the fruits of his Sons death and the earnests we have of the eternal inheritance We should begin to praise him with the Heavenly host and to joyn our hearts and voices with the celestial Quire we should wish that we could make all the world ring with his praises and that we could make all men hear from the East to the West the sound of our thanksgivings We should sing that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which all the Churches of Christ throughout all ages have sung saying Holy Holy Holy See the Learned Mr. Thorndike in his Relig. Assemb Lord God of Hosts Heaven and Earth are full of thy glory And so we read that as soon as our Saviour had spoken those words that he would not any more drink with them till the Kingdom of his Father should come they sung an Hymne or Psalm of praise and so went forth And indeed who can sufficiently praise his divine Majesty The tongues of Angels stammer in uttering of his goodness and we become dumb the more we endeavour to speak of it The highest of our praises is humbly and affectionately to acknowledge that we cannot sufficiently praise him the greatest of our endeavours is daily to admire him the furthest we can strain our souls is to long for eternity wherein it may be our imployment to admire and praise him Call upon the Armies of Angels and wish them to praise him seeing thou canst not call upon all men and bid them praise him wish thou couldst awake all the world that all Creatures might praise him and make thine own soul hear more plainly call upon it more shrilly call upon it again and again call upon it every day to praise him Say as the Psalmist doth Psal 103. Bless the Lord ye his Angels which excell in strength that do his Commandements hearkning to the voice of his words Bless the Lord all ye hosts ye Ministers of his that do his pleasure Bless the Lord all his works in all places of his dominion Bless the Lord O my soul Mensa Mystica The Postcaenium or of our Deportment afterward CHAP. XV. ANd now that we have had a sight of them let us remember his love more than Wine Let his name be engraven upon our hearts and his Image remain fair and lively upon our souls Let us find a kind of unwillingness to admit of any other company and say in the secrets of our mind None but Christ none but Christ Yea when we do return to converse again with other things let us still be looking back towards him as one that hath got our hearts and say Lord evermore give us this Bread Let us labour that other objects may not come near our hearts nor make any strong impressions upon us but that they may be sealed up by him and so filled with him that all things else may look upon themselves as having nothing to do there Eusebius Pamphilus hath a pretty Observation on Cant. 5.12 where the eyes of the beloved are compared to the eyes of Doves by the Rivers of water washed with Milk 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Milk saith he of all other moist things hath this singular property that it will not admit of the image or picture of any thing to be reflected in it and therefore it is a fit resemblance of his eyes in which nothing vain insubsistent deceiving doth cast its shadow but they do alwayes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 behold the being that truly is Our souls should labour to imitate him as much as they can and to endeavour at least that the world may not deceive and cheat us with its shadowes and pictures of things but we may see through them all to that being which is true and substantial and on that our eyes may be fixed as our only good and happiness The Lord expects now that we should proceed to a greater strength by the higher food that he vouchsafes unto us that our knowledge should be more bright that our love should be more inflamed that by our actions we should shine like lights in the world holding forth the word of life Many of the Ancients upon those words V. Comment trium Patrum Cant. 6.10 do note that there are four degrees of Christians Some are but newly converted and they do but look forth as the morning with weak and trembling thoughts being as it were in the twilight and not far enlightned A second sort have made some progress and are fair as the Moon they are much enlightned but have abundance of spots still in them and some discernable darkness still remaining A third sort are clear as the Sun very full of light very pure unblameable and bright in their conversations The world can take notice of no common failings yet sometime there may be a partial eclipse and if they mark themselves they will observe many weaknesses as the modern Astronomers that have pried more narrowly have discerned spots in the body of the Sun A fourth sort are they that are become such strong Christians that they are as terrible as an Army with Banners and all their enemies flie before them Few temptations are able to worst them but they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the appearance of an Agnelical Host that are so strong in the Lord and in the power of his might that they overcome the world and tread Satan under their feet Now in which soever lower form and rank we be of these we should strive to advance to that which is higher and seeing we have more than Angels food we should labour to do the will of God on earth as they do in Heaven We should put on all the Armour of God and gird it closer to our loins and shew greater valour to the perfecting the conquests we have begun We should labour to be so full of Christ that the Devil may be afraid of us and run away when he sees us grown so stedfast in the faith For we must not judge of the state of our souls by our fervency in this duty but by the holiness of our lives which is the fruit and effect of it Unless our lives be better than they were before we our selves are not made better We are but like some of the Sect of Pythagoras who held that a man took a new soul when to receive Oracles he approached to the images of their Gods but it was such a new one as was lent him but for a time and then he returned to the same man he was before Such a new soul men seem to have some time when they come to the solemn duties of their Religion they are inspired with strange and unusuall affections and moved beyond themselves But it is a soul that lives but for a day and then they fall to their old dulness and as for their own soul it gives no sign of its amendment and further renewal after the Image of God It is fit therefore that I should next of all
