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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
kingdom_n	case_n	great_a	king_n	2,323	5	3.6428	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A44513	The crucified Jesus, or, A full account of the nature, end, design and benefits of the sacrament of the Lords Supper with necessary directions, prayers, praises and meditations to be used by persons who come to the Holy Communion / by Anthony Horneck ...	Horneck, Anthony, 1641-1697.	1695 (1695)	Wing H2823; ESTC R35435	411,793	617

and Lye and Cheat no more and yet forgets the Oath of God that is upon his Soul and dares fall to his old Sins again that Man's last Estate is worse than the first and he slights him by whom he must be saved despises him who alone can make him happy refuses that Blood which alone can cleanse him undervalues the only Champion that can secure him against the Rage of the roaring Lion loses and rejects the Prop which alone can support him against the wrath of an offended God and affronts that Friend which alone can help and comfort him in the day of Vengeance II. This Sacrament being a standing Ordinance and a notable means of Grace as much as Prayer and hearing the Word of God it must necessarily follow that Men who look for Grace and Salvation must make as great Conscience of this as of any other and if they account it a Sin to neglect Prayer and hearing the Word they must look upon it as sinful too to neglect this Ordinance If this be a means of Salvation as well as the rest he that hopes to be saved must seriously make use of this means else he can have but little hopes of arriving to the end without the means Surely this Sacrament is a means whereby you and I must come to love the Lord Jesus Christ a Duty of that consequence that he that love him not in sincerity lies under a severe threatning and is liable to a dreadful Curse 1 Cor. 16. 22. But how shall we ever love him to any purpose except we use the means whereby that Love must be raised and kindled in our Breast Doth any Man hope to thrive in the World that will not bestir himself become active in his profession and apply himself to Labour Does any Man hope ot arrive to Learning and Scholarship without Books or Reading Does any Person hope to keep himself warm in Winter that puts on no Cloaths Or was ever any so foolish as to hope to come to his Journies end if he sits still in a Tavern or Alehouse by the way If this Sacrament be a means of obtaining Happiness will that Happiness fall to our share without using the proper means If thou refusest to come to this Ordinance how can God be kind to thee how can he visit thee with the Favour he bears to his own People How can he wash thee with the Blood of the Lamb How can he make thee Blessed and a companion of Seraphim and give thee a right to the Treasury of Christ's merits when thou neglectest the means whereby these Mercies must be consigned and applied to thy Soul And therefore III. How wretched how sad must be the case of that Soul which neglects to shew forth the Lord's Death in this Ordinance when the Lord shall come to Judgment When the Son of God shall appear in all his Glory and the Sinner who neglected this Holy Sacrament shall be brought before him it will not be an ordinary fright the wretch will be in especially when the King of Glory shall accost and ask him How canst thou hope to share in my Glory that didst not think my Death worth remembring in the Congregation of my Saints How canst thou hope to participate of my Happiness that wouldst not weep at my bitter Passion How canst thou hope to be advanced to my Throne who wast ashamed to look upon me hanging on the Cross How canst thou hope to enter into thy Master's Joy that would'st not by lively representations of my suffering in the Sacrament I ordained be melted in Tears How canst thou hope for a seat in the Eternal Mansions where no defiled thing must enter that wouldst not cleanse thy self from filthiness Or how couldst thou hope to be cleansed that wouldst not make use of my Blood to wash thy self Here none can be happy that were not Holy upon Earth and how couldst thou expect to be Holy that didst neglect the means which was intended to enrich thy Soul with Holiness Such an Address of such a Majestick Person and to an offender too that knows and cannot but know that all this is true must necessarily strike the Malefactor dumb fill him with horror and make him cry out though too late O that my Head were Water c. Expostulations of displeased Princes with their Servants that have acted contrary to their Will in things of far less moment have cast them into Grief and Swoons and fatal diseases and we must needs conclude that in the case we speak of as the Person offended is greater than the most puissant Prince in the World and the neglect greater than if a Man had neglected to provide for the security of a Temporal Kingdom so the Expostulations will be more terrible and the Sinner's Heart to whom they shall be spoken in far greater consternation IV. This shews with what temper and disposition