to you in the Spirit for they had received this Spirit already and he was already come to them in the Spirit and what sense would it have been to say Ye that have received the Spirit of Christ must shew forth his death till he come to you in the Spirit just as good sense as if a Man should say Ye that are in London must do such a thing till you come to London so that if this were the sense the Apostle must have contradicted himself or spoken that which no body knew what to make of It follows therefore that since by his coming in Scripture is frequently meant his coming to Judge the World as Rev. 22. 20. 1 Cor. 4. 5. Luc. 18. 8. That here it hath the same sense because without it the words will not bear a reasonable construction 4. The design of the Apostle in this 11th Chapter is to rectify several mistakes and errors and abuses that were crept in among the Corinthians in their administration and eating of the Lord's Supper and this is intimated v. 17 18. So that his intent in writing to them must be to inform them how they were to behave themselves in the use of this Ordinance what exorbitancies they were to abandon what evil customs they were to retrench what vulgar errors they were to beware of and consequently his intent could not be to abolish this Sacrament or to teach them to use it no longer than Christ should come to them in the Spirit He that gives a Man directions about a good work in what manner he is to perform it what he is to take heed of in the practice of it what Rocks and Stumbling-blocks he is to shun doth not perswade him to leave the good work undone or to neglect it but chalks out to him only the way he may walk in with safety doth still allow the work to be of Eternal Obligation only that it may be acceptable to God bids him beware of the Shelves and Sands he may run upon in the prosecution of it and though in reformation of abuses the thing it self which gave occasion to the abuse is very often cancell'd and taken away yet that Rule holds only in things indifferent In Duties and things Commanded such as the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is this could not be practised for if Ten thousand abuses were committed about Prayer yet Prayer would still be a Duty and therefore the Apostle reforming the errors of the Corintâ—ians in the administration of this Sacrament cannot be supposed to abrogate the Sacrament it self for as he saith v. 20. He had received it of the Lord i. e. by way of a commanded Duty which therefore could not be abolished 5. Let us admit of this odd expression of Christ's coming to them in the Spirit if a Man have received the Spirit of Christ that 's so far from being a sufficient reason to justifie his staying away from this Sacrament that it is a powerful motive to come to it not only because he that hath the Spirit of Christ will be sure to do what Christ Commands him but because the Spirit of Christ must be cherished preserved kept warm and made much of which is not to be done but by frequent contemplation of God's Love and Charity and compassion to our immortal Souls whereof this Sacrament doth not only put us in mind but gives us a faithful representation The Spirit of God within us must be preserv'd by the use of such means God hath appointed and since this Sacrament is one of these means he that neglects it cannot promise himself a long continuance of that Spirit in his Soul and what if Men that have frequented this Ordinance have found no good by it for that must be their own fault and because they come to it like Swine no wonder if they come away from it in no better condition 6. Though it is readily granted that true Believers in their first conversion receive the Spirit of Christ yet that puts no stop to their receiving larger and greater influences of it by the use of this Sacrament As Grace is begun in their first conversion so it is increased by a conscientious use of this Ordinance The coming to it doth not abate the power of this Spirit but advances it This Ordinance being a Spiritual Ordinance the Spirit of Christ is the more likely to exert its virtue in a sincere Believer that frequents it The Cross of Christ which is Foolishness to the Greek is Wisdom to the Spiritual Man and the more he looks upon it with suitable Devotion the greater courage and strength he will receive from it to fight the Battels of the Lord. The Spirit of Christ that works in a true Believer works by rational Arguments by Arguments that are most apt to prevail with rational Men and since nothing can be a more effectual Argument than the Love of Christ manifested on the Cross and particularly in the Sacrament of the Cross it must follow that the first operations of Christ's Spirit in the Soul are no hindrance to his farther operations in this Holy Sacrament 7. It 's true in this Sacrament external Symbols and Elements are made use of but that 's not at all improper or inconsistent with a Gospel state nor do these Symbols hinder any Man from worshipping God in Spirit and in Truth but rather promote it If under the Gospel Men may make no use of external tokens to put them in mind of Spiritual things the Apostle was out in his Divinity when he tells us That the invisible things of God are clearly seen being understood by the things which are made even his eternal Power and Godhead Rom. 1. 