but nothing methinks is more tempting and inviting than this heavenly Feast where pleasure is mixed with profit and physick with our food Where at once we may be both enriched and delighted both healed and nourished This Table if I may use the language of an holy Man is the very sinewes of our Soul S. Chrysost Hom. 24. in 1 Corinth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. the ligament of our mindes the foundation of our confidence our hope our salvation our light our life This mystery makes the earth to be an Heaven and therefore if thou wilt come hither thou mayest open the Gate of Heaven and look down into it or rather not into Heaven but into the Heaven of Heavens For that which is the most precious of all things above I will shew thee lying upon the earth For as in Kings Palaces the chiefest and most precious things are not the fair Walls the gilded Roofs the costly Hangings but the body of the King that sits upon the Throne even so in the Heavens the most glorious thing is the Body of Christ the King of Heaven Now behold and thou shalt see it here upon the earth For I do not shew thee the Angels or the Archangels or the Heavens or the Heaven of Heavens but him that is the Lord and Master of them all and therefore must thou not needs say that thou seest that upon the Earth that is more excellent than them all yea thou not only seest but thou touchest and not only touchest but eatest also yea and carriest him home with thee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. O then wipe thy soul very clean prepare thy mind to the receiving these Divine Mysteries Who would not be Religious that he may be thus happy who would not forsake all things for such a sight for such an embracement If thou mightest but have the priviledge to take up the Son of a King with his Purple and Diadem and other Ornaments into thy Arms wouldst thou not cast all other things to the ground to be so employed Tell me then why wilt thou not prepare thy self and reverently take the only begotten Son of God into thy hands Wilt thou not throw away the love of all earthly things for him Wilt thou not think thy self brave enough in the enjoying of him Dost thou still look to the earth and lovest money and admirest heaps of Gold Then what pity canst thou deserve What pardon canst thou hope for Or what excuse canst thou think of to make for thy self Thus he Homil. 27. in 1. ad Corinth When a man hath heard the sacred Hymns as he saith in another place and hath seen the spirituall Marriage and been feasted at the Royall Table and filled with the holy Ghost and hath been taken into the Quire of Seraphims and made partaker with the Heavenly Powers Who would throw away so great a Grace Who would spend so rich a Treasure Who would bring in drunkenness or the like Guest instead of such Divine Chear Drunkenness I say which is the Mother of Heaviness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the joy of none but the Devil and is big with a thousand evils What madness possesses a man that he should not rather chuse to feast with God than with the Devil If thou sayest that thou art merry and rejoycest and wonderfully pleased I answer And so I would have thee to be only let not thy laughter be like the crackling of Thornes under a Pot but a solid joy that will make thy heart to smile for ever God doth not envy to the Sonnes of men any happiness but he would have them to be sure they are happy and not please themselves in a phantasticall shadow of Happiness CHAP. XVIII BUT that I may proceed more distinctly and assault your souls with the stronger Reasons to deliver themselves up to a religious life one single piece of which hath such blessings in it I shall present you with the profit of worthy receiving in these three generall Heads which I shall borrow from a Devout Author We have most Princely Dishes saith St. Bernard served up to us in the Supper of the Lord prepared with the most curious and exquisite Art and they are Deliciosa multum ad saporem Serm. 2 de Caena Dom. very delicious and sweet to the taste solida ad nutrimentum strong and solid for our nourishment efficacia ad medicinam powerfull and working for the curing of our diseases Seeing this Sacrament is a Feast and is called the Table and the Supper of the Lord under these three heads I shall comprehend these benefits that may excite every man to the examination of himself and invite us all to this Heavenly Chear The things that are here set before us are 1. Most sweet pleasant and refreshing 2. They are solid strengthning and nourishing and 3. They are Medicinal and Healing I. First Deliciosa ad saporem To a well-prepared pallate they afford a most sweet and delightsome relish This holy Sacrament breeds a Divine pleasure an Heavenly Joy in a right tempered soul and overflowes it with sweetness more than the body is satisfied with marrow and fatness now this refreshment arises 1. From a great sense which is here given us of the love of Christ which as the song of songs saith is better than Wine Cant. 1.2 It is more chearing and exhilerating more cordial and reviveing to think of his dear love in shedding his Bloud for us than to drink the bloud of the richest Grape and therefore the Church saith ver 4. We will be glad and rejoyce in thee we will remember thy love more than Wine It is beyond a ravishment to remember that men are so beloved by the King of Heaven so embraced by the Lord of all the world and still it is the more transporting for to consider that they feed upon this Lord of Love and that he gives his very self unto them and by such secret and wonderfull wayes unites himself unto their souls And it is most of all affecting and but a little below Heaven to think that this is our Jesus and our Lord to say as the Spouse in the same Book My Beloved is mine and I am his Cant. 2.16 When God thus lifts up the light of his countenance upon a soul he puts gladness in its heart more than the joy of Harvest This is a Marriage-Feast and therefore full of pleasure Here the soul embraceth him and he folds it in his arms here they plight their truth mutually each to other here they engage themselves in unseparable unions to hold perpetuall entercourse and live eternally together in the greatest affection As the Bridegroom rejoyceth over his Bride so the Lord rejoyceth over it and he speaks not to it meerly by his servants but he kisses it with the kisses of his own mouth So one of the Greek Commentators prettily glosses upon those words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let me not
same Epistle acquaints us with it when he saith 1 Cor. 14. v. 16 17. When thou shalt bl-ss (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. with the spirit i. e. in an unknown tongue how shall he that is unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seeing he knows not what thou sayest From these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shalt bless and giving thanks Beza thinks that he touches upon the Lords Supper So the L. Mr. Thorndike also for they are the very same words which are used concerning that action of our Saviour when he first celebrated this feast as you may see Mat. 26.26 27. And besides the Apostle seems in that Chapter to direct the Corinthians how to handle the whole divine service so that it might be to edification Now having spoken concerning Prayer and singing of Psalms ver 14.15 and instructing them afterward concerning teaching and interpreting of Scripture ver 19 26. in all likelihood he here tells them how to behave themselves to the same profiting of others in the Supper of the Lord at which there were many rudenesses committed by the people And that which he teacheth them So Juctâ—n 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is to give thanks in a known tongue that so all the people when the Minister comes to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for ever and ever as Chrysostome speaks might assent with their wishes and say Amen From whence we may collect that giving of thanks is so considerable a part of this service that in the Apostles stile it involves the whole of it VI. It may further be observed that all Churches in