supper by the Rules of our Church ought not only to be baptized but also after Baptism to be confirmed by the Bishop or at least to be ready and desirous to be confirmed Rubrick after the Order of Confirmation Now in order to Confirmation it is required that they be of a competent age able to say in their Mother tongue the Creed the Lord's Prayer Rubrick after the Catechism and the Ten Commandments and to answer
can not only be content but with chearfulness abandon the ways of sin and wickedness and with eagerness pursue the principles of holiness and true righteousness Whether we be convinced in our Judgments of the unreasonableness and folly of the one and of the great reasonableness and equity of the other and whether these sentiments if any such be found in us be as yet formed into resolutions of better obedience for the future These are the things which we are to examine our selves about and that we may the better do it Let us in the next place consider 4. By what rules we are to proceed in this Self-Examination The rules by which we are to examine our selves are these two viz. The word of God and our own Consciences The one will shew us our duty and the other will either accuse or excuse us as to the performance of it Let us therefore carefully study the Book of God and make it our business to be acquainted with his Will made known unto us therein Let us keep a good correspondence with our own Consciences neither stifling the genuine dictates thereof nor suffering them to be groundlesly clamorous upon us Let them not strain at a Gnat whilst they swallow a Camel let them not start and boggle at things indifferent whilst they greedily embrace things unlawful A good understanding of the former will help to inform the latter and these two thus qualified will be the best rules to examine our selves by Let us therefore make use of these rules and for our further direction let us in the last place consider 5. For what end we ought to examine our selves The end of our Examination as I have already hinted to you in the beginning of this Discourse ought to be amendment and reformation In order whereunto several things will be requisite as 1. A serious Meditation of God's goodness and our own unworthiness The former of these will show us under what obligations we are and the latter may serve to humble us under the sense of our miscarriages and both these together may contribure much to our amendment and Reformation The kindness and love of God our Saviour toward us being duly considered cannot chuse but constrain us to live more holily and righteously and the consideration of our own unworthy and disingenious dealing must needs make us ashamed of what we have done and willing to do better Let us therefore often think of these things and endeavour to awaken those sentiments of duty and gratitude honour and honesty interest and advantage to perswade us to a good improvement of this Meditation 2. Repentance for sins past Reformation of life at present and a firm resolution of better obedience for the future In vain shall we examine our selves if after we have found what is amiss in us we do not repent of it and to little purpose will that repentance be if we do not reform and amend it and as little worth will that reformation be at present if we do not resolve and perform our resolutions too by living more holily and righteously for the time to come For this end therefore ought we to examine our selves 3. Prayer to God will also be highly necessary in this Case No Christian Duty can be successfully carried on without God's blessing and the divine assistance and God doth not ordinarily vouchsafe that to any but those who faithfully and fervently pray for it If therefore we expect any good Issue of our Self-Examination we must thereunto add Prayer When we have thereby discovered our sins we must pray unto God for the mortification and forgiveness of them When we address our selves to God's Table we must pray unto him to compose and settle our thoughts and to bless and direct us in what we go about And that our Prayers may be the more effectual we must add our hearty endeavours for the accomplishing of what we pray for Without thus doing we cannot hope for any good effect of our Examination 4. Watchfulness will be very necessary We must watch over our selves over our thoughts over our words and over our actions that nothing therein be displeasing unto God. We must watch against our Enemies the World the Flesh and the Devil that they do not withdraw us from our duty and perswade us unto folly Without this our Examination will be to little purpose and our reformation and amendment will go but slowly on 5. Fear and reverence or an awful regard of that Deity with whom and upon whom we are invited to feast will also be very necessary For if the Examination of our selves and the consideration of what we go about do not produce in us reverential apprehensions of the divine presence if it do not make us more careful in what manner we make our approaches thereinto and how we behave our selves whilst there if it do not create in us a fear to displease or offend him with whom we are to feast if it do not make us very cautious of provoking that Deity whom we pretend to worship and adore in this holy action It is an evident sign that our pretended Examination hath no tendency towards amendment and reformation 6. Thankfulness for so great a mercy as is now offered us will also be highly necessary Can we consider what God our Saviour hath done and suffered for us and what advantages he doth daily offer to us without being