to those that I now do communicate with for it is the neerest Communion that possible can be in this world between one Creature and another and this is the reason why there should be that Ordinance of Christ set up every where to cast out those that are unworthy because it is the greatest union and Communion that possibly can be for it is the Sacrament and Communion of the same body they are the same Members of Christ Now if thou doest not think such an one to be a Member of Christ why doest not thou do what thou canst to have him cast out but so long as thou hast done nothing in private to him or in telling the Church thou doest own him to be a Member of Jesus Christ if thou doest so take heed how thy heart be estranged from him take heed how thou behavest thy self to them take heed how thou livest in a jarring and a contentious way with them and holdest them off at staves end or walking at a distance from them though they be never so poor and mean know that thou doest prophane this holy Ordinance every time thou comest to it when thou comest with such an heart as this is if thou dost not find this renewed love Lord there began to be a strangeness between me and those that have communicated with me but Lord thou art pleased to vouchsafe us to come once more to this Ordinance and Lord here we do profess that this Ordinance shall unite our hearts together more than ever they were I will study to do what good possibly I can to my brother that as we joyn here to the feast of the Lord with comfort so we may live together in peace love as it becomes the Saints of God and the Members of the Body of Jesus Christ Oh how far are people from any such work of God as this is The Lord expects this should be in you every time you come to the holy Communion Here hath been Nine particulars now mentioned for the sanctifying of the Name of God when we come to partake of the Sacrament but O Lord what cause have we to lay our hands upon our hearts for if this be to sanctifie thy Name then it hath been a riddle a mysterie to us Certainly my brethren these things are the Truths of God which I have delivered and so fare as you have been wanting in any of these know so far you have taken Gods Name in vain is this holy Ordinance you have not been worthy receivers of this Sacrament you have cause to look back to your former waies and spend much humiliation for your sin herein and not to be so greedy of it as some are they must have the Communion but I put it to your consciences Have you repented you for the profaning of Gods Name And that 's that we should further have spoken of That God will be sanctified that 's thus If we do not sanctifie Gods Name it will quite turn to the contrary it is the proper end of the Sacrament to seal up our salvation but if we sanctifie not Gods Name it will seal up our condemnation if it hath not been thy endeavor to sanctifie the Name of God so many times as thou hast received the Sacrament so many seals hast thou upon thee for the sealing up of thy condemnation But yet for thy comfort while thou art alive it is possible that these sels may be broken open as we reade in the Revelations that John saw the Book that had seven seals upon it and none could be found that was able to open it at length the Lamb that was slain he was found worthy to open the Book So I say thy condemnation is sealed up with many seals and there is no creature that is able to conceal these seals only the Lamb Jesus Christ yea that Christ whose blood thou hast shed and been guilty of only he is worthy and he is willing to open these seals for as it was with those that did crucifie Christ yet they were saved by the same blood that thay had shed as in Acts 2. So though thou hast been guilty of shedding the blood of Christ again and again by thy prophane coming to the Sacrament yet know seeing there is life in thee and the day of Grace is continued it is possible that thy soul may be sav'd by that blood that thou hast crucified Oh how many are cut off that have thus prophaned the Name of God in this Sacrament and never came to understand this danger they are cut off and now are undone for ever then bless God that thou art alive to hear more about this Sacrament and how Gods Name should be sanctified that thou art alive and hast time to repent the of this great evil of prophaning the Name of God in this holy Sacrament SERMON XIII Leviticus 10. 3. I will be Sanctified in them that come nigh me THere is one thing more about the Sanctifying the Name of God in the Sacrament which cleerly concerns us and that is To keep the Institution of the Sacrament for this is such a Worship of God as depends meerly upon institution that is upon a positive Law upon the wil of God There are some duties of Worship which are natural that we may know by the light of nature they are due to God but the Sacrament is a duty of worship that is only by institution and if God had not revealed it we had not been bound to it therefore in these duties of institution God stands very punctual upon them we must be very exact neither to err on the right hand nor the left to make any alteration in the points of Institution Now therefore for the Institution of this Sacrament we find it in divers of the Evangelists in Matth. 26. 26. there you shall find that Christ and his Disciples they eat the Sacrament together and this was the way of it They were together sitting at the same Table so it is called the Table of the Lord sometimes in Scripture therefore that 's the first thing that is according to the institution that those that do communicate must come to the Table as neer as they can as many as can sit about it and all to come as neer as they can and the reason is Because that otherwise you will not be able to attain the end why God should have you come to receive the end is to remember the death of Christ now except pou be able to see the Sight to see what is done to have your eye as well as your ear exercised you do not fully accomplish the end that is appointed for this is a Sacrament that doth present to our eyes the death of Christ and the great mysteries of salvation and therefore it is according to the institution that every Communicant must be where he may behold what is done he must be where he may see the breaking of the Bread and the powring forth of the
Secondly Our hearts must be sanctified because the Lord doth look more to the principle from whence a thing comes than at the the thing it self As indeed were our hearts right as they should then all the good things that come to us we would not so much regard what the things are that we do enjoy from God as what the principle is from whence they come that is Whether what we do enjoy from God is from the love of God in Jesus Christ or no Whether it it be from the general Bounty and Patience of God or from the special love of God in Jesus Christ Our hearts would regard that most if we were spiritual now then look as a godly man is not satisfied with enjoying any good thing from God except he knows it comes from a principle of love to him in Jesus Christ So God is not pleased with any thing that comes from us except he knows that it comes from a principle of Love Grace and Holiness in our hearts Thirdly According as the heart is so will the service be Certainly if the heart be unclean the duty will be unclean perhaps the words may be fine and brave but if there be an unclean heart the duty will be unclean As it is with a man that hath the Plague suppose he makes a brave Oration yet his breath is infectious so it is in our services with God If so be that our hearts within us have the plague then certainly the breath that comes from us all our duties will be unclean and therefore that is the first thing that we are to look for in the sanctifying Gods Name in holy duties Look to have thy heart sanctified and consider from what principle it comes 't is for want of this that thousands of our duties are cast aside and God never doth regard them But this is the first Particular there are many more to speak of SERMON V. Leviticus 10. 3. I will be Sanctified in them that come nigh me WEE proceed The next thing therefore for the behavior of the soul in the sanctifying Gods Name in Worship is this When we come to Worship God if we would sanctifie Gods Name we must have high thoughts of God we must look upon God as he is upon his Throne in Majesty and in Glory as in Isa 9. 1 2. you shall find that the Prophet saw the Lord upon his Throne It is an excellent thing when all who come to worship God every time they come to worship Him have their eyes darted up to Heaven and behold the Lord God sitting in his Glory upon his Throne So you shall find in Rev. 4. the 24. Elders that worshiped God they saw him upon his Throne in his Glory and so they worshiped him they worshiped God to purpose indeed when they saw the Lord in that Majesty as he was We should at all times have high thoughts of God take heed of having low thoughts and apprehensions of the infinite Majesty of God at any time but especially when thou art to worship the great God then look upon the Lord in that infinite distance that there is between him and thy self yea that infinit distance that there is between him and all creatures in the world look upon the Lord as lifted up in glory not only above all creatures but above all excellencies that all Angels and Men in Heaven and Earth are able to imagine Look upon the Lord as having all Excellencies in Himself joyned in one and that immutably look upon him as the Fountain of all excellency good and glory that all creatures in the world have and look upon the Lord every time thou comest to worship him as that God whom Angels do adore and before whom the Devils are forc'd to tremble behold him in this his Glory and this will help thee to sanctifie his Name when thou comest to him The great Reason why people come and worship God in a slight way it is because that they do not see God in his glory 't is a great Mercy for God to give unto us a sight of himself a sight of his glory here in this world while we are worshiping of him this would keep our eyes and our thoughts from wandring if we had a sight of the glory of God and had high thoughts of God What 's the reason why we wander so as we do but meerly because we see not God As now suppose you were in your house and looking after every feather that were flying up and down if you should hear that the King were come into the room or any great Person it would compose your spirits because you have high thoughts of such as of those that are above you So let us look upon God as in his excellency and His glory and have high thoughts of him and this is that whereby we are to sanctifie Gods Name when we come before Him in holy duties And that 's the second thing First a sanctified heart and then high thoughts of God 3. A third thing is High-ends Raised-ends in the worshiping of God Prov. 15. 24. The way of life is above to the wise It is on high in this respect when he worships God his heart is lifted up on high there is a holy raising of the heart which is well pleasing to God Our hearts should be on high in regard of the high ends that we aim at in holy duties Lift up thy prayer saith Hezekiah to the Prophet in another case so I may say Lift up thy soul when thou comest to worship God in regard of the high ends that thou aimest at when we are worshiping God we should have our hearts above all creatures and above our selves Let not our hearts then be groveling upon the ground mingled with base and drossie things when we come to worship the Lord Indeed it is fit that we should have our hearts low as we shall shew hereafter in regard of humility but not low in regard of any baseness of spirit to mix with any base and low ends Now there are low and base ends in worshiping of God As First We must take heed we do not subject the Worship of God unto our Lusts that is a cursed thing thou art far from sanctifying Gods Name in worshiping of Him that shalt subject His Worship to thy base lusts this is an abominable and a cursed thing indeed You will say Who doth thus who is the man or where is he that will do this subject the Worship of God to his base lusts To that I answer Whosoever doth make use of any duty of Worship as Prayer Hearing the Word or what ever it be to cloak any kind of wickedness whosoever is conscious to himself of any kind of secret wickedness and yet shall think to cover it by the performance of duties and shall reason in this manner Who will think me to be guilty of such a vile thing when I pray so as I do and am so careful to hear