we ought to come to this Holy Table even with the same temper we would or desire to be in if within a few hours we were sure to be summoned to Judgment Were any of you to appear to Morrow Morning before the Bar of God and had you all imaginable assurance of it that by such a time you must certainly attend there would you lie or swear or dissemble or break out into a passion or pray carelesly or be backward to do good or be averse from Holy thoughts and discourses c. I trow not and as you would not appear before the Judge with an unmortified temper of Mind so neither can it be adviseable to appear before him at this Table with such a disposition As the appearing before his Judgment Seat would make you call your most serious Thoughts together and make you loath the charms the inticements and the alluring temptations and suggestions of the Flesh and of the World so your appearing at this Table requires the same inclinations for as in the day of Judgment the King will come forth and behold the persons cited into that Court to see whether they are qualified for Heaven and Happiness so in this Feast he comes to look upon the Guests and to see who comes with a worldly and carnal disposition and takes as much notice of the frame and temper of your Hearts as he will do in the last day Here thy great Master comes and takes a view of thy Thoughts Words Desires Affections and Actions whether they proceed from a principle of Love and Submission Happy the Soul that sits down at this Table with a sense of her duty and the greatness and goodness of the Master of the Feast for such a Soul anticipates her future bliss and feels in some measure the sweetness and comfort of the joyful Absolution which shall be pronounced upon her with greater solemnity in the last day even this Come ye blessed of my Father receive the Kingdom c. The PRAYER O Thou Eternal Wisdom who alone knowest what is best for me who hast established this

so serious a Death How absurd is it not to have all things suitable in a great Solemnity In the Communion we come to behold a Fasting Saviour fasting and abstaining not only from Common Food that Day he suffered but fasting from a Sense of the charming Love of God and from the Comforts and Communications of the Divine Nature which by a Miracle withdrew its Shine and Splendor and left him in the Dark a severer Fast than if those Three and Thirty Years he lived in the World he had eaten nothing and can we behold this dreadful Fast and not appear fasting before the Altar Besides do People make a Meal when they are going to a Feast A greater Banquet we cannot go to than that which the King of Heaven hath prepared and shall we fill our Bellies before we appear here and dull our Appetite to the richer Food 3. To receive the Lord's Supper Fasting hath been the Practice of the Christian Church for many hundred Years for when sad Experience taught the Fathers how unfit the preceding Love-Feasts made the Generality for Receiving Christ in this Ordinance they thought themselves obliged not only to separate those Love-Feasts from the Supper of the Lord but to make strict Orders for the Celebrating of it in the Morning and to charge all Persons to receive it with an empty Stomach while the heat of Persecution lasted they were forced to receive it very early before Day that they might not meet with Affronts or Disturbances from the Heathens if if they had known of the time of their Meetings but what Persecution made necessary at first was made so afterwards by a Law I mean by a Law Ecclesiastical and therefore the Third Council of Carthage decrees expresly That the Sacrament of the Altar should be taken and received by none but such as are Fasting A thing so religiously observed especially by the Eastern Churches that when some of St. Chrysostom's Enemies had informed against him that he had given the Holy Communion to Persons who he knew had eaten at Home before they came to Church he falls a protesting and wishing If he had done such a thing that his Name may be blotted out of the Catalogue of Bishops nay That Christ may exclude him from his Everlasting Kingdom In St. Austin's time it was become an universal practice to take and receive it Fasting And though in Egypt not a few kept to the old Custom of receiving it after their common Suppers yet the Disorders lrreverence and Intemperance they fell into by that means hath been defensative sufficient to wise Men from following them in that preposterous way of Receiving so that we may truly say that this Communicating with an empty Stomach hath been the Practice of most Christian Churches ever since the Apostles days and this was part of their Rules and Canons and what hath been so punctually observed by most Churches of the World ought certainly to weigh much with him that believes the Church to be the Ground and Pillar of Truth as it is called 1 Tim. 3. 