Perfections but to have thy Imperfections supplied Thou comest not hither to boast of thy Cleanness but to be washed from their Sins Thou comest not hither to glory in thy Merits but to receive an Alms at thy great Master's Hands his Grace his Love his Compassion will make thee worthy Thou comest not to give him an Account of thy Riches but as an hungry Beggar that wants Bread to feed on the hidden Manna All that is required of thee is to look upon thy Redeemer as thy greatest Friend and to use him like a Friend to make his Friendship an Enforcive to love him and so to love him as to hearken to his Counsels to be govern'd by his Directions to bid farewel to all things that will destroy that Friendship to repent of thy Unkindnesses to him and to prefer his Advice before that of Flesh and Blood to hearken to his Instructions more than to the false Suggestions of the World and so to remember that thy Sins have contributed to his Crucifixion as to punish them with Frowns and Mortifications If thou art willing to this he will supply thy Defects he will satisfie thy hungry Soul he will feed thee from his Storehouse and make thy Soul Partaker of his purchased Possession Let not thy Unworthiness discourage thee 'T is confessed thou art a poor vile Worm a Sinner a wretched Creature not worthy of the least of all his Mercies not worthy to be taken notice of not worthy of the least Glimpse of his Favour but still if he is pleased to count and esteem thee worthy it is Contempt of his Love if thou dost not accept of this gracious Offer and come and liâ—t up thine Hands towards his holy Oracle If thou wilt but look upon thy Sins as Enemies and if they do assault thee wilt vigorously oppose thy self against their Attempts and if they do surprize thee once or twice wilt renew thy Courage against them and do any thing rather than yield to them and set up this Resolution in thy Heart that the Lord shall be thy God thou shalt be worthy he will give thee Grace which shall make thee worthy His Flesh shall nourish thy Soul his Blood shall enrich the Ground of thy Heart his Presence shall give thee Life his Assistance will make thee spiritual his Spirit will enable thee to rejoyce in him that made thee make thee a worthy Conqueror worthy of the Tree of Life and worthy of that Pardon he hath purchased for thee on the Cross when in his own Body he bore thy Sins upon the Tree that thou being dead to Sin mightest live unto God III. Among the various sorts of Persons that are loth to come to this holy Sacrament those betray strange Imprudence as well as Obstinacy that are loth to part with their Sins and therefore are loth to come for fear they should eat and drink unworthily and make themselves guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord and eat and drink their won Damnation But O Generation of Vipers Who hath told you that this is the way to escape the Wrath to come Who hath been so wise as to inform you that this way you may flee from the Indignation of the Lord In what Scripture have you read that your not coming to this Sacrament because you are loth to prophane it by your Sins will save you from Perdition 'T is very true and you are in the right when you suppose that your Refractoriness to Reformation and Amendment makes you unworthy Receivers But can you imagine that you are ever a whit the safer for not coming Will not the Sins you live and continue in do your Work for you and make you Heirs of Damnation The wilful Neglect of this Sacrament is a damnable Sin And can you think that your not coming will make your Condition more easie and tolerable 'T is true you pretend you will not prophane it and therefore do not come You are sensible it requires Reformation and because your Circumstances will not permit you to lead better Lives you are loth to add to your Danger by eating and drinking unworthily But when your not coming to this Sacrament makes you miserable as well as your coming and receiving unworthily 't is strange that the Point of adding some Grains to the Bulk of your Misery should make you afraid of coming I will not deny but Eating and Drinking unworthily doth in some measure aggravate the Evil a Man lives in because he adds Scorn to his Impiety but as long as his Impenitence without coming and his coming unworthily do both involve him in the Danger of Damnation it is a foolish Plea to preted you dare not come for fear of aggravating your Condemnation as if Damnation were tolerable and the Degrees of it only intolerable But we see what you drive at You hope some time before you die and when you will not have those Opportunities of sinning that now you have you may receive it and save your Souls at last But to hear Men talk of what they shall do hereafter when they have not one Minute of their Lives at their Command is so ridiculous that it needs no Answer This is certain your Sins are sweet and your evil Lives make you fit to live in the World and therefore you will not come But will this Argument hold Water do you think when God shall plead with you Surely your Sins are very precious things that you dare refuse coming to this holy Ordinance for them The Scripture calls them Filth and Poyson for so they are in the Eyes of an holy God And are they dearer to you than the Love of God They are perfect Leprosie And had had you rather be full of Sores and Boyls than come hither to be made clean They crucified your Saviour And will you keep that which murther'd him They are the Disgrace and Reproach of your Souls And will you delight in your Infamy They are the things that separate betwixt a glorious God and you And will you uphold that fatal Distance and Separation They exclude you from the Kingdom of Heaven And will you be content with that Exclusion Are you wise and understanding Men And will you not open your Eyes and see your Danger What do you call Contempt of God if this be not it What do you call slighting of Incomprensible Mercy if this do not deserve that Name Can you hope for God's Pardon at last that refuse to accept of it in this Ordinance Do you believe you have Souls and that it is your Interest to secure them against Mischief And will you prefer a few airy volatile Joys before their Safety Sinner When is it that thou dost intend to reform Is it when an angry God looks thee in the Face and an evil Conscience upon thy Death-bed presages thy future Torments Is it possible that an offended God will then fly into thy Embraces whom thou didst not care for all thy Days Behold in this
wise indeed when I shall learn to submit my self to thy infinite Wisdom then shall I know thee the only true God and him whom thou hast sent Jesus Christ to whom with thee O Father and the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory for ever and ever Amen CHAP. XXVI Of Preparatory Devotions and Aspirations fit to be used in Private before we come to the Holy Sacrament The CONTENTS The conveniency of using Devotions suitable to this Holy Sacrament the Week before we Receive Prayers and Aspirations relating to the Afflictions of Christ to Christ's readiness to comfort Persons diseased and in distress to his Praying for his Disciples and those that should believe in his Name c. THough all the preceeding Prayers are nothing but preparatory Devotions and may be used as such yet for varieties sake which may be as delightful in spiritual as it is in temporal Things I shall add some other aspirations and breathings of the Soul after God in this Chapter as preparatives for the Worthy Receiving of the Holy Communion Extraordinary occasions as I have said often and short warnings when a Friend of Neighbour is indisposed and requires our presence and help and joyning with him in the devout use of this Ordinance may oblige us to alter our method but where no considerable impediment straitens us in Time it will be convenient the Week before we Receive besides our standing Devotions to address our selves to God in Supplications as both relate and are subservient to the great Work we intend for And such are the following Aspirations whereof one or two may be used together with our daily Devotion I. O wonderful Saviour What Afflictions hast thou suffered for me Heat and Cold Hunger and Thirst Labour and Miseries Give me an Heart to receive from thy hands chearfully all kind of Adversity Give me that excellent temper which was in thy Apostles whereby they rejoyced in Tribulation and counted it Honourable and Glorious that they had any thing to lose for thy sake I intend to look upon thy sufferings in the Blessed Sacrament O let the sight work upon me that I may be contented to suffer joyfully for thy sake II. Great Prince of Peace Who in thy Converse with Men tookest all opportunities to comfort the distressed and didst most mercifully cure their Diseases Give me a great sense of the Afflictions of my Neighbours that I may have as great a feeling of their miseries as if they were mine own and be ready to help them according to my ability I am going to behold in the Blessed Sacrament what Miracles thou hast wrought for me O let me not come away from thence without working a Miracle upon my Soul III. Great Counsellor of my Soul Who at thy leaving the World didst in Prayer recommend thy Disciples and those that through their means should believe in thy Name to thy Heavenly Father's Care Let me find the benefit of thy intercession Preserve me from this evil World and keep me by thy Truth Take care of my Soul that I may not be lost in the Wilderness of this World in the Holy Sacrament which I mean to be partaker of assure me of that care and that thou wilt not leave me nor forsake me IV. O thou who art Alpha and Omâ—ga the Beginning and the end Who didst suffer thy self to be laid hold of by the Sacrilegious hands of thy furious Enemies and when they bound thee didst not revenge their injuries but spake mildly to them Give me Grace to shew my self loving and mild to all mine Enemies to pardon them from my Heart and to look upon them as Ministers of thy Will and promoters of my Salvation To this end let the Holy Sacrament I intend to take strengthen my Soul that I may become conformable to thee in doing good to them that hate me V. O Thou who art a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchisedeck who didst seck me when when I was a stranger to thee and calledst me when I knew thee not Now I know thee let nothing satisfie me but thy self Give me a flaming Heart a chearful Mind and an enlighten'd understanding O give me thy self for nothing less will content my weary Soul I will seek thee in the Holy Sacrament O let me find thee and say to me In the day of Salvation have I succour'd thee VI. O my compassionate Saviour whose Bowels yearn over the Penitent My Soul is miserable if it loves thee not or if it continues to love the World O let my Soul rest in thee and contemplate thee and shew forth thy Praises and be thou my Song in the House of my Pilgrimage O thou who art rich in Goodness Redeem this poor Captive give Meat to my hungry Soul even the Meat which came down from Heaven In the Holy Sacrament let me find it that I may live and not dye VII O thou who art the only life of my Soul I invite thee to my House I confess a shatter'd a broken and a ruinous House But be thou intreated to rebuild and beautifie it with thy Salvation Set up thy Kingdom in it and make my Flesh obedient to my Soul my Soul to Reason my Reason to Faith my Faith to thy Will Enlarge my Mind loose me from my bonds and let the effects of my coming to the Holy Sacrament be that I may become a Servant of Righteousness and may relish no Wisdom but what is from above VIII O my Redeemer kind unspeakable kind to poor Sinners I am going to remember the great Mystery of thy Death and Passion Establish my Mind with the sweetness of thy Presence Let my Soul feel that thou enterest into her and rejoyce before thee O Sacred Fire which always burnest O Love which always shinest shine in my Soul and Sanctifie that Vessel Empty it of Vanity fill it with thy Grace and keep it full till it be made worthy to Receive the fulness of Joy at thy right Hand for evermore IX O powerful Mediator Thy Love is sweeter than Honey more nourishing than Milk Rule my Soul direct my Understanding animate my Love attract my Heart and let it thirst after the Rivers of thy Pleasures Appease the tumults of my Flesh hush the noise of my Worldly Affections and let my participation of thy Love in the Blessed Sacrament give me confidence that where my Head and Master Reigns and Lives there shall I Reign and Live for ever X. Great lover of Mankind To love thee is a great thing Even so to love thee as to think of thee with delight to relish nothing like thee and to be conformable to thy Will O! Let this Love dwell in me Let this Love captivate my Soul By this Love let me be united to thee Let this good Angel visit me In the Holy Sacrament let this Love be setled in me that my angry turbulent covetous mistrustful and impatient Thoughts may cease and I may feel that calm which those that do entirely
love thee feel XI O Saviour Gentle as the Spirit that in the shape of a Dove lighted on thy Sacred Head Teach me that Meekness which look'd so amiable in thy Life Expel the evil Spirits of Wrath Anger and Pride and Envy out of my Soul Speak the word and these Winds and Waves will obey thee Let thy gentleness make me great When I shall have overcome my wrathful and proud Inclinations and O! let the Sacrament I am going to help me in the Conquest then shall I be great and glorious in thy sight XII Great Shepherd of my Soul whose Wounds are full of Sweetness full of Mercy full of Charity Let thy Wounds prove the most powerful Remedies to rid me of my Corruptions When any impure Thoughts rise in me let thinking of thy Wounds crush them when sluggishness in Religion assaults me let thy Wounds and the remembrance of them make me vigilant in thy service and when in the Holy Sacrament I think of thy Wounds let all my vain imaginations expire XIII Great Friend of my immortal Soul Such a friend is not to be found in all the World as thou hast been to me for thou hast laid down thy Life for me O let me make much of thy friendship and cherish it by being meek and humble and merciful and patient as thou wert that thou mayest be my Friend when I dye and after Death receive me to thy self O confirm and seal thy Friendship to my Soul in the Blessed Sacrament and let the same Spirit move in me which raised thee from the dead XIV O Thou who hast wash'd me from my Sins with thine own Blood chuse I beseech thee my Heart for thy Dwelling place adorn and replenish it with thy Gifts and Graces make me to loath all transitory things make me poor in Spirit cure in me the itch of self-Self-love throw down all pride and eagerness after the Riches of this World and make the Holy Sacrament I am going to a mean to adore thee in Spirit and in Truth and to persevere in Goodness to the end XV. Great Comforter of all weary and laden Souls Circumcise my Heart from all evil Thoughts and Words and Actions and Comunicate thy self unto me that I may never be separated from thee or ever be deprived of thy Comfort Draw my Soul after thee in the Holy Sacrament and let that Blessed Ordinance powerfully stir up my Heart to love thee XVI O Thou who art the door of thy Sheepfold By thee let me have access to thy Father's Love And as in the Holy Sacrament thou openest thy Bosom to me so let me run and seek shelter there Chain me to thy self by Bands of Love and let no Temptation defile me O keep me that I may never cowardly faint at any adversity XVII Thou who hast endured contradictions of Sinners against thy self Be thou ever in my mind and teach me to bear Calumnies and Reproaches with great tranquility of Mind Let me refer all difficulties to thee and with silence expect thy Grace and Comfort and let the Blessed Sacrament so influence my Soul that I may fear none but thee XVIII Great Captain of my Salvation I am going to learn to fight the good fight in the Blessed Sacrament of thy Love Let thy great example there encourage me to fight against all Ambition and Ostentation against Censoriousness and Uncharitableness against all Intemperance and Gluttony against all proud and covetous Thoughts against Guile and Hypocrisie against discontentedness and misitrinst of thy Providence Against such Enemies give me grace to fight over these let me triumph that having striven lawfully I may at last be admitted to the Glorious sight of thy Sweet Self and be charm'd with thy Love for ever CHAP. XXVII Of the proper Acts of Devotion when we come to the Holy Table The CONTENTS Private Acts of Devotion must be forborn while the Congregation joyns in common Addresses to Almighty God General Acts of Devotion relating to the wonderful Love of Christ and our Love to him Particular Acts of Devotion at the Consecration and Receiving of the holy Symbols I. THE following Acts are fittest to be used before the Prayers of the Church usual at the Communion do begin or before the Minister of the Ordinance comes to us with the sacred Symbols and while others are Communicating II. While the Minister of the Ordinance is engaged in the Prayers of the Church these Ejaculations must be forborn our Duty during the publick Devotions being to joyn with the Congregation in their common Addresses to God These Acts of Devotion are either General or Particular The General I call those which respect the Love of the Lord Jesus The Particular those which are to be exercised at the Consecration and Receiving of the Consecrated Bread and Wine General Acts of Devotion at the Lord's Table I. GReat Saviour of the World Thou art infinitely amiable worthy to be loved by all to whose Ears the joyful Message of thy Love doth come I rejoyce in the Knowledge of thy Love I count my self happy that I am born under the Shadow of thy Gospel in which thy wonderful Love to the Children of Men is manifested I desire no other Knowledge 'T is enough that I know thou hast loved me beyond Example I desire to count all things Dross and Dung for the Excellency of the Knowledge of Christ. II. O my Jesus I am not worthy to love thee Yet because thou biddest me love thee and hast told me that my Soul was created on purpose to love thee I chearfully resign my Love and Affection to thee I desire to love thee I wish for nothing more than that I may passionately love thee Whom have I in Heaven to love but thee And there is none on Earth that I desire to love more than thy self For thou art altogether lovely and thy Love surpasses all the Love of Friends and the dearest Relations I have III. O my blessed Redeemer I desire to love thee with all my Heart and with all my Strength Thou gavest me this Heart and this Strength And on whom can I bestow it better than on thee the Author of it Oh that all that is within me might be turned into Desires and Inclinations and Sighs and Languishings and Breathings after thee For I cannot express what thou hast done for me What thou hast done for me is beyond all the Kindness that the greatest Men ever did or can do for the meanest and poorest Creatures IV. Great Advocate of my Soul Thou seest my Desire to love thee Make it strong and powerful Take a Coal from the Altar and give it Fire that nothing may hinder the Flame from mounting up that nothing may weaken this Desire nothing may break it nothing may tire it nothing may mingle with it that is unclean or contrary to thy Love V. Great Object of my Desires Make me a Martyr of thy Love Make me willing even to die for love of thee Raise a
THE Crucified Jesus OR A full ACCOUNT OF THE Nature End Design and Benefits OF THE SACRAMENT OF THE LORDS SUPPER With Necessary DIRECTIONS PRAYERS Praises and Meditations To be used by Persons who come to the HOLY COMMUNION By ANTHONY HORNECK D. D. Chaplain in Ordinary to Their Majesties The Third Edition Corrected and Amended In the SAVOY Printed for Samuel Lowndes over-against Exeter-Change in the Strand 1695. ΑΓÎΩΣΤΩ ΕΥΕΡΓΕΤΗ TO THE Unknown Benefactor SIR THE following Discourse being the substance of several Sermons Preach'd at your desire and incouragement before the Monthly Sacraments though I am ignorant who you are and what part of the City or Country you live in yet I thought it my Duty to let the Publick know that there is such a Man in the World who is desirous to do good and loves not to be known This Treatise you have a proper Title too not only as one whose Hearts desire is to see the Church of England flourish but as a Benefactor too and to have Dedicated it to any other Person had been injurious to your Character You were sensible how backward the generality are to come to the Holy Communion how much ground the Church and Christianity it self loses by this stupid negligence of it's pretended Votaries and how not a few absent themselves for want of understanding the true nature and design of this Blessed Sacrament and therefore justly thought that if by a previous Monthly Sermon Mens Hearts were warm'd into consideration of the Use and Necessity of this Ordinance the Mists which hitherto have clouded their Vnderstandings would be dispell'd and they become acquainted with their Duâ—y which was the cause of your exciting me to this Publick Service Your Judgment hath not fail'd you for since these Religious Exercises have been among us abundance of Persons who before look'd upon their coming to the Holy Table either as indifferent or unnecessary or unseasonable have through the Blessing of God bethought themselves considered the Obligations that the mighty Work of Redemption lays upon them and conscientiously applyed themselves to the frequent Use of this Universal Medicine And all I can tell you for your incouragement is this That as we owe the beginning and progress of these Monthly Sermons to your Zeal and Influence so you will have a share both in the good that 's done by them and in the Rewards of those who are thereby brought to a serious sense of the wonderful Love of God in Christ Jesus It was a publick good you design'd by your munificence and that which makes the Pious Work the greater is that you do not care your left hand should know what your right hand doth The Almighty hath enrich'd your Heart with the Noblest Charity even with that to the Souls of Men an Emplâ—yment which God himself disdains not to travel in and what are all the Angels of Heaven but Ministring Spirits sent forth to be helpful unto those that shall be Heirs of Salvation Nothing is more pleasing to God than to be instrumental in bringing many Sons unto Glory and though you are no publick Orator yet you help towards Mens Conversion and in employing others to rouze them from their Spiritual slumber your Self have a hand in their Reformation And by that means Preach though you be not in Orders yet without offence to the Law and at the same time observe the Canons of the Church and win Souls without being engaged in the Sacred Function Some Criticks think that S. Paul in his Address to the Athenians doth not find fault with but commends them for Erecting an Altar To the unknown God and if so I hope none will blame me for raising this Monument To an unknown Benefactor Good Works are the sweetest Incense that can be laid upon God's Altar and though some that have concealed their Names have been discover'd by the Charitable Deeds done by them yet yours are so order'd that though for some time you have thus generously employ'd part of your means to advance this publick Good yet still you are a stranger to me and in that happier than the Roman Senator who hiding himself in the time of Proscription his Perfumes betrayed him May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath already touch'd your Heart with a sense of his Glory enrich you with all Spiritual Blessings and make you to abound more and more in Faith in Love and in all Goodness May that Great Shepherd of Souls enlighten your Understanding with greater brightness raise your Soul above this transitory World teach you to despise the things that are seen and fill you with earnest longings after those which are not seen that after having serv'd your Generation here your Immortal part may be admitted to the Enjoyment and Embraces of the Holy Trinity the Festivals of Seraphim to Mount Sion to the City of the Living God to the innumerable Company of Angels to the general Assembly of the First-born which are written in Heaven to the Spirits of Men made perfect and to Jesus the Mediator of the New Testament whose Blood speaks better things than that of Abel So wishes SIR Your Affectionate Friend And Servant ANTH. HORNECK THE PREFACE THE vast number of Books about the Sacrament of the Eucharist as it shews the richness of the Subject so it discovers the Zeal and Industry of good Men to uphold the power of Religion in these perilous times as they are call'd by the Apostle of the Gentiles And indeed if we consider the influence this Ordinance hath yet on Men who have not altogether sold themselves to do Evil and are not gone so far as to make a mock of Religion it is no small motive to busie our selves in recommending and pressing the frequent use of it I look upon it as a special Providence of God that in this Iron Age wherein Men have made a shift to baffle all the Rules of Discipline they have yet some Reverence for this Ordinance insomuch that if we can oblige them to make use of it we may entertain great hopes of their future sobriety and seriousness The generality shun it because they are loth to shake hands with their looser lives and they are sensible that the use of this Ordinance and a disorderly Conversation are things inconsistent and incompatible and therefore could we perswade them to come we might promise our selves a rich and plentiful Harvest there being nothing more likely than the fruitfulness of that Ground which is water'd with the Blood of Jesus What I publish here is in order to make good my promise in a lesser Piece call'd The Fire of the Altar and when a Man hath once either rashly or premeditately made himself a Debtor to the Publick I think it is Justice and good Manners if he be able to discharge the Obligation I do not hereby discourage the Reader from perusing other Mens Labours He 'll possibly think there is no danger but desire only to
And from hence flows the joyful Exclamation of the Apostle Gal. 2. 20. Nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ lives in me and the Life I now live I live by Faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me For this Faith enlightens the Soul gives it clear Apprehensions of Christ's Love makes her active and lively and teaches her to overcome the World 1 John 5. 4. 4. This Remembrance is making Approaches to Heaven and Eternal Happiness Every fresh Remembrance is another Step to Paradise What an Encouragement is this to come to the holy Sacrament Every time we thus remember the Death of Christ we get nearer to the Throne on which the victorious Son of God sits triumphing over Hell and Devils For the oftner he is remembred thus the more our Souls are elevated and become more spiritual in their Aspirations and the farther we proceed in Grace the nearer we come to Glory Heaven in Scripture is compared to an Hill and is the Mount where God is seen Every time we come to the Table of our Lord and remember him thus we climb higher and mount up with Wings as Eagles till at last we reach the Top where there is a perfect Calm no Air no Wind no Tempest no infectious Breath to disturb the Conquerors IV. But though the Death of Christ be the chief Object of our Remembrance at this holy Table yet that is no Argument but that we may lawfully remember some other Things relating to his Person or Greatness or Holiness particularly 1. His Divine Life before he was Incarnate A Life which no mortal Tongue can describe A Life in the Explication of which the blessed Cheruhims themselves must fall short A Life known to none but to him who knows all who hath Life in himself and is the Life and the Father of the Spirits of all Flesh. How truly might he say to the Jews Joh. 8. 58. Before Abraham was I am He was indeed from all Eternity lived in the Bosom of the Everlasting Father and his Life was most pure some holy most peaceable most pleasant most glorious A Life of infinite Content of infinite Satisfaction of infinite Joy and of infinite Love A Life spent in Eternal Love of the great Fountain of Divinity the express Image of which he was A Life employed in kind Thoughts to poor Mortals and in Divine Contrivances how their Misery might be retriv'd their Bands loosen'd their Dangers overcome their Enemies vanquished and their Souls advanced to Celestial Mansions A Life undisturbed by the Noise of Wars unacquainted with Tumults free from all Annoyances unmolested by the Disorders of a giddy and confused World A Life of Eternal Calmness which no Waves no Billows no Wind no Storms no Tempests could discompose A Life of perfect Serenity and immense Sweetness A Life employed in the Eternal and Incomprehensible Enjoyment of his own Perfections and which the inspired King gives us a very lofty Description of Prov. 1. This life Christ lived before he was pleased to visit this benighted World with his healing Beams and it concerns us to remember this Life that from that Consideration his Humiliation in coming to dwell among us may appear in livelier Colours 2. To this may be added His laborious Life here on Earth after he was Incarnate A Life despicable from his Infancy contemptible from his Cradle A Life of Poverty a Life of great Misery of Distress and a Thousand Inconveniencies A Life he lived to let us know that the meanest and most miserable outward Condition is no Lett or Impediment to our being beloved and esteemed in Heaven A Life he lived to shew with what Patience and Courage we are to bear the Troubles that a merciful God lays or sends upon us A Life he lived to declare to his Disciples that through many Afflictions they are to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and are not to promise themselves great Ease and Rest here but are to look for a Recompence in the Resurrection of the Just A Life employed in doing good to shew that we are not to be idle here but to busie our selves in that Work which will give the greatest Satisfaction even working out our own Salvation with Fear and Trembling A Life he lived for our sakes to facilitate our Access to Pardon and the Throne of Mercy A Life he lived to make our Lives comfortable and the Remembrance of this Life must needs inhaunce our Esteem of his unparallell'd Goodness who could and would deny himself both in the Glory of his Divinity and the Comforts of this present Life for our Good and the Welfare of our Souls The Preceding Considerations reduced to Practice I. CHrist's Example makes it lawful to set up Monuments of Mercies and to preserve the Memory of any signal Deliverance or Providence either by External Symbols or by keeping Anniversaries and Days of Devotion Indeed this was a very ancient Practice countenanced by God and warranted by his Approbation It was from hence that Moses preserved a Pot of Manna to put After-Generations in mind how God had fed his People in the Wilderness And Moses said This is the thing which the Lord commandeth Fill an Omer of it to be kept for your Generations that they may see the Bread wherewith I have fed you in the Wilderness when I brought you forth out of the Land of Egypt Exod. 16. 32. It was from hence that Aaron's Rod budding blossoming and bearing Fruit was kept in the Ark to tell Posterity how miraculously the Priestood was established in the Line of Aaron and for a Token against the Rebels as the Holy Ghost speaks Numb 17. 10. It was from hence that Joshua commanded Twelve Stones to be taken out of the River Jordan That this says he may be a Sign among you that when your Children ask their Fathers in time to come saying What mean you by these Stones Then ye shall answer them That the Waters of Jordan were cut off before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord when it passed over Jordan And these Stones shall be for a Memorial unto the Children of Israel for ever Josh. 4. 6 7. In imitation of these Precedents the Jewish Church afterward of their own Accord unanimously agreed to keep an Anniversary to remember their Deliverance from the Rage of Haman Esth. 9. 17. Both Eusebius and Sozomen tells us of a Statue which the Woman who was cured by our Saviour of her Bloody Issue erected to his Honour at Caesarea which lasted a considerable time till Julian the Apostate pulled it down and erected his own in the room of it After such Examples who can think it unlawful for a private Christian to keep either a Fast or a Day of Thanksgiving when either some signal Affliction hath befallen him or some remarkable Mercy hath happen'd to him and to spend that Day in Exercises of Devotion whereby he may either work his Soul into greater Detestation of
Engagements and Promises to be true and faithful to that God who bought them at so dear a price as the Blood and Death of his own Son but in actual drinking of it profess and declare that in case they prove false and treacherous to their great Confederate break their promise wilfully and allow themselves in it that they deserve that everlasting Death and Damnation from which that Blood was intended to deliver them and besides it is a tacit imprecation too if they be not true to their Engagements that then those Agonies and Miseries and dreadful Death the Son of God endured shall fall to their share and portion which illustrates the Apostles saying 1 Cor. 11. 29. He that Eats and Drinks unworthily Eats and Drinks Damnation to himself But of this I shall have occasion to Treat professedly in the sequel III. There is frequent mention made in Scripture of the Old and New Covenant By the Old is meant the Covenant or Compact God by the Ministry of Moses made with the Israelites as they were a Common-wealth whereof God himself was pleas'd to be the King and President This Covenant was fitted to the slavish temper of the People God had to deal withal and as God promised them temporal Felicity eating the Good of the Land a plentiful Harvest increase of their Kine and Cattle full Barns and a rich Vintage multitude of Children and protection from their temporal Enemies so it requir'd in the Consederates or Jewish People an exact compliance of their outward Man with the Precepts Laws and Statutes God appointed and gave them The New Covenant is that Contract which God makes with Mankind in Christ Jesus wherein he promises to admit sincere Believers into his special Favour and for Christ's sake to bestow upon them the riches of Grace and Glory and on our side requires renouncing all Love to a sinful Life and resignation of our Souls Spirits and Bodies to his Will and Government It 's call'd New in opposition to the Civil or Political Covenant God made with the Jewish People as they were a Nation immediately under his Jurisdiction for both the Promises and Obedience under that Dispensation were different from the Promises and Obedience of the other one promising only Temporal Blessings and requiring External Obedience the other promising Spiritual and Eternal Blessings and requiring Internal and sincere Obedience and though the New Covenant which God makes with the People under the Gospel had its beginning already in Adam's time immediately after the Fall and was again publish'd in the days of Abraham Yet notwithstanding all this it may justly be call'd New because of the clear and fuller Revelation of it when Christ the foundation of it appear'd and by his Death confirm'd all the Predictions Prophecies Types and Prefigurations of it before and under the Law of Moses for then was made a new publication of it new Witnesses were made use of and new Motives and Encouragements were given and new Sacraments as Seals of that Covenant were added And this New Covenant the Blood or Wine the Embleme of it in the Holy Sacrament of the Lord's Supper relates to and he that drinks of that Wine or Blood represented by it confirms that Covenant professes that he approves of it will stand to it and acknowledges the justness of his threatnings denounced against those who count this Blood of the Covenant an unholy thing Even the Civil and Political Covenant which God made with the People of the Jews was solemnized by Blood which is the reason of that passage Exod. 24. 7 8. And Moses took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the audience of the People and they said All that the Lord hath said will we do And Moses took the Blood and sprinkled it on the People and said Behold the Blood of the Covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words And as in their suffering themselves to be sprinkled with that Blood they declared their unfeigned assent and consent to the conditions of that Covenant and profess'd that it was just with God to inflict death and ruine upon them if they did not study to obey that Covenant so in the New Testament in this Holy Sacrament those that come to be Partakers of it are sprinkled as it were with the invaluable Blood of Christ and by that own their hearty consent to the Conditions of the New Covenant and ratifie their Obedience and God's Promises and Threatnings too which are the Sanctions of this Covenant IV. In this Covenant the Parties concern'd are God and Man yet from hence no Person is to conclude that God stood in need of this Alliance We indeed had need of it and it was our Interest that God should do so His vouchsafing to come to such a Contract speaks his Goodness and there is not a greater Argument of his Clemency and Compassion He could have been Great Glorious and Magnificent without us and what need had he of the Friendship of such miserable Creatures as we are that was All in All His Excellency and Beatitude receive no addition by this Covenant and what had it been to him if we had been left in the common mass of Corruption and Perdition What could he have lost by our Eternal Groans or what disparagement could it have been to him to let us sink into the Gulph when our Sins and Offences were the meritorious cause of it It shews his infinite Goodness and condescention that he will enter into promises and engagements with his Creatures and we are Brutes if the thoughts of his Mercy in this particular do not force our Tongues to break forth into admiration of it Our Misery and Wretchedness required such a favour and without it we must have been as great strangers to happiness as we were to power and ablility to help our selves Commisseration to our Poverty and undone Condition moved the Almighty to come to terms with us and this Covenant is our advantage and emolument God gets no profit by it and though it is a publication of his Goodness and proclaims the Wonders of his Loving-kindness yet God might have found out other ways to manifest that and it 's we that are the Gainers by this Contract V. In this Covenant God must not be considered only as an infinite most perfect and most excellent Being but more particularly under that threefold Relation of 〈◊〉 Son and Holy-Ghost Man also is not only to be looked upon as Gods Creature but as a Sinner fallen from God apostatiz'd from Righteousness and standing in need of Gods Help Assistance Grace and Reconciliation and as one who of a Child of Wrath is to be made a Child of God of an Enemy a Friend of an Heir of Hell an Heir of Heaven and Co-heir with Christ And accordingly this Sacramental Covenant is nothing else but a mutual Promise of an offended God and the offender whereby both Parties do unfeignedly and without guile or fraud
this sacred Covenant By these I mean not wilful Blasphemies or reviling of God the effects of Malice Hatred and Enmity against God of aversion from Goodness and inveterate Wickedness in the Soul for these are Characters of a Mans being in Covenant with the Devil and at Agreement with Hell But by Blasphemous Suggestions are understood here sudden Representations of things horrid monstrous and unnatural to our Minds which savour of Blasphemy come in unforeseen and unlook'd for and look indeed like our own Thoughts but are not but in good truth are Injections of the Devil who shoots and darts such dismal things into our Understandings or Imaginations contrary to our Will Desire Liking and Approbation Of these tedious and troublesome Guests not a few Persons do complain who with great seriousness apply themselves to the real practice of Godliness The Enemy of Souls being no longer able to sooth them up in carnal security and finding them weary of the Yoak of Sin betakes himself to this Stratagem and tries by such Suggestions and Assaults to drive them to despair for they are things dreadful and such as both Nature and Grace and Conscience tremble at and very strange effects they have in many Christians that are ignorant of these devices They make them rise from Prayer assault them at the very Altar disturb their warmest Devotions and many times tempt them to Self-Murther and the Patient frequently thinks that a Hell is begun in his Bosom that he is possess'd and hath a Legion with him They come in like Lightning and cause such confusion in the Thoughts that the tempted Christian thinks none so miserable as himself These Suggestions while they are resisted detested opposed slighted abhorr'd and protested against do not null this Covenant because they are things we cannot help nor doth it lie in our power to hinder the Devil from trying Experiments and Conclusions upon us All we have to do is not to consent or not to yield to them and thereby we establish the Covenant Nor 5. Doth want of such a degree either of joy or sorrow null this comfortable Covenant There are many sincere Believers who either because they cannot weep so much for their Offences as David and Peter and Mary Magdalen or cannot raise their Affections to that pitch of Life and Joy and Briskness that other Constitutions can in things Devotional and Spiritual are apt to conclude they have no share in the Comforts of this Covenant And the Argument they commonly make use of to prove the inference is because did God love them as his Children he would give them the same spiritual Blessings he gives to others But this consequence is weak for though God doth promise and give to all Children Grace and his Holy Spirit and inclines their Hearts to his Testimonies and whoever are of the number of true Children of God we may confidently affirm they have the Love of God shed abroad in their Souls yet God hath no where promis'd that all his Children shall have the same degrees of Grace much less the same degrees of Joy and Sorrow For as there is one Glory of the Sun another of the Moon and another Glory of the Stars and one Star differs from another Star in Glory to use the Apostles expression 1 Cor. 15. 41. so also is it in the Resurrection of the Soul from the Death of Sin all are made partakers of the Grace of God but all have not the same degrees of Grace and the degrees of spiritual Joy and Sorrow differ too 1. Because God hereby encourages and would encourage the Industry of his Children Greater degrees of Grace are rewards of the industrious and the laborious have these baits laid before them God Crowns the pains of his fervent Lovers with these Laurels and the harder a Soul works in the Lord's Vineyard the higher they are advanced in this spiritual Kingdom as we may guess from the Parable of the Talents Matth. 25 20 21. And of this the very Heathens were sensible when they made it a standing Maxim That the Gods sold all their Gifts for Labour and Industry Not to mention that some Vessels are more capacious and will hold more than others and the larger the Soul is the more it will contain 2. That all have not the same degrees of Joy and Sorrow the reason is because God gives not to all his Children Constitutions alike upon which the external expressions of Joy and Sorrow do very much depend If Grace meets with a moist constitution or affectionate Temper it makes the Eyes flow in stronger currents and fills those Chanels with larger streams of Tears which a more even Temper is not capable of So if it mingle with a sanguine and chearful complexion the Joys in spiritual things must necessarily rise higher than in Persons of a heavy or Melancholy constitution Grace doth not alter the constitution but directs it It gives not a new habit of Body but disposes the habit it finds to exhert and vent it self in matters of Religion suitably to its Nature Should all arrive to the same degrees of Joy and Sorrow God must be at the charge of a Miracle every day for he would be obliged to alter the several constitutions which as he doth not think fit to do so neither is it reasonable Men should expect it and from hence it 's evident that a Believer may sincerely fulfil the conditions of this Covenant and yet want the same degrees of Joy and Sorrow he sees in others and consequently this want doth not null the Covenant 6. All Sins allow'd of do certainly null this Covenant whether they be great or small By Sins allow'd of I mean not only Sins committed deliberately against knowledge and the dictates of Conscience but Sins also we live or go on in without remorse or a rational care to be rid of them and that such Sins as seem inconsiderable in the Eyes of the World these as well as those of a larger size if allow'd of do null this Covenant is manifest partly from hence because they put the Soul into a State of enmity against God which enmity destroys the relation between Father and Child for to be wilful in doing that which I know or may easily know will displease my Father is pure rebellion not the error of a Child a spot of a Leopard not that of a Son of God partly hecause these little Sins dandled and allowed of are expresly said to exclude from the Kingdom of Heaven or which is all one to make a Man least in the Kingdom of Heaven which Kingdom is the great Blessing promis'd in this Covenant for so we read Matth. 5. 19. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least Commandments and shall teach Men so either by word or by his Example he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven And the reason why even Sins which People make nothing of such as calling their Neighbours Rogue and Fool without
