Damnation to themselves when Persons in their eating and drinking at this Table look no farther than at what presents its self to the eye of the Body at the outward signs and Elements only not discerning the broken Body and the shed Blood of Christ to be wrapped up in them and represented by them Putting no difference between the Sacramental Bread and Wine and common bread and wine putting no difference between the Body and Blood of Christ and the body and blood of a meer Man Between Bread Representing the Body of Christ and bread the ordinary staff of Life Between Wine as representing the Blood of Christ and Wine that is the ordidary Cordial and refreshment to the natural Spirits Why such a person when he cats and drinks at this Table eats and drinks unworthily not discerning the Lord's Body Eats the Bread and drinks the Wine but doth not cat the Body and Blood of Christ spiritually And well may he be said to eat and drink unworthily because by thus eating and drinking he violates in those outward Signs and Elements the honour and regard due to the Majesty and Glory and Merit of the Lord Jesus Christ Now Faith is that eye which pierceth through the Clouds and Shadows of the outward Signs and Elements to those Heavenly great and glorious Mysteries in and beyond them even Christ's Body broken and his Blood shed for us Christ's Sweating drops of Blood in the Garden and dying a Painful Shameful and Accursed Death upon the Cross Faith eyes the great and wonderful Mysteries that are in this Death and the great Benefits slowing from thence to Believers Faith gives us a discerning of these things in the Supper not a Speculative discerning but a Spiritual and Practical apprehension of them such as stirreth up sutable reverence and holy Affections as if we had seen him hang bleeding upon the Cross Sweating under that load and burden of Divine Wrath and Displeasure due to the sins of the Elect World which he bare the least of which would have broken the back of the Whole Creation to have stood under it Many a Man may be able to Discourse very well and understandingly about these Great Mysteries of the Supper To tell what is the meaning of the Bread and what the meaning of the Wine is that have no Spiritual discerning but is meerly the Fruit of an Historical Faith or Tradition that is current in the Age or Country he lives in But Faith gives a Spiritual Discerning such a sight and sense of these great Mysteries as doth impress an holy dread and a we upon the Soul and an holy rejoycing and delighting in the Soul So that upon this account we see what great need there is of Faith in our Receiving and Partaking of this Supper Again There is great need of Faith and work for Faith in this Ordinance to reconcile us to the meanness and despicableness as to outward appearance of this as well as other Ordinances of Christ Ordinances are simple in appearance and therefore the Creature is ready to carp at them It is a Saying of one Nihil adeo offendit hominum mentes ac simplicitas divinorum operum c. There is nothing doth so much offend the Minds of Men as the Simplicity of God's Ordinances As in Baptism there is but a little common Water And what can this do to cleanse the Soul from Sin So in the Lord's Supper there is but a little Morsel of Bread and a small Draught of VVine a poor Feast to a Carnal Man Carnal and corrupted Reason is greatly prejudiced stumbled and offended at so mean and despicable an appearance Therefore see the need of Faith and the Great Work for Faith in this Ordinance How mean and despicable soever these may seem as to out ward appearance yet they are high and Mysterious Instruments of our Peace Growth and Comfort And altho' Carnal Sense and Corrupted Reason cannot see it yet Faith doth How mean soever as to outward appearance these may seem yet Faith eyes the Institution and Blessing that goes along with them And where the Institutions of Christ are attended with his own Blessing there Ordinances though never so simple in appearance yet shall become effectual for producing great Effects and for obtaining high and glorious Ends. Lastly There is great need of Faith and Work for Faith in this Ordinance for a real and close application of those great Benefits and Mysteries that are represented to us and discerned by us in this Ordinance Faith is not only the Spiritual eye of the Soul whereby we discern Christ Crucifyed and the Mysteries and Merits and Benefits of his Death in this Supper Vailed under the outward Signes and Ellements but it is also the Spiritual hand of the Soul whereby we take Christ his Merits and Benefits offered and tendered to us in this Supper and apply to our own Souls benefit comfort and advantage Of what advantage will the finest dainties be that can possibly be provided for nourishment and refreshment if not fed upon and digested by us Or the most excellent Medicine that ever was compounded Of what advantage will it be to a Sick Person for Health and Recovery if he do not take it and apply it So of no more avail or advantage would Christ be and all his excellent Benefits to us in this Ordinance without a real and close application of them to our own Souls unless taken and received fed upon and digested and this must be the work of Faith to take and eat to take and drink VVhat Bread and VVine only no these are the least matters but Christ's Body and Blood also and all the Benefits thereof must by Faith be taken and received eaten and digested to our Spiritual Nourishment and growth in Grace This may suffice to shew the great need that there is of Faith and the great Work that there is for Faith in our partaking of this Supper There is also great work for Faith after our receiving and partaking and that is stedfastly to rely upon what Christ hath done and Suffered for us upon his Righteousness and Satisfaction upon the efficacy and sufficiency of his Death and Sufferings of his Blood and Merit all which have been in a most lively manner exhibited and represented to us in this Supper And our work and business is to walk with a fiducial dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ in every act and duty of worship for access to God for asistance from God In every fresh perplexity of Mind doth Satan accuse Conscience accuse the Law accuse why yes it may be all these accuse us why then our work and business is to plead the fulness of Christ's satisfaction and the sufficiency of his Merit against all these charges and accusations and here is enough in this Righteousness and Satisfaction of Christ to answer all And the great work of Faith is to rely and depend upon it Under a fresh sense and feeling of Guilt we are
