many infirmities then it is time to cleanse our selves from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit to enter at least upon a Life of Holiness to wash our hands and hearts in Innocence and so to compass the Altar of God BEING thus rightly disposed we are then to behold the Fountain which is opened to us for Sin and for Uncleanness I mean the blood of Christ which purgeth our Consciences from all dead works to serve the living God Heb. 9. 14. Now 't is a seasonable time for us to call to mind the coronary Thorns the Scourge the Nails and the Spear which opened this Fountain To remember our blessed Lord's Agony in the Garden his bloody Sweat his Buffetings and Stripes his dolours and most bitter Death upon the Cross To consider that all this was for us sinful Men and for our Salvation to reconcile us to his Father to Redeem us from all Iniquity and to beget us again to a lively Hope to an Inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for us because he so loved us all that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have Everlasting Life These Holy Meditations are not only proper and seasonable when we are now at the Supper of the Lamb but they are moreover naturally apt to enflame your Affections with the love of Jesus to dissolve and melt you into Penitential showers to ravish your Hearts with a sense of his infinite Goodness to fill you with Divine Extasies and Raptures and to fix your Resolutions of obeying for ever the Author of your Salvation of following his blessed steps with all Meekness and Humility and of bearing not only his Yoak but even his Cross too and in all things of being made conformable to his Image NEXT to the love of God and of Christ let the love of all Mankind replenish and possess your Hearts God forbid that Malice or Uncharitableness or Bitterness and Rancour of Spirit God forbid that any of these or such unclean things should ever be brought before the Altar of Peace and Reconciliation If he so loved us we ought to love one another because he tasted Death for every Man he is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to Repentance he is the Saviour of all Men especially of them that believe and seeing every Soul is precious in his sight every Soul should be dear to us and our Love to all Mankind should be extensive and unlimited as his was And to express this Love we should be ready to do good to all desire and endeavour the Salvation of all and devoutly pray as the Primitive Christians did whose Hearts were so warm with the Blood of Christ for the whole Race of Mankind not only for the Church of God and for every part and Member thereof but for all too that are as yet without the borders of the Sanctuary and for all Estates and Conditions of Men that no corner of the Universe may be too remote for our Charity and that however the Uncertainties and Chances or the Evils of this World may sever or distinguish us yet nothing may be able to separate us from the love of those for whom Christ died THESE are Divine things to exercise and employ your Minds at this great Solemnity And as touching your outward deportment there are these particulars which I would recommend to your Christian practice at the time of Ministration 1. THAT ye dispose of your selves as near as may be to the Lord's Table that you may behold what is transacted there For besides the Decency which is in the thing it self when the Children of God humbly present themselves round about his Table this is apt to exalt and heighten your Devotion still and to give your Affections a new warmth when you see as it were Jesus Christ crucified before your Eyes 2. THE Mystery of his Passion being thus visibly represented by the breaking of the Bread the Symbol of his Body and by the pouring out of the Wine the Symbol of his Blood then sursum corda as the Exhortation was in the Primitive Ages of Christianity lift up your Hearts to him who was dead and is now alive for evermore and offer unto him privately these or the like holy Ejaculations O Lamb of God that takest away the Sins of the World grant us thy Peace O Lamb of God that takest away the Sins of the World have Mercy upon us 3. THROUGHOUT the Prayer of the Church wherein you are concern'd be sure to bear your Parts with Heart and Voice too For this doth not only help to preserve a Man 's own Zeal in a due Fervour and to keep his mind fixt and intent and free from distraction but it is moreover an excellent means to raise the Devotion of other Communicants When every one assisteth and all jointly mingle their Devotions the common flame is very much increased every one bringing sparks to the Altar to kindle in each others Heart the love of Christ For the confirmation of this I appeal to every sensible Mans experience who desires to serve God in the Beauty of Holiness How lovely how delightful a thing is it when People meet together to Worship God to send up their Prayers and Praises to him with one Lip And how apt is this to inspire every good Heart with Fervency and to heat every ones Affections each Man catching some fire from his Neighbour How like then is the Church to Heaven and how transported do we seem to be as if we were among that blessed Quire above where St. John in his Vision saw the four and twenty Elders falling down before him that sat on the Throne and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever and cast their Crowns before the Throne saying Thou art worthy O Lord to receive Glory and Honour and Power for thou hast created all things and for thy Pleasure they are and were created Rev. 4. 