Wine but to represent the shedding of the Lords Blood by those wounds he received for our sake And for what end do you eat that Bread and drink that Cup but to shew that we are made one with him and have Communion with him in his Death and Sufferings This is the general end of this Sacrament gratefully to commemorate the Death of Christ to show express declare and publish his Death for us and our interest in it in plain and significant actions Which not being performed in obedience to his Command the Faith which we profess in him doth but condemn us of shameful infidelity to him As for the particular ends of it they are as many as the uses are which we can make of his Death and Passion Wherein whatsoever love God the Father showed unto us in giving his dearly beloved Son to die for us whatsoever kindness God the Son expressed in offering himself freely unto the Death and making himself a Sacrifice for our sins and whatsoever confirmation God the Holy Ghost hath since given us of this love and this kindness it is all here commemorated Whatsoever worship honour and service is due to our ever blessed Redeemer and most bountiful Benefactor it is all here acknowledged and after a most peculiar manner and with a special respect to him performed Whatsoever strength we can derive from our Feasting with Christ upon his Sacrifice and from the oblation we make of our selves Souls and Bodies unto him with most powerful Prayers and Thanksgivings whatsoever comfort we can enjoy in Communion with God and in Communion with his Church whatsoever Peace we can have in renewing our Covenant of Friendship with him in remission of sins in receiving the power of the Holy Ghost in the hopes of eternal life in all holy intercourses between Heaven and us all this is to be expected and may be obtained in the Celebration of this Holy Sacrament And therefore as this one thing the Annunciation or publishing of Christs Death and our relation to him is the general end and these comforts these establishments in Faith and Hope and love and obedience are the particular ends of this Institution So all these lay a strong obligation upon us duly to observe it unless we be content to renounce our interest in Christ who hath made this the most solemn badg and authentick mark of our Christianity and the great means of conveying to us the benefits of his Death and Passion as well as a pledge to assure us thereof And this one argument alone taken from the end of its Institution is sufficient to convince us that this Sacrament was intended by Christ to be continued in his Church till he come as my Text speaks that is till his last coming to judge the World for till then it will be useful nay necessary for all these holy ends which I have briefly named And whosoever he be that hopes for mercy at that dreadful day without the careful performance of this duty is a presumptuous person and vainly expects it because he lives in the neglect of the very best way of preparing himself for that great account which must then be made of all our actions VI. But now let us suppose that the words of the Institution had been so ambiguous that they might possibly if we had had no further explication of them have been thought to be limited to that particular feast which Christ did eat with his Disciples and extended no further yet the practice of the Apostles and the practice of the Church in the Apostolical times and in all succeeding times ever since which are the best Interpreters of the Scriptures do expound the words to be a lasting Institution and an Institution of such moment that it ought to be most punctually observed And did not Christs own Apostles think you understand their Masters meaning when he instituted this Sacrament Or if they had not understood him then would they not afterward have understood him when the spirit was so plentifully poured out upon them that they discovered the greatest secrets even the thoughts and designs of mens hearts Hath the universal Church in and after those times and during all Ages since lived in an error and taken up an unnecessary practice or made too much stir about it and been too busy and officious in it Was there not in this very Church of Corinth as the Apostle shows in the next Chapter a miraculous abundance of miraculous gifts the spirit of wisdom the spirit of knowledge the spirit of faith the gifts of healing of working miracles of prophesying of discerning spirits of divers kind of tongues of interpretation of tongues And could not all those gifts all those spiritual powers and supernatural assistances inable them to understand the words of Christs Institution Was not that indeed the true Age of the Spirit Were they not infinitely more inlightned than any can pretend to be now or hope to be hereafter And could they not discover by their illuminations if it had been true that which some vain Enthusiasts dream of that where there was such plenty of the Spirit there was no need of such outward Ordinances as the Sacrament of the Lords Supper Could they not see this so clearly and be so sensible of it as that they should not have been so much concerned as they were about the practice of this duty in that Church if there was no need of it or our Saviour never intended it should be of much moment Nay as that they should not have with such danger to themselves as I noted before have repeated it in their Church if our Saviour never intended any such repetition Surely these things carry such evidence in them that to add more light in so clear a case would be as we say to hold a Candle to the Sun And therefore I shall here make an end of my proofs supposing I have said rather too much than too little in this argument and that you stand fully convinced the Celebration of this holy Communion is not only of divine Institution to be used by the Church in all Ages but must of necessity be duly practised by us if we hope to be saved And if that be true hearken then I beseech you what follows thereupon I. What shall we then think of those who live in the constant neglect of it Suffer me to propose this single plain question to you Whether the willful continuance in any known sin be not a damnable State A state of direct opposition to our Saviour and consequently a state wherein there is no Salvation Can this be denied and it is as undeniable that a constant neglect of a known Precept of Christ a Precept so universally owned so universally practised as you have heard in the Church of God is a wilful sin What is it else or what can make a sin willful but acting against a clear knowledge and conviction and means and opportunities of doing otherways Consider of