deeply sensible and truly thankful If we can it will be a sad symptom of the deplorableness of our present estate and condition and give but little hopes of our amendment and reformation 7. Faith and confidence in God through Jesus Christ that our endeavours herein will be successful This also will be highly necessary For doubting destroys all the comfort which we might reasonably hope for from the performance of our duties and takes off the chearfulness with which we ought to prosecute our endeavours Let us therefore lay aside this and draw near unto God with full assurance of Faith. Let us believe that he not only is but that he is a Rewarder of all those that faithfully seek him Having duly performed those duties that are required on our parts let us not doubt but believe that he will accept of our so doing and bless us therein Thus have I endeavoured to make good the first part of my Promise by shewing you what is required of all those who come to the Lord's Supper viz. Self-Examination as also by shewing you the reasonableness and necessity of our so doing what we are to examine our selves about by what rules we are to proceed and for what end we ought to examine our selves And whosoever he be that doth seriously set himself to the performance of this duty and in so doing doth carefully observe these rules may with confidence approach and reasonably hope to be a wellcome Guest at God's Table Parishioner Sir You have very well acquitted your self in this first part of your Promise I am
cannot do it to please you and therefore he will not go about to do it at all You command another to do the same thing and he answereth he cannot do it so well as he should but in obedience to your command he will do it as well as he can and he hopeth you will be pleased with his endeavours Which of these two would you account the better and more acceptable Servant I do not doubt but that you would prefer the latter Well this is your very Case God Commands you to Do this though you cannot do it so well as you should yet do it as well as you can by so doing you obey the Command of God who knows your infirmities and instead of punishing will pity them Though God expect all that we can do for him yet he expects no more than we can do For if there be first a willing mind it is accepted according to that a man hath not according to that he hath not 2 Cor. 8.12 2. Whether it be not a thing certain that you and I and all men must once die and if so Whether we shall not then be called to an account for the doing or not doing of this duty There is an appointed time for all men once to die and after that the Judgment Hebr. 9.27 At which time all men must receive the things done in the body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad 2 Cor. 5.10 3. Whether any of us know the time when we must die if not it may be this moment as well as the next and if we be not fit to receive the Sacrament we are not fit to die and if we be taken in the act of disobedience to a known command what can we expect but a fearful looking for of Judgment and fiery indignation to devour us 4. What is the reason that we are not fitted and prepared for this holy Sacrament Is the fault in God or Christ No they kindly invite and command us too to do our duties and this duty in particular Is it in the Sacrament it self No that is ready prepared for us Is it in the Ministers who are employed about these holy things No they in the name of God and Christ do earnestly invite and intreat us and are ready to deliver the same unto us If therefore we are unfit and unprepared the fault must be in our selves and what is this but to double our guilt by doubling our sin i.e. by disobeying the Command of God and persevering in so doing to contract a greater guilt When you have asked your self these Questions and seriously considered what answer is to be given unto them then be advised seriously to ponder Whether this Plea of unfitness and unpreparedness will stand you in any stead at the Day of Judgment When that great Day of the Lord shall come as none of us knows how soon it may come when the Books shall be opened and the Consciences of all men displayed when every thing shall be open and bare before the great Judge of Heaven and Earth then will you wish when it is too late that you had been more careful and conscientious in the discharge of your duties and more complying with God and Christ in the observation of their Commands Then will you wish that you had your Lives to live over again that you had once more those opportunities offered which you have so often slighted and neglected Then will you wish that you were but once more invited and once more admitted to feast with God and Christ How would you then improve the opportunity You would certainly so bestir your selves that every moment should be a step toward Heaven and Happiness Consider this therefore whilst you have yet time neglect not your present opportunities Remember Opportunity is bald behind it is not easily retrieved after it is once passed by us Let it therefore be your care whilst it is called to day so to improve every occasion offered that when God shall call you may be ready to go and take possession of that Eternal Inheritance prepared for you in Heaven Parishioner Sir I have with great satisfaction attended to your Discourse and have great reason to thank you for the pains you have taken to rectify my judgment in this particular I do plainly find I have been too much imposed upon and for want of considering so well as I ought have blindly swallowed that which I ought not But being