the world have always used divine praises in this commemoration and if we may believe ancient Records such as are very conformable to the Jewish benedictions at the Passeover 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Blessed art thou O Lord our God the King of the world who hast produced bread out of the earth and blessed art thou c. who hast created the fruit of the vine And afterward Let us bless him wâ—o hath fed us with his own and by whose goodness we live c. For so we reade in Justin Martyr and others Apolog 2. Constit Apost that in their times the Church used to praise God for all things and particularly for those gifts of bread and wine and so for Jesus Christ his Death Passion Resurrection and Ascension beseeching the Father of the whole world to accept of the offering they made to him And in after ages Cyril of Hierusalem saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. We make mention of the Heaven the Earth the Sea and all the Creatures reasonable and unreasonable of the Angels Archangels and powers of Heaven praising God and saying Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Sabbath c. These do very much correspond with those Hebrew formes which perhaps they were willing in part to imitate for the greater satisfaction of the Jewish Christians who constituted part of their assemblies One thing more seems to be very clear that from the Hallel of the Jews it was that some ancient Christians used in the 50 days after Easter to sing and ingemminate Hallelujahs in their assemblies ut autem Halâ—iujah per illos solos quinquaâ— ginta dies in Ecclesia cantetur non usqucquaque observatur c. Epist 120. as a remembrance of that great Hymn which the Prince of the Church and his Apostles sung after this supper This St. Aug. takes notice of but saith that in his days those Hallelujahs used to be sung at other times also From all which we may discern a farther reason why they called this Sacrament by the name of a Sacrifice Ia isto autâ—m sacrificio gratiarum â—ctio commemoâ—atio est carnis Christi quam pro 〈◊〉 obtulit Fuâ—g de side 1 Pet. 2.5 because they did offer unto God thanksgiving as the Psalmist speaks Psal 50. â—4 which is one of the spiritual sacrifices which every Christian is consecrated to bring unto him It is confessedly true that there never was any festival instituted by any people of the world but one part of it was a reverend acknowledgment of God and a thanksgiving to him for his benefits And there never was any solemn feast either among Jews Persians Greeks Aegyptians or Romans without some sacrifice to their Gods Christians therefore are not without their sacrifice also when they keep this feast and such an one as is very befitting God and which no rational man can deny to deserve the name L. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For Porphyry disputing against the eating or sacrificing of beasts unto God denies that thereupon any ill consequence could be grounded as if he denied all sacrifices to him No saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we likewise sacrifice as well as others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 only we will sacrifice according as is most meet And there he assigns to every Deity its proper homage and acknowledgment belonging to it saying that to the great God who is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He above all we sacrifice nothing but pure thoughts and speak not so much as a word of him But to those that are the off-spring of God the coelestial inhabitants 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we give Hymns and praises which are the conceptions and expresses of our mind and so he proceeds to the more petty tributes paid to lesser Gods According then to this Heathen Divine the praises of God may well pass for the most proper sacrifice and he makes account that there is none better but onely silent adorations A soul breathing forth it self out of an ardent affection in holy Hymns is more acceptable to God then the richest gumms or the sweetest wood that can fume upon his Altars But a whole soul full of pure thoughts too great to come out of the mouth and more clear then to be embodied in words is transcendent to all oblations But yet I would not be so mistaken as if I thought the Christian thanksgiving consisted only in inward thoughts and outward words For there are Eucharistical actions also whereby we perform a most delightsome sacrifice unto God We must not when we come to God appear before him empty but we are to consecrate and offer unto him some of our temporal goods for the relief of those that are in want which may cause many thanksgivings to be sent up by them to God 2 Cor. 9.11 12. It hath been said before that our whole selves ought to be offered as an holocaust to God and our love should be so great as to spend our souls and bodies in his service now in token that we mean so to do we must give something that is ours unto him for to be imployed to his uses We are to give God an earnest of our sincere and intire devotion to him by parting with something that we call ours and transferring it to him Of this the
food of the foulest and prophanest mouths And by using a multitude of Ceremonies they are in danger to take the mind off from all substantial exercises The Ancients I am sure understood not the new language of the Transubstantiation of the Bread and Wine into the Flesh and Blood of Christ And though they would suborn those worthies to speak against their mind and conscience on their side yet we find that they call the bread and wine figures or symboles of Christs body and blood Dionysius the Areopagite or that ancient Writer who passeth under his name calls them most frequently 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * In Cap. 3. Eccles Hierach Symboles Images Antitypes sensible things received instead of things intelligible And Maximus in his Scholion upon him interpreting what a Symbole is in his Language saith it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. A sensible thing which we partake of instead of a spiritual as for example Bread and Wine in stead of the immaterial divine nourishment and gladness And so Macarius calls it Homil. 27. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The figure and representation of his Flesh and Blood and saith That he who partakes of the visible Bread doth spiritually eat the Flesh of our Lord. And he that will may repair to Theodoret who lived in later times and he shall tell him That they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mystical representations and that their nature is not changed no more than the flesh of Christ ceases to be flesh now that it is in the Heavens And in his Comment upon the 1 Corinth 11.26 he saith Dialog 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Apostle uses these words Till he come because there will be no need of Symboles of his Body when his Body it self shall appear The name of Antiquity makes a great sound in their mouths 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and therefore let the Reader remember that there are many ancient Errors as well as Truths If they have followed the Ancients in their Novel Doctrines they are rather the Old Hereticks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Vide Irenaeum l. 1. c. 9. than