His Word 7. The next is a humble subjection to the Word that we hear our hearts must bow to it must lie under the Word that we hear it is a very remarkable Scripture that we have in 2 Chron. 36. 12. There it is said concerning a great King Zedekiah He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the Prophet speaking from the mouth of the Lord. It is a very strange expression as any we have in the Book of God that Zedekiah a great King should be charged with this as a great sin that he did not humble himself Humble himself before whom you will say We are bound to humble our selves before God but here it is that he did not humble himself before Jeremiah the Prophet Why before the Prophet Because he spake from the mouth of the Lord. If it be any messenger that speaks from the mouth of the Lord God expects that we should humble our selves so that if any truth comes to be delivered unto you the Lord expects that you should fall down and yeild obedience to it whatsoever your thoughts your judgments your opinions have heretofore been if there come any thing in the Word against it you must submit your judgments submit your very consciences you must submit your wills whatsoever your hearts have been set upon though it hath been never so contentful to your spirits before yet now submit and yeild though it go never so cross unto your minds your wills your ends yet all must be submitted and laid down flat before the Word so as to be willing to deny your selves of any thing in the world When a man or woman can say thus Lord it is true I confess before I heard thy word opened in the evidence and demonstration or the Spirit unto me I was of such a mind and my heart went after such and such contentments and I thought it was impossible that ever my heart should be taken from them but O Lord thou hast been pleased plainly to shew to me by the opening of thy Word in the evidence of thy Spirit what thy mind is Now whatsoever becomes of my name of my comforts of my contentments in this world Lord here I cast down al before thee I submit unto thy Word this is a gracious frame Now is the Name of God extol'd and lifted up in hearing of the Word the Name of God is sanctified in such a word of spirit as this is I have read of a German Divine writing to Oecolampadius another famous German Divine he hath this expression Oh let the Word of God come and though we had 600 necks we would all submit them unto the Word of God saith he So it should be the temper of such as hear the Word and desire to sanctifie Gods Name in it let the Word of God come this morning let God speak and we will submit had we 600. necks we will submit all we are or have to this Word of the Lord it is the Word of God that we are willing should triumph over us To have a Congregation to lie down under the Word of God that is preached to them is a most excellent thing and Gods Name is much sanctified we do not brethren desire you should lie under us we are not only willing but we are very desirous that you would examin what we speak to you whether it be according to the Word of God or no. But look to it that if we do speak to you that which is the Word from the mouth of the Lord know then that God expects that you should submit your estates your souls your bodies all that you are and have to this Word and that is another particular in the sanctifying of the Name of God in hearing the Word there must be an humble submission of the soul unto it 8. Another particular wherein the behavior of the soul for the sanctifying of Gods Name consists is this the Word it must be received with love and with joy it is not enough for you to be convinc'd of the authority of it and to think thus well I must yield to it this is the Word of God and if I do not yield to it I must expect the plagues and judgments of God to follow it that is not enough but you most yield to it with love and with joy except you receive the Word with love and with joy it is not sanctified you do not sanctifie Gods Name nor is it sanctified unto you You must receive the Word not only as the true Word of the Lord but as the good Word of the Lord. In Thess 2. 10. we find it to be the cause of mens being given over to a spirit of delusion because they received not the Word of God in love It is spoken of Antichrist that at his coming he shall come with all deceivableness and he shal prevail with them that perish Who are they They that receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved It is not enough my Brethren to receive the truth that we might be saved but we must receive the love of the truth if ever we would be saved Good is the Word of the Lord to my soul And we must receive it with joy too as well as with love Prov. 2. 10. When wisdom entereth into thy heart and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul then discretion shall preserve thee understanding shall keep thee c. That is a great matter when the Word reveals some truth to thy understanding and thou canst so receive it as it should be pleasant to thy soul that thy soul rejoyces in it it is a good Word it is that which doth me good at the heart When a people can hear the Word and the Word coming near unto them they can say This Word doth me good at the heart it is pleasant to my soul that is excellent In Act. 2. 41 the godly are described those that did receive the Word so as to sanctifie Gods Name in it by this That they gladly received the Word and were baptized and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls There were three thousand in one day that did gladly receive the Word What an Auditory had Peter at this time Then the Word it did them good when they gladly received it Quest But it may be said Wâ— reade in Matth. 13. of the stony ground the hearers that were not good and did not profit by the Word so as to be saved yet they received the Word with joy And Herod it is said of him That be heard John Baptist gladly It seems then that it is not enough to receive it with gladness Answ To that I Answer First There must be that which Hypocrites may have if there be want of that we cannot sanctifie Gods Name But you will say We must go further or else Gods Name is not sanctified That I confess Therefore
Gospel Concerning the Word of the Law there is two things wherein that comes short of the Word of the Gospel First It is not so nigh thee Secondly It is not so certain to assure thy soul what shall become of thee to all eternity The Word of the Law saith Who shall ascend into Heaven c. but the Word of the Gospel is nigh thee even in thy mouth and in thy heart You will say Why is not the Word of the Law as nigh one as the Word of the Gospel I Answer The Word of the Law you hear it in your ears but it is not written in the heart as the Word of the Gospel is The Law cannot work savingly upon the heart of a man to bring salvation those that are meerly Legal they can hear the duties that are required but the Word hath no power to write in their hearts what they do hear But now when you come to hear the Word of the Gospel that is nigh you even in your very hearts as wel as in your ears God speaks in it and it comes into your hearts and there it works efficaciously which the Law cannot The Law is but a dead Letter in comparison of the Word of the Gospel If you come meerly to hear the Law preached add not in an Evangelical way you may hear it a hundred times and it wil never be written in your hearts but when you come to hear the Gospel in an Evangelical way that will come to be written in your hearts so that the Word of the Gospel is nigh you But what is the meaning of the other Say not who shall ascend up into Heaven c The meaning is this As if the Apostle should say The truth is while you have no other but the righteousness of the Law you are at an infinite uncertainty about your eternal estates The Law saith Do and live but you can never know when you have done enough so as to be certain that you are well for eternity That saith Who shal ascend into Heaven to know the mind of God concerning me whether he will accept of me and of that obedience and worship that I tender up to him Who shall go down into the deep Who shall go down to Hell to know there whether that place be prepared for him or no It is a phrase that only expresseth an uncertainty that one cannot be satisfied about his eternal estate except he could go to Heaven and there see and read Gods Book and so discover Gods mind concerning him or go down to Hell and so know whether that place be appointed for him or not except I can do one of these I cannot certainly tell meerly by the Law whether I shall go to Heaven or Hell As you that are Merchants and Dealers abroad you are at a great deal of uncertainty what shall become of your estates Indeed if I could send one over to the Indies to tell me now my Ship prospered then I could be at a certainty then I should hear whether I were a rich man yea or no but except I could do such a thing I am at an uncertainty Such is the expression here As if a poor soul should say I would fain be saved and loth to perish eternally But all the while the soul remains under the Law it remains in an uncertain condition but now saith he The Word of the Gospel is nigh thee even in thine heart and that is the Word that we preach that saith Rom. 10. 9. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt beleeve in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved As if he should say This Word of the Gospel that is come into thine heart doth assure thy soul of thy eternal estate so that though thou canst not go up to Heaven nor go down to Hell yet thou hast that in thine heart that doth as it were assure thee that thou shalt be eternally saved as if thou wert able to go up to the highest Heavens and fetch News from thence Oh now the good Word of the Gospel how should we prize it and keep it in our hearts for that 's in our hearts that will assure us of our salvation to all eternity and of Gods eternal purpose to do thee good in Heaven You would account it a great happiness if there could be any art to send abroad to the Straits or to other place to know how things fare with you but now if thou hast the Word of the Gospel within thee if that prevails in thy soul thou hast alwaies got something in thy heart that will tell thee how things are with thee in Heaven and what shall become of thee for all eternity Oh who would not sanctifie the Name of God in hearing of His Word seeing it is such a blessed Word wherein the Gospel is opened with more clearness than it hath been to many of our fore-fathers 2. It is a certain evidence of your election in Thess 1. 3. 4 5. Remembring without ceasing your work of Faith and labor of Love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of God and our Father Knowing Brethren beloved your election of God Why For our Gospel came not to you in Word only but also in Power and in the holy Ghost and in much assurance And know this excellency there is in Sanctifying Gods Name in hearing the word I beseech you mark it that it is a more blessed thing than if you did bear Jesus Christ in your wombs You that are women would not you have accounted it a great happines if Christ had been born in your wombs Now if thou comest to the hearing of the word and sanctifiest Gods Name in it thou art in a better condition and hast a greater blessing upon thee than if thou hadest born Jesus Christ in thy womb In Luk 11. 27 28. And it came to pass as he spake these things that a certain woman of the company lift up her voice and said unto him Blessed is the womb that bear thee and the paps which thou hast sucked Seeing Christ and what gracious things came from him she spake so But he said Yea rather blessed are they that hear the Word of God and keep it That is Labor to sanctifie my Name as hath been opened in the particulars rather is that woman blessed that doth so than the woman that bear Christ Me thinks this one Scripture should be such a Scripture for women to cause them to sanctifie Gods Name in hearing of the word instead of a hundred Scriptures certainly thou maiest be so blessed if thou wilt beleeve the word that comes from Christs mouth 3. Do you sanctifie the Name of God in the Word that will sanctifie you by that your souls come to be sanctified and it will comfort you in the day of your affliction and it will save you at last 4 You that do sanctifie Gods Name in
do you go for What account had you been able to have given unto him You must understand what you do when you come thither First You must be able to give this account to God Lord I am now going to have represented to me in a visible and sensible way the greatest Mysteries of Godlines those great and deep Counsels of my Will concerning my eternal estate those great Things that Angels desire to pry into that shall be the matter of eternal praises of Angels and Saints in the highest Heavens that they may be set before my view Lord when I have come to thy Word I have had sounding in mine ears the great Mysteries of Godliness the great Things of the Covenant of Grace and now I go to see them represented before mine eyes in that Ordinance of thine that thou hast appointed Yea Lord I am now going to receive the Seals of the blessed Covenant of thine the second Covenant the new Covenant the Seals of the Testimony and will of thine I am going to have confirmed to my soul thine everlasting Love in Jesus Christ Yea Lord I am going to that Ordinance wherein I expect to have Communion with thy self and the Communion of thy chief mercies to my soul in Jesus Christ I am going to feast with the to feed upon the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ Yea I am now going to set the Seal of the Covenant on my part to renew my Covenant with thee I am going to have Communion with thy Saints to have the bond of Communion with all thy people to be confirmed to me that there might be a strong bond of union and love between me and thy Saints than ever these are the ends that I go for this is the work that I am now going about thus you must come in understanding you must come with understanding you must know what you are going about this is that which the Apostle speaks of when he spake of the disarming the Lords body he rebukes the Corinthians for there sin and shew them that they were guilty of the Body and Blood of Christ because they did not descren the Lords Body they look'd only upon the outward elements but did not discren what their was of Christ there they did not understand the Institution of Christ they did not see how Christ was under those elements both represented and exhibited unto them that is the first thing there must be knowledg and understanding And now for the knowledg and understanding of the nature of the Sacrament there need be knowledg in other Points of Religion for we can never come to understand the nature of this Sacrament without knowing God and knowing our selves knowing in what estate we are by Nature knowing our Fall knowing the way of Redemtion knowing Jesus Christ what He was and what He hath done for the making of an Atonement the necessity of Jesus Christ and what the way of the Covenant is that God hath appointed to bring mens souls to eternall life by The main points of Religion must be known but especially that which concerns the nature of a Sacrament Now this knowledg likewise must be actual not meerly habitual knowledg but there must be a stirring up of this knowledg that is by meditation I must be meditating have actual thoughts and meditations of what I do know that ought to be the work of a Christian in coming to receive the Sacrament to quicken up his knowledg to have a renewed work of his knowledg by actual thoughts and meditations of the main Points of Religion and especially of the nature and the end of this holy institution that is the first thing Secondly As we must come understandingly without which we cannot Sanctifie Gods Name so we must come with hearts sutable to the work that we are about that is because the great thing that is here is the breaking of Christs body and the powring forth His blood A sutable disposition to this is brokenness of heart sence of our sin of that dreadful breach that sin hath made between God and the soul our sin should be upon our hearts so as to break them But this brokenness must be Evangelical it must be through the applying of the Blood of Christ unto my soul I must come to be sensible of my sin but especially be sensible of it by what I see in the holy Sacrament that must make me sensible of my sin There are a great many things to make me sensible of my sin The consideration of the great God that thou hast sinned against and the Curse of the Law that 's due to thee the wrath of God that is incensed against thee for thy sin and those eternal flames that are prepared for sinners those everlasting burnings But now those are not the things that will break the heart in an Evangelical way in a gracious way the main thing by which the soul must come to break its heart must be the beholding of the evil of sin in the red glass of the blood of Jesus Christ the beholding him broken and truly there is nothing in the world that hath that power to break the heart of sin as the beholding of that which is to be beheld in the holy Sacrament and that heart is a hard heart that can see what is there to be seen not break in the apprehension of sin when I here see what my sin cost what a price was made for my soul when I see the hatred of God against sin and the justice of God in not sparing his Son but in breaking his Son for my sin and in shedding the blood of his Son for my sins I see here that the making of my peace with God did cost more than ten thousand worlds is worth I see that by my sin such a breach was made between God and my soul that all the Angels in Heaven and Men in the World could never make up this breach only the Son of God he that was God and man that was thus broken by the burden of the wrath of his Father for my sins could do this The truth is when we come to this holy Communion we are to look upon Christ as if we saw Him hanging upon the Cross suppose thou hadst lived at the time when Christ was crucified and hadst understood as much concerning the death of Christ as now thou doest and what Christ was if so be that thou shouldest have beheld Him in the Garden and there sweating drops of water and blood and lie groveling upon the ground crying If it be possible let this cup pass from me and shouldest have followed Him to the Cross and there have seen His hands and feet naied and His side pierced and the blood trickling down and have heard him crying out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me would not such a sight as this is have broken thy heart for thy sin the truth is there is more I won't say only so much but I
This is that that the happiness of the glorious Church is set out by in Rev. 22. 4. They shall see his face and his Name shall be in their foreheads This is the Priviledg of the Church And that it is such a blessing to draw nigh to God you may see it by that in Ephes 2. 