better instructed I hope for the future I shall be more careful and make it my business to be always ready to do my duty when God shall please to give me an opportunity Pastor I shall think my self very happy Neighbour Parishioner if either this Discourse or any other weak endeavour of mine shall by God's blessing thereupon prove instrumental to reduce you or any of my People to your duties and to direct you in the right way to Heaven and Happiness To do all the good I can in this station wherein God hath placed me I know and acknowledge to be my duty and in the performance thereof I bless God I am willing to spend and be spent to lay out all my strength and all those abilities which he hath been pleased to endow me with I am never better pleased than when thus employed either in resolving the doubts or otherwise instructing those committed to my care and charge And therefore if you have any thing more to offer let us not lose the opportunity propound it freely and I will endeavour with as much clearness as possible to resolve you Obj. 4. Parishioner Sir I have heard some scruple the posture in which we are required to receive the Sacrament viz. Kneeling fearing lest there should be either Superstition or Idolatry or both in it And I must confess it hath very much startled me nor am I yet thoroughly satisfied about it Pastor Our Church in her Appendix to the Rubrick after the Communion-Service hath very well obviated this objection for she there declareth two things 1. That no adoration is hereby intended nor ought to be done either to the Sacramental Bread and Wine there Bodily received or to any corporal presence of Christ's natural flesh and blood For 1. She declareth that the Sacramental Bread and Wine do remain still in their very natural substances and therefore ought not to be adored for that were Idolatry to be abhorred by all faithful Christians 2. That the natural Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ are in Heaven and not here It being against the truth of Christ's natural Body to be at one time in more places than one 2. That this posture is only meant 1. To signify thereby our humble and grateful acknowledgment of the benefits of Christ therein given to all worthy Receivers 2. To prevent such profanation and disorder in the holy Communion as might otherwise ensue Now after such a plain Declaration as this one would think there should be no
I beg your Prayers and shall not fail to join my own that it may please God to pardon both me and them who have led me into it I am so well satisfied that I hope I shall not hereafter omit any opportunity of doing what I am commanded Sir I have given you a very great trouble though you are pleased not to think it so You have taken a great deal of pains and to good purpose for I am very well satisfied that all my scruples have been idle and ungrounded Cavils and that I had no just cause to separate my self from the Communion of the Church as I have hitherto done But Sir may I presume to give you a little more trouble You have removed my scruples and now I desire to be admitted into Communion with the Church and am resolved by the blessing of God to walk orderly and peaceably therein If therefore you will please to furnish me with some short rules which may direct me in my preparation for this holy Ordinance and instruct me how to behave my self both then and afterwards you will greatly oblige me and I shall make it my business to observe them Pastor I shall very readily and willingly comply with your desire and think it no trouble at all I am so far from thinking it so that I look upon it as my duty and am mighty well pleased when I meet with an opportunity of doing it so well that I could heartily wish that those whom God hath committed to my charge would often give me this occasion And to satisfy you that these are my real thoughts I shall now apply my self to answer your desire by giving you the best rules and directions that I can in this Case And to render them the more effectual I shall observe the method propounded by your self and endeavour to show you 1. What is required of those who come to the Lord's Supper 2. How they ought to demean and behave themselves when there 3. What will be expected from them afterwards 1. What is required of them who come to the Lord's Supper Ans Our Church hath given a short but very full Answer to this Question which is this They are required to examine themselves Ch. Catech. whether they truly repent them of their former sins stedfastly purposing to lead a new Life have a lively Faith in God's mercy through Christ with a thankful remembrance of his Death and be in Charity with all men Which Answer is founded upon that excellent Rule laid down by St. Paul in this Case Let a man examine himself and so let him eat of this bread and drink of this Cup 1 Cor. 11.28 To examine ones self imports a serious diligent and impartial Tryal in order to amendment and reformation A transitory glance upon the several Occurrences of our lives or a general survey of what we do or have done will not serve the turn but we must make a particular search and scrutiny into our several actions and the several circumstances wherewith they have been attended We must consider from what principle and by what rule we have acted and to what end our actions have tended and apply these to those several and respective duties we have been about For without the due consideration of these things an action though materially good may be formally evil This is to examine but whom are we to examine Not others but our selves Let a man