the Fathers of the Church For it hath been well observed by some of our Divines that Marcus a Magician is noted by Irenaeus for counterfeiting to consecrate in an Eucharistial manner Cups of Water mixed with Wine to a strange purpose He extended saith he the Words of invocation to a very great length and then he made the liquor in the Cup seem of a purple or bloody colour His followers believed that the divine Grace did drop down some of its own blood into the Cup at his request And all that were present were very greedy to taste of this Cup that the same Grace which he called down might showre it self upon them likewise I can little doubt but that this Cup over which he gave thanks was a counterfeit of that which the sound Christians drunk of from whom these men were apostatized And that he might gain greater applause by his followers he would make them believe that he was more devout than any and could give them more than the Christians pretended to do even the very blood of Christ it self which the Romanists now boast they have and therein excel us But we are content with what holy men then enjoyed and let them take heed that they follow not worse examples I am sure Theodoret in his second Dialogue brings in a wild conceited man speaking the same things that they do Cap. 24. The affirmation of that Phantastick is this That Christs humane Nature is swallowed up in the Divine His Argument for it is this As the Elements or Symbols or the Lords Body and Blood are one thing before the Invocation of the Priest but after Invocation are changed and made another so the Lords Body after his ascension is changed into a divine substance though before it was not Hereupon the Father saith You are caught in your onw net for the Symbols do not go out of their proper nature but remain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the former substance wherein they were Let the Reader then judge with whom they speak and who are the Masters of our language and assertions And let him take heed how he leaves our Communion where he hath the holy Bread and the Cup both whereas they something like the Manichees of old will not let the people drink of the Cup. But let them believe as much as they will so they will but quietly suffer us to believe as we see cause Let them practise as they please if it will do them any good we doubt not but we believe and practise enough to the receiving of as great benefits as they can enjoy I confess I cannot be angry with them for believing more than I can do but I desire they would not be angry at us but rather pity us that we cannot extend our faith so far If a man will say that Snow is nothing but frozen milk which drops from the skies much good may it do him with his conceit only let him not impose the same belief on others who intend not to trouble him for his fancy And if they will believe that wine is the very Blood of Christ I desire not that they should suffer the least harm for this opinion but let them not damn us because we will not put out our eyes and deny our taste and abandon our reason and the holy Scripture to the novel fancies and interpretations that they obtrude upon us I know that if a mans soul be not made of solid reason but consists of weak and credulous principles they will fearfully astonish it with the dismal names of Heresie and Schisme and such like bugbear words which every one applies as he pleases But considerate souls are grown wiser than to be affrighted out of their wits by the noise of words the great engine of this Age and they know that damnation doth not depend upon mens mouths for if it did I know not who should go to Heaven We cannot be so blind as not to see that every party arrogates to it self the glorious names of Christ and the Holy Ghost and if we would be led by sounds we must believe no body knows how many Christs The name of Heretick Schismatick yea and of Antichrist and Babylon signifie but little to us who hear them every day so carelesly applied that we are assured men know not what they say Neither will we be amazed with sad relations of the miserable ends of those who have contemned their Sacraments for we do not allow that any man should irreverently behave himself towards any of Christs institutions though there be something of mans invention mixed with it And we can repay their stories of the contempt of this Sacrament as among them administred with as sad and true relations concerning those who have despised that which in scorn and pride they are pleased to call Calvins Supper
In his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but he that will read Joh. Protospatharius upon that Verse of Hesiods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will soon see that he also thought Homer to have described in those words the contexture and formation of our bodies in the womb For he saith by the web he advises the woman to weave on the twelfth day of the Moon is meant a Physical Mystery concerning the generation of our bodies which he there explains and for a proof of what he saith he directs us plainly to this place of Homer which I have recited But I have no list to prosecute this any further There is another instance that suggests it self to my thoughts and I should have taken it for a corruption of the Story of Elias calling for fire from Heaven to consume his sacrifice had not Pausanias assured us that he saw it with his own eyes But it will clearly show how studious those false Gods were to imitate the God of Israel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pausan Esiac 〈◊〉 L. 5. and render what I have said very probable which makes me think it fitting to be here related Some Priests he saith in Lydia who worshipped after the Persian manner used to call upon he knew not what God in a barbarous form of words not to be understood by the Greeks and presently the wood that was upon the Altar was kindled without any fire and appeared all in a bright flame I could easily show that these barbarous words were Abraham Isaac and Jacob Sebaoth and such like and in all probability the God they invoked was the unknown God and the example they Apishly followed was that great Prophet And indeed the Prophet Elijah did therefore call for fire from Heaven because all Sacrifices at Jerusalem were consumed and eaten onely by the Holy fire which God sent from above to them The Devil therefore in this thing may have seemed to endeavour that his Offerings might sometimes correspond with those at the Temple of God And so Pindar gives us another instance how that the Rhodians being about to offer Sacrifice to Jupiter had forgotten to bring fire along with them to his Altars but he being loth it seems to lose this fat oblation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 did bring a yellow cloud over them and rained much Gold upon the Altar This Golden showre as an excellent Person of our own doth interpret it was nothing else but a showre of fire which devoured the Sacrifice Dr. Cudworth in imitation of the Sacred Story No wonder then if in other things as well as these they were forward to transcribe the holy Writ and let it not be imputed to a vain and affected ostentation of learning if I sometimes use their customes for an illustration of Sacred matters But the following Discourse is interlaced with so few of their Authors that