20. Christ indeed abolished the burthensome Symbols of the Ceremonial Law but did no where tell us that he would leave no Symbols at all in his Church to remember him by And though we grant what the Apostle saith Col. 2. 20. 21. Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the Rudiments of the World why as though living in the World are ye subject to Ordinances touch not taste not handle not Yet it plainly appears from his discourse that he reprehended no other but Judaizing Christians who having embraced the Christian Religion were still observant of the Ancient Ceremonies which Moses while the Church was in its Minority had given to the Jewish People such as were distinctions of Meats and Drinks touching dead Bodies or any thing that was defiled with Leprosie touching any thing unclean whether Man or Beast c. whereof a large account is given in Levit. 7. 21. So that this Saying doth not reverse the Symbols used in the Holy Sacrament they being of another nature and instituted upon a different design and so far from evacuating a Spiritual Worship that those become most Spiritual persons that frequently exercise themselves in a devout use of it and therefore what arrogance must it be for Men to think themselves wiser than Christ himself and
the Things thereby represented may justly be supposed and piously believed to be the following 1. An Emblem it was of that barbarous Fact the Jews were like in a few Minutes after to commit against his Sacred Person viz. Breaking his Sacred Body by the Torments of a painful Crucifixion This Body of his spotless as the Sun harmonious as the Strings of a well-tuned Lute the miraculous Product of the Holy Ghost purer than Virgins Wax big with the richest and choicest Blood subject to no inordinate Desire was in a few Hours like to be the Scorn of Soldiers the Sport of Scribes and the Laughing-stock of supercilious Pharisees within a few Minutes this Body was to be lash'd buffeted beaten wrench'd and stretch'd out upon the Cross Here his Flesh was to be torn with Nails the Skin to be broken the Veins those precious Springs to be open'd and he that was fairer than the Children of Men was soon after to be without Form or Comeliness a Man of Sorrows rejected and despised of Men to be handled like a Slave treated like a Malefactor crucified like a Thief and used like the worst of Mankind Therefore he broke the Bread to represent this inhumane Attempt Such Pains did our blessed Master take with his Disciples to prevent their being surprized with his Passion He had frequently given them notice of it armed them against the fatal Hour and not only in general told them he was to suffer but here in this Action describes the very manner of it and in Breaking of the Bread hints to them how that noble that curious that excellent Frame would be disorder'd broken and destroyed 2. He broke the Bread to shew that Man for whom he was to suffer was in a broken forlorn and undone Condition a Condition which required an Almighty Saviour to put under his Shoulder to rescue the miserable Creature from the Thraldom of Damnation Mankind was indeed in a very broken State at that time not only with respect to the various Divisions that were among the Jews and in other Parts of the World but with respect to their Sins Errours and Corruptions Idolatry had not only over-spread the habitable World but was come to a prodigious Heighth many Sins which even the Law of Nature condemned were become Vertues And to that Impiety Mankind arose that not a few of their Vices were consecrated into Deities insomuch that to be lewd was Religion and Deified Vices had their Votaries Among the Jews who were Keepers of the Oracles of God the Great Seal of the King of Heaven though they went not a whoring after Idols yet the Religion that remained among them was turn'd into mere Formality and Outward Shew The Moral Law that Eternal Standard of Truth and Goodness was in a manner trampled under Foot The Traditions of the Elders enervated its Force and the false Glosses of the Pharisees made the Divine Commands of no Effect In a Word the Pillars of Religion were every where broken the very Foundation was undermin'd and both Jews and Gentiles were intoxicated the former with Hypocrisie the other with Profaneness How desperate both their Conditions were the Apostle shews at large Rom. Chap. 1. and 2. and more succinctly Rom. 3. 