examine himself God Almighty having endued man with reason and consideration having made him sensible of his duty and apprehensive of those hopes and fears that advantage and danger which usually attend the performance or non-performance thereof leaveth him to be his own Judge and remits him to his own Examination So that if men will flatter and deceive themselves in that which is their greatest concern they may blame themselves and none but themselves if danger ensue thereupon God would not have men either impertinently to meddle in the concerns of others or carelesly to trust others with what concerns themselves he would have every one do his own duty and take care of his own concern It may reasonably be supposed that every man either is or at least ought to be best known to himself and that he will be most just to himself And therefore God trusts man with himself and St. Paul in this very case refers man to himself saying Let a man examine himself But if after all this Men will be unfaithful to themselves and deceive their own Souls whom have they to blame but themselves Thus have I shown you both the importance of the word and the Subjects of the Duty what it is to Examine and who they be that are to undergo that Discipline There only remaineth to consider the end for which we are to examine our selves and that is In order to amendment and reformation God would not have us to ravel into our by-past lives on purpose to take pleasure in our former sins or from our impunity to take encouragement to go on still in the like iniquities but he would have us to understand wherein we have formerly transgressed our rule and done amiss to correct and amend it for the present and to resolve upon a more renewed course of living for the future This in the general is or ought to be the design of self-examination but to be more particular and bring it nearer to our present Case I shall endeavour to do these five things 1. To show you the reasonableness of this advice Let a man c. 2. The necessity of the thing we are advised to viz. Self-examination in order to a due participation of this holy Feast 3. What we are to examine our selves about 4. By what rules we are to proceed in examining our selves 5. For what end we ought to examine our selves 1. The reasonableness of this advice Let a man examine himself St. Pauls advice and counsel in this case will appear to be very reasonable if we consider either the excellency of the Feast we are invited to or the unworthiness of the persons who are invited It is no common and usual entertainment but a great and extraordinary Feast that we are invited to Nor is it only a bare Feast but a solemn Feast upon a Sacrifice and that Sacrifice no other than the offering up of the Son of God and our Saviour Christ our Passeover is sacrificed for us therefore let us keep the Feast saith St. Paul 1 Cor. 5.7 The Master of this Feast or he who makes this great entertainment for us is none other save only the holy Jesus It was he who as a Priest offered himself as a Sacrifice unto God the Father who hath instituted this holy Feast in memorial of his Death and Passion and therein prepared for us not only common food for the refreshment and sustentation of our decaying Bodies but such as may suffice to nourish both our Bodies and Souls unto Eternal Life not only the food
of Angels but that which far surpasseth those Quails and that Manna wherewith the Israelites were so miraculously fed for forty Years together in the Wilderness The dainties which are now prepared are not only Bread and Wine but the Body and Blood of Christ Jesus the tendency whereof is not only to preserve life here but to fit and prepare us for Eternal Life hereafter So that if we consider either the Excellency of this Feast the dignity of its Author the greatness of his preparations the goodness of the things prepared the greatness of its ends or those glorious advantages which may thence accrew unto us have we not great reason to proceed cautiously herein to take the advice which St. Paul giveth us and examine our selves before we presume to eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup. But if we consider the unworthiness of the persons who are invited to this great Feast it will render the advice yet more reasonable Who are they for whom the holy Jesus prepares so great a Feast and whom he invites to so noble an Entertainment Men they are but fallen men Men in an estate of sin in a depraved and degenerate condition who by their original pravity have lost their primitive purity and thereby unfitted themselves for Communion with so holy a God. Whose Parents have been attainted of High-Treason against Heaven and have involved their Children in the same guilt Who have not only been sold under sin but are become willing slaves thereunto who are not only guilty by derivation but more criminal by their own actual transgressions who are not only by nature the Children of wrath but by their own personal crimes liable to eternal ruine who have not only sinned but repeated their sins against Heaven and by their iterated provocations have challenged the utmost of divine fury and indignation Who have been forward enough to make Vows and Promises of better Obedience unto God and as ready upon all occasions to break those Vows and violate those Engagements Who have been always willing to close with opportunities of sinning but very unwilling to be reclaimed therefrom These are they who are invited to this holy Feast but be not mistaken for whilst such they have no encouragement to come thereunto And therefore St. Paul