to come he could neither expiate Sin nor procure Eternal Life No these are things which could only be accomplished and brought about by him who was more than a meer finite or Created Being even by the Lord Jesus Christ who was not only Man but God too you see then we are beholden to Christ for all He it is that fetcheth sinners from the lowest Hell and lodgeth them in the highest Heavens that snatcheth them from the deepest Misery and advanceth them to the highest Glory that poor finite beings are capable of O the great obligations that are upon us to walk thankfully all our days Every time we partake of this Supper-Ordinance we come under new and fresh obligations of thankfulness We that have been so lately feasting upon his love so lately put in mind of the great things he hath been doing for us before whose eyes Jesus Christ in the greatest expressions of his love hath been evidently set forth and Crucified amongst us and the blessed benefits of his Death and Crucifixion represented sealed and applied to us Our Blessed Lord would not have his love in doing and Suffering for us be forgotten by us and therefore hath appointed this Supper as a standing monument and memorial thereof to his Church When we eat the Sacramental Bread and drink the Sacramental Cup we are to do it in remembrance of him of what he hath done and suffered for us This was a kindness never to be forgotten at the Institution of which Supper we find he himself gave thanks * Rob. Communicant page 178. 1 Cor. 11.23.24 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he break it c. after the same manner also he took the cup. Now what was the matter or form of this thanksgiving is not expressed but it is most likely it was in reference to the work or action then in hand and not only for the bare outward Elements but more cheifly and especially for the inward Mysterys and excellent benefits to be represented and sealed by them For the Grace and love of God which he came to discover to Mankind and was now about to seal with his own Blood The Baptism he was to be baptised with was now approaching viz. his death wherein his Body was to be broken and his Blood shed for the life of the World and for the nourishment of the Elect which he delighted to accomplish or as he himself expresseth it was straitned till it was accomplished These were the things that were chiefly and specially the matter of his thanksgiving Now did Christ give thanks at the first Institution why then proportionably we are still to give thanks in all after Administrations of this Supper And not only just in the participation of it but after we have partaken we are to walk thankfully all the days of our lives considering ◠1. 〈◊〉 The inward moving cause of all which was the great love and mercy of God to us John 3.16 God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son 1 John 4.10 Herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins Now this first inward moving cause of all viz. the love of God must not be overlooked because it is commended to us Rom. 5.8 But God commendeth his love to us in that white we were yet sinners Christ died for us Some things are barely related to us but this is commended to us that we may be sure never to forget it and to be continual matter of praise and thanksgiving to us considering 2. The outward occasion or procuring cause which is Mans misery by reason of sin This was the outward occasion of Christ's coming into the World and doing what he did and suffering what he suffered He came to reconcile and propitiate God offended by Mans sin To remove that enmity that was betwixt God and us to appease the anger and wrath of God towards us now before this can be brought about and effected the Son of God must become Man obey and suffer bleed and dye to expiate our offences And doth not this afford us continual matter of thanksgiving Once more considering the effect and fruit and benefit of all that he hath done and suffered for us and that is life that whether we wake or sleep we should live together with him This was the white that Christ aimed at in all that he did next to his Fathers glory was the salvation and life of poor sinners that we might live how why a life of pardon and acceptance in Justification a life of grace and holiness in Sanctification a life of joy and peace in Consolation and a life of bliss and happiness in Glorification These are things that our thoughts should be much employed about and affected with at the Table and shall we not henceforward look upon our selves as laid under the highest obligations of thankfulness of walking thankfully all our days We never have been so much beholden to any person but we are infinitely more beholden to the Lord Jesus Christ therefore the whole of our lives should be nothing else but continual expressions of thankfulness to Christ But here it may be asked how should we express our thankfulness To this I Answer 1. By often thinking of it our selves and speaking of it to others to his glory We are to express our Thankfulness to Christ for what he hath done by giving and ascribing all the Glory to him attributing and ascribing nothing to our selves but all to the riches of his Grace and freeness of his Love To look upon our selves as any ways deserving what he hath done for us doth greatly detract from his Glory and argues a base disingenuous ungrateful temper to be in us Alas Who are we or what are we poor worthless worms not worthy that he should spend a thought upon us and much less that he should lay down his Life and shed his Blood for us Pray let us a little reflect and consider what we were not long ago Dead in Trespasses and Sins wallowing in the filth and mire of Sin and Lust alienated from nay enemies to God and Christ poor and miserable and blind and naked cast out into the open Field to the loathing of our persons polluted and defiled in our Blood not worth the taking notice of Now than ever we should be the Objects of his Love who deserved to be the Objects of his eternal disdain and the everlasting Monuments of his Displeasure How ought this to be continually acknowledged by us to the Praise of the Glory of his Grace This is one way by which we express our Thankfulness for any kindness or favour receiv'd when we think of it or speak of it to the Praise and Renown of him that shewed it So this is one way by
with God God a fresh making over himself and his all to the Believer giving him a fresh sense and seal of his love and the pardon of his Sins when Christ with all his Benefits and Purchases and Merit Christ in all his Offices Christ in all his Grace and fulness hath been afresh made over to him His Blood in all the virtue and efficacy of it sealed and applyed to the Believers The new Testament with all its Promises and Priviledges and Benefits thereof this is all ratified and confirmed in the Blood of Christ to the Believer and assured to him in this Supper-Ordinance They who have been entertained at this Gospel Feast who have been feeding upon the Provision of God's Grace and have received fresh Tokens and Pledges of his Love for such to walk dejectedly and Mournfully reflects great dishonour and highly affronts the Master of the Feast and greatly disparageth the Matter of it too it is a great undervaluing of Christ and his Blood as if the guilt or filth of thy sin did exceed the Merit of his Blood or was too great for his Blood to remove and cleanse After this Ordinance we are to walk more joyfully and chearfully rejoycing in the Lord and joying in the God of our Salvation We should go home to our Houses and Habitations Rejoycing and go on our way through this Pilgrimage with Joy as the Eunuch when Baptised did it is said He went on his way rejoycing Acts 8.39 So should we after we have been at this Supper go on our way through this World Rejoycing saying to our Souls as David did to his Return to thy rest O my Soul for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee 