mightily pleased and wonderfully well satisfied with those directions which you have given me and am resolved by God's blessing with care and Conscience to observe them I know I cannot do it so well as I should but I will do it as well as I can and I hope God will accept my willing mind and pardon my weaknesses and infirmities But Sir You did also promise to direct me how to demean and behave my self when I am at this holy Feast so that I may not displease and offend my blessed Saviour who hath been and still is so kind to me Pastor It is very true I did promise you that also and I hope I shall not fail you therein because I intend to take two unerring Guides along with me viz. The blessed Jesus and his holy Apostle St. Paul The former of which not only commandeth us to do this but to do it in remembrance of him Luk. 22.19 and the latter tells us that in the doing of it there ought to be a Discerning of the Lord's Body 1 Cor. 11.29 1. When we come to this holy Feast we ought to call to mind all that the blessed Jesus hath done and suffered for us He who commandeth us to do this commandeth also to do it in remembrance of him This holy Feast was never intended by the blessed Author and Instituter of it to be an Expiatory or propitiatory Sacrifice nor as the Papists call it an unbloody offering for the sins both of the quick and dead nor for a scenical and histrionical representation of the Death of Christ But it was designed to be an Eucharistical Sacrifice or a Sacramental action whereby Christians are to commemorate that bloody Sacrifice which Jesus Christ offered upon the Cross for the sins of Mankind And therefore St. Paul reciting the words of Institution applyeth them to this holy action saying This do ye in remembrance of me 1 Cor. 11.24 25. And that he might be the better understood he explaineth himself in the following words saying As often as ye eat this bread and drink this Cup ye shew forth or shew ye forth the Lord's death till he come v. 26. Now the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is here used and rendered to shew forth doth not signify to express one thing by the likeness of another nor to represent it by histrionical gestures but to preach and declare the thing as it is i. e. by celebrating this holy Feast to keep up the memorial thereof and thereby declare what a deep sense we have of all that our blessed Saviour hath done and suffered for us Whence by the way I may note unto you the vanity of that Popish Figment of Transubstantiation For if the blessed Jesus had designed to have been always really and bodily present with his people in this holy Feast this command of his would have been very insignificant for Remembrance doth not respect things future or things present but things past But to return to our business To do this in remembrance of him and in so doing To shew forth the Lord's Death seem to be expressions exegetical or explanatory of one another And therefore it may not be amiss to enquire into the sense and meaning of both that we may the better understand how to behave our selves at this holy Feast To that purpose I shall take them in order and show you 1. What it is To do this in remembrance of him 2. What it is To shew forth the Lord's Death 1. What it is To do this in remembrance of him Ans An idle and unconcerned remembrance of the sufferings and death of Christ such as men sometimes have when they call to mind things past which are of no great concern to them is not the thing here intended No it must be an effectual remembrance i. e. Such an one as may stir up our minds to apprehend and apply Christ with all his benefits to our selves so to remember the Sacrifice and Death of Christ that we may thence reap Comfort Joy Peace of Conscience increase of Faith and Charity and an assured hope of future life and felicity on that account So to remember the love that he hath shown unto us therein as to be always thankful to him for it But to be more particular 1. When we come to God's Table and there see the two Elements of Bread and Wine ready prepared to be delivered to and received by us we ought to call to mind that Jesus Christ is a perfect Saviour and that his Body and Blood which are represented thereby are the true Bread and Water of Life to all that believe in him and worthily receive that holy Sacrament 2. When we see the Bread and Wine set a-part by the Minister and by him Consecrated to that holy purpose by repeating the Promises and Prayers made for that end we ought to remember that Jesus Christ was also ordained of God appointed and set a-part by him to be our Mediator and Redeemer to make intercession for us at the Throne of Grace and redeem us from all our sins 3. When we see the Bread broken and the Wine poured out it should put us in mind how the Body of Christ was broken and his Blood shed for us how he was Crucified and slain and all this for our sins and that if he had not thus once died for us we must have died ever i. e. we must have undergone an ever yet never dying Death 4. The Sacramental actions of giving and receiving the Elements should put us in mind That God doth truly and really give Christ with all his merits and all the efficacy of them to every worthy Receiver in this Sacrament 