16 17 18. 3. To believe that Jesus of Nazareth who appear'd in Days of Pontius Pilate and was Crucified is that Son of God and our Redeemer and Mediator and is both God and Man in one Person Act. 10. 38. Rom. 1. 3 4. 4. To believe that without Faith Repentance and an holy Obedience to the Commands of the Gospel we have no interest in Christ's Death and the Benefits of it Heb. 5. 9. 5. To believe that there is an Heaven and Hell and Eternal Rewards and Punishments after this Life according to the good or evil Lives of Men 2 Thess. 1. 5 6 7 8 9 10. 6. To believe that the Dead Bodies of Men shall Rise again in the Great Day of Judgment 2 Tim. 2. 17 18. 7. To believe that the assistance of God's Holy Spirit in order to a sound Faith and true Repentance is a Gift which may be had by earnest Prayer Luke 11. 13. 8. To love God with all our Hearts and with all our Souls and with all our Minds i.e. with great Sincerity Matth 22. 37. 9. To rely upon God and trust in him in all dangers and necessities whatsoever and firmly to believe that all things will work for our good if we love him Rom. 8. 28. Heb. 13. 5 6. 10. To believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the revealed Word of God and to read and search and meditate in these holy Scriptures in order to know we must do to be saved John 5. 39. 11. To prefer the Will of God before the Will and Favour of Men when these two come to clash or interfere one with another Act. 5. 29. 12. To live and walk in a lively sense of God's Omniscience and Omnipresence Act. 23. Luk. 1. 75. 13. To have great high and reverend thoughts of God and conceptions suitable to his infinite Wisdom and Goodness and Power 1 Pet. 3. 15. 14. To let our Speech be always with Grace season'd with Salt that we may know how to answer every Man Col. 4. 6. 15. To be frequent and serious and attentive in praising of God and praying to him for his Help Assistance and Protection especially Night and Morning Luke 2. 37. Eph. 6. 18. 16. To walk worthy of our Baptism even in newness of Life Rom 6. 3 4. 17 To make great Conscience of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper to come often to that Holy Table and to prepare and examine our selves in order to our worthy receiving of Pardon and Remission of sins 1 Cor. 11. 26 28. 18. To express willingness and alacrity in God's service and to be ready unto good Works Tit. 3. 1. 19. To have pure aims and designs in Holy Duties and good Works viz. The glory of God and the good of others Matth. 6. 22. 1 Pet. 4. 11. 20. To be zealous and fervent in Devotion and in expressing our love to God Tit. 2. 14. Rev. 3. 19. 21. To bring a very serious mind with us to the House of God and to behave our selves there with all decency and gravity 1 Cor. 11. 22. 22. To be not only a hearer of the Word but a doer of it also Jam. 1. 22. 23. To fix our Thoughts upon God in the publick Prayers of the Church and to offer to God the desires of our Hearts in joyning with the Congregatian in their Prayers Rom. 15. 6. 24. To sanctifie the Lord's Day both in private and in publick Acts 20. 7. Rev. 1. 10. 25. To be subject to Principalities and Powers and to obey Magistrates Tit. 3. 1. 26. To obey our Pastors and Teachers that have the rule over us and to submit our selves to them as those that watch for our Souls Heb. 13. 17. 27. To maintain our Ministers and to communicate to them in all good things Gal. 6. 6. 28. Faithfully to discharge the Duties of our respective Relations As 1. Husbands to love and honour their Wives Eph. 5. 25. 2. Wives to be obedient and subject to their Husbands Eph. 5. 22. 3. Parents to provide for the Souls and Bodies of their Children 1 Tim. 5. 8. 4. Children to honour their Parents all their days Eph. 6. 1. 5. Masters to encourage their Servants to Goodness and to be just in paying them their Wages Eph. 6. 9. 6. Servants to serve their Masters in singleness of heart fearing God and to please them well in all things Col. 3. 22. 7. Ministers to be patterns of good Works Tit. 2. 7. 8. Widows to trust in God and to continue in Supplications and Prayers night and day 1 Tim. 5. 5. 9. Virgins to mind those things that may please the Lord Jesus 1 Cor. 7. 32. 29. To learn to be very meek and humble upon all occasions Matth. 11. 29. 30. To hunger and Thirst after Goodness and Righteousness Matth. 5. 6. 31. To purifie the Heart or inward Man from evil Desires and Affections and to season it with holy Thoughts and Contemplations Matth. 5. 8. 32. To labour to make Peace among dissenting Neighbours and to be peaceable our selves and as much as in us lies with all Men Matth. 5. 9. Rom. 12. 18. 33. To rejoyce in being reviled and persecuted for Righteousness sake Matth. 5. 11. 12. 34. To be merciful kind tender-hearted and charitable and ready to forgive Eph. 4. 32. 35. To edifie others by our Conversation and to preserve them as much as in us lies from Sin and Damnation Matth 5. 13 14. 36. To love our Enemies to bless them that curse us to do good to them that hate us and to pray for them which despitefully use us Matth. 5. 44. 37. Rather to lose our Right than quarrel and go to Law about small things Matthâ— 5. 39 40. 38. To use great simplicity in our Speeches and Answers Matth. 5. 37. 39. To give and to lend to our poor Neighbor what is reasonable Matth. 5. 42. 40. To humble our selves sometimes before God by fasting Matth. 6. 16. 41. To be confident God will provide for us in the use of honest and lawful means Matth. 6. 31. 42. To seek God's Kingdom and its Righteousness with more earnest Affections than temporal Things Matth. 6. 20 33. 43. To reform our selves before we seek to reform others Matth. 7. 5. 44. To do to others what we would have others do to us Matth. 7. 12. 45. To enter in at the strait Gate and to deny our selves in our Honour Ease and Pleasure for a better Life Matth. 7. 13. 46. To confess and own Christ and his Religion before Men Matth. 10. 32. 47. To be industrious in the discharge of the Duties of our Calling Rom. 12. 6 7 8. 48. To love without Dissimulation Rom. 12. 9. 49. To be patient in Tribulation Rom. 12. 12. 50. To rejoyce with them that do rejoyce and to weep with them that weep Rom. 12. 15. 51. To condescend to Men of low Estates Rom. 12. 16. 52. To provide things honest in the sight of all Men Rom. 12. 17. 53. To
mighty Hunger and Thirst after thy Love in my Soul Such an Hunger and Thirst that I may be unsatisfied with any thing but thy Love Let thy Love work upon me with that Efficacy that I may think my self afflicted and poor and miserable till I love thee fervently VI. Blessed Jesu Who would not love thee Who would not wish to be enamour'd with such Charity as thine is to the Sons and Daughters of Men If we love thee not it is because we do not know the Vehemency and Power of thy Love Had we a clear Sight of it our Souls would run after thee and nothing could stop them from clinging to so amiable an Object Lord give me that lively View of thy Love that nothing may charm me more than thy Love VII Great King of Saints pity me I would love thee but thou seest what Impediments come between thy Love and my blockish Heart Innumerable Temptations my perverse Will my Self-love my Passions and my other Imperfections Oh how these hinder me from loving thee O my Gracious Master Let me detest and abhor all these Enemies that would hinder me from loving thee Stretch forth thy mighty Arm and destroy these Foes that I may entirely love thee VIII O Jesu Thou art all Love all Goodness all Charity And Oh what Opposition do I find in my self to love thee O Love Divine Where is thy Strength thy Force and thy uncontrollable Power O my Lord Why dost not thou shew it Why dost not thou exert it for my Help Why do not thy Celestial Flames consume in me all that is contrary to thy Love Oh! When wilt thou establish the Life of Love even that Divine Life in my Soul IX O Omnipotent Love I leave my self to thy Management Enter enter into this frozen Heart and erect thy Kingdom and thy Empire there Undo what thou pleasest and build up what thou pleasest Let every Desire of my Soul become subject to thee Subdue every Imagination that would refuse to be at thy Command And make me willing to submit to any thing so I may but love thee X. Most lovely Saviour Shall any thing hinder me from loving thee Shall my Body I will subdue that Beast Shall my Sins I will drown them in thy Blood Shall the World or the Creatures here below No no I will renounce my Love to them I will despise them all They have too long excommunicated thee from my Soul I will make no more Account of my Praises of my Pleasures of my Vanities I will look upon them all as Dreams and Smoak and I will hate them as much as they have hated thee Great Centre of my Soul XI Great Sovereign of my Love Thou hast sent me into the World on purpose to love thee What a noble what an excellent what an holy End is this Think of the Honour think of the Favour think of the Dignity O my Soul that God hath laid upon thee That he that could have eternally enjoyed himself in his own Love should speak a Creature into Being and ordain that Creature to love him Oh how happy am I that God hath given me an Heart to love him O my Jesus Let me die a Thousand Deaths rather than lose thy Love XII O Love Divine Be thou the Life of my Life the Soul of my Soul the Spirit of my Spirit Let me think of thy Love and speak of thy Love and do Acts worthy of thy Love and let all my Conversation savour of the Love of Jesus Whatever I do let me do it for thy sake Let thy Love put me upon Acts of Charity and let every Vertue I exercise be the Product of thy Love XIII O Jesu Thou art my All All other things are nothing in comparison of thee And I would love nothing but in thee and for thee I would see thee in all things and love thee in every thing I do Thou art my greatest Friend my only Friend Thou art my Brother my Father my Husband and my Chief Thou art All in All to me And Oh that my All might be consecrated to thy Service XIV My dearest Saviour There is nothing in Heaven or in Earth so worthy to be loved as thou Oh how amiable art thou Yet the World doth not so much as think of thee They think of nothing but offending thee They hope to be saved by thee and yet do what they can to dishonour thee Let this very Consideration inflame my Love to thee Oh that I could love thee as the whole World ought to love thee XV. Great Son of God! I was bound to love thee as soon as I came to the Use of my Reason Yet how long hath it been before I thought of loving thee O my Lord how late do I begin to love thee How long have I hated thee How many Years together have I despised thy Love When I think of this I have reason to wish for a Sea of Tears nay for Tears of Blood to wash away my monstrous Ingratitude XVI O Beauty Eternal and Infinite If I were to live eternally here on Earth I were bound eternally to love thee How much more then during my short Stay here on Earth O my Lord consecrate my Life to thy Love Let every Day and Hour of my Life be employed in thy Love and make me ambitious of nothing more than to love thee to all Eternity XVII O thou Everlasting King At the Price of thy precious Blood thou hast bought every Moment of my Time that I might employ it in loving thee How much of that Time have I employed in loving the World and the Creatures How much of that Time have I lost in loving things I should not love 'T is time that I begin to employ my Hours about that for which they were designed And since they were given me to love thee Oh transform all my Desires into Aspirations and Breathings after thee XVIII O my Jesus Thou art so perfect and so lovely that if all Creatures in Heaven and in Earth should joyn their Forces together to love thee they could not love thee sufficiently and if I had a Thousand Hearts they would all be little enough to sacrifice to thy Love O then how am I oblig'd to employ that little Strength I have to love thee Oh that all Mankind might love thee Oh fill them all with a Sense of thy Love Draw them attract them unite their Hearts that they may love thy Name XIX O God of my Life Thou hast been always employ'd in loving me Thou didst create Heaven and Earth to testifie thy Love to me All that thou ever didst in this World for me was to shew how thou lovest me All the Spiritual and Temporal Blessings thou hast sent upon me tell me that thou lovest me But what greater Testimony of thy Love can there be than thy Dying for me As thy Love is perpetually exercised towards me so let mine be continually exercised towards thee And let me glory and
of it and in so doing have higher thoughts and reflect upon all the instances of his Love to their Immortal Souls and teach their Successors to do so too This Jesus who by wicked hands was Crucified and whom God hath made both Lord and Christ was the Master and Author of this Feast and from him it justly derives its Name 2. Because the end of this Eating and Drinking is to Commemorate the Death of the Lord Jesus As the end of the Passover under the Law was to remember the great Deliverance from the Egyptian Bondage and that of the Feast of Tabernacles their being guided through the Wilderness by a Cloud and their Ancestors dwelin Booths and Tents As the Feast of Trumpets was instituted either by way of Anticipation that they might remember afterwards how the Walls of Jericho fell or to refresh their Minds with Isaac's Sacrifice an Emblem of the Messiah's Death and the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost was ordained as a Testimony of their Gratitude for a Plentiful Harvest and to put them in mind of the Liberty they gain'd when God gave them the Law and entred into a Covenant with them and that of Purim to bring into their Memories how they were rescued from the cruelty of Haman the Amalekite and that of the Dedication to suggest to them the Rebuilding of the Temple So the Lord Jesus enjoyn'd and recommended the keeping of this Feast to his Followers that they might remember how their Master loved them and made his Death a demonstration of Love how he died to make them happy and denied himself in all the Contents of Life to make theirs blessed and glorious for ever how he submitted to the Power of the Grave to purchase their comfortable Resurrection and fell a Sacrifice that they might have hopes of Pardon through his Blood a Remembrance so just that if this Charity deserves not frequent Commemoration no Mercy no Benefit no Favour no Providence can deserve it for this goes beyond all that the Word of God calls glorious and beneficial to Mankind 3. It s the Lord's Supper because the Lord Jesus is Meat and Drink in this Feast Meat indeed and Drink indeed as the expression is John 6. 11. for though that Chapter speaks not directly of this Supper yet the Phrases and modes of speech used there may very piously be applied to what is represented by the Elements in this Feast for the Benefits Advantages and Emoluments of Christs Death are Food so proper to a Religious Soul and a gracious Mind feeds so savourly upon these that nothing deserves the name of Spiritual Meat and Drink so much as these and indeed these nourish and feed the Soul make her strong and lively these are her Cordials and Restoratives and in the nature of David's Oyl Psal. 104. 15. which make her Face to shine 4. It 's the Lords Supper because the nourishment and strength it affords or yields is by the influence of the Lord Jesus He sends his Spirit into the Soul that comes to his Feast hungry and thirsty and longing after the Riches of Gods Love whereby the Soul is inflamed to love him who bought her at this dear rate and that love produces Peaceableness and Gentleness and Faith and Purity and Sincerity and Delight in good Works which are excellent signs of the Souls growing strong in the use of the Spiritual Food The Holy Spirit of Christ destroys the reigning Power of Sin in her and the government of the Flesh for the leaner this grows and the more the authority of it is diminished the better the Soul thrives and the more vigorous and active it becomes in all its faculties III. Though to call this Feast The Lord's Supper when it is in most Churches Celebrated in the Morning seems to be improper yet the reason why it still bears the name is Because the same substantial Actions are still observed in the Celebration of it that were used by Christ and his Disciples at his first institution in the night and not only the same Actions but the same end and design is kept on foot which we find in its first foundation and whenever it is celebrated it 's still in imitation of that Supper and that Supper is still remembred in it The reason why Christ in instituting of it made use of the night which gave it the name of a Supper was because it was to be succedaneous to the Passover which according to custom was eaten at night as the Deliverance which the Jews remembred then was performed by the Angel at night and as the Passover represented the Old Covenant or Testament and this Feast the New so it was fit that the later should be instituted immediately after the Celebration of the former that both being set together their different signification might more plainly appear and Men might see what Mercies they might expect from the bringing in of a better Covenant This being the occasion of Christ Celebrating this Feast at night and consequently the reason ceasing with the Typical Passover the Christian Churches in process of time took the liberty of Celebrating it at all seasons as they saw it either necessary or expedient And though what I have said about the Passover is the Principal reason why Christ made choice of the night for this Institution yet for ought we know it might be with an intent also to hint to us how by this Sacrament the night of Ignorance which sat heavy on the minds of most Men would be dispell'd that by night is sometimes understood the night of Ignorance in Scripture is evident from Matth. 4. 16. Es. 9. 1 2. Rom. 13. 12. and that by the devout and religious use of this Sacrament our Ignorance is in a great measure cured experience is a sufficient testimony Hereby certainly our minds are signally enlightned and we behold the Wisdom Love and Goodness of God discover the methods and ways of Salvation get clear Apprehensions of the Mysteries of our Faith and see how inconsistent the Works of Darkness are with this solemn remembrance of the Death of Christ hereby we come to feel the Power of God toward them that Believe and find out the Secret of the Union that is betwixt Christ and his true Followers and learn to know that what is said in the Word of God concerning the tender regard of Christ to his Church and Friends is no Fable Add to all this that Christ made choice of the night possibly to put us in mind of his sudden coming to Judgment which is frequently expressed in Scripture by his coming in the night Mark 13. 35 36. Luke 12. 38 39. 1 Thessal 5 2. Rev. 3. 3. nor is this an unsuitable Reflection in this Sacrament to contemplate his coming to judge the World for though that coming may strike terror into Men that put the evil day far from them and prepare not for their Lord 's coming yet to a Soul enlightned and Sanctified it cannot but
afford matter of comfort to think at such times that the same Jesus who was crucified will ere long appear in Glory with all his mighty Angels to give those that have followed him in the Regeneration full possession of the purchas'd Glory However at the best the Celebration of this Feast at night was but a circumstantial thing and therefore the Church is not obliged to keep to it circumstantial things depending much upon conveniency or inconveniency which vary in several Ages and this was the reason that though standing at the eating of the Passover was a commanded circumstance Exod. 12. 11. yet the Jewish Church in after Ages varied from it even by Christs own Approbation and turned that posture into leaning as I shall have occasion to shew more largely in the Chapter about Kneeling at the Communion The Church therefore sins not in Celebrating this Feast at any other time especially in a circumstance barely related not commanded Yet as I said before because this Spiritual Feast kept up in all Churches is still in imitation of Christs Supper and that Supper is religiously remembred in it and the same essential things together with the scope drift and design of all are still preserved it is not unfitly called the Lords Supper still so that if any man seems to be contentious about the name We have no such Custom neither the Churches of God 1 Cor. 12. 16. IV. Yet this is no Argument but that it may also lawfully be called and expressed by other Names and this we find the Christian Churches have done from time to time Tertullian was the first that called it a Sacrament taking the Name from the Oaths the Roman Soldiers took that they would be true and faithful to their Emperor and the rather because we vow Allegiance and Fidelity in this Ordinance to the great Master that died for us Others have call'd it an Oblation because we offer up our humble Prayers and Supplications to the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ and our Souls and Bodies too when we remember this Beneficial Death Sometimes it hath been call'd a Sacrifice because it is not only a commemoration of the wonderful Sacrifice of Christs Death but we chearfully offer up the Sacrifice of our Praises for this inestimable Mercy The name of Communion occurs frequently in the Writings of the Ancients because all sincere Christians are hereby tyed in a bond of mutual Love participate of the same Bread are Fellow-members of the Mystical Body of Christ and have Communion with Christ their Head and enjoy all the same Benefits of his Death and sufferings The word Eucharist is used as often as any other because Thanksgiving and Magnifying the Goodness Mercy and Charity of God the Father Son and Holy Ghost are a great part of the Service here The name Mass which they of the Roman Persuasion and even the Lutheran Churches make use of as it was not known in the Church for the first Four hundred years after Christ so the Original of it was this When the Lords Supper was to be celebrated after Sermon the Deacon or some other Officer of the Church called to the People that did not or were not to receive in these words Ite missa est Depart the Congregation is dismissed In time that which was only a Preliminary circumstance of the Lords Supper was applied to the whole Office and the Service was called Missa or Mass a word which the Romanists make a great stir with and turn into a perfect Charm and a monstrous Sacrifice to the great disparagement of Christs Sufferings and the Benefits that accrue thereby to true Believers Some of their Writers make it a Hebrew word and fetch it from the Old Testament others derive it from the Greek others from the Northern Language and though it expresses less then any of those Names we mentioned before yet hath this swallowed up all the rest and the more superstitious in the Roman Church are almost afraid to call it by any other Name and the Mass is that which both young and Old both learned and unlearned among them have most frequently in their Mouths though few of the Vulgar know what it means I omit here many other Names appropriated by Writers to this Mystery such as Collect Oeconomy Liturgy Dominical Agenda Anaphora Synaxis c. partly because I intend no Critical History and partly because by the names I have already spoken of this Sacrament is usually known in the Western Churches That we do so often call it a Mystery is because the things discovered and imitated here do altogether depend upon Divine Revelation and are such as Flesh and Blood understand not and the Secrets of which none but a Person enlightned by the Spirit of God apprehends to any purpose and which transcend all the Arcana or hidden points of Heathen Divinity V. The name of the Lords Supper puts us in mind that this Holy Feast differs from Common Suppers 1. In that Common Suppers are for the support of Nature this for the support of Grace and Goodness in our Souls The former are intended for the strengthning of the Body this for the corroboration of our Faith and Hope and Love Our Common Supper represents to us the Ordinary Providence of God which opens its hand and fills the desire of every living thing This Gods extraordinary dispensation which shews at what cost and charges we are made the Children of God and fitted for everlasting habitations The former gives us an account of the Blessings of Gods Left this of the favours of his Right Hand The former bids us look into the nether this into the upper Springs of the Divine Clemency 2. In our Common Suppers our Spirits may unbend and our Minds and Tongues take liberty of thinking and speaking of things relating to our necessary Employments in the World in this our thoughts must rise mount up with Wings as Eagles pierce the Clouds and fix on the Riches of Divine Love retire from the World view God and his glorious Attributes and unite with that excellent object improve themselves into Contemplaâ—ion and adore the Mystery of Redemption In the former no other Preparation is required but what we are to bring with us to common affairs and businesses i. e. Gravity and Sobriety but in this the Heart must be prepared the Soul chafed the Affections warmed prayers offered Ejaculations press into Gods presence and Self-examination dispose the Soul for the visits of the Holy Ghost that it may be a worthy Guest at so great a Table and the rather because God is in a special manner present here for wherever Providence displays its brighter beams of Love there God is eminently present that makes Heaven what it is because there the Divine Goodness shines most gloriously In this Sacrament are set before us more then ordinary Characters of Gods Love the Angels of Heaven saith St. Chrysostom stand round about the Altar and while the Minister
ruder than the rest having his Ear cut off by his miraculous touch is restored to his former soundness Herod seeks to kill him and at the same time he purges his Country from Devils and Diseases This sure could not be done but with an intent to shew us an example and except we do as he did how can we be said to be his followees It 's from this great Example that the Apostle infers a Duty Rom. 12. 21. Be not overcome with evil but overcome the evil with good and we all know who it was that told us that in vain we call our selves Children of God except we do good to them that hate us Matth. 5. 44 45. The Preceding Considerations reduced to Practice I. VVe see here in what a different shape Sin appears from what it did before if the nature tendency and design of it be rightly considered That which before seem'd but a little Cloud or Twilight upon such a prospect will appear Egyptian Darkness Who of us makes any thing of Hypocrisie yet have we proved before that it is a betraying of the Son of God especially if it be reigning and allow'd of So it is with other sins The Jews Malach. 3. 8. thought their keeping back their Tythes and depriving the Priests and Ministers of the Lord of their due to be a trivial thing yet God speaks to them in Thunder and calls it robbing of the Almighty Will a Man rob God Yet ye have robb'd me Wherein have we robb'd thee In Tythes and Offerings So they made nothing of offering the Lame and the Blind but God calls it profanation of his Name Mal. 1. 12. A wise Man therefore and he that would not cheat himself in matters of Salvation must consider what verdict God gives of such sins as the World makes little of and in so doing will find how unsafe it is to venture on such trespasses and what dangerous things they are Indeed he that examines and ponders what names God gives to some sins in Scripture how he calls Covetousness Idolatry Ephes. 5. 5. Disobedience Witchcraft 1 Sam. 15. 23. Unbelief under the means of Grace trampling on and treading under foot the Son of God Heb. 10. 29. Living in a known sin being of the Devil 1 John 3. 8. Sensuality Enmity to the Cross of Christ Phil. 3. 18. Apostacy Crucifying of Christ afresh Heb. 6. 6. Love of the World Adultery c. Jam. 4. 4 must needs have other apprehensions of such sins than the duller or more vitious sort of Mankind hath and until we do so it 's a sign we have no mind to be sincere Converts till we look upon our Sins through the Glass of Scripture till we give our Sins those Names which He that cannot err doth give them till we begin to call them what they are indeed and our hearts are concern'd and troubled about that which such names import our Repentance is but lame and partial and we obstruct our way to mercy and forgiveness and prepare for being miserable in the midst of flattering hopes and expectations II As we do abhor and detest the Treason of Judas so let 's take heed we become not guilty of it our selves We are not in a capacity of acting that very Treason that the ill-natured Disciple did because Christ is not now on Earth and the circumstances of Time and Place and Government do differ yet how that Treason may be acted over again by a behaviour and conversation agreeable to that of Judas hath been already shew'd and whatever we do let 's not fall into the snare into which that unhappy Man did fall His end his despair the terrors of his mind the torments of his conscience the contempt and scorn of God and Men he rusht into are sufficient discouragements from that Hypocrisie which drove him on to those Precipices To maintain invincible Loyalty to our Great Master is not only our Duty but our Interest To promote whatever makes for his Honour and Glory is that which becomes us not only as we are his Subjects but as we are redeemed with his Blood So great a Mercy ought to crush every rebellious thought in our Minds Never had people a more gracious King a King which doth not only divide his Estate among his Subjects but is resolved to advance them to the highest Dignities they are capable of And what if sometimes he doth afflict us That doth not speak him a Tyrant but a Father or Physician rather who lets us Blood to prevent Diseases and launces our Wounds that they may not fester and kill us If he lays Burthens upon us it is not to oppress our Souls but our Sins and if he make us go through the Fire it is not that the Flame may consume us but that the Smoke may kill the Caterpillars and Locusts that eat the wholsom Herbs of our Graces It is not that he delights in our Groans but that he is desirous of our Welfare and when he scourges us it is necessity and our own good that puts him upon using that method not a fondness to exercise his Power and Authority The PRAYER O Blessed JESUS When I look upon thee and behold thy Beauty and Glory I wonder how I have been able to conspire against thee with thine Enemies How have I been led away by false appearances and listned to false rumours which sinful Men have spread abroad concerning thee Thou hast been represented to me as an Enemy to my mirth and ease and plenty and temporal advantages and I have believed it and run blindly with the multitude to crucifie thee I see how against Reason Conscience Interest and a thousand Obligations I have acted O forget the Injuries I have offered thee O remember no more the Treasons I have been guilty of Never never will I wittingly or wilfully betray thee again Let all Guile and Hypocrisie and Double-dealings be put away from me Make me an Israelite indeed Let sincerity and integrity ever preserve me Make me willing to forego all interests so I may but have an interest in the love of Complaency Let all enmity all dissention all hostility betwixt us cease I agree not only to a Truce but to an Eternal Peace I know Lord the danger of breaking the Peace lies on my side who am naturally treacherous fickle and inconstant but thy Grace can cure that inconstancy Lord stretch forth thy mighty Arm and hold me up that I may never depart from thee may always love to be with thee always delight in thy presence always rejoice in thy love and always seek thy honour and glory Amen Amen CHAP. III. Of the Place where the Lord's Supper is to be eaten the Church and of Private Communion The CONTENTS The Publick Church the fittest Place to receive the Lord's Supper in This proved from the Practice of the Apostles and the succeeding Christians The same proved from Reason and the end for which Christ died Private Communions first began in times of
with the multitude to the House of God with the voice of Joy and Praise O let me consider it is the All-seeing God in whose Presence I stand and that the Holy Angels are sent to observe my Devotion Give me sober Thoughts holy Affections devout postures steddiness of Mind ardent Desires modest Looks a grave Behaviour especially when I am going to contemplate the precious Sacrifice offered by the Son of God for the Sins of the World let all that is within me turn into holy breathings represent that comfortable Object in lively Characters to my Understanding that I may think nothing unworthy of my Saviour banish from me all undecent Thoughts or if thou dost not think fit to free me from Temptations encourage me however to resist them vigorously that I may discover my Zeal for thy Glory by my abhorrency of all Imaginations that exalt themselves against the Obedience of Christ Jesus Amen CHAP. IV. Of Eating the Lord's Supper The Nature of it and how it is to be Eaten The CONTENTS A great difference betwixt coming to the Lord's Supper and Eating the Lord's Supper Several Reasons why Men come though they do not Eat as they ought to do What Eating the Lord's Supper is viz. To Eat it with a relish of the Benefits of Christ's Death with longings to be conformable to Christ in his Graces and to Eat it with unfeigned Resolutions to resist Temptations Much depends upon the manner of any Religious Performance Conversation with God with our selves and with the Holy Angels a great means to Eat as we ought to Eat The Prayer I. THat there are many who come to the Lord's Supper and yet Eat not the Lord's Supper as they ought to do is evident from Experience and will appear more fully in the sequel of this Discourse when we shall tell you what it is to Eat and Drink unworthily When some of the looser sort of the Corinthian Christians 1 Cor. 11. 20. came drunk to this Sacrament it 's certain they only eat the Bread of the Lord but not the Bread the Lord as the Fathers speak and if Simon Magus Acts 8. 13. came to this Feast as I am apt to believe he did for in those days they that were baptized were soon after admitted to the Lord's Supper as appears from Act. 2. 41 42. this must necessarily have been his case and who can doubt of this Truth that in the Age we live in sees so many come to this Royal Supper and go away unreformed untouch'd and unconcerned than which there cannot be a greater sign that they do not eat the Supper of the Lord though they approach and feed upon the External Elements And Men may very easily know it by such Marks as these 1. If they come without any sense of the designs Christ had in Instituting this Sacrament one of which certainly was to engage us to the generous contempt of the World in imitation of him who for the Glory set before him not only undervalued the Pomp and Grandeur of the World but endured the Cross and despised the shame as we are told Heb. 12. 2. And when we see Men and women approach the Table of the Lord with all the Gaudes and Gayeties their vain desires prompt them to like Ranters rather than Penitents more like soft Sybarites than frighted Disciples dressed to allure Mens eyes more than to invite the Crucified Jesus into their Souls like players rather than like Christians And when we see how the very next day after this Feast if they stay so long they quarrel fight contend and fall out about the trifles of the World run to Theatres and Play-houses and with as great greediness as ever pursue the Riches and Glories and Fashions of the World how can we imagine that such Persons came with the sense of the aforementioned design of Christ in instituting this Sacred Feast 2. If they come without any sense of the love of God of which there is so curious a Picture drawn in this Sacrament as is enough to make even the most hard hearted Heathen weep And what sense of this Love can we suppose to have been in Men when after their Receiving they do not so much as look into a Bible to see what Precepts and Commands of Christ they mean for the future to be more observant of Is it possible such Men had sense of the Love of God upon their Spirits that day they receiv'd the Holy Elements when the next day they offend him as boldly as ever and hug the same sins they entertained several years before and are now as little concerned to please God as they were some Months ago and consequently such Persons come to the Lord's Supper yet do not eat as they ought to do for none eat it truly but such as eat with this sense and where this sense is it will make the Soul cautious of offending God II. Yet such Guests are very common at this Table which would make a wise Man wonder why they will come at all when their coming signifies so little and as will appear afterward doth them more harm than good Yet the Reasons may easily be guess'd at For 1. Conviction brings them to it They are convinced that coming is a commanded Duty not a thing indifferent and that they may not seem dispisers and contemners of so great a Law they come though they put strange Fire in their Censers Conviction hath great power even upon unregenerate Men It made Felix tremble Acts 24 25. and Judas throw down the Thirty Pieces of Silver the reward of his Treason in the Temple Matth. 27. 4. and Simon embrace Christian Baptism Act. 8. 13. And where a Man is teazed and haunted by his Conscience he 'll do something to stop his mouth and though he doth it but slovenly yet he 'll bribe Conscience with this trifle as we do Children that cry for a Jewel with a Rattle and in this manner Conviction Works upon some Men and Women and that force puts several upon coming to the Lord's Table 2. Their Office and Employment obliges them to receive and that makes not a few appear at this Table The Law of the Land excluding Men from publick Offices and Charges that receive not the Communion we may very justly believe that abundance come to satisfie the Statute more than their Conscience and fear of losing or missing of the Office they are ambitious of hath a stronger influence upon them than the fear of losing God's Favour not but that a man may Eat the Lord's Supper to his great comfort and edification because an Act of Parliament commands it at his entrance upon an Office for a man who fears God may make use of any occasion to receive and consequently may make his present Office an opportunity of coming to the Sacrament But I speak my just fears that many receive on this account whom neither Love to God nor to their own Souls could have obliged to come had it