9 10 11 19. There is none righteous no not one there is none that understands there is none that seeks after God c. Christ broke the Bread therefore to shew how necessary it was for him to be broken on the Cross to redintegrate and make whole the broken and forlorn State of Mankind which makes him say afterward This is my Body which is broken FOR YOU 3. He broke the Bread to shew that he it was who was to break down the Partition-Wall that separated the Jews and Gentiles Till the Son of God was crucified for the Sins of the World there was so great an Antipathy betwext the Jews and Gentiles that the Hatred was thought Duty and the Enmity Religion and as the Heathen looked upon the Jews as the vilest of Mankind so the Jews were even with them and looked upon them as abominable and to eat and drink with a Gentile was counted a Crime and to make any Expressions of Kindness or Favour Impiety To shew him the right Way in a Journey or to lead him to a Spring of Water in case he were a-thirst or to lie with him or to contract Marriage with any of them was as detestable as to eat Swines Flesh. And it was a Maxim in the Jewish Divinity That the Holy Ghost could not rest upon an Heathen Which made the Jews Act. 11. 2 3. fall out with Peter because he went unto Men uncircumcised and did eat with them and preach the Gospel to them Christ by his Death and Resurrection was to destroy that Enmity and to make the Lamb lie down with the Wolf and the Lion with the Calf according to the Prophesie of Esay Chap. 11. 6. And so it came to pass after his Resurrection and the Effusion of the Holy Ghost Peter opened the Door of Salvation to the Gentiles and the Holy Ghost came down on the Uncircumcised as well as on the Seed of Abraham and both Nations became one Flock one Company and one People under the great Shepherd of the Sheep Christ Jesus and they who before hated one another mortally now fell into one another's Embraces and saluted one another with an holy Kiss Upon which Account the Apostle says Ephes. 2. 14 18. Christ is our Peace who hath made both one and broken down the Middle-Wall of Partition between us having abolished in his Flesh the Enmity even the Law of Commandments contained in Ordinances for to make in himself of twain one new Man so making Peace He broke the Bread therefore to signifie this glorious and charitable Act. 4. The Bread which we break is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ saith St. Paul 1 Cor. 10. 16. And this we may justly believe to have been our Master's Design in this Action for the Apostle received it of the Lord and what Christ had taught him he communicated to his Hearers And this Breaking both shews and commands our Union and Communion Though he broke the Loaf into several Pieces to give to the respective Communicants yet those Pieces were still Parts of that Loaf and this was to shew how near and dear we Christians are and ought to be to one another This speaks us Fellow members and how tender we ought to be of one another's Welfare as one Member is of the Safety of another So that though we are many Members yet we all make one Loaf one great Body whereof Christ is the Head 1 Cor. 12. 27. And this makes all Rancor Malice Envy Hatred Pride and Ill-Nature absurd odious abominable and intolerable among Christians not only at the holy Sacrament but in their Conversation too For how strange how surprizing would it be to see one Piece of Bread quarrel with the other of the same Loaf 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
works upon strangers more to joyn themselves to the Mystical Body of Christ than to see the Professors live up to their Principles and maintain the rules their Master hath given them This enforces even such as are Aliens to the Commonwealth of Israel to encourage one another in the Language of those votaries we read of Psal. 122. 1 2 3. Let us go into the house of the Lord our Feet shall stand within thy Gates O Jerusalem Jerusalem is builded as a City that is compact together whither the Tribes go up the Tribes of the Lord unto the Testimony of Israel to give Thanks unto the name of the Lord for there are set Thrones of Judgment the Thrones of the House of David Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem they shall prosper that love thee Peace be within thy Walls and Prosperity within thy Palaces for my brethren and companions sake I will now say Peace be within thee because of the House of the Lord our God I will seek thy good So that what the Apostle 1 Cor. 14. 22. says of the gift of Tongues the same may be said of frequent Communicating that it is a sign to them that believe not Hereby they are perswaded to believe seeing the Professors act like persons that believe what their Master hath said This frequent Communicating shews their Zeal and Unity and there is no Man vers'd in Ecclesiastical History but knows how much these two prevailed with Infidels to come in to the Sheep-fold of Christ Jesus It being evident therefore that this frequent Communicating is very acceptable to God how can we say we love him if we are loath to do what we know will please him The Father hath not left me alone saith our Saviour because I do always the things that please him Joh. 8. 