giveth us good counsel when he saith Let a man examine himself and so let him eat of this bread and drink of this Cup. Which Examination as I have already told you must be in order to amendment and reformation So that if we seriously consider either our original pravity or our actual iniquities our repeated sins against God our manifold breaches of Vows and Promises made unto him or our great unwillingness to be reclaimed from our sinful courses we must needs own our selves to be very unworthy Guests at God's Table and if so then we shall find great reason to be very cautious in our approaches thereunto and to think this advice very reasonable To examine our selves before we eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup. 2. The necessity of the thing we are advised unto viz. Self-Examination in order to a due participation of this holy Feast The necessity of Self-Examination in order to this end will appear to be very urgent if not indispensible when we consider That without a serious diligent and impartial tryal of our selves we can never fully understand wherein we have done amiss And so long as we are prepossessed with an opinion of being innocent we shall never endeavour to amend and if we do not that we can never expect to be well-come Guests at Gods Table and if we be not fit Guests there we cannot expect the advantages thereof But if notwithstanding our unpreparedness we will presume to come thereunto then may we look to meet with that dreadful Sentence pronounced against him who wanted the Wedding Garment which was To be bound hand and foot and to be cast into outer darkness where is weeping and gnashing of teeth Matth. 22.13 All which considered may fully evince the necessity of Self-Examination But though the advice which St. Paul giveth us be in it self so reasonable and the thing he adviseth us to be so necessary yet will not the want thereof excuse our disobedience to the command of Christ or our non-attendance upon him at this holy Feast It will rather condemn us because we refuse to gratify him in a business which is not only reasonable in it self but necessary for us To make an Apology for our not communicating upon this score were to excuse one fault by committing another For there can no other reason be assigned of our not doing our duty but only our negligence and unwillingness Let not any therefore hence forward dare to say they are not ready when Christ calls them but rather let them before hand consider what it is that is required of them and so prepare themselves that they may be always ready Let them make it their business to understand their duty and do it to search every corner of their hearts and every circumstance of their lives and amend what is amiss that so they may be always ready And to assist you herein I shall now apply my self to the next thing which I promised to show you viz. 3. What we are to examine our selves about There are two things which we ought especially to examine our selves about viz. Our by-past lives and conversations and our present thoughts and resolutions As to the former of these Let us consider under what obligations we stand unto Almighty God to live holily and righteously how far he hath obliged us by his mercies and goodness by his Promises and by his Providence by Mercies conducing both unto Life and Godliness here and to Eternal Life and never-failing Happiness hereafter How far we are engaged by our own Vows and Promises not only made but frequently repeated in the presence of God and of his People and by our constant and continued profession of Christianity Let us consider what rules he hath given us to live by how equitable they are in themselves how practicable as to us and how easy and pleasant he hath thereby rendered our way to Heaven and Happiness Let us call to mind how far we have violated those obligations and how often we have transgressed those rules and feriously examine what progress we have made towards repentance and amendment Those who are so considerative as to make these reflections upon the time past will find cause sufficient to be troubled for what they have done and to reform their way of Living by which only means they may in some measure capacitate themselves for this holy Feast But it is not only our by-past Lives and Conversations but our present thoughts and resolutions we are to examine our selves about We ought to consider what thoughts we have of the ways of God and the ways of sin towards which the byass of our affections doth most incline Whether we
is not only our duty but our greatest interest For thereby know we that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren 1 John 3.14 The remembrance therefore of the dying love of the blessed Jesus ought to stir up in us at this time a love to God and to the Brethren 7. The consideration of the whole should create in us an humble and thankful frame and temper of mind It should put us upon offering the Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving unto God not only in word but in every action of our life for Christ and all his benefits and to testify the reality of that gratitude by renewed acts of Faith Repentance and Obedience all our days Thus ought we to receive this Sacrament in remembrance of Christ 2. What it is to shew forth the Lord's Death till he come Ans An Historical Narrative of the Sufferings and Death of Jesus Christ to be able to tell that he died at Jerusalem in the Eighteenth Year of Tiberius the Emperour Pontius Pilate being the Roman Deputy in Judea and Josephus Caiphas the High Priest that same year This