I might be advanc'd to bliss I see what a costly thing my Salvation is since to purchase it the Son of God did die Yet how light do I make of Heaven O God what moved thee to love me thus And shall I think any thing to dear to part with for thy sake Into what Labyrinths do I run my self while I am mine own Keeper Thou hast paid dear for thy right to rule and govern me and shall I after all be loath to be govern'd by so Gracious a Master Here I make an offering of my Heart if thou wilt but vouchsafe to accept of it it is a Present unworthy of thy Greatness and Majesty yet thou art pleased to require no other sacrifice Hence forward speak Lord and thy Servant will hear and when the Characters of thy Mercy wear out or decay in my unconstant Soul Lord write them there afresh write them with the Blood of Christ that they may be everlasting and may be an Eternal fence to me against the suggestions and persuasions of thine Enemies 3. Conversing with the Holy Angels after we have eaten requires imitation of them in their Praises and Obedience Bless the Lord ye his Angels that excel in strength that do his commandments hearken to the voice of his word saith the Psalmist Psal. 103. 20. Praise and Obedience are inseparable Virtues the one without the other makes dull Musick in the Ears of God Let no Man think that because Angels are invisible Spirits and afar off there is no conversing with them He that doth their work is their Companion their Brother and their Familiar with such they love to be such persons they love to visit and he that doth so may be as confident they are on his right hand as if he saw them for God hath said so Psal. 34. 7. and therefore it must be true whether our carnal eyes behold them or no. Praising is not only to offer up a Psalm or Hymn after we have eaten but living in a sense of the love of God and he that doth so cannot but be obedient and faithful to him that hath so signally manifested his mercy in his Misery The PRAYER O Thon who art the Bread of Life who canst feed Souls and nourish Spirits into Immortal Life who hast food the World knows not of and by secret influences canst enrich and enlighten those that wait at the Pool for the stirring of the Waters O bring my mind in frame O teach me to eat in this Sacrament of thy Love to the satisfying my Soul Make the food of sin odious and bitter to me I have fed too long on that stolen Bread Open mine Eyes that I may see how miserable I am if I do not relish what thou hast set before me Thou hast given me a Soul and thou would'st have it thrive In this Sacrament is that which shall strengthen my Heart I want only a mighty hunger and thirst O thou who hast given me an Appetite after the meat which perishes give me a Holy greediness after that which endures to everlasting life O let the Benefits of thy death prove life to my Spirit Raise it above this dull and Corruptible Flesh that it may triumph over its base desires Bring thou back my Captivity and let my Chains fall off Let the Liberty of thy Children which consists in a chearful going on from virtue to virtue be my delight and ornament so shall the King take pleasure in my Beauty and my Soul shall rejoyce in Thee for ever Amen CHAP V. Of the various abuses of this Holy Sacrament The CONTENTS The most Sacred things in all ages have been abused Instances drawn from the brazen Serpent Gideon's Ephod and the Love-Feasts of the Primitive Christians Abuses of Holy things rise from several causes The Lords Supper hath undergone the same fate The Holier any thing is that is abused the greater is the Crime A great abuse of this Holy Sacrament is to fancy that like a spell it will Charm sin out of our Souls without strong endeavours The abuses committed in this Sacrament no just Temptation to neglect the use of it The Prayer I. THere is nothing so sacred or holy but hath been and may still be abused by sensual Men. Moses Numb 21. 8. by God's special Appointment erects a fiery Serpent or a Serpent of Polished Brass shining bright as Fire a symbol of God's Presence and Power to heal the tormented Israelites who had been stung by fiery Serpents insomuch that if any of the persons thus stung look'd upon the Figure he actually recovered So remarkable a History depending upon this brazen Serpent it was laid up for a Monument yet in process of time this became an object of Idolatry which moved Hezekiah to break it in pieces and call it Nehushtan 2 Kings 18. 4. The very same happen'd to Gideon's Ephod Judg. 8. 27. a thing innocently enough contrived and in all probability piously intended as a standing testimony to future Ages what a signal Victory God had given his People over the barbarous Midianites yet after his Death when with his Life his Power and Authority over the bruitish People were gone they went a whoring after it i. e. fell to worship it an accident which proved the ruine of Gideon's Family and of thousands besides in Israel What could be more innocent than the Love-Feasts in the Primitive Church Mention is made of them Jud. vers 12. They were Feasts made in the Oratories or places where the Primitive Christians used to assemble for the Celebration of Divine Worship and at the charge of such as were well to pass or richer than the rest to these the poorer sort were invited and sat down at the Table with the rich ate with them and carried the Leavings or Fragments home and this being done with great expressions of Love and managed with singular Meekness Charity and Humility with brotherly Familiarity and with holy Discourses without Excess or Intemperance and all sanctified by Prayers and Psalms and reading the Holy Scriptures the Apostles both permitted and encouraged these pious Collations and after them their Hearts being thus impregnated with Charity they applied themselves to the Use and Celebration of the Eucharist That which gave occasion to these Love-Feasts was either Christ's eating the Passover with his Disciples immediately before the Communion or the custom of the Jews who used to eat and drink together in some Chamber or Building adjoyning to the Temple when they offered their Sacrifices or which is more probable from the antient custom of the Grecians who having brought rich Guifts they intended for their Gods to the Temple converted them into Feasts of Charity to which the Poor as well as the Rich sat down and all ate together no respect of Persons being observed at that time which Practice not a few Christians being lately crept out of the darkness of Heathenism it 's like retained changing only the Object of their Worship and doing that to
and Devils Nor need we wonder why God suffers these abuses for the permits them as he doth other sins to let Men see at last that their Condemnation is just Besides this makes those who use this Ordinance in pursuance of the right end of its Institution more glorious in God's Eyes for this hath still been the Privilege of the true Church of God to flourish like a Lilly among Thorns and what the Apostle saith of Heresie in general is most true of these Abuses There must be such things in the World that those which are approved may be made manifest 1 Cor. 11. 19. The Preceding Considerations reduced to Practice I. THE holier any thing is that is abused the greater is the Crime When Belshazar Dan. 5. 1. was resolved to be drunk had he made himself a Beast by drinking out of common Cups though the sin had been great and against Nature yet it might have passed unpunished here as other Villanies are but when nothing would serve his turn but to drink his Reason and his Wits away out of the Bowls of the Sanctuary and to add Profanation of the Vessels of the Lord's House to all his Crimes this allarmed the Divine Vengeance immediately and rather than not shew his Displeasure God thought himself obliged to be at the Charge of a Miracle which caused the fatal Hand upon the Wall and the King's Overthrow followed within a few hours after And if the Abuse of consecrated Vessels raised so great a Storm what must the abuse of consecrated Reason and Duties and Mercies do Sirs your Reason is a consecrated thing God hath set it apart for his use that you should consider and contrive how to get a share among the Blessed hereafter if you abuse it and will let it serve you for no other end but to teach you how you may grow rich and great and fill your Bellies with hid Treasures will not God visit for these things and will not his Soul be avenged on such Persons Your signal Mercies and Deliverances are consecrated things God hath set them apart to put you in mind of your Gratitude to teach you Submission to his Will and to walk humbly with your God if after these you are careless and live as regardless of your Duty as you did before will not God reckon with you one day for such abuses Should a poor Man take the Cordial you send him and fling it upon a Dunghil how would you resent it and can God like it do you think to see how like Mad-men you tear off the Cloaths he gives you to cover your Nakedness to see you live the reverse of his Designs to see you fight against him with his Mercies and as it was in the Case of the Daughter Jerusalem Ezech. 16-17 to see you take the fair Jewels of Gold and of Silver he hath given you and make to your selves Images of Men and commit fornication with them II. One great abuse of this Holy Sacrament is to fancy that like a spell it will charm sin out of your mortal Bodies so that you need be at no trouble to mortifie it The Sacrament indeed confers Grace but it is objectively as it contains very great Motives to a lively Faith and Hope and Charity and it confers Grace too as a cause without which Grace would not be convey'd because God hath promised in this Ordinance to be present and as the Dew of Hermon or as the Dew descends on the Mountains of Sion so here the Lord commands his Blessing even life for evermore But still it doth not confer Grace Physically as if the mere use of it would make you Favourites of Heaven and Children of his Love It 's Physick indeed which will work a Cure but then the Person that makes use of it must be qualified for it must be sensible that he is sick and willing to be cured of his Spiritual Diseases and then God will look upon him as a Father and manifest himself to him look upon him as a kind Physitian and make the Medicine effectual to him look upon him as a Friend and take him into his bosom and say to him as it is Es. 49. 8. In an acceptable time have I heard thee and in a day of Salvation have I helped thee and I will preserve thee and cause thee to inherit the desolate Heritages III. The abuses committed by some in this Sacrament must not tempt us to neglect the use of it If the abuse that others have been guilty of were a sufficient excuse to stay away we might as well argue that Meat and Drink and Cloaths and Books and Learning may not be used because ill Men have perverted the harmless design of them We should count that Man a fool that should resolve because a Man of such a Profession hath cheated him therefore he will never deal with a Man of that Profession again or because such a Person who pretended to strictness of Religion hath plaid the knave with him therefore he will never trust a Religious Man again The same absurdity would he commit that from the abuse that others have run into in the Holy Communion should resolve to abstain from it for this would be as much as to resolve to be mad because others are and have been so God hath furnish'd us with Faculties and Powers to discern the Dross from the Silver and the Tin from the purer Mettal and we have his Word to guide us in distinguishing the use from the abuse and as the temperate Man still drinks Wine though thousands in the World still pervert the use of that Creature so a good Christian can see no rational discouragement from coming to this Table though some have made it their bane and turned it into their own destruction The PRAYER O Most Gracious God who hast given us thine Ordinances for our Comfort and Edification and directed us how to use them to thy Glory Give me an Understanding Heart and a pure Mind that they may be a savour of Life unto Life to me Let me not touch these Holy things with unclean Hands but purifie my Soul and cleanse it from that filthiness which doth so easily beset it that I may be fit for thy Divine and Glorious Influences Lord without thee I can do nothing thou art the Vine and I the Branch convey thy Celestial Juice into this withered Branch that I may revive and bring forth much fruit and have my Fruit unto Holiness and the end everlasting Life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen CHAP. VI. Of Receiving the Lord's Supper Fasting and how far it is Necessary The CONTENTS It is a thing not absolutely necessary to receive the Lord's Supper fasting Several Reasons to prove the Assertion Yet to receive it Fasting is a thing very conventent because it quickens Devotion and is an Act agreeable to the mortifying Prospect of Christ's Death and warranted by the Practice of the Universal Church Total Abstinence from Food that Morning
gives Alms makes no pleasing Musick in Heaven but the poor Widow that without making a Shew throws in her Two Mites even all her Living into the Treasury is the acceptable Votary Therefore grieve not Christian because thou canst not bring a Thousand Rivers of Oyl or Ten Thousand Rams into the Temple of God Bring but an humble Heart and he will take more notice of it than of all the Pomp and Retinue of Bernice and Agrippa II. Since the Bread in this Holy Sacrament is to represent our spiritual Nourishment it must needs be worth our enquiring whether we find that spiritual Strength and Nourishment in our Souls which is promised and commanded in this Ordinance And there can be no better Sign of our thriving upon this spiritual Food than if 1. Our Corruptions do signally abate As in the Body if the ill Humours begin to be qualified and the Sharpness of the Blood be taken off and the Pains and Aches decay it is a Sign the Body advances in Health and Strength returns It is so in the Soul if our Envy or Pride or watchful Temper or our Laziness in God's Service or our Indifferency in Devotion or our Backwardness to Duties c. decays and dwindles away it is a certain Sign our Souls begin to be in an excellent Temper for these are the Worms that hinder our Trees from growing which if they faint and die away the Trees are like to come to their full Growth and Heighth and the Fruit of them to perfect Maturity 2. If our Delight in the Things of God doth increase our Delight in the Ordinances of God our Delight in Meditation our Delight in speaking and thinking of God our Delight in Obedience our Delight in doing good and being helpful to others it is as great a Sign the Soul thrives upon this spiritual Food as it is in the Body when a Man begins to look with a chearful Countenance and the muddy Complexion clears up and the once sickly Person goes about his Business with Alacrity 3. If we loath any thing that is offensive to our Blessed Redeemer As an healthy Stomach doth loath any thing that is prejudicial to the Body so the Soul is then in a good plight when that which is contrary to the Interest of the Cross becomes odious to her when it goes against her to do that which must needs be displeasing to him that died for her when it is a Grief to her to see the Sensualities Men wallow in and to hear God dishonoured and his Name profaned is to her as if a Sword were run into her as it was to David Psal. 42. 10. 4. If we do not content our selves with such Things in Matters of Religion as the Vulgar are satisfied withal but set the Examples of the greatest Saints before us resolving to come up to their Excellency and Zeal and Love If we do so our very Enemies must be Witnesses that we thrive and grow strong upon this spiritual Diet and make Preparation for Eating and Drinking with Christ at his Table in his Kingdom Luc. 22. 29 30. The PRAYER SWeet Jesu Who art Life to my Soul Balm to my Spirit and in the greatest Misery canst give Eâ—se I have fed too long upon bitter Herbs Sin that hath been sweet to my Taste hath proved very bitter to me in the End and what Fruit had I then of those Things whereof I am now ashamed No Fruit but Poison aud Darkness and Aversion from Goodness I have been led away by my sensual Appetite look'd up to the evil Tree beheld the Fruit that it was fair but without Consideration of the dangerous Effects of it and have eaten of it This hath made my Soul look pale and wan lovely indeed in the Eyes of Devils but deformed and homely in thy Sight I see I must change my Food else I perish And O my Lord What shall I feed on that I may recover Strength Thy Table affords the wholsomest Meat and Drink Vouchsafe me a gracious Look and bid me come Pass by my former Aversion from these Delicates Bid me sit down and feed on Thee Thou Lord I am the River of Paradise from whence Living Waters flow Oh let this Stream enrich my Soul that I may be like a Tree planted by the Rivers of Water which may bring forth Fruit in due Season no such Fruit as once it was black and shrievel'd and wither'd but which may be amiable in the Eyes of God and Man Fruit whereby thy Glory may be advanced Fruit whereby others that see and know me may reap Benefit Fruit wherein my Soul may rejoyce Fruit which may end in Peace in Peace of Conscience in Everlasting Peace Henceforward when I remember thee O dearest Saviour let me find such Vigour and Nourishment within that I may look like Thee altogether lovely Favour is deceitful and Beauty is vain but to be like Thee is Glory and Life and Bliss and Happiness I therefore eat at thy Table that I may be like Thee Oh speak thy Blessing upon that Meat and it will change me into thy Image from Glory to Glory even by the Spirit of our God Amen Come Lord Jesu Come quickly CHAP. VIII Of Consecration and what Consecration Christ used Of his Thanksgiving before he broke the Bread and our Imitation of him in that Particular The CONTENTS Of the Word Consecration what it imports and what Things were consecrated in Ancient Times Consecration anciently performed with Prayer and Thanksgiving The Virtue of Consecration wherein it consists Consecration of the Elements in this Ordinance performed sometimes only by the Lord's Prayer The Church of Rome deviates from that Rule Christ placed Consecration in Giving of Thanks Several Particulars we may suppose Christ gave Thanks for mention'd What Christ intended by Thanksgiving with respect to our Instruction specified Praise and Thanksgiving essential in this Ordinance The Way to arrive to holy Thoughts Why this Sacrament is by the Ancient Church called Eucharist The Prayer I. THE Word Consecration answers to the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Caddâ—sh and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chanach and to the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. to set a thing apart for holy Uses and in this respect it is the same with Dedication though Criticks make some difference betwixt Consecration and Dedication meaning that in the former Things profane and vulgar are set apart for an holy Use in general in the later vowed and assigned to a certain God a thing common among the Heathens while they continued in Idolatry In the Old Testament Consecration was used about Persons Things Times and Places 1. Persons Which is the Reason why Aaron and his Sons are said to be consecrated to God i. e. set apart and ordained to minister in the publick Service and Worship of God Exod. 28. 3. And upon this Account Moses Exod. 32. 29. bids the Levites consecrate themselves i. e. set themselves apart to
Sacrament which is to consecrate our selves to God in Christ Jesus and that is not to be done without a very serious Use of this Ordinance in which we acknowledge with the deepest Humility that our Souls and Bodies and all the Gifts and Graces we have are the Effects of his Bounty and declare our unfeigned Purposes to speak and act and think as he would have us and dedicate our selves to his Service professing that we will use the Blessings he hath given us to his Glory and the Good of his People will resign our selves to his Providence and be content with the Lot and Portion he shall think fit to assign us and be thankful for Afflictions too as well as for Prosperity they being both his Gifts and Blessings and say and confess under the various Dispensations we shall meet withal Lord not as I will but as thou wilt And who can forget himself so much as to think that all this may be done without a serious Behaviour IV. The Church of Rome at this Day makes strange Work with Consecration of the Elements in the Supper of the Lord. And though they are told by one of their own Popes Gregory the Great that the Apostles consecrated only with saying the Lord's Prayer yet they boldly according to their Custom place Consecration in the Priests muttering these Words Hoc est Corpus meum hic est Sanguis meus This is my Body This is my Blood over the Bread and Wine Which Words partly by their own secret Virtue and partly by virtue of the Priest's Office immediately upon their being secretly pronounced change the Bread and Wine into the substantial Body and Blood of Christ whereof we shall have Occasion to speak more largely in the Sequel And this is their Consecration contrary to the Sense of the Primitive Church which was of Opinion that Consecration was performed by Prayer and Praises And though some think that Christ used a peculiar Form of Consecration which is either lost or the Church did not think necessary to preserve yet that Fancy is altogether needless since we are told by the inspired Writers that Christ gave Thanks In which he either observ'd the usual Form used in the Passover Blessed be God who hath created the Fruit of the Earth and Blessed be God who hath created the Fruit of the Vine Or Blessed be thou O Lord our God King of the World who bringest forth Bread out of the Earth and Blessed be thou O Lord our God King of the World who createst tbe Fruit of the Vine Or some other though it is more probable that he did not vary from the common Practice of the Jews in this Particular And what is this but Consecrating the Elements and Sanctifying of them For every Creature of God is good and not to be refused for it is sanctified by the Word of God and by Prayer saith the Apostle 1 Tim. 4. 4 5. The Greek Church at this Day lays the Stress of Consecration upon the Prayer of the Holy Ghost as they call it whereby the Holy Spirit of God is invited to come down and make a Change in the Bread and Wine In our Church we joyn Prayer and Praises and the Words of Institution which is the safest Way and such as no rational Person can find fault with though the Words of Institution are sufficient in this Case which we discover in our Practice when the first Consecrated Bread and Wine are spent and the Number of the Communicants require a new Consecration V. Though the Gospel tells us only in general that Christ gave Thanks yet we cannot but suppose that they were particular Things he praised the Divine Bounty for and it is very rational to conclude that he gave Thanks 1. For the Providence of God which watches over Mankind and brings forth Fruit out of the Earth to satisfie the Desire and natural Appetite of Man God the Creator of all Things provides Food and Sustenance for all his Creatures He causes the Grass to grow for the Cattel He sends the Springs into the Valleys which run among the Hills they give Drink to every Beast of the Field the Wild Asses quench their Thirst the Lions receive their Prey from him He it is that hath appointed Toads and Snakes to be proper Meat for the Stork and Flies for the Nourishment of Spiders for some Birds of the Air he hath design'd Variety of Seeds and Worms of the Earth for others He provides Leaves for Caterpillars and those Insects for the Use of other Animals and the young Ravens that make a noise and upon that Account are said to cry to him are fed and maintain'd by his Power He prevents the Crocodile from doing excessive Mischief by making the Ichneumon his Enemy and the lesser Fishes prove a Prey to the greater by his Order In all these Things the Divine Providence displays it self and because the rest of the Creatures are not endow'd with Reason to celebrate God for his Bounty he hath placed Man in the Earth and enrich'd him with an Angelical Soul to be the Trumpet of his Glory and to take notice of God's feeding his Creatures of all sorts and sizes and particularly the Children of Men and when he sees Bread before him the Staff of Humane Life to admire the Wisdom Power and Goodness of the Almighty And upon this Account it was that Christ as Man and Mediator gave Thanks and when he took Bread blessed the Author of it who had made it agreeable to Man's Nature and gave it Strength to nourish him sent the Former and the Later Rain to nourish the Seed in the Ground and gave his Sun-shine to warm and ripen the Corn into Perfection 2. It was not God's Providence alone that he gave Thanks for but for the more indearing Expressions of God's Love to Mankind too And this we need not wonder at when we read how at other Times he magnified his Father's Goodness to sincere Believers particularly Matth. 11. 25. I thank thee O Father Lord of Heaven and Earth that thou hast hid these things from the Wise and Prudent and hast revealed them unto Babes No Man ever saw the immense Charity and Goodness of God to the lapsed Progeny of Adam in those lively Characters that he did We can only speak of it with stammering Tongues and give some faint Descriptions of it but He felt it The Sense of that Love over-spread his Soul and he saw the Heighth and Depth and Breadth and Length of it He beheld the Miracles of this Love in all the amazing Circumstances and what it was for God to give a Son to redeem a Servant to expose a Lamb to buy a Wolf and to let an innocent Sheep be led to the Slaughter to ransom Swine He saw how that Compassion extended it self and what it was for the Word to be made Flesh and to run about to seek the lost Sheep and when he had found it to rejoyce over it and
yet still these Spirits as bright as they were were Creatures and as Creatures mutable and as mutable subject to falling and falling might expect Mercy and Compassion from an All-merciful Master yet in the great Work of Redemption no Regard is had to them but to Man only and he alone with his Race and Posterity is put in a Possibility of being saved and pardon'd a Mercy fit to be remembred in this Sacrament but not to be remembred without Thanksgiving and Praises 4. For the Opportunity we have of remembring Christ's Death in the holy Sacrament That we have Liberty to meet in the House of God to behold his Power and Glory to speak of his Love and Compassion and to come to his Table and to come of often and so freely without Disturbance or Molestation without Fear of Danger from the Tabernacles of Edom or from the Ishmaelites from Moab or the Hagarens Though these are Things which seem to be no great matter to an Eye that looks on Things superficially yet to a Person that knows how in the Greek Church the holy Sacrament is consecrated but once a Year how in Heathenish Countries where Ministers of the Word are scarce this Ordinance is used but seldom and how great an Hindrance to Goodness the celebrating it but rarely is how apt the Inward Man in such Cases is to faint and languish and grow sick for want of it will think himself obliged to open his Heart and Mouth in Praises at this holy Table and adore the Divine Bounty which hath given him Will and Strength and Opportunity to come to this comfortable Ordinance 5. For feeling our Hearts affected with the Mystery of Reconciliation or finding in our selves those happy Qualifications which make us worthy Receivers at this Table To feel in our Hearts a lively Faith a Faith which with Moses sees him that is invisible a Faith that overcomes the World a Faith that purifies the Heart a Faith that with Abraham moves us to sacrifice and offer that to God which is most dear to us a Faith that makes us patient under Reproaches and Injuries a Faith that is fruitful in good Works To find in our selves an Hope that makes not ashamed an Hope that makes us wait for the Kingdom of God as the Husbandman waits for the Fruit of the Earth an Hope that upholds our Hearts in Afflictions an Hope that makes us look upon that within the Vail into the Sanctuary of Heaven and counts the Troubles of this present Life not worthy to be compared with the Glory which ere long shall be revealed in us To find in our selves an holy Charity which believes the best of our Neighbours and thinks no Evil except there be very great Cause for it a Charity which suppresses Revenge and Malice and not only suppresses it for the present but labours to destroy it too a Charity which moves us to Kindness and Compassion not only verbal but actual a Charity which makes us tender-hearted forgiving one another and forbearing one another To find all this in some measure must needs fill our Hearts with strong Desires and Endeavours to be thankful VII This Praise and Thanksgiving cannot but be essential to this holy Sacrament not a mere Ornamental Thing without which the blessed Effects may be perceived and felt For 1. Is it possible to behold God's bleeding Love and not cry Praise the Lord O Jerusalem Praise thy God O Zion Is it possible to see the surprizing Humiliation of the Son of God and not to say Bless the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me bless his holy Name Is it possible to see God offer himself for his Enemies and not to sâ—ng Lord what is Man that thou so regardest him and the Sons and Daughters of Men that thou hast such Respect to them Is it possible to see Innocence nailed to the fatal Cross not for any Sins of its own but for our Transgressions and not to break forth into Admiration with St. John Behold what manner of Love the Father hath shewn to us that we should be called the Sons of God The Heart must be of Stone that can survey these Wonders and be silent or dumb to joyful Praises 2. What Comfort or Consolation can be supposed to flow into the Soul without it Praise is the Gate of Mercy The Soul that praises the Divine Love much will have a greater Sense of his Love and feel the Power of it and feel how it melts the Heart supples the Spirit softens the Inward Man and makes it fit for the Impress of the Image of the Son of God As the Jews say of the Spirit of Prophesse That it rests on valiant and chearful Men so it may be said of the Divine Love Where the Soul is much and often engaged in Praises of it there it loves to dwell there it is ready to build Tabernacles and take up its Residence The Preceeding Considerations reduced to Practice I. EVen the meanest Capacities from hence learn the Way to arrive to holy Thoughts viz. by making the most ordinary Blessings Occasions of Praise and Thanksgiving Nothing is more common than Bread yet for this the Son of Man gave Thanks and in doing so bid us imitate his Practice when the like familiar Mercies come before us or present themselves to our View About the Time of the Council at Constance two Cardinals as they were travelling upon the Road not far from the City saw a poor Shepherd weeping and thinking that some sad Accident might have befallen him either his Dog lost or some of his Sheep stolen had the Curiosity to ask him the Reason of his Tears who answer'd I am looking here upon a Toad and cannot but weep to think what an ungrateful Beast I have been to my God to whom I never before in all my Life gave Thanks that he â—e did not make me so homely and so odious a Creature The Truth is you and I can hardly walk the Street but we meet with Men either ragged or lame or maim'd or blind or dumb or some other way deform'd and extreamly miserable Can we look on such Objects and not think with our selves what a Favour and Mercy it was in our great and gracious God not to plunge us into that wretched State but to give us Necessaries and Conveniencies a right Shape and Soundness of Limbs c. These 't is true are but very ordinary Blessings yet if we consider how many Thousands want them and that God who can do all Things and whose Hand is to be seen in all Things might as easily have reduced us to such a miserable Condition as he hath done others and that it is nothing but his Infinite Goodness and Wisdom that hath made this Distinction this cannot but quicken our Understandings And if so none of us can complain that we have no Faculty of furnishing our Minds with holy Thoughts To this purpose certainly was our Reason given us that we might
then save them they are most ready to take and to embrace him But that is not the Acceptance I mean For such an Acceptance implies a Contradiction as being contrary to the whole Design of that Reconciliation For by his Death he was to destroy the Works of the Devil and therefore to accept of him and to cleave to those Works he came to destroy is to set Christ at variance with himself He that accepts of this Gift must express that Acceptance not only by his Hand but his Heart too and conform also to the Design of that Gift For Is Christ divided Shall I accept of a part and not of the whole Shall I receive him as a Saviour and not as a Guide and Ruler too Shall I stretch forth my Hand to put his Sceptre of Grace and Mercy to my Lips and break the Sceptre when I have done This is impious and unreasonable 2. We take the holy Bread with our Hâ—nds to testifie our Approbation of that Gift and that we take it to our own Use and Benefit as he that takes Food in his Hand doth it to feed his own Body and to strengthen himself And indeed Christ is willing that the Soul that comes to this holy Table should say Christ is mine for me he suffered for me he died for my sake he left Heaven and confin'd himself to a Cradle to a Stable to a Manger For me he was nailed to the Cross for me that precious Sacrifice was offered and I share in all the Benefits of his Death as well as my Brother my Sister my Friend and my Neighbour The Estate he purchased belongs to me I have a Right to it as well as St. Paul and St. Peter as well as Zachaeus and Mary Magdalene And there is no Dispute of it where the Communicant brings with him Mary Magdalene's Tears St. Peter's Repentance St. Paul's Admiration of God's Love and Zachaeus's Charity he may be as confident that Christ gives himself to him as if he heard Christ saying to him with an audible Voice in the Prophet's Language Fear not I have redeemed thee thou art mine He may justly believe he hears Christ saying to him Here Christian take that which is thine own even my self that Pardon that Salvation that Peace that Joy that Spirit that Comfort which my Death hath purchased and my Cross hath gained I am thy Portion and all that I have is thine I am thy Shield and thy exceeding great Reward Be not afraid to apply these mighty Blessings to my Soul for as great as wonderful as rich as magnificent as they are and as poor as mean as wretched and as naked as thou art take them and wear them tye them as a Crown about thy Head Look upon the bright the everlasting Mansions of Bliss and Happiness look upon all that Saints and Angels do enjoy and please thy self with the Thoughts of it for all is thine 3. We are commanded to take the holy Bread with our Hands to let us know that having accepted of this Gift and appropriated it to our selves we are to hold it fast and not to let it go again Then we let Christ go when we grow cold in our Love to him and to his distressed Members or to our Brethren in general Love stays that Bride-groom of our Souls Love preserves his gracious Presence Love chains him to our Hearts It was an excellent Resolution of the Spiritual Spouse and that Spouse are we Cant. 3. 3 4. The Watch-men that go â—â—ut the City found me to whom I said Saw ye him whom my Soul loves It was but a little that I passed from them but I found him whom my Soul loves I held him and would not let him go until I had brought him into my Mother's House and into the Chamber of her that conceived me This must be the Resolution of every Soul that is tender of spiritual Comfort The Way to hold him fast is to kiss him with our Thoughts to embrace him with our Minds to cleave to him with our Affections to cling to him with our Will and to caress him with our Obedience If he would go away from us these are the Charms that hold him And the Soul that with David hath Courage to say and sincerely intends what it says Psal. 18. 1. I will love thee O Lord my Strength my Rock my Fortress my Deliverer my Buckler and the Horn of my Salvation and my high Tower may expect as gracious an Answer The same we read of Psal. 91. 14 15 16. Because he hath set his Love upon me therefore I will deliver him I will set him on high because he hath known my Name He shall call upon me and I will answer him I will be with him in Trouble I will deliver him and honour him With long Life I satisfie him and shew him my Salvation The Preceding Considerations reduced to Practice I. HERE we may take a View of the immense Bounty of our Master to his Church and People Our Saviour pathetically describes it Mar. 12. 1. 7. For according to the different Conditions of his Church he sent various Servants to check them to admonish them to warn them to represent to them the Joys and Torments of another World and though not a few of these Servants were persecuted stoned killed abused and some met with cruel Mockings with Bonds and Imprisonments yet that did not discourage him and having therefore yet one Son his Well-beloved he sent him also last unto them saying They will reverence my Son And this Son he bids us take and with him all Things that can make us truly happy And though it is true the covetous and sensual Man would have taken it more kindly if God had bid him take Chests of Gold and Talents of Silver rich Houses and richer Lands yet had those Gifts been very mean and unworthy of his Wisdom and Holiness His Gift like himself must be spiritual and great and in bidding us take his Son with all the Benefits of his Death he bids us take the most inestimable Mercy and that which must make us rich and great and glorious to Eternal Ages If he had bid us take the World and the Fulness thereof there had been no great Self-denial in that Offer But to offer the Son of his Love and to bid us take him as our own whereby we enjoy all his Wealth and Treasures the Self-denial is so great that the Sacred Writers know not how to express it and therefore use such Words as may serve to feed our Admiration So God loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son And the Word so implies so vast an Ocean of Love that the Understandings both of Angels and Men may lose themselves in the Contemplation or Survey of it II. Here I cannot but reflect on the Rudeness of some that take him indeed but it is as the Soldiers at his Passion took him by Force and Violence There are Thousands that will
obtained and did obtain that Prerogative that in the Lords Supper only and at no time else it had the priviledge to be in many places at once About 150 years after him one James Faber of Stapula enlarged this Privilege of Christ's Human Nature and what Gerson had restrain'd only to the Sacrament he extended to the whole World and made Christ's Human Nature as extensive as his Divinity Luther afterward exceeding fond of this Opinion establish'd it in the Churches of Saxony insomuch that he averâ—'d Christ's Body was as much in a Baker's Shop as in the Eucharist only in the Shop he did not desire to be taken and worshipp'd because he had not tyed himself to a Shop by any word of Promise Nay that his Body was in the very Rope wherewith Judas hang'd himself and went through doors that were lock'd and through the very Stone that was laid upon his Sepulchre A strange fancy For certainly Christ's Body was Crucified at Jerusalem and not in all places of the World and when he fate at Table with his Disciples he did not sit at the same time at Rome or in the East-Indies How near this Doctrine approaches to the errors of the Marcionites and Manichaeans of old who taught that Christ had no real or substantial Body but only a Bodily Shape and that when he was felt and found to have Flesh and Bones it was only by special Dispensation how near this Doctrine I say approaches these Errors condemn'd by the Antient Church I will not determine It cannot be denied that Luther was not always the same and sometimes he seem'd to deny what he asserted before But still those among the Lutherans that are for this Ubiquity make him the Great Patron of their Doctrine And though some of them give out that they do not assert the Ubiquity of Christ's Body so much as his Omnipresence yet it will be a hard matter to shew how Ubiquity and Omnipresence differ Some pretend that the fore-mention'd expressions were not Luther's expressions but foisted in by some that would fain take Sanctuary at his Books for the defence of their Opinions But the composers of the History of the Augsburg Confession are ashamed of this Conceit and the Elector of Saxony when in the Year 1574. he came to examine the thing found that it was only an idle report and that in the Edition of Luther's Works there was no variation used from his own words and expressions And if Luther writes in some places against this Ubiquity of Christ's Body it 's an argument that he ought not to be believ'd in other Books where he asserts it Thus came in Consubstantiation and this Opinion the Lutheran Churches do at this time follow and maintain very eagerly And though in all other Points they differ very little from the Protestants of the Reformation for with us they protest against Popish Invocation of Saints Religious Worship of Images Human Satisfactions Indulgences Purgatory Worship of Relicks Prayers in an unknown Tongue Merit of Works Transubstantiation Adoration of the Sacrament Sacrifice of the Mass Monarchy of the Pope pretences of Infallibility and blind Obedience to the decisions of Councils c. Yet this Point they do so stifly and so uncharitably maintain that the greatest part of them refuse communion with us upon this account which as it is an error so we believe it is no fundamental one especially since all this while they are against Transubstantiation and Adoration of the Sacrament and though in the point of their Consubstantiation they ground themselves much upon that saying of Christ Matth. 28. 20. Lo I am with you always even into the end of the World Yet this is easily answer'd For 1. From hence it doth not follow that he will always vouchsafe them his Bodily Presence for he was after this receiv'd into Heaven and therefore could not be present with his Body at that time 2. What he promises here he made good when he sent the Holy Ghost or the Spirit of Truth upon them Which Spirit though not as to his miraculous Gifts yet as to his saving Graces is with all true Believers to the end of the World So that 3. His being always with them must be understood of his Power and Virtue and Influence which would be with them and with the Churches they should Plant unto the end of the World as the Sun is in Heaven and with his Virtue and Influence cherishes this lower World And thus far we agree with them that Christ is present in the Holy Sacrament by his Power and Influence and Gracious Assistances which sincere Believers feel in their worthy Receiving But from hence it can never be made out that his Body therefore is hid under the Bread in the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist III. In what sense the Bread in this Sacrament is the Body of Christ we may easily guess if we explain Scripture by Scripture and compare this expression with others not unlike it 1. This is my Body i.e. This is a significant Emblem or Sign or Figure of my Body Or this Bread thus broken represents my Body that shall be Crucified for the Sins of the World Thus not only Rabanus Maurus Erigena Bruno Berengarius and other wise Men understood it in the Ninth and Eleventh Centuries but most of the Fathers that lived before Pasâ—â—sius or before 800 Years after Christ. So that This is my Body is as much as this Bread is representative of my Body As Bread is proper Food for your Bodies so my Crucified Body is proper Food for your precious and immortal Souls As Bread strengthens your Bodies so shall the Comforts and Benefits of my Crucified Body support and fortifie your inward Man As Bread nourishes your mortal Bodies so shall the Love and Charity express'd in my giving my Body to be Crucified for your Sins nourish your better part and a sense of that Love cause a reciprocal Love and Charity in your Souls As Bread unites with your Bodies and turns into the substance of your Bodies So my Crucified Body or Faith in me who give my self for you shall be a means of my being one with you and of your being one with me And this interpretation is conformable to the sense of parallel places I am the door of the sheep saith our Saviour Joh. 10. 9. i.e. As the Door opens and being open'd the Sheep are let into the Fold so I am he by whose Light and Influence Men are admitted into the number of God's Children or by my Gospel they get admittance to God's marvellous Light by this they are let into the knowledge of the greatest Mysteries and by believing in me Men have access to the greatest Felicity So Joh. 15. 1. I am the true Vine and my Father is the Husbandman i. e. As the Vine hath Branches so I have Disciples As the Branches are nourish'd by the Vine so are my Disciples by me As the Vine yields an excellent Juice so my
