or equivocation declare themselves willing ready and resolved to perform the things agreed upon God what he promises and Man what he engages to do For God consider'd as the Father Everlasting promises here to treat us as his Children to be tender of our Spiritual and Eternal Welfare to seek our good and turn all things to our good to pass by the Unkindnesses and Indignities we have offer'd to him to forgive and throw them into the depth of the Sea to impute them no more to count us innocent to justifie us here and like a Father to provide an Eternal Inheritance for us i. e. to glorifie us for ever The Son of God consider'd not only as the Eternal Wisdom of the Father but as Mediator and Redeemer of the World promises to be our Intercessor and Advocate with his Righteousness to cover our Infirmities with his Wounds to cherish our Souls to answer all the Arguments and Objections of the Devil against us and to be our Friend our Brother our Shepherd â—nd our New and Living Way to his Father's Bosom The Holy Ghost doth promise to enlighten us to be our Guide in the dark to comfort us in all our Tribulations to teach us how to pray to assure us of God's love to fill us with joy in believing to increase our Graces to strengthen us in all Difficulties to support us in our Spiritual Dangers to arm us with Arguments against Temptations and to give us a Right to a future happy Resurrection This is the mighty promise God makes to poor Sinners in the Sacrament On the other side we that come to the Table of our Lord and do not intend to come in vain do solemnly promise particularly to the Eternal Father that we will own that relation with joy and walk as his Children not fashioning our selves according to our former Lusts in our ignorance but be holy as he that hath call'd us is holy that we will no longer live like Rebels and Prodigals under the Name of Children but make good that Glorious Title by our Lives shine as Lights in the World and endeavour to be spotless and blameless and by our Lives and Actions and good Works glorifie our Father which is in Heaven We promise here to God the Son and the Great Redeemer that we will not only accept of his purchas'd Blessings but submit to his Scepter too and that he shall be not only our Saviour but our Sovereign King and Master also to whom we will think our selves obliged to submit in all things that he shall say unto us in his Gospel that his Life shall be the pattern of ours and his Example and Command shall do more with us than our Gain or Appetite or Interest that we will be loyal to him who redeem'd our Lives from Destruction and will act as Spiritnal Subjects in his Spiritual Kingdom We promise also to God the Holy Ghost That we will not only expect his Benefit and Comforts but be guided by his Motions That we will not reâ—â—st his Checks and Reproofs but hearken to them whenever our Hearts do smite us That we will not prefer the Dictates of a Lying Devil before his Lively Oracles nor joyn with the Motions of our Fâ—esh against his Intreaties and Obtestations That we will make much of his gracious Visits and take heed we do not by our Sins and Follies defile the Temple of the Holy Ghost That we will cherish his kinder Influences and take care that the Grace and Talent he confers upon us be not buried in the Earth or laid up useless in a Napkin And this is a Scheme of the solemn Covenant a Believer a Receiver a Communicant enters into with the Holy Trinity in this Tremendous Sacrament a Covenant that ought to be more sacred than the Leagues of Princes and more religiously observed than the Treaties and Engagements of the dearest Friends VI. This Covenant we enter into first of all in our Baptism when our Age is Tender our Desires Innocent and our Souls like soft Wax fit for any Impression and consequently fit for the Impress of the Divine Image and though that Age be not capable of entering actually into a Covenant with the Lord of Heaven and Earth yet it 's enough that our Parents and Friends who have Power over us do then make this Covenant with God for us dedicate us to his Service appoint us Candidates of Holiness and consecrate us early to the performance of the Conditions required in this Covenant a Charity just and a genuine effect of Paternal Care which as it loves the Child should share in their Temporal Enjoyments so it cannot but desire it should participate of the Blessings of this Covenant And since these Blessings are not to be had without the Obligation of Faith Repentance and Obedience though the Child cannot actually exercise these Virtues yet being offer'd to God upon these Conditions the Parents do not only shew their good Will to have the Child enrol'd in the Book of Life but lay the strongest Obligations on the Child to stand to the Terms of the Covenant when it comes to display the Glory of its Rational Faculties and therefore may expect an actual Conveyance of the Spiritual Blessings of this Covenant to the Child by the secret Operations of the Holy Ghost which Blessings the Child hath a Right to till enticed by Lust and the Vanity of the World it grows proud rebellious and shakes of the conduct of its Guide viz. The Spirit of the Holy Jesus For God knows the World and the Devil watch the first rising of the Sun I mean the first