perhaps it doth not merit this Apology and therefore I will cease it with this double desire The one is to my Reader that if he understand not every Line in the first part yet he would not throw away the rest which are fitted to his practice The other is to God that he would bless it to those Ends for which it is designed Amen THE CONTENTS OF THE TREATISE SECT I. CAP. I. THe first end of this Supper is for a remembrance of Christ What it is to remember The Passeover appointed for that end Two things it remembers us of And two wayes we are to remember it In two sences it may be called a Sacrifice p. 3. CAP. II. It is a remembrance with thanksgiving This is explained in six particulars And two other sences are given wherein it may be called a Sacrifice p. 22. CAP. III. Here the third end is discoursed of and it is considered as an holy Rite whereby we enter into Covenant with God This is explained in five things p. 46. CAP. IV. It is considered here as a sign and seal of remission of sin and this is cleared in three considerations but especially from this that we eat of the sin-offering and of that which was not made for one but for many i. e. the whole Congregation p. 73. CAP. V. It is a means of our nearer Vnion with the Lord Jesus The Nature of this Union and the effect of it is explained in five considerations p. 93. CAP. VI. Here is shown how the Supper is a means of our Union one with another And five General Observations are made to this purpose The last of which treats of the holy kiss the feast of love c. To which two things are added by way of conclusion of the first part p. 115. SECT II. Concerning Preparation CAP. VII An Introduction to the Discourse about Preparation wherein those words of the Psalmist are opened Psal 93.5 p. 159. CAP. VIII This word Preparation is to be cautiously understood Not a little time required for it Three things are discoursed of that tend to the fuller explication of it p. 164. CAP. IX Four things more are treated of which further open the Nature of this Preparation And so from a general Discourse concerning it way is made to descend to a more particular p. 174. CAP. X. Here is discoursed at large concerning those actions wherein it is fit for us to be employed before we come Of the setting apart some portion of our time and of our goods Of Examination of Reconciliation c. The whole is digested into ten considerations p. 195. CAP. XI Mistakes are removed The Primitive Christians not too zealous No reason for the neglects of the present worldly Christians Good people may be superstitious while they take themselves to be great enemies to it p. 235. CAP. XII Advice and Directions to those who never yet received the Sacrament of the Lords Supper Six things are said to them to prepare them and encourage them The Conclusion of this Discourse p. 251. SECT III. Concerning the Deportment of a Soul at the Lords Table c. CAP. XIII Love is instead of all other Directions Yet seeing it hath many wayes to express it self there is a necesssity to guide its motions so that they may not hinder each other p. 269. CAP. XIV Here therefore they are ranged and set in their right places And 1. The soul is directed what to do when it sees the Minister stand at the Table of the Lord. 2. What affections to express when the Bread is broken c. 3. When the Minister comes to give it to us 4. When we take it into our hands 5. When we eat 6. When we see him give it to others 7. When we receive the Cap. Every one of which is discoursed of in several Meditations And then 8. Meditations about the joys of Heaven And 9. Psalms of Praise are shown to be very fit conclusions of the solemnity p. 275. CAP. XV. An entrance is made upon the Discourse about our behaviour afterward 4. Sorts of Christians are
of the soul grow too big for the mouth when it lifts up it self in speaking-thoughts and this is their language That they are not able to understand the Miracles of this Love it shall not be long before it perceive how much God is pleased with its saying nothing Let us therefore labour at the very entrance to put our selves into some degree of wonderment to think what manner of love this is wherewith he hath loved us Wonder that he should dye for thee when he was upon the earth and that he should nourish thee with himself now that he is in the Heavens Be astonished that Heaven should so condescend to Earth and Man should be so united unto God Lose thy thoughts in contemplation of the strangeness of this kindness that God should dwell in flesh and that this flesh should be our Food Let it amaze thee that Christ can never think that he hath given himself enough to thee but as the Apostle saith he gave himself to redeem us from our sinnes and now he gives himself to be the strength and health of our souls He gave himself when he was among men he gives himself now that he is with God and as Dionysius relates the story he told a pious man in a vision That if it were necessary he would come and die again for the sons of men This would be a rarely good beginning of this holy service and we should be fitter for all following actions if we could put our hearts into a kind of extasie or admiration at the stupendious greatness of this mystery If our thoughts were once got so high we should be out of the reach of other things that are apt to thrust themselves in and interrupt us If we had once climbed above our selves and were ascended into Heaven we should not be inticed while the Solemnity lasted to come down to the World again II. When we see the Bread broken and the Wine poured out it is a fit season to entertain our selves with these three Meditations which are big with a great number of other thoughts that they will bring forth 1. Remember the pains and dolours the shame and reproach which our Lord endured For which purpose imagine as if you were in Golgotha the place where he was crucified think that you behold him stretched forth upon a Cross that you see his precious Bloud trickling down his side and that you look into his gaping wounds think that you see the pits that they digged in his hands and his feet the furrows that they made in his back and how miserably the Thorns scratched and harrowed his holy head Think that you hear his dying groans that the mocks and flouts of the Jews sound in your ears Yea think that you hear the groans of the Earth under the weight of his Cross and that you see how the Sun shrunk in his head as ashamed to look on such a spectacle and affrighted with the horror of such a sight And when you have meditated a while upon these wonders it will be greater wonder if there be no passion made in your hearts Your own thoughts will teach you such resentments as befit so strange an object and you will begin to tremble and bleed and desire and rejoyce and be in such a mixture of passions as if you would imitate the confusion which was in the world at his Sufferings But when you have recovered your self a little think that it will be most agreeable in the second place 2. To remember with due affection the great love of our Lord in submitting himself to such pains and disgrace for our sakes Never did eyes behold such a strange thing that the only begotten of the Father should bleed like a Malefactor that the glorious King of Heaven should dye for his own Subjects Rebels I should rather call them and