12. With more earnest Breathings and Longings of Soul after fresh Communion with the Lord Jesus Christ It is not a little of the World that will satisfy a Covetous Man nor a little Pleasure that will satisfy a Carnal Voluptuous Mind Nor a little Honour and Preferment that will satisfy an Ambitious Aspiring Mind Nor is it a little of Christ that will satisfy a Gracious Renewed Heart See how David thirsted after God Psal 63.1 2. O God thou art my God early will I seek thee my Soul thirsteth for thee my flesh longeth for thee in a dry land where no water is to see thy power and thy glory as I have seen thee in the Sanctuary David had tasted of the Sweet of Enjoyment and Communion with God and this sets his Soul a longing and thirsting and breathing after more of God Psal 42.1 2. As the Hart panteth after the Water-brooks so panteth my Soul after God my Soul thirsteth for the living God when shall I come and appear before thee The like breathings of soul we find after Communion with God in Psal 84.1 10. How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord of Hosts my Soul longeth yea even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord my heart and my flesh cryeth out for the living God For a day in thy Courts is better than a thousand I had rather be a door-keeper in the House of my God than to dwell in the Tents of Wickedness Such breathings and longings of Soul after Communion with Christ should be kept up and maintained in our Souls after every time we partake of this blessed Ordinance Have we this day sat down under the shadow of Christ and hath his fruit been sweet and pleasant to our taste Have we had any taste of the Grace and Fullness of Christ at his Table Have our Souls been filled as with marrow and fatness delighted and solaced with Communion with Christ Have we met this day with any fresh assurances of the love of God in Christ to our Souls of the pardon of our sins in the precious blood of Christ Hath there been any fresh life and vigour and grace communicated from Christ our everlasting head to our Souls this day Have we been fed with hidden Manna with the Bread and Water of Life Have we seen any thing of the Power and Glory of Christ at his own Table O then how should we be breathing and longing after the returns of such seasons and opportunities as these are O when will this Supper return When shall I come and appear before thee O that I might still be feasting my Soul upon these dainties Thus we should be walking with more earnest breathings of Soul after fresh Communion with Christ not only in this Ordinance but in all other Ordinances of Divine Worship and not only so but long to be for ever with him after compleat enjoyment of him in Heaven above If it be so sweet to enjoy him in Ordinances here O what will it be nay How far sweeter will it be to enjoy him in Heaven where we shall enjoy him freely fully familiarly and eternally without any interruption or intermission Thus we have seen how we are to walk after this Supper Ordinance and that we may thus walk it is necessary that we be strengthned with all might according to the glorious power of God The Devil to be sure will be opposing with all his might such a walk as this and our own wicked base deceitful treacherous hearts will be too ready to side and comply with him Therefore that such a walk may be kept up and maintained that we may walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing it is necessary that we be strengthned with all might according to his glorious power 1 Col. 11. Let us therefore be often dispatching a cry to Heaven for that strength and assistance whereby we may be enabled to maintain such a walk and daily depend upon Christ for strength in whom we have not only Righteousness but strength too That through daily Communications of Grace and Strength from him we may be enabled so to live and act and walk whilst we are here that we may finish our Course with joy and at last an entrance yea an abundant entrance an entrance with joy and triumph may be administred to us into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ that from his Kingdom of Grace we may be received into his Kingdom of Glory and from the provisions of Grace we may be taken to the provisions of Glory and sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob at an Eternal Feast eat and drink at Christ's Table in Christ's Kingdom Now whoso is wise and will observe these things even they shall understand the Loving-kindness of the Lord They shall go from strength to strength their Souls shall be fat and flourishing and made to encrease with the encreases of God FINIS
and dying for us and is to continue to the end of the World even till the coming of our Lord to Judgment So that Christ and his Death Christ as Crucified is that which is represented and pointed at in this Sacrament Here it is that Christ Jesus is as it were afresh Crucified before our eyes bruised by his Father pierced by the Souldiers bleeding for our sins Here is a sweet love-token indeed betwixt Christ and his Church betwixt Christ and Believers What greater love can be imagined than to dye for us Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friend Ay but here was greater love than this here was Blood shed and a Life laid down for very Enemies This Ordinance may truly be stiled a Love Feast Every thing in it speaks love The Mysteries in it speak love Here is Christ's Body not whole but broken Christ's Blood not in his veins but shed and freely poured out for poor sinners The benefits intended to us by it speak great love Here is compleat Provision and full Nourishment for our Souls for our Faith and all the graces of the inward man intended by it A fresh seal of the Pardon of our Sins in the Blood of Christ Fuller and clearer discoverys of God's reconciled face in and thro the Attoning Blood of the Lord Jesus that Blood of the Everlasting Covenant A more full confirmation and a more close application of the New Covenant and all the Promises Comforts Benefits and Priviledges thereof to our Souls and a more full Communion with Christ in his Grace and fullness in his Death and Sufferings in his great Undertakings and glorious Transactions in his high Dignitys and Relations in his great Victorys and Atchievements and in those necessary offices of Prophet Priest and King to his Church these are some of the great benefits that are intended to us by this Ordinance Now we that have been so lately entertained at this Table of the Lord that have or might have been feasting and satiateing our Souls upon this Banquet of Christs love it behooves and concerns every one of us to walk worthy of the Lord unto all-pleasing to walk worthy of this love of Christ in doing and suffering in bleeding and dying for us That is to walk suitably and some way becoming those expressions of love that have been exhibited and represented to us in this Ordinance I say it highly concerns every one of us who have been feasting at this Banquet of Christs love it concerns us to keep up and maintain a suitable and becoming walk after it Remembring that it is not enough to Eat and Drink worthily at this Supper but we must also walk worthily after this Supper we have oftentimes bills put up for a prepared heart and a suitable