serious Reflections on his Death and Agonies and the Bitterness of his Passion It being spoken to our Souls not to our Bodies to take and eat this Body the Soul hath no other Way to feed upon it but by a pathetick Consideration of the Particulars of that Death and the End and Design of God in it and the Comforts and the Benefits that thereby redound to Mankind and such a Consideration as affects our Souls touches them to the quick and puts them on serious Enquiries into our wretched State and makes them break forth into Flames of Love so that though Christ's Body was crucified above Sixteen Hundred Years agone yet a pious Soul can eat it at this Day swallow the Charity which appears in it with her Thoughts consider who it is that is so wonderfully concerned for her Safety look upon him whom her Sins have pierced and take a View of that Man of Sorrows who was bruised for her Iniquities and wounded for her Transgressions and admire the Miracles that are to be seen in all this 2. To eat Christ's Body is to apply the Benefits of his Death and Passion to our Souls and to rejoyce in them as our greatest Treasure As he that eats with his Bodily Organs applies the Food he takes with his Hands to his Mouth and Body and converts it into Blood and Substance so the pious Soul is pleased with this Spiritual Meat is refreshed by it and applies the Benefits of that crucified Body to her self and with the Thoughts of Peace and Pardon and Salvation which are the Blessings that drop from that Tree arms her self against the Assaults of the Devil and the Terrours of Death and believing without wavering that those Mercies were purchased for her in particular and that she hath a Right and Title to them stands up in the evil Day and in the midst of Temptations boldly cries with the Apostle Who is he that condemns It is Christ that died Rom. 8. 34. 3. To make this crucified Body a Persuasive and Motive to Holiness and Obedience To conclude from thence that if he gave himself for us to redeem us from all Iniquity then we must not frustrate his Expectation nor cling to that Iniquity which he came to free us from And if he died to purifie unto himself a peculiar People zealous for good Works then we must not defile our selves after that nor wallow in the Mire any more with the Swine but cleanse our Minds from carnal covetous and lustful Thoughts our Wills from Perversenes and Stubbornness our Affections from Fondness of this present World and our Hands from Uncleanness His zealous Love to us must make us zealous for his Glory to him we must consecrate our selves and to be holy as he is holy must be the Business of our Lives and so to love him as to keep his Commandments must henceforward be looked upon as our bounden Duty He truly eats this crucified Body upon whom this Crucifixion hath that Power as to crucifie in him his known Lusts and Passions and to engage him to purifie himself from all Filthiness both of Soul and Body The Preceding Considerations reduced to Practice I. IN all Writings both Ancient and Modern about this holy Sacrament there are various Rhetorical Expressions used which we must not understand literally but as Flowers strowed upon the Herse of our Blessed Redeemer and as Ornaments of Speech to represent the Greatness of the Mystery There is nothing more common among the Fathers than to call the Bread and Wine in the Lord's Supper the Body and Blood of Christ and the Cup the Vessel in which Christ's Blood is contained And many times Christ is said to stand at the Altar and all the holy Angels waiting at the Table that Christ offers his Body to be bruised by the People's Teeth and dyes them red with his Blood that the Elements are changed and become the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus and that after Prayer and Thanksgiving they are no more what they were before and a Thousand such Expressions besides From which the Church of Rome presently infers that they believed a Transubstantiation or a Conversion of the Elements into the Substance of Christ's Body and Blood than which nothing can be more absurd For if a Man compare these Saying of the Ancients with other Passages in their Writings it plainly appears that they meant no more than that the Elements are representative of all this and that the Expressions they use are nothing but Rhetorical Flourishes to raise the People's Affections and to render their Devotions brisk lively servent affectionate and vigorous We do the same at this Day when we tell you that you come to feast with Christ that in this Sacrament he is crucified before you Eyes that you may see his Blood run down that you hear him groan under the Burthen of your Sins that you see here his Body hanging on the Cross that you are to stand under the Tree and catch the precious Gore as Balsam for your Souls All which is true in a spiritual Sense and we do it to make you more attentive and set this Passion out in such lively Characters that your Souls may be touch'd and enliven'd and as Things represented in brighter Colours strike the Senses more so we speak of these Things as if they were visible and perceptible to the outward Eyes that your Souls may more chearfully feed on the Kernel that lies in those Shells and with greater Life embrace the glorious Benefits which come to you by that precious Sacrifice II. By the same Way that Man was lost by the same Way he must recover He was undone by eating He must be made whole again by eating By eating he died By eating he must come to Life again That Day thou eatest of this Tree thou shalt surely die saith God And the same saith God of this holy Sacrament That Day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely live The Fruit in Paradise became a Savour of Death unto Death unto him The holy Bread in this Sacrament becomes a Savour of Life unto Life unto him That Eating brought him into Slavery This gives him a Title to the glorious Liberty of God's Children In eating that Fruit he thought to be like God and made himself worse than the Beasts that perish By eating of this Bread he is enabled to become like unto the Son of God by being changed into the same Image from Glory to Glory That Eating made him sick This is Health to his Navel and Maerrow to his Bones Prov. 3. 8. That brought the Plague This delivers from it That filled him with Wounds and Bruises and putrifying Sores This makes his Flesh come again like unto the Flesh of a little Child In a Word By eating God's Favour was forfeited By eating it is regained Let Israel rejoyce in him that made him let the Children of Zion be joyful in their King for the Lord takes pleasure in his People he will
beautifie the Meek with Salvation Let the Saints be joyful in Glory let them sing aloud upon their Beds let them praise the Name of the Lord for his Name alone is excellent his Glory is above the Earth and Heaven III. See here how rich a Meal God the Father prepares for our Souls even the crucified Body of his Son Shall we look upon that Celestial Food with dull and careless Thoughts Can we behold this costly Bread and forbear crying out Lord for ever give us that Bread Christian if thou meanest to be saved by the crucified Body of thy Lord thou must needs eat of it Not only thy Mouth must eat the Sacramental Bread and chew it but thy Soul must ascend and employ her self in eating of the crucified Body represented by that Bread Thy Soul thy Mind thy Will thy Affections must have the greatest Share in eating at this Table Thy Body hath little to do here that is only the Chariot that brings thy Soul to this Banquet Thy Soul not being engaged and busie here in Thinking Admiration Resolution Love and Joy the Cringes and Bowings of thy Body will be insignificant The End of our common Eating is Assimilation and in our ordinary Meals we therefore eat Food agreeable to our Bodies that it may be united to our Substance mingle with our Blood and become one with our Bodies So here our Souls must feed on the crucified Body of the Lord Jesus that we may become one with him All Creatures may be said to be one with Christ as he is God as he is their Creator in which respect he fills Heaven and Earth with his Presence and is not far from every one of us and in him we live and breath and have our Being Nay in a more particular manner every Professor of Christianity may be said to be one with him as he professes the same Religion which Christ taught his Disciples But this is not the Union aimed at in this Sacrament nor can the Union which respects our Profession only give any great Comfort to a Christian. The Union designed by this Sacrament is effected by the Spirit of Christ Jesus and the Soul that unfeignedly see◠here on the crucified Body of her Master gets the same Spirit that dwelt in her crucified Lord which produces the same Graces in her that shined in that great Shepherd of Souls and the same Mind the same Temper the same Disposition in substance at least though not in the same Degree is effected and produced in her by this Spirit as we see Rem 8. 11. Phil. 2. 5. And this is that Union every true Communicant is to aim at and from hence flows a Communion with Christ in all his Privileges and Glories whereby the Soul is raised up together with Christ and made to sit together with him in Heavenly Places though not by way of actual Enjoyment as yet but by getting a Right and Title to those Privileges as the Apostle informs us Ephes. 2. 6. By feeding on this crucified Body the Soul is nourished and gathers Strength against her spiritual Enemies becomes bold in Temptations resolute in Dangers couragious in spiritual Enterprizes The Soul that comes to feed on this crucified Body and comes not with this Intent comes in vain comes only to stare upon the Cross but not to be refreshed by it The Soul that after the Sacrament yields wilfully to the same Temptations it did before is ensnared by the same sinful Pleasure that ruin'd it before is led Captive by the same Lusts that intangled her before certainly feeds not on the crucified Body of the Lord Jesus because the Contemplation of that Crucifixion works no suitable Effects which if it did the Soul would unfeignedly destroy the Body of Sin according to the Apostle's Rule Rom. 6. 6. and offer up her Body a living Sacrifice holy acceptable unto God as it is said Rom. 12. 1. Make the Body obedient to Reason and Sense to Faith and the Flesh to the Spirit and it would keep under the Body and bring it into Subjection as St. Paul did 1 Cor. 9. 27. i. e. it would deny the Body those Satisfactions which are manifest Hindrances to the Things of the Spirit it would force it to Temperance to Hardships to Industry and Laboriousness in God's Service it would strive and take care that the Body might become a Temple of the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. 6. 19. 〈◊〉 what the Soul doth in this Ordinance would leave such a Sense upon us as would not only enable but constrain us to glorifie God both in Body and Soul as the Scripture requires 1 Cor. 6. 20. These are the blessed Effects of eating the crucified Body of the Lord Jesus And the Soul that feeds on that Body will find these happy Consequences it will not go away empty from this Meal and though for the present it doth not see all these Effects yet there is that Impression made on her by this Eating that these Effects will afterward discover themselves in her Life and Conversation The PRAYER O My God! What Care dost thou take of my immortal Soul that it may not starve Thou hast made large Provision for my Body in the Earth in the Air and in the Water The Earth brings forth Herbs and Roots and Cattel to feed it The Air affords Fowl and Feather'd Creatures to nourish it The Water provides Fish for it But none of all these can satisfie my Soul that must have a spiritual Diet and rather than it shall want thou hast given thine own Son to be her Food O mysterious Love Can I after tbis have low and mean Thoughts of thy Goodness O sweetest Jesu if my Soul feeds not on thee if must die and be separated from thy glorious Presence for ever If it feeds on thee it is made for ever Oh! be thou my most beloved and most delightful Food Thy crucified Body alone can keep my Soul from fainting Thy Death must yield me Life Thy Sufferings must give me Joy Thy Agonies must afford me Comfort Thy Torments must work mine Ease Thy Nails and Thorns must be my Bed of Roses Nothing else can give my Soul Rest. When the Snares of Death and Hell encompass me I will lay hold on these Horns of the Altar here I shall be safe safer than in the Arms of Angels Thou that diedst for me livest for ever to intercede for me and having such an Advocate I may come boldly to the Throne of Grace O let me not survey this glorious Provision made for my Soul with carnal Eyes O let me ponder seriously not with flying and transient but with steady and fixed Thoughts how thou hast favoured how thou hast loved how thou hast dignified this miserable Soul of mine that I may rejoyce in thee for ever and ever Amen CHAP. XII Of remembring Christ in this Sacrament or doing what we do here in remembrance of him The CONTENTS The Death of Christ Jesus the principal thing to be
sensible of it and so much more grievous by how much it was Spiritual Our Bodies indeed were not laid in Iron nor with the Israelites forced to make Brick without Straw There were no Task-masters set over us to beat and would and bruise us we were not chained to Triumphal Chariots nor forced to work in Mines and Gallies but it was far worse our Souls which were the far better part of us were led Captive by the worst of Tyrants the Law we were govern'd by was the Law of Sin the Prison we were doom'd to was Eternal Darkness the Burdens which were laid upon us were intolerable and we were under the Power of an Usurper whose Smiles were Deaths whose Favours were Punishments and whose Kindnesses were Destruction and Ruin under him we labour'd and toil'd in vain and when at night after our Travel we looked for Wages we could expect nothing but Fire and Flames We read of Dracula the Transylvanian that having one day invited all the Beggars and poor Men he could light of to a splendid Dinner or Entertainment after they had filled their Bellies he set Fire to the Hall where they were and burnt them all The same Fare we must have expected of that Tyrannical Master under whose Bondage we groan'd but from this Slavery the Son of God by dying for us redeemed and rescued us A Mercy which as it deserves to be remembred above all the deliverances that ever happened to us so where can the remembrance be more proper than in the Sacrament of his Death and Passion 4. In vain is all this remembred if we do not remember to imitate this Saviour in his Self-denying Acts for therefore all this Mercy and Love and Charity is represented to us in this Sacrament that it may be an Obligation upon us to deport our selves in the World after his Example So that as he prayed for his Enemies so must we as he blessed them that cursed him so must we as he freely forgave the Men that wronged him so must we as he died for the Truth so must we as he defended it to the last without wavering so must we as he would not suffer any outward Respects to discourage him from Conscientiousness so neither must we as he before his Foes witnessed a good Confession so must we as he did Good for Evil so must we as he shewed Pity to Men in distress though they had affronted and done him an Injury so must we as he bore his Cross contentedly so must we as he despised the World so must we He that remembers not his Death so as to endeavour to be like him forgets the End of his Redemption and dishonours the Cross on which his Satisfaction was wrought For the Honour due to the Cross of Christ is not with the Church of Rome to pray to a piece of Wood called the Cross of Christ Hail Christ's Cross our only Hope in this most blessed Passion-Week Increase the Goodness of the Good and Pardon to the Guilty give but to live in the World as the Lord Jesus did who was crucified for us and by living so to adorn the Doctrine of the Cross of Christ Jesus that is to admire and reverence his Cross. III. From such a Remembrance flow more than ordinary Advantages for Things are useful according as they are managed and consequently if the Remembrance here required be used according to the Rules laid down these following Benefits will certainly ensue upon it For 1. Hereby our Love to God is kindled and renewed Love kindles Love as Fire kindles Fire and therefore God appears in this Sacrament as he did to Moses in the Bush all in Flames of Love that those Flames may warm our Breasts And O happy Soul that feels those Flames warm and heat all that is within her When Love takes possession of the Soul or rather when the Love of God represented in the Sacrament raises Love in the holy soul then the Soul becomes the Seat of Wisdom the Tabernacle of Holiness the Chamber of the Celestial Bridegroom a spiritual Heaven a Field which the Lord hath blessed a Spouse dearly beloved a Garden of Pleasure the Marriage-house a Paradise of Vertue into which the Lord descends not to find out the Malefactor and to discover his Nakedness but to betroth to himself the beloved Virgin languishing with Love waiting for her Beloved and longing for the Bridegroom 's Coming And where this Divine Love takes place there the Love of the World expires for as St. Austin speaks He cannot love that which is Eternal that doth not cease to love that which is Temporal And from this Love arise those happy Breathings O Fountain of Love Nothing is sweeter than thy Love nothing more pleasant nothing more beneficial Thy Love is not troublesome Where thy Love is there is true Pleasure It is contented with it self it knows no Bounds it watches Opportunities to vent it self it triumphs in its own Cell and captivates all the Faculties Thy Love O Lord gives Liberty drives out Fear tramples upon Humane Merits It gives Rest to the Weary Strength to the Weak Joy to the Mourners It feels no Weariness it feeds the Hungry and keeps the Faint from sinking 2. Hereby our Consciences are purged from Dead Works This as it is ascribed expresly to the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant Heb. 9. 14. so it must be attributed to the true Remembrance of that Blood in this Everlasting Sacrament Such a Remembrance cleanseth the Heart purifies the Soul makes the Dross of Sin vanish and the Impurity the Mind was oppressed withal wear away Such a Remembrance like the Gift of Prophecy Jer. 20. 9. is as a burning Fire shut up in the Bones which consumes the Hay and Straw and Stubble that annoyed the House of God For the Beauty of God's Love makes Sin appear black and ugly and causes a Loathing of it Hereby Holiness is advanced and Grace begins to flourish and the Rubbish being removed the Winter of Iniquity gone the Frost in the Soul dissolved the Flowers of the glorious Spring appear This Remembrance chaseth Lust and Luxury and therefore those in whom it hath these Effects are said to wash their Robes and make them white in the Blood of the Lamb Rev. 7. 14. 3. Hereby Christ is invited to dwell in us The House being thus cleansed and swept the Noble Guest is invited to make his Abode there This Remembrance is attractive and where the Soul is thus affected with the Remembrance of Christ's Death he comes and inhabits that beautiful Palace for such a Person seems resolv'd to keep his Word And to him the Promise runs If a Man love me he will keep my Words and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our Abode with him John 14. 23. A wonderful Favour this To have him dwelling in us who is the Light of the World the Light of Heaven the Light of Angels and the Sun of Righteousness
a ransom for me a mercy without which I could neither have been safe nor happy and a share in which must needs be more to me than the wealth of Kings What can be more reasonable than that he should be my Master and I his Servant that he should command and I obey that he should govern and I submit that he should prescribe Laws and I act according to those Laws whatever Danger whatever Trouble whatever Inconvenience I put my self to This is the Wisdom of God or rather infused by God into the Soul and if any sort of wisdom were hinted by Christ's using Wine in this Ordinance it must be this Wisdom for this is gratitude and ingenuity and an argument that we receive not the grace of God in vain 4. Wine hath briskness and spirit in it and might not this be an Item to tell us how lively and vigorous our Love should be to Christ Jesus and how like new Wine our Love should be ready to burst the bottles at least vent it self in some such ejaculations Oh Jesu how sweet how lovely how amiable art thou how full of Beauty how full of Glory how full of Majesty in the midst of all thy pain and sorrow Thy wounds look dismal yet was never any thing more medicinal never did any thing afford greater virtue for they can cure sin they are preservatives from Hell and the surest Amulets against inffection from these the costly Balsom flows that must restore my wounded Soul Oh how I love thee Oh how I prize thee Oh how I esteem thee Thou art more to me than Father or Mother more than Lands or Houses I read of Fountains that flow'd with Oyl when thou wast born but that 's no comfort to me Thy wounds are the springs that send forth an Oyl precious and sweet and odoriferous whereby the diseases of my Heart are expell'd This is the Oyl of gladness anoint my Head with it and from thence let it run down to the skirts of my cloathing that my whole Man may be thine and my Soul and Body and all I have may participate of thy grace and compassion 5. Wine is cleansing too and might not this be an hint of the purifying quality of the Blood of the Holy Jesus Surely that Blood cleanses us from all sins it washes whiter than Snow Fullers-Earth is not to be compar'd with it Though the Sinner wash himself with Nitre and take much Soap to purifie his Soul yet that will not take away one spot still his iniquity will be mark'd before God but the Blood of Christ will make him clean so clean that God will spy no iniquity in Jacob and no perverseness in Israel so clean that no wrinkle shall appear in him one would think nothing could have been more filthy than some sinners have been yet upon their Repentance the Blood of Christ hath so purified so cleans'd so beautified their Souls that even Angels have fall'n in love with them VI. That Christ made use of a Cup in the distributition of the Wine we have already taken notice of but whether there might not be some mystery in his making use of a Cup and no other Vessel is a thing worth our consideration And. 1. The Prophets had spoken of a Cup of trembling and of a Cup of God's fury Es. 51. 17. Jerem. 25. 15 17 18. This Cup the Jewish Nation was to drink of their Commonwealth and Policy was to be destroy'd and inexpressible Calamities were to light on them and the second Captivity was to be worse than the first as their Sins that caused the second were greater than those which occasioned the first Miseries so great that when Christ beheld the City he wept over it and said The days will come upon thee that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee and compass thee round and keep thee in on every side and shall lay thee even with the ground and thy children within thee and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation Luk. 19. 41 43 44. This was the Cup of astonishment that unhappy Nation was to drink of so that his making use of a Cup was an allusion to that misery for now the time drew near and they were going to do that which would hasten their ruin viz. kill the Lord of Glory and their greatest Friend 2. Himself was to drink the Cup of the Lord's fury to atone for the Sins both of Jews and Gentiles and of this the Cup he took was an Emblem He had generously and freely undertaken to open to Mankind a way to God's Favour This way could not be made considering the Decree of God but by his Sufferings and and accordingly we find him drinking so deep of this Cup that in the Garden of Gethsemane he falls into an Agony and his Sweat was as it were great drops of Blood falling to the ground Luk. 22. 44. That which made this Cup so bitter was the greatness of the sins of Mankind and the dreadful wrath of God they had deserv'd particularly the monstrous sins of the Jewish Nation to whom the first offers of Grace were made and the unspeakable temporal calamities which were to come upon them for their perfidiousness and contempt of the greatest mercies and their total desolation and destruction for their hardness and wilful stupidity These as they were represented to his Mind in a lively manner so it caused prodigious Grief in his Soul insomuch that he profess'd his Soul was sorrowful unto death This was a Cup the most loathsome that ever mortal did take and therefore he calls it by that name Father if it be possible let this Cup pass from me Luke 22. 42. He takes therefore a Cup here that his Followers in future ages might think of the Cup he had drunk of with so much terror and consternation A Cup he took to let us see that the Cup he took in this Sacrament was the true Cup of Salvation we find mention made of a Cup of Salvation and of a Cup of Consolation Psal. 116. 13. and Jer. 16. 7. But the Cup in this Sacrament is of a far greater virtue The Cup of Salvation among the Jews was either the Cup of Wine they made use of in the Passover or the Cup they drank of at Festivals or Feasts when they rejoyced with their Friends after some signal Mercy and Deliverance The Cup of Consolation was properly that which they gave to Mourners at Funerals especially where People took on excessively for the death of their near Relations or were ready to sink with Grief But the Cup in this Sacrament is a Cup of Salvation and Consolation in a sublimer Sense By the Blood of Christ Mankind was made capable of inheriting Life and Eternal Salvation which is beyond being saved from Egypt from the Midianites from the Assyrians and from the Chaldeans so that he that drinks of this Blood contain'd in the Sacramental
yet surely it will transform a Soul sick to death into a lively and healthful constitution though with the Woman in the Gospel she hath lain under her distemper a considerable time II. Among the Scythyans as Herodotus tells us there was a custom for the Princes of the Country to meet once a year at a certain Feast where a Cup was set upon the Table a Cup of Honour which none durst presume to drink of but such as had signaliz'd their Valour in Battel and kill'd more or less of their publick Enemies Though this Sacramental Cup is too High too Sacred and too Lofty a thing to be compared with Cups used at the Feast of Barbarians yet I may take occasion from hence to tell you that this Holy Cup is fit for none to drink of but such as have either shewn or are at least resolved to shew their Valour against their Spiritual Enemies Christian if thou hast fought with the Old Serpent encountred the Hellish Dragon wrestled with Powers and Principalities exprest thy Courage against Temptations defied Goliah the Lion and the Bear the World the Devil and the Flesh or art resolv'd to be a Champion for thy God and fight the Battels of the Lord Thou art that valiant Man that may drink of this Cup Thy God will give thee leave to drink of it with other Hero's with the greatest Worthies with Men of whom the World was not worthy with Men whose Faith hath advanced them above the Stars and who are to shine as the Sun in the Firmament in their Father's Kingdom Let no despairing Thoughts no suggestion of the Devil no slavish Fear no pretence of Unworthiness discourage thee from touching this Cup or drinking of it It 's mingled for thee for thee it is prepared The King expects thee at this Feast thou art called to this Banquet Thus shall it be done to the Man whom the King of Heaven intends to Honour What If thou hast not slain thy Thousands with Saul nor thy Ten thousands with David What if thou hast not brought thy Two hundred Foreskins of the Philistins to thy Lord and Master thou dost a greater act in conquering thy Thoughts thy Desires thy Passions thy Appetite thy vain Imaginations than if thou hadst laid Countries waste ruin'd Kingdoms or bound their Kings in Chains and their Nobles with Fetters of Iron Such Honour have all all his Saints III. Hear this thou fainting Soul that groanest under the burthen of thy Sins goest heavy laden with Sorrow and like Rachel wilt not be comforted Behold thy Lord and Master touched with the feeling of thy infirmities and afflicted in all thy afflictions who waits to be Gracious and loves to converse more with a weeping Publican than with a jovial Herod he reaches forth a Cup to thee a Cup of Joy a Cup of Gladness a Cup of Comfort It is this Sacramental Cup. Drink of it thou thirsty Soul Why shouldst thou fear This Cup is design'd for labouring Souls they that have born the heat and burthen of the day are to taste of it It is design'd to recreate design'd to refresh desing'd to revive design'd to support their Spirits Dost thou believe this Christian Dare to believe it Take thy Saviours word for it and triumph in the Promise The Mercy may be too big for thee to ask but not too big for him to grant Thou hast a Master to deal withal who gives like himself like a King like a Prince whose Stores are inexhaustible Let no Senacharib deceive thee regard not what such a Rabshakeh says Hearken not to the frightful Stories of thine enemies who rejoyce to see thee discourag'd are glad to see thee forbear drinking of this Cup and think it their interest to keep thee from that which may and will give thee everlasting health I have read of a precious Stone of considerable value that dropt no Man knew how into the Holy Cup while the Priest was administring the Sacrament There needs no precious Stone to drop into this Cup to make it of greater value That which is in it is of greater worth than Ten thousand Worlds It represents that which neither Pearls nor Rubies nor Diamonds can counter-balance The Papists boast much of the Gifts of their Popes how Sylvester gave three Golden Cups to be used in the celebration of the Eucharist How John the Second gave a Cup of Gold weighing Twenty pound How Gregory the Second and Leo the Third presented their respective Churches with Cups all beset with precious Stones What if thou canst bring no such Presents to God thou bringest a better when thou bringest a Spirit a Heart a Soul lamenting and mourning because thou hast departed from him contented thy self with a form of Godliness and under the profession of Religion hast denied him in thy actions A Heart toucht with the sense of the unreasonableness odiousness and loathsomness of all this and finding a relish in the things of God and of Salvation qualifies a Man more for comfortable drinking of this Cup than if with the Wise Man he had offer'd Gold and Myrrh and Frankincense to Christ Jesus Is not this the Cup whereby my Lord divineth saith Joseph's Steward Gen. 44. 5. Christian by drinking of this Sacramental Cup thou may'st divine thy future happiness guess at what will become of thee hereafter make conjectures of thy Glory and conclude that thou shalt feel the comfort of drinking the Cordials of a Blessed Eternity The PRAYER O Jesu Great Fountain of all Goodness who didst drink of the bitter Cup which my Sins had mingled I am sensible there was no sorrow like thy sorrow which was done unto thee and wherewith the Lord afflicted thee in the day of his fierce anger How was thy Spirit disturb'd How sore amaz'd was thy Soul How dismay'd thy Mind To such an exceeding heighth of Grief and Sorrow did the Sense of the incumbent load of my sins and the prospect of calamities hanging over my head together with the reflexion on my wretched condition skrew up thy Affections innumerable evils encompass'd thee thou sawest the wrath of God flaming out against my Sin and trembledst Thou stoodst before the mouth of Hell which I had deserv'd and wast astonish'd Thou with thine own Heart Blood didst quench the wrath of Heaven O how am I obliged to adore thy Love O everlasting Father What Charity was it not to spare thine own Son but to deliver him up for us all What pity and compassion was it O thou Eternal Son of God thus to pour forth thy Blood What Affection what tenderness to my Soul O thou Eternal Spirit hast thou express'd in inspiring my Blessed Redeemer with Charity more than Human and in supporting him to undergo all pressures with invincible patience If I forget thy Love sweet Jesu let my right hand forget her cunning What an encouragement is here to believe thy Word which I see so punctually accomplish'd The antient Prophets foretold that Christ should
and Feet and Gestures and Behaviour thy Reason Memory and Passion should all be at his beck move by his prescription act according to his appointment be seasoned with his Grace and conducted by his Wisdom If thou art content that all shall go rather than his Favour if his Love or a share in it be dearer to thee than the dearest of all outward enjoyments be of good cheer it 's a good sign and thou mayst rationally infer that thou art in Covenant with thy Lord and hast a right to all the priviledges that are annex'd to it for thy encouragement V. And here we may justly reflect what a mercy it is to be in Covenant with God a mercy indeed which no Tongue can express nay no Apollos neither as eloquent as he was can describe no Tertullus no Cicero no Demosthenes represent according to its worth a mercy which no Man knows save he who receives it a mercy weich fills the Tongues of departed Saints with praises a mercy which unhappy Souls that groan among Devils would give Millions for if they had them a mercy which sweetens all Conditions makes Sickness easie and Iron Chains sit soft mitigates pain and tempers grief and anguish A mercy which made the penitent Publican stand confounded amaz'd the humble Magdalen caused St. Paul to go chearfully through Stripes and Imprisonment and encouraged the Believers of old to defie death and torments He that is in Covenant with God enjoys all that Son of God enjoys though not as yet in fruition and possession yet in title and reversion God the Father carries him on his Wings as the Eagle doth her young the Eternal Son of God is his faithful Friend The Holy Spirit of God speaks to him in the still voice of peace and comfort He that is in this Covenant is safe in the midst of Spears and Arrows safe when he goes through the Water safe when he passes through the Fire safe when the Waves do roar safe when Hell gapes upon him safe in a Storm safe at Sea safe on the Shore safe in his Life safe in his Death God is concern'd for him in all his afflictions He is afflicted The Lord Jesus is touch'd with his infirmities and the Spirit of God makes intercessions for him with groans that cannot be utter'd In a word there is no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus to them that walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit Rom. 8. 1. The PRAYER O God! whose pity is infinite whose compassion knows no bounds How shall I extol thy Humiliation How shall I admire thy condescension to this poor Worm Will God the Great the omnipotent God look upon such an one as I Wilt thou enter into a Covenant with this lump of Clay wilt thou tye and oblige thy self to do me good The Favour is wonderful I could not have thought it possible but that thou hast most graciously revealed it to me I believe Lord help my unbelief Behold I am Servant the Son the Daughter of thine Handmaid Be it unto me according unto thy Word I accept of thy offer I count my self happy that I may be admitted into Covenant with thee I renounce the Devil and all his Works Thou shalt be my Master my Father my Guide my Director my King and my God my Master to command me my Father to counsel me my Guide to lead me my Director to conduct me my King to rule me my God to dispose of me as thou pleasest I will know no Will but thy Will By the Blood of the Covenant unite my Will to thy Will Grant me to desire what thou delightest in desiring to search after it searching to know it and knowing it to fulfil it Make me O Lord for thou alone canst do it make me Obedient without contradiction Holy without defection Chast without corruption Patient without murmuring Humble without dissimulation Chearful without licentiousness Sorrowful without dejection Grave without affectation nimble in Religion without lightness Fearful without despair Upright without Hypocrisie and fruitful in good Works without presumption Give me a watchful Heart a Heart not easily drawn away by vain imaginations a Heart unbroken by afflictions unaffected with the vanities of the World that may not swell with prosperity nor sink in adversity Grant me understanding to know thee diligence to seek thee wisdom to find thee a readiness to please thee perseverance to wait for thee and confidence at last to embrace thee O Holy and Eternal Spirit I depend upon thy assistance Make me faithful to my God faithful to my Neighbour faithful to mine own Soul faithful in my Calling faithful in the discharge of my Duty faithful in my Promises faithful in my Conversation faithful in my Love faithful in my Obedience faithful in thy House faithful in mine own faithful unto Death that I may obtain a Crown of Life through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen CHAP. XV. Of frequent receiving the Holy Communion and the necessity of it The ONTENTS Frequent coming to the Lord's Table the Practise of the Primitive Christians Receiving every Lord's Day an universal observance Different Customs in different Churches Decay of a good life the cause of Communicating seldom The necessity of frequent Communicating shewn in four particulars as the Eucharist is a great preservative against Sin an engagement to emulate Christ's Virtues a Motive to Charity and the frequent coming a thing very pleasing to God Inquiry made how often a conscientious Christian is bound to Communicate The measures of that Obligation to be taken partly from the Orders of the Church we live in and partly from the fervency of our love to Christ. An Objection drawn from the danger of contempt and disesteem of the Ordinance if we come often answered Arguments to prove that lawful business in the World is no just impediment of Communicating frequently An Expostulation pressing frequent Receiving The frequent Communicant an Object of Divine Mercy The Prayer I. THough the Example of the Primitive Believers is not properly a Law yet we may have leave to infer so much from it that being well acquainted with the Will of Christ and his Apostles in those Practises especially which were universal we ought not without very urgent reasons to depart from that Pattern and if this Rule hold frequent communicating at the Lords Table will become if not absolutely necessary yet highly useful and expedient since it was the practise of the best of Men in the best of Ages and of this the Acts of the Holy Apostles give us a very large account particularly Ch. 2. 42. 46. which place being generally understood of the Eucharist it must follow that the Believers did daily participate of it But this seems to have been a custom peculiar to the Church of Jerusalem for though St. â—yprian St. Chrysostom and St. Austin speak of some places in their time where the daily Sacrifice was celebrated yet even in the Apostles days we find other Churches did
works upon strangers more to joyn themselves to the Mystical Body of Christ than to see the Professors live up to their Principles and maintain the rules their Master hath given them This enforces even such as are Aliens to the Commonwealth of Israel to encourage one another in the Language of those votaries we read of Psal. 122. 1 2 3. Let us go into the house of the Lord our Feet shall stand within thy Gates O Jerusalem Jerusalem is builded as a City that is compact together whither the Tribes go up the Tribes of the Lord unto the Testimony of Israel to give Thanks unto the name of the Lord for there are set Thrones of Judgment the Thrones of the House of David Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem they shall prosper that love thee Peace be within thy Walls and Prosperity within thy Palaces for my brethren and companions sake I will now say Peace be within thee because of the House of the Lord our God I will seek thy good So that what the Apostle 1 Cor. 14. 22. says of the gift of Tongues the same may be said of frequent Communicating that it is a sign to them that believe not Hereby they are perswaded to believe seeing the Professors act like persons that believe what their Master hath said This frequent Communicating shews their Zeal and Unity and there is no Man vers'd in Ecclesiastical History but knows how much these two prevailed with Infidels to come in to the Sheep-fold of Christ Jesus It being evident therefore that this frequent Communicating is very acceptable to God how can we say we love him if we are loath to do what we know will please him The Father hath not left me alone saith our Saviour because I do always the things that please him Joh. 8. 29. And the same may be applied to the frequent Communicant the Father will not leave him alone He will be sure to guard him though a thousand fall on his side and ten thousand on his right hand yet he 'll take care that no evil shall happen unto him for he doth those things that please him III How often a conscientious Christian is bound to Communicate the Scripture hath not thought fit to determine That it ought to be done often the Apostle doth sufficiently intimate 1 Cor. 11. 26. but there is no Law extant in the whole Gospel that saith So many times a Year or Month or Week you shall appear at the Lord's Table and from hence rose that variety of customs in several Churches we mentioned before And what Socrates observes in this point is very probable that that variety of practice derived its Original from the various Judgments and Constitutions of Bishops in their several Dioceses which with their posterity past into a Law yet though they varied in Times and Days and Hours yet it 's easier to gather from those various customs that all made conscience of coming frequently to the Holy Communion till Ignorance and Vice invaded the Priesthood as well as the Laity and when the Priests became regardless of this Ordinance no marvel if the Laity did either despise or neglect it And most certainly to Communicate once or twice or thrice a Year cannot be called frequent eating of this Bread and drinking of this Cup for this is to do it but seldom and is an argument that we are not very solicitous to gain or preserve our Master's Favour and good Will which is ever kept warm by frequent Addresses and Importunity It was therefore an unworthy act of Pope Innocent the Third in the Lateran Council in the year 1215. to make a Canon for Laymen that it was sufficient for them to Communicate but once a year for hereby they fell into great Ignorance Debauchery and Sensuality and that which should have restrained them from Sin being so seldom administred to them they sunk daily into greater barbarity This Petrus Cluniacensis was so sensible of that having understood of the Petrobrusians that they had a Communion but once a year he thus expostulates with them You say once only but Christ and his Apostles say not once or twice or thrice or an hundred times or a thousand times only but as often as you do it There is a great difference between as often and once or twice Here is the beginning of numbers but the other expression exceeds all numbers here is more singularity but in the other is infinite multiplicity The Arabians have a Proverb Visit seldom and you increase Love but however this Maxim may hold among Men I am sure it is not so with God who in the commendation of his Servants lays their stress up-the assiduity in his Service and therefore when the Holy Ghost speaks in the praise of Anna the Prophetess he gives her this Character that though she was a Widow of about fourscore and four years yet she departed not from the Temple but served God with Fastings and Prayers night and day I know this is not spoken with respect to this Sacrament but all that I prove from it is this that the assiduity and frequency of Divine Worship is that which God is pleased to make a sign not only of his Love but our Sincerity too His kindness to our Souls advances with our Importunities and frequent Adorations cause frequent influences of his Love and since the Holy Ghost hath not thought fit to resolve how many times in the year we are to Communicate on purpose to leave room for our Free-will-offerings the Examples of the Saints of old are a very safe Rule to go by in our civil Affairs where a Statute is wanting Customs and Presidents are a Law and we think it reasonable it should be so and when St. Paul calls to us in the style of a Command Brethren be followers of me and mark them that walk so having us for an ensample Phil. 3. 17. The Examples of the Saints of old will be found to be of greater force in our practise than is generally believed and though the antient Churches have had different customs in this particular yet that which most have agreed on may justly oblige us to imitation However nothing is more certain than that we are placed under Governors whose lawful Commands we are to obey and as the Governors of the respective Churches have power to order the circumstantial and decent part of Divine Worship so he acts most safely that conforms to the constitutions of the Church he is of and since in the Church we are Members of both to prevent contempt of this Sacrament by too frequent coming and Peoples hardning their Hearts in Sin by a too long neglect of it it is thought fit to receive the Holy Communion once a Month we have not only great reason to conform to that order but to thank God we are encouraged to this frequent Devotion In some particular Churches among us a Communion every Lord ' Day is kept up according to the Primitive Rule however