10 11. And where should we imitate this blessed and Heaven-like Harmony if not at this Divine Solemnity where we celebrate the memorial of our Redemption too of our Redemption I say the great work of God a work so worthy of God so stupendious so full of the Riches of his Grace that to be unconcern'd among the common Thanksgivings of the Church must needs be an Argument of a Mind very dull and insensate very deeply possest with a Spirit of Slumber 4. WHEN you are now to receive the Divine Food and Jesus as it were coming under your Roof receive with all Humility let every lofty imagination fall and every Knee Bend Not that we may adore the Sacramental Bread and Wine that were Idolatry to be abhorred of all faithful Christians but as an humble Profession of our own great unworthiness and as a grateful Acknowledgement of those infinite Mercies werewith God is pleased to crown us at this time it is no more than what is decent and becoming us to be prostrate
Vniversal and Vniform or that we habitually live according to the whole Will of God because where we come short of this Vniformity there we come short of that Perfection and by consequence of that Happiness which is the great scope and design of Christianity This is the meaning of Divines when they tell us that there must be in us a Perfection of Parts though we are not capable of a perfection of Degrees that is there must be the presence of every Virtue though there be at the same time such a mixture of Corruption with our noblest Endowments that we cannot exercise them in that high pitch as we shall do in the next Life when we shall be of perfect Stature even as a Child in the Womb hath all the necessary Parts and Lineaments of a Man though it will be long before he comes to a full Growth and Proportion CONSIDER then I beseech you and you especially who have been Partakers of the Blessed Viands of Immortality what strict Obligations ye have entred into and what manner of Persons ye ought to be in all Holy Conversation and Godliness You are now to fulfil all Righteousness you are now to deny all Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts you are now to do as the Combatants in the old Olympick Games to lay aside every weight that might oppress and every Incumbrance that might intangle you and to run with Perseverence the race that is set before you and you are to remember what the Apostle tells us Jam. 2. 10. Whosoever shall keep the whole Law and yet offend in one point is become guilty of all that is Guilty of Disobedience and Obnoxious to Punishment as well as if he had violated all THAT you may not miscarry therefore through the Wilful neglect of any necessary Duty or by the presumptuous Commission of any heinous Sin lay daily before your Eyes the perfect Law of Liberty which our Blessed Saviour and his Apostles have left us as the Infallible Rule of a perfectly Christian Life And for your more easie performance I shall now briefly represent to you a Scheme and Platform of Virtue agreeable to those Precepts which are scatter'd up and down in the Holy Scriptures as a very fit and proper Undertaking to come at the close of this whole Subject I begin with that which is the source and Principle of our Actions whether they be good or evil the inner Man Keep thy Heart with all diligence for out of it are the Issues of Life Prov. 4. 25. As a good Man cut of the good Treasure of the Heart bringeth forth good things so an evil Man out of the evil Treasure bringeth forth evil things Matth. 12. 35. For out of the Heart proceed evil Designs Murders Adulteries Fornications Thefts false Witness Blasphemies Mat. 15. 19. It is a good thing therefore that principally in this sense the Heart be established with Grace Heb. 13. 9. Blessed are the pure in Heart for they shall see God Matth. 5. 8. THE good things which come out of this hidden Treasure are usually divided into three general kinds as St. Paul hath reckoned them Tit. 2. 12. Sobriety Righteousness and Godliness Under which three Heads are comprehended all the several Duties which relate to our selves and to our Neighbours and to God himself According to which Division I shall proceed FIRST to lay before you those Virtues which more immediately relate to your selves in a separate and Personal capacity as I find them proposed in the Holy Scriptures LEARN of Christ in the very first place to be lowly in Heart Mat. 11. 29. God hath respect unto the lowly Ps 138. 6. He giveth Grace unto the lowly Prov. 3. 34. Be ye therefore cloathed with Humility 1 Pet. 5. 5. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God thought it no Robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no Reputation and took upon him the form of a Servant and was made in the likeness of Men and being found in Fashion as a Man he humbled himself and became Obedient unto Death even the death of the Cross Phil. 2. 5 6 7 8. That no one of you be puffed up 1 Cor. 4. 6. That ye be not high minded but fear Rom. 11. 20. That ye mind not high things but condescend to Men of low Estate Rom. 12. 16. That ye think not of your selves more highly than ye ought to think but think soberly according as God hath dealt to every Man the Measure of Faith Rom. 12. 3. And that ye trust not in uncertain Riches but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy 1 Tim 6. 