Traytors to their Soveraign Lord. Was there ever any kindness like to this Was there ever such a Furnace of Love burning in any heart Could he do more for us than dye for us Was there any likelihood that the remembrance of such a Love should dye That mens hearts should freeze over such a fire Lest such a thing should happen he hath left himself still among us in symboles and representations he sets before our eyes his bloody Death and Passion he makes himself present to our faith and as if he would do more than dye for us he desires to live for ever in us and be united to us How can we chuse then but fall into his arms Yea how can we withhold our selves from running into his heart Can any heart refrain it self from tears of sorrow to think of its unkindness and from tears of joy to think of his strange love how can we be but overwhelmed both with floods of grief and gladness Can we look upon him whom we have pierced and not mourn Can we see his bleeding wounds and not be troubled What heart can be so hard It cannot but pain us to think that we love him no more who put himself to such pains for us It cannot but trouble us to think that but hearts should be so cold when his was so hot with love as to send out its life bloud for our redemption And yet when we consider that in this stream of blood our souls are washed and that by his stripes we are healed who can chuse but rejoyce in his love and hope that he will accept of our poor acknowledgements And let us but look upon him again as I described him on the Cross and we shall find our love more large and vehement Think that you hear him saying to you as he hangs there Behold my friends how my flesh was torn and wounded for your sakes See how your sinnes have used me Look into my heart which was pierced first by love and then by a spear for you See how my hands and my feet were bored through look how my blood runs out to fetch you home to God Was there ever any sorrow like to my sorrow Hath any one loved you so as I have loved you Behold here I give my self unto you as once I gave my self for you By these tokens of Bread and Wine I conveigh unto you all that I have and make over to you all that Inheritance which I have purchased by my Blood My Self and all that I have I freely give unto you Need any one now that hath such Meditations be taught with what affections he should behave himself towards his Lord Needs there any piercing words of him that ministers to wound mens souls with sorrow and grief Is any artifice of speech required to wind and insinuate Christ into their hearts Is any perswasive Language necessary to make them accept of the greatest and richest Blessings that all Heaven can afford Me thinks I see the pricking and compunction that will be in a heart that thinks of these things Me thinks I see such a soul running forth to
that takes away the sins of the World Is not thy soul in him well pleased Is not his Body as really in the Heavens as the signs of it are here in our hands Hear good Lord the cry of his Wounds Let us prevail with thee through the virtue of his sacrifice Let us feel yea let all the World feel the power of his intercession Deny us not O Lord seeing we bring thy Son with us Hear thy Son O Lord though thou wilt not hear us and let us let all others know that he lives and was dead and that he is alive for evermore Amen And secondly It is a seasonable time to profess our selves Christians and that we will take up our Cross and follow after him This taking of the bread we should look upon as a receiving the yoke of Christ upon our neck and laying his Cross upon our shoulder if he think fit We embrace a crucified Jesus and we are not to expect to live in pleasures unless they be spiritual nor to rejoice with the world but to endure affliction and account it all joy when we fall into manifold temptations Protest therefore unto him that thou lovest him as thou seest him stript and naked bruised and wounded slain and dead and that thou art contented to take joyfully the spoiling of thy goods to be pleased with pains and to count death the way to life V. When we eat it is a fit season to put forth these two acts of faith 1. Let us express our hearty consent that Christ shall dwell within us that we will be ruled by his Laws and governed by his Spirit that he shall be the alone King of our souls and the Lord of all our faculties and that we will have no other Master but onely him to give commands within us Eating I told you is a foederal rite and therefore when we have swallowed this bread we should think that we have surrendred all up into his hands and put him into full power over our souls And we should think also that we have given him the possession of our souls for ever and engaged never to change our Master For eating is more receiving then taking a thing with our hands It is as it were the incorporating of the thing with the substance of our bodies and making it a part of our selves that it may last as long as we So should we meditate that we receive the Lord Jesus never to be separated from his service for ever to adhere unto him as our Prince and Captain as our Head and Husband wheresoever his Commands will lead us And as we open our hearts thus to receive him so let us now fold him in our arms and embrace him with a most cordial affection Let the fire burn now and make us boyl up yea even run over with love to him Now is the time not onely to give our selves to him but to make a sacrifice of our selves as a whole burnt-offering unto God Now should we lay our selves on the Altar of the Lord to be offered up intirely to him who made his soul an offering for sin That there may not only be a representative but a real sacrifice at this Feast unto Heaven i.e. that we may not only shew forth the sacrifice of Christ and represent it before God but we our selves may offer up our souls and bodies unto him and send them up in flames of love as so many Holocausts to be consumed and spent in the service of our God Then let us wish for the flames of a Seraphim in the love of God for the cheerfulness and speed of a Cherubim in the service of God and for the voice of an Angel that we may sing the praises of God Let us like our choice so well and think that we are so beholden to him that we may give our selves to him as to begin to leap for joy that we have parted with our selves and are become his And as a token that we give our selves and all we have to God we should now think upon those offerings we intend to make for the poor members of Jesus Christ and desire the Lord to accept of our gifts which we present him withall as earnests of our selves which we have consecrated unto him And perhaps now our hearts may be stirred with so great compassion and our bowels may be so feelingly moved that our Charity may overflow the banks that we had set it and the fire that is within us may require a fatter and larger offering then we designed But howsoever we cannot but deal our bread to the hungry with a more cheerfull hand and give our Almes with a freer heart when we have received the Bread of Life into our hands and hearts and felt what the huge Charity of our Lord was toward us most miserable and wretched Creatures 2. A second Act of faith which we should now exercise is this Let us really believe that all the blessings of the New Covenant are made over to