Appearances of Reason and seek to obscure and darken them by Mists of Sensuality into which Pit the Young Man that was in his Infancy dedicated to God too often falls and there lies and sleeps and many times awakes not till Death summons him to the dreadful Bar of Heaven Where it is so that the Covenant we enter'd into in the Morning of our Days is forgotten slighted and polluted with Filthiness and superfluity of Naughtiness what can we think but that the intended Blessings of the Covenant cease and die and are withdrawn from the degenerate Creature and the Promises of God being our Father our Saviour and our Comforter are null'd at least the performance of them suspended till the Apostate comes to himself again This early perfidiousness too common and too general discovers the absolute necessity of renewing this Covenant when we are able to understand the greatness and importance of the Contract and to enter into that Bond in our own Persons especially in the Supper of the Lord and there solemnly to engage our Souls to the performance of the Conditions required on our side upon which what God hath graciously promis'd will effectually be perform'd again an offer not to be slighted for it is an argument of infinite Patience and Goodness that God will give the Backslider leave to enter into the broken Covenant and
Such present Declarations of our consent admit us to the Blessings of this Covenant so that he who enters into this Covenant and is not willing presently and without delay to discharge the Conditions of it uses Tergiversations and equivocates with God and though a Man may intend that some time hereafter when he is freer from Business more clear in the World hath fewer Divertisements and is more at leasure he will not fail to perform all that is required of his part yet that will not satisfie nor answer the design of this Agreement for who knows what he shall do hereafter The present time is only in our Power and he that is not presently resolv'd is not likely considering the Temptations he may meet withal to do any great matters for God or for his Soul hereafter 5. This content must be absolute or which is all one without Reserves Secret Conditions have no place here And that Man is not fit for the Kingdom of God that desires first to bury his Father or to take his leave of his Friends and Relations and then to follow Christ Luke 9. 59. To consent to this Covenant and to reserve any one darling Sin to consent to the performance of the Conditions with exception of a single Lust which our Place Calling or present Circumstances will not let us part withal is a sign the Heart is not upright with God and a Man that hath not that high esteem of God's Grace and Favour he ought to have The Soul must come naked to the Cross of Jesus Here must be no Bargainings with a Tremendous Majesty no Proviso's as Pharaoh made with the Children of Israel when he was to let them go He was content the elder People should march and sacrifice to their God but the little Ones he would have staid God must not be told in this Covenant Lord If thou wilt let me enjoy this piece of Pride or give me leave to vindicate my Honour by avenging my self If thou wilt let me comply with such a sinful Mans humour wilt let me flatter him or dissemble with him for my Profit and Interest or if I thrive and prosper in my Trade Profession aud Imployment if I may enjoy temporal Felicity and live as happily as my Neighbours I freely consent to all the rest that thy Power and greatness expects at my Hands For this is to contradict the design of this Covenant which is to make us entirely his And that no Man may stroak himself with a Fancy that he never made and never intends such formal exceptions in his consent I must add that where a person doth actually reserve such things whether he doth formally and expresly except them or no the case is the same and is as much as if such formal exceptions had been made in our entring into this Covenant whatever our lot or fortune may be in the World whatever inconveniencies may happen in the strict observance of this contract those must be overlook'd for the greater benefits offer'd us on God's part in this Covenant VIII But here a question will arise If this Covenant be broken after it is thus ratified or establish'd in the Lord's Supper whether and how it may be renew'd To give a satisfactory answer to this point I shall lay down what is fit to be said to it in these following particulars 1. By Breaking this Covenant I mean to make it null not only on our side but also on God's part so that we can have no assurance no hope no rational confidence that God loves us any longer as his Confederates as his Friends and Children or with a love of complacency or that he is our reconciled Father or that we are dear to him and Heirs of Heaven or that the Promises of the Gospel belong to us in a word so to make it void as to put our selves in the same condition we were in before ever we had any thoughts of giving our selves up to Almighty God in a formal Covenant so as to become objects of God's Wrath and Indignation to whom is reserv'd the blackness of darkness for ever This being premised 2. Every thing that clouds or darkens the comforts arising from a sense of our being in Covenant with God cannot must not