18. For through him we both have an access by one Spirit unto the Father Through Him Through Christ we have access by one Spirit unto the Father and now saith he Ye that were strangers and forreigners are made fellow Citizens with the Saints and of the houshold of God And vers 13. But now by Jesus Christ ye who somtimes were afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ and you have access through Christ So our coming nigh to God is such a priviledg as cost the Blood of Christ And will not you improve it You were far off in your natural condition but now you are nigh through his Blood Lay but this Text warm to your hearts this morning That I that was far off am made nigh by the Blood of Christ made nigh to God it will be a means for ever to draw your hearts to all those waies whereby you may draw neerest to God And by drawing nigh to God often you will come to encrease your graces abundantly your graces how wil they act the presence of God wil draw forth the acts of grace as the presence of the fire draws forth our heat so the presence of God will draw forth our graces And by this means we come to live most holy lives We reade of Moses he was upon the mountain fourty daies with God and when he came down his face did so shine that the people were not able to bear it What 's the reason it was from hence because he was so nigh to God Would you have your faces to shine in a holy conversation before men converse much with God be often with God be nigh to him and that will make you shine as lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation We find it so with some that converse much with God there is a shine upon their very countenances And further it is a special sign of our adoption to love to be nigh to God What should a Child love most but to be in the presence of his Father Would you know whether you have received the Spirit of aboption yea or no I can hardly give you any one sign so cleer as this For to love to go into Gods presence As David said I was glad when they said Come and let us go up unto the House of the Lord. You shal have many that love to be in Gods presence so as they think on it over-night and long for the time till it comes I never am better than when I am with God me thinks when I get into Gods presence either in prayer or any duty of Gods Worship I find my heart warmed and quickned c. They are ready to say with Peter Master it is good being here And that 's another thing It is that which will put us in mind of the life of Heaven it is the only thing in Heaven to be in the presence of God Why the more thou art nigh God in the Duties of Worship the more thou art in Heaven and doest not thou pray That the Will of God may be done in Earth as in Heaven Now the Saints and Angels are alwaies before God Worshiping of Him then be as much as thou canst in the presence of God If thou wouldest be in Heaven be there Many of the Saints they find it so It is not so with carnal hearts they are weary presently when they are in Prayer or hearing the Word it is not so to them yea that 's because thou hast not the presence of God as in Mal. 1. what weariness is there Thou canst be a gaming till one or two a clock at night and though thou shouldest lose thy supper or the work of thy family it is not tedious to thee to be exercised in those things that pleaseth the flesh but when thou comest to worship God how quickly art thou tir'd now what wilt thou do in Heaven where there is nothing else done to all eternity but worshiping of God And then it must needs be delightful to God that thou shouldest come nigh him There is nothing in the world more pleasant to God than to have His Saints come into His presence What doth a Father more delight in than to have his Children about him Never did any Father or Mother love to have their Children by them so as God loves to have His Children come nigh Him and be often with him And the truth is one great reason that God suffers you to fall into affliction so much is That you may come runing to him How doth the child come running to the Father or Mother when it is afraid why the Lord is willing to permit men to do you wrong that you may run to him that he might have more of your presence Thou that art such a poor creature yet thou hearest this day that there is nothing in the world that God takes more pleasure in next to the presence of his own Son Jesus Christ and his Saints and Angels that he hath with him in Heaven than to have his Saints come nigh him to have them to be alwaies under his wing And then by coming often into Gods presence in His worship there will grow a sweet and blessed familiarity between God and thy soul for thou wilt be speaking to God and God will be speaking to thee too We know many times that dear friends who are very neerly linkt together yet if they be long absent one from another there grows a strangeness and so by degrees their friendship is deaded but now when they are together every day and there is an intercourse of love and friendship then their friendship is kept active and quick but now if they be absent long Indeed if they be absent in another Country when they cannot come together that they are sure it is not through any neglect then it will not damp their friendship but when they are neer and come not one to another then they think it is out of neglect and so they grow strange So it is with the soul if there were no possibility of coming into Gods presence then it would not hinder the sweetness of the love of God to us But now when we have those duties of worship wherein we may draw nigh to God if we neglect them our familiarity with God will quickly be lost Acquaint thy self with God and be at peace God is willing to be acquainted with his servants the Lord loves to be familiar with the poorest of his Saints and wilt not thou maintain that sweet familiarity with God These two benefits will fallow upon thy familiarity with God First Those that are most familiar with God they
The sixt and last reason hath a great deal in it which I beseech you consider of we find that the Scripture doth make the uprightness of the heart much to consist in preparation for worship and doth make the falsness of the heart to consist in this that men do not prepare Perhaps you have not so much thought of this but yet it is of excellent use unto you We shall find the Scripture doth make the very uprightness of the heart to consist in the preparation for duty and the falsness of a mans heart to consist in this That he makes not conscience to prepare his heart for God and His Worship And this I will shew unto you very plainly and cleerly take these two Examples The first of Rehoboam and the second of Jehoshaphat one a wicked man whose heart was false and the other a godly man whose heart was right with God The falsness of the heart of the one is in 2 Chron. 12. 14. there you have what Gods thoughts of Rehoboam were in the verses before but now he brings the reason of his sentence upon him and saith the text he did evil because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord there were many good things that Rehoboam did I might shew you some things as how he did obey the Prophet of God when he was seeking to avenge himself upon those that did rend themselves from his obedience the Lord did but send his Prophet and though he had an Army ready to revenge himself upon those that in a way of rebellion did rend themselves from under his government and he obeyed the Word of the Lord but for all that he did evil in the sight of the Lord God looked upon him as a man that had no uprightness in him Why For he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord Saith God I look upon all Rehoboam did as nothing look upon his waies as evil and himself as a wicked man why Because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord if his heart had been upright with me he would have prepared his heart to seek me I beseech you now lay this text to your hearts Do you prepare your hearts to seek God when ye go to prayr Can you say that you take pains in preparing your hearts for it and in hearing the Word and so likewise for receiving the Sacrament Now for Jehoshaphat a godly man in 2 Chron. 19. 3. there you may see what the Lord saith of Jehoshaphat that was godly Nevertheless there are good things found in thee in that thou hast taken way the groves out of the land and hast prepared thine heart to seek God Jehoshaphat was found guilty in joyning himself to wicked men too much the Prophet comes and saith to him Wouldest thou help the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord Therfore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord. Jehoshaphat here we see was very faulty in joyning with those that were wicked and is rebuked by the Prophet from the Lord What wilt thou joyn with the wicked the wrath of God is upon thee Well but for all that I beseech you observe it That at that time when the Lord is most displeased against Jehoshaphat and sends his Prophet in his Name to pronounce this that the wrath of God is out against him yet for all this God cannot but take notice of this that he had an upright heart though he failed in that particular yet there is some good found in thee in that thou hast prepared thy heart to seek God Indeed through some sudden temptations thou art drawn aside in this particular act Yea but it hath been thy care to prepare thy heart to seek me and in that regard I do look upon thee as having an upright heart And thus you see how much the Scripture puts upon the preparation of the heart to seek God And so in 1 Sam. 7. 3. you shall find that the Scripture makes the uprightness of the heart to consist in this And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel saying If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts what then Then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you and prepare your hearts unto the Lord and serve him only As if Samuel should say If you will return indeed to the Lord if indeed your hearts be upright according to what you seem to profess in turning to God Then prepare your hearts to seek the Lord. You do not in truth turn to God except you make conscience to prepare your hearts Therefore you that never yet knew what it was to make conscience to prepare your hearts for holy duties know that you have not turned with all your heart unto the Lord there hath not been the true turning of your hearts unto the Lord. Thus you see there is much lies upon preparation to the duties of Gods Worship Well you will say seeing there lies so much in it I pray open it wherein it doth consist To that I answer It consists in these Five things which I shall briefly name First In the possessing the heart with the right apprehension of that God before whom we come to tender our duties Then do we make conscience to prepare our hearts when we labor upon our going to worship God to get our hearts before-hand possessed with right apprehensions of the Majesty of that God that we are going to worship and of the greatness and weight of the duty that we are setting about the nature of it the manner how it is to be performed the rule by which we are to be guided the end that we are to aim at Meditation is a good preparation to holy duties And these are the general Heads of our Meditation for our Preparation to Duty Viz. 1. What God he is we have to deal with Meditate of God in his Attributes and then meditate of the weight of our Duties and the nature of them and the rule of them and the end of them get your hearts possessed with meditations of this nature and in this at a special thing doth consist your preparation to holy duties 2. The Second thing wherein the preparation to a duty consists it is this The taking off of the heart from every sinful way the endeavor at least If there be iniquity in thine hand or heart labor to put it out When thou art to come into Godâ— presence do not bring into the presence of God the love of any sin in thy heart but labor to put it from thy heart in 2 Chron. 29. 5. we find there what is required to preparation the text saith Hezekiah said unto them Hear me ye Levites sanctifie now your selves and sanctifie the house of the Lord God of your fathers and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place That is sanctifying a thing to carry forth the filthiness out of that thing that we would sanctifie So the sanctifying of our hearts it is by