frame that persons may come prepared to this Ordinance of the Lords Supper that they may not eat and drink unworthily But I do not remember that ever I saw a bill for a suitable walk and behaviour afterward It is not enough that we duely prepare before act worthily in but we must also walk suitably after Communicating And there is as much need to put up a Prayer and to dispatch a cry to Heaven that we may walk worthily after as well as come preparedly to this Supper By walking worthily I mean no more than walking suitably and becomingly But here it may be asked what is this suitable walking or wherein doth it consist or how is it that we are to walk after this Supper Ordinance To this we shall answer I. More Generally II. More Particularly I. The general answer to this is more Holily after this Supper of the Lord we are to walk more Holily Now to this holy walking there must be a Principle of Grace wrought in the heart I say before there can be any holiness in the life we must first suppose that there be Grace in the heart A person must be holy before his actions can be holy For till a Man be Regenerated and act from a Principle of Grace in his heart all he doth is but the shadow and imperfect imiation of a good action as an Ape would imitate a Man or as an artificial motion doth resemble that which is natural Grace must first be infused to beget life and then we are visibly to express it in a course of godly walking And then there must not be only a Principle from which we must walk but there must be a Rule by which we must walk and that is the Law or Word of God which meets and sets out the bounds of Sin and Duty which tells us what evil we are to decline and shun and what good we are to prosecute and persue Now there is a twofold Holiness Internal and External Internal which lies in the hatred of sin and a love of that which is good External and that is expressed in avoiding of the one and persuing after the other Now this Holy Walk doth consist in a careful avoiding that which is evil and sinful and in an eager persuite after that which is good It hath two parts The one Privative The other Possitive The Privative part which is called Mortification or a dying to sin The Possitive part which is called Vivification or a living unto Righteousness The one is the purging out of Sin the other is the spiritual refining of the Soul The one is a ceasing to do evil the other is a learning to do well The one is a strenuous opposition of Sin the other is a vigorous exercise of all Grace Now after this Supper Ordinance we are to walk more Holily To hate sin more than ever and to love God and Christ and the things that are spiritually good more than ever To dye more unto Sin and to live more unto Righteousness It is true we cannot be more Elected we cannot be more justified after Communicating than we were before But we may and ought to be more sanctified than before Sanctification is a progressive thing it is compared to seed that grows first the blade springs up then the ear then the ripe Corn. We are not so much sanctified but we may be more sanctified We do not walk so holily but we may walk more holily still there is none so good but he may be better 2 Cor. 7.1 Having therefore these promises dearly beloved let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord. So I may say having these love Banquets these Sacrament seasons and Supper Ordinances dearly beloved time after time returning upon us let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit perfecting Holiness in the fear of the Lord. Tho' Justification doth not admit of Degrees yet Sanctification doth that is still encreasing like the shining light or Morning Sun that shines more and more and brighter and brighter unto the perfect Day Prov. 4.18 and should be daily growing more
read 1 Cor. 6.9 11. Even then when there was nothing but unworthyness and abominableness in us did Christ-dye for us Now is this a thing to be made light of or to be lightly esteemed of by us this argues us to be the most ungrateful unthankful wretches living upon the Face of the Earth The very Angels stand and wonder and vent their astonishment at what Christ hath done for us And shall not we admire at it our selves Never was there such love manifested before nor since Greater love than this hath no Man than that a Man lay down his life for his friends John 15.13 But Christ hath evidenced greater than this in doing and dying and laying down his Life for his Enemies Hereby perceive we the love of God because he laid down his Life for us What for us Friends no but for us Enemies Rom. 5.10 nay for us Enmity it self Rom. 8.7 The carnal mind is enmity against God Was ever love like this love The Apostle Prays for the Ephesians That they may be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth and length and depth and heighth and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge Eph. 3.18 19. Here are Four Dimensions that the Apostle measures this love of Christ by Phylosophy knows but Three viz. Longitudo Latitudo Profunditas Length Breadth and Depth But Divinity adds a Fourth viz. Altitudo Height To intimate that Christ's Love is beyond all ordinary Measure and Dimensions There is Depth in it says †Roberts Communicant p. 186. one without bottom There is Height in it without top Breadth in it without side and Length in it without end Yea it infinitely surpasseth the capacity and grasp of a finite limited understanding to comprehend and take in And O that every one of us who have been so lately Celebrating and Commemorating the Death and Sufferings of our Loving Lord that have had such Lively Representations of what he hath been doing and suffering for us may find our esteem in some measure and degree answerable and proportionable to the love that was manifested and evidenced in it But yet farther there is another consideration in what Christ hath done and suffered which if rightly and duely weighed might be a means of raising and heightning our esteem of it and that is the sufficiency efficacy acceptableness and merit of his Obedience and Sufferings This was an odour of a sweet smell most acceptable to God The Law was fully answered and Divine Justice was fully satisfied in their fullest and highest demands Tho' his Sufferings were but short yet what was wanting in the duration of them was infinitely and abundantly made up in the dignity and excellency of the Person that suffered for it was infinitely more that the Son of God should suffer one moment than if all the Angels in Heaven and Men upon Earth had suffered to Eternity Such a sufficiency there is in what Christ hath done and suffered that there needs nothing more to be done nothing more to be suffered in a way of satisfaction to the Justice of God for he by once offering up of himself hath for ever perfected them that are sanctified Heb. 10.14 There needs no more sacrifice for sin There is sufficiency enough in the Death and Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ to procure pardon for the greatest of sins and the chiefest of sinners to redeem and save the whole World nay ten thousand Worlds And if it should be asked why are not then all redeemed and saved To this I answer it is not upon the account of any insufficiency of the Blood of Christ for it