presently be interpreted a total breach of it There are many sincere Christian Israelites indeed in whom there is no considerable guile who either through weakness of understanding or through some bodily distemper seizing on their nobler parts or for want of consulting with some conscientious Divine or through vehement assaults of the Devil may not feel the streams of consolation which formerly used to flow into their Souls from the chearful apprehensions they had of their being united to God by a solemn Covenant who yet still go on to fulfil the conditions of this Holy Contract and are exceeding cautious of offending or acting against the Laws of it and most certainly the Mists and Fogs which obscure and dull the brightness of their comforts are no arguments of their having made void this Covenant or that God's Paternal affection to their Souls is gone For though they may even complain with Zion that the Lord hath forsaken them and their God hath forgotten them yet still they are Children of Light in the midst of Darkness and were but the noise of temptation over or the distemper which discomposes them abated they would soon hear God speaking to them in the Language of a Father Can a Woman forget her sucking Child that she should not have Compassion on the Fruit of hâ—r Womb Yea they may forget yet will not I forget thee Behold I have engraven thee on the Palms of my Hands Es. 49. 15. 3. No unallowed of Miscarriages I mean Miscarriages against the settled bent and resolutions of our Souls can be said to null this Covenant For God promising in this Covenant to be a tender and gracious Father to us in Christ Jesus we must needs suppose that as a Father pities his own Children so the Lord takes pity on them that fear him as we read Ps. 103. 13. Therefore as a Father who hath an obedient Son if he hear him speak a rash word or see him do an imprudent act he was never guilty of before and perceives him blushing as soon as he hath done it which shews the Error was not in his Nature or the effect of an evil Habit but caused by some accident or before he was aware and consequently doth not thereupon presently cast him off or turn him out of Doors or withdraw the affections and inclinations of a Father from him so neither doth God from his dear Confederates if sometimes by surprize they are overtaken in a fault upon which their Hearts immediately smite them and they take shame to themselves for this shews that it was not temper but temptation that caused this fall and that it was against the bent and settled inclinations of their Souls 4. Neither do blasphemous Suggestions null
will upon that return let the still streams of his Promises flow in and Water his Soul again so that if this opportunity be neglected we know not the Treasures of Wrath we heap up against our selves for it looks like resolution to die and to be miserable VII That God consents to this Covenant unfeignedly we need not doubt and that what he promises he intends to fulfil we may be confident of since we have his Word for it and his Nature is such that he cannot lye The great danger lies on our side who are very mutable Creatures and apt either to equivocate in our consent or to consent only by halves or to forget the Terms we have consented to It 's fit therefore I should explain the Nature of that consent we give or are to give in this Covenant especially at the Table of our Lord where the Sacred Cup fill'd with the Blood of Christ at once represents Gods willingness to enter into a Covenant with us and invites us to accept of the Offer and our Drinking of it shews we actually consent to all the Terms of this Covenant Therefore to prevent Hypocrisie in this consent I must tell you that this consent must be 1. Deliberate and the effect of Consultation Sometimes a melancholy Humour seizes upon our Spirits and not knowing how to ease our selves we try whether Religion will not qualifie our trouble and then we are consenting to this Covenant though we cannot tell why or how whence it comes to pass that if Religion doth not presently cure our Melancholy we grow weary and throw it off again Most Men have sometimes a Religious Fit upon them and when either something hath cross'd their designs or a disaster hath put them into discontent they are during that Paroxysm resolv'd to consent But as it was a sudden Motion without a good Foundation so it soon withers and comes to nothing It's necessary therefore we should take pains to understand what this Covenant means what consent God requires how reasonable and just that consent is what a priviledge it is that God will admit us into such a Compact what the things are he requires on our part and how necessary it is he should require such at our Hands and after we have counted the cost and seen and thought and consulted what this unfeigned consent will stand us in and weigh'd both the Advantages and Inconveniencies then in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ freely and chearfully to agree to the Conditions requir'd in this Covenant this is a consent which in imitation of the great Planet of the Day is like to go on to a perfect Day 2. This consent must be hearty the intent strong and the desire vigorous to perform the Conditions of this Covenant such a consent as he gives that for a considerable Reward promises to do what we put him upon He fully designs it he knows nothing that should hinder him his Heart his Mind his Affections are bent upon the doing of it for the Reward presses upon his Understanding and the greatness of that gives force and resolution to his Will and Desire Here must be used no underhand dealings God is not to be put off with Complements The Young Man that said I go Sir but went not Math. 21. 