to have to deal with God look upon him as a God of infinite Wisdom and I say be thou ashamed of thy folly then and do thou exercise the grace of wisdom too when thou comest to God that is by propounding right ends of which we spake before That is one part of wisdom to have right ends and right means towards those ends so that the meditation of the wisdom of God when we come to worship him will further us to sanctifie his Name And further This is to Sanctifie Gods Wisdom when thou comest into Gods presence in thy greatest straights deny thy own wisdom come with a resolution to be guided by the Wisdom of God in this manner Lord I know not how to order my steps there is much folly and vanity in my heart but thou art a God of infinite Wisdom I come to thee for direction and I profess here I am willing to give up my whol Soul to be guided by thy wisdom If every time we come to Worship God we came thus Oh Lord whatsoever our thoughts have been heretofore yet if thou shalt but reveal thy mind to us we will hearken to thee Lord we beleeve that thy Wisdom it is thy Self and therefore we profess to give up our selves to thy Wisdom Now this is to Sanctifie the Name of God 9. Consider the holiness of God God is a God infinitely pure from all sin and therefore when we come to Worship God we must be ashamed of our holiness as the Prophet in Isa 6 when he heard the Seraphins cry Holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts he fals down and saith Wo is me for I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips And is God a holy God Then let me take heed when I come before Him that I bring not with me a love to any sin for the Lord hates it and let me take heed that I do not cast dirt in the very face of Gods Holiness but give up my soul to be rul'd wholly by Him And labor that there may be a sutableness between the holiness of thy heart and of the infinite God Now this is to sanctifie Gods Name when the consideration of this Attribute of God hath such effect upon my heart that I labor upon this to come with a sutable heart before God 10. When thou comest before God Consider that thou comest to a merciful God And what should this work First It should make me come joyfully into His presence as a God that is willing to do good to his poor creatures that are in misery Secondly It should make me to come with a heart sensible of the need of this mercy O Lord I have had my heart let out to other vain things heretofore but now Lord thy mercy it is that my soul comes for as that wherein my chief and only good consists Thirdly It should make me come with expectation of great things from God do not come unto God as unto an empty Vine but as unto a full Vine and the more thy faith is raised to expect great things from God the more acceptable art thou to God Certainly the higher any ones faith is raised when they come into his presence to expect the greatest things the more acceptable It is otherwise with God than men if you come to men to beg a little thing you may be welcome but if you come to ask a great matter they will look askew upon you but the truth is the greater the things are that we come to God for the more welcome are we into Gods presence and those that are acquainted with God they know it and therefore they come the more fully When they come to ask Jesus Christ himself and his Spirit that is more worth than ten thousand worlds they come with more freedom of Spirit than when they come to ask their healths and the like Fourthly It will be likewise another means of sanctifying this Attribute of God when thou comest to him If thou doest come with a merciful heart towards thy brethren Take heed whensoever you come to worship God that you come not with a rugged and cruel heart towards any of your brethren therefore you find that Christ laies this upon you in teaching how to pray you most say Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive our brethren that trespass against us And you find it repeated again If you forgive then your Heavenly Father will forgive and not otherwise As if Christ should say When you come to beg mercy be sure you bring merciful hearts Fifthly It is a good way to sanctifie the Name of God in this Attribute for the soul to be solicitous with it self What is that that will hinder me from the mercy of God and let me avoid it It is otherwise a taking of the Name of God in vain for me to come to profess what need I have of Gods mercy and yet for al that never regard to avoid those things that may hinder the work of his Grace upon me 11. Consider the Justice of God that 's another Attribute Consider that thou hast to deal with an Infinite Righteous and Just God Do not think that if thou beest a Beleever that thou hast nothing to do with the Justice of God for certainly thou art to sanctifie the Justice of God Now you will say How should a Beleever sanctifie the Justice of God Thus First He should be apprehensive and sensible how by sin he hath put himself under Justice and deserved the stroke of Justice to be upon him to eternity he should consider what he is in himself It 's true that Jesus Christ hath come between a beleeving soul and the Justice of the Father and hath taken the stroke of Justice upon himself yea but though he hath done it it doth not hinder but that thou shouldst be apprehensive of what thou hast deserved thy self Secondly Here is a special thing in the sanctifying of the Justice of God When we come before him we should consider that we have to deal with an infinite just God and therefore not to dare to come but through a Mediator Here you have the reason why we must tender up all in the Name of Jesus Christ because when we are to come before God we are to sanctifie the Name of his Justice For thee to think thus I have sinned and God is merciful and I will go and pray to him that he might be merciful and there 's an end Is this all Oh no God requires the sanctifying of his Justice and there is nothing that doth sanctifie his Justice so much as this That when a poor creature sees the infinite distance that sin hath made between that infinite God and it it sees that though sin it hath made its self liable to Justice and when it sees that there is an absolute necessity that infinit Justice must have satisfaction and thinks the sinner If it comes to me that I must satisfie the Justice of God
hearing of his Word you will be the glory of the Ministers of God at the great day of Judgment You will be an honor to them before the Lord and his Saints and Angels In Phil. 2. 16. Holding forth saith the text the Word of Life This is the duty of all the hearers of the Word that they must hold forth the Word of Life When you go home you must hold forth the power of the Word you hear well what wil become of that That I may rejoyce in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain neither labored in vain Let that be one Motive amongst the rest Saith the Apostle This will be such a glory to me That I in the day if Iesus Christ shall rejoyce that I have not labored in vain I shal bless God for all my studies and care and all the pains that ever I have taken and venturing my self for this people I shall bless God in the day of Jesus Christ Would it not be a comfortable thing to you that all the Ministers of God that come to preach the Word saithfully to you if at the day of Christ you should hear them blessing God that ever he did send them to preach the Gospel in such a place and you should hear them saying O Lord it may be had I been sent to another place I should have spent all my strength in vain but through thy mercy I was sent to a teachable people that were ready to imbrace thy Word Oh! this is my crown and glory Would it not do good to any whose hearts are faithful to think this That their holding froth the Word of Life will not only be a glory to God which is the chief but it will be a glory to the Ministers to recompence all their labors that you shall not only be saved your selves in the day of Jesus Christ but you shall add to the glory of his faithful Ministers likwise when they do appear before Christ 5. I shall add one particular more There is a time coming when God shall magnifie his word and make it honorable What a joy shall it be to thee when the Lord before Men and Angels shall come to magnifie his Word and make it honorable for thee then to think This is the Word that spoke to my heart at such and such a time this is that Word that I did reverence that I did obey that I did love that I made to be the joy of my heart this Word the Lord now doth magnifie and make to be honorable This will be comfortable to thy soul THE ELEVENTH SERMON Leviticus 10. 3. I will be Sanctified in them that come nigh me THE last day we finished the Point fanctification of the Name of God in the hearing of his Word and now we will proceed to the sanctification of the Name of God in receiving the Sacrament That 's the next duty of Worship Now first for the word Sacrament I confess we have not that word in all the Scripture as neither have we the word Trinity and divers other words which Ministers make use of to set forth the Mysteries of Religion by but yet it is usefull to consider the meaning why Ministers in the Church have given this name unto those sings and seals that the Church receives Sacrament is to hallow a thing or to dedicate because in the Sacraments there are outward things that are made holy for holy and spirituall ends Secondly We our selves do as it where hallow or dedicate our selves unto God in the vse of these Ordinances That one reason from whence it hath the name Or otherwise as some will have it Sacramentum because it is to be received sacrament with a holy mind and therefore caled the Sacrament The Churches have vsed it a long time in Tertulliar's time which was above fourteen hundred years since he was the first that we find vsed this word and most that would open the word unto us say that especially it was taken from the practice of Solders who when they came listed themselves bound themselves in to a solemn Oath to be faithfull to their Captain and to the cause that they did undertake and the Oath they were wount to call Sacramentum A Sacrament Now in regard that Christians when they come to this Ordinance they come to seale a Covenant with God and though they do not formally and explicitely take an Oath yet they bind themselves in a holy Covenant which hath the strength even of an Oath in it For a solemn Promise to the high God hath the strength of an Oath in it and from thence they were call'd by these names Srcraments but that for the Word that you may understand it But the word the Scripture useth to set out this Sacrament by that that now I am speaking of is the communion of the body and blood of Christ so you have it in 1 Cor. 10. 6. The cup of blessing which we bless is it not Communion of the blood of Christ The bread which we break is it not the Communion of the body of Christ I say we are now treating about this point how we are to sanctifie the Name of God in that which the Scripture cals the Communion of the body and blood of Christ And now for the opening of that First we must know that this is a part of the Worship of God and we draw nigh to God in this or otherwise it will not come up to our point And then we shall shew that God is to be sanctified in this duty of worship And then thirdly how First We do in this draw nigh to God We worship God For when we are coming to receive these holy Signs and Seals we come to present our selves before God and we have to deale with God Himself in a service that He Himself requires of us in a Holy in a Divine service we come to present our selvess to God for blessing for communication of some higher good unto us than pobssily those Creatures that we have to deal with are able of themselves to convey to us we come for a higher good than to tast a pece of bread or to drink a draught of wine we come I say to present our selves to God that we might have Communion with him and that we might have the blessing of the Covenant of grace conveyed unto us through these things now certainly this is a drawing nigh to God for to present our selves for the conveyance of the blessing of the Covenant of Grace through these Creatures yea that we might have communion with God himself in them this is drawing nigh to him when we come to his Table therefore we draw nigh to God had not God instituted and appointed these Creatures Bread and Wine and the actions about them to be the means of conveyance of blessing unto us it had been Will-worship for us to have expected any further presence of God in such creatures than there is in the