Man unfit not only for frequent Communicating but for Salvation too and then his business is unlawful if either out of greediness he takes too much of worldly business upon him more than he can well go through with and which must necessarily hinder him from minding his everlasting concerns or if his business in the World necessitates or necessarily engages him in Sin as when a Mans business engages him to Lying or Cheating or Stealing or Extortion or grinding the Faces of the Poor or unreasonable Usury or encouraging Men in their sins whether Drunkenness or Uncleanness or to Flattering or Dissembling c. Where any such Sins are so bound up with the Worldly business that the one cannot be performed without the other there the business is unlawful sinful odious to God and must be quitted banished abandoned though he beggers himself by it though he were to starve upon quiting of it for this is inconsistent with any hopes of Salvation and a Man had better die ten Thousand times than lose the comforts of Eternal life and to be sure it must be quitted too that a Man may be capable of comming to the Holy Communion for without it he is no more fit to be seen at this Table than a Swine in a Royal Chamber If the business be lawful it can be no impediment to seeking first God's Kingdom and his Righteousness for lawful business is Commanded and one Command doth not clash with the other and if it be no impediment to a serious course of life except a Man will needs make it so it can be no just impediment to Prayer and Meditation and acts of Love and contemplating the mystery of the Cross and consequently no impediment to frequent Communicating 2. Preparation to the Holy Sacrament is either Habitual or Actual Habitual Preparation Divines call that when a Man 's constant care is to please God and to approve himself faithful to God and to be conscientious in all his ways when he makes it his business and the bent of his Soul is to arrive to higher degrees of Sanctification and he is fully and invincibly resolved not to harbor any thing that he shall know or suspect to be offensive to God This habitual Preparation is as necessary as conversion it self and I doubt not but a Man thus prepared may at any time upon a very short warning recieve the Holy Sacrament to his Spiritual comfort as is manifest from the example of the Primitive Christians who at first before they were very numerous recieved the Eucharist every day and therefore could not well come with any other Preparation but what was habitual Actual Preparation consists as we shall shew hereafter in retirement suitable Prayers and Thanksgiving in Self-examination and Contemplation of the Death of Christ and the Motives Reasons and Benefits of it Resolutions c. This actual Preparation is either more prolix or more compendious The prolix or longer actual preparation is necessary till Men become Masters of that gracious habit I have already spoken of but if this be once become the constant guest of the Soul if this once become an Inhabitant a shorter actual preparation is sufficient and therefore where a man is habitually prepared by a Consciencious course he may follow his lawful concerns and business in the World and yet that need not hinder him from those shorter actual Preparations requisite in frequent Communicating In a Word let a Man but once in good earnest proclaim War to all his known Corruptions and Imaginations that exalt themselves against the constitutions and Injunctions of Christ Jesus and he need not doubt but that a very short actual preparation though it were only some few fervent Ejaculations will make him a worthy partaker of the comforts of Divine Love tendered to him in this Sacrament and consequently lawful business can be no just impediment to such frequent preparation But if this I shall have occasion to say more hereafter The Preceding Considerations reduced to Practice I. IT 's no wonder to see that strictness Christ hath Commanded his Followers to observe in their lives decay and dwindle away to nothing but Shew and Formality in the Age we live in since frequent Communicating is so much out of date among us Blessed be God all are not of this mind and many pious Souls we have which conscienciously appear at the Lord's Table as often as they are called to it but still what a vast number of miserable Souls there are abroad who are such perfect strangers to this frequent Communicating that some even die and leave this World without ever thinking of it and others delay their coming to it till Death fills them with horror upon the account of their neglect and others come as seldom as they can What shall I say to such Persons What Arguments shall I use with them How shall I aggravate their Offence Are you Christians or are you Heathens That a Turk a Pagan a Jew doth not shew himself at this Holy Table is no wonder for he is unacquainted with the Religion of a Crucified Saviour But that you who profess your selves his Disciples should be loath to come and see what hath been done for you upon the Cross what Wonders what Miracles of Love God hath wrought for you on the Tree to which the Son of God was nailed what can we think what can we imagine but that you are Infidels under the name and shew of Believers How justly may I Expostulate with you what are you afraid of that you either come not at all to this Well of Salvation or come but seldom What frights you What stops your Journey Are you afraid of parting with that which is death himself to your redeemer your Sins and Naughtiness Are you afraid of purifying your Selves even as he is pure Are you afraid of living up to his Example Are you afraid of losing your foolish Delights and Satisfactions Do you pretend to be friends of Christ and are you loath to accept of him for your Friend Doth he promise to come and meet you in this Ordinance and are you loath or ashamed to be seen in his Company Had you rather keep your Trash and Dung and Filth than come hither and be made clean Tell me not that you are willing to receive him if you will not receive him in his own way In this Sacrament he offers himself to you if here you will not embrace him if here you will not express your esteem of him what hopes have you that he will ever be your portion What can the Ever-Blessed Jesus think of you What can he judge of you What opinion can he entertain of you but that you are his Enemies Enemies to his Supper Enemies to his Love Enemies to your own Souls Must you be dragg'd to your own Happiness Must you be forc'd to drink of this Water of Life While you keep off and stand out are not you the Persons that would not have this Man
this more than Man to Reign over you There can no just Reason be given for your not coming frequently to this Holy Table but that you are loath to agree to the Terms of sincere Repentance and Obedience he requires at your hands and are you loath to be saved Do you take pleasure in being Reprobates Is it such Comfortable thing to be excluded from God's favour While you wilfully absent your selves do not you refuse to be healed Here the kind Physician comes and declares his Willingness to cure you by the Balsom of his Wounds and had you rather be sick than of a healthful Complexion Here is a Medicine tendered unto you a Medicine for your sin-sick Souls and had you rather perish than rise and awake that Christ may give you life Hath the Son of God endured so much gone through such a Discipline of Torments through Fire and Water that your Souls might live and do you despise his Love Do not you Despise it when you come so seldom to apply it Would not one think that you have a mind to be miserable when you are so backward to come to him that would deliver you from your misery Ah! did you believe the astonishing misery of God's Love how would you breath how would you pant how would you hunger and thirst for this Fountain open'd for the House of Judah and Jerusalem It 's a sign your Appetite is dull your desires feeble your Affections cold your Inclinations frozen were all things right within the Fire would burn and at last you would speak with your tongue I come Lord I come I delight to do thy Will It is the Will the Order the Command of that God in whom you believe to come often and shall any thing hinder you from obeying his Command Shall not his Orders prevail with you Can you prefer your little business before his Will Do you believe that he must be your Judge and will you allow always your selves in Rebellion and Contumacy under his Injunctions If any man serve me let him follow me and where I am there shall also my Servant be saith Christ Joh. 12. 26. Ah! Shall so sweet a voice be lost upon you Shall not this Invitation of the bleeding Jesus melt you He was just going to his Cross when he said so He was just going to institute this Sacrament of the Cross when he call'd so Ah! How sweet are these words How full of Kindness How fragrant is this Breath What can work more upon harden'd hearts break break thou stubborn heart The Rocks sympathize with him and cleave asunder and cannot this voice this voice of Mercy make an Alteration in thy breast O take heed lest this Lamb which came to take away the Sins of the World put on another shape ere-long even that of a Lion and roar upon you as it is Luc. 14. 24. I say unto you that none of those Men that were bidden shall taste of my Supper I know there are some honest Souls who out of a Sense of their own unworthyness dare not come and dread frequent approaching to this Table but such I would not fright but win to this frequent Communion and all I shall say to them at this time is this Are you willing Christ should set up his Throne in your Souls Are you willing he should tread down his Enemies in you Enemies which have usurp'd his power Are you content he should be formed in you and fill all your Faculties Are you content all should stoop to him and all that is within you should bow to his Scepter If so fear not you cannot come too often your frequent running to his Altar will be Incense to him Incense which he 'll smell as he did Noah's Sacrifice and secure you against future Destruction II. The frequent Communicant ought to receive some Comfort from these Instructions But then by the frequent Communicant I do not mean one that doth indeed come often to this Table but knows not what it is to be heated by the fire of Divine Love whose Sins are strong and his holy desires weak and whose frequent coming hath made him as careless as the vast number of Sermons he hath heard For such a frequent Communicant God hath given us no comfoâ—ts to such a one we have no message no Embassy of Peace but the frequent Receiver whose choice of the better part is both confirmed and encreased by frequent Receiving this is the Man to whom we are bound to carry Balm and Spices for a Present To you it is that this word of Consolation comes Your frequent attending at this Table is living under the precious drops of the dew of Heaven How goodly are thy Tents O Jacob How justly may you say that God loves you when you love to be often with him whom your Souls do love Surely your Souls will grow fat and flourishing that are so often nourished at this Table It 's a sign you long for the Courts of the Lord and you shall certainly appear in a Nobler Court one day a Court where nothing is mean nothing trivial nothing savouring of Terrestrial delights but a Court where all the Servants are Kings and all enjoy more than the Greatest Monarchs of this World do Blessed are your Eyes for they see and your Ears for they hear The oftner you see the precious Sacrifice on this Table the more endearing it will become to you the oftner you hear him call here come to me all that are weary the more desireable will he grow in your Eyes the oftner you meet here the greater will be the friendship betwixt him and you till this friend comes at last and recieves you to himself so that you shall be for ever with the Lord. The PRAYER O Dearest Saviour dearer to me than Father and Mother My Friend in all dangers my Benefactor in all wants my Fortress in all troubles I cannot but confess that thou hast frequently called to me frequently entreated me frequently expostulated with me and frequently asked me why I would die And I have as frequently stopt my Ears against thy call and been deaf to thy voice and my follies have kept pace with thy favours I see my mistakes I see my errors and my Sins I desire may be ever before me I know thy voice It is the good Shepherd's voice that calls me to this Table and thy Sheep hear thy voice I earnestly desire to be one of that number O feed me with thy pleasures O open mine Eyes that I may see the rich pastures that are to be found in thy Grave To this Sepulchre let me repair often O persuade me to look often into it that I may with the Holy Woman see the Angels sitting there To increase my willingness to come frequently visit me frequently with thy Salvation Let not my familiarity of that sight lessen my esteem of the Sacred Mystery The oftner I participate of it the greater let my Love my Affections and my Admiration be
Open still new Springs of Love when I come to this Sacrament of thy Everlasting Love that the New Springs may still give new life to my Soul new courage to do thy Will new Power to tread on Serpents new resolutions to conquer all that stops my way And thus my dearest Lord transform me by the renewing of my Mind that I may prove what is the Holy acceptable and perfect Wall of God Amen Amen CHAP. XVI Of the Perpetuity of this Ordinance and the Necessity of its Continuance to the World's End The CONTENTS St. Pauls Command to the Corinthians of shewing forth the Lord's Death till he come not to be understood of Christ's coming to them in the Spirit but coming to Judgment This proved largely by many arguments The reasons laid down why this Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is to last to the end of the World Christ's coming to Judgment proved to be a very proper object of our Contemplation in the Recieving of the Holy Eucharist and a help to Patience and Faith and confidence in the Goodness of God God's Marvellous care of our everlasting welfare shewn in tying us up in Bonds of Obedience in this Ordinance Men who look for Grace and Salvation as they are bound to make use of the means of Grace so they are obliged to make use of this The wretched state of those who neglect to shew forth the Lord's Death in this Sacrament The same temper required in Recieving the Eucharist that we desire to be in when we shall be summoned to Judgment The Prayer I. THat this Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is a standing Ordinance and to last to the end of the World St. Paul expresly tells us 1 Cor. 11. 26. For as often as you Eat this Bread and Drink this Cup ye do shew or do ye shew the Lord's death till he come Whereby is plainly meant Christ's coming to judge the World and this hath been the unanimous belief of the universal Church since the Apostles time unto this day which makes us justly wonder at the boldness and ignorance of Quakers and other Enthusiasts who have presumed to abolish this Ordinance in their Conventicles pretending that this Sacrament was fitted only for the Infancy of the Christian Church but intended it should cease when Christ should come to them in the Spirit and having already received Christ as they fancy in their first Conversion and Regeneration they foolishly and ridiculously imagine that they have no need of receiving him again in the use of the outward Symbols tendered to Christians in this Sacrament Puffed up with this airy conceit they run into this Sinister and Childish Interpretation of the Apostle's words contrary to the sense of all Christian Churches as if Till he come were as much as Till he come to you in the Spirit to which impertinent Exposition nothing could possibly lead these silly Men but the Spirit of error and contempt of all human Learning and undervaluing the common dictates of Reason and a monstrous Spiritual Pride which not only swells them with an opinion that they are wiser than all the Christians in the World besides but tempts them to other insolencies and Prophanations of the Written Oracles of the Holy Ghost and therfore lest weak Capacities should be ensnared by such specious pretences it will be necessary to shew the unreasonableness of this interpetation 1. There is not the least Syllable not the least hint given us in all the New Testamenâ— that this Sacrament after it was once instituted was ever to be abolished which made not only the Apostles introduce it into the Christian Congregations while they lived but all the Churches planted and founded by them retained and continued it knowing nothing to the contrary but that this Ordinance was to be perpetual and Eternal and therefore as they had recieved the necessary use of it from those who laid the foundation of their Religion so they propagated the same to their posterity Nay among the Hereticks that left and separated from the Church there were very few but what preserved the use of this Sacrament in their Congregations and though they had the insolence of Blaspheming other Mysteries of Christianity yet this Ordinance they were afraid to abolish being sensible that it was one of the Corner stones of Christianity And who could imagine otherwise that considered how this Sacrament succeeded in the room of the Passover which was Item enough that it was to last for ever for as the Passover after its first Institution was to last to the end of the Jewish Oeconomy that expiring with Christ's Death so this succeeding was an argument that it was to continue while the dispensation of Christianity should last and that is to the end of the World 2. No Man will deny but that those three thousand Souls converted by St. Peter's Sermon did receive the Holy Ghost for St. Peter expresly promises them Acts 2. 38. Repent and be Baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the Remissions of Sins and ye shall receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost and this was very common in those days for true Penitents to receive the Holy Ghost immediately upon their Baptism and sometimes before their Baptism as Cornelius and his Company Act. 20. 44. 48. And though by the Holy Chost in those places are meant the miraculous Gifts of the Holy Ghost speaking with Tongues healing diseases c. Yet it must be granted that in their conversion they had the Sanctifying Spirit of God sent upon them yet these very Persons that â—nd so received the Spirit continued in breaking of Bread and in Prayer as we are told Act. 2. 42. And that by breaking of Bread there is not meant sitting down to their private and ordinary meals is evident from hence because it is mentioned as a part of their Devotion and publick Worship to which their ordinary Diet cannot be referred and therefore it must be the Encharist or this Sacrament of the Lord's Supper that 's meant by it for by that Term it was usually expressed in the Primitive Church as we see 1 Cor. 10. 16. 3. Those very Corinthians to whom the Apostle writes in the place aforementioned and gives a Command to shew forth the Lord's death in this Sacrament till he came had already received the Spirit of God as we read 1 Cor. 2. 12. Now we have received not the Spirit of the World but the Spirit which is of God that we might know the things that are freely given us of God and to this purpose he adds 1 Cor. 6. 11. Such were some of you but ye are Washed but ye are Sanctified but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God These Men then had received the Spirit of God and therefore when the Apostle writing to them chap. 11. Saith that they should shew forth the Lords death till he come most certainly he cannot mean till he came
to you in the Spirit for they had received this Spirit already and he was already come to them in the Spirit and what sense would it have been to say Ye that have received the Spirit of Christ must shew forth his death till he come to you in the Spirit just as good sense as if a Man should say Ye that are in London must do such a thing till you come to London so that if this were the sense the Apostle must have contradicted himself or spoken that which no body knew what to make of It follows therefore that since by his coming in Scripture is frequently meant his coming to Judge the World as Rev. 22. 20. 1 Cor. 4. 5. Luc. 18. 8. That here it hath the same sense because without it the words will not bear a reasonable construction 4. The design of the Apostle in this 11th Chapter is to rectify several mistakes and errors and abuses that were crept in among the Corinthians in their administration and eating of the Lord's Supper and this is intimated v. 17 18. So that his intent in writing to them must be to inform them how they were to behave themselves in the use of this Ordinance what exorbitancies they were to abandon what evil customs they were to retrench what vulgar errors they were to beware of and consequently his intent could not be to abolish this Sacrament or to teach them to use it no longer than Christ should come to them in the Spirit He that gives a Man directions about a good work in what manner he is to perform it what he is to take heed of in the practice of it what Rocks and Stumbling-blocks he is to shun doth not perswade him to leave the good work undone or to neglect it but chalks out to him only the way he may walk in with safety doth still allow the work to be of Eternal Obligation only that it may be acceptable to God bids him beware of the Shelves and Sands he may run upon in the prosecution of it and though in reformation of abuses the thing it self which gave occasion to the abuse is very often cancell'd and taken away yet that Rule holds only in things indifferent In Duties and things Commanded such as the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is this could not be practised for if Ten thousand abuses were committed about Prayer yet Prayer would still be a Duty and therefore the Apostle reforming the errors of the Corintâ—ians in the administration of this Sacrament cannot be supposed to abrogate the Sacrament it self for as he saith v. 20. He had received it of the Lord i. e. by way of a commanded Duty which therefore could not be abolished 5. Let us admit of this odd expression of Christ's coming to them in the Spirit if a Man have received the Spirit of Christ that 's so far from being a sufficient reason to justifie his staying away from this Sacrament that it is a powerful motive to come to it not only because he that hath the Spirit of Christ will be sure to do what Christ Commands him but because the Spirit of Christ must be cherished preserved kept warm and made much of which is not to be done but by frequent contemplation of God's Love and Charity and compassion to our immortal Souls whereof this Sacrament doth not only put us in mind but gives us a faithful representation The Spirit of God within us must be preserv'd by the use of such means God hath appointed and since this Sacrament is one of these means he that neglects it cannot promise himself a long continuance of that Spirit in his Soul and what if Men that have frequented this Ordinance have found no good by it for that must be their own fault and because they come to it like Swine no wonder if they come away from it in no better condition 6. Though it is readily granted that true Believers in their first conversion receive the Spirit of Christ yet that puts no stop to their receiving larger and greater influences of it by the use of this Sacrament As Grace is begun in their first conversion so it is increased by a conscientious use of this Ordinance The coming to it doth not abate the power of this Spirit but advances it This Ordinance being a Spiritual Ordinance the Spirit of Christ is the more likely to exert its virtue in a sincere Believer that frequents it The Cross of Christ which is Foolishness to the Greek is Wisdom to the Spiritual Man and the more he looks upon it with suitable Devotion the greater courage and strength he will receive from it to fight the Battels of the Lord. The Spirit of Christ that works in a true Believer works by rational Arguments by Arguments that are most apt to prevail with rational Men and since nothing can be a more effectual Argument than the Love of Christ manifested on the Cross and particularly in the Sacrament of the Cross it must follow that the first operations of Christ's Spirit in the Soul are no hindrance to his farther operations in this Holy Sacrament 7. It 's true in this Sacrament external Symbols and Elements are made use of but that 's not at all improper or inconsistent with a Gospel state nor do these Symbols hinder any Man from worshipping God in Spirit and in Truth but rather promote it If under the Gospel Men may make no use of external tokens to put them in mind of Spiritual things the Apostle was out in his Divinity when he tells us That the invisible things of God are clearly seen being understood by the things which are made even his eternal Power and Godhead Rom. 1. 20. Christ indeed abolished the burthensome Symbols of the Ceremonial Law but did no where tell us that he would leave no Symbols at all in his Church to remember him by And though we grant what the Apostle saith Col. 2. 20. 21. Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the Rudiments of the World why as though living in the World are ye subject to Ordinances touch not taste not handle not Yet it plainly appears from his discourse that he reprehended no other but Judaizing Christians who having embraced the Christian Religion were still observant of the Ancient Ceremonies which Moses while the Church was in its Minority had given to the Jewish People such as were distinctions of Meats and Drinks touching dead Bodies or any thing that was defiled with Leprosie touching any thing unclean whether Man or Beast c. whereof a large account is given in Levit. 7. 21. So that this Saying doth not reverse the Symbols used in the Holy Sacrament they being of another nature and instituted upon a different design and so far from evacuating a Spiritual Worship that those become most Spiritual persons that frequently exercise themselves in a devout use of it and therefore what arrogance must it be for Men to think themselves wiser than Christ himself and
and Lye and Cheat no more and yet forgets the Oath of God that is upon his Soul and dares fall to his old Sins again that Man's last Estate is worse than the first and he slights him by whom he must be saved despises him who alone can make him happy refuses that Blood which alone can cleanse him undervalues the only Champion that can secure him against the Rage of the roaring Lion loses and rejects the Prop which alone can support him against the wrath of an offended God and affronts that Friend which alone can help and comfort him in the day of Vengeance II. This Sacrament being a standing Ordinance and a notable means of Grace as much as Prayer and hearing the Word of God it must necessarily follow that Men who look for Grace and Salvation must make as great Conscience of this as of any other and if they account it a Sin to neglect Prayer and hearing the Word they must look upon it as sinful too to neglect this Ordinance If this be a means of Salvation as well as the rest he that hopes to be saved must seriously make use of this means else he can have but little hopes of arriving to the end without the means Surely this Sacrament is a means whereby you and I must come to love the Lord Jesus Christ a Duty of that consequence that he that love him not in sincerity lies under a severe threatning and is liable to a dreadful Curse 1 Cor. 16. 22. But how shall we ever love him to any purpose except we use the means whereby that Love must be raised and kindled in our Breast Doth any Man hope to thrive in the World that will not bestir himself become active in his profession and apply himself to Labour Does any Man hope ot arrive to Learning and Scholarship without Books or Reading Does any Person hope to keep himself warm in Winter that puts on no Cloaths Or was ever any so foolish as to hope to come to his Journies end if he sits still in a Tavern or Alehouse by the way If this Sacrament be a means of obtaining Happiness will that Happiness fall to our share without using the proper means If thou refusest to come to this Ordinance how can God be kind to thee how can he visit thee with the Favour he bears to his own People How can he wash thee with the Blood of the Lamb How can he make thee Blessed and a companion of Seraphim and give thee a right to the Treasury of Christ's merits when thou neglectest the means whereby these Mercies must be consigned and applied to thy Soul And therefore III. How wretched how sad must be the case of that Soul which neglects to shew forth the Lord's Death in this Ordinance when the Lord shall come to Judgment When the Son of God shall appear in all his Glory and the Sinner who neglected this Holy Sacrament shall be brought before him it will not be an ordinary fright the wretch will be in especially when the King of Glory shall accost and ask him How canst thou hope to share in my Glory that didst not think my Death worth remembring in the Congregation of my Saints How canst thou hope to participate of my Happiness that wouldst not weep at my bitter Passion How canst thou hope to be advanced to my Throne who wast ashamed to look upon me hanging on the Cross How canst thou hope to enter into thy Master's Joy that would'st not by lively representations of my suffering in the Sacrament I ordained be melted in Tears How canst thou hope for a seat in the Eternal Mansions where no defiled thing must enter that wouldst not cleanse thy self from filthiness Or how couldst thou hope to be cleansed that wouldst not make use of my Blood to wash thy self Here none can be happy that were not Holy upon Earth and how couldst thou expect to be Holy that didst neglect the means which was intended to enrich thy Soul with Holiness Such an Address of such a Majestick Person and to an offender too that knows and cannot but know that all this is true must necessarily strike the Malefactor dumb fill him with horror and make him cry out though too late O that my Head were Water c. Expostulations of displeased Princes with their Servants that have acted contrary to their Will in things of far less moment have cast them into Grief and Swoons and fatal diseases and we must needs conclude that in the case we speak of as the Person offended is greater than the most puissant Prince in the World and the neglect greater than if a Man had neglected to provide for the security of a Temporal Kingdom so the Expostulations will be more terrible and the Sinner's Heart to whom they shall be spoken in far greater consternation IV. This shews with what temper and disposition we ought to come to this Holy Table even with the same temper we would or desire to be in if within a few hours we were sure to be summoned to Judgment Were any of you to appear to Morrow Morning before the Bar of God and had you all imaginable assurance of it that by such a time you must certainly attend there would you lie or swear or dissemble or break out into a passion or pray carelesly or be backward to do good or be averse from Holy thoughts and discourses c. I trow not and as you would not appear before the Judge with an unmortified temper of Mind so neither can it be adviseable to appear before him at this Table with such a disposition As the appearing before his Judgment Seat would make you call your most serious Thoughts together and make you loath the charms the inticements and the alluring temptations and suggestions of the Flesh and of the World so your appearing at this Table requires the same inclinations for as in the day of Judgment the King will come forth and behold the persons cited into that Court to see whether they are qualified for Heaven and Happiness so in this Feast he comes to look upon the Guests and to see who comes with a worldly and carnal disposition and takes as much notice of the frame and temper of your Hearts as he will do in the last day Here thy great Master comes and takes a view of thy Thoughts Words Desires Affections and Actions whether they proceed from a principle of Love and Submission Happy the Soul that sits down at this Table with a sense of her duty and the greatness and goodness of the Master of the Feast for such a Soul anticipates her future bliss and feels in some measure the sweetness and comfort of the joyful Absolution which shall be pronounced upon her with greater solemnity in the last day even this Come ye blessed of my Father receive the Kingdom c. The PRAYER O Thou Eternal Wisdom who alone knowest what is best for me who hast established this
Pardon this being the great Comfort of the Gospel That Repentance and Remission of Sins should be preached in the Name of Jesus among all Nations beginning at Jerusalem saith our Saviour Luk. 24. 47. And that which will illustrate this Saying is the Story in Sophronius of two old Men of exemplary Holiness who travelling and tired with their Journey the Heat of the Weather also being great they retired into a Stable or Barn that was hard by where thinking to be private contrary to Expectation they found three Young Men caressing of an Harlot However not discouraged with that ill Company they retired into a Corner of the Barn and there read the holy Evangelists The Harlot at once surprized and charmed with their Seriousness drew near and sat down by one of them who thrust her away wondering at her Confidence to joyn her self to their Company To which she replied I beseech you thrust me not away from you for though I am laden with Sin and have made a very ill use of the Means of Grace yet I find not that Christ drove the Harlot from him that kneeled down at his Feet One of them soon answer'd her saying That Harlot whom Christ received did not continue an Harlot To which she instantly made this Return From this time forward I seriously renounce this evil Life of mine and nothing shall divert me from the greatest Severities of Religion She was as good as her word receiv'd Instructions and Comfort from the old Men follow'd their directions and retired from the World And therefore if a Man have received unworthily and truly laments and deplores his former presumption applies himself to newness of Life and is transform'd into a Christian temper he may lawfully return to that Table and there receive and expect remission of Sin where formerly he swallow'd Death and Poyson and tho' his Guilt hath been of a very deep Dye yet Repentance if unfeigned hath that Almighty Power that it can make Ethiopians white and Deformity amiable But then 2. He that hath received unworthily and comes to be sensible of it and thereupon Receives again had need watch and take heed he do not return to his former folly for fear God be tired with pardoning and speak Peace no more for he will speak Peace unto his People and to his Saints but let them not return again unto folly saith the Psalmist Psal. 85. 8. Implying that the Peace of God is not to be had at all times especially after frequent contempt There are offences which provoke God to say as it is Judg. 10. 13. Ye have forsaken me wherefore I will deliver you no more The Peace of God is no trifle which Men may play withal and command when they please God makes another-guise account of it where it is lost it 's not a very easie matter to regain it and so much we may guess at from the examples of good Men who through strong temptations have fall'n into any great Sin It hath cost them much labour and pain to recover and God hath on purpose with-held his Peace from their Souls a long time that they might learn how to prize and preserve it with greater care after its return It 's folly to think God is such a one as we our selves or that he is as willing to part with Peace and Pardon as we to have it when ever we stand in need of it As it is one of the greatest comforts Man can expect of God so he expects it should be managed with prudence and cautionsness It doth not lie like a drug upon his hand which he is willing to be rid of whenever we are pleased to take it off If we know not how to prize it there are those that will and by those few God can be glorified while others bewail the loss of it in outward darkness 8. A Law-suit that is depending doth not necessarily make a Man an unworthy Receiver 1. If the Law-suit be begun for small things and trifles such as any wise and impartial considerate Man were he consulted with would judge to be trivial and of no great importance or if it be commenced upon the account of Revenge or against persons who are known to be insolvent only to have our Will and base humour gratified and to have the satisfaction of throwing the Indigent wretch into Prison or if it be managed in a sinful way with opprobrious Language and bitter Expressions false Accusations suborning of Witnesses against the adverse Party or with harbouring Malice Hatred or secret Grudges in our Hearts against him and we feel no Godly sorrow for it i. e. Do not resolutely upon the account of Christian Love and Charity quit and renounce these evil companions of our Souls and yet come to this Holy Table there without all peradventure we Eat and Drink unworthily because we Eat and Drink without consideration of the Love of Christ and the conditions of the Pardon we expect by his Cross and the dangerous Meat we have swallow'd is not vomited up but lies raw and undigested in our Bowels which must needs be a bar to the Grace and Mercy of God and our own Comfort But then 2. If the Law-suit be commenc'd upon the account of something that 's of great importance either to our Selves or Friends or Heirs if there be no other way to come to our Right and ordinary references will not do if it be merely to obtain reparation for the Damages we have sustain'd or are like to sustain if these Suits be carried on with Meekness with Justice with using honest and lawful Means with Candor and Ingenuity without addition of the hidden things of dishonesty without supplanting the other Party without wounding his good Name or mis-representing things of his side without catching at Bulrushes or taking advantages of his infirmities if the ground and motive of the Enterprize be only that our Neighbor and we may both be satisfied in the case that 's in dispute if the Suit be managed without Pride or Passion with Gentleness and continuation of our wonted Civility Kindness and Charity to the Party we are at Law with and do not upon that account forbear the Respect we formerly shew'd him In this case our coming cannot be prejudicial to worthy Receiving for as it is impossible but Contests and Disputes will arise and the Law of Nature requires that Justice should be done to every Man it must necessarily follow that there must be Courts of Judicature and that God not only permits but appoints them too It 's certain that God in the Jewish Theocracy ordain'd such Courts and human Societies not being able to subsist without them natural Equity requires there should be such things in all civiliz'd Nations whereby Contests may be decided Controversies ended Differences superseded and every Man come to his Right and tho' St. Paul 1 Cor. 6. 1 2. c. finds fault with the Corinthians for going to Law yet the reason why he blames