28. stands branded for a Hypocrite A full purpose of Heart is requisite in this case as serious a purpose as Men have when under great hopes or fears which are most likely to make their purpose invincible To consent to walk as Sons of God to embrace the Lord Jesus as our King to prefer the Motions of Gods Spirit before the Suggestions of the Flesh I say to consent to all this and not to intend very seriously to act accordingly is to impose upon God at least to act as if we would do so and to slight his Omniscience or to carry our selves as if he did not know our down-sitting and our up-rising or did not understand our Thoughts afar off which is impious 3. This consent ought to be impartial and entire even to all the parts of the Conditions express'd or understood in this Covenant Here must be no accepting of Christ by halves but our Affections must embrace him both as a Ruler and a Friend To accept of the Sweets of his Sufferings and to refuse his Yoak to rejoyce in his Mercies and to reject his Law or to be willing to submit to some of his Laws and to take liberty as to others is to divide Christ and to part his Offices or to hold both with Christ and with the Devil A King had as good have no Subjects as disobedient Subjects and to what purpose had all that costly Method of the Son of God to purchase a People to himself been if the intent had not been to make them subject to his Will and Power That there might be no dispute about this point the Apostle hath left it upon record Heb. 5. 9. That he became the Author of Eternal Salvation to them that obey him And there needs no great Logick to infer from hence That no Man hath a Right or Title to Salvation till he actually and sincerely obeys him and obeys him in all that he requires For he that obeys partially doth not obey in a Scripture sense We our selves do not much affect Servants that are only for what they can get and care not how little Work they do and God to be sure hath no Reason to look upon those as true Confederates that consent only to be made happy by the Death of Christ but are loath to die to the Vanities of this World or to admit his Kingdom and Empire into their Souls So that he that truly consents to this Covenant must consent not only to enjoy the Comforts of a Saviour but that Christ shall be Master of his Will Desires and Affections that these shall be at his Beck move by his Order and be manag'd according to his Direction 4. This consent must not only respect our future Seriousness and Conscientiousness but express our present Designs and Inclinations As in Marriage so in this Covenant it must be a present consent that ratifies the Contract and as in the former I take thee for my Wedded Wife and I take thee for my Wedded Husband makes the Matrimonial Compact valid so in this present agreeing to the Terms propos'd and required makes a Man a welcome Confederate and unites and knits him to that God who enters into solemn Engagements in this Covenant to discharge the Offices of a kind Husband to us And O God the Father of Heaven I do here most humbly offer and tender unto thee my filial Affection O God the Son Redeemer of the World I am content to be thy Loyal Sabject and to be governed and ruled by thy Holy Laws O God the Holy Ghost preceeding from the Father and the Son I take thee for my Guide and my Counsellor by whose advice I mean to steer my course
and Feet and Gestures and Behaviour thy Reason Memory and Passion should all be at his beck move by his prescription act according to his appointment be seasoned with his Grace and conducted by his Wisdom If thou art content that all shall go rather than his Favour if his Love or a share in it be dearer to thee than the dearest of all outward enjoyments be of good cheer it 's a good sign and thou mayst rationally infer that thou art in Covenant with thy Lord and hast a right to all the priviledges that are annex'd to it for thy encouragement V. And here we may justly reflect what a mercy it is to be in Covenant with God a mercy indeed which no Tongue can express nay no Apollos neither as eloquent as he was can describe no Tertullus no Cicero no Demosthenes represent according to its worth a mercy which no Man knows save he who receives it a mercy weich fills the Tongues of departed Saints with praises a mercy which unhappy Souls that groan among Devils would give Millions for if they had them a mercy which sweetens all Conditions makes Sickness easie and Iron Chains sit soft mitigates pain and tempers grief and anguish A mercy which made the penitent Publican stand confounded amaz'd the humble Magdalen caused St. Paul to go chearfully through Stripes and Imprisonment and encouraged the Believers of old to defie death and torments He that is in Covenant with God enjoys all that Son of God enjoys though not as yet in fruition and possession