without impediment and that there is nothing left in their Souls to oppose their duty Whereas bad people in a quite contrary way give admission to those scruples and doubts into their minds with a secret pleasure and having entertained them let them rest and take up their lodging there very willingly because they will plead their excuse they fancy for not doing their duty and be a defence to their lazyness Worldly mindedness and other naughty affections In short Doubts and Scruples never arise in good mens minds without grief nor stay there without much trouble and therefore they long to be rid of them and are glad when they are discharged because they hinder the performance of their Christian Duty but bad men not only listen to them willingly but embrace them as welcome Guests which they cherish and never part withal without difficulty and some sort of inward displeasure because they desire the Worldly Spirit that is in them should not be left without all excuse but have something to say for it self when it is pressed by the force of Religion against its inclinations Search and try your selves by this mark and the Lord give you a right judgment in all things for Jesus Christ his sake In whom I remain Your Faithful Servant S. Patrick Discourse I. THE NECESSITY OF Receiving THE Holy Communion THE neglect of the Holy Communion of Christ's Body and Blood was so general and so long continued in the late distracted times being laid aside in man whole Parishes of this Kingdom for near twenty years together that in some Ages of the Church it would have been interpreted a downright Apostasie from Christ and a renunciation of the Christian Faith And though blessed be God since the Happy Restauration of his Majesty to his Throne and the settlement of the Church upon its ancient foundations it hath not been so generally neglected yet it is not so much frequented as it ought to be No not upon such great and solemn dayes as this when we are assembled to commemorate that stupendous Grace which our Lord purchased for us by his pretious Blood and bestowed upon his Church in sending the Holy Ghost the Comforter to be a Witness of his Resurrection and Exaltation at God's right hand and to confirm us in the belief of all that he hath taught and appointed in his Church For we content our selves only with the Common Prayers and I wish I could say that they are duly attended and with the Sermon and then turn our backs on that part of the Divine Service which is properly Christian and consequently is above all other most acceptable unto Christ and unto his Holy Spirit Which I shall therefore at this time press upon your Consciences as a means to revive that ancient Devotion wherewith such Festivals as this was kept which now alas is wanting among us And I shall do it from those words of St. Paul 1 Cor. xi 26. wherein he recommends this duty unto us upon this particular account that as oft as we eat this Bread and drink this Cup we do show the Lords Death till he come In which words it is easy to observe these three practical truths The two first whereof are plainly supposed and the other is affirmed and enjoined I. The first thing here supposed is that it is a Christian Duty to eat this Bread and drink this Cup here spoken of that is to receive the Holy Sacrament of Christs Body and Blood II. The second is that it is a Christian Duty which ought to be often performed And then III. It is here plainly asserted that when it is performed the thing designed in it and which we ought to aim at is to show the Lord's Death till he come The last of these will be sufficiently explained in the handling of the other two viz. the Duty and the Frequent repetition of it unto which I shall confine my Discourse And of the first at this time I. THat it is a Christian Duty incumbent upon every one of us to eat this Bread and drink this Cup that is to receive the Sacrament of Christs Body and Blood This is supposed in the words Which are not to be understood as a mere permission that we may do this if we think good and when we think good but as a command of something we ought to do For when he tells us what it is we do when we eat this Bread and drink this Cup in which we show forth Christs Death it plainly implies that it must be done and is not left to our choice whether we will show forth the Death of our Lord or no. Of which more anon when I have laid some other things before you which will convince you if they be considered of the Obligation that lies upon you to the serious performance of this Duty And for our clear and orderly proceeding I shall cast my Discourse into this method I. First I shall show you that there is a plain institution of this Sacrament and a command that it should be received And then II. Secondly I shall show from the practice of the Apostles after â—hat time when they first received it with our Saviour that it was no temporary command but of Everlasting Obligation III. Thirdly That there is more â—han their practice to interpret the meaning and obligation of this command IV. Fourthly That in this Discourse of St. Paul to the Corinthians there are evident proofs of the necessity of its performance V. Fifthly That the very Text shows the same by the end for which it was instituted VI. Lastly That all these reasons are exemplified by the practice of the Universal Church of Christ I. And first let it be considered that this Holy Sacrament is a Divine Institution Ordained Commanded and required by Christ Himself Who the same night that he was betrayed took Bread and blessed it and brake it and gave it to his Disciples and said Take eat this is my Body And he took the Cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying Drink ye all of it For this is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins Matth. xxvi 26 27 28. Here is as manifest an Institution of this Sacrament and as formal a Command to take and eat and drink what Christ then gave as can be contrived in words Unless they be plainer which we read in other places for the Institution is recorded by the two next Evangelists St. Mark and St. Luke and here again in this Chapter by St. Paul Which two last named say that our Saviour added these words in the Institution of this Sacrament This do in remembrance of me Luk. xxii 19. 1 Cor. xi 24 25. Which enjoin this duty by as express a Command as those of old Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy And Honour thy Father and thy Mother Which may henceforth be blotted out of the number of the Commandments if we take this to