29. And the same may be applied to the frequent Communicant the Father will not leave him alone He will be sure to guard him though a thousand fall on his side and ten thousand on his right hand yet he 'll take care that no evil shall happen unto him for he doth those things that please him III How often a conscientious Christian is bound to Communicate the Scripture hath not thought fit to determine That it ought to be done often the Apostle doth sufficiently intimate 1 Cor. 11. 26. but there is no Law extant in the whole Gospel that saith So many times a Year or Month or Week you shall appear at the Lord's Table and from hence rose that variety of customs in several Churches we mentioned before And what Socrates observes in this point is very probable that that variety of practice derived its Original from the various Judgments and Constitutions of Bishops in their several Dioceses which with their posterity past into a Law yet though they varied in Times and Days and Hours yet it 's easier to gather from those various customs that all made conscience of coming frequently to the Holy Communion till Ignorance and Vice invaded the Priesthood as well as the Laity and when the Priests became regardless of this Ordinance no marvel if the Laity did either despise or neglect it And most certainly to Communicate once or twice or thrice a Year cannot be called frequent eating of this Bread and drinking of this Cup for this is to do it but seldom and is an argument that we are not very solicitous to gain or preserve our Master's Favour and good Will which is ever kept warm by frequent Addresses and Importunity It was therefore an unworthy act of Pope Innocent the Third in the Lateran Council in the year 1215. to make a Canon for Laymen that it was sufficient for them to Communicate but once a year for hereby they fell into great Ignorance Debauchery and Sensuality and that which should have restrained them from Sin being so seldom administred to them they sunk daily into greater barbarity This Petrus Cluniacensis was so sensible of that having understood of the Petrobrusians that they had a Communion but once a year he thus expostulates with them You say once only but Christ and his Apostles say not once or twice or thrice or an hundred times or a thousand times only but as often as you do it There is a great difference between as often and once or twice Here is the beginning of numbers but the other expression exceeds all numbers here is more singularity but in the other is infinite multiplicity The Arabians have a Proverb Visit seldom and you increase Love but however this Maxim may hold among Men I am sure it is not so with God who in the commendation of his Servants lays their stress up-the assiduity in his Service and therefore when the Holy Ghost speaks in the praise of Anna the Prophetess he gives her this Character that though she was a Widow of about fourscore and four years yet she departed not from the Temple but served God with Fastings and Prayers night and day I know this is not spoken with respect to this Sacrament but all that I prove from it is this that the assiduity and frequency of Divine Worship is that which God is pleased to make a sign not only of his Love but our Sincerity too His kindness to our Souls advances with our Importunities and frequent Adorations cause frequent influences of his Love and since the Holy Ghost hath not thought fit to resolve how many times in the year we are to Communicate on purpose to leave room for our Free-will-offerings the Examples of the Saints of old are a very safe Rule to go by in our civil Affairs where a Statute is wanting Customs and Presidents are a Law and we think it reasonable it should be so and when St. Paul calls to us in the style of a Command Brethren be followers of me and mark them that walk so having us for an ensample Phil. 3. 17. The Examples of the Saints of old will be found to be of greater force in our practise than is generally believed and though the antient Churches have had different customs in this particular yet that which most have agreed on may justly oblige us to imitation However nothing is more certain than that we are placed under Governors whose lawful Commands we are to obey and as the Governors of the respective Churches have power to order the circumstantial and decent part of Divine Worship so he acts most safely that conforms to the constitutions of the Church he is of and since in the Church we are Members of both to prevent contempt of this Sacrament by too frequent coming and Peoples hardning their Hearts in Sin by a too long neglect of it it is thought fit to receive the Holy Communion once a Month we have not only great reason to conform to that order but to thank God we are encouraged to this frequent Devotion In some particular Churches among us a Communion every Lord ' Day is kept up according to the Primitive Rule however