5. The consideration of these two last Meditations should put us upon renewing our Faith and Repentance For 1. When we remember that his Body was broken and his Blood shed for us it should stir up in us a godly sorrow and unfeigned repentance for our sins which have been the causes of so great sufferings to our blessed Saviour 2. When the Minister giveth the Bread and Wine and we receive them we should at the same time lift up our hearts to Heaven in a deep sense of God's goodness and our own unworthiness and endeavour to apprehend and apply Christ with all his benefits to our selves believing that he was made man for us and that he suffered and died not for the remission of sins in general but of our sins in particular 6. The consideration of the dying Love of the blessed Jesus represented to us in this holy Sacrament ought to put us in mind how necessary a charitable frame and temper of mind is this Feast If Christ have so loved us then certainly we ought to love him and if we would do this well let let us take his own directions who saith If ye love me keep my Commandments John 14.15 And if God so loved us we ought also to love one another 1 John 4.11 Love to the Brethren is not only our duty but
is so tender in this point Can. 28. and so far from giving encouragement unto such that instead of admitting she forbiddeth them and remitteth them home to their own Parish Churches and Ministers there to receive the Communion with the rest of their Neighbours In all these Cases you see our Church is very cautious and therefore no fear of such an universal and promiscuous admittance to God's Table as your Objection supposeth She is not so prodigally lavish as to cast her Pearl to Swine or give her Childrens Bread to Dogs But though these cases may limit yet do they not at all lessen our Duty Let our circumstances be what they will yet to Do this is still our Duty To continue therefore under these circumstances must needs be sin because it hindereth us from doing that which is our duty and to plead our excuse for Non-Communion upon that score is to add sin to sin and double that iniquity which was too great before What therefore is to be done in this case but as speedily as may be to put our selves out of these circumstances that we may the sooner set about the performance of our Duty Which whosoever refuseth or neglecteth to do he doth plainly declare that he hath a greater value for his own inordinate lusts and debaucht practices than for an holy Communion with God and Christ Parishioner I am mighty well pleased to understand That the Wisdom and Piety of our Mother the Church of England in taking so much care to guard the Table of the Lord and with so much caution to fence the Body and Blood of Christ against the bold approaches of ignorant prophane and wicked persons is far greater than I thought it had been or than many will yet believe it is But Sir I have something more still which if I did not fear I had too much tired you already I would gladly be satisfied in Pastor No more of these Apologies good Neighbour if your own leisure and patience will allow it mine will hold out And therefore now we are together and have so fit an opportunity for it speak your whole mind and speak it freely propound what ever scruples you have that I may apply my self to give you all the satisfaction I can Parishioner I humbly thank you Sir for the freedom you are pleased to give me which I shall willingly make use of The next thing I have to propound is a matter of great weight an Objection that hath and still doth very much startle me and I believe many others which if you can clear your so doing will very much smooth the way and encourage both me and them to communicate with you Obj. 3. St. Paul expresly saith He that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself not discerning the Lord's Body 1 Cor. 11.29 Now Sir I do not find my self worthy and I hope you would not have me to eat and drink my own Damnation Pastor This Scripture which you now cite hath been and still is made very much use of to deter and affright men from doing their duties from communicating with the Church and People of God in this holy Ordinance Some men who have usurped the Pulpit and invaded the Office of the Ministry in our late unhappy times have with so much zeal but little knowledge taken upon them to interpret the holy Scriptures that they have made them to speak other things than the holy spirit of God or his Amanuenses the Prophets and Apostles ever intended And I do not doubt but to make it plain to you that the Objection raised from this passage of St. Paul is founded in the misunderstandings of men and not in the Text it self or the true and genuine sense of the Apostle in this place In order whereunto I shall endeavour to lay before you the plain meaning of St. Paul in this Text and that by the resolution of these two Enquiries Qu. 1. What is here meant by eating and drinking unworthily Qu. 2. How and when men are said to eat and drink their own Damnation Qu. 1. What is here meant by eating and drinking unworthily Ans For Answer whereunto let me premise That the Worthiness here spoken of doth not consist in perfection or in an absolute and unsinning obedience to all the Laws of