Promises at his hands THIS is enough to shew what a becoming and suitable posture Kneeling is at this Great Solemnity and how Naturally it follows where People entertain right Notions of it and come unto it with humble Minds Nor can I sufficiently admire that of all the Usages in the Christian Church this so Significant so Decent a Ceremony should ever become a stumbling-block and matter of Dispute Certainly it must be an ill sign of very Lofty Imaginations when there is such stiffness in Mens Knees BUT it is high time for me to proceed CHAP. XII Of our Behaviour after Receiving WHEN we have thus devoutly employ'd this blessed hour we must not imagine that our great Business is at an end that we may now drop those Religious Considerations which hitherto took up our time and thoughts that we may now go home leaving our Vows and Resolutions behind us in the Church much less may we think our selves free to fall afresh upon our former course of Life I must tell you the greatest part of our business is yet before us and to stop and rest here in the performance of those things which have hitherto employ'd our minds is the ready way to unravel our whole work and to defeat the design of this Heavenly Ordinance For this Rite of Eating and Drinking at the Lord's Table though it be of admirable use yet it is not naturally and intrinsecally good as those Acts and Dispositions of the Mind are wherein the Substance and Excellence of Religion doth consist but it iâ— a Relative thing instituted by our Saviour as a Means to promote and carry on that Noble End for which the Grace of God hath appeared unto all Men that denying all Vngodliness and Worldly Lusts we should live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World Tit. 2. 12. Here indeed we lay the Foundation of a life of Virtue by devoting unto God the Powers and Faculties of our Souls and the Members of our Bodies but as the Ground-work is in order to a Superstructure so are our Actions now in order to the further edifying and perfecting of us that we may be built up more and more in our most Holy Faith and being sitly framed together and compacted may grow and rise up by degrees to an Holy Temple for the Lord to be an Habitation of God through the Spirit THIS you will easily perceive if you observe 1. The Nature of the Ordinance it self It is first a Representation of the very Death of Christ a Representation exhibited to our Sences by the breaking of the Bread and the effusion of the Wine And what doth this mean but to awaken our Fears by shewing us the Terror of the Lord who for the expiation of the World's Guilt spared not his own Son nor would be reconciled to the World at a lower rate than by delivering him up to Torments and Death for us all What doth it mean but to set our Zeal a work upon mortifying all our Lusts and Affections and upon perfecting Holiness in the fear of God because Christ gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all Iniquity and Purifie unto himself a peculiar People zealous of good works What doth it mean but to make us ever watchful and circumspect lest we tread under foot the Blood of the Son of God Because if we sin wilfully after we have received the Knowledge of the Truth there remaineth no more Sacrifice for Sin Heb. 10. 26. It is secondly a Memorial of Christ's Love Love stronger than Death that made him give his life a ransom for the ungodly And what doth this mean but to kindle in our Hearts the most ardent Affections to Him again who so loved us as to die for us The greatest Affection this that 't is possible for any Mortal Man to express to lay down his Life for the Brethren But yet infinitely short of that which the Son of God expressed upon the Cross for his Enemies In this he commended his Love towards us above all proportion and comparison in that while we were yet Sinners Christ died for us the Just for the Vnjust It is thirdly a foederal Solemnity whereby we renew the Covenant we entred into at our Baptism Vowing Promising and Engaging over the Symbols of Christ's Body and Blood and Swearing as it were with our Hands laid upon the Redeemer of our Souls that we will henceforth walk in Newness of Life And what doth this mean but to bind us with the most Solemn Securities and under the most dreadful Penalties to renounce the Devil and all his Works to deny all the Lusts of the Flesh so as not to follow or be led by them and not only to offer up our Hearts and Spirits unto the God of Purity but to present even our Bodies a living Sacrifice Holy and Acceptable to him And for the farthering of all these Noble Ends this Mystery is in the Fourth place the very Means of Grace and Salvation an Instrument that conveys to us the present Possession of all necessary and suitable Assistances and a Title under Seal to all the Evangelical Promises and particularly to this that he that persevereth unto the end the same shall be saved and that to them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for Glory and Honour and Immortality God will render Eternal Life Rom. 2. 7. And what doth this mean too but that we should grow in Grace that we must not grieve the good Spirit of God whereby we are Sealed to the day of Redemption but that we should be strong in the Lord and in the power of his Might and give all manner of diligence to make our Calling and Election unto Grace sure and effectual by adding to our Faith Virtue or Courage and to Virtue Knowledge and to Knowledge Temperance and to Temperance Patience and to Patience Godliness and to Godliness Brotherly Kindness and to Brotherly Kindness Charity Charity in the highest degree to all Mankind and even to our Enemies Thus you see the nature of the Ordinance it self is such that it is not only highly useful for the present but of mighty Importance for the future it hath a tendency forward and it drives at mighty Ends which our endeavours are to be employ'd about after the Celebration of it is over that we may be more and more Partakers of the Divine Nature and come every day nearer and nearer to the Life of God TO confirm this still we may observe Secondly That those very Preparations which are required in order to our worthy Communicating do all look the same way and have a direct tendency to the same purpose Thus Faith or the hearty belief of the truth of our Religion upon those Evidences and Motives it carries with it is naturally productive of constant Obedience to the Precepts of it throughout the whole course of our lives For as it discovers to us the Folly the Shamefulness and the bitter Fruits of Sin so it shews