us by this giving and receiving of his sacred body Let thy soul say My beloved is mine as I am his Be confident and well assured that if thou wast hearty in the former act of saith thou shalt as certainly receive pardon and grace and strength and salvation as thy mouth thou art sure eateth the holy Bread The former Act was a receiving him as our Lord and this as our Saviour Think therefore that now Christ dwelleth in thee and thou in him that as he must be Master of the house so thou shalt partake of all his riches of all his honour and pleasure And so begin to ransack his treasures desire him to spread before thee his inestimable riches pray him to shew thee if it be but a little glimpse of the glory of the inheritance of the Saints And what joy will this create in thy soul when thou thinkest that thou and Christ are one that thou art united to his most precious Body and shall certainly receive all the benefits of his Death and Passion O what ravishment should it be unto us to believe that sin shall not have dominion over us that the Blood of Jesus cleanseth us from all unrighteousness that the flames of Hell shall never touch us that death is swallowed up in victory that the grave is buried in the Wounds of our Saviour that we are sealed with the mark of God and consigned to a blessed immortality and shall inherit the joys of our Lord With what boldness now may we renew our requests to him and importunately plead with him for a supply of all our wants We may put up stronger cries now that we conceive he is in us and intreat him since it is his pleasure to be so familiar with us that we may be filled with all the fulness of God O my Lord may a soul say if thou lovest me so much fulfill in me all the good pleasure of thy goodness 2 Thes 1.11 and the work of faith
tokens of love whereby he would be remembred into a forsaken hole where they shall never be seen But how strangely are we affected to the Reliques that a dying friend commends unto us And how much more should we be moved if a friend should dye for us and should leave us a remembrance that he saved us from death Could we ever let him go out of our minds Should we not be in danger to think upon him over-much Could we endure that the remembrance he left us should be long out of our eye O my soul let us not deal then more unkindly with our blessed Saviour who humbled himself to the death even the death of the Cross that we might not eternally dye Who was made sinne for us that we might be made the righteousness of God through him Sure he never thought when he went to Heaven that we would remember his love so seldome and so coldly Did he think that those whom he loves so much would need so much entreaty to have Communion with him Is it not a grief unto him now if he be capable of any to see that he hath so few Lovers Doth it not trouble him that they who profess love to him testifie it so poorly and rarely Nay rather O my soul he is troubled that we love our selves no better and therefore both for the love of him and the love of our selves let us carefully observe his commands of which this is one Do this in remembrance of me For this is the love of God that we keep his Commandements And this Commandement we have from him that he who loveth God love his Brother also Mensa Mystica SECT IV. The Benefits of Holy Communion CHAP. XVII SUch is the nature of all bodies that the nearer they approach to their proper place and Center the more they accelerate their motion and with the greater speed they run as if they desired to be at their beloved rest from whence they are loath to be removed And such is the temper of all holy hearts when they run towards God the most natural place of their rest the very Center of their quiet and peace the nearer they come to him the faster they move they rather flye than run and use their Wings rather than their feet out of a vehement longing to be embraced by him We cannot but think then that they who draw nigh to God in this near way of Communion and are entertained by him at his own Table do flye up even unto Heaven and get into his very bosome as those that suffer more strong and powerful attractions from his mighty Goodness And there my Discourse may well leave them reposing themselves in his Arms and taking their rest in his love from whence they will not easily endure a divulsion by the force of any other thing But as a stone is unwilling to stir from the rest that it enjoyes in the bosome of the earth so hard will it be to draw such souls by the love of other things from their own Center where they feel so much quiet and tranquillity Such persons I might well leave to tell themselves and others if they can what joy they find in God what sweetness grows on this Tree of Life and what pleasures he hath welcomed them withall at this holy Feast Have you seen the Sun and the Moon in their full stand one against the other Have you beheld a River running with a mighty stream into the Ocean Or can you think that you see the fire falling from Heaven as it did in Elias his time to consume a sacrifice These are but little resemblances of that light wherewith their souls are filled when they look upon him of that fulness of joy wherein they are absorpt when their affections run to him of the testimonies that he gives of his acceptance when they offer themselves to his service And they themselves as I said can best tell into what a Paradise of pleasure he leads them when he comes into his Garden and beholds there all pleasant fruits But yet for the sake of those who are strangers to the Divine Life and are loath to leave their sinnes though it be to have Communion with God I shall labour briefly to declare the benefits of this holy Sacrament that so I may invite them for to lay aside their sinnes and exchange them for better pleasures And I hope I may provoke some to hunger after the House of God and especially after his Table where he seeds the hungry with rare delights where he cures the wounded comforts the weak enlightens the blind revives the dead pardons the sinner and strengthens him against his sinne Where he dignifies our souls and deifies as it were all our faculties where he unites us to himself and joyns us in friendship with our Brethren where he sprinkles our hearts with his Bloud replenisheth them with his Grace refresheth them with his Love encourageth them in his wayes inebriates them with his sweetness and gives them to drink of the Wine of the Kingdome and sowes in them the seed of immortality One would think there should not be a man of ordinary discretion that would refuse to be amended and so much bettered in his condition by conversing with God For you see men tip up the bowels of the earth and torment her to make her confess her Treasures they digg even into the heart of craggy Rocks and take incredible pains for Silver and Gold they will break their sweetest sleep to accomplish an ambitious desire they will spend their Patrimony their Credit their Bodies and their very Souls for a drop of drunken pleasure or carnal delight What is the matter then that men cannot be content to spend a few earnest thoughts to use a little serious diligence for the purchase of the riches of Heaven and Earth for the promises of this life and that which is to come for the glory of God for a Dignity not inferior to Angels for a Sea of delights and pleasures that ravish the heart of God Poor souls they are ignorant sure of the happiness that our Lord calls them unto they imagine there is nothing better than to eat and drink and satiate the body with that which tickleth its senses they are sunk into a sad puddle of filthy imaginations let us see if we can lift up their heads let us try to open their eyes let us endeavour to perswade that there are diviner delights that there is a bread infinitely more delicious and a Cup flowing with far more sweetness than that which the World bewitches and inchants her followers withall Psal 34.8 O come taste and see that the Lord is good as the Psalmist speaks Blessed is the man whom he chuseth Psal 65.4 and causeth to approach unto him that he may dwell in his Courts He shall be satisfied with the goodness of his House even of his holy Temple Many rare things there are which the Gospel presents us withall