nature of them It is true God is present with every Creature when we eat and drink at our Tables God is present there but we cannot be said to draw nigh to God and worship God there for we there look for no further presence of God with us in them to convey further good than the Lord hath put into the nature of those things only when godly people take them and receive them as blessings sanctified by the Word they take them as the blessings of God that come out of love to them But now when we come to receive that which is cal'd the Communion there we expect things that are beyond the nature of these creatures to convey that that is by an institution of God set apart for supernatural uses and ends not to convey in any natural way such and such things but in a supernatural way through the institution of God and so it comes to be worship Had we not I say a command for this it were superstition and Idolatry for us to make use of such creatures for such ends If any man in the world should have appointed a piece of Bread or a draught of Wine to have signified and sealed the Body and blood of Christ it had been Superstition in any and Wil-worship and sinful and abominable to you but we are to look upon God setting apart these Creatures for such holy and solemn ends and therefore when we come to be exercised in them we come to worship God and we come likewise to tender up our homage to God when we come to attend upon him in such Ordinances as these are to tender up that homage that is due from us poor creatures unto such an infinite and glorious God and therefore we draw nigh to him in these Secondly We must santifie Gods Name in drawing nigh to him whatsoever we do whether we eat or drink we must do all to the glory of God Now if your common eating and drinking we must do all to the glory of God than certanly in this spiritual eating and drinking there must be some special thing done for the glory of God in this 1. Because there is so much of God in it for here there is a presenting before us the great yea the greatest Mysteries of Salvation and deep Councells of God concerning Eternal Life are presented before us in these outward Elements of the Bread and Wine and action thereof Now when we come to eat and to drink those things that are appointed to set forth the great Misteries of Salvation and the deepest of the Councells of God concerning mans Eternall good wherein especally God will gloryfie Himself we had need there sanctifie the Name of God for the things that are very great and glorious that are presented unto us 2. This Ordinance of the Lords Supper or the communion it is an Ordinance that Christ hath left to his Church out of the abundance of his love and therefore you shall find if you read in the institution of it in the 25 of Matthew that the same night wherein Christ was betrayed he took bread and brake it though Christ was to die the next day and to encounter with the warth of God yea that very night he was to be in an Agony and to sweat drops of Water and Blood and the next day to die and to have these tryals of wrath powered upon him so as to put him to cry out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me yet he busies his thoughts that every night to institute this Supper surely this must be a great Ordinance there is a great deal of love of Christ in it Christ saw that his Church had need of it that he should that night when he was betrayed have his thoughts busied about such a thing as this is One would think at that time that he had enough to take up his thoughts concerning Himself being to encounter with the Law and with the Wrath of God for mans sin but for all that great work Christ had to encounter with yet his thoughts are busied about this great Ordinance of the institution of the Supper and therfore there was great love in it Christ saw that it was a matter of great moment Now if it be so then there is great cause why we should sanctifie Gods Name in such an Ordinance as this is and not to account it as a common and ordinary thing 3. We must sanctifie Gods name in this because it is the Sacrament of of our communion with Christ wherein we come to have such a neer Union and Communion with him as to eat his Flesh and to drink his Blood and to sit at his Table We come to have communion with Christ even in all our sences now Christ coming so fully to us that cals upon us to sanctifie his Name when we come before him 4. In this the Covenant of Grace is sealed the Covenant of Grace comes to be sealed in both the parts of it now when we come to have to deal with God in the way of the Covenant of Grace both to have the Seal on his part and the seal on ours surely this must needs call for a sanctified use of such a thing as is so holy as this is And that 's the first reason why we are to sanctifie Gods Name in this because if we be in ordinary eating and drinking we must do it then in this wherin there is so much of God wherein the Mysteries of Godliness are set before us wherein there is so much of the love of Christ wherein we are to have close Communion with Jesus Christ and wherein the Covenant of Grace comes to be sealed on both sides there had need therefore be sanctifying of Gods Name in the use of it Secondly Consider this That there is no duty in al the book of God that I know of that is urged with more strength and severity than this is as in that place 1 Cor. 11. sheweth where you have required of every one that comes to receive the Bread and Wine in the Lords Supper That they should examine themselves and so eat and you have the most dreadful expressions against those that do not do it that I know are mentioned against the neglect of any duty in all the book of God there the holy Ghost faith That whosoever eats and drinks unworthily First he is guilty of the Body and Blood of Christ and then Secondly he eats and drinkâ— his own dâ—mnation These two expressions have as much dreadfulness in them as can be imagined and we do not find an exhortation to a duty backt with two such severe expressions in case we should neglect our duty as this exhortation What if we do not sanctifie Gods Name in this dutie we come to be guilty of the Body and Blood of Christ Blood guiltiness is a terrible thing you know David cries out Lord deliver me from blood guiltiness to have but the Blood of an ordinary man
Sacrament he gave thanks he gave thanks for what he gave thanks to God the Father that he was pleased to send him into the world to die for poor souls now shall Jesus Christ give thanks unto God the Father for that which did cost him his life yea saith Christ I see that here is a way to save souls and let it cost me my life if it will yet I bless thee O Father if souls may come to be saved though it cost me my life Christ rejoyced in his Spirit in thanking his Father for this then how should our hearts be enlarged with thankfulness when we come to this that the Ancients were wont to call the Eucharist that is a thanksgiving we are to give God thanks for every mercy you will not eat your own bread without giving of thanks but when we come to have this bread this bread of life here is matter of thankfulness here is matter of enlargment of soul thou that hast the deadest and dullest soul and straightest Spirit yet when thou comest hither and understandest what thou doest here thou canst not but see matter for the enlargment of thy heart and wish that thou hadst ten thousand thousand times more strength to express the praises of the Lord here is a thing that must be the subject of the Hallelujahs and doxologies that Angels and Saints must for ever sound out in the highest Heavens dost thou know what the Lord presents to thee here it is more than if the Lord should say I will make ten thousand worlds for the sake of this creature and give all these worlds to him thou wouldest think that thou wert bound to bless him then only when God in Bread and Wine reaches out to the the body and Blood of his Son here is more matter of praise then if ten thousand thousand worlds were given to thee and therefore God expects that thou shouldest say to thy soul My soul praise thou the Lord and all that is within me praise His holy Name bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all His benefits who forgiteth all thine iniquitie who healeth all thy diseases O poor soul here is the foundation of all mercies dost thou praise God for Justification for sanctification here is a glorious application of the mercie of God to the souls of sinners and therefore if ever thou wert thankfull be thankfull here The Sabbath my Brethren that is appointed to be the set constant day of thanksgiving for the great mercies of God in Christ and there are other daies for National mercies now a special work of the Lords day is The celebration of this holy Sacrament and the Christians in former times were wont to do it every Lords day because that is the day appointed by God for to be the day of thanksgiving for that great mercy the Lord Jesus Christ and that 's the reason why the Sabbath was changed the last day in the week was the Jewish Sabbath and that was to celebrate the memorial of the Creation of the World and the first day now it is to be the day of thanksgiving for al the work of God in mans Redemption Eighthly A further thing is this If you would sanctifie Gods Name you must be willing to renew your Covenant that 's the end of it there must be an actual renewing of your Covenant with God that 's thus I come to receive this Bread this wine and this is to be as the Seal of the Covenant on Gods part now this will be emplied in the nature of the thing that if I take the Seals of Gods Covenant that I must be willing to set to my Seal too to renew the Covenant that God calls me to now know all men and