us on the other hand the excellence of Virtue and the beauty of Holiness It proposes Christ's Yoke as an easie thing especially to such as make a due use of the Spirits Assistance and accustom themselves to the familiar practice of Religion And though at the first entrance upon a Life of Holiness there may be many difficulties for us to grapple with Affections to be regulated evil Habits to be eradicated Pleasures and secular Advantages to be denied when they stand in competition with our Duty and though in the progress of our life many temptations from within and without us are to be resisted many hardships and tryals to be expected and abundance of discouragements of several kinds to be met with before we die yet we learn from our Religion that the present satisfactions which attend a course of Virtue are so great and the future Rewards which are to crown it are so endless and unspeakable that upon weighing the one against the other we cannot but conclude that neither the Pleasures nor the Sufferings of this life are worthy in the least measure to be compared with the Glory which shall be revealed Now if we bring such a Faith as this with us to the Sacrament if we be strong and stablish'd in it this alone will naturally serve to defend us as with a Shield from all Fiery Darts of the Devil and to render us puissant enough to overcome the World 1 Joh. 5. But to prepare us the better still for an uninterrupted course of Virtue we are moreover to repent us throughly for all our past Sins and to present our selves before God with new Hearts and new Spirits which is not required as a Temporary Disposition to be brought only at this time before the Altar there to languish and die with Vows that are Abortive and that yield either no Fruits at all or at least no perfect Fruits of Repentance No this is to be the beginning of a new life the first rise and starting towards the Race that is set before us and as we run it our Repentance must improve and grow from Shame and Sorrow for Sin to an Hatred of it from this Hatred of it to strong Resolutions against it and from those Resolutions against it to an utter abandoning and forsaking of it abstaining not only from all sorts but as far as 't is possible from all appearance of evil 1 Thes 5. 22. In like manner those Bowels of Mercy and Kindness which we put on at this time are to entender our Nature for ever and to produce in us such large and generous Affections as may extend not only to our Brethren and Friends and to the Family of Christ but to the whole Offspring of Adam to whom we are so to open our Compassions that such as are within our reach may participate those of our Bread those of our Instructions all of our good Wishes and Prayers in imitation of that most blessed Pattern and Idea of Charity who went about doing Good Heb. 10. 38. Briefly all other Spiritual Graces as Humility Meekness Patience Self-denial Heavenly-mindedness and the like wherewith our Souls are to be arrayed and adorned at this Solemnity if we consider the tendency of them they are so many initial Virtues to be improved and heightned still by the continual practice of them so that from Acts they may turn into Dispositions and from Dispositions may grow into Habits which will quite change purifie and raise our Nature till we all come in the Vnity of the Faith and of the Knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect Man unto the measure of the Stature of the fulness of Christ Ephes 4. 13. I have the more particularly insisted upon this to shew you the necessity of your Watchfulness and Industry after this blessed Solemnity is over You must not by any means sit down presently as if the work of the Day and the business of your Souls were quite done You must ever bear it in your minds that Christianity requires a life of Virtue You must carry a steddy Eye upon the Scope and Design of our Holy Religion and employ all your utmost endeavours in the vigorous pursuit of its noble End Brethren saith the Apostle I count not my self to have apprehended but this one thing I do forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things wich are before I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus Phil. 3. 13 14. And as it follows there Let us as many as be perfect be thus minded still running and stretching as hard as we can towards the end of our Faith and Hope by an earnest pursuit of whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely and whatsoever things are of good Report Phil. 4. 8. Remember I beseech you that this and other instituted Ordinances though they bring great Peace and Comfort to pious Souls by the present Administration of them they are still instrumental Helps to carry on the main Purpose and Will of God even our Sanctification So that if we do not use this Ordinance as an Instrument of improving and perfecting Holiness and as a Means pursuant thereunto whatever Relish and Pleasure it carries with it for the present it will not avail us as to the main FOR the benefits which are conveyed to all well-disposed Hearts by this Sacrament are not only the enlivening Influences of Christ's Spirit called Christ's Spiritual Body and Blood because they flow and are derived from him as he is the Head of his Church and the Disposer of all those Blessings which are the Fruits of his Intercession but moreover the Pardon of Sin past and a Title to an happy Resurrection and Eternal life to come Now as the First of these the Influences of Christ's Spirit are intended to transform us into the Image of God and to con-naturalize our Spirits to the Nature of God so are the latter the Effects of his pure Love and Goodness whereby he rewards those that resemble him by a similitude of Nature I speak now not of God's general love of Benevolence which moves him to do good to us as we are meerly his Creatures without any regard had to our probity or improbity in which sence he is said to have loved the World Joh. 3. 16. But of that particular Love which Divines call Love of Friendship and Complacency the formal Object whereof is Righteousness or a Rectitude of Nature conformable in a great measure to his own as the Psalmist tells us Ps 11. 7. The Righteous Lord loveth Righteousness his Countenance doth behold the upright This is a ray of his own Glory and the Correspondence thereof to his own Divine Perfections is the true Ground and Reason of that especial Love he bears to some more than he bears to others because it is impossible but he must love the Image of