17. NEXT of Kin to this Virtue of Humility is that of Meekness such a Beauty of the Mind that it is called the Ornament of a meek and a quiet Spirit which even in the sight of God is of great Price 1 Pet. 3. 4. To recommend it unto us God requires us to be as he himself is slow to wrath Jam. 1. 19. To cease from Anger Ps 37. 8. Not to be angry without a cause Mat. 5. 22. Nor to be angry in such a measure as to Sin or to let the Sun go down upon our Wrath Ephes 4. 26. But to put on Bowels of Mercy Kindness Meekness Long-suffering Col. 3. 12. And to let all Bitterness and Wrath and Anger and Clamour and Evil-speaking be put away from us with all Malice Ephes 4. 31. THESE two Virtues being deeply radicated Patience will naturally produce in us great Temper and Firmness of Mind in any grievous Circumstances God himself though he be provoked every day is long-suffering towards us The Blessed Jesus endured all the Contradictions of Sinners against himself Heb. 12. 3. And when he suffered he threatned not but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously 1 Pet. 2. 23. And all this to leave us an Example that we should follow his Steps 1 Pet. 2. 21. That we should possess our Souls in Patience Luk. 21. 19. That we be patient in Tribulations Rom. 12. 12. That we endure Afflictions 2 Tim. 4. 5. That we endure to the End 1 Pet. 1. 13. And when any fiery Tryal comes that we should not wonder or be troubled as if some strange thing hapned but rejoyce inasmuch as we are partakers of Christ's Sufferings that when his Glory shall be revealed we may be glad also with exceeding Joy 1 Pet. 4. 12 13. THIS leads on the slighting of all Mortification things here below when they stand in competition with the love of God and a good Conscience Love not the World neither the things that are in the World if any Man love the World the love of the Father is not in him 1 Joh. 2. 15. Therefore let your Conversation be without Covetousness Heb. 13. 5. Lay not for your selves Treasures upon Earth Matth. 6. 19. If Riches encrease set not your Heart upon them Ps 62. 10. Neither take
the Receiving of the Sacrament is so necessary that the neglect of it makes Men very guilty of Sin especially if that Neglect be customary and habitual as indeed it is in very many Professors of Christ's Religion THE Sinfulness and Danger of this Negligence is fairly proveable from the bare Analogy that is between this and those Sacrifical Banquets of old especially the Paschal Feast Such as might celebrate it and refus'd to do it were under God's Wrath and Curse so that if a Man was clean and not in a Journy and yet forbore to keep the Passover that Soul was to be cut off from his People Numb 9. 13. Now if the Sin was so great in that case where they saw nothing but a Figure and a Shadow it cannot but be far greater in this case where Men have the Body and Substance To be sure the Guilt cannot be less in an instance that is of a more Noble and Excellent Nature Nor can we suppose that when Christ instituted a better Ordinance he should abate of our Duty or that Mens despising of such an important fixt and permanent Solemnity is not Criminal when it was such a Sin to disregard a temporary and vanishing Rite which our Redeemer did put an end to But if this Argument be not enough the wickedness of Men in this case is further demonstrable from a threefold Consideration 1. It is a direct Act of Disobedience against Christ's plain and peremptory Command 2. It proceedeth mainly from an evil Conscience 3. It is a most injurious Sin against a Mans own Soul 1. IT is a direct Act of Disobedience against Christ's plain and peremptory Command Concerning the Institution of this Mystery these four things are very observable 1. That the Command about the Celebration of it is as strict and Imperial as any other Law whatsoever that is about things which are of a moral nature and of Eternal Obligation Take and Eat saith our Lord Matth. 26. and Do this in remembrance of me So St. Luke delivers it Luk. 22. Now this runs in as commanding a Style as that Precept doth Matth. 4. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve And as the other Precepts run Matth. 19. Thou shalt do no Murder Thou shalt not commit Adultery Thou shalt not Steal Thou shalt not bear false Witness Honour thy Father and Mother and Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self I do not here compare Thing with Thing a Ceremony with Morality but one Command with another And seeing all of them are equally as plain and peremptory on the one hand as they are on the other it necessarily followeth that though the nature of the thing it self doth not yet the Command doth bind us to Obedience in one point as well as in the rest the Divine Law being Authoritative and the Will of God being Obliging in smaller as well as in the more weighty matters 2. This Command touching our receiving the Blessed Sacrament is one of those new Laws which are strictly and properly called Christian Precepts Those Everlasting Duties of Godliness Righteousness and Sobriety tho' Christ did Adopt them and make them a part of his Law yet we cannot call them the peculiar Laws of Jesus Christ because they were enacted and written in Mens hearts from the Beginning and they are common to Christians and Jews and Heathens also But the Law touching this Sacrament is perfectly an Evangelical Command and the Observation thereof is a direct and immediate Profession of our Discipleship and of our Faith in him and Love to him who came to take away the Mosaical Rites whereby Jews were distinguished from other