16. III. However since it is possible that some by total Abstinence from common Food that Morning they are to receive may make themselves unfit to receive with due Devotion their Stomachs not being able to bear Emptiness such must be allowed to eat something before they Receive whether they be Ministers of the Word who must take pains and spend their Spirits on such days and sometimes are none of the strongest or other Persons of a weak and sickly Constitution But in this case the following Rules must necessarily be observed 1. That we eat no more than what just serves to support Nature against Fainting Not only the Law of Self-preservation but of Religion too bids us keep our Bodies serviceable to our Souls If these Tabernacles of Clay be out of order the Soul which in this Valley of Tears at least works by the Organs of the Body must needs languish too and the Pen which is the Body being spoiled or cracked or weakened the Scribe which is the Soul cannot write so fair as otherwise it would do But then there is a great difference betwixt keeping the Body from fainting and pampering of it He that before the Sacrament eats to Satiety cannot be supposed to bring very lively Thoughts or a profound Sense of the great Mystery with him to the Holy Table so that the quantity of Food that 's taken before must be such as leaves the Soul in a good Posture and Temper to be affected and touched with the Solemnity and Greatness of the Ordinance 2. The Food we take before must be of the courser sort that the Mind may be preserved in a mortified Frame God Es. 58. 3. finds fault with the Jews for allowing themselves in Pleasures while they fasted to shew how unsuitable Carnal Recreations though at other times lawful are on such Humiliation Days This may justly be applied to Eating before Men come to the Holy Sacrament Pleasant Meat is unsuitable To find pleasure in Eating and Drinking before spoils the Pleasure the Soul should take in this Ordinance Christ before he did eat of the Eucharist did eat 't is true but it was Unleavened Bread and bitter Herbs which I reckon was as much as Fasting for such Food cannot be supposed to be very palatable And before the Love-Feasts that preceded the Sacrament were corrupted the Christians did eat so moderately that they seemed to feed rather upon Discipline than the Meat that was set before them as Tertullian words it 3. Even that small quantity of courser Food must be taken with pious Reflections and Contemplations of the far nobler Food which within a few Minutes after we are like to be partakers of Serpents they say whatever injuries are offered them still their great care is to preserve their heads If it be our duty to be wise as Serpents it must be our care too to guard our Heads our Minds I mean especially where necessity forces us to eat before we come to the Lord's Table that the serious frame be not overthrown and that it may appear it is not delight in eating but desire to be the better able to converse with God which makes us give our Bodies such necessary Refreshments as their weakness requires And if you ask me What Reflections are most proper in this case I need only send you to that Guest Luc. 14. 15. who sitting at the Table said Blessed is he that shall eat Bread in the Kingdom of God! So he that upon such occasions gives his Body ordinary Food may reflect on the Table in Christ's everlasting Kingdom where God's Glory will be the Meat and the light of his Favour the Drink and Angels the Musicians and glorified Saints the Company and the Eternal Love of God the Canopy under which the vast Armies of Martyrs and Saints will feast and gather everlasting strength strength which no sickness no illness and no accidents can ever weaken or dissolve

yet surely it will transform a Soul sick to death into a lively and healthful constitution though with the Woman in the Gospel she hath lain under her distemper a considerable time II. Among the Scythyans as Herodotus tells us there was a custom for the Princes of the Country to meet once a year at a certain Feast where a Cup was set upon the Table a Cup of Honour which none durst presume to drink of but such as had signaliz'd their Valour in Battel and kill'd more or less of their publick Enemies Though this Sacramental Cup is too High too Sacred and too Lofty a thing to be compared with Cups used at the Feast of Barbarians yet I may take occasion from hence to tell you that this Holy Cup is fit for none to drink of but such as have either shewn or are at least resolved to shew their Valour against their Spiritual Enemies Christian if thou hast fought with the Old Serpent encountred the Hellish Dragon wrestled with Powers and Principalities exprest thy Courage against Temptations defied Goliah the Lion and the Bear the World the Devil and the Flesh or art resolv'd to be a Champion for thy God and fight the Battels of the Lord Thou art that valiant Man that may drink of this Cup Thy God will give thee leave to drink of it with other Hero's with the greatest Worthies with Men of whom the World was not worthy with Men whose Faith hath advanced them above the Stars and who are to shine as the Sun in the Firmament in their Father's Kingdom Let no despairing Thoughts no suggestion of the Devil no slavish Fear no pretence of Unworthiness