is sufficient to have redeemed as many Worlds as there be Stars in the Firmament it was sufficient to have redeemed all but it was not shed for all but only those that the Father from all Eternity gave to him For these and these only it was shed to these and these only it becomes effectual unto redemption and Salvation It pleased the Father from all Eternity to elect some to everlasting life these in the Covenant of Redemption he gave to Christ to redeem and save these Christ undertook and engaged for in that same Covenant transaction for these he dyed and suffered and shed his hearts Blood which was a sufficient price for their redemption it being the blood of that Person who was God as well as Man The dignity of the Person was that which highly dignified his Passion This was that which put such an All-sufficiency into the Death and Blood of Christ that made it sufficient for all the ends for which it was designed O that poor trembling souls and misgiving hearts would consider of this and take hold of it and plead it against all the accusations of the Law against all the accusations of Conscience against all the subtile charges of the Devil Poor Soul it may be thou art terrified and amazed at the sight and sense of thy sinfulness and guiltiness it may be many doubts and fears and scruples are ready to arise in thy mind whether ever God will look upon or accept of or receive into favour such an one as thou art but know this for thy comfort whoever thou art that there cannot be so much Unrighteousness in thee to render thee loathsome but there is more Righteousness in Christ to render thee lovely in the sight of God There is sufficiency enough in what Christ hath done and suffered to procure God's favour and acceptance only do thou stedfastly rely upon it and put thy whole trust in it never did any miscarry who ventured their all upon this bottom There is sufficiency enough in the Blood of Christ to procure pardon for as many sins as there are moments in thy Life or thoughts in thy heart Be thy sins never so many for multitude or never so great for aggravation yet the Blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all Unrighteousness Not only from lesser but from greater Transgressions not only from some but from all Unrighteousness Tho it is true there is one sin which is called a sin unto Death or the unpardonable sin which shall never be forgiven neither in this Life nor that which is to come and that is the sin against the Holy Ghost But it is not upon the account of any insufficiency in the Blood of Christ that this sin is Unpardonable but he that sins this sin is rendered altogether uncapable of laying hold of or applying the Remedy viz. the Blood of Christ which in it self is sufficient to cleanse from all Unrighteousness The last consideration is the blessed Benefits that do issue and proceed from hence and so we are to express our Thankfulness by an high esteem of them Hereby sinners are Justified and sin purged away the guilt of sin that was so wounding to the Conscience is removed Hereby enemies to God are reconciled and peace with God procured the distance nay the enmity is removed and God and the Soul walk
together as those that be well agreed God and the Soul holding a most delightful converse with each other whereas there was a shiness before now there is access with the greatest freedom and boldness Hereby Death and he that had the power of Death that is the Devil with all Principalities and Powers are subdued the Kingdom and Interest of Sin and Satan overthrown in the Soul and freedom from spiritual thrauldom is obtained The Son having made us free we are become free indeed These are great priviledges and O that our esteem of them were some way answerable to the greatness of them Tho' we come easily by them yet they cost Christ dear to purchase He was at a greater expense to Redeem one Soul than he was to create a whole World the one was done by the word of his Power he spake and it was done but the other is done by the blood of his heart and he must dye before it be done His life must be laid down a life more worth than all the lives of Men upon Earth or Angels in Heaven They came freely unto us but he must dye and suffer to purchase and procure them O that our Souls may with Mary magnifie the Lord who hath regarded the low estate of his servants for he that is mighty hath done great things for us 3. Another way by which we are to express our Thankfulness is by rendering again according to the Benefits we have received But when F speak of rendering back again according to the benefit received I do not mean in a way of recompense but in token of our Thankfulness Alas we are in no capacity of recompensing or making him amends for his kindness to us his love in doing and dying for us infinitely exceeds all our returns There is more proportion betwixt the light and heat of a Spark to the light and heat of the Sun than there is between his kindness and our returns When we have done all we can and suffered all we can for him it is nothing to what he hath done and suffered for us But tho' we cannot make proportionable returns yet we are to make suteable and becoming returns for the Mercys and Benefits we have received from him It is said in 2 Chron. 32.25 That Hezekiah rendered not according to the benefit he had received That is he did not make suteable and becoming returns for the great benefits he had received viz. that wonderful Victory he obtained over the Assirian Army mentioned in the 25. vers And that miraculous restoration and recovery from a very dangerous illness and the confirmation of that work by a strange and supernatural motion of the Sun All which instead of keeping him low and humble probably raised him up to an high conceit and opinion of himself as if these great things had been done if not by his own power yet at least for his Piety and goodness And instead of walking humbly with his God and giving the glory of all intirely and wholly to God he took the honour to himself and vainly shewed his Riches and precious Treasures to the Babylonish Ambassadors Now this was not a return any way suteable or becoming the great benefits he had so lately received So that I say tho' we cannot make proportionable returns yet we must look to it that we make suteable returns to our loving Jesus for the great and wonderful benefits we are made partakers of in and thro' him That as his heart was enlarged in love and pity and conpassion towards us so our hearts should be enlarged in returns to him We should be putting that question to our own Souls which holy David did to his Psal 116.12 What shall we render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards us But here it may be asked what is it that we ought to render unto the Lord Jesus for those expressions of his love in doing and suffering for us and for all the great and blessed benefits that do flow and proceed from hence To this I Answer We must and ought to render our whole selves to him Rom. 12.1 I beseech you therefore Brethren by the mercys of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice Holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service Here is an Exhortation and the motive or argument by which he doth urge it The Exhortation and that is to present our