People and instituted this Solemnity as a foederal Rite of his own to be the outward Mark and Cognizance of a Christian 3. It is observable that Christ gave no plain and positive Command about this matter till his Last Supper and just before the time of his Departure to shew unto us as St. Austin hath somewhere noted that the Observation of this Solemnity ought to be had in very Venerable and Lasting Esteem Because nothing is more Natural to Men than to remember and value the Injunctions of a Dying Friend whose Last Commands are apt to leave a deep impression upon our Minds and a continual warmth upon our Affections Therefore though our Blessed Saviour intended all along to Institute this Ordinance yet he was pleased to post-pone the Institution of it and to reserve it until his Death to put his Church in mind of the vast Importance of this Mystery that she might set and Devote her self to the Religious Observation of That which she had Received at the Hands of her Dying Lord as the last Request and Pledge of his sincerest Love To which we may add in the 4th place That this Mystery beareth an immediate and near Relation to Christ himself because it is the great and standing Memorial of his Philanthropy This Character he himself hath set upon it that it is the Annunciation of the most Marvellous Love that he could shew unto the World This do in remembrance of me Lord were there not a thousand other Arguments of his Love to us from his Nativity to his Cross What were all his Sermons Miracles Sufferings but so many Declarations and Monuments of his Goodness to perpetuate the Memory thereof to all Ages And yet we see he appointed this Ordinance to be in remembrance of him Chiefly and Principally Here we do most Solemnly Commemorate the Incomparable Greatness of his Love we do Publickly own and Declare it we Proclaim and Publish it before God and Man So that now by all this put together the Necessity of Receiving this Sacrament doth plainly appear For to deny this Necessity is no other than tacitely to deny that we are to observe Christ's Laws to refuse Obedience is in effect to deny him to be our Lord it is to cast off our Livery and to renounce our Profession to despise this Memorial of his Philanthropy is to render our selves the most Insensate and Unthankful Wretches that are as willing to have the Memory of his Love Dye as the Jews were to have Him Expire upon the Cross I am sure in the Primitive and Purest times of Christianity Men accounted it a great Act of Religion and a main Expression of their Affections to the Holy Jesus to Celebrate this Mystery very often nay they looked upon this Solemnity as a necessary part of their constant Worship without which the rest of their Services were imperfect and lame Religion began to be Decrepit and Cold when the Custom of Receiving a few times in the year stole into the Church of Christ For not only in the Apostles time but for a long time after Christians were wont to Address themselves to the Lord's Table every Lord's day as evidently appears out of Justin Martyr St. Cyprian Jerome Austin and some more of the Ancients nay in the Synod at Antioch it was Decreed That
Consecrate our selves by this Evangelical Solemnity to the Service of God and vow Obedience to him answerable to that way and platform which he hath laid before us now This is the meaning of this Mystery and therefore 't is called a Sacrament because 't is like the old Military Oath binding all of us to be Faithful and True to the Captain of our Salvation Now this is that which he hath commanded us by the Mouth of his Apostle that as he who hath called us is Holy so we also should be Holy in all manner of Conversation 1 Pet. 1. 15. And this we undertake to do when we Eat and Drink here before the Lord if we rightly understand what we do We stipulate and vow to Obey the Will of God in all things and promise Solemnly to deny all ungodliness and worldly Lusts and in express terms do offer and present unto God our selves our Souls and Bodies to be a holy reasonable and lively Sacrifice unto him Now unless we really intend what we do Profess and do stedfastly purpose and diligently endeavour to make all our Promises good what else can we be supposed to do but to set forth our own shameful Hypocrisie instead of shewing forth the Lord's Death Therefore if we intend to Receive this Sacrament with Profit and to our Eternal Salvation we must resolve with our selves to be upright and sincere in Heart to lay aside all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit perfecting Holiness in the fear of God to take to our selves the whole Armour of God and to quit and behave our selves like Men. We must resolve to serve God all our days with Reverence and Fear and to make him the Object of our Desires and the Portion of our Souls to be Holy in our Affections to be Humble in Soul to be Meek and Peaceable in Spirit to be Sober and Temperate in our Delights to be Contented in all Conditions and to be Patient under our Crosses as the Prince of Peace was under his To be Thankful for our Afflictions to be constant and firm in our Tryals and to be Charitable in all our Prayers as he himself was who Prayed unto his Father at the very last gasp for the Forgiveness of his Enemies Men must not be so vain as to imagine that they are sufficiently Prepared if they do but find within themselves some present Raptures and Liquorish apprehensions of the Love of God if they can but breath out some Groans or dissolve themselves into a shower of Water No the right Preparation of the Heart consisteth in the entire Love of Virtue of whatsoever things are True and Honest and Just and Pure and Lovely and of Good Report as the Apostle speaks Phil. 4. 