is not to shew forth the Lord's Death in the Apostles sense But such a serious Meditation thereof as may inhanse our hatred of sin our love to God and our thankfulness to Jesus Christ if it be constant and continued will best declare our sense of our Saviour's Sufferings and shew forth his Death till he come 1. When therefore we are at God's Table and there see all things prepared for us when we consider that Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us and that we are now invited to a Feast upon that Sacrifice We cannot but reflect upon the just anger and indignation of God against sin We cannot but observe that such was the severity of Divine Justice and the heinousness of sin that no reconciliation could be made between God and Sinners till the punishment due to sin was suffered So highly was God incensed so great was his wrath justly conceived against sin that he was not to be pacified by any thing but only the deprecation and Death of his own Son. These ought to be our thoughts especially at this time and if thus we employ our selves when we are at this holy Feast and in pursuance of these thoughts do for the time to come loath and abhor hate and avoid all manner of sin then and thereby shall we truly shew forth the Lords Death till he come 2. When we are at God's Table and there see the dainties provided for us that there is not only food for our bodies but for our Souls also not only such as may sustain our frail Bodies or support and maintain the union between our Souls and Bodies here but such as will nourish us up in grace here and fit us for Glory hereafter When we consider that such was the love of God to Mankind that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believed on him should not perish but have everlasting life John 3.16 have we not the greatest Specimen of God's mercy and goodness towards us that we can desire and is not this love writ in Characters so legible in this holy Sacrament that he that runneth may read them and if so what cause have we with grateful acknowledgments to own and declare the goodness and mercy of God to praise and thank him for it to love him again and to testify that our love by keeping his Commandments Which if we do and persevere in so doing then shall we truly declare and shew forth the Lord's Death till he come 3. When we are at God's Table and there under those symbolical Elements of Bread and Wine can clearly discover the Body and Blood of Christ really though not corporally offered to us how lively is the dying love of our blessed Saviour therein represented to us May we not therein plainly read those dreadful pangs those dying groans and those unspeakable sufferings which the blessed Jesus did willingly undergo for our sakes and ought we not with all possible expressions of love and gratitude to commemorate this his kindness This is all i. e. this with the dependencies thereupon that he requireth of us for all that he hath done and suffered for us viz. to celebrate this Feast in remembrance of him which if we rightly do and continue so doing then do we truly declare or shew forth the Lord's Death till he come For this Meditation cannot fail of filling our hearts with grateful sentiments of our Saviours Love and those sentiments will certainly imploy our tongues in thankful acknowledgments and engage our whole lives in dutiful returns unto him for it Thus have I shown you in the first place how you ought to demean and behave your self when you are at God's Table viz. you ought to do this in remembrance of Jesus Christ But there is one thing more yet required of you viz. 2. In the doing of this there ought to be a Discerning of the Lord's Body This expression hath been mightily strain'd by some who have racked their inventions to find out such notions of it as I am apt to believe were never intended by St. Paul but I shall not now either trouble my self or you with the Examination of them My design is only to instruct you plainly and make things as intelligible to you as I can In order whereunto all that I shall do at present shall be only to acquaint you with the full importance of the word Discerning and by that means to show you the true and genuine sense of the Apostle in this expression The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here used and rendred Discerning imports only a discretional act whereby we do exempt some one thing from the common order of others and set a more honourable value and esteem upon it This sense of the word is warranted by the usage of it in other places St. Jude v. 22. adviseth us to have compassion of some making a difference 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. between such Sinners as are treatable and willing to be instructed and such as are intractable obstinate and disobedient And St. Paul putteth the question saying 1 Cor. 4.7 Who hath made thee to differ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. who hath separated thee from the rest of Mankind and placed thee in an higher Form than them from both which places the importance of the word is very plain that it implies only a discretional act whereby one thing is distinguished from another and more honour and respect paid thereunto than to the other To discern the Lord's Body therefore in St. Pauls sense is to look upon the sacred Elements of Bread and Wine in this holy Feast as the most precious symbols of the Body and Blood of Christ to put a difference between them and all other common meats and drinks to use them with a religious reverence and not to approach this holy Table without a lively Faith in