Bodies a living Sacrifice Holy acceptable to God or to give dedicate devote or offer up our whole selves Souls and Bodies unto God It is true the Body is only mentioned but the Soul must not be excluded it is a Synechdochical expression where a part is put for the whole That then which we are to render unto Christ in token of our Thankfulness and gratitude is our whole selves Souls and Bodies all that we are and have to live to him to suffer for him when ever he shall call us out thereto to be saved by him and not only so but to be ruled and governed by him Submitting our selves to the conduct of his wife Providence and to the laws and rules of his most Spiritual Government That is to say when no Lust or Corruption bears Rule or Sway in our hearts but when every thing within us and every thing without us is captivated and brought over to the obedience to the Lord Jesus When Christ by his Spirit makes entrance into our hearts and takes full possession of all the powers and faculties of our Souls and of all the members of our Bodies that whereas they have once been strongly and deeply engaged in the ways and service of Sin they become now as deeply and strongly engaged for Christ and in his ways and Service As when we see a Person in the full height and carreer of sin prosecuting with all his might his carnal corrupted desires and designes at the beck and command of that corrupt Principle that is within him employing that Reason and Understauding and Parts which God hath endowed him with in the contrivance of any sinful thing or action his power and strength for the perfecting and accomplishing and obtaining what he had so contrived and plotted why such a Person may be said to be given up to his Lusts and Corruptions but not to Christ So on the other hand where we see a Person at the beck and command of Christ employing his Reason and Understanding his Strength and Parts for the Honour and Glory of Christ obedient to and complying with every call and command of Christ industriously prosecuting the Glory of Christ as the great end of Life heartily submitting to his Laws and Commands as the great and only Rule of Life why such a Person may truly be said to be given up to Christ The Apostle Paul in 2 Cor. 8.5 speaks there of Persons that had given up themselves to Christ and speaks it in praise of the Macedonians This they did says he Why what did they do why they did liberally
apprehension of this love of Christ might constrain every soul of us to give up our selves to him Are we bought with a Price Are we Redeemed from the greatest slavery and tyranny that ever poor creatures were under from the Wrath and Vengeance of God who is a consuming fire From the Curse and condemnation of the Law from the dominion of Sin and Satan and the World Why this is a great and unspeakable Priviledge and happiness indeed Ay but how came we to be thus Redeemed Why it was by a great price that was laid down and deposited ye are bought with a price says the Apostle 1 Cor. 6.20 But what price was this Was it Silver or Gold no it was by the price of Blood But what Blood was it The Blood of Bulls and Goats no it was the Blood of the Son of God 1 Pet. 1.18 19. It was the Lord Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God that redeemed us with his own Blood What can we do less then glorifie him with our Bodies and Spirits O how Thankfully ought we to walk all our days and we cannot better express our Thankfulness than by dedicating and devoting our selves to his service and glory This is the greatest return that we can make and the highest gratitude You know the first fruits were in former times dedicated unto God partly to show God's right to the whole crop and partly in token of thankfulness from the people for all the rest Now this giving up our selves to the Lord Jesus is the best expression of our thankfulness that we can make This exceeds the most melting acknowledgments and the highest verbal resentments of all his love and kindness to us When a poor creature is deeply affected with a sense of the love of Christ to him falls down at the foot of Christ and says Lord Jesus I am one of thy Redeemed ones whom thou hast redeemed unto God by thine own most precious Blood from the slavery and tyranny under which I lay thou didst freely lay down thy life to save mine thou didst shed thine own Blood and offeredst thy self upon the Cross a Sacrifice to satisfie Divine Justice and make Attonement for my sins and to bring me nigh unto God who once was alienated from and an enemy to Father Son and Holy Ghost in my mind by wicked Works And thou wast not only offered upon the Cross for me but thou hast been lately in the Supper Ordinance exhibited and offered to me with all the virtues and benefits and victories and purchases and priviledges of thy death for the strengthning and nourishing of my Faith for the enlivening and quickening and raising my hope for the filling up my joy and encreasing my comfort for the carrying on the Spiritual life with greater vigour and power in my Soul for all this dear Jesus how shall I express and testifie my Thankfulness Why I will do it thus I do here solemnly and seriously and fully give up my self to thee to be thine and only thine both now and to Eternity that is to say everlastingly thine This is the best way of expressing our Thankfulness and this we are every one afresh obliged to who have been sitting down this day at our Lords Table For one end of this Ordinance is to be a seal of the Covenant all the Blessings and Benefits and Priviledges and Promises and Grace of the New Covenant are confirmed to Believers by it Now the Covenant binds mutually God bindeth himself to give Grace to us and we bind our selves to live to him In all Covenants there is not only something to be done for us but there is something to be performed by us God seals the Benefits of the Covenant on his part and we seal to the Durys of the Covenant on our part The exhibiting the signes is the seal on God's part the receiving the signes is the seal on our part Every time we receive we bind our selves to new and better Obedience to live more to God and to dy more to sin I have Read that Pliny should say he learned it of some Christians That at their Meeting they did Sacramento se obstringere ne furta ne latrocinia ne adulteria committerent c. Bind themselves by the Sacrament that they would not commit these sins of Theft and Robbery and Adultery And so should every one that have been eating the Sacramental Bread and Wine look upon our selves as bound to live more to God and Jesus Christ and to cleave to the Lord with fuller purposes of heart and more stedfast Resolutions of Soul Our Blessed Saviour never Instituted this Holy Ordinance to qualify Persons for some advantagious Post and to sit Men for Publick Places and Offices or to be a Stepping-stone to Worldly Preferment as it is now adays only used by many to the great shame of a Protestant Nation may it be spoken that so Sacred an Ordinance should be thus Abused and Prophaned But he designed it to be a stronger Tye and Obligation upon us to a more Holy Life and Circumspect Walk and indeed if we do not answer this end we do but Prophane this Ordinance every time we partake of it And instead of eating and drinking to our own Salvation we shall but eat and drink Damnation to our selves 4. We are to Walk after this Ordinance more Believingly and Fiducially that is with a stronger Faith and Trust in Christ and Relyance upon him 2 Col. 6. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk ye in him rooted and built up in him and stablisht in the Faith as you have been taught abounding therein with Thanksgiving None are so stablished but they may grow still in Faith None have taken so much root but they may take yet more root Faith is such a Grace as is capable of farther improvement A weak Faith may become strong and a strong Faith may become yet stronger The Apostles prayer was this Lord increase our Faith Luke 17.9 Many are crying out for more Riches for more Honour for more Wealth for more Pleasure But let this be the desire of our Souls for a stronger Faith This is a Petition very proper and suteable to be put up by us after we have been at this Supper Lord increase our Faith What the Apostle said of the Thessalonians concerning Brotherly Love You need not that I write unto you for you your selves are taught of God to love one another and indeed you do it towards all the Brethren which are in all Macedonia But yet he saw it necessary to press after a farther growth and encrease of it But we beseech brethren that ye encrease more and more The same I trust may be said of many here concerning Faith Ye are taught of God to believe and indeed ye do believe but however this Exhortation or desire is not needless viz. That ye encrease more and more Those that have any measure of Faith already are to be endeavouring after a growth and
encrease in it For the stronger our Faith is the greater revenue of Glory we bring to Christ It is said of Abraham He was strong in Faith giving Glory to God Rom. 4.20 But how did he glorify God why by believing in hope against hope He glorifyed the Faithfulness and Truth and the Power of God that notwithstanding the outward Discouragement under which he lay tho' it seemed to be a very unlikely improbable thing to the eye of Sense and Reason that he should have a Child considering his own Age and the Deadness of Sarahs Womb yet he believed in the Power and Faithfulness of God that he was able to performe what he promised to him and that he would be true and faithful to perform it Thus Abraham by his Faith Glorifyed God's Power Truth and Faithfulness And thus by believing we bring a great Revenue of Honour and Glory unto Christ When we stedfastly rely upon the Merit and All-sufficiency of his Blood for the Pardon of all our Sins and under the fresh guilt we are contracting daily we daily apply and betake our selves to this Blood of Christ for fresh Pardon and Cleansing when we stedfastly rely upon his Righteousness for our Justifycation before God not mentioning a word of our own Inherent Righteousness or Holiness for our Justification and Acceptance with God but make mention of his and of his only when under all our Temptations we rely upon his Mercy and Faithfulness to help and succour us In all our ways to rely upon his Wisdom for our guidance and conduct when in every act and duty of Worship we rely upon him for our access to God We never bring more honour and glory unto Christ than when we go most out of our selves and rely most upon Christ This is to walk believingly and thus we are to walk after this Supper viz. with a stronger Faith and trust on the Lord Jesus Christ We walk by Faith says the Apostle 2 Cor. 5.7 And in another place The life which I now live in the Flesh I live by faith in the Son of God Gal. 2.20 And thus we are to live and walk viz. with a stronger Faith with a more stedfast trust and reliance upon Christ upon his Obedience and Satisfaction To this end was he lifted up upon the Cross and offered there viz. to be believed in and rested upon Joh. 3.14 15. As Moses lifted up the Serpent in the wilderness even so must the son of man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him c. To this end did God the Father give Christ viz. to be believed in and rested upon vers 16 For God so loved the world that be gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish c. To this end is he lifted up in the preaching of the Gospel viz. that poor sinners might believe on and put all their trust and confidence in him for life and for Salvation Mark 16.15 16. Go into all the World and preach the Gospel to every Creature he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved And to this end is he offered to us in the Supper viz. to be believed in and rested upon 1 Cor. 11.23 24 25. The Lord Jesus Christ the same night in which he was betrayed took Bread and when he had given thanks brake it and said take eat this is my body which is broken for you After the same manner he took the Cup when he had supped saying this Cup is the New Testament of my blood this do ye as often as ye drink it in remembrance of me And in another place drink ye all of it this do in remembrance of me In the Bread broken upon the Table we have a lively representation of Christ's broken Body In the Wine we have a lively representation of the Blood of the Lord Jesus the price of our Redemption By Eating and Drinking we are to understand believing so that we see the Lord Jesus Christ is oâ—ered to us in this Supper to be believed in and rested upon It is true there is nothing but bare Bread and Wine presents it self to the eye of our Bodies But under these outward Signes and Elements of Bread and Wine there is a broken Crucified Saviour offered and presented to the eye of our Faith O there is great need ' of Faith and great work for Faith in our receiving and after our receiving in our partaking and after we have partaken of this Supper whilst we sit down and after we are risen up from this Table There is great need of Faith and great work for Faith in our receiving We can no more turn Bread and Wine into the Body and Blood of Christ without faith says one than a Chymist can transmute one Metal into another without the operation of the fire He that comes to this Supper without faith says another is like a Man that thinks to quench his thirst by sucking the Ale bowl Alas what is it that we receive at this Supper why it is but a little morsel of Bread and a small draught of Wine without faith and what can this do to the nourishing and strengthning of our Souls As the word profits not unless it be mixed with faith in those that hear it Heb. 4.2 So the Lord's Supper profits not unless mingled with faith in those that receive it It is true were we only at this Ordinance to receive the Bread at the Ministers hands that gives it then there would be no such need of Faith at this Ordinance But at this Ordinance we are to take Christ out of God's hand who is offered to us there and this cannot be done without faith were we only to eat the Bread and drink the Wine at this Supper this might be done without faith but we are to eat Christ's Flesh and drink Christ's Blood to seed upon a broken Crucified Saviour who is not only the Master but the Matter of this feast and this cannot be done but by faith It is faith that feeds upon Christ and derives virtue and vigour from him His Flesh is meat indeed and his Blood is drink indeed John 6.55 Meat to be eaten not with the teeth but by faith Meat indeed not in Nature but in Effect because it nourisheth the Soul and gives Eternal life to them that eat thereof v. 54. Whoso eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood hath Eternal life c. Hath Eternal life ay hath it already in a just Right and Title and shall have it in a certain actua Possession There is great need of Faith and Work for Faith in this Ordinance to discern and spy out those great Mysteries that are wrapped up in the outward Elements The want of which viz. a right discerning of the Mysteries that are pointed at by these signes in this Ordinance is the cause of Persons miscarrying under it is the cause of Persons eating and drinking unworthily and as a consequent of that of their eating and drinking