8. AND thus much may suffice to be spoken briefly of the Quality and Nature of due Preparation in general It must be an Vniversal Rectitude and Holiness of Heart an entire Goodness of Disposition a sincere Love of that Religion which is Pure and Vndefiled and such a Divine frame and bent of Soul as utterly Abhorreth all that is Evil and Destructive of that Obedience which is due both to the first and second Table of the Decalogue 2. BUT then we must Note in the next place that as there ought to be this general and habitual Preparation so there are some Particular and Special Duties which are now to be performed because as I said here are special Objects and Reasons to stir us up to the performance of them Here the Passion of Christ is represented the Pardon of our Sins is tendered and the infinite Love of God is Exhibited to us And accordingly we are to lay hold on Christ's Merits with all our Souls because his Merits are available to such only as do Believe We are truly and earnestly to Repent of our Sins because Sin was that which Christ Dyed for and 't is upon our Repentance that our Pardon is Sealed and moreover we are to express our entire Love to our Brethren in all its Acts and Offices because if God so Loved us we ought also to Love one another 1 Joh. 4. 11. Hence it is that Divines commonly Prescribe Faith and Repentance and Charity as most necessary Preparatives in order to a worthy Receiving not as if other Virtues were to be excluded but because these are specially to be Exercised forasmuch as this great Solemnity doth afford us Special and Eminent Objects for the Exercising of them I shall therefore observe the usual Method being now to shew how Prepared you ought to be and what Preparations are sufficient and for your more Profitable Instruction I shall Discourse particularly of those three Qualifications in their due order 1. AND first of Faith which is the Mother and Nurse of all True Religion By Faith I mean here in the strict Notion of it an Act of the Vnderstanding whereby a Man is convinced and satisfied of the Truth of those things which are propounded to our Belief by Divine Revelation distinguishing Faith from Hope and Obedience and other Acts of the Will which are included in the Notion of Faith when 't is taken in a larger and more comprehensive Sense Now in the pursuit of this Subject I shall do these two things 1. First shew why Faith is required in a Communicant that we may understand the Necessity of this part of our Duty 2. What Faith is required or what we are bound to Believe that we may see the Extent of it And when this is done I know not what more will be needful to be spoken touching this matter 1. WHY Faith is required in a Communicant And the Reason of it is obvious because it is the Principle that doth influence move and govern our Actions it being unconceivable how a Man should be wrought upon either to put his Trust in God or to forsake his Impieties or to do any other Act of Religion unless he be first perswaded in his Mind that the Author of our Religion had Authority from God to exact these things at our Hands and that there is Mercy with God if we be careful to do our Duty and that nothing but Punishment is to be expected if we neglect and despise so great Salvation So that without Faith as it is impossible to please God so it is impossible to answer the ends and purposes of this Ordinance and consequently the Elements that are taken by an Unbeliever can do him no more good than a Morsel put into a Dead Man's Mouth Even the Word that is Preached doth not profit at all if it be not mixed with Faith in them that hear it Heb. 4. 2. A thousand Homilies of Righteousness are no more to such than Metaphysical Discourses to a Brute In like manner the Administration of this Sacrament though to well-prepared Souls it be the Communication of Christ's Body and Blood yet it availeth not except there be a Disposition and Principle of Faith in them that Receive it It is observable that while
our Vices and Lusts but must be rather Encouragements to all manner of Sin and Wickedness it being such a strong Temptation to Men to run presently upon a new Score after the Sacrament is over when they believe that all their accounts may be wiped out by those mean and easie methods which reach not the Heart nor meddle with Lusts but let all manner of inward impurities alone though those be the great things which God is angry at EXTERNAL Penance is one thing but the Repentance of the Heart and the Mortification of the Spirit is another and a far different Matter and that which infinitely more deserves our strictest regard for it is the Original of a Divine Temper and of a Life that is truly Christian And I have been the more Copious in Discoursing upon it not only because it is a necessary Preparative to this Heavenly Mystery but also because it is the great business of our whole Life 't is the root of all Religion out of which spring all those particular and various branches of Godliness Righteousness and Sobriety which together make up the whole Duty of Man and are the Genuine and Salutary Fruits of Repentance CHAP. VIII Of Charity I PROCEED next to the Subject of Charity for that is another necessary Preparative it being impossible for Men rightly to Celebrate the memoria◠of Gods infinite Love to Them or to answer the Love of God in any due measure unless their own Souls be inflamed with an Unfeigned and Universal Love to those for whom Christ dyed It is the Apostles own inference 1 Joh. 4. 