thanks to God that he is pleased to make that our duty which is so much our interest and for our advantage He obliges us to renew our Covenant with himself which it is our greatest interest to do He obliges us to that which tends to our own happiness and welfare and without which we could not but be miserable He will have us remember the death of our Saviour and his love he shewed us He will have us partake of a Sacrament that does not only bring us nearer to himself but also unites us faster in the bond of love to one another He would that we should partake of these Mysteries which are the seal of his Covenant and give us great assurance of his readiness to pardon our sins That is in one word God would have us be happy and he does oblige us to be so 'T is our advantage that he designs in all this His love is without any interest but that of ours Who would not enter into Covenant with so good a God who would not remember the love of so dear a Lord Who would not be knit fast to his brother in closest bond of love Who would not have assurance of the pardon of his sins These are the greatest blessings that we are capable of receiving the greatest that Heaven can bestow upon us What can be more desireable than to be at peace with God and at unity among our selves What more reasonable or more to be wished for than that we should remember the love of our Saviour and receive a good assurance of the pardon of our sins And this is the design as you have heard of this blessed Sacrament It is appointed for such blessed purposes as these How suspicious or shy soever we be of it this is the errand it comes about It hath a design to make us more holy and more happy than we were This is all the plot which it hath upon us God hath not only been pleased to give us his Son to die for our ransom but he gives him again in this Sacrament for our food and nourishment O the unspeakableness of Gods kindness to us Methinks every man should break forth into his praises methinks he should say Bless the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his benefits who forgiveth all thine iniquities who healeth all thy diseases who redeemeth thy life from destruction who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies who satisfieth thy mouth with good things Psal 103.2 3 4 5. Methinks our mouth should be filled with praise and thanksgiving to God for these his kindnesses to our Souls 4. Hence we may learn what great reason we have to embrace so blessed an opportunity of becoming better Great are the benefits which would redound to us from â— frequent and a devout Communion And certainly this service must needs be welcome to that Soul that is weary of his sins and heartily and earnestly desires to be rid of them For it lays a most severe obligation upon us to search our hearts and amend our ways and set things straight between God and our own Souls This service obligeth us to that which every pious Soul would chuse of it self It binds us to be faithful servants of God to be hearty lovers of our brother to be grateful acknowledgers of the love of Christ and diligent seekers after the pardon of our sins Who would not welcome such a blessed opportunity that loves his God and is weary of his sins Who is it that desires to lead a new life that would not be glad of so excellent a service 'T is to be feared we are too much wedded to our sins when we refuse this service which would divorce them from us 'T is much to be feared we have no great sense of the love of our dying Saviour when we will not upon his command Do this in remembrance of him Or that our sins are no burden to us when we despise the evidence of our pardon If we did but worthily partake of this Sacrament we should be more fit to live and more prepar'd to die We should be more fervent in our services to God and more sincere in our love to our brother the love of Christ would constrain us to obedience and his Commandements would not be grievous to us This would put an end to our unnatural differences and quarrels it would restore love and charity it would deliver us from our slavish and dreadful fear of death In a word it would change this Earth into a kind of Heaven and him that is now a cold professor of Religion it would make this Sinner become a Saint and a zealous doer of the will of God Such a mighty change would a frequent and a worthy participation of these mysteries introduce into the world It would bring back the primitive spirit into the hearts of Christians when Communions were frequent and devout then did every holy and good thing obtain And were they again restored the Devils Kingdom which hath now gotten ground would not only shake but fall to the ground This would overturn his strong-holds as the barly-cake of Gideon did the Tents of the men of Midian And therefore no wonder that he labours so greatly by his instruments to prevent this which would subvert his Kingdom And this is so effectually done that now the professors of Christianity either partake amiss or not at all This is the case of many I wish I could not say of the most of Christians Nay and those that do not receive at all are grown witty too they think they can defend themselves from being guilty of a default I shall not here examine what they have to say for themselves but yet this I shall say that the command of our Saviour for our Communicating is so plain and the reason of it so great that nothing can discharge us from it but either the impossibility of doing it for want of opportunity which we cannot plead or a countermand from him that gave us the law which we must never expect Nothing else can discharge us not our common excuses not our mistaken and scrupulous Consciences which cannot evacuate the Law of God for hereafter we shall be judged not according to what we ween or are of opinion in the case but by a more sure and unerring rule the VVord of God I conclude this particular only adding that if we diminish or take from the Word of God and deny that to be our duty which the Word of God requires we have too much reason to fear that God will take away our part out of the book of life Rev. 22.19 CHAP. III. I Shall now proceed to shew how we may become worthy partakers of this Sacrament of our Lords Supper which was ordained for such great ends and conveys so great a blessing to all those that partake of it as they ought For there is something to be done by us before we can be prepared for so great a
the necessity of the duty as well as upon little objections which are brought against it which are so small that they might otherwise have been prudently omitted But so it is now that we are put upon the proof of those things which our forefathers did not deny And we have now a double task upon us To prove the truth of our Religion first and then to perswade to the practice of it It might otherwise seem a strange thing that any man should be operose in proving that it is our duty to partake of this Sacrament when the command for it is so plain I have this moreover to desire of the Reader that he would when he reads this Discourse be careful to lay aside all prejudice It will be no hard matter to find the truth in the case here discoursed of if we seek it sincerely The good God open our eyes and lead us at once into the paths of truth and peace And grant that we may be reconciled to him and to one another I have nothing farther to beg of the pious and Christian Reader but this one request that he would pray to God for the Author that his labours may not always be in vain The CONTENTS CHAP. I. THE nature of this Sacrament That is best known from the ends of its institution which were First to renew the Covenant which we made in Baptism Secondly to preserve the memory of Christs love in laying down his life Thirdly to unite us to each other in the strictest Bond of Charity Fourthly to assure us of Gods readiness to pardon our sins Pag. 1. CHAP. II. Several practical Inferences drawn from the foregoing discourse pag. 37. CHAP. III. The danger of coming unprepared That the doing so deprives us of the benefits which are annexed to worthy Communicating and involves us in a curse c. p. 48 CHAP. IV Concerning the preparation which we are to make First in general and then more particularly p. 57. CHAP. V. Of Examination And particularly of searching after our sins How this is to be done Of the degrees and circumstances which our sins are attended with p. 65 CHAP. VI. An inquiry into the nature of true Repentance Of the necessity of restitution p. 81. CHAP. VII Of resolutions of amendment of life Of the way of judging of the sincerity of these resolutions p. 96. CHAP. VIII Of a true and lively Faith Of the rules by which we are to judge whether or no we be endued with such a Faith That the bare assent to the Articles of the Christian Faith is not a Faith sufficient to salvation A consideration of those Scriptures which are urged in this case p. 106 CHAP. IX Of Brotherly love or Charity The wayes by which we are to judge of the sincerity of this love Of forgiveness of enemies and the necessity thereof p. 139. CHAP. X. Some farther advice by way of supply towards our better preparing our selves What a man is to do in case he doubt of his own fitness what things are to fall under our consideration when we do examine our selves Of the right way of judging of our state towards God Of designing against our most prevailing sin That we are to prepare as if we were preparing for death p. 154. CHAP. XI Of our behaviour when we do Communicate Of lifting up our hearts to God How we ought to be affected and demean our selves when we approach to the Holy Table and when we see the Bread broken and the Wine poured out when we receive the Bread and when we receive the Cup. p. 163. CHAP. XII Of our behaviour after we have received Of mercy to the poor Of After-Examination Of Prayer and praise Of the danger of relapsing p. 176. CHAP. XIII Of the necessity of Communicating This proved by sundry arguments which are not to be answered p. 182. CHAP. XIV An answer to several Objections by which men excuse themselves from Communicating First that they are not worthy This is answered by shewing wherein this worthiness does consist and how far it is from being a just excuse Secondly that because there is danger in receiving unworthily that therefore it is most prudent not to receive at all An answer to this objection and the folly of it exposed Thirdly against mixt Communions This Objection fully answered Fourthly am Objection against Kneeling A particular answer to the whole force of that Objection p. 195. CHAP. XV. The Conclusion of this Treatise p. 230. To which are now subjoyned The Heads of Self-Examination A Prayer before the Sacrament Some Ejaculations at the receiving it and afterwards A Prayer after receiving A Morning and Evening Prayer for a Family A plain and familiar DISCOURSE Concerning the LORDS SUPPER SHEWING At once the Nature of that Sacrament as also the right way of preparing our selves for the receiving of it CHAP. I. The Nature and true Notion of this Sacrament IT is my intention in this following Discourse not to trouble my Reader with Questions and Controversies about the Sacrament of our Lords Supper of which there are too many in the World already but to direct him how he may partake worthily as well as shew him the danger in not partaking at all And for the better gaining of the first of these ends I think it necessary to premise something of the nature and true notion of this Sacrament of the Lords Supper That so we may perform a reasonable service and not give the Sacrifice of Fools who consider not that they do evil Eccles 5.1 And that we may not eat and drink damnation to our selves not discerning the Lords Body 1 Cor. 11.29 Now for the better understanding the nature of this Sacrament it will be necessary the great ends and purposes for which it was ordained by our Blessed Saviour should be duly considered Now the ends of this Sacrament of the Lords Supper are these that follow I. The renewal of that Covenant which we entered into in our Baptism The