for all the World clamour'd against them they were hated by Heathens hated by the Jews reviled by Strangers reproached by their Country-men and there was greater hopes to reconcile Fire and Water Light and Darkness than of reconciling some People in the World to them Yet did not this Hatred and Surliness of others make them unworthy Communicants If my Neighbour will throw himself down from a Precipice why should that hinder me from walking in a plain Path And if others will be wicked why should that be an Impediment of my being good 'T is true Christ Matth. 5. 23 24. tells us If thou bring thy Gift to the Altar and there remember that thy Brother hath ought against thee leave there thy Gift before the Altar and go thy way first be reconciled to thy Brother and then come and offer thy Gift Which Words seem to import that if another Man be not in Charity with us our Devotion cannot be accepted till he be reconciled to us But these Words of Christ must be explained by Vers. 22. which brings in the Discourse Vers. 23. for there our Saviour tells us I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his Brother without a Cause shall be in danger of the Judgment i. e. He that conceives Anger against his Neighbour and hopes to escape the Guilt of Sin must have a very just Cause for it viz. There must be a just Cause given him by his Neighbour and then it follows If thy Brother have ought against thee i. e. have ought against thee justly which thou hast given just Occasion for first be reconciled to thy Brother and then offer thy Gift So that it is not another Man 's bare having ought against us that makes us unworthy Receivers but if he have ought against us that we have been the just Cause of if we have kindled his Anger by something that we have injuriously said or done against him there till we seek to be reconciled unto him our Gifts and what we offer to God must needs be odious to him because they are offer'd with an Heart that is not right with him But where we have either done nothing that he can take just Exception against or have done our Duty and what became our Place and Station without any Intent of doing him harm or if in case of an Offence given we have by proper Means and Addresses sought to be at Peace with him and notwithstanding all this he will still have ought against us there his Hatred and the whole Guilt of it will fall upon his own Pate nor can his Insolence or Ill-Nature darken the Light of God's Love and Favour to us who sees we have done what became Christians and honest Men and though it will not satisfie the angry Man yet his Choler cannot deprive us of the kind Looks of our Father which sees in secret nor make us unworthy Receivers 10. A Man's having as he supposes received no Benefit by this holy Sacrament and coming to it again doth not necessarily make him an unworthy Receiver For 1. A Man may really be the better for having been at this Sacrament and yet for the present may not be sensible of it because he may measure his not being better by the want of some particular Qualifications he is desirous of and over-look those Advantages he hath in good truth received by the holy Communion Many a pious Christian is the better for this Sacrament though he is loth to believe it for his coming to this Table either strengthens him in his Hatred of Sin and in his Love to Religion or advances him in Humility Patience Readiness to forgive Injuries and in Charity and yet because he feels not just after it those lively Desires those earnest Breathings after God that Fervour of Spirit that Ardency in Prayer he expected he may think he receives no Benefit because he doth not get what at present he most desires and feels not those Excellencies and Accomplishments which are most upon his Mind yet all this while there may be an actual Growth of Goodness in him his other Graces may be established his Cautiousness of offending a merciful Redeemer increased his Obedience and Self-denial advanced his Faith of another Life augmented his Resolutions to shun the very Appearances of Evil fortified all which upon a strict Search and View of his Inward Man he may find And therefore I may justly conclude that if he receives the Benefit God thinks sit for him though he receives not the Benefit he desires that that Supposition of his of receiving none at all cannot make him an unworthy Receiver 2. 'T is possible we may receive no Benefit at all by frequenting this Ordinance and we may know we do not if we are the same in our Lives we were before If the Cross of Christ doth not draw us after him if it leaves us without Desires to be like him or doth not check the Sins we have been fond of if it does not make us stand in awe of God any more than we did before if it work no Love to God no Charity to other Men's Souls and Bodies in our Hearts if after it we rush into Sin as easily as before if it prove no Bridle to our sinful Appetite no Curb to our covetous Desires if it restrains us not in our Affections to the World if it gives us no Courage to resist no Boldness to withstand those Lusts which were dear to us but still this is clearly our own Fault and for want of considering the Arguments and Motives the Cross of Christ affords us to die to Sin for want of thinking on the Design of Christ's Death and for want of taking pains with our selves for want of reflecting on the Force of Divine Love and for want of earnest Prayers and Addresses for the powerful Assistance of God's Spirit If it be thus with us we have reason to be afraid God will not rejoyce over us when he comes to view our Souls in this Ordinance However All this need not be an Obstacle to our Reformation If we have done ill 't is our Interest to awake out of Sleep and to redeem the Time If we have received no Benefit before upon our Amendment we may If we have done the Work of the Lord negligently upon our Reformation God may may turn our Captivity as the Streams in the South It is with this Sacrament as it is with a rich Mine which yields no Profit to the Owner till he works it The Benefit Men receive here is the Effect of Labour They must be disposed and qualified for this Gift and that which qualifies them is to quit that Slothfulnes they were guilty of 11. Communicating with Persons that receive unworthily doth not necessarily make a Person an unworthy Receiver For 1. Every Man shall bear his own Burthen Gal. 6. 5. If another be wicked how can his Wickedness unsettle my Faith or disorder my Devotion except I consent to his Impiety
sensible of no higher Felicity than what a good Crop and a full Purse affords Now that to receive with no higher Aims or from no better Principles is to receive unworthily will appear from hence 1. Because such Persons receive without being affected and touched with the Riches and Treasures opened revealed discovered and offered in this Sacrament Treasures greater than those the Wise Men laid down at the Feet of the Infant Saviour Treasures beyond all Gold and Myrrh and Frankincense and all the Gums the Happy Arabia yields Treasures of higher value than those the Queen of Sheba brought to Solomon the Great Treasures richer than those the King of Judah shewed to the Babylonian Ambassadors To shew their Excellency above all Earthly Treasures were to prove that Light is better than Darkness and a Ball of Diamond than a piece of Turf or that the Wisdom of a Minister of State exceeds that of a Sucking Babe For if it be true as without doubt it is that God was crucified or that he who was God humbled himself to an ignominious Death for our sakes and that this Love with all its Benefits is proclaimed in our Ears and tender'd to our Souls in this Sacrament there is not a Child but must grant that all that this World affords must be mere Pebles to it And as this Treasure of the World's Redemption is the rich Mine discovered in this Sacrament so he whom Custom and Company only brings to it must needs receive unworthily because he sees not he feels not he is sensible of no such Treasure which if he were he would go to it as a poor Beggar almost starved goes to a rich Man's House there to receive a vast Sum of Money beyond his Expectation and come wondering at the Honour that God intends him wondering at the Favour God designs him wondering at the Riches he shall be presented with wondering at himself what God should see in him to be thus liberal and bountiful to him wondering to see what God hath provided for him 2. Such a Man eats and drinks in this Sacrament as if it were common Bread and Wine that is set before him he approaches and makes no more of it than if it were a private or ordinary Table he considers not what this Bread and Wine represent and as the Apostle's Phrase is discerns not the Lord's Body discerns not that the Body of him who was the Creator of Heaven and Earth is pointed at in these Elements 'T is true materially considered it is the same with the Bread and Wine set upon our Tables at home but the signification of it makes it Celestial Food separates it from common Use raises it above vulgar Diet and the Stamp God sets upon it makes it truly the Bread of the Lord and the Cup of the Lord. He whom Custom only carries to the House of God distinguishes not the Mysteriousness and Holiness of this Food which if he did he would touch it with the same Awe and Reverence that the Woman troubled with a Bloody Issue touch'd the He◠of Christ's Garment Quaking and Trembling Mar. 5. 33. 3. To eat and drink unworthily is to receive without true Repentance Where Men either do not think it requisite to leave their Sins or pretend that they do part with them when they do not where they mistake the present Damp that is upon their Spirits for a Change of Life or the melancholy and sullen Humour that hath surprized them for the new Nature Religion is to give them or forbear the external Acts of their Sins they have formerly hugg'd and run out into but are not resolved to mortifie their secret Desires after him where they mistake their Act of Preparation for the Act of pulling down the Strong Holds of Iniquity so that their Lusts and Love to Sin remain where they give the Devil leave to retire a while but are loth to take their Everlasting Farewel of him and therefore after the House is swept and garnished even after Receiving open the Door to him again Where it is so there Men eat and drink unworthily For 1. Such Persons instead of doing Honour to Christ affront him are still in League with that which killed him pretend Sorrow for their Sins yet secretly espouse them give out they have sent them a Bill of Divorce but still keep close Correspondence with them would make God and Men believe that they are Christ's Servants when they are still his Enemies would persuade others that they have brought their Necks under his Yoak when the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or that which bears rule in their Souls is their Carnality and Sensuality In this Sacrament a most solemn Profession is made and ought to be made of our Weariness of a sinful Life which is the reason why the Church in her Publick Office doth particularly address her self to such Persons as find it and to such that comfortable place of St. John is usually applied If any Man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous 1 Joh. 2. 1. that is If any Man sin so as to be truly weary of it or if he hath sinned and feels such a Remorse that he detests himself for having done so and thereupon bids Defiance to the Works of Darkness We have an Advocate that will plead for us prevail with God not to cast us away because we have forsaken him and by his Merits make our Repentance valuable that it shall prove a Propitiation for our Sins But he that professes Weariness yet is not tired with his sinful Course not only mocks God but gives himself the Lye and seems to fancy that he who dwelleth on high sees not the secret Intrigues and Intentions of his Soul Which is Profanation of Religion 2. Such a Person destroys the End for which he pretends to come to this holy Sacrament for that End is Growth in Grace And how shall he grow in Grace that is unresolved to part from those Sins which do so easily beset him These things are and cannot but be Obstacles and Impediments to that Growth And Worms and Caterpillars are not more noxious to young Trees than these unrepented Sins are to this Growth and a Man may as well hope that an Elm in his Ground will within a few Years be tall enough to over-shadow his whole House when there is nothing but Rock at the bottom Unrepented Sins make the Heart mere Stony Ground Goodness may peep forth but having no Earth it must necessarily wither and come to nothing People may pull and hale a Ship with their Arms long enough before they can make it move while the Anchors are not taken up Their unrepented Sins are the Anchors that keep the Soul fixed to Earth and Hell and to think Grace will move or advance while that Anchor holds it is to imagine that an House will be built without Materials or a Field bring forth Corn that was never sown or never felt the Labour and
Life for the better looks as it were for a new Sacrifice for Sin and since he will not be purged from his known Sins by the Blood of Jesus which hath been already spilt if he hath any hopes of being purified from his Sin in order to the obtaining of Eternal Happiness seems to desire a more effectual Death of that great Mediator which may against his Will drag him away from his sinful courses and thereby would have Christ suffer and be kill'd again and consequently makes himself guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. 4. He that Eats and Drinks unworthily kills the Lord Jesus You will say This is impossible Christ being in Heaven and incapable of any such Act of Violence No more could Saul if you understand it according to the Letter persecute him after he was glorified yet the voice that came to him in his way to Damascus said Saul Saul why persecutest thou me Act. â— 4. The same may be said of an unworthy Receiver he cannot strictly speaking kill the Lord Jesus yet being unwilling to venture upon a change of Life under all the Abjurations of a bleeding Redeemer that stubborness is Death to Christ as God said to the Jews Ezek. 6. 9. I am broken with your whorssh Heart So may the Saviour of the World cry to the Communicant that comes to remember his Death and will not die to his known Sins Thou piercest thou woundest thou killest me by thy obstinate and refractory temper as we say of a tender Father that the ill course his disobedient Son takes is death to him because it is as grievous to him as if one should attempt to take away his Life The unworthy Receiver by being loth to conform to the Rules of the Gospel in his Practices even while he beholds as it were Christ Crucified for his Sins does an Act so unworthy so disrespectful so injurious that it is as much as if he made attempts upon his Life nay he kills the preventing Grace Christ affords him and slays the good motions whereby Christ lives in him Christ is said to be in us as we are Christians and the unworthy Receiver being desirous and willing to maintain and keep his darling Sins doth thereby drive Christ out of his Heart and kill him in his own Soul for Christ and Love to a sinful Life are inconsistent and incompatible things These destroy his Life in the Soul and therefore in this Sense also the unworthy Receiver makes himself guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. 5. He that eats and drinks unworthily consents to the Murther the Jews were guilty of when they killed the Lord of Life and approves of that barbarous and inhumane Act and therefore is guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. He is supposed to consent to that Murther that is not sorry for if And how can he be sorry for it that is not sorry for his Sins which were the principal Cause of it The unworthy Receiver being supposed to be one that doth not heartily shake hands with a sinful Life and is loth so to renounce his known Sins as to tear them from his Heart we cannot imagine that he is heartily sorry for them for his Sorrow hath not those Effects which Godly Sorrow is said to have 2 Cor. 7. 11. For this same thing when ye sorrowed after a Godly sort what Carefulness it wrought in you Yea what clearing of your selves Yea what Indignation against Sin Yea what Fear i. e. of offending God! Yea what vehement Desire Yea what Zeal Yea what Revenge The Tree is known by its Fruits And if Sorrow for Sin must be discovered by such Effects and these Effects appear not in the Communicant as he cannot be thought to eat and drink worthily so in not being sorry for his Sins he doth not appear sorry for the Murther the Jews committed upon the Body of our Saviour his Sins being the Cause of that Murther And doth not this look like Consent or Approbation of that Murther You will say How can any Man be sorry for Christ's Death when that Death is our greatest Comfort and what Consolations the pious Soul feels it feels by virtue of that Death Shall a Man be sorry for that which God had ordain'd appointed and design'd for the Relief and Redress of our Misery If Christ had not died we had been ever wretched and unhappy and must have looked for no Friendship from above and therefore to charge Men with being guilty of his Death because they are not sorry for it seems to be both against Scripture and Reason Is any Man sorry for a Treasure he finds in the Field Or sorry for an Estate that falls to him by the Decease of a Relation Or sorry for an Act of Oblivion which a gracious Prince imparts to Offenders whereof himself is the Principal But to this the Answer is very easie for the Benefit of Christ's Death and the Mercy God intended Mankind by it must be carefully distinguished from the Instrumental Causes whereby Christ was brought to his Death which were partly our Sins and the barbarous Cruelty of the Jews The Benefit that came by the Death of Christ a Christian most certainly ought not to be sorry for but hath reason to rejoyce in Day and Night But that he was so inhumanely murther'd by the Jews and that our Sins were such abominable things in the Sight of God that to expiate them God was moved to give up his own Son to the lawless Rage of those cruel Enemies this requires our Grief and Sorrow That the Jews did commit a very heinous Sin in crucifying Christ is evident from St. Peter's Discourse or Sermon to the Murtherers Act. 3. 17 18 19. For though God hath decreed that Death as an Expedient to reconcile Man to himself and decreed not to hinder the Jews in pursuing their wicked Designs and Purposes but to make that Death an Antidote against Everlasting Death yet that doth not excuse the Jews from the Guilt of Sin in killing of him whose Cruelty God was resolved to turn to the Good of all true Penitents and sincere Believers nor a Christian from an hearty Sorrow that his Sins were the deserving Cause of it So that a Christian may at once rejoyce in Christ's Death and be sorry for it rejoyce in the unspeakable Mercies procured by it and be sorry that those stubborn Wretches did with that Cruelty dispatch him or rather that his Sins did arm those desperate Sinners to put the Lord of Life to death for the Jews could have had no power to murther him but that the Sins of Mankind crying aloud for Vengeance enabled them and gave them Strength and ministred Occasion to do it So that he that is not heartily sorry for his Sins is not heartily sorry that the Jews did murther him and therefore the unworthy Receiver not being heartily sorry for the Sins he hath lived in consents to that Murther of the Jews and upon
the Lord Jesus will answer and though he may knock often yet at last the Gates will be opened to him The Everlasting Door the Gate of Grace and Mercy shall be unlocked to him and he shall get more Grace greater Strength larger Influences his Incomes shall be greater his Revenues more plentiful He will open the Windows of Heaven to him and refresh his Ground with kindly Showers They shall drop on the Pastures of the Wilderness and the little Hills shall rejoyce on every side Such a Receiver is like to abide in Christ and his Word like to abide in him He may be sure of his Love sure of his Friendship sure of his favourable Looks For him Christ laid down his Life indeed and he may be confident that he is one of his little Flock for he hears his Voice and is willing to be guided by him For him the Saviour of the World hath prepared a sure Refuge a Munition of Rocks where he shall dwell securely free from the stormy Wind and Tempest Such a Receiver believes in him and he shall not die Nay Though he were dead yet shall he live Because Christ lives he shall live too And though his Life be hid with Chrst in God yet when Christ who is his Life shall appear then shall he also appear with him in Glory His Faith shall at last be turned into Fruition his Hope into Vision his Expectations into Enjoyment He shall see Christ at last in his Majesty He shall see him in his Wedding-Robes He shall sit down with him at last at the Supper of the Lamb and lean on his Bosom and the Angels will say Behold the Disciple whom Jesus loved He shall walk with him in shining Garments and the King's Daughter which was all glorious within here shall be all glorious without too Her Glory shall be the Joy of Saints and the Envy of all wicked Men. Such a Person rejoyced in his ligâ—t here and he shall be decked with Eternal Light He that is the Light of both Worlds shall be his Everlasting Companion and Darkness shall not annoy him In a Word Christ will lift up the Light of his Countenance upon him and he shall be safe The PRAYER O Great and admirable Saviour who hast said I will give unto him that is a thirst the Fountain of the water of Life freely my Soul thirsteth for thee my Flesh longeth for thee in a a dry and thirsty Land where no water is to see thy Power and thy Glory I am unworthy to receive so Glorious a Guest into my Soul I am unworthy to wash the Feet of the Servants of my Lord Unworthy of the least Crum that falls from thy Table The Angels purer than the Sun think themselves unworthy to Praise and Glorifie thee How unworthy then must I think my self to receive thee the sweetest and the brightest Being into my House yet thou offerest to come and make thy abode with me What Bounty is this Whence is it that the Sovereign King of Heaven and Earth will come and dwell in me who am a sink of Misery a stye of uncleanness a den of filthiness How unworthy am I of this astonishing Saviour I freely confess that I have deserved to be plunged into the depth of Hell rather than to receive thee the Glory of Heaven and Earth into a Heart so defiled so polluted so corrupted with Sin and Misery Yet since thou dost freely offer me this unspeakable Mercy Come Lord and make thy Residence in my Soul I desire to receive thee with all Love and Purity and Devotion To this end destroy in me all that is contrary to thee and enrich my Soul with all suitable dispositions to receive thee I hate my Sins I renounce them I desire to think of them with horror because they were the cause of thy Torments and of that death thou sufferedst on the Cross I would hate them as the Angels and the Saints of Heaven do I am sensible thou art worthy of all Honour and Glory and from my Heart wish that I never had offended and dishonoured thee O that I had something of that Sorrow I see in thy Soul when thou madest thy Soul an offering for Sin Thy Soul was exceeding sorrowful even unto death It was my Sin that caused that Sorrow O let me participate of that Sorrow O Jesu my Light my Righteousness my Sanctification my Redemption Open mine Eyes that I may see the vast Mercy offered me in this Blessed Sacrament Give me that Repentance that Faith that Love which may make me a worthy Receiver of thy Benefits I humble my self before thee I throw my self down at thy feet I give my self to thee I dedicate my Thoughts my Words my Actions my Understanding my Will my Affections to thy Service Set up thy Kingdom in my Soul Destroy my inordinate Self-Love my Anger my Pride and all my disorderly Inclinations Let thy Humility thy Charity thy Patience and all thy Graces reign in me Where thou art there is Heaven If thou art in me I shall not fear what Man or Devils can do against me for thou wilt hide me in the secret of thy Presence from the Pride of Man thou wilt keep me secretly in a Pavilion from the strife of Tongues Blessed be the Lord who hath shewed us his marvellous Kindness I will sing of the Mercies of the Lord for ever with my Mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all Generations Amen Amen CHAP. XVIII Of the sad Effects and Consequences of Unworthy Eating and Drinking in this Holy Sacrament and First of Temporal Judgments The CONTENTS The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is rendred Damnation explained and its various significations discussed Of Temporal Judgments in general which are or may be procured by Eating and Drinking unworthily at the Lord's Table Several Instances of Persons who have felt signal Judgments for prophaning Holy Things This applied to the Holy Sacrament How Men Eat and Drink Temporal Judgment to themselves explained There being many unworthy Receivers at this day who meet with no Signal Judgment in this Life what we are to think of it and how we are to reconcile this Impunity to the Truth of the Apostle's threatning A Question resolved whether such Judgments if they befall an unworthy Receiver do expiate his Sins God proved to be a consuming fire and in what sense Though it be dangerous to Eat and Drink unworthily yet this ought to be no discouragement from coming to the Lord's Table The Prayer I. THE Apostle 1 Cor. 11. 29. in general tells us He that Eats and Drinks unworthily Eats and Drinks Damnation to himself A fearful word The Writer of the Life of Ida de Nivella tells us that whenever she pass'd by the Altar where the Eucharist used to be celebrated a trembling seiz'd upon all her Joynts a kind of Ague fit came upon her and a Sacred horror invaded her Soul imitating the Earth in that particular which trembled at
and Sicknesses laid down in several Particulars The Prayer I. AS Corporal so even Spiritual Weakness Sickness and Death proves too frequently an Effect of Eating and Drinking unworthily at this Table Nay these Spiritual Sicknesses are more common than the other 'T is true they cause no Pain no Aches no Torments in the Bowels they are not felt as the Pleurisie or Cholick or Twisting of the Guts but they are Sicknesses still And because we find such Things and God manifests his Anger often against unworthy Receiving by such Symptoms we have reason to believe the Apostle aimed at these as well as at Bodily Diseases when he avers For this Cause many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep 'T is true there is not a more proper Medicine for all the Diseases of the Soul than this holy Sacrament To which purpose Albertus Magnus saith very appositely If in the Eucharist in the Remembrance of our Saviour's Passion we reflect on his Humility it will free us from the Infection of Pride If we think of his wonderful Charity we shall be delivered from the Evil of Envy If we consider with what Alacrity he went to die for us and to offer himself in Sacrifice for us it will be an Antidote against Weariness of his Service and Backwardness to Devotion If we ponder his Bounty and how liberally he gives us himself and all he hath we shall be rid of Covetousness If we lay his Meekness and Patience to heart it will be an excellent Remedy against Wrath and Anger If we remember how frugal his Supper was and how far from Pomp and Ostentation and how mean the Food was he made use of it will check our Gluttony and Voracity And if we cast our Eyes on the bitter Herbs he eat the Emblem of his bitter Passion we shall not be troubled much with Luxury And to this purpose was the Saying of Innocent III. That the Mystery of the Cross frees us from the reigning Power of Sin and the Mystery of the Eucharist from a Desire of Sin And if the Woman in the Gospel was cured of her Infirmity by touching but the Hem of Christ's Garment what Virtue may we suppose in his whole Body if it be touched by a lively Faith in this Ordinance If God hath given to the Fat of Vipers Virtue to expel Poyson shall not we think there is greater Virtue in Christ's crucified Body to cure the Diseases of the Soul If he gave Virtue to the Tree of Life in Paradise to prolong Age and to procure Perpetuity of Duration shall not Christ's Flesh represented by the Symbols here confer Life and Health and Salvation much more If he have given some Minerals Virtue to disperse Fumes and Vapours shall not we believe there is greater Virtue in the Incarnate Son of God to disperse the Clouds and Fogs that molest and annoy the Soul This cannot be denied and we may rationally believe that this Sacrament is intended by God to cure all the Distempers of the Soul But if that Medicine be not used as it ought the Soul instead of growing stronger becomes more weakly more sickly and draws nigh unto the Gates of Death II. What this Spiritual Weakness Sickness and Death is will not be very difficult to discover If you mind the Apostle's Expression there is a Gradation in the Judgment he speaks of Weakness is a lower Degree of Misery than Sickness and Sickness a lower Degree than Death The first Act of God's Displeasure against Receiving unworthily is to inflict Weakness if that works no Reformation then Sickness and if this doth not make the Sinner rise then Spiritual Death 1. Spiritual Weakness And this may be said to consist in these following Particulars 1. In the Loss of Lively Apprehensions of Spiritual Things which were formerly vouchsafed to the unworthy Receiver Even Men that are Hypocrites in Religion and whose Hearts were never throughly changed have sometimes Flashes of Heaven or Hell coming either from without or from within Ahab certainly had a very great Sense of God's Displeasure and a Sight of Divine Vengeance surprized his Mind when he rent his Clothes and put Sack-cloth upon his Flesh and fasted and lay in Sack-cloth and went softly 1 King 21. 27. And some of us may have known some Persons who have been given to Drinking or Swearing or Lying or Uncleanness or Quarrelling when their Office or Employment or Station in the World or some such External Cause and Motive have put them upon Receiving the Holy Sacrament before they have come to this Table they have had some very serious Thoughts and you might observe in them a Demureness of Behaviour some Apprehensions of the Necessity of Repentance and sometimes their Hearts have been so touched that even a few Tears have dropped from their Eyes as a Testimony of their being moved at the Thoughts of Christ's Death and Passion but the Sacrament being over their Devotion hath been at an end too and they have returned to their old Sins which made them unworthy Receivers because this shews they were not heartily resolved when they came to this Table to subdue their Corruptions Their lively Apprehensions of Spiritual Things they formerly had have thereupon grown dark and decayed become languid and faint and no Foot-step of them hath been left Those Flashes of good Thoughts though short and transitory had they been improved would have signally strengthen'd their Souls and encouraged their practical Love to Christ Jesus But being careless and regardless of that Improvement God justly lets those lively Apprehensions decay and thence comes their Spiritual Weakness God could uphold those lively Apprehensions but they having no Love to them God by a secret Judgment lets them wear out And then What can be the Issue but Spiritual Weakness 2. Irresoluteness to resist Temptations is another Symptom of this Spiritual Weakness When the Soul is either unresolved whether it shall resist such known Temptations or not or resist them but faintly it is a Sign the Powers of the Soul are shaken and the Plague is begun in the Heart By Temptations I mean such Temptations as are agreeable to our sinful Temper and Inclination or such as our Calling and Employment makes us subject to He that observes and takes a View of such Sinners as Receive unworthily cannot but spy in them a very feeble and irresolute Resistance of such Temptations For notwithstanding whatever Resolutions they made before Receiving whatever Prayers and Supplications for God's Grace and Assistance they offered and put up before yet after they have been at this Table the old Temptations return even the same dear Friends that enticed and persuaded them to sin before their Resistance is very weak and they know not well what they shall do whether they shall displease their own and other Men's vain Desires or no. Perhaps some little horror or kind of damp the Sacrament for the present leaves upon their Minds hath so much force
upon them that they make some attempts and use some trifling endeavours to resist but as this resistance is not an effect of an active Faith but only of slavish fear so it doth not preserve them untainted and undaunted in the hour of Temptation which is an Argument both of Spiritual Weakness and God's Judgment because they did not like to retain God in their knowledge as St. Paul speaks Rom. 28. 2. Spiritual Sickness the signs of which are as follows 1. Want of relishing the Things of God and the Mysteries of Religion By this we conclude that a Man is sick in his Body if the Bread or Wine or Apples or Meat he swallows seem to him Food or Drink different from what they appear to sound and healthy and by the same Argument we may infer that a Man's Soul is very sick when the Promises Precepts Commands Mercies Privileges and Immunities of the Gospel are insipid and unsavoury to him and his Soul finds no sweetness no agreeableness no juice no life no pleasantness no delight no pungency in them If these appear to her as common things and affect her no more than what the Great Mogol doth in the Indies or what Men talk on the Coast of Guinea If they raise no wonder no admiration no affection no appetite no strong desire in her if she can hear them read of them survey them think of them without being touch'd with the consequence and importance of them the Soul is infallibly under some great distemper and the whole Head is sick the whole Heart is sick grievously sick and the wound is dangerous and that this Spiritual sickness discovers it self too often in unworthy Receivers we need no other proof but what their known aversion gives us I mean their aversion from good Thoughts and Discourfes after they have been at the Table of the Lord. Reading the Word digesting it and endeavouring to see wondrous things in that Law and meditating of some part of it day and night is irksome to them tedious and when something savouring of Heaven and Eternity is propos'd to them they stand upon Thorns all the while nor can the goodness of God prevail with them to deny themselves in any thing they have a mind or strong inclination to a certain sign of their being sick and of God's Judgment upon their Souls 2. Another symptom of this Spiritual sickness is When a known Sin becomes habitual and the few single Acts pass into temper and come to be incorporated with nature and turn into constitution and complexion In this case the Soul may be judged very sick as sick as the Body that is troubled with the Stone or Gout and where the distemper or Morbific Matter is so dispers'd through the Mass of Blood and Joynts that tho' it admits of respite and lucid intervals sometimes yet as the Humours that feed it gather strength again so the Distemper returns And this sickness doth evidently discover it self in unworthy Receivers who were formerly but Punies and Novices in certain sins but after their unworthy Receiving harden themselves in the practice of them commence Graduates and drink them in as the Ox doth the Water and they become their Darlings their Benjamins as dear to them as their Right Eye as dear as their Foot or Hand than which there cannot be a surer sign of their being spiritually sick and lying under the weight of a spiritual Judgment 3. Spiritual Death And this also is to be known by symptoms which are these 1. When the Conscience smites no more When it gives over striving with the Sinner he is dead as that Body in which the Pulse hath left off beating So it was with the Prodigal of whom Christ expresly saith Though his natural life was sound and whole that he was dead No remorse no regret appear'd in his Soul All was still as in a Charnel-House no noise within to fright him All was turn'd into the silence of the Grave He delighted in his nastiness in his Mud and Dung and Filth and Swinish Desires nothing prick'd him nothing stung his Heart And that this Death is to be found in some unworthy Receivers is manifest from their Actions for they become stupid in their Errors and having bafâ—led their Conscience laid that inward witness to sleep and hush'd it into a fatal slumber It stirs not it moves not and they know not when they sin and when they do not To that insensibleness they bring themselves that when God calls they cannot see with their Eyes nor hear with their Ears nor understand with their Hearts 2. Another Symptom of this Spiritual Death is When the Sinner begins to look upon Religion either as a trick of Divines or Politicians or a needless thing This excludes all sense of another world the only thing whereby the Soul lives and therefore that being gone the Soul is dead and that he who hath the power of Death even the Devil hath killed and mortified all the good Seed that lay scattered in his Breast Indeed this is such a degree of Death which unworthy Receivers do not very ordinarily arrive to yet sometimes they fall even into this Gulph for what should hinder them from tumbling down so low that have lost their hold in a Crucified Saviour from whose Arms they have broke loose unwilling that he should have any thing to do with them but just to save them if he pleases The Bands of Love and Obedience are the only things that preserve the Soul from Death and the unworthy Communicant having made a shift to throw those Cords from him being loth to be tied and held by them he sinks into contempt of these things and from thence into scorning of Religion it self In all which the Judgment of God is clearly to be seen for though God doth not call by an audible Voice from Heaven that it is so nor set a mark upon the unworthy Receiver as he did on Cain whereby spectators may know that this is a sign of the Divine Judgment upon him yet it 's enough that we are told in the Word of God Woe to them when I depart from them Hos. 9. 11. III. And from hence it 's easie to guess how God inflicts this spiritual Judgment upon unworthy Receivers 1. By a gradual withdrawing his Holy Spirit from them This Spirit is called Oyl Heb. 1. 9. and Unction or Anointing 1 Joh. 2. 27. Whatever the quantity of that Oil was that was put in their Lamps as that abates so the strength of their Soul abates and from hence comes Spiritual Weakness Sickness and Death The Spirit of God is the Pillar that supports the House if this Prop be removed the Inference is easie that the House will not be of any long standing There are general Gifts of the Spirit of God common to good and bad Men under the Gospel and there are some that are peculiar to those that walk after the Spirit and as in an unworthy Receiver we can suppose
Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 2. 2 3 4. weak and sickly Persons have need of Milk we use it in Bodily Diseases when they have weaken'd the Body and it seems it 's necessary also for the recovery of Souls weaken'd by Sin but then the Milk is not such as Cows and Sheep and Goats do give but it is the Word of the Lord which endures for ever and to apply our selves to pondering and meditating in it and to make it the rule of our life and manners is drinking of that Milk 2. To pull out the Right Eye and to cut off the Right Hand Matth. 5. 29 30. i. e. To shun those Looks and Actions which are Provocations to Sin As he that means to recover of Bodily sickness must avoid all things that would irritate the morbifick matter so he whose Soul is sick and would be cured must carefully avoid the occasions of those sins which have made him sick and he that would be drunk no more must avoid the Company that used to perswade him to intemperance and he that would be tempted no more by the Harlot that drew him in must not come near her house Prov. 5. 8. 3. Not to repine at the bitter draughts Christ gives you to drink of but to say as he in his Agonies The Cup which my Father hath given me shall not I drink it Joh. 18. 11. Whether this bitter Cup be the Cup of Mortification of Fasting of Severities of being reveng'd upon thy self and of deep Humiliation or the Cup of Bodily affliction if he bids you drink of it it must be thankfully taken else expect no cure and that which ought to encourage us to drink of it is this that this bitterness will end at last in sweetness unspeakable and ineffable Consolations 4. To sell all with the Merchant in the Gospel to get the Pearl of Price i. e. God's love and favour Matth. 13. 45 46. The meaning is nothing must come in competition with the great concern of your Salvation nothing must be suffered to be laid in the Ballance with Eternal Happiness whatever would prejudice that must be rejected and left to those that know not how to prize it To secure that all must be ventur'd and if even Father and Mother should be the tempters to discourage us from it even their Friendship must be lost and all that we expected from them counted unworthy to be compared with the Glory which ere long shall be revealed in us The PRAYER MOST Glorious God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Heaven is thy Throne and the Earth is thy Foot-stool Where is the House that Man can build unto thee And where is the Place of thy Rest Thou dwellest not in Temples made with Hands yet in an humble sound sincere and pure Heart thou hast promised to fix thy Habitation Oh that my Heart were so When shall I be rid of my vain foolish wicked and dangerous Thoughts Oh! When wilt thou purge and cleanse this House from the Rubbish which annoys it When wilt thou adorn my Soul with profound Humility which may be an Invitation of thy Gracious Presence How apt am I to look off from Thee How apt to mind poor transitory Things How little am I acquainted with that Fervency of Spirit which I see in others Great Physician Heal thou me Thou hast healed Thousands Oh let me be one of that Number It may be of all that Multitude there was none so miserable as I am yet no Spots no Stains are too hard for Thee to wash out I have delighted in my Filthiness and with the Swine taken pleasure in the Mire Oh Let me consider how nobly I am born and hate that mean and servile Spirit I am born of God So thy Apostle tells me Oh Let my God be ever in my Heart and let me do God-like Things even Things that savour of Heaven and a Super-natural Temper Touch my Soul sweet Jesu Touch it with the Rays of thy Favour in this Sacrament that I may seek after Thee alone think on Thee alone and love Thee alone Chase away all sinful Sickness from me and make me sick of Love that joyfully without Tediousness I may continue in Well-doing Thou art a Saviour Be thou so to me and save me from my Sins Give me an healthful Soul a good Conscience and a sound Mind and Purity of Heart and with that Purity frequent Rejoycing in thy Name Tranquility of Spirit Multitude of holy Thoughts Innocence of Life ardent Love and Everlasting Charity Let no Temptations defile me but let these rather purge and joyn and unite me to Thee Give me a constant Zeal for thy Honour and Glory and let me be for ever delighted with thy Praises Amen Amen CHAP. XXI Of Damnation which the Unworthy Receiver Eats and Drinks to himself The CONTENTS The Word made use of by St. Paul in threatning Unworthy Receivers ambiguous on purpose to fright them from the Sin How Men eat and drink their Damnation in this holy Sacrament The Justice of God in inflicting Damnation on Unworthy Receivers vindicated The Threatning of Damnation being denounced by St. Paul to the prophane Corinthians that came drunk to this holy Ordinance how that can be applied to sinful Men in this Age who are not in a possibility of coming drunk to the Lord's Table since the Eucharist is with us administred and received in the Morning and most of those who come do come with some Preparation Whence it comes that Damnation doth not fright Men more it being the greatest Misery Man is capable of The Severity of this Threatning puts Communicants in mind what a Value and Esteem they are to have for the Death of Christ. Yet it is no just Discouragement from Approaching with sincere Desires and Resolutions to become conformable to Christ Jesus The Prayer I. THE Judgment the unworthy Receiver pulls upon himself is not only Temporal but Eternal too To this End I have already told you that the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used by the Apostle in his Threatning denounced against unworthy Receivers signifies not only Judgment in general but also Damnation And indeed the Holy Ghost doth purposely make use sometimes of ambiguous Words especially in Threatnings to rouze Men the more from their Slumber and to give them notice that if the lesser Punishment threatned in the Expression is either delayed or cannot prevail that then the greater included in the same Word shall take place Thus the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sheol in the Old Testament used much in Threatnings import both the Grave and Hell and in Comminations against wicked Men it doth not only signifie an untimely Grave but a far greater Punishment beyond it even Eternal Darkness and Everlasting Howlings to shew that if the former Danger cannot fright the later shall when it is too late to repent And so here the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 including both Temporal Judgment and Damnation we must believe the Apostle hath