of which they had been delivered saith That since after they had escaped the Pollutions of the World through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ they were again intangled therein and overcome the latter end is worse with them than the beginning and that it had been better for them not to have known the way of Righteousness than after they had known it to have turned aside from the holy Commandment delivered unto them 2 Pet. 2. 20 21. I confess he speaks there of their Apostacy from Christ's Religion to those abominable Impurities which they had customarily practis'd while they were yet Pagans which was Wickedness in the highest degree far beyond any Vice I hope that hath been acted by any who have been at the Lord's Table But yet the thing is in a very great measure applicable to those who having devoted themselves to God by this Federal Mystery take the confidence afterwards to let themselves loose again to their Enormities wherewith they had polluted their Souls and Consciences before The last State of those Men must needs be worse than the first and that according to the Nature of the thing it self For hereby Vice becomes familiar with them It loseth that ugly and ghastly Aspect which at first makes it appear very shameful and frightful their Acquaintance with it makes it the more friendly and free like ones conversing with the Devil that by degrees wears off that Horror which is ready to strike another through at the very Thoughts of his Appearing There is naturally such Turpitude in Wickedness and so contrary it is to our Reason and true Interest that an innocent Person when solicited to it is apt to be startled at the first Motion and if he be perswaded to act it he cannot but feel great Remorse and Anguish in his Mind after the Commission But Custom and Familiarity directly tends not only to remove that Fear and Shame which was once such Guards to the Mind but moreover to make the Conscience hard and crusty like Flesh seared with an hot Iron so that it loseth the faculty of Sensation And when a Man is come to such a wretched pass it is as impossible for him to Repent and come to himself again without the mighty Assistance of God's Spirit as it is to live and move and breathe in a Grave And what Reason and Grounds are there to expect that extraordinary Assistance after such monstrous Provocations given notwithstanding the strictest Ties and Engagements to the contrary We read in Scripture of Resisting of Grieving and of Quenching the Spirit Nor is it possible for those who were once enlightned at the other Sacrament and afterwards at this have tasted of the heavenly Gift and been made partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good Word of God and the Powers of the World to come 'T is not possible I say for such to fall of to a vitious Course of Life but by contumeliously intreating the Spirit of Grace by offering great Violence against his strivings by spoiling his holy Workmanship and by bringing to nought those Virtues and Perfections of Nature which were the Results and Effects of his Divine Operation And what is all this but the next way to stifle and put an end to all his Motions and to force him utterly to depart Because these Hostilities thus acted against the clear Light of Reason and the loud Clamours of Conscience cannot proceed from any other cause but from Wills that are obstinately set upon Evil and from Affections that are desperately in love with that which necessarily leadeth to Destruction For it is to be supposed that whoever comes to this tremendous Mystery must if he comes with sincerity of Heart carry with him these Convictions That the Religion he professeth is of God That Christ sealed it upon the Cross with that Blood whereof there is a Representation in this Mystery That the Covenant between God and Mankind is immutable That eternal Life therein promised is to be chosen before the whole World That a Life of Sanctity is the certain way to it That Virtue is Eligible of it self and for the Peace and Satisfaction it rewards them with in this Life beyond the gross and transient Pleasures of the Flesh and that it is the extreamest Folly for a Man to chuse those Courses which bring a kind of Hell to him before he arrives at that which burns with Fire and Brimestone There is no understanding and serious Person but must grant all this and more And therefore to Relapse into a State of Wickedness after so many Vows after so many Convictions and consequently after so many Reluctancies and Struglings of Conscience can proceed from no other Cause but the strong Malignity of a carnal Mind which is perfect enmity against God utterly inconsistent with the things of the Spirit Rom. 8. THESE are the Reproaches and Dangers of Relapsing into a wicked State of Life after the reception of this Sacrament and should a Man die in such a wretched Condition I tremble to consider what an endless State of Misery he must drop into next because as I have already shew'd nothing but entire Probity of Mind and a vertuous Temper can capacitate or dispose us for the Inheritance of the Saints in Light I do not now speak of Sins of Ignorance of Inadvertency of Infirmity and humane Weakness For as there is no possible sufficient Fence against them so there is no strict Obligations upon us to keep our selves free entirely from them nor are these the Sins which the Word of God cries out upon so as to threaten them with eternal Death or with the Derelictions of Christ's Spirit No it is sinning with an high hand and against an Honest Conscience and against Stipulations and Promises which were in our Power to perform this is that presumptuous acting which lays Men naked and destitute of the Grace of God in this Life and leaves them exposed to God's everlasting Displeasure in the next YOU have therefore great need as soon as this Solemnity is over as to bow your Knees to the Father of Lights from whom every good and perfect Gift cometh that he would now hold up your goings in his Paths that your Footsteps may not slide so to be very circumspect and diligent your selves to make streight Paths for your feet as the Author to the Hebrews speaks lest any Man should fail of the Grace of God lest any Man should turn Fornicator or Prophane Person as Esau Who for one morsel of bread sold his birthright For ye know how that afterward when he would have inherited the Blessing he was rejected for he found no place of Repentance no way of changing his Father's mind though he sought it earnestly with tears Heb. 12. CHAP. XIII Of Perseverance I HAVE discoursed against Relapsing into a sinful course not as if it were sufficient for us to forbear going backward or to stand at a stay but because in order