yet in title and reversion God the Father carries him on his Wings as the Eagle doth her young the Eternal Son of God is his faithful Friend The Holy Spirit of God speaks to him in the still voice of peace and comfort He that is in this Covenant is safe in the midst of Spears and Arrows safe when he goes through the Water safe when he passes through the Fire safe when the Waves do roar safe when Hell gapes upon him safe in a Storm safe at Sea safe on the Shore safe in his Life safe in his Death God is concern'd for him in all his afflictions He is afflicted The Lord Jesus is touch'd with his infirmities and the Spirit of God makes intercessions for him with groans that cannot be utter'd In a word there is no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus to them that walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit Rom. 8. 1. The PRAYER O God! whose pity is infinite whose compassion knows no bounds How shall I extol thy Humiliation How shall I admire thy condescension to this poor Worm Will God the Great the omnipotent God look upon such an one as I Wilt thou enter into a Covenant with this lump of Clay wilt thou tye and oblige thy self to do me good The Favour is wonderful I could not have thought it possible but that thou hast most graciously revealed it to me I believe Lord help my unbelief Behold I am Servant the Son the Daughter of thine Handmaid Be it unto me according unto thy Word I accept of thy offer I count my self happy that I may be admitted into Covenant with thee I renounce the Devil and all his Works Thou shalt be my Master my Father my Guide my Director my King and my God my Master to command me my Father to counsel me my Guide to lead me my Director to conduct me my King to rule me my God to dispose of me as thou pleasest I will know no Will but thy Will By the Blood of the Covenant unite my Will to thy Will Grant me to desire what thou delightest in desiring to search after it searching to know it and knowing it to fulfil it Make me O Lord for thou alone canst do it make me Obedient without contradiction Holy without defection Chast without corruption Patient without murmuring Humble without dissimulation Chearful without licentiousness Sorrowful without dejection Grave without affectation nimble in Religion without lightness Fearful without despair Upright without Hypocrisie and fruitful in good Works without presumption Give me a watchful Heart a Heart not easily drawn away by vain imaginations a Heart unbroken by afflictions unaffected with the vanities of the World that may not swell with prosperity nor sink in adversity Grant me understanding to know thee diligence to seek thee wisdom to find thee a readiness to please thee perseverance to wait for thee and confidence at last to embrace thee O Holy and Eternal Spirit I depend upon thy assistance Make me faithful to my God faithful to my Neighbour faithful to mine own Soul faithful in my Calling faithful in the discharge of my Duty faithful in my Promises faithful in my Conversation faithful in my Love faithful in my Obedience faithful in thy House faithful in mine own faithful unto Death that I may obtain a Crown of Life through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen CHAP. XV. Of frequent receiving the Holy Communion and the necessity of it The ONTENTS Frequent coming to the Lord's Table the Practise of the Primitive Christians Receiving every Lord's Day an universal observance Different Customs in different Churches Decay of a good life the cause of Communicating seldom The necessity of frequent Communicating shewn in four particulars as the Eucharist is a great preservative against Sin an engagement to emulate Christ's Virtues a Motive to Charity and the frequent coming a thing very pleasing to God Inquiry made how often a conscientious Christian is bound to Communicate The measures of that Obligation to be taken partly from the Orders of the Church we live in and partly from the fervency of our love to Christ. An Objection drawn from the danger of contempt and disesteem of the Ordinance if we come often answered Arguments to prove that lawful business in the World is no just impediment of Communicating frequently An Expostulation pressing frequent Receiving The frequent Communicant an Object of Divine Mercy The Prayer I. THough the Example of the Primitive Believers is not properly a Law yet we may have leave to infer so much from it that being well acquainted with the Will of Christ and his Apostles in those Practises especially which were universal we ought not without very urgent reasons to depart from that Pattern and if this Rule hold frequent communicating at the Lords Table will become if not absolutely necessary yet highly useful and expedient since it was the practise of the best of Men in the best of Ages and of this the Acts of the Holy Apostles give us a very large account particularly Ch. 2. 42. 46. which place being generally understood of the Eucharist it must follow that the Believers did daily participate of it But this seems to have been a custom peculiar to the Church of Jerusalem for though St. â—yprian St. Chrysostom and St. Austin speak of some places in their time where the daily Sacrifice was celebrated yet even in the Apostles days we find other Churches did