extraordinary Esteem of the Mercy that God will set light by it because we do Oh! Let us entertain it with the profoundest Respect and the deepest Veneration and think our selves the happiest Creatures living that we have this Act of Divine Bounty and Charity revealed to us But then it is impossible we should think our selves so except we walk worthy of the glorious News and transcribe on our Lives the glorious Zeal and Fervour and Sincerity of the Apostles and Primitive Believers III. As this severe Threatning denounced against unworthy Receivers is the strongest Dissuasive possible from Eating and Drinking unworthily so it is no just Discouragement to Receive with sincere Desires and Resolutions to become conformable to Christ's Holiness God frights from sinning not from doing well from wronging our own Souls not from Endeavours to save them from Impenitence not from true Repentance All that is to be done Christian in this Sacrament in order to Receiving worthily is to lay and prostrate thy self at the Feet of Jesus and to cry Lord What wilt thou have me to do Speak Lord for thy Servant hears Such humble Souls escape the Danger and may be confident of a gracious Look from the King of Saints But then if we fall down before the Throne and the Lamb and make this Profession let it come from the Heart and let our Tongues speak what our Minds think and our Wills mean to stand to and let our Desires to be one with him be such as Simplicity dictates lest our Hearts and Tongues not going together we may be found Lyars and fall into Condemnation And Oh that every unworthy Receiver would consider what Damnation means Consider it thou dull and careless Man and then tell me whether Christ requires any thing unreasonable of thee to prevent it Thou that runnest from an House on fire and from a Land-flood or Deluge that threatens to overwhelm thee wilt not thou do all thou canst to escape Damnation that Deluge of God's Wrath and that Fire of his Anger which no Man can quench Should this Damnation be thy Portion at last we may easily imagine what thy Wishes will be the same that all inconsiderate Souls are very full of when they have ruin'd and undone themselves Oh that I had been wise before the Fact and come to the Lord's Table with a better Frame put on the Lord Jesus and made his Vertues and Graces my Study my Delight and my Pattern But these are the Wishes of Fools And I did not think it would come to this pass is a Saying which we look upon as a Character of a weak and a Childish Understanding Both he that receives unworthily and he that never received yet both have yet Opportunity to turn from their evil Ways Therefore Seek ye the Lord while be mâ—y be found Call ye upon him while he is near Let the Wicked forsake his Way and the unrighteous Man his Thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have Mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon Isa. 55. 6 7. The PRAYER O Lord Great and Incomprehensible Slow to Anger and great in Power and who wilt not at all acquit the Wicked Thy Way is in the Whirl-wind and in the Storm and the Clouds are the Dust of thy Feet Thou rebukest the Sea and makest it dry and driest up mighty Rivers The Mountains quake at thy Word and the Hills melt and the Earth is burnt at thy Presence yea the World and all they that dwell therein Who can stand thine Indignation And who can abide the Fierceness of thine Anger where thy Fury is poured out like Fire and the Rocks are thrown down by thine Arm Who would not fear thee O thou great Preserver of Men Yet thou Lord art good and a Strong Hold in the Day of Trouble and thou knowest them that trust in thee In my Approaches to thy holy Table let me so reflect upon thy Mercy as not to forget thy Justice Let me so look upon thy Friendship as to cast an Eye withal upon thy Severity to thine Enemies Thou offerest me thy Friendship in this Ordinance How great is thy Goodness Oh let me entertain the Offer with Admiration God will dwell with simple Man and therefore requires a Temple a Temple not made with hew'n Stones not of polish'd Marble not of painted Walls but of living and shining Gems and of such Golden Ornaments as Rust cannot touch and Dust cannot blacken a Temple purified with the Fire of Love trimmed with an holy Conversation and decked with variety of Vertues Make my Soul I beseech thee such a Temple and come and fix thy Tents here for ever Thou art the Judge to whom I am accountable for my Receiving Let me remember that as that didst rain down Manna from Heaven upon thy People so thou didst rain down Fire and Brimstone too upon Sodom and Gomorrah Let me so rejoyce in the Mercies thou rainest down upon me in this Sacrament as to fear thy Judgments in case I abuse those Mercies If of every idle Word Men shall give an Account in the Great Day what Account will they have to give of prophaning this sublime and mysterious Ordinance If the Dust of thy Apostles Feet shall bear witness in that Day against the Obstinate and Impenitent what a Witness will the Body of the Son of God be against those who would not be warm'd with the Sight and Contemplation of it into Vertue Let these things sink deep into my inward Parts and teach me so to triumph in thy Praise as to tremble at thy Presence Yet Oh let not my Goodness be the Effect of a slavish Fear of Damnation so much as of Love and Delight in thy holy Ways Let Kindness do more with me than Terrour and let my Heart melt more with the Sight of thy Condescension than with the Sight of thy Flaming Sword Teach me to serve thee with Pleasure and Affection and let the Glory of thy Name be the End of all my holy Exercises Let thy Love be ever fixed in my Heart and be thou my Rest my Tranquility my Peace my Meat my Drink my Food my Treasure my Possession and my Portion for ever through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen CHAP. XXII Of Preparation And First of Meditation of Christ's Passion The CONTENTS Preparation for this Holy Sacrament reduced to Five Heads Meditation of Christ's Passion with reflexions on our Selves Self-Examination â—udging our Selves Self-Resignation and Devotions suitable to the Occasion Christ himself meditated of his own Passion before he administred this Sacrament to his Disciples Meditation of Christ's Passion useful to bring things to our Minds we did not think of before to enflame the Soul with the Love of Jesus and to make us remember his Death with a quicker Sense A Paraphrase upon the XXII and XXIII Chapters of St. Luke's Gospel What God said to the Jews may be the more justly said to us Christians What could have been
done more to my Vineyard that I have not done in it A vast difference betwixt reading of Christ's Passion and meditating of it Some Rules and Cautions about this exercise of Meditation The Prayer I HAving in the foregoing Chapters explained the Doctrine Nature Use End and Design of this 〈…〉 It will be necessary to direct the 〈…〉 Preparations for this Blessed Ordinance 〈…〉 may be said to comprehend 1. Meditation of Christ's Passion with Reflections 〈◊〉 â—n our Selves 2. Self-Examination 3. Judging our Selves 4. Self-Resignation 5. Devotion suitable to the occasion I begin with Meditation of Christ's Passion call'd by Damian The Believer's Refuge in the hour of Temptation his Shade in the heat and sweat of Afflictions the everlasting Fewel of Divine Love and the best Sauce or Remedy in all Troubles and Vexatiâ—ns And Christ himself seems to have shewn us an example of seasoning our Hearts with this previous Meditation for before he instituted this Sacrament before he distributed the Bread and Wine to the Disciples in the Eucharist he contemplates his own Sufferings in the Paschal Lamb he ate of He saw on the Table a Lamb dead flead and roasted at the Fire This suggested to him how himself was in a few hours after to be kill'd and scourg'd and feel the heat and fire of mighty Torments He saw his Friends eat the Paschal Lamb in haste and he could not but reflect what haste his Enemies would make to apprehend him In the unleaven'd Bread and the bitter Herbs that were set before him he saw the Gall and Vinegar he was to taste and if the Disciples at that time did eat the Passover with staves in their hands that could not but put him in mind of the Cross to which he was to be nailed II. What it is that makes Meditation of Christ's Passion necessary as an act of Preparation for this Holy Sacrament we shall easily know if we consider 1. Meditation brings things to our Minds we did not think of before Though we know before that Christ was unjustly accused by the Jews beaten buffeted crown'd with Thorns inhumanly murther'd yet Meditation discovers things to us we took no great notice of before it helps us to enlarge upon the passages of his Passion and these cannot but be very instructive to our Minds This puts us in mind of the dignity of the Person that suffer'd all this how it was not a mere Man not a mortal King not an Angel not one of the Higher Orders of Ministring Spirits but the Son of God that laid down his Life a Life more precious than the Lives of all created Beings put together This puts us in mind of the indignity of the Persons for whom he suffer'd what vile Creatures they were Creatures of whom he could expect no advantage and fear no danger and such as were his Enemies This puts us in mind of the vast multitude of his troubles and miseries how his Body did not only suffer but his Soul too how he suffer'd in his Habit and Dress by having it pull'd off from him and divided among the ruder Soldiers how he suffer'd in his Honour and Reputation by being call'd a Glutton a Wine-bibber a Blasphemer Stirâ—ing up of the People and possess'd with a Devil how he suffer'd in his Wisdom by being call'd Impostor and treated like a Fool and Madman how he suffer'd in his Power by being accus'd as a Magician as one that dealt with a Familiar and was in league with the Prince of Devils how all sorts of Persons did contribute to his Suffering a Disciple whom he had nourish'd and brought up in the Nurture and Admonition of the Lord Kings and Governors Judges Harlots Soldiers High Priests Scribes Pharisees Ecclesiasticks Seculars Jews and Gentiles Men and Women This puts us in mind how every Member of his Body was put to grievous pain how his Head was crown'd with Thorns his Hair pluck'd off by the rude usage he endur'd his Cheeks beaten his Face sullied his Back crush'd his Neck and Arms tied with Cords his Shoulders bruis'd by the Cross his Hands and Feet pierc'd with Nails his Side open'd with a Lance and his whole Body made black and blue with stripes How all Senses suffer'd his Eyes seeing the Mockeries of the multitude his Ears hearing the Blasphemies of his Enemies his Smell forced to endure the stench of dead Bodies on Mount Calvary his Taste tormented with Thirst and what is worse with Gall and his feeling with variety of blows This puts us in mind how his Soul endurd more far more yet than his Senses the Sins of Mankind lying like an heavy load upon her This represents how that was afflicted with a Sense of God's Anger against sin and with the Damnation of thousands that would not prevent their ruine and how as the sins of Mankind were without number so his Grief and Sorrow was without measure This puts us in mind how his Pain and Torments became more pungent and afflictive by reason of the delicacy of his Complexion how his imagination being most lively had therefore a quicker sense of Misery how his Torments were without any alloy differing in this case from the Torments of the Martyrs of old who had great comfort administred to them in their Sufferings Comforts so powerful that they walk'd on glowing Coals as on a Bed of Roses and in the midst of Flames had a cooling Dew sprinkled upon them This suggests how he drunk the bitter Cup without mixture without a drop of Honey to sweeten it and how this makes him the Martyr of all Martyrs and the King of all afflicted Saints and upon that account may be said to have endured more than all Men put together ever suffer'd in this World This puts us in mind with what affection he suffer'd how he chose to suffer for the Joy and Comfort he should thereby procure to all sincere Believers how Love to Mens Souls engaged him to these Sufferings and whereas a few drops of his Blood might have serv'd turn to redeem Mankind he would notwithstanding all this to testifie his infinite Love shed every drop of Blood in his Body for their sakes This puts us in mind with what fervency and earnestness he went to meet his Cross and in order thereunto bid the Traitor make haste and do quickly what he design'd to do and with what alacrity he embrac'd his Torments and therefore sung a Hymn with his Disciples before he was apprehended by the Murtherers to shew the joy he took in laying down his Life for his Sheep Meditation doth the Painters work which embellishes the courser Draught gives it Features Lineaments curious Strokes and all its proper Dresses whereby the Mind is signally edified and affected with the Picture 2. Meditation of Christ's Passion enflames the Soul with the Love of Jesus At Patras a City of Achaia there lived a Heathen Priest Coresus by name who intending to Marry set his Affections upon one Callirrhoe a
Virgin of that Town whom he courted and loved entirely but the more he courted her the more refractory she was till she even abus'd him and reproach'd him and shut the door against him The Priest seeing no way to compass his designs consults his Oracle and Idol but receives no answer In the mean while a killing sickness seiz'd the Town a Distemper which made People mad and dye raving The evil being become universal and spreading daily more and more some of the chief Men of the Town resolve to send an Embassie to one of the Heathen Gods in another City which gives them this Answer That this Plague should not cease till one Callirrboe a Virgin in that Town were offer'd in Sacrifice or some Person for her The news of the Oracle being noised about the Town Callirrboe goes to all her Friends to see whether any would suffer for her but finding none so fond she prepares for deâ—th and coming forth at the day appointed dress'd in her Funeral Robes Coresus that was to be the Executioâ—er appears with his Sword to cut off her Head for it was his Office upon such dreadful Solemnities but as he is preparing to give the fatal blow his Bowels began to yearn and to destroy a Person whom he had loved with most cordial affection was so severe a tryal to him that rather than be guilty of so barbarous a Fact in the presence of the whole Assembly he runs the drawn Sword into his own Bowels and as the Blood was now issuing in Rivers from his Body professes to the Damfel that he dyed for her so sincere so strong so fervent was his Love Callirrhoe astonish'd at the sight and confounded with the enterprize her stubborn Heart melts and now would have saved his Life with her own but it was too late yet to make him amends her Love to him on a sudden grows so violent that she resolv'd not to out-live him and at the same instant made her Life a Sacrifice to bear him company Meditation of Christ's Passion produces in a manner the same effect for as it represents Christ's dying for the stubborn sinner and â—ying for love of him it raises reciprocal flames in the considerate Soul It puts the case Suppose there should be a King most Wise most Rich most Potent most Beautiful most Gracious in the very flower of his age who being about to Marry should cast his Eyes and Love upon a poor Country Maid his Subject and withal very much deformed homely ignorant despised and disregarded by the meanest Men adorned with no good Quality that should cause attraction and solemnly Marry her What an obligation would that be to that poor infirm Creature advanced to a Throne from nothing from worse than nothing to entertain that Royal Husband with marvellous respect and to behave her self in his Presence with all possible Reverence and Love and Modesty considering what she hath been and what she is come to by his means What an obligation to Treat him with all Respect Honour and Humility What an obligation to love him with a most ardent most tender and most affectionate Love and to be most true and faithful to him loving none like him who has deservâ—d so much at her hands What an obligation to commend and praise him and to express her Sense of his unspeakable Favour to her What an obligation when he is sick to tend him to be about his Bed to declare her Sorrow and Grief and Compassion by her Tears especially since he hath humbled himself beyond example to espouse her What an obligation when he is absent to speak of him to long for him and to be impatient for his return What an obligation to sing his Virtues his Condescension his Mercy and his Charity and to magnifie his Wisdom his Goodness his Beauty and his Love to her What an obligation to give him content in all things and to deport her self every where so as to please him What an obligation if she have committed the least offence to think of it with great regret and remorse to beg his Pardon and to implore his Mercy What an obligation to endure any thing any trouble any cross any inconvenience for his sake and to think her self happy that she is in a capacity to suffer any thing for his Name What an obligation to be entirely subject to him and to yield to all things he desires of her Finally What an obligation to think her self most happy in his love and to rejoyce in being thus advanced by him to a state she could never have wish'd or hoped for Meditation having put this case applies it to the present occasion and saith Thou O my Soul thou art that poor despicable contemptible Maid that the Monarch of the Universe the Wisest the most Potent the greatest Prince in the World did fall in love with There was no Beauty no Wisdom no good Qualities no Perfection no Amiableness in Thee for which he should think of thee for his Spouse and that which surpasses all admiration this Sovereign Prince this Prince of Princes could not gain this wretched Maiden but by enduring a Thousand Torments by spilling of his Blood and hazarding his Life and he freely and cheerfully Sacrificed himself to obtain thy Love He required no Dowry of thee for he was infinitely Rich and thou miserably Poor He loved thee not in a foolish Passion for he is infinitely Wise He chose thee not for his Pleasure for thou wert defiled to a Prodigy and himself is happy and was happy in himself from all Eternity nor did he Marry thee by force for he is Omnipotent but it was mere Love mere Charity mere Compassion that he set his Affections upon thee and by his Marrying thee he hath ennobled thee aggrandiz'd thy Fortune made thee Wise and Rich and Great and Beautiful and hast not thou reason to love him with all thy heart and with all thy strength And by such Meditations of Christ's Passion the Soul is enflamed with the Love of the Lord Jesus Add to all this 3. What can be a more proper preparative for this Sacrament wherein the Passion and sufferings of our Lord are most solemnly remembred than a previous Meditation of his Sufferings For hereby the Soul will be more expedite in that remembrance and remember that Death not only with greater facility but with greater Sense and greater Affections too It is so with Men that are to speak in Publick they premeditate what they are to say and think much of the thing they are to be upon when they come before the Assembly and I see no reason but this may be a good preparative for acting in publick too Certainly he that actuates his Faculties thus in private will be better able to exercise them in publick for hereby the Heart is season'd and when it appears before God in this Ordinance the sense which the private Meditation hath lest upon it fits it the better for participation of
hast thou had of thine own Worth And how hast thou undervalued the Man or Woman that have had to no other Crime but Poverty Thou hast thought thy Inferiors scarce worth talking to How unlike thy Redeemer is this Pride and Haughtiness Were Grace an Inhabitant of thy Heart what low Thoughts wouldst thou have of thy self How readily wouldst thou converse even with the meanest Saint How wouldst thou learn to esteem Men more for their Holiness than for their Riches And how lovely would a Creature that hath the Image of God upon him look in thine Eyes Far more lovely than the greatest Monarch or Lady that have nothing to recommend them but their outward Splendor 15. And he said unto them With Desire I have desired to eat this Passover before I suffer HOW doth God long for our Happiness How fervent are his Desires to do us good Yet how little have these Longings prevailed with thee O my Soul Notwithstanding all these Desires of God to make thee happy how hast thou longed after the muddy Waters of Sensual Pleasures Nay longed to be for ever miserable when in despight of his Intreaties not to neglect so great Salvation thou hast longed for the stolen Waters of sinful Delights coveted Death and been enamoured with Destruction How hath God intreated thee to close with him upon his own Terms and how hast thou grieved him with thy Refusal How hath the Almighty beseeched thee by his Ambassadors to be reconciled to him and yet thou hast stood out and baffled the Stratagems of Mercy 16. For I say unto you I will not any more eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God CHrist rejoyces that the Shadows are at an end and that the Substance or Antitype is approaching for as the Passover was a Sign of the Jews Deliverance from Egyptian Bondage so that Deliverance was a Shadow or Emblem of our Deliverance from Sin here and our Exemption from all Misery and Trouble in Heaven which was now to be effected by the Death of Christ. But O my Soul how hast thou hunted after Shadows and left the Substance unregarded What are the Glories of this World but mere Shews Yet how fond art thou of them and how strangely hast thou been enamoured with them These Shadows intimate that there are more substantial Glories in the Everlasting Mansions yet these thou passest by and the other thou art delighted with See how thou dotest on those painted Coronets those Butter-flies those Airy Nothings while with the Cock in the Fable thou tramplest on the Pearl even on the Pearl of Price to purchase which the Spiritual Merchant in the Gospel sold all he had 17. And he took the Cup and gave Thanks and said Take this and divide it among your selves HOW thankful is our Great Mediator for every Mercy he received from his Everlasting Father Yet how ungrateful hast thou been O my Soul to thy mighty Benefactor What Mercies hast thou received at his Hands and what strange Returns hast thou made for them Thy God hath been kind to thee and thou hast been base and unworthy How hast thou fed on his Blessings and ascribed them to thy Wisdom and Industry How hast thou lived upon his Charity and spurned at his Laws Foolish Creature Dost thou thus reward the Lord thy God Thou shouldest not eat a bit but send some Thanksgiving-Ejaculations to Heaven yet thou contentest thy self with a careless Grace and never thinkest more afterward of God How little dost thou mind the Providences that are sent upon thee And while thou considerest not the Operations of God's Hands how canst thou be thankful 18. For I say unto you I will not drink of the Fruit of the Vine until the Kingdom of God shall come INdeed Heaven hath the best and choicest Wine even the Wine of Angels This Wine is the ravishing Love of God This transports the Understanding and wraps up the Intellect in Extasies of Joy and Comfort A brutish Man knows not this neither doth a Fool understand it And hath not this been thy Case O my Soul How weary hast thou been of thinking of this Banquet How soon have thy Spirits tired with meditating of that Love How ready hast thou been to think of the World and the last Night's Revel and how backward to reflect on this richer Entertainment What a Weariness hath it been to thee to survey these Glories to walk about that Jerusalem and to behold the Towers and Bulwarks of it 19. And he took Bread and gave Thanks and brake it and gave unto them saying This is my Body which is given for you This do in remembrance of me HEre begins the happy Institution of the holy Sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood and the great Command to remember the Death of Jesus and together with that an Item of the greatest Love that can be shewn to poor Mortals Yet how backward O my Soul hast thou been sometimes to come to this holy Sacrament Thou should'st have longed for an Opportunity to remember this Death with the People of God What is this Bread but an Emblem of the Communion of Saints and a Representation of thy Communion with the Great Head the Lord Jesus Yet how little Delight hast thou taken in this Ordinance How often hast thou come out of Formality only How little have thine Affections been moved with that stupendous Love Either Sin or Malice to thy Neighbour or some Worldly Trouble hath made thee stay away The Thoughts of this Love should have thrown down all thy Strong Holds of Iniquity and left thee in a calm holy spiritual Temper But how hast thou preferred thy little Concerns in the World before this Feast And what Hazards hast thou run of being doomed to a Spiritual Famine as those Guests against whom the Master of the Feast protested that they should never taste of his Supper 20. Likewise also the Cup after Supper saying this Cup is the New Testament of my Blood which is shed for you AT how dear a rate was the remission of our sins purchased The Blood of the Son of God was the Price Greater Love hath no Man shewn than that he lay down his life for his Friends but here is one that laid it down for his Enemies that they may be pardoned How hast thou looked upon this pardon O my Soul sometimes without standing amazed at the height and breadth and depth and length of the love of God! How cold hast thou been in thy desires after this precious Blood Thou should'st have stood under the Cross waiting for the drops that trickled down But the familiarity of the joyful news of it alas hath too often wrought in thee a dis-esteem of it Nay how light hast thou made of this remission and by making so light of it thou hast profan'd it too when thou hast sinned because God is willing to pardon sinners and hast made that pardoning Blood an encouragement to indulge thy self in thy carnal
satisfactions hath not this been counting the Blood of the Covenant an unholy thing 21. But behold the hand of him that betrays me is with me on the Table AND didst thou never approach the Table of thy Lord with a treacherous Heart O my Soul Hast not thou pretended Friendship when thou hast been an Enemy while thou hast been loth to part with a darling bosom sin or to examine what secret sins thou wert guilty of that thou mightest not be forced to part with them Hast not thou shewn much love with thy Lips while thy Heart hath gone astray from thy Redeemer Thou hast it may be confessed thy self to be a sinner in general and so hast joyned thy self to the croud of God's People and come to the Supper of thy Lord But while thou hast been loth to descend to any particular sins hast not thou thereby discovered thy secret love to sin and thy feigned and counterfeit love to the Holy Jesus 22. And truly the Son of Man goes as it was determined but woe unto that Man by whom he is betrayed HOW dreadful a thing is it to be instrumental in a Sin And yet thou hast made nothing of it O my Soul How hast thou suffer'd thy self to be imployed by others in things which have been apparently unlawful How apt hast thou been to tell a Lye after another especially for a near Relation or a Superiour How apt hath thy Conscience been to dispense with Offences against a Gracious God to please those from whom thou hast expected some benefit and advantage Hath not the Word of God been Blasphemed by wicked Men through thy neglect of thy Saviours Commands How often hast thou scandalized and given offence to other Men by thy unchristian And how little hast thou minded the threatnings of the Holy Ghost in this case And while thou hast not only sinned thy self but holpen to draw others into sin hast not thou thereby made thy self lyable to the Righteous Judgment of God 23. And they began to enquire among themselves which of them it was that should do this thing INdeed Self-examination is the only way to come to a right knowledge of our selves Yet how careless O my Soul hast thou been of this Duty How easily mightest thou have found that thou wert guilty of such a sin and didst transgress such a Command but thou would'st not How much better is it to be acquainted with our own Hearts than to be strangers to our selves And what danger dost thou involve thy self in for want of this Holy search How dost thou prepare for Self-delusion And how impure must thy Heart grow what a Dunghil what a sink what a stye of filthiness where it is not purged by such explorations The Disease being known it may be cured but lying hid it kills and destroys when we think all is safe How easie a matter were it to enquire whether thou art that Hypocrite that unprofitable servant that loiterer that slothful Person that busie body which the Holy Ghost condemns Yet thou hast shunned this search and been afraid of it as of Poison Whereas it is the only Medicine from which thou may'st promise thy self an happy recovery 24. And there was also a strife among them which of them should be accounted greatest SEE how worldly Thoughts will croud in if we do not watch even when we are engaged in the most serious acts of Worship And hast not thou found such worldly sensual Thoughts enter into thy Mind O my Soul when thou hast been employed in the greatest Duties even at the Holy Sacrament it self And have not they come in with thy allowance and approbation and when they have surpriz'd thee hast not thou harboured them made much of them and been loth to expel them How reverend should thy Thoughts be upon such occasions How free from such Extravagancies How sequestred from a vain World How should they be taken up with the love of God! How should the Glory of God ingross their strength and power See by this which way thy Byass leans Behold by this how strongly thy Heart bends to things below O when will it fix upon the things which are above 25. And he said unto them the Kings of the Gentiles exercise Lordship over them and they that exercise Authority upon them are called Benefactors HOW unfit and improper is it for a Christian to conform to the Word As improper as for a Man of reason to imitate Children or Mad-men Yet how fond hast thou been O my Soul of the pomp and glories of this World How hast thou admired the Riches and the Grandeur of it How hast thou wished thy self in such a great Man's place Though the Apostles were somewhat ambitions before Christ's Ascension into Heaven yet after the effusion of the Holy Ghost they saw with other Eyes and despised these sublunary Honours and Dignities as much as they esteemed them before O my Soul when wilt thou follow this great example By the Rules of thy profession thou art to despise the World and though thou art in the World yet not to love the World Notwithstanding this Command how dost thou hancker after these Onions and Garlick those certain Marks of the House of Bondage How strong is thy Appetite to follow the fashions of the World And how apt art thou to make the humour of the age thy pattern 26. But ye shall not be so but he that is greatest among you let him be as the younger and he that is chief as he that doth serve AY Self-denial is that which doth best become a Christian that 's the best Ornament he can put on and which makes him look most lovely in the Eyes of God Yet how inconsiderable hath this dress been in thine Eyes O my Soul How loth hast thou been to deny thine Eyes such a dangerous object thine Ears such a Syren's Voice thy Mouth such a delicate dish thy Feet such vain company thy Tongue such a smutty jest thy Hand such a lustful touch and thy Mind such a lascivious or covetous thought How hast thou thought thy self undone when thou hast not had what thy sensual appetite did crave and how raging have thy desires been after that which would ruin thee How loth hast thou been to deny thy self in superfluities and to bestow them on the poor How hard hast thou thought it to shun such a place where thou knewest thou shouldst be tempted and be perswaded unto Sin 27. For whether is greater he that sitteth at Meat or he that serveth Is not he that sits at Meat But I am among you as one that serveth HOW beautiful is Humility The Son of God himself is enamoured with it tho' his business was to Command not serve yet he chuses to serve rather than to exercise Authority How unlike thy Saviour hast thou been O my Soul How Proud How Self-conceited How apt to prefer thy self before others And how apt to think better of thy self than others How apt to
Villanies and Abuses And dost not thou remember something like this in thy self O my Soul When thou hast engaged in a Sin that hath been heinous and dreadful hath not that Sin wanted Support from other Sins And hath it not forced thee to call in other Follies to maintain it How hast thou defended thy Theft or Uncleanness with a Lye and that Lye with another Lye and the second Lye with an Imprecation and that Imprecation with a constant Asseveration of the same Falshood How hath one ill Word brought in another And how hath the Neglect of Charity provoked thee at last to Malice and Injuriousness 66. And as soon as it was Day the Elders of the People and the Chief Priests and the Scribes came together and led him into their Council WHat Haste do these Men make to ruin their immortal Souls For fear they should not dye their Souls with a Guilt deep enough they get up early And do not these Men's Proceedings put thee in mind O my Soul of the Haste thou hast made to Everlasting Destruction How early hast thou got up to offend thy God! How often hast thou begun the Day with vain and sinful Thoughts How often hath the first Word thou hast spoken in the Morning been an ill Name or an angry Expression How often hast thou made it thy first Contrivance in the Morning how to be revenged on such a Person and as soon as it hath been Day hast gone and executed thy premeditated Malice And hast not thou done so as to other Sins How early in a Morning have thy Lusts ingrossed thy Thoughts as if thy first Thoughts and Actions had been the Devil's Due and that God were to have his Leavings 67. Saying Art thou the Christ Tell us And he said unto them If I tell you you will not believe AND hath not this been thy Temper O my Soul How often hath God told thee that thou art in danger and yet thou wouldst not believe How often hath he assured thee that thou canst have no Share no Benefit in Christ's Merits except thou repentest and yet thou wouldst not believe How often hast thou been told that Christ died that thou mightest die to Sin and yet thou wouldst not believe How often hath the Spirit of God endeavoured to convince thee that except thou dost examine thy self whether thou art in the Faith or no thou canst not be sure of Salvation and yet thou wouldst not believe him Oh how often hath it been proclaimed in thine Ears that thou canst not love God except thou prefer his Will before thy Gain or Pleasure and yet thou wouldst not believe And whom couldst thou blame if God should condemn thee as an Unbeliever who hast resisted the known Truths of his most holy Oracles 68. And if I also ask you you will not answer me nor let me go THus hast thou dealt with thy Conscience O my Soul Thou hast neither permitted it to censure thy Actions nor suffer'd it to ask thee any Question When thou hast done something amiss and it hath checked thee how hast thou dashed its Reprehensions When it hath condemned thy Pride and Censoriousness how hast thou bid it meddle with its own Business How often would it have asked thee which way thou hopest to be saved and thou hast turned away from the Motion How often hath it been ready to demand of thee whether the Courses thou takest are agreeable to the Rules of the Gospel and thou hast presently diverted the Suggestion Nay how often hath it actually expostulated with thee why no Warning no Threatning could prevail with thee and thou hast put it off like Felix to come and discourse with thee another Day when thou art more at leisure 69. Hereafter shall the Son of Man sit on the Right Hand of the Power of God O My Soul Thou hast been in a manner as confident of thy sitting at the Right Hand of God as Christ himself yet without any solid Ground Oh how ready hast thou been to apply the Promises of the Gospel without regarding whether thou didst fulfil the required Conditions How often hast thou flatter'd thy self that thou shalt see God in Glory when at the same time thou hast lived in Sins which exclude Men from the Kingdom of Heaven See through what Sufferings the Son of God enters into his Glory And canst thou think thou shalt reign with him except thou suffer with him Before he took possession of his Kingdom he fought his Way through all Opposition And canst thou hope to be conformable to him in Bliss except thou art content to be conformable to him in his Work and Labour of Love 70. Then said they all Art thou then the Son of God And he said unto them Ye say that I am THis Question which the Priests and Elders among the Jews put captiously to our Master the Lord Jesus I have reason O my Soul to put to thee in good earnest Art thou a Child of God or not If thou art what mean the Vanities thou doatest upon What means that Fondness of the World that fills the Chanels of thy Heart What means thy Averseness from imitating the Primitive Saints in their Self-denials If thou art a Child of God why wilt not thou be governed by the Spirit of God Why hath thy sensual Appetite so much power over thee And why art thou so loth to be holy as thy Father in Heaven is holy If the Actions of a Child of God are no part of thy Life how dwells thy Heavenly Father's Nature in thee And when all the Children of God must strive to have the same Mind in them which was in the Son of God how comes thy Mind to be so carnal and so wedded to Things below 71. And they said What need we any farther Witness For we our selves have heard it of his own Mouth VVHat these Men say maliciously of Christ God may too truly say of thee O my Soul What need is there of any farther Witness when thine own Mouth bears witness against thee Wert thou to appear before the great Tribunal at this Instant how justly might God condemn thee by thine own Confessions How justly might he say to thee Thou didst confess that Heaven is not to be got with a Wish Why then wouldst not thou bestow more Care and Pains about it Thou didst confess that thou canst do any thing in the World for Profit sake sit up at Night work hard go tedious Journeys put thy self to a great deal of Trouble for a Sum of Money Why then wouldst not thou bestir thy self for far greater Profit even an Eternity of Joy and Glory Thou didst confess that he that would not work deserved not to eat And how then canst thou expect to enjoy the Bread of Life even my Everlasting Kingdom when thou didst not care for working and couldst do more for Twenty or Forty Shillings than for the Everlasting Riches The XXIII Chapter of St. Luke's Gospel Paraphrased