all such as at any time met together in the House of God to hear the Scriptures should be Excommunicated if they stayed not to Receive the Holy Communion Devotion which now is as it were vanish'd into Smoak in those times shined in a mighty Flame The Hearts of Men were on fire and their Zeal was Active and Sprightly in this particular because they reckoned it a necessary piece of Religion I confess the Practice of the Church is not that which maketh a thing Necessary Yet 't is a fair and strong Argument of its Necessity as being a good Comment upon our Lord's Command The continued Practice of the Church from the Apostles downward doth shew that the Wisest and most Learned among them did look upon themselves greatly obliged by the Law of Christ to a frequent Participation of this Mystery Because he said Do this as oft as ye drink it in remembrance of me they concluded themselves bound to do it often and lest they should not do it often enough they did it daily BUT I will not urge the Necessity of a daily Communion Yet this we must affirm indefinitely and in general that 't is necessary to Communicate often so that if nothing be wanting but a willing and ready Mind to omit it is a Sin a Violation of Christ's Law And if we think the Primitive Christians did it too often they are infinitely more to be followed yet than many now a days who either do it not at all or at most but once or twice a year and even then it may be questioned whether it be not something else besides the Love of Christ that doth constrain them 2. THUS much may suffice to be spoken of that Necessity which is grounded upon our Lord's Command But besides this we are to consider that the neglect of this Sacrament is Evil not in it self only but in respect of a very Evil Cause whence this shameful Neglect cometh for that cannot well be supposed to be any other than some lurking Sin and Wickedness in Mens Hearts which makes this Sacrament so formidable in their Eyes Since at this Ordinance God offereth to Men all the Mercies of the Gospel and nothing can hinder the conveyance but an Impenitent and Wicked Heart on the Recipient's part Hardly would any Man refuse so great Salvation did not his Conscience tell him that by Reason of his Love of Sin he may take Poyson into his Mouth instead of the Bread of Life It must needs be that the great Contempt of this Sacrament is caused mostly by some root of Bitterness that is in Men's Breasts which renders the Cup of Blessing very unsavoury and loathsome unto them The World generally is Evil and many Love to be so and for that Reason they dare not come to the Lord's Table How else comes it to pass that they croud many times into the Church in Throngs and Multitudes to Prayer and especially with itching Ears after a Sermon when yet we see a very slender appearance especially in some places at the Sacrament Certainly we must conclude or mistrust at least that People are Conscious to themselves of many Vices which they are fond of and willingly allow and indulge themselves in and rather than they will forsake those Vices they forbear this Ordinance because they cannot live Wickedly and Participate too without Eating and Drinking their own Damnation And is not this a most horrible Crime to value a few paltry Lusts above the Body and Blood of Christ And to prefer some Sensual and Bruitish Enjoyments before those Admirable and Astonishing Blessings which are tendred at the Lord's Table It was the Sin of the Jews and that which greatly kindled the Anger of the Lord against them that they slighted the Manna which David called the Food of Angels and lusted after the Fleshpots of Egypt the Cucumbers the Melons the Leeks the Onions and the Garlick Num. 11. Much more will it be lookt upon as an intolerable Crime in us if we make light of the greatest Blessings that Heav'n can bestow as the Comforts of the Holy Spirit the Fellowship of Christ the Pardon of our Sins the Peace of our Consciences an Assurance of a Glorious Immortality and whatsoever is the Felicity of Blessed Souls I say if we slight and reject all these out of favour to our Sensitive Appetites that we may still pursue the Unprofitable Works of Darkness and Enjoy the Pleasures of Sin which are both Beastly in their Nature and very short for their continuance As Maximus Max. Tyr. Ser. 20. Tyrius an Heathen Philosopher argued Who is so Mad so Bewitched so Byassed by his Affections that for the love of small and Transitory Pleasures of uncertain Enjoyments of doubtful Hopes and questionable Prosperities would not change his Life for a Better and betake himself to that which is Solid and Vnquestionable Happiness Yet of such corrupt and object Spirits are they who neither Love nor dare to partake of this Covenant Feast Men of such Debaucht Minds and Impure Consciences that they prize the most fordid Considerations above the Love of God and a Blessed Eternity like unclean Swine that contemn the sweetest Repose in comparison of a Dunghill and a Bed of Mire Were not Men Earthly and Sensual every one wou'd strive to be a Companion at the Altar 'T is a Polluted Heart that hindreth Men's approaches because they that are Wicked will be Wicked still and that is a great Reason why the Neglect of this Sacrament is Sinful forasmuch as it proceedeth from a sinful Cause an Evil and a Rotten Heart 3. I Heartily wish that all Persons who are concern'd would seriously consider these things and be so Provident too as to look upon the sad Consequence of this Neglect and see what an immediate and irreparable Injury they are like to do to their own Souls by it which is the Third and last Consideration For the words of Christ are plain Joh. 6. Except ye Eat the Flesh of the Son of man and drink his Blood ye have no life in you This place of Scripture all the Ancients do with one a Illud in primis animadvertendum occurrit quoties apud veteres agitur de hoc Sacramento verba Domini nostri quae Joan. cap. 6. referuntur caro mea verè est cibus sanguis meus verè est potus Panis quem ego dabo caro mea est Et nisi ederitis carnem silii hominis c. ad hoc Sacramentum omnes applicant Nec audiendi sunt qui tanta nube testium refragante negant illud caput Joannis huc referendum Diallacticon Edit Londin 1688. p. 15. 9. v. consent and mouth apply to this Blessed Sacrament and St. Austin himself urged it to prove the necessity even of Infant Communion which was then a Custom in the Church That indeed was an Error that proceeded from the abundant Piety of those times and the Reason upon which that Custom was grounded was not strong