women that are sav'd they are sav'd by the vertue of the Covenant of Grace and there God on his part promises and makes a Cavenant That he will bestow his Son Life and Salvation through him and thou must likewise come in on thy part and beleeve on his Son and repent which is the Tenour of the Gospel now every time thou comest to receive this Sacrament thou comest to renew this Covenant As if thou shouldest say Lord thou hast been pleased to make a Covenant of Grace as the first Covenant was broken and all men were cast by that Covenant now thou hast made a Covenant of Grace and callest thy servants whom thou intendest to save that they should renew their Covenant with thee in this Sacrament of thine Lord here I come and Lord here I renew it and set to my seal to promise and Covenant with thee That as ever I expect to receive any good from Christ so Lord here I will be thine I will give up my self for ever to thee as thou hast given me the Body and Blood of Christ for my salvation so Lord here I consecrate my body and blood to thee the last drop of my heart blood shall be given to thee and so my strength and estate and name or what ever I am or have shall be thine Have you done thus when you have come to receive the Sacrament have you actually renewed your covenant with God you that have taken the body of Christ have you given up your body to Christ What 's the reason then that you sin so much with your bodies that you abbuse your body with uncleanness and drunkenness and other wickedness afterwards Oh you prophane the name of God and the very Body and Blood of Christ in this except thou givest up the body and soul to God in way of Covenant Ninthly in the last place for the sanctifying of Gods Name there is required the renewing of Love the coming with lovely dispositions and the renewing of the grace of love not only towards God but towards our Brethren for it is the feast of the Lord and it is an act of communion Communion not only with Christ but with His Churches with his saints and as I have told you that there is a profession of our selves to be of the same body with Jesus Christ then the Lord requireth that His Children should not fall out that come to His Table but that there should be love and peace there 's a mighty bond upon thee when thou comest to the Sacrament and therefore first all heart burnings and heart grudges must be laid aside and secondly you must come with a willinness to be reconcilled one to another willingnes to pass by all infirmities in thy Brethren here I have the Seal of Gods wllingness to pass by al my sins and therefore I must be willing to pass by all infirmities in my Brethren I must now cast out all ill wishes towards others and come with a disire of all good unto them and with a heart ready to imbrace any opportunity to do any good thou doest lye unto God except thou comest with such a heart as this is Lord thou knowest that I am willing to take all opportunities to do good
Nature of Jesus Christ and this is a Meditation that hath abundance that might spring out of it What hath the Son of God taken our Nature upon him hath he Body and Blood and human Nature upon him Oh! how hath God honored humane Nature Then let not me abuse my Body to Lust to Wickednesse seeing that Jesus Christ hath taken the body of man upon him humane Nature upon him let me honor humane Nature that is so neerly united to the Divine Nature That 's the second Meditation Med. 3. Here is presented unto us what this Mediator hath done for the reconciling of us unto God that his body was broken he hath subjected himself to the breaking of his body and to the powring forth of his blood for the reconciling of us it is not meerly as before that God saith I will pardon them but Christ undertaking to make peace between his Father and us it cost him the breaking of his body and the powring forth of his blood this is an useful Meditation Oh! what should we be willing to suffer for Jesus Christ in our bodies even to resist unto blood seeing Christ hath been content to have his precious body broken and his blood shed for us Med. 4. Again A Fourth Meditation is this That here we come to see we have occasion of meditating of what the Scripture saith That we are by the blood of God saved it is the blood of God They crucified the Lord of Glory that 's the Scripture phrase we should consider when we see the Wine powred out and so put in mind of blood Whose blood and whose body is this it is no other but the body and blood of him that was truly God the second Person in Trinity This is the great Mystery of the Gospel and this is very needful for us to be thinking of when we see the body broken and the blood powred out What will the breaking of the body and shedding of the blood of a meer creature be sufficient to make peace between God and Man surely no therfore you must meditate whose body this is and whose blood this is it is the body and blood of him that was God It 's true God hath no body nor no blood but the same person that was God had a body and blood that body and blood was united unto the Divine Nature in an hypostatical union and from thence it came to have an efficacy for to satisfie God for to reconcile God and us together This is the great Mystery of Godliness Med. 5. Another Meditation is this When you see the Bread broken and Wing powred out Oh! the infinit dreadfulness of the Justice of God! how dreadful is the Justice of God that coming upon his own Son and requiring satisfaction from him that should thus break him and bruise him that should have his blood that should require such sufferings even from his Son dreadful is Gods Justice the Justice of God it is to be feared and to be trembled at here we see what is required for the sin of man and nothing would be bated to Jesus Christ himself Med. 6. Another Meditation is this Here I see presented to me what every soul that shall be saved cost whoever shall have his soul saved he hath it sav'd by a ransom by a price paid that is more worth than ten thousand thousand worlds thou slightest thine own soul but if it prove to be saved it cost more than if thousands of worlds had been given for thee even the shedding of the blood of Christ every drop of which was more precious than ten thousand worlds Med. 7. Again From hence see what is the evil of sin how great it is that hath made such a breach between God and my soul that only such a way and such a means must take away my sin I must either have lain under the burden of my sin eternally or Jesus Christ that's God and man must suffer so much for it Oh what Meditations are these to take up the hearts of men Med. 8. Behold the infinit love of God to mankind and the love of Jesus Christ that rather than God would see the children of men to perish eternally he would send his Son to take our Nature upon him and thus to suffer such dreadful things herein God shows his love it is not the love of God so much in giving you a good voyage and prospering you outwardly in the world But so God loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son And it pleased the Father to break his Son and to powr out his blood here is the love of God and of Jesus Christ Oh! what a powerful mighty drawing efficacious Meditation should this be unto us Med. 9. Those that are Beleevers they shall be nourished to eternal life so that there is no fear that ever a Beleever should quite fall off from God and die in his sin Why Because the body and blood of Christ is given to him for his spiritual nourishment though a Beleever be never so weak yet seeing God hath appointed the body and blood of his Son for him to feed upon and to drink in a spiritual way surely then the weakest in the world will be strengthened to go through all the hazards and dangers that there are in the world 't is this that strengthens Beleevers to encounter with all kind of dangers it 's this that preserves the weakest grace in a Beleever namely the Spiritual nourishment that God the Father hath appointed to them even the feeding upon the Body and drinking the very Blood of his Son this is meat indeed and drink indeed that will nourish to eternal life Med. 10. The last Meditation is this When you come to this seeing the Bread broken and the Wine powred out you have an occasion to meditate of the whol new Covenant the Covenant of Grace that God hath made with sinners for so the words of institution are This is the Cup of the New Testament the New Testament which is all one with the New Covenant only different in this particular it contains the substance of the new Covenant but cal'd Testament in this regard to shew that the Lord doth do all in the new Covenant that is he doth not only promise such and such mercies upon condition of our beleeving and repenting but he doth work beleeving and repenting and works grace and therefore the same thing that is sometime call'd a Covenant is call'd a Testament that is the will of God wherein the Lord doth bequeath his rich legacies to his Children to those that shall be eternally saved so that all the good things in the Covenant of Grace they are bequeathed by way of Testament as well as Covenant and this is a mighty comfortable Meditation to the Saints for indeed when they look upon the way of the Gospel as in a way of Covenant why then they think thus This require somewhat of our parts to be done and indeed God will
will pray then it seems that the main matter of your prayer is onlie for your selves but how hath the matters of the Glorie of the great God and the good of the Churches taken your hearts all this while how have your hearts been affected with this that the Name of God hath been so little sanctified in the world and that the Kingdom of God hath not come and that the Will of God hath not been done have these things taken up your heart in prayer the matters of the Glorie of God and the good of Churches though your selves have not anie particular interest in them if these things did but take up your hearts in Prayer then when you are at Sea you would remember the cause of the Churches as much as your selves the Church is as it were in the midst of the Sea tost up and down and in a great storm now why do not you pray as earnestly for the Kingdom of Christ among his Churches as for your selves when you are in a strom at sea yea and spiritual things should be the chief matter of your prayer for they are the nearest to the glory of God though God hath his glory from other things yet spiritual things are neerest the glory of God now in these daies of prayer many will come to pray that they might be freed from danger that they might have outward peace this is good but spiritual things are the chief things and therefore the strength of your spirits should be thus powered forth to God Oh that I could get my heart to God and the assurance of the love of God! Oh that I could get the shine of his face Oh that I could get power over such and such corruptions And I beseech you observe this That spiritual things may be prayed for absolutly but outward things must be prayed for conditionally I may pray and never put