11. Beloved if God so Loved us we ought also to Love one another In Discoursing upon this Point I am to speak 1. Of the Nature 2. Of the Exercise of Charity 1. AS to its Nature Charity is a Virtue of vast Extent and Latitude so that St. Paul calls it the fulfilling of the Law Rom. 13. Tho' the vulgar sort are apt to restrain it to Alms-deeds yet that is but one Branch of Charity nay when 't is done out of Ostentation and for Popular applause it loseth the Reward and deserves not the very Name of Charity as we find by the Apostle where he tells us that though I bestow all my goods to feed the Poor yet if I have not Charity it profiteth me nothing 1 Cor. 13. In which Chapter we have a large description of Charity that it suffereth long and is kind that it Enviet not that it vaunteth not it self that it is not puffed up that it behaveth not it self unseemly that it seeketh not her own that it is not easily provoked that it thinketh no evil that it rejoyceth not in iniquity but rejoyceth in the Truth that it beareth all Things believeth all Things hopeth all Things endureth all Things By which several Expressions is meant that true Charity hath such an Universal influence upon a Man's Mind that it creates in him an entire Goodness and Loveliness of Nature and restrains him from every thing that is either inhumane or injurious or unbecoming the temper of one that professeth himself a Disciple of the Meek Humble and Beneficent Jesus Therefore before you go to the Lord's Table you should examine and look into your Temper and endeavour to rectifie it wherever any crookedness appears wherever it crosseth the Christian Law wherever it swerves from that Divine Nature and Spirit which was in the great Exemplar of Charity People that are impatient of every little provocation that are rough uncompassionate insensible of other Men's Miseries that begrudge any good which the providence of God casteth into their Neighbour's bosome that out of a Towring and Lofty Conceit of their own Merits look contemptuously and spightfully down upon their Brethren that are intractable disorderly and pursue only their own private satisfaction that are full of rancour and malice that employ their minds upon wicked and mischievous Contrivances that take pleasure in the Sins or Frailties of others that instead of covering and concealing them spread the infamy of them abroad and proclaim them as it were from the House top that are prone to believe any thing that is Evil of those they have no kindness for to judge the worst of them to turn every thing they do to a hard Construction and to treat them so as if they were no other than Reprobates and Cast-aways People I say of this harsh and sower disposition should new-mould their Tempers before they come to the Supper of the Lamb which was Meek Innocent and Spotless and which readily offer'd up himself a Sacrifice and Atonement for the Crimes of the whole World Purge out therefore the old Leaven saith the Apostle that ye may be a new Lump for even Christ our Passeover is Sacrificed for us therefore let us keep the Feast not with old leaven neither with the leaven of Malice and Wickedness but with the unleavened Bread of Purity and Truth 1 Cor. 5. 7 8. But there are two special acts of Charity which I am more particularly to speak of because there are at this Solemnity some Special Reasons for them some special Considerations to stir us up to the exercise of them and to single them out particularly from the rest and they are 1. Liberality to the Poor 2. Fraternal Forgiveness 1. FOR Liberality to the Poor * Gyrald Syndagm c. 17. Alex. ab Alex. lib. 4. c. 17. multi alii The Old Heathens themselves especially the Greeks were wont at their Sacrifical Banquets to remember their absent Friends and to send them portions of the Sacrifices †Justin Martyr Apol. 2. The like Custom was in the Christian Churches as Justin Martyr tells us in the very next Age to the Apostles of sending some of the Consecrated Bread and Wine to such Christians as were absent which makes me still believe that the Primitive Christians look'd upon this Sacred Solemnity as Analagous to those Sacrifical Feasts which had been used all the World over In this there seems to be a great difference that among the Pagans distribution was made to their Friends and Relations only whereas the Charity of Christ's Disciples was not limited but extended unto all that were necessitous though they were more especially regarded who were of the Houshold of Faith THIS kind of Charity to our Fellow-Creatures God who extendeth his Mercies to all his works hath still required of Mankind and more abundantly since he hath sent his Son to us which was the most Eminent instance of his own sincere Love and Goodness to the whole World How many Commands do we find in the New Testament to be Merciful as our Heavenly Father is Merciful to lay up our Treasures in Heaven to do Good to be ready to give to be glad to distribute to be Rich in good works and the like But at the Blessed Eucharist we are more especially concern'd to be mindful of this matter because there are more especial Considerations to excite us to it
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