be Absolutely Assured of all this is not necessary because we have no plain Revelation to ground that assurance upon 2. Because such an assurance were I possest of it could not be a Divine but an Humane Faith and consequently it would be Fallible and very uncertain For it must be grounded meerly on my reflecting upon my self and upon my comparing my Condition with the Word of God So that my Judgment touching mine own State is still but an Humane Act arising from those Observations which I my self make and I cannot as firmly and reasonably believe that I am a Penitent as I do believe that God will Pardon Penitents because I have His word for the latter and only my own word for the former And we know that every Man is ready to be Partial to himself and Naturally apt to think better things of himself than he ought to think and to take every Mole in his Face for a Beauty-spot Therefore since a Man cannot have any assurance of his State but by private Reflections upon himself seeing such a reflection is an Humane Act and since every work of Man is deceitful it plainly follows that such an assurance is not necessary I wish therefore that Men would be Modest in these and the like Cases and not impose such burdens upon their own and other Mens Consciences as may serve to rack and disquiet their Minds but cannot settle them upon a firm bottom The Faith of Christ is of an obvious Nature and since the way to Heaven is strait already Men should be very careful that they do not add to the difficulties by inventions of their own Brains and render that entrance impossible which already is so narrow that few there be that find it IN Answer then to this Enquiry What it is that every Communicant is bound to Believe I shall lay down this as a fair and satisfactory Truth that the Faith required is a Cordial and Comfortable Perswasion of the verity of the common Principles of Christianity comprised in the Creed and particularly that Christ is so the Saviour of the World that he is able to save all to the uttermost that come unto God by him which is the Sense of that Article touching the Remission of Sins These are plain Assertions for which we have the Authority of the Scriptures and when I call this a cordial and comfortable Perswasion I mean such a stedfast Belief in Christ as serves to apply Christ's Merits to a Man 's own self which Divines call a Particular Faith To believe in Christ Comfortably is not only to Assent to the Truth of the Gospel at Large and in a General Proposition but moreover to believe for ones self to be throughly satisfied that Christ was the True Messiah that came to seek and to Save that which was lost and to Save even Me among others That he Tasted Death for every Man and in particular for Me that his Blood is the Propitiation for the Sins of the whole World and even for Mine that he is an Advocate with the Father for my Brethren and for Me also that he hath Promised Eternal Life to all that do Obey him and that even I shall have benefit by his Promise if I make good the Condition In a word that He is the Redeemer of all Mankind and that with him there is Plenteous Redemption for Me and for Thee and for us All if we be not wanting to our selves To be thus perswaded is enough for any Communicant in genere fidei and as to Matters of Faith Indeed in genere morum as to Matter of Practice Repentance and Universal Obedience is necessary too But now we are considering not how much it is necessary for a Communicant to Practice but how much is needful for him to Believe and such a Faith as I have now described is sufficient if Men do but add to this Faith Virtue 1. THAT this is so will easily appear if we impartially consider first that this is the Faith which is necessarily required of all Christians and is sufficient for all This is Eternal Life that they know Thee the only True God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent saith our Blessed Saviour himself Joh. 17. 3. The Sense of which place is that the sincere and hearty acknowledgment of the True God and of his Holy Child Jesus is the Infallible way to Everlasting Happiness There are many Truths wrapped and folded up in the Bosome of that Text which the Compilers of the Apostolical Creed have drawn out into several Articles To know Jesus or to Confess him to be the Christ signifies in the Dialect of the Holy Ghost to own him to have been sent by God's Commission that he came to Redeem us and to Bless us and to Dye for us To have a deep Sense of the All-sufficiency of his Merits to believe that all Power both to Save and to Destroy is put into his hands and to be firmly perswaded that in and through him Forgiveness of Sins and a Glorious Immortality may be obtained by all that will lay hold on him and Love him in Sincerity Now if this Faith be sufficient as touching Matter of Faith to Entitle a Man to Eternal Life as our Saviour saith it is then it is enough also to give a Man the Liberty of Communicating because more cannot be required to admit us to the Lord's Table than is necessary for our admission into Heaven Certainly that Faith which sufficeth to bring us hereafter into the Presence of the Lamb must be sufficient to bring us to the Supper of the Lamb and that is not a confident Presumption of a Man's absolute Pardon and Election unto Happiness but a firm and comfortable Perswasion that Jesus Christ came into the World to Save Sinners which is a most faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation saith St. Paul 1 Tim. 1. 15. 2. THAT this Faith is enough for a Communicant will appear Secondly from its Anaglogy and Proportion to the Faith of the First Disciples It was St. Peter's Confession for which he was called Blessed Thou art Christ the Son of the Living God Matth. 16. 16. It was Martha's Confession Lord I believe that thou art Christ the Son of God that should come into the world Joh. 11. 27. It was the Eunuch's Confession I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God Act. 8. 37. Nay indeed it was the Confession of all the Apostles before every particular was extracted which lay hid and folded up in it We believe and are sure that thou art that Christ the Son of the Living God Joh. 6. 69. Now do but consider and judge in your selves Is it possible for any Ratianal Man to believe that the Faith which served for the Salvation of those will not be enough to Dispose and Fit Vs for the Sacrament Certainly by the same Faith whereby the Disciples of Old felt and handled the Word of Life we may also Feed on him For this