God. For if we were indeed thus perfect we should have no need or at least not so much need of this Sacrament Since the first Adam in the state of Innocency none save only the second Adam the Lord Christ Jesus could ever justly glory in being thus qualified Notwithstanding the vain pretensions of some Enthusiastical Catharists this certainly is a thing which is not attainable in this life For All have sinned saith St. Paul Rom. 3.23 cap. 5.12 There is none that doth good no not one saith holy David Ps 14.3 The just man falleth seven times saith the wise Solomon Prov. 24.16 And if any man say that he hath no sin he doth but deceive himself and the truth is not in him saith the Apostle John 1 Joh. 1.8 From all which Scriptures and many others which might be produced wherein the terms are so general that they cannot but include all and every individual it is plain and evident that perfection doth not belong to the present state of Mankind And if so then must we conclude that the great and wise God and the holy and blessed Jesus have instituted this Feast in vain and given out a command to no purpose A Table indeed may be spread and richly furnished but the rooms will be all empty for if none but those who are perfect be worthy there will none be found that are so This therefore cannot be the meaning of the Apostle in this place And as the worthiness here spoken of doth not consist in perfection i. e. in an intire and unsinning obedience to the whole Law of God So neither doth the unworthiness here mentioned consist in imperfection or sin It is not every failing not every weakness nor every sin that presently renders men unworthy to be Guests at God's Table For if so then all mankind would be excluded because all have sinned as appeareth from the Texts already quoted And consequently the Table of the Lord would be as empty and this great Feast as much want Guests upon this account as upon the other But this is so far from being the sense of the Apostle here that it is quite contrary to it For as Christ came into the World purposely to save Sinners so did he institute his holy Supper for the sake of those who were liable to sin and weak in the Faith that thereby they might be fortified against the one and strengthened in the other For any one to say then I am a Sinner and therefore Unworthy is a false consequence For it is not sin barely but an obstinate and impenitent continuance in sin that renders any one an unworthy Guest at God's Table as I shall show
then suppose ye shall he be worthy who treadeth under foot the son of God and counteth the blood of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing and doth despite to the spirit of grace Hebr. 10. v. 28 29. These are all comprised under that one general expression He that believeth not and of such an one our Saviour saith He shall be damned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mark 16.16 Those therefore who being thus unworthy do presume to come to the Lord's Table they prophane this holy Feast they trample under foot the blood of the Covenant they are guilty of the Body and Blood of Christ and may in the strictest sence be said to eat and drink their own damnation But I do not take this to be the meaning of the Apostle in this place 2. Some come to the Lord's Supper who though they have some small glimmerings some little knowledge yet do they not so well discern the Lord's Body as they ought who though they have Faith yet is their Faith so weak and languid so low and faint that it doth not so powerfully work by love and repentance as it ought who do not so well discern the mystical Bread in this Sacrament from common food and therefore with too much rudeness and too little reverence approach thereunto Now such is the goodness and mercy of God that he is always willing to pity the weaknesses and infirmities of his people If there be but some beginnings of grace some weak efforts and faint desires to do their duties he is so far from discouraging that he is willing rather to encourage them therein that in time they may do better He will not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoaking flax Matth. 12.20 If there be but a willing mind it will be accepted according to that a man hath and not according to that he hath not 2 Cor. 8.12 But if men be not so careful as they ought to rectify their mistakes in time and amend their doings then God is pleased sometimes by Discipline and correction to inform them better to show them the folly of their doings and reduce them into the right way And this I conceive to be all that is imported in that Word which our Translators have rendered Damnation in this place To make this good I shall consider both the signification of the word here used and the design of the Apostle in using of it There are two words made use of by St. Paul in this Chapter The former of which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is properly rendred Judgment and the latter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Damnation or Condemnation Now it is the former of these words that is used in this Text which is not so well rendered as it might have been For it doth not import the Judgment of Eternal Damnation as some would understand it but only a