himself where-ever he finds it and as impossible for him to love any Man without it so as to be pleased and delighted with the Object And accordingly the more or less this Image doth resemble him the greater or less are the Degrees and Measures of his Love The Reason therefore of this Love being drawn from that Godlike Frame and Disposition of Mind which is wrought in Men by the gracious Energy of Gods Spirit and their own kindly compliance with his Operations 't is a senceless thing to depend upon those effects of his Love which I have now mentioned Forgiveness of Sin and a Title to Everlasting Happiness unless we be in some measure Holy Just and Good as the ever-blessed God is these being Perfections which he loves because they are his own Hence it appears that though we go to the blessed Sacrament with Religious and Devout Minds yet if we go not on to answer the great End of Christianity the bare Reception of it can never be enough to answer our own expectations because it is a Relative Ordinance that looks forward upon a Christian Life for the leading whereof this Mystery lays all possible Obligations upon us and takes all possible Securities at our hands here at the Altar of God THIS being cleared give me leave now to recommend unto you these following Directions that you may not receive this Sacrament and the Grace of God in vain but may in one sense as the Founder of this Ordinance did in another see of the Travel of your Souls and be satisfied 1. HAVE a very great care that you relapse not into any known and wilful Sins of which 't is presum'd you have repented and especially beware of such as you have been most apt and inclined to commit People are subject to different Vices either by means of their different Constitutions or by means of their different Ages or by means of their different Opinions and sometimes too by means of their different Callings For tho' those Callings may be Innocent in themselves nay commendable in respect of their use for the publick Good yet by means of Mens own corrupt Dispositions they are accidentally apt to betray them to various sorts of Wickedness some to Luxury some to Wantonness some to Pride and most to Frauds and Injustice a bitter root of Covetousness spreading generally through all Secular Vocations though it always hurts the Soil and many times is the Bane of the Proprietor however it be thought a thrifty Vice Here then every one must carefully observe which are his own Iniquities the Sins that do so easily beset him and accordingly must stand upon the strictest Watch to guard himself from all dangers of relapsing especially from such dangers as he is most ready to fall into upon any occasion For as the Devil is always most busie about Men when they have been doing their Souls good to lay his old Snares in their way and if they fail to minister to them fresh and new Temptations so is their yielding to those Temptations of very mischievous and deadly consequence 1 IT is an Act of the highest Perfideousness to be false to those Sacred Obligations which we have now taken upon us after the most Solemn manner in the presence of God and his Holy Angels and over that broken Body of Christ which was given in Sacrifice as well to expiate as to destroy the works of the Devil Therefore saith the Preacher When thou vowest a Vow unto God defer not to pay it for he hath no pleasure in Fools pay that which thou hast vowed Better is it that thou shouldest not vow than that thou shouldest vow and not pay Eccles 5. 4 5. 2. IT is an Act of inexcusable Hardiness and Presumption to return to those Impieties which have already cost us so dear Who but a true Penitent can be sensible what the Terrours of God are when he awakens a sleepy Conscience What that Shame is which tinctures the Forehead at the secret remembrance of ones Guilt What those Dolours are which corrode the Heart like Vipers which gnaw the Womb that bears them What those throws and Agonies are which the Soul endures when it comes to be ruffled by the hand of God And how violent the Pangs and Convulsions of a new Birth are when so many inveterate Habits come to be torn up out of ones Breast by the Roots Repentance is a most painful thing if it be Genuine and Hearty when a poor Wretch is a recovering out of that miserable State wherein a long course and trade of Wickedness hath plunged him and I think 't is Oecumenius that hath somewhere observed that 't is no easie matter to fall back again into such a course of Life as hath once put one to so much expence of Shame Sorrow and Vexation The sense and experience of smart is naturally apt to make Men very fearful of being wounded any more So that when they relapse into a wicked State with so much Facility it is a certain Sign that either their smart was not pungent and acute enough or else that they are of very hardy and desperate Spirits that can break through all the Pricks and Twinges of Conscience to rush upon the Pikes again 3. IT is the ready way to lose all the Profit of Repentance though it were never so chargeable and costly Therefore is Apostacy compared to the most odious and filthy Spectacle to a Dog 's licking up his Vomit and to the wallowing again of a Sow in the mire 2 Pet. 2. 