unwilful acts that proceed from an invincible debility of Nature nay many times from some inveterate Distemper in ones Body which as naturally casteth up ugly Idea's into the Brain and Fancy as over moist Soyls cast up Vapours and Fogs into the Air and though for a while they bring a Cloud over ones Spirit yet common Experience shews that the day breaks up again and therefore he that is disturbed with things of no greater moment than these ought no more to be frighted from the Holy Communion or dejected in his mind than if he were sick of the Spleen there being such a vast difference between Matters of this nature and an Evil Conscience 3. THE other Particulars I shall bring under one common Consideration because the same things in a manner are to be said of them all As for those involuntary Omissions which the best Men cannot but be sensible of and those mixtures of Imperfection which they find in their Noblest Actions and those irregularities to which the common frame and condition of Humanity makes us all subject every Man ought as to be humbled for them by a general Repentance so to beg pardon for them in David's Style O cleanse thou me from my secret faults Psal 19. 12. So also to guard himself from them with that care and vigilance which becomes a Man of an honest and sincere heart This is certain that if we do but secure our hearts unto God he will secure all his mercies to us It is not absolute and spotless perfection he expects from us but sincerity which is Evangelical Perfection As long as we are Men we shall be feeble and as long as we are feeble it cannot be but we must trip sometimes or tread a little awry especially where our way is long and the ground slippery But if we do not wilfully turn aside out of the right Path nor fall so as to Apostatise from the Truth or cast away our Righteousness such is the Divine Goodness and Mercy that we shall not fall into Perdition There is not a Righteous Man on the Earth that Sinneth not Eccles 7. 10. Bring in all the whole Army of Noble Saints and Martyrs and you shall hear them complain of their Infirmities God gives us Grace sufficient to enable us to maintain a Combate with the World the Devil and our own Lusts but not so much as will gain us a perfect and entire Victory so as to free us from all further Allarms and Onsets And indeed there is good Reason why we should not be unexercised by Temptations that we may not be Proud As God left the Canaanites among the Jews to humble and to try them so doth he leave our Infirmities in us even when he gives us the Spirit of Promise that he may make us sensible of our failings and lay us in the dust under the sense of them so that the setting of a Crown upon our heads may be acknowledg'd to be an act of his free Grace and that we may Triumph in the Name of God alone who hath concluded all under Sin that he may have Mercy on all By reason of these Infirmities we are commanded to Watch which is a plain argument that we are still in danger of being assaulted and our most treacherous Enemies may be those of our own Houshold Now what we cannot avoid by the Mercies of God we shall not be accountable for But our Frailties and Infirmities if they be acknowledg'd and bewail'd and prayed against and strugled with are Pardoned of course and every Man is accepted according to that which he hath and not according to that he hath not 2 Cor. 8. 12. Christianity is neither a soft Pillow for Wicked Men to sleep on nor yet a weary yoak for Good Men to sink under there being in the Gospel such an admirable mixture of the Promises with the Threats that as a vicious Wretch has no reason to presume so a Sincere and Humble hearted Man hath no reason to Despair Thou Lord art Merciful faith the Psalmist for thou rewardest every Man according to his Works And it is the usual Course and Tenour of a Man's Life that God doth judge of him by making a great abatement for his Humane Infirmities and were it not thus no Flesh living could be Saved because our present state of imperfection will not suffer us to be without all manner of blemish and he that boasteth of absolute Perfection is not more a Pharisee than a Fool because in many things we are apt to offend all But every Sin grieveth not the good Spirit of God nor is every Offence inconsistent with a State of Regeneration nor doth every little transgression dis-entitle us to the Divine Favour The daily Sacrifice of the Heart in Prayer and the constant striving with our manifold Infirmities do so effectually Operate through the Merits of Christ who died even for weak ones that an Act of Frailty is not a Sin armed with a Damning Power Though there be something of the Viper in us yet as long as we do not Cherish or Indulge or keep it warm in our bosom it cannot Hurt however it may fright us and create in us some trouble and horrour And so much be spoken of Sins of Infirmities and of those degrees of Repentance which are necessary for them CHAP. VII Of Wilful Sins I PROCEED next to Discourse of Sins of Wilfulness that nothing may escape us which is necessary to be known in order to a full understanding of that Repentance which is to be preparatory to the Holy Communion Now Wilful Sins are such as are Advisedly and of set purpose committed when a Man considerately doth this or that Evil action either for his pleasure or for his profit sake or upon any other such unreasonable inducements And these Sins are of two sorts Habitual or Occasional Habitual Sins are such as are the general Tenor and Course of ones Life which he allows himself in and gives himself up to and usually follows as his common Trade and Way As when ill Men accustom themselves to Prophane the Holy Name of God or addict themselves to Drunkenness or follow a Lascivious and lustful kind of Life or make Fraud and Cheating a great part of their Trades or live in Malice and Uncharitableness or whatever other sorts of Wickedness they suffer themselves to Continue in These must needs be Wilful Habits because it is impossible to conceive how any Man can persist in such Courses having so much Time and Leisure to consider of them and not give his full consent to such Impieties For if it be said though 't is strange it should that the Man may believe these things to be Lawful and so Labour under an Erroneous Judgment which allows him in such actions yet it cannot be any thing but his own Obstinacy that misleads his Conscience into such an Errour the Crime being so apparent to common Reason Or if he acts contrary to his judgment which is most