Temporal punishment which God is pleased sometimes to inflict upon Believers to correct what is amiss in them and stir them up the better to prepare themselves for the performance of their duties That such kind of punishments were more frequent in the primitive times of Christianity is sufficiently evident from the Writers of those times And that this is St. Pauls sense here is plain from the following words For this cause many are weak and sick among you and many sleep v. 30. But more plainly from the 32 Verse where St. Paul himself distinguisheth the two sorts of Judgments saying When we are judged 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we are chastened of the Lord because we should not be condemned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with the World. Whence it is very plain and evident that the word which is here rendered Damnation imports no more but a judgment of Correction or Discipline for our good And even that also may be prevented if we will take the right course In order whereunto St. Paul prescribeth us a most excellent rule For saith he If we would judge our selves we should not be judged v. 31. Now what he meaneth by judging our selves is plain from the 28 Verse where he saith Let a man examine himself and so let him eat of this bread and drink of this Cup. I have now considered and explained this Text of Scripture which I fear hath heretofore been made use of by some to very ill purposes and set up as a Mormo to affright many well-meaning people from their duties By vertue of this Text ill understood and worse applyed the Peace of the Church hath been disturbed the Bond of Union broken and those who should have lived together in love and amity like Fellow Citizens and Members of the same Family have been crumbled into Parties and Factions Christians have hereby been divided not only in their judgments but affections small differences at first have been improved into Schisms and Separations and those have produced such heats and animosities that the unity of the Spirit which should have been kept in the Bond of Peace hath thereby been dissolved and the Seamless-Coat of Christ Jesus hath been rent asunder I cannot believe that Zeal and Ignorance had the only hand in this business but that there must be a great deal of malice joined with them Those who pretended to be your Guides could not but know better and therefore must on set purpose impose upon themselves and you that underhand they might the better carry on their designs upon Religion and the Church of God In which they have been but too prosperous Instead of the substance the shadow of Religion was only left us instead of Order and Discipline nothing but disorder and confusion was to be seen among us Every one setting up for himself and drawing Parties and Factions after him And from whence came all this but from our breach of Union and Communion with that Church of which God had made us Members But when you have seriously considered what I have now said I hope you will find the Masque taken off and that this Text hath no such frightful visage as some have put upon it and in which they have formerly represented it to you that it is so far from discouraging any in their communicating with the Church in this holy Ordinance that it is rather a great enforcement of their Duty And now having thus cleared the way by explaining this Text of Scripture to you for the more easy removal or prevention of that Objection which is usually raised therefrom let me ask you or rather let me desire you to ask your self a few Questions 1. When God calls Whether it be fit for you or me or any of us to say we are not ready When he commandeth to Do this whether it will suffice us to say We cannot do it as we ought and therefore we will not do it at all Let me put you a plain Case and pray consider of it You are the Master of a Family and you command one of your Servants to do this he Answereth he
the other and I hope shall not fail in it In order whereunto it will be necessary rightly to understand the true state of this Case There are two things which you seem to fear viz. Communicating in a mix'd Congregation and being thereby made partakers of other mens sins I shall consider these severally and do not doubt but to make it evident that this is a causeless fear and that those who have taught you thus to scruple have indeed made you afraid where really no fear was 1. As to the first part of the Objection which concerns Communicating in a mix'd Congregation an Assembly made up of good and bad the plain English of it is no more than this You have no mind to receive the Sacrament in the Company of those whom you think not to be so good and holy as your selves To cure which tumour I shall offer these Considerations 1. Whether there be any Society in this World without such a mixture i. e. Whether there be any such Assembly of men in which there are not some good and some bad 2. Whether for any one to entertain such high thoughts of himself and such low ones of others do not savour too much of Pharisaical Pride and Insolence and whether that be not as great a sin as any other 3. Whether such a temper of mind doth not bespeak a man as unfit if not more than those whom he judgeth to be so