22. Nor can it be but such Creatures must needs appear abominable in the sight of God because his Love and Hatred still go along with the Reasons of them which are never grounded upon any partiality towards Mens Persons but upon a just view of their Qualifications and Tempers so that as these vary from better to worse and from Purity turn to Corruption so they become instead of Objects of Gods Love the Objects of his Hatred which always runs out in a direct course against all Impiety and still follows it at the heels and hence is the terrible Menace in the Prophet Ezekiel When the Righteous Man turneth away from his Righteousness and committeth Iniquity and doth according to all the Abominations that the Wicked Man doth shall he live All his Righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned in his Trespass that he hath Trespassed and in his Sin that he hath sinned in them shall he die Ezek. 18. 24. This is not only one of God's immutable Decrees but moreover the natural Result of Relapses from the common method and course of Things especially when a Man's Relapses are frequent habitual and lasting 4. FOR that which is further considerable is That the Recovery of such Men is very difficult and uncertain St. Peter speaking of some miserable Converts who though they had been cleansed from their Heathen Sins upon their Embracing of Christianity fell back again into that wretched State out
will be the better able to exercise those Virtues which relate immediately to the ever-blessed God The Original whereof is Love according to that in Matth. 22. Love 37. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind Whereby are understood the Three Faculties of a Man's Spirit the Will the Affections and the Understanding And with these we are said to love God when they are vigorously employ'd about him when out of a deep sense of the Glory of his Nature and of his wonderful Goodness to his Creatures especially to Mankind we give up our selves entirely unto him obeying his Pleasure desiring and rejecting as he directs us still having him in our Thoughts and entertaining our Minds with ravishing Contemplations of his Divine Perfections And this is that which in the Scripture-Language we call The submitting unto God Jam. 4. 7. The yielding of our selves unto God Rom. 6. 13. Not the doing ones own Will but the Will of God Jo. 6. 38. The serving of him with Reverence and Godly fear Heb. 12. 28. Delighting our selves in the Lord Psal 37. 4. And in one general Expression our walking with God as it is said of Enoch Gen. 5. 22. UPON full Convictions of his Infinite Devotion Greatness and his All-sufficiency and Readiness to help us there ariseth another Virtue viz. Devotion That we offer up daily unto him the sacrifice of our lips and the more valuable Oblation of a broken spirit Psal 51. That we pray without ceasing 1 Thes 5. 17. That we offer up the Sacrifice of Praise to God continually that is that we pretermit no good Opportunities of making our Supplications and Addresses unto him CONSEQUENT hereunto is a Trust in him a Dependance upon him Resignation and an entire Resignation of our selves to his Care and Providence That we cast not our confidence away Heb. 10. 35. That we cast all our care on him who careth for us 1 Pet. 5. 7. That we commit the keeping of our Souls to him in well-doing 1 Pet. 4. 19. That we put our Trust in him as the holy Psalmist speaks over and over and that even against hope we believe in hope as it is said of Abraham the Father of the Faithful Rom. 4. 18. THE Contemplation of those amiable Imitation Perfections in God upon which these Virtues are grounded is naturally apt to produce in us a most earnest Desire to Resemble him as far as it is possible that we be Holy as he is Holy 1 Pet. 1. 15. That we be merciful as he is merciful Luc. 6. 36. And that we be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect Matth. 5. 48. AND because the Nature of God is Vniversal Obedience the measure and Rule of all Moral Perfection and the Laws he hath given to Mankind from the beginning are so many Revelations of himself therefore it is necessary for us Uniformly and Universally to observe those Laws whether we find them written in our Nature or in his Word And this is the utmost Perfection that a Man is capable of in this Life to shew our Love to him our Dependance upon him our profound Adoration and Imitation of him viz. Our keeping his Commandments Let us hear the Conclusion of the whole matter saith Solomon Fear God and keep his Commandments for this is the whole Duty of Man Eccles 12. 13. I HAVE now done with all that I thought needful for you to Understand concerning this Sacrament And whether it be the Necessity of Receiving it or the Necessity of due Preparation or the Quality of the Things preparatory to the Communion or the Tendency of the Ordinance it self or the Care to be taken after the Solemnity is over you see what they all drive at in the End viz. a Sober Righteous and Godly Life And though in enumerating the several Particulars thereof some Virtues may have escaped me yet there are none I think untouched but what are fairly reducible to some of those things which I have mentioned Things which you cannot but say are suitable to Humane Reason Things which are highly Perfective of Humane Nature Things which are Good Lovely and of Infinite Satisfaction to our Minds Things which are Easie too if we will but heartily Apply our Minds to the Practice of them and make Use of that Divine Assistance which God giveth unto all that need it I dare say if you do these things you shall never fall And the very God of Peace Sanctifie you wholly that your whole Spirit Soul and Body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ Amen FINIS BOOKS Printed for and Sold by W. 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