any condition in at all That the Lord would pardon my sins and help me against my corruptions c. But when I pray for the health of my body I ought to pray if this be according to thy wil then restore me to the health of my body or the health of my husband or the health of my wife but thou maiest pray Lord convert the soul of my husband or the soul of my wife without any condition at al When your estates at sea are in danger when you pray for them you must make conditions Lord as thou seest best for me so do thou deale with me this shewes the excellency that there is in spirituall things above outward things surely spiritual things are more to be desired for they are to be prayed for absolutly and the others to be prayed for only conditionally That 's for the first In the second place We are to pray for our owne good God doth give us leave to do so onely here comes in a Question Quest Whether it be sinfull to pray for afflictions as somtimes some will be ready to do Answ To that I answer frist Take it absolutely considered we may not pray that God would afflict us because afflione is in its self materially an evil thing and a fruit of the curse therefore we may not I say absolutely pray for it but thus far we may pray for afflictions disjunctively conditionally comparatively Disjunctively thus Lord either grant unto me a sanctified use of such a mercie or otherwise let me rather be without it let me have a sanctified use of my siknes or otherwise let my sickness be continued to me thus now you may pray for continuing in sickness Or thus conditionally ' Lord if thou seest that my heart be so vile and wretched that I will abuse through my corruption such and such mercies Lord rather take them from me and let me be without them if thou seest that there be no way to break this proud heart of mine but such a way Lord let that be thy way to break it if thou seest it according to thy will as the fittest way Then comparatively thus Lord rather let me have any afffiction then sin rather let me suffer loss of my estate than sin against thee than depart from thee any thing Lord rather than sin Thus you may pray for afflictions but not absolutly You must not pray that God would send you afflictions absolutely for you do not know your hearts it may be if afflictions should come your hearts may be as stubborn under your afflictions as they are now for affliction hath no power in it self to do us any good And then for the good of others for Christ teaches us to pray Our Father c. There comes in here a rebuke of the wicked practice of divers in cursing and then a question about it It is a wicked thing to use curses but it 's a most wicked thing to wish evil to others in way of prayer yet how manie doe so though it may be they do not think it they speak to God and desire him to bring such and such evils upon their neighbors yea somtimes parents upon their children this is a wicked practice of men what is it not wickedness enough for thee to have any desire that there should any evil befall thy brother but wilt thou dare to presume to call God to be an instrument of the execution of thy base sinfull wrath that God must be a drudg as it were to thy wrath and to thy passion this is abominable wickedness Any of you that ever have been guilty of this sin of cursing others Wives Children Servants or Friends the Lord rebuke you for this sin how far hast thou been from sanctifying Gods Name in Prayer whereas instead of sanctifying the holy Name of God thou hast called God to be a servant and a drudg to thy passion God must be call'd to help the venting of thy passion Oh! remember this you that have been at Sea and have been angry and things not going according to your mind have fallen a cursing and wishing such and such evils might come upon those you are angrie with that 's a kind of prayer but it 's a most fearful taking the Name of God in vain in the highest degree and certainlie God will not hold him guiltless that shall so take his Name in vain therefore be humbled for this sin Object But you will say Do not we reade in the Book of Psalms where many times the Prophet David doth curse the Enemies of God and wishes evil to come upon them Answ To that I answer First That the Prophet and those that pen'd the Psalms they had a prophetical spirit and those places that you reade that are in a way of cursing they are rather prophetical predictions of evil than direful imprecations they are rather fore-telling what shall be in a way of prophesie than wishing what should be Secondly If they be wishing what should be then I answer That those which were endued with such a prophetical spirit they did know who were
the implacable enemies of God and who were not as David praied against Judas so many hundred yeers before he was born by a prophetical spirit he knew that he was the child of perdition indeed if we could certainly know a man that were to be a cast-away eternallie from God it were another matter As the Church in the time of Julian because of his Apostasie being so abominable it was determined almost generally by them that he had committed the sin against the holy Ghost and upon that they curs'd him Now I say those that had an extraordinarie spirit that did know who these were they might do it but this is no example for us in an ordinarie way to wish evil and curses upon others But thus far we may do with the Enemies of the Church First We may curse them disjunctively Lord either take them out of the way or keep them that they may not do such mischief in the Church or thus conditionally If thou seest Lord that they be implacable thou knowest them if so let thy wrath and curse pursue them Lord thou seest what evil they are set upon and therefore rather than they should attain their mischievous designs let thy wrath and curse pursue them so we may do it but not absolutely to curse any though they should do us never so much wrong we are called to blessing But now in zeal to God take heed that we be not carried on in our own passion but being sure it is zeal to God we may wish the curses of God to pursue those that God knows to be implacable this is but an appealing to God and not at all fastning it upon any particular persons that we know but leaving it unto God for the execution of it and so in a zeal to the Glory of God we may do it and we are warranted so to do by the second Petition Thy Kingdom come for that Petition that requires us to pray for the coming of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ doth also require that we should pray against all means that hinder the coming of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ so that every time that the Church praies Thy Kingdom come or any praies Thy Kingdom come they do as much as say O Lord Do thou set thy self against all the Enemies of thy Kingdom if they belong to thy Election Lord convert them but otherwise Lord confound them Now thus we see how we are to sanctifie the Name of God in Prayer in regard of the Matter of the Prayer but now for the Manner of Prayer The most things I confess are there First When we come to prayer we must be sure to pray with understanding 1 Cor. 14. 15. What is it then I will pray with the Spirit and will pray with understanding also God doth not love the Sacrifice of fools we must not come babling to God in prayer to speak we know not what and to multiply words we know not wherefore but God doth require that those that come to prayer come with understanding that they offer to God a rational a reasonable an understanding sacrifice God is a Spirit and he will be worshiped in Spirit and in Truth now as it belongs to all other duties of Worship so especially in prayer to know what we do when we pray not to think to put off God with a meer emptie sound that 's the first thing The Second thing in the manner of Prayer it is The giving up all the faculties of our souls in it I spake to that in the Worship of God in general we shall apply it now particularly to prayer the giving up not only our understandings but wills thoughts affections strength in prayer in 2 Chron. 20. 3. it is said of Jehoshaphat that he set himself to seek the Lord he did give his whol self to seek the Lord we are to give our whol self and not to divide in Prayer Now this were an argument that indeed might well take up a whol Sermon in shewing the evil of the wandering of our spirits in prayer we should take heed of the wandering of our spirits in the hearing of the Word and receiving the Sacraments and so in prayer the people of God are much troubled with the wandering of their thoughts both in Word and Sacrament and it is their great burden and should be so but I never hear any more complainings of the wandering of their spirits than in the time of prayer the people of God are much pestered in their spirits with this evil it is very grievous unto them and many of them go under it as a grievous burden all their daies the chiefest burden that is upon their spirits is their wandering in prayer so that if God should speak to them as he spake unto Solomon and bade him ask what he should give him I verily beleeve there are many in this Congregation that have already good assurance of Gods love in Christ if they had not that that would be the main thing that they would ask but having attained that if God would speak from Heaven and say What shall I give you for your selves if he should ask you in the general it may be you would ask something for the Churches but if it be for your selves you would put up this Petition Oh Lord that I may be delivered from a wandring spirit in holy duties and especially in the dutie of Prayer that I may thereby come to enjoy more holy communion with thy self than ever yet I enjoied and they would account this to be a greater mercie than if God should give them to be Kings or Queens over the whol world if God should put these two into the ballance Either the whol world to possess or otherwise to have more free hearts in coming to God in prayer and to be delivered from that which hath so much hindred ther Communion with God in prayer they would despise and scorn the world in comparison of such a mercie as this is howsoever carnal hearts they think little of it but those that are the Servants of God they find it to be very grievous to them but being the time is past I shall reserve that to speak yet a little more largely for the help of those that are under the burden of it I 'le only speak one thing further now and that shall be to those that are wicked and vile and not only have vain wandring thoughts in prayer but even in the very dutie of prayer manie times have wicked and ungodly thoughts how horrible are they unclean thoughts murderous thoughts it may be and most abominable I confess even those which are godlie may somtimes have some blasphemous thoughts cast into them for the Devil is never more busie than at the time of prayer but they rather come from the Devil than from the stream and corruption of their own hearts which may be we may make out more cleerlie afterward but now I speak to such as have most wicked