discourage thee from touching this Cup or drinking of it It 's mingled for thee for thee it is prepared The King expects thee at this Feast thou art called to this Banquet Thus shall it be done to the Man whom the King of Heaven intends to Honour What If thou hast not slain thy Thousands with Saul nor thy Ten thousands with David What if thou hast not brought thy Two hundred Foreskins of the Philistins to thy Lord and Master thou dost a greater act in conquering thy Thoughts thy Desires thy Passions thy Appetite thy vain Imaginations than if thou hadst laid Countries waste ruin'd Kingdoms or bound their Kings in Chains and their Nobles with Fetters of Iron Such Honour have all all his Saints III. Hear this thou fainting Soul that groanest under the burthen of thy Sins goest heavy laden with Sorrow and like Rachel wilt not be comforted Behold thy Lord and Master touched with the feeling of thy infirmities and afflicted in all thy afflictions who waits to be Gracious and loves to converse more with a weeping Publican than with a jovial Herod he reaches forth a Cup to thee a Cup of Joy a Cup of Gladness a Cup of Comfort It is this Sacramental Cup. Drink of it thou thirsty Soul Why shouldst thou fear This Cup is design'd for labouring Souls they that have born the heat and burthen of the day are to taste of it It is design'd to recreate design'd to refresh desing'd to revive design'd to support their Spirits Dost thou believe this Christian Dare to believe it Take thy Saviours word for it and triumph in the Promise The Mercy may be too big for thee to ask but not too big for him to grant Thou hast a Master to deal withal who gives like himself like a King like a Prince whose Stores are inexhaustible Let no Senacharib deceive thee regard not what such a Rabshakeh says Hearken not to the frightful Stories of thine enemies who rejoyce to see thee discourag'd are glad to see thee forbear drinking of this Cup and think it their interest to keep thee from that which may and will give thee everlasting health I have read of a precious Stone of considerable value that dropt no Man knew how into the Holy Cup while the Priest was administring the Sacrament There needs no precious Stone to drop into this Cup to make it of greater value That which is in it is of greater worth than Ten thousand Worlds It represents that which neither Pearls nor Rubies nor Diamonds can counter-balance The Papists boast much of the Gifts of their Popes how Sylvester gave three Golden Cups to be used in the celebration of the Eucharist How John the Second gave a Cup of Gold weighing Twenty pound How Gregory the Second and Leo the Third presented their respective Churches with Cups all beset with precious Stones What if thou canst bring no such Presents to God thou bringest a better when thou bringest a Spirit a Heart a Soul lamenting and mourning because thou hast departed from him contented thy self with a form of Godliness and under the profession of Religion hast denied him in thy actions A Heart toucht with the sense of the unreasonableness odiousness and loathsomness of all this and finding a relish in the things of God and of Salvation qualifies a Man more for comfortable drinking of this Cup than if with the Wise Man he had offer'd Gold and Myrrh and Frankincense to Christ Jesus Is not this the Cup whereby my Lord divineth saith Joseph's Steward Gen. 44. 5. Christian by drinking of this Sacramental Cup thou may'st divine thy future happiness guess at what will become of thee hereafter make conjectures of thy Glory and conclude that thou shalt feel the comfort of drinking the Cordials of a Blessed Eternity The PRAYER O Jesu Great Fountain of all Goodness who didst drink of the bitter Cup which my Sins had mingled I am sensible there was no sorrow like thy sorrow which was done unto thee and wherewith the Lord afflicted thee in the day of his fierce anger How was thy Spirit disturb'd How sore amaz'd was thy Soul How dismay'd thy Mind To such an exceeding heighth of Grief and Sorrow did the Sense of the incumbent load of my sins and the prospect of calamities hanging over my head together with the reflexion on my wretched condition skrew up thy Affections innumerable evils encompass'd thee thou sawest the wrath of God flaming out against my Sin and trembledst Thou stoodst before the mouth of Hell which I had deserv'd and wast astonish'd Thou with thine own Heart Blood didst quench the wrath of Heaven O how am I obliged to adore thy Love O everlasting Father What Charity was it not to spare thine own Son but to deliver him up for us all What pity and compassion was it O thou Eternal Son of God thus to pour forth thy Blood What Affection what tenderness to my Soul O thou Eternal Spirit hast thou express'd in inspiring my Blessed Redeemer with Charity more than Human and in supporting him to undergo all pressures with invincible patience If I forget thy Love sweet Jesu let my right hand forget her cunning What an encouragement is here to believe thy Word which I see so punctually accomplish'd The antient Prophets foretold that Christ should