likely it is a Sin against Conscience which is the Highest aggravation any action is capable of So that let him palliate it as he can it is undoubtedly a Wilful Habit. And because it is so such a Repentance is necessary as changeth the whole frame of his Heart and Life such a Repentance as makes a Man lay aside utterly every vicious Custom such a Repentance as effectually bends his Mind to an entire Practice of Virtue and Religion For the great business of Religion being to transform every one into the Divine Image to make him Partaker of the Divine Nature and to render him according to the Capacities of Humane Nature Holy and Pure as God himself is and sorrow for what is past being the first Beginning of such a God-like Life That Repentance must needs be Trifling and Impertinent which doth not powerfully carry on those Divine Purposes and 't is as impossible for one that persists in an Evil State and Course to be a true Penitent at the same time as it is to make Hell and Heaven meet together in one Repentance is an High and Noble act of the Mind that doth not lye in Sobs and Groans nor meerly in the Anguish and Throws of a Spirit that is upon the Rack for notwithstanding all this Guilt and the Love of Sin may be at the bottom and inward torment may proceed purely from a present apprehension of vengeance which every Man would willingly avoid though he delights in that which brings it upon him No Repentance that is genuine works a total Change turns the Desires towards the Glory of God which is the True and Proper Object of the Mind and so by degrees improves and raiseth up the depraved Nature of Man to those perfections which are in God of whose Glory those Divine Graces which Religion proposeth to our practice are a Copy and Transcript INFINITELY distant from this is the Life of that Man who Loves to wallow in Vice Sensuality and Corruption People of this sort and Temper are so far from having a right to the Promises of Pardon and Peace which are tendred by the Evangelical Covenant and which are Sealed at the Holy Sacrament that the Scripture plainly threatens Indignation and Wrath Tribulation and Anguish to every Soul that worketh Evil after this manner to such as obey Vnrighteousness to such as are the Servants of Sin to such as let Sin reign in their Mortal Bodies to such as yield themselves up to Vnrighteousness to such as make Provision for the Flesh to such as obey it in the Lusts thereof to such as walk on in darkness and lye in wickedness and conform themselves to this world by all which Expressions and many more to the same purpose the Scripture meaneth such as continue and persist in an Ungodly course in a crooked way in a vicious Manner and Habit of Life For which Reason when Men intend to go to the Holy Communion where every one is sure to receive something either Mercy or Judgment to himself they should take themselves to a very strict account and impartially observe what that way is wherein they are used to go And if they find themselves so ill given as that they willingly follow their own hearts Lusts and resolve to do so still in spight of God's Word and the checks of their own Consciences they must not in any wise present themselves at the Lord's Table but utterly forbear 'till they have truly humbled themselves under such a sense of their impieties as worketh that Repentance which is the entrance upon a Life of Virtue and True Religion If there be not this Divine disposition of Soul in them they are no more fit to receive the Body of Christ than Judas that Betrayed him or Pilate that Condemned him or the Jews that Mock'd him or the Souldier that stuck a Spear into his Side And if he goes to the Holy Sacrament while he goes on still in his wickedness he doth but take a large step towards his own destruction Such a one despiseth the Sufferings of the Son of God tramples the Blood of the Covenant under his feet and accounteth it an Vnholy Thing as if it were a refreshment for a Beast and he is like one that brings a Swine into the Sanctuary to feed upon the Bread of Eternal Life Therefore before we Celebrate so Great a Mystery we are to enter into the strictest Engagements to bind our Souls with the most serious Vows and to set up very strong and powerful Resolutions of Amendment lest in making too great haste to so Divine and Solemn an Ordinance we make haste to Perish and to be Undone For nothing makes us capable without Repentance from dead Works as * Justin Mart. Apol. 2. Justin Martyr said The food at the Eucharist is not lawful to be received but by such as believe the Doctrines of Christianity to be true and have been wash'd in the Laver of Regeneration and lead their Lives according to Christ's Prescriptions * Habentem adhuc voluntatem peccandi gravari magis dico Eucharistiae perceptione quam purificari S. Aug. de Eccles Dogmat. c. 53. And he that approacheth to the Lords Table with a Design and Purpose to Sin on still instead of being refreshed and purified by receiving is the more heavily Laden and receives a Cup of Bitterness instead of a Salutary Cordial Here a Question may arise whether it be Lawful for one to Communicate upon serious Vows and Resolutions only That is before he has tryed the strength and efficacy of them For it is possible for a Man who has led a dissolute Life to be through the piercing Power of the Word of God struck so on a sudden into the Sense of his Guilt and Danger as to resolve and undertake presently to forsake his Impieties And perhaps too his outward circumstances may be such that if he misseth the opportunity he hath now before him he may be in a very great danger of not meeting with another In which particular case I know no Reason sufficient to debar him from the use of this Ordinance which effectually gives the Benefits of our Saviour's Passion to every true Penitent as our Saviour himself gave them to that Thief upon the Cross who was Converted in a moment Indeed where Men seem not to be straitned in their circumstances but have probably time before them to make some Experiment of their Resolutions it is very expedient for them to betake themselves to their Retirements to weep bitterly to observe what ground they are able to gain of their Habitual Vices what Victory they get over their own Hearts by suitable Acts of Mortification and Self-denyal which are necessary to be undertaken for the eradicating of inveterate Habits By these means they will afterwards come to the Blessed Sacrament with better advantage because with more Comfort with more Confidence and Peace of Mind than such as have not made any Tryal of the firmness and