unworthy 4. Whether it be not the duty of all who address themselves to this holy Table to lay aside all proud and over-weening thoughts of themselves all low and mean thoughts of others and with lowly and humble minds to approach thereunto 5. Whether this lowly and humble temper of mind doth not principally consist in a deep sense of our own sin and unworthiness in a due apprehension of God's greatness in himself and his goodness towards us notwithstanding our unworthiness And if so Whether there can be any room left in such an one for low and mean thoughts of others 6. If those who thus object will deal truly and justly by themselves and others I appeal to their own Consciences Whether they do or can know so much unworthiness in any other man as they may and must know in themselves And if so then have they no more cause to scruple the Company of others than others have to scruple theirs 7. Whether the same reason will not hold in civil Conversation as well as sacred Communion And if so then must they not converse with any one who either is or whom they think to be in a lower form of godliness than themselves They must retire and live alone they must turn Hermits and forsake the Conversation of the World because there is no Society of men to be found in it in which there are not bad as well as good 8. Whether it be not a piece of great impertinence to say no worse for any one to concern himself with the worthiness or unworthiness of another Especially considering that plain and excellent rule which St. Paul hath prescribed in this Case Let a man examine himself not another and so let him eat of this bread and drink of this Cup 1 Cor. 11.28 These things well considered may suffice I hope to answer the first part of this objection and remove that scruple of receiving the Sacrament in a mix'd Congregation But 2. There is a greater danger yet they are afraid lest hereby they should be made partakers of other mens sins This if there were any thing in it would be a dangerous thing indeed For he that is a partaker of other mens sins shall certainly participate with them in the punishment due to those sins But I do not question but to demonstrate to you that even this also is a causeless fear For there are but these five ways that I know of whereby one man may be said to partake of another man's sins 1. By counselling or contriving an evil action Or 2. By consenting to the counsel and contrivance of others in an evil thing Or 3. By abetting and encouraging men in evil doing Or 4. By conniving at the wickedness of men when it is in our power to prevent it Or 5. By joining and co-operating with them in their evil doing Thus and only thus may one man become a partaker with another in his sins And how far these rules are applicable to our Case I appeal to your own Conscience But before you give your Verdict let me advise you to take these considerations along with you 1. That the action you are now required to join in is so far from being evil that it is good and very good being a duty incumbent upon you and all Christians by vertue of a Divine Command 2. That it is one thing to join with others in a known duty and another thing to join with them in a known sin These are cases so different that to think of confounding these together were not only to put a force upon our own but to offer an affront to the reason of all Mankind We may as well attempt to bring the two Poles together or to make Righteousness and Unrighteousness Christ and Belial Faith and Infidelity or the most contrary extreams and most palpable contradictions to agree in one as to make these to conspire together 3. That in the performance of a common duty every man is to be accountable for himself no one for another That Jewish Proverb is now out of Doors The Fathers have eaten sowre grapes and the childrens teeth are set on edge Ezek. 18.2 For the soul that sinneth shall die the Son shall not bear the iniquity of the Father neither shall the Father bear the iniquity of the Son the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself v. 20. 4. That a good man doing his duty well will be never the worse for the Company of one that doth it ill nor will he that doth it ill be ever the better for the Company of him that doth it well Judas was never the better for communicating with the Disciples nor they ever the worse for communicating with him 5. That unless a man do by some one or other of the ways before mentioned join with another in doing evil there is no fear of his being partaker with him either in his sin or punishment All which considered may I hope be sufficient to discharge your mind of this fear and guard you against such impressions for the future By this time I suppose you are sensible how much you have been imposed upon and that without any just cause you have been withheld from the performance of a known and necessary duty I pray God to forgive them who have thus misled you and direct you better for the time to come Parishioner Sir I am very sensible now how great an errour I have laboured under I bless God and thank you for it
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
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
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