And as you see a Mountebank commends his Medicines his Balsomes and Pomanders with so many amplifications and lyes and arts of insinuation that he cheats poor silly people So doth the Devil puff up the ambitious mans mind and swells a Mole-hill into a Mountain and he tickles the wanton fancy with promises of ravishment in an empty pleasure and to the covetous heart he saith Thou canst not tell the contentment that so many baggs of Gold or such a fair Lordship would give thy heart And there is no man but he labours to cast a mist before his eyes and to dazzle him with some glittering appearance in the midst of which he hopes to work his ends upon him Now the light of faith strikes through all those painted shows and an hearty belief of the truth of the Gospel which the holy Eucharist still encreaseth makes all these shadows flye away It will not let us be deceived as was our Mother Eve with specious pretences but saith Avant thou Impostor away you lying vanities Tell me not these Tales For his Testimonies have I taken as an Heritage for ever for they are the rejoycing of my heart Psal 119.111 And there is no less power in this holy food to enervate a second of his Arts which is to affright us with the noise of danger and mischief that shall seem greater than all the pleasures of goodness if we will not be perswaded but that it is pleasurable He puts strange vizards upon all things and makes them look as ugly and fouly as he can that so he may make us flye from the troubles of a mortified life He labours to make us believe that there is nothing but sadness in Gods wayes and it begins perhaps to make us melancholly with the very thoughts of it And if this will not do he will stir up enes mies against us to discourage us our own friends perhaps shall cast us off or the fire of persecution shall burn against us But now the Hope of the glory of God will make us rejoyce even in the midst of tribulations Here we embrace also a crucified Saviour and there is no better Livery than a Garment rent and torn a Body wounded and abused if need should be for Christs sake There is nothing can affright a soul that dwells in the wounds of its Saviour as in the holes of a Rock Nothing will seem difficult to a heart that is filled with expectations to dwell for ever in his embraces in the Heavens And now how is the world and the flesh confounded when they see good men rejoyce and triumph in the midst of all miseries and discouragements How do the Devils howle to see their stratagems so unsuccessfull that even Paines are accounted Pleasures and Losses are accounted Gains and Torments are turned into Joyes and Prisons are the Gate-houses of Paradises The Devil you will say will study to be revenged on such men and will not cease to vent his malice against such souls And seeing he knows not how to do them harm but by makeing of them sin he will try if like a Serpent he can insinuate but a part of himself at any little hole He will perswade them to self-indulgence in some small crime that so he may bring them to all the rest or he will labour to draw them if it may be within the verge of sin into an infections place into the society of a temptation hoping that by little degrees and preambles he may make way for sin to enter But the love of God which is here much inflamed will make the soul of such a quick scent that it may easily perceive his wiles Love doth extraordinarily enlighten the soul by its flames and will make it more discerning of the least spot that is in it self and of the least danger that is without And the more pure and white the soul grows by love the sooner will any speck of filth be espied upon it The more full of light it is the more imperfections will it take notice of which before were unobserved as in the beams of the Sun we see a thousand little attomes or motes which before were not discerned By all this which in your own meditation may be enlarged you see what strength it affords To which you may add if you please that as the Devil hath baits for every pallate and can humour every mans taste and comply with all complexions and dispositions So is the holy Sacrament an Heavenly Manna which tastes as every man wishes and as the Author of the Book of Wisdom speaks doth serve to the appetite of the eater Wiâ—â— 16.20 21. and tempers it self to every mans likeing being able to give them all content Thirdly I fficacia ad medicinam But this Bread and Wine being spiritually received are not onely food and meat but Physick and Medicine also They are means to preserve health where it is and to restore it where it is decayed Though this may seem more doubtfull then the two former and you may ask how Bread-and-Wine do signifie any thing of this nature yet I shall show you that is denoted by them in Christs intention more then any thing else For the bread as you have seen doth not represent the Body and flesh of Christ barely and in general as it is the food of the soul but in a more especial manner as the flesh of a Sacrifice and that a Sacrifice for our sin whereby it becomes not only our meat but our medicine also The food we eat is in remembrance that Christ died for sin and so it is healing to our souls and killing to our sins it purges away our iniquities and purifies our hearts And so Christs Blood is here considered as the Blood of the Cross the Blood of Atonement and propitiation for us and therefore we do not receive as hath been said bare Bread and Wine but Bread broken and Wine poured out And here you may take notice of the reason why Christ did institute Bread and Wine rather then flesh to represent himself by unto us Not because flesh was used by the Jews in their Sacrifices for so were Bread and Wine nor onely because this was the common food and nourishment for the body for so was flesh also But it is likely Christ chooses things without life wherein there was no Blood viz. Bread and Wine because he would shew that no Creature was any more to lose its life for the sin of men and that no more Bloud was to be shed for expiation of it The Passeover which we may call a Sacrament of the Old Testament was bloudy to denote Christs Bloud that should be shed but now that it is shed the Sacrament which represents it as already done is without any bloudy thing He is shown to us as one that hath died by this broken bread and wine effused and he shows us likewise that there shall be no more Death no more blood shed for us a