for here we commemorate the Charity of the Lord Jesus Christ that though he was Rich yet for our sakes he became Poor that we through his Poverty might be Rich as the Apostle speaks 2 Cor. 8. 9. Here we see how he parted with his Heart-blood and laid down his very Life for us And here he feeds us with Food from Heaven with that Divine and Spiritual nourishment whereof the Manna in the Wilderness was a poor Type and Figure with the true Bread of Life with his Flesh which is Meat indeed and with his Blood which is drink indeed more strengthning than the Manna more efficacious more durable for he that partaketh hereof shall Live for ever 2. THESE Considerations do of themselves Naturally tend to stir us all up to these acts of Mercy and Charity at this time A thing so Universally so Constantly observed by all Christian Churches since the beginning of Christianity that we cannot shew any one Age when this Blessed Sacrament was ever administred without it perhaps it is the only Ecclesiastical Right which hath come down to us without any contradiction and because the thing may be of some considerable use and satisfaction I shall give this short account of it 1. OUR Saviour in his Sermon on the Mount had said If thou bring thy Gift to the Altar and there remembrest that thy Brother hath ought against thee leave there thy Gift before the Altar and go thy way first be reconciled to thy Brother and then come and offer thy Gift Mat. 5. 23 24. The Primitive Christians understood these words to have been spoken by way of Anticipation with respect to that Charity which all were to express at this Sacrament * See Mr. Mead 's Learned Discourse of the Altar Because all Legal Sacrifices were now in a short time utterly to cease they could not conceive why our Saviour should prescribe a New Right and Duty to be used at the presenting of the Mosaical Oblations and that in a Sermon which he purposely intended for the perpetual and standing use of his own Church and therefore they lookt upon it as a standing Law which he gave occasionally and before-hand to oblige all his Followers to acts of Charity especially when they come to his own Table Hereupon arose two Customs which all Christians universally observed in the Primitive Ages and which had no other plain Text of Scripture in all the New Testament to warrant them but this Text only One was in token of their mutual Reconciliation and sincere Love for as they were going to Celebrate this Divine Mystery the Deacon cryed aloud to this purpose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let no Man have a quarrel against any whereupon the Devout Communicants presently Saluted one another with an Holy Kiss The other Custom was what I am now speaking of of providing for the necessities of the Poor None came before the Altar with empty hands but every one according to his abilities brought something to be offer'd upon the Holy Table for the use of their indigent Brethren part of the Offerings being first Consecrated for the Celebration of the present Solemnity and these they called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Holy Gifts according to our Saviour's Language WHICH Custom was undoubtedly observed even in the Apostles time as you may see by these Proofs 1. First saith St. Paul upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him 1 Cor. 16. 2. Though the Apostle here spake directly and chiefly of a special Collection which was then to be made for the poor Christians in Judea yet because he directed the Corinthians to lay by something in store upon the first day of the week the day on which the Holy Sacrament was constantly administred in the Apostles time it seems highly propable that St. Paul spake of an Accumulation of Charity over and above the ordinary proportion which they were wont on that day to present before the Lord's Table 2. BUT there is another passage of St. Paul's and that in the very same Epistle to the Corinthians which puts the thing out of all Controversie 1 Cor. 11. 20 21 22. When ye come together in one place this is not to eat the Lord's Supper for in eating every one taketh before other his own Supper and one is Hungry and another is Drunken What have ye not Houses to eat and to drink in or despise ye the Church of God and shame them that have not Here the Apostle expresly speaks of eating the Lord's Supper and that in the Church the Place of Publick Religious Assemblies which he plainly distinguisheth from their Private House and he blames them for those Disorders and profane extravagancies they committed in the Church at that time and I will represent the Case in the words of our Learned and Incomparable Paraphrast Dr. Hammond Those Publick Common Meetings which should have been as at the Table of the Lord to eat a Church-meal a common Christian Feast were made by those Corinthians much otherwise none of that Communicativeness and Charity was among them as was required in Such For at their Feasts of Charity accompanying the Lord's Supper which were intended for the relief of the Poor and wherein all the Guests were to be equal no Man to take place or eat before another no Man to pretend any right to what he brought but every Man to contribute to the common Table and to eat in common with all others this Custom was utterly broken among them he that brought a great deal fell to that as if it were in his own House at his own meal and so fed to the full whereas another which was not able to bring so much was fain to go hungry home and so their Meetings were more to fed themselves than to practice a piece of Christian Charity to which those Sacramental Assemblies were instituted This certainly was to do as they were wont at home and they might as well have stayed there as have done thus this was quite contrary to the institution of Church-Meetings and not only to send away hungry but even to Reproach and put to shame those that were in want and were not able to bring any great offering along with them HENCE it appears that the Regular way of Celebrating the Eucharist in the Apostles days was for all men especially for the Rich and Wealthy sort to bring liberal Oblations with them to the Church to relieve the Poor and upon part of those Oblations to feed together with that Humility Impartiality and Communicativeness of affliction which became a Family whereof the tender-hearted Jesus is the Head 3. AND to confirm this thing further it is observable that these Feasts which accompanied the Holy Sacrament were called Agapae or Feasts of Love and St. Jude makes express mention of them at the 12. verse of his Epistle where speaking of the lewd Gnosticks he saith These are Spots 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