to have a recourse to this blood of Christ for the removal of it and under the daily sense and feeling of the working of innate inbred Corruption we are to have a daily recourse unto this blood of Christ that it may be subdued we are to eye the Death of Christ for sanctification as well as for Justification for Mortification and killing of Lust as well as for the taking away and removal of Guilt Alas we are no more able to subdue our own Lusts than we are to remove our own Guilt but are as much beholden to Christ for the one as for the other In a word throughout the whole of our Christian Race and Course our eye must be unto Christ Looking unto Jesus who is the Author and Finisher of our Faith Every day by fresh acts of Faith casting and committing all the concernments of our Souls into the hands of our dear Redeemer This is to walk fiducially and thus we are to walk after this Supper One end of which Supper was for the strengthening of Grace in our Souls not only for the inflaming our Love but for the strengthning our Faith Not only that our love to him might wax hotter and hotter but that our Faith in him and Relyance upon him might be stronger and stronger 5. VVe must walk with a greater hatred of and indignation against sin VVe have been Commemorating a Crucifyed Bleeding Dying Jesus And pray what was the occasion of this shameful ignominious and Reproachful Death Why it was sin But not any sin of his own that he was brought to this Death and Sufferings but for the sins of his People The Lord laid upon him the Iniquity of his People Isa 53. And there was not only an act of God the Father in laying these sins upon Christ but there was also Christ's own voluntary consent to take them upon him So that it was sin the sins of his Elect People that he took upon him which was the occasion of his bitter Sufferings He was wounded for our Transgressions and bruised for our Iniquities Ay and these were far more wounding and painful to him than was the piercing of his natural Side with the Souldier's Spear This was that which occasion'd that Agony of Body and Anguish of soul even the Wrath and Displeasure of God manifested against the sins which he bare And who of us is able to conceive of that which he felt of that Torment he felt in his Body and of that Anguish he felt in his soul. My Soul says he is exceeding sorrowful even unto death and upon the Cross My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Surely fin must be an exceeding great evil which was the occasion of so great Sufferings And indeed there is no Glass doth so fully and clearly discover to us the evil and heinous nature of sin as the Glass of Christs Death and Sufferings Now in this Supper Ordinance we have a lively Representation of a broken Crucifyed Christ broken and Crucified for our sins his Body broken and his Blood shed for our sins this is that which our Faith is to eye in our participation of this Ordinance Have we seen Christ in this Ordinance Broken and Crucifyed and bruised for our sins and shall we dare to live in sin Is this a walk suteable and becoming those that have been at the Table of the Lord Suteable to those expressions of Love that are manifested or suteable to those Mysteries that are tendered there or to those great Benefits that are represented there Surely no After we have been at this Table we come under deeper Obligations of abandoning and hating sin than before Have we received the Lord's Supper as a Seal of the Remission of our sins And shall we dare after this Supper to fall a-fresh into the Commission of the same sins What is this but to prophane the Blood of the Covenant and to trample under foot the Blood of the son of God And is this our kindness to our Friend who so freely parted with his Life and Hearts-blood Surely they greatly mistake the nature and end of this Supper that go from it with a purpose to return to their Vice and Wickedness and use it only for a Protection and Tolleration for their sins It is a sure and certain sign that our hearts were never rightly and truly humbled and broken for sin before we came to this supper if there be any secret purposes and resolutions kept up and maintained in our Souls of returning to our sins afterwards If it was necessary to bring bleeding hearts to this Ordinance then certainly it is as necessary to carry away broken and bleeding hearts for sin from it especially when we have had such an affecting sight presented to us viz. a Christ bruised and broken for our sins Methinks every time we partake of this Ordinance it should stir up in us a greater abhorrency and hatred of sin than ever O consider what wrath our sins did derive upon Christ in order to the kindling our hatred and indignation against them What shall we make light of that which Christ found so heavy and heinous which fetched from him such great drops of Blood and extorted from him so bitter and dreadful a Lamentation My Soul says he is exceeding sorrowful even unto death and upon the Cross My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Did Christ shed all his Hearts-blood for thy sins and dost thou think much to shed a few Penitential Tears for them Or wilt thou hug such a Viper in thy bosom which was such a sting in the heart of thy Saviour Wilt thou pretend to have had Fellowship with Christ in this Ordinance and afterward hold fellowship with the unfruitful works of Darkness What a contradiction is this 6. We must walk with a greater weanedness of affection from the World God forbid says the Apostle that I should glory in any thing save in the Cross of Christ by which the world is crucifyed to me and I unto the world Gal. 6.14 He was arrived to such an holy indifferency as to care no more for the World than the World cared for him and this he did through the Cross of Christ Remembring how the World dealt with Christ and how little he regarded the World Now shall we who have been so lately Celebrating and Commemorating the Death and Crucifixion of Christ love that and cleave to that which dealt so unkindly by him or esteem that which was so little esteemed by him Is this a walk worthy of his Dying-Love no this is no way becoming those that have been entertained at this Table Therefore where we see Persons after they have been at this Table conforming to the World to the Fashions and Vanities thereof their Hearts and Affections glued to the World and the Things of the World persuing after it with the greatest vehemency and eagerness why this is such a kind of walking as is no way suteable and becoming the Guests of Christ