reason to be scrupulous about this unfitness whereof they complain that there is to be so about their unworthy receiving And yet they take no notice of the one any further than only to make it an excuse for the other What unjust what partial dealing is this What kind of Christians are these who if they were serious and in good earnest religious as some of this sort would be thought to be would be as afraid to remain unfit as they are to receive while they so continue They would be as scrupulous lest they should offend God by staying away as they seem to be lest they should offend him by coming to the Communion For they would see that it is very unequal dealing with God and with their own Souls to be very nice about the doing that which God hath commanded and to have little or no scruple about the omission of it What is this but to fancy that when God commands a thing to be done by us we may safely let it alone if our not doing it proceed from a fear of doing it wrong As if we did not offend him by not doing what he bids us as much as by doing it amiss and our total neglect of a duty were not as great a provocation as an undue performance Do but consider it thoroughly and you will find there is as much cause to be solicitous about the one as about the other And if all they that are now full of fears about unworthy receiving would but be fearful also of continuing unworthy to receive i. e. of sinful neglect of the holy Communion this equal fear on both sides would make them solicitously diligent in fitting themselves to be worthy guests at the Lord's Table That so they may neither offend by coming nor by staying away but approach in a becoming and well-prepared manner and find grace and favour with God to come every day more and more prepared For by coming as well prepared as our affairs in this World will admit with serious resolutions to amend our lives we grow still more fit if we frequent it to come better disposed to the Table of the Lord with stronger resolutions and consequently with more fruits meet for repentance of amendment of life For by doing our duty as well as we can we learn to do it with greater perfection especially if we continue to do it though for the present with many imperfections But alas will some say we are not only utterly unfit and unprepared for the present but it is not in our power to fit and prepare our selves in any sort to be meet partakers of these holy mysteries for the future To which it is necessary that I say something before I proceed further because if this be true all my labour will be lost in perswading men to dispose themselves for the performance of this holy duty 1. And here the same question might be askt such persons which I askt at the first how comes it not to be in your power and whose fault is it that you are not able to fit your selves But I omit this because it only throws the guilt upon such complainers but doth not convince them of the falseness of their Plea Therefore I rather demand of such men how they can pretend to Christianity and say that they cannot leave off their habitual course of sinning What Is there no power in the Christian Religion to alter a mans heart and to bring him to repentance and reformation of life Cannot he who by being made a Christian is regenerate with the holy Spirit cease to follow and to be led by those carnal Lusts and Worldly desires which at his Baptism he renounced Cannot he for instance forbear habitual Drunkenness Swearing Extortion and Prophaneness Is it impossible for him to be at peace with his Neighbours to lay aside all wrath bitterness and wilful animosities How is he then born again of the Spirit By what power were men changed and renewed in the beginning of our Religion which we have not now since we have the same Religion Or to what purpose are we exhorted every day to beseech God to grant us true repentance and his holy spirit that those things which we do at that present may please him and the rest of our life be pure and holy if no such thing can be obtained from our Heavenly Father no not by importunate Prayers unto him for it Do not for shame say any longer you have no power to fit your selves for the holy Communion that is to become better unless you will renounce Christianity and declare there is nothing in it but vain words empty shows and appearances 2. Which this sort of men I am sure cannot do having something in them which will satisfy them if they attend unto it that they do not say true when they pretend they cannot leave off those sins which keep them from the Communion For how can they be called sins if it be impossible to do otherways And if they be no sins how can they hinder you from Communicating Why do your Consciences accuse you of doing amiss if you could not but do as you did They never accuse you in other cases where there is an utter impossibility under which you labour For instance if a Neighbours House be on fire you do not accuse your self for not running to help to quench it when you lay lame in Bed and disabled to move out of it But if you set the House on fire you could not but think you did him a great injury or if you stood by in perfect health and soundness when it took fire and would not stir hand or foot to help him you could not but look upon your self as unneighbourly unkind and cruel In like manner if it were as impossible to forbear a sin as it is to stir when you are bound hand and foot your Consciences would never accuse you But the upbraidings you feel there the secret checks and remorse the suspitions and fears which your Consciences are troubled withal plainly declare that it was in your power and that you lie and do not the truth as St. John speaks when you pretend the contrary In short if you cannot possibly reform those sins which make you unfit for the Communion how come you to charge them upon your selves as sins If they be sins your own Consciences tell you that you can avoid them and if you can why do you not go about it and by doing this prepare your selves to do the other I mean to receive the holy Communion for which you will be fit when you have quitted those sins wherein you live 3. For the sins which you say you cannot reform are either sins of weakness or sins of willfulness If they be only such weaknesses as can scarce possibly be avoided by the care and watchfulness of good men but they are upon some occasions surprized with them surely these do not make you unfit for the holy Communion for