offended what tremblings will invade them How will they quake for fear What pitiful shifts will they betake themselves to but all in vain O let that dreadful day be ever before mine Eyes Let the future shrieks and groans of impenitent Sinners even now in this my day sound in mine Ears that I may be frighted from Sin O let me think what their ways will end in and turn my feet away from their Paths O let me not follow their pernicious ways that I may not be condemn'd with the World 31. For if they do these things in a green tree what shall be done in the dry JUdgment must begin at the House of God and if it first begin at us what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God And if the Righteous scarcely be saved where shall the Ungodly and Sinner appear God is resolved to judge the World and even the best shall have a taste of his Justice The Afflictions that befall the good in this World are but the beginnings of his indignation against Sin and by the Blood of Christ they shall be saved from the wrath to come But if these be the beginnings of God's anger what will the progress of his Justice be and where will it end O blessed Saviour How fearful will the end of all ungodly Sinners be If I must be afflicted O let me have my share of it in this World that I may not sink under the burden of thine indignation hereafter 32. And there were also two other Malefactors led with him to be put to death VVHat an opportunity had these wretches to save their Souls even at the last moment of their Lives An opportunity the like of which never was before nor ever will be Here was an happy day for them to have secured Christ's Favour who would not have denied his Grace to them had they been but willing to accept of it upon this extraordinary occasion Kings and Princes bestow extraordinary Acts of Grace at their Coronation or upon some remarkable Solemnity Now had been the time for these Malefactors to have laid hold on Eternal life which they never had any hope of before But how do Men let slip the opportunities God puts in their hands So have I my Blessed Jesus many a time when I have been in a good frame when thou hast put good Thoughts and Resolutions in my Heart what opportunities had I to to make my self for ever But I have return'd to the love of the World despised these opportunies of Grace and justly deserved thou shouldst deny them me for ever Dear Saviour visit me once more with thy Salvation with the Day-spring from on high and I will admit thy Beams into my Soul that I may be enlighten'd edified sanctified and preserv'd for ever 33. And when they were come to the place which is call'd Calvary there they crucified him and the Malefactors one on the right hand and the other on the left HEre begins the act at which Heaven and Earth stood amaz'd What a spectacle was here The Son of God nailed to the Cross and hanging betwixt two Thieves Did not the hands of the Soldiers that nailed the Saviour of the World to the Cross tremble Did not their Hearts fail them when they tied him to the Tree No their hearts were flint and adamant No other could have been engaged in the Service O wonderful stupidity they knew not what flesh they touch'd They knew not it was a Body fram'd by the Holy Ghost and the fruit of the Virgin 's Womb Here O my Soul here the work of thy Redemption is commenc'd O look upon the Heavenly Creature that hangs here and think what Riches are treasured up in his Cross Here he shew'd himself a Mediator indeed hanging in the middle betwixt a Penitent and a Prodigal betwixt Heaven and Earth betwixt the Living and the Dead They crucified him What did the Angels think to see their Lord and Master thus used What dost thou think of it O my Soul Job's Friends seeing the greatness of his misery sate silent by him in the Dust seven Days Look O my Soul upon this object sit silent and admire for thy Lord's grief is great 34. Then said Jesus Father forgive them for they know not what they do LOrd Jesus What a Miracle of Mercy dost thou work here I know not which is the greater wonder those thou dist formerly when conversant on the Earth or that which I see now perform'd on the Cross. To pray for Men who had abused thee to a Prodigy To beg of thy Father to forgive their Insolencies and not to exclude them from the possibility of Repentance Can I think of this and not believe that this was to teach me how I must behave my self toward those that have done me wrong Canst thou forgive such injuries and shall not I forgive them that trespass against me One would have thought that these affronts and indignities which were offered to thee would never have been forgiven yet they are no sooner offer'd but thou intercedest for their Remission O let no injury that 's henceforward offer'd me seem too big for pardon O let me freely pass by the offence committed against me that my Father which is the Heaven may forgive me my Trespasses 34. And they parted his Garments and cast Lots VVHat a rich Spoil did these Soldiers get and they knew it not If a good Christian that understood the great Mystery of Godliness had got such a Treasure how would he have valued it what Joy what Comfort would it have been to such a Soul Not that there is any great virtue in the Cloaths of the Son of God A Man might have kept them and yet by leading an ill life have perish'd Eternally but Who would not have preserv'd these precious Relicks if he had known what Person it was that wore them It would have done him good to have looked upon them and admirable Reflections he might have made upon them But to Men that knew not God these things were of no value O my Soul Thou hast not priz'd the good Things thy God hath bequeathed to thee How little hast thou valued the Means of Grace thy Saviour left behind him Henceforward learn to make a better Use of them that they may be Health to thy Navel and Marrow to thy Bones 35. And the People stood beholding and the Rulers also with them derided him saying He saved others Let him save himself if he be Christ the chosen of God IT could not but cause strange Admiration to see him who had been known to be a Prophet mighty in Word or Deed come to such a doleful and dreadful End But for any Man to be so impudent as to deride him in his Misery this was extraordinary bold and insolent Yet Men that have done a very ill thing think themselves obliged to justifie it by their Gestures and Actions partly to keep themselves from Reproach and partly to
he hath laid the Foundation and is not able to finish it all that behold it begin to mock him saying This Man began to build and was not able to finish And if Deliberation be necessary before any great Enterprize Self-Examination must needs be so before Receiving of the holy Eucharist For Who knows not that Receiving the holy Communion is one of the most solemn most weighty and important Part of our Religion And if Deliberation be necessary as a Preparative Self-Examination must be so too because Deliberation cannot be duly performed without it For he that deliberates before he comes to this Sacrament must necessarily consider the Majesty Grandeur and Infinite Power Splendour and Excellency of the Master of the Feast the Kindness Mercy Compassion and Excesses of Charity he expresses in it to miserable Creatures and whether himself hath those Qualifications Desires Inclinations and Resolutions which that magnificent Master of the Feast requires of the invited Guests and whether those Vertues those Ornaments those Ingredients of true Repentance that Hatred of Sin that Love to Goodness which God expects of the Persons that render themselves at his Table be in him And what is this but Self-Examination 2. Want of Self-Examination is the Mother of Ignorance He that doth not examine himself before he receives the holy Communion having never done it before must necessarily continue a Stranger to himself T is true for ought he knows he may receive as worthily as the best But for ought he knows too he may eat and drink Judgment and Damnation to himself Want of Examination leaves the Soul blind makes her Understanding useless and charges God with having given the Man a Reflexive Power in vain Examination must acquaint him with himself and discover to him whether he have the Marks of a Penitent the Character of a Soul laden with a Sense of Sin and whether he be a fit Subject to receive Reconciliation whether his Errours be strong or do abate whether he feels the Operation of God's Spirit upon his own whether the Things unseen make any Impression upon his Soul and whether he hath that Faith and Love which in the Sight of God is of great Price To be ignorant of all this what is it but to grope in the dark and instead of coming like a Rational Creature to this Ordinance to approach with the Inclination of a Brute And though it is granted that he who neglects this Self-Examination may understand the Design of this Sacrament and the Mercies tender'd to the Soul in general yet still without this Search he cannot tell whether those Mercies belong to him whether he hath a Share in them or whether he may rationally expect them at Christ's Hand It is observed therefore that when Christ spoke of the Disciple that should betray him he doth not mention his Name thereby to give the Disciples Occasion to enquire whether they found any Inclinations in themselves to so great a piece of Ingratitude So that Want of Self-Examination as it propagates Ignorance in the Soul so it is to act directly against the Design of the Gospel which is to fill us with Spiritual Knowledge and Understanding Col. 1. 9. And to make us know the things which are freely given us of God 1 Cor. 2. 12. 3. All the Blessings of the Gospel are promised conditionally and consequently the Blessings which are the genuine Concomitants of this holy Sacrament And how shall any man take Comfort in these Blessings if he enquire not whether the Conditions upon which these Blessings are promised be fulfilled in him or whether it be the Desire and Endeavour of his Soul to fulfil them If a Prince should set out a Proclamation that on such a Day he intends to bestow some Jewels of great value on all Persons that have found any Secret of Nature which may be of publick Use how ridiculous would that Man make himself that should appear among the Candidates without enquiring whether he was ever Master of an Invention whereby the Publick might be advanced Those that enquire and find upon Enquiry that what they have done is agreeable to the Condition the Prince requires may approach chearfully and have their Expectation gratified So it is here The Blessings promised in this Sacrament are as I have often hinted in the preceding Discourse Remission of Sins But that is promised upon the Condition of Turning from Darkness to Light Act. 26. 18. Peace with God And that is promised upon the Condition of a Lively Faith which is active as that of Abraham's was Rom. 5. 1. A Right to the Everlasting Inheritance And that is promised upon Condition of Fighting the good Fight 2 Tim. 4. 7. Comfort in Tribulation And that is promised upon Condition of Trusting and relying upon God 2 Cor. 1. 9. The Assistance of God's Spirit And that is promised upon Condition of Walking as the Children of God and Willingness to be led and guided by him Rom. 8. 14. Union and Communion with Christ And that is promised upon the Condition of Walking in the Light of Good Works 1 Joh. 1. 7. Increase of Grace And that is promised upon Condition of an humble Temper Jam. 4. 6. Strength against our Corruptions And that is promised upon Condition of Putting on the whole Armour of God Ephes. 6. 10 11. Assurance of God's Love And that is promised upon Condition of our sincere Love to Christ Jesus Joh. 14. 21. That all these Blessings are promised to us in this Sacrament is evident from hence because Christ himself is promised to be given into our Bosoms and we cannot receive Christ without his Benefits and these Benefits are those I have mentioned But since these Blessings are not to be had without an hearty Consent and Agreement to those Conditions and it is impossible to take Comfort in these Blessings except we know we have a Right to them and it is as impossible to know whether we have or not without Self-Examination it must necessarily follow that Self-Examination is a necessary Duty and Preparative for this holy Sacrament III. How this Self-Examination is to be managed is the next thing we must discourse of and that which we are to consider here is partly the Rule whereby this Examination must be made partly the Things that are to be examined and partly our Temper and Disposition with respect to Things about which Enquiry is made 1. The Rule and that without doubt must be the Law of God as it is either contracted and reduced to a few principal Heads in the Decalogue and the Ten Commandments or as it is explained and spread into various Branches in the Body of the Gospel and particularly in Christ's Sermon upon the Mount And this Law as it is set forth and explained in the Gospel is that which we Christians are to stand and fall by This Law as it is most suitable and agreeable to Reason and intended to perfect Humane Nature so is it the standing Rule
Sacrament In such a method this Self-Examination must proceed and then it 's like to produce the effects we desire and God expects at our hands IV. But still you will say That is a very operose and laborious Business and full of intricacies and difficulties and scarce possible to be done every time a Person receives the Holy Communion especially if accidentally a Christian is to Communicate with a sick or dying Neighbour nor can Ministers themselves be supposed capable of doing all this when they are on a sudden call'd upon to administer the Holy Sacrament to persons that send for them But to give a satisfactory Answer to this point it will be necessary to lay down the reply in these following Positions 1. The Trouble is imagined to be greater than really it is If People are unwilling it is an easie matter to pretend Difficulties and Impossibilities All that I have mentioned may be done in an Hour's time or less For it is to be supposed that every Person is not guilty of all the Sins nor guilty of the Neglect of all the Duties in the preceeding Lists And how easily may a Person spy those Sins and Neglects he is prone to and then by the Rule of Queries mentioned before see how his Heart stands affected But suppose it were a Task of some difficulty Is Heaven worth nothing And is the Labour for the Body of that Consequence that the Soul deserves to be neglected What if God would not part with an Interest in his Love upon cheaper Terms Will ye refuse it and chuse to be miserable Sure you would not think so if you had been but one Moment in Hell However as I said the Task is not so laborious as is imagined by Persons who have an Aversion from Goodness 2. It is confessed that the Command about Self-Examination is general and concerns both the Good and Bad both Worthy and Unworthy Receivers both those who are void of Grace and those that are filled with the Spirit But though the Command is general and obliges the Serious as well as the Profane the Compleat as well as the Half-Christian equally yet in the manner of the Performance of it there cannot but be a very great difference because the Persons concerned do differ much in their Tempers Progress in Goodness and in their Wants and Necessities and consequently to the one it must be more laborious than to the other and the one hath reason to spend more Time in this Self-Examination than the other as he who hath suffered his House to become very full of Filth and Dirt must be at greater Cost and Pains to cleanse it than he that every Day takes care to keep it swept And therefore 3. A Man who hath led an ill Life and thinks of coming to the Table of his Lord and Master or if he have communicated formerly and after that is fallen into any grosser Sin and gone on in it when-ever he approaches had need set all the particular Sins God hath forbid in his Gospel and all the particular Duties commanded in that Book before him and ransack all the Actions of his Life he can remember to see how far he hath been from the Kingdom of God and how his Heart is now resolved and disposed As to his particular Sins and Neglects whether he intends to take up and to set his Face against them and whether it be his unfeigned Desire Purpose and deliberate Resolution to submit his Neck to the sweet and easie Yoke of Christ of whom he expects Pardon and Salvation both in this Sacrament and in the last Day And as tedious as this Self-Examination may appear to such a Person yet he may thank himself that his long Continuance and Boldness in a sinful Life hath made the Task so laborious to him And indeed till such a Man's Love to Sin and a sinful Life doth signally abate and the Byass of his Soul be changed and turned it will be necessary for him for some time at least as often as he receives the holy Sacrament to iterate and repeat this larger Self-Examination to see what Advance he makes in Holiness and whether there be not some Sins lurking in his Breast he took no notice of before But then 4. If he find that after Receiving several times his Faith and Love to the Lord Jesus Christ doth signally grow and his Relish of a sinful Life dies and a nobler Taste of the Goodness of God insinuates into his Breast as his Sins grow fewer so his Self-Examination before the holy Sacrament need not be so laborious as before it was Finding he hath gotten a setled Hatred and Abhorrency of several Sins he formerly delighted in instead of examining himself about them he hath reason to break forth into Praises and Admiration of the Goodness of God who hath delivered him from the Power of Darkness and led him to his Marvellous Light In a Word The holier the more melting towards God and Goodness the more spiritual the more obedient to the Commands of the Gospel a Man or Woman grows the less Self-Examination will serve turn for as he grows in Grace so his Errours and Infirmities abate and those which remain against his Will may be easily known and he may easily take a View of them nor will it cost him so much Time to take them into Consideration as the greater Heap of them formerly did and let him separate those Sins he hath left and got the Mastery and Conquest of from those Infirmities which yet against his Desire or Approbation cleave to him and the Remainder will soon be examined and he may soon satisfie himself whether he be resolved to labour more and more to exterminate them from his Soul and upon that Account come to the holy Sacrament to get greater Strength and Courage against them by contemplating the Love of God and the Cross the Agonies and the Tremblings the Lord Jesus endured for them The Sins a Man hath actually left need not be examined over again every time he Receives but those only he is yet very prone to slip into and would fain be rid of to become more conformable to the Lord Jesus So that 5. He that makes it the Business of his Life to please God in all Places and in all the Conditions and Concerns of his Life and is arrived to a Cordial and Practical Love of Goodness may very Conscientiously after a very small Examination of his Life and Actions especially if he be straitned in Time come to the holy Communion for the Sins he would fain be rid of he may soon run over and see whether he goes to this holy Ordinance with a Design to become more spiritual and take a final Leave of his Sins at the awful Sight of the Cross of Christ. And for this Reason not only a serious Minister of the Gospel who endeavours to lead a very Exemplary Life and to practise what he preaches but even a Conscientious Lay-man who
been guilty of before that Age were committed out of Ignorance so the Examination is more easily performed and as their Age and Religion advances so they will know more Their early Self-Examination makes way for early Gravity and helps to ripen their Understandings and is the only Way to prevent their falling into the Vices of the Age and if any thing next to the Grace of God can be a Charm against Infection from a debauch'd and irreligious World this is most likely to be it I mean this Self-Examination joyned with the holy Sacrament for which it is intended as a proper Preparative III. It is not enough that another Person hath examined us or doth examine us but we our selves must take pains in it Ministers and Parents and Friends by examining of us may be able to give us very good Directions and excellent Instructions how we are to order our Conversation but to all this must be added our own Labour and Diligence to see whether we observe those Directions whether they are acceptable to us how we relish them and whether we intend to act accordingly Up then Christian and try thy Ways Be not afraid of Labour Labour and Food saith Philo have the same Vertue for as upon Food a Man's whole Life depends so upon Labour also depends all that a Man can call good Therefore as they that will prolong Life do not neglect their Food so he that desires any real or solid Good must not be afraid of Labour As Meat is very troublesome and burthensome to a weak Stomach that hath but little Natural Heat so to him that hath but little Love to Christ this Labour of Self-Examination will be burthensome But Christian as thou hast the greatest reason to love the Lord Jesus so if thou lovest him to any purpose both this and other Labours will appear very easie for Love will make them so See therefore and enquire how Concerns stand betwixt God and thine own Soul Shall thy Reason lie useless Shall that excellent Faculty be employed in searching into the Accounts of thy Shop and not into the State of thy better Part Is it not worth knowing whether thou art of God or a Child of the Devil And whether thou hadst rather grovel in the Dust like a Muck-worm or elevate thy thy Soul and fix it upon Objects which Angels desire to pry into Hath God given thee Power to examine thy self and wilt thou neglect that Power Though thou canst not Read nor Write yet thou canst think and think whether thy Life be according to the Holy Rules which are observed by other conscientious Christians Through this examination thou mayst come to see what God hath done for thy Soul and if he hath planted there an abhorrency of that which is evil and a strong affection to that which is good how joyfully mayst thou come to this Holy Table and expect that God will pour Water upon him that is Thirsty and Floods upon the dry Ground and that thou shalt spring up as among the Grass and as the Willows by the Water-courses Isai. 44. 3. 3. He that comes to be acquainted with himself at the same time comes to be acquainted with God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. This is true Policy and as he is the greatest Politician in Temporals that sees afar off and considers the events of things and upon what causes they depend and gives counsel accordingly so he is the greast Politician in Spirituals that studies himself acquaints himself with his own heart for such a person looks further than his present profit and sensible how this self-acquaintance will be valued one day counsels himself to be expert in that Wisdom For it is certain that in the last day not the great Scholarship of Men not their improving of Arts and Sciences not their skill in various Languages not their Ability to Discourse well not their volubility of Tongue not their Rhetorical and Eloquent Speaking not their profound Philosophy nor their Diving into the secrets of Nature will be much admired These things did well for this World and might be serviceable to various Sorts and Degrees of Men But if Persons with all these Accomplishments about them overlook'd their own Hearts cherished Weeds and Vices there and would take no notice of them their Parts and Learning will not stand them in great stead in that Day of Retribution The poor Christian that ransack'd his Soul often turned over the Leaves of his Conscience that spiritual Book on purpose to see his own Spots and Stains and wash himself clean out of an holy Emulation of the Purity of the Lord Jesus he will be counted at last the most prudent Man that had the quickest Eye and a Sight sharper than an Eagle for as this gives him a Title to all that Christ hath purchased and the rich Blessings laid up for him in this holy Sacrament so in the last Day it gives him full Possession of all the Trophies of Christ's Victory The PRAYER O God! Thou seest the secret Recesses of my Soul Though I may hide my self from my self yet I cannot hide my self from thee whose Sight is not darkned by the Night nor stopped by an Object intervening nor hindred by Walls of Brass nor weaken'd with the greatness of the Distance O Lord Thou hast commanded me to examine my self and to search into the Sins and Errours of my Life What Foes I have and how many there be that rise against me that would swallow up my Soul and devour it that I may secure my self against their Rage by taking Sanctuary at the Death of my ever blessed Redeemer the Lord Jesus O Lord I am very apt to do thy Work negligently I am apt to do it by halves and superficially and without any regard to its weight and moment Thou that knowest my Dulness my Backwardness and my Hypocrisie deliver me I beseech thee from my self and make me Partaker of that Light whereby thou meanest to discover the Sins of Men in the last Day when they come to appear before thy Tribunal By that Light they will see every Deformity every Enormity every Exorbitance of their Outward and Inward Man That will discover to them what they have long ago forgotten and manifest to them what for many Years they have not thought of That will shew them every Errour of their Lives to their Confusion and Amazement That will make them see their Faults so evidently and so distinctly that they will not be able to deny them but be forced to render themselves Prisoners to thy Justice That will undeceive them in their fond Opinions of their Sins and pull away the Varnish they have put upon them and make them appear in their native Hue and Blackness Oh vouchsafe me that Light in some measure now that I may not deceive mine own Soul Make me Partaker withal of the Zeal of thy Justice and of that Hatred thou bearest against Sin that I may hate my Sins as
Oblation of thy dear Son and blot out all my Transgressions Accept of that incomparable Sacrifice and forget the Injuries I have offered thee I should be afraid of being sent away empty from thy Throne my Sins are so many and so great but that I know thy Sons Merits are greater than my Sins If my Sins and his Goodness my Transgressions and the Merits of his bitter Passion were laid in a Ballance together these would weigh for heavier than mine Offences What Crime so great that such a Sorrow such Affliction such Obedience such Humility such invincible Patience and what is more than all this such infinite Love cannot expiate What Iniquity can there be in the World above which the Death of Christ doth not preponderate O Heavenly Father I have nothing of mine own to offer thee But I offer thee my Saviour my Redeemer thine only Son with all possible Devotion and Gratitude Accept of his unspeakable Grief and Anguish known only to him and to thy self for my Sins and that Grief I should have and do not feel Accept of his bloody Sweat and Tears for want of my Tears Accept of his most fervent Prayers for my dulness and deadness in Prayer Accept of all that ever he did and suffer'd for my great and multiplied Transgressions I accuse my self for my Carnality I condemn my self for my backwardness to serve thee I am willing to inflict Judgments upon my self for my innumerable Follies yet even these Services will look dull and weak and imperfect except thou art pleased to look upon them through the Merits of thy dear Son O blessed Jesu who can comprehend thy Charity O pour into my Heart true Contrition soften my harden'd Heart into true Compunction give to mine Eyes abundance of Tears that I may bewail the many Indignities I have offered to thee Deal not with me after my Sins Let thy bitter Passion step in betwixt thy Father's Anger and my miserable Soul And whatever mine Iniquities have deserv'd let thy Death atone for them and let thy Blood wash them away O thou who hast overcome the World and the Prince thereof overcome all my rebellious and inordinate Affections Let nothing separate betwixt thy Love and me Remove and conquer that Disagreebleness that is betwixt my Nature and thy Holiness and as thou wast obedient to thy Father even to the Death of the Cross so make my Soul obedient to thee in all thing O let me see and feel that there is nothing so vile so abject so unworthy as I am and in this sense let me admire thy Love that it may appear great and wonderful to me and dash all those Excuses and Delays I have pretended too long to cloak my unwillingness to please thee What can melt my heart if thy Love cannot melt it O melt it by that Fire and purge away all my Dross and all my Tin that being purified by thee I may enjoy the Comforts of that Purity for ever Amen Amen CHAP. XXV Of Self-Resignation the Fourth Preparatory Duty in order to a Worthy Receiving of this Holy Sacrament The CONTENTS What Self-Resignation is and wherein it consists What makes it necessary Upon what Account it comes to be a Duty preparatory for the Holy Sacrament God likens himself to a Potter and why Our Perfection proved to consist in this Self-Resignation 1. WHat this Self-Resignation is and wherein it consists is no hard matter to guess 'T is in short to resign our Will to God's Will not only in being ready to do what God will have us do but in being contented to suffer whatever he shall think fit to lay upon us 'T is St. Anselm's Observation That God alone who is the Creator of all things can will and do what he pleases having no Will superior to his own to which he ought to submit But when Man will do his own Will he robs Almighty God in some measure of his Crown for as the Crown is only the Privilege and Prerogative of a King so to do what he pleases is God's only Property And as a Subject that should fly at the Crown of his Prince and take it off his Head would commit Treason and do his Sovereign the greatest Injury so a Man that will have his own Will attributes that to himself which is a Privilege appertaining only to Divinity it self And indeed this Self-Resignation is nothing but an Effect of sincere and cordial Love Love being the Bond that ties and unites the Person loving to him that is loved as Hatred dissolves and unties that Bond. This Love consists chiefly in the Will and if it be right it must necessarily oblige him that loves God to will what he wills and take his Pleasure and Will for his Rule whereby he governs his own Desires and Affections II. That which makes this Self-Resignation to the Will of God very necessary are these important Points 1. Hereby the Glory of God is signally advanced It is the most excellent Sacrifice we can offer to Almighty God The Glory of God consists in having his Will fulfilled And since we are both created and redeemed to advance God's Glory we commit a very great Errour in having a different Will from God's Will for we deprive him of the Honour due to him and which we are obliged to advance not only by our Obedience but by our Troubles and Dangers too And if it be such an Advancement of God's Glory to do what he will have us do and to follow him where he leads it can be no less Glory to our selves to have the Honour to fulfil his Will in all things That God who is far above us so infinitely exalted above our frail Natures should make use of such poor miserable Creatures to glorifie him and employ in the compassing of his admirable Designs such vile Worms when he might make use of far better is no small Dignity and Advancement If a King were to give Battel to a fierce and numerous Enemy and should quit or lay by a bright and Two-edged Sword and take a rusty Dagger with no Point or Edge to fight the opposite Army as it would be a Mark of his greater Courage so the Victory he gains by that means would be more renowned and glorious We are in the Hand of God no otherwise than obtuse and blunt Daggers are and that by such contemptible means he will compass his Glory is not only the Way to promote his own Honour but ours too When the Disciples of Socrates had all made their Masters very noble Presents Aeschines who was very poor came to him and told him Sir I have nothing to give you that is worthy of you and therefore take the only thing I have to give that is my self Socrates was extreamly pleased with this Offer And Seneca adds that by this Present Aeschines exceeded all the rich Gifts not only of Alcibiades whose Gifts were equal to his generous Mind but all the Presents of the rest A Man can
rejoyce in nothing so much as in this that I love thee XX. O my bountiful Saviour O my loving Redeemer When when shall it be that I shall love thee perfectly Here on Earth I must not hope for this Happiness but in Heaven I shall O Heaven Heaven How desirable art thou Where the Love of Jesus shall eternally reign in my Soul Where my Love shall be perfectly pure perfectly Seraphick perfectly Extatical and Eternal Ages shall not alter it At present I am in Prison encompassed with a Mortal Body and must sojourn in a wicked World Oh when will that Day that Hour that Minute that happy Time come that I shall be delivered from this Dungeon and translated to that place where Love is all in all where Love knows no End no Decay no Period where it is pure without Mixture invariable without Changes eternal without ceasing Come Lord Jesu Come quickly Particular Acts of Devotion at the Acts of Consecration and Receiving of the Consecrated Bread and Wine At the Minister's pouring out the holy Wine into the Cup. O Jesu Who can think of the flowing of thy Blood without being desirous to be washed with it Or I fancy I do at this present stand under thy Cross and see thee bleeding for my Sins Or Oh. Let thy Blood flow upon my wounded Soul that I may become a sound Member of thy Mystical Body At the Minister's laying his Hand upon the Bread O Blessed Saviour Lay thy Hand upon my Soul that all my Distempers may depart from me Or Oh lay hold on my Soul as the Angel did on Lot Save me from the Flames and let me escape into the Mount of God that I perish not At the Minister's Breaking the Bread Lord Jesu In suffering thy Body to be broken for my Sins I see the Vehemence the Strength and Fervour of thy Love Oh make me all Love all Fervour all Charity Or Oh break the united Forces of my Sins scatter them by thy mighty Arm. Gather the broken Planks of Vertue in my Soul unite them make them whole and strong and secure against the Fury of Winds and Tempests At the Minister's pronouncing the Words This is my Body Lord Let me look off from these material Things and shew me Things invisible and Heavenly Or O Lord The Benefits of thy wounded Body my Soul longs for Oh say They shall be thy Portion At the Minister's touching the Cup. Lord Touch my Soul that it may feel the Power of thy Super-abundant Charity Or Oh! Touch me as thou didst the Blind of old that I may see the Bowels of thy Compassion and rejoyce in the glorious Sight At the Minister's pronouncing the Words This is my Blood Lord My Soul wants Wine of another nature than is in this Cup Oh wash it and cleanse it and purifie it in thy Blood Or Lord Speak thou to my Soul and say I will be thou clean At the Receiving of the Bread Lord Let thy Death be my Life And the Bread represented by this Bread feed me into Everlasting Life Or Lord As thou hast provided Food for my Soul so give me a Taste and Relish also of this Food and a Tongue to praise thy Name for ever Or Lord As thou hast given thy Body for me so I freely offer my Soul and Body as Living Sacrifices to thy Majesty At the Receiving of the Cup. Lord Nothing is more precious than thy Blood Oh! Let it warm my Heart that it may comply with thy Will wlthout wavering Or Lord Bid me look upon thy Blood and in thy Blood upon the Reconciliation wrought by it to the Comfort and Edification of my Soul Or O Lord I am heavy laden and my Pollutions are great And as thy Blood alone can remove that Burthen so free me from those Spots and Wrinkles which make me look deformed in thy Sight CHAP. XXVIII Of the proper Acts of Devotion after we have Received The CONTENTS The Time that is left after our Personal Receiving before all have Communicated not to be spent in Gazing or Looking about Acts of Devotion to be used after Receiving and relating to the Wisdom Mercy Liberality Love Goodness Greatness and Majesty of God to our own Vileness and Unworthiness c. IT falls out so often that when we have Communicated and our Souls have been fed at this Table a considerable Space of Time remains before the united Praises and Thanksgivings of the Congregation begin again This Time be it more or less must not be spent in looking about or in sitting still or in thinking of what Objects our Fancy is pleased to offer and present to us but in holy Aspirations And that the Communicant may know how to employ himself in that Interval it may not be amiss to set down some pious and proper Ejaculations whereby he may exercise his Mind according as Time will permit I. O God! Thy Love in Christ Jesus deserves to be praised admired and magnified There is all that in it which can engage a Soul to break forth into Praises and Hallelujahs There is Beauty Wisdom Condescention Mercy Liberality Sweetness Power Greatness Majesty in it and all these in the highest Degree which would force even a dumb Man to speak of thy Glory II. I adore thee O Holy Blessed and Glorious Trinity for that infinite Care of my immortal Soul which I see in all thy Proceedings and Transactions and particularly in the Cross of my dearest Redeemer Here thou seemest to empty all thy Stores and pourest out thy Grace abundantly upon the Heads and Hearts of thy Servants Behold Bless ye the Lord all ye Servants of the Lord which by Night stand in the House of the Lord Lift up your Hands in the Sanctuary and bless the Lord. The Lord that made Heaven and Earth hath blessed us out of Zion III. O Charming Son of God! I alone am not able sufficiently to praise thee and therefore I wish that every Drop of the Ocean every Grain of Sand every Leaf of the Trees of the Field and every Sprig of Herbs and all the Creatures that ever were or are or shall be might be turn'd into Seraphick Tongues to praise thee IV. O Jefu When I behold thy wonderful Love how it hath bowed how it hath stooped to so mean a Creature as I am the Thoughts of it force my Soul into the humblest and deepest Prostrations Thou art Beauty I am Deformity Thou art Wisdom I am Ignorance Thou art Light I am Darkness Thou art Omnipotence I am feeble Thou art Purity I am Filth and Dung Thou art rich I am Poverty it self Thou art happy I am Misery it self Thou art Perfection I am Weakness Thou art All in All I am nothing V. O Blessed Saviour When I see how Men fall in love with a mortal and fading Beauty which to Day shines bright as the Sun to Morrow by Sickness or Death is all tarnish'd and decay'd how do I blame my self that I do not love thee better whose
Beauty like thy Crown is immarcessible Ages cannot change it neither Heat nor Cold can alter it Thou art beautiful in thy Body beautiful in thy Soul but infifinitely beautiful in thy Divinity Nothing deserves to be loved or praised if thou dost not VI. Oh how blind are poor Mortals who are so very fond of Honours Riches curious Palaces Gardens Pleasures Musick Rarities Colours Herbs Flowers Stones and Minerals Great Conqueror of my Soul Thou art more honourable more amiable more sweet more pleasant more agreeable more delicious more harmonious to my Soul than all these Thy Excellency cannot by searching be found out VII O Lamb of Gd With the Four and Twenty Elders I fall down before thy Throne and cry Blessing and Praise and Honour and Wisdom be unto the Lamb for ever and ever for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy Blood out of every Kindred and Tongue and People and Nation VIII O God of Glory I beseech thee remove from me all those things which would hinder me from glorifying thee Remove from me an unsteady Mind that I may glorifie thee in Poverty as well as in Plenty in Adversity as well as Prosperity in Desertions as well as in Consolations in Disgrace as well as in Honour Let me look upon both Conditions as coming from the same good Hand of Providence and let that be an everlasting Motive to me to shew forth thy Glory IX O God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ I desire to glorifie thee in this World and in that to come with Men here and with Angels hereafter Give me the Grace of Continuance in magnifying thy Name thy Goodness and thy Charity while I am in this barren Wilderness that I may not fail of being admitted to the Regions of the Blessed where I may praise and magnifie thee World without end X. O Jesu Why art thou so lovely so beautiful so amiable but that I might love thee But I cannot love thee of my self Thy Love must give me Power and sow the Seeds of Reciprocal Love in my Soul O Love O Desire of my Soul Oh do not do that Injury to thy infinite Perfections as to let me live without being passionately enamoured with thee XI O God who hast promised that the Needy shall not always be forgotten that the Expectation of the Poor shall not perish for ever Look upon me a poor needy Wretch and give me those Riches I desire and without which I must ever count my self most miserably poor even the Riches of thy Love which whoever does enjoy hath enough and more than the richest Princes can pretend to XII Who would not praise thee O thou great Redeemer of Men Seven times a Day will I praise thee because of thine infinite Charity Morning and Evening and at Noon will I praise thee because thou hast bought me with Blood Oh that Men would praise the Lord for his Goodness and for his wonderful Works to the Children of Men. The Lord liveth and blessed be my Rock and let the God of my Salvation be exalted He delivers me from mine Enemies yea thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me Therefore will I give Thanks unto thee O Lord and sing Praises unto thy Name for ever CHAP. XXIX Of the Life we are to lead after we have receiv'd the Holy Communion The CONTENTS The Life to be led after Receiving a Reasonable Service Wherein that Service consists The necessity of it Men that are in an unconverted State live below their Reason The Generality of Men very rational in Temporal Concerns but very unreasonable in Things belonging to their Everlasting Peace The Prayer I. THough from the Premises any Man may guess what life it is that a Christian who hath engaged himself to God in this Sacrament and vow'd Faith and Allegiance to the King of Saints is to live after it yet to make these instructions complete I shall briefly add some Memorandums that are to be observed in our future Conversation and though in the foregoing Discourse I have often occasionally mention'd such a thing as a REASONABLE SERVICE yet it 's time I should now press it with great earnestness there being nothing more proper nothing more equitable after such solemn engagements than this Service and if we examine what it is it will be found to consist In these following particulars 1. In an happy agreement of our profession and actions of our belief and practices of our Principles and Conversation where our Profession is of one colour and our Practice of another where our Tongues speak one thing and our Lives another there I need not tell you how we involve our selves in a palpable contradiction Things contradictory mutually destroy each other A thing that is cold cannot at the same time be hot and what is black at the same time and under the same respects cannot be white and consequently where the Actions contradict our Principles the Actions destroy our Principles and in God's account we deny the Principles too by denying the consequences which are the actions that should naturall issue from those Principles and he that hath very good Principles but allows himself in bad Actions cannot be partly good and partly bad but is wholly bad which makes the Holy Ghost call all those Vnbelievers which profess the true Worship of God and dishonour it by their Lives Heb. 3. 17 18 19. But where I do believe that God is my Supreme Governor and therefore prefers his Will and Favour before the Will and Favour of Men when these two interfere and are contrary to one another Where I do believe that neither Fornicators nor Adulterers nor Effeminate nor Thieves nor Covetous nor Drunkards nor Revilers nor Extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God and therefore will not be perswaded by all the gain and profit of the World to venture upon any of these Sins If I believe that my Soul is worth more than a whole World and therefore will not wrong my better part though I might have the Riches of the Indies for doing it If I believe that if I am ashamed of the Gospel of Christ and of observing his Laws the Son of God will certainly be ashamed of me in the last day and thereupon take courage to act like a Man that believes it and stand up for the Glory and Honour of my God with Humility and Modesty in despight of all the reproaches and contempt of the World If I profess and believe that if I love not the Lord Jesus Christ so as to testifie my Love in my obedience to him I shall be for ever banish'd from the Glorious Presence of God and thereupon express my Love in thinking of him in Honouring and Esteeming him within and without if I believe that except my Righteousness exceeds the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees I shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and thereupon actually shun those Sins which the Pharisees made