Vow which we made in our Baptism we ought very seriously to reflect upon By our Baptism we were received into the Family and Church of Christ and by the Vow which we then made we are obliged to obey all the commands of Christ What the Apostle says of Circumcision I may truly say of Baptism I testifie to every man says he that is Circumcised that he is a debtor to the whole Law Gal. 5.3 And by the same reason every man that is Baptized is obliged to obey all the Precepts of the Gospel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophyl in loc The same Apostle tells us That they that have been Baptized into Christ have put on Christ Gal. 3.27 That is surely they are obliged to be as he was to be that by grace which he was by nature to bear his image into whose name they are Baptized In Baptism we gave up our names to Christ and by that Sacrament listed our selves under him as the only Captain of our Salvation we
Blessed Saviour But our remembrance of it must be 1. Affectionate and vigorous as we remember the death of a dear friend that died and died in our quarrel and defence who at once shed his blood for us and for the truth How passionately can we rehearse the praises and preserve the memory of such an one as this 'T was thus with our dearest Lord he fell a Sacrifice at once for the testimony of the truth and for the sake of our precious Souls He died that he might rescue us from eternal misery and death And this we must remember when we do remember the death of our Blessed Lord. 2. With all thankfulness to God for so unspeakable a mercy Let us awaken our Psaltery and Harp all our powers and faculties and all that is within us to praise his holy name Let us have our hymn of praise Matth. 26.30 'T is an heavenly feast we are going to and who goes to a feast with a sad countenance or heart Let us be filled with the spirit Speaking to our selves in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual Songs and making melody in our hearts to the Lord Ephes 5.18 19. We are Gods guests at this time and God loves we should be chearful and rejoyce He would have the Jews so in their Festivals Deut. 16.11 14. And certainly we have more reason to be so than they God having provided some better thing for us Heb. 11.40 This Sacrament is an Eucharist or service of praise and as such was observed by the first Christians Who breaking bread from house to house did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart praising God and having favour with all the people Act. 2.46 47. 3. It must be such a remembrance as works in us a detestation against our sins which put our Blessed Saviour to death Coâ—â—â—â—ve you saw him hang upon the Cross and saw the nails pierce his hands and feet that you heard him cry out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me And that you saw the blood he sweat and the thorns he wore That you saw the Sun darkened the Dead arise and the rocky Earth rend in pieces certainly if your hearts were not more hard than the rocks you would relent especially when you consider that all this was for your sins and that he died that you might live 'T was thy Covetousness that betrayed him Thy Iust that made him bleed Thy unbelief and wickedness that loaded Him with the Cross that crowned Him with thorns that nailed his hands and pierced his side and filled his Soul with horror and amazement This should work in us a great indignation against our Sins as that which crucified our dearest Lord. Should a tender Mother lose a Child by a knife or some other instrument that is but the occasion of its death Surely she would not endure to see that instrument in her sight If we loved our Saviour we should hate our sins which made him bleed and bow his head Since 't is a most certain truth that he that commits sin does more displease i. e. does that which is more against the mind and will of Christ than Judas that betrayed him and those that hanged him upon his Cross And therefore as you pity your Saviour add not to his sorrows as you have any compassion to Him add not to the bitterness of his Soul Bring not with you instruments of crâ—â—lty when you pretend to remember his love â—e shewed in his death But think thâ—◠〈◊〉 that if God did not spare his Son that 〈◊〉 might not go unpunished that he will mucâ— less spare you who go on in your sins and love them III. Another great end of this Sacrament is that Christians might by it be united together in the strictest bond of love and charity It is indeed a feast of love and that which does not only joyn us to God but firmly cements us also to one another This indeed is the great Commandement of our Blessed Saviour that we should love one another as He hath loved us John 15.12 Nay he hath made this the mark by which his followers shall be known from the rest of the World By this shall all men know that ye are my Disciples if ye have love one to another Joh. 13.35 And in the early days of Christianity the Heathen World took notice how the Christians loved one another Nay the Holy Scriptures tell us that in the beginning of Christianity The multitude of them that believed were of one Heart and of one Soul Act. 4.32 And they shewed their love to one another by making all things common that there might be no lack and wants among them Acts 2.44 45. But then 't is added when it was that they loved one another thus greatly viz. While they continuing daily with one accord in the Temple and breaking bread from house to house did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart verse 46. Whiles there were frequent Communions in the Church of God there did remain a fervent Charity among Christians But when they were but seldome celebrated Charity also grew cold For indeed this Sacrament was appointed for the keeping up a fervent charity among the followers of Jesus And very plain methinks are the words of the Apostle to this purpose We being many are one bread and one body for we are all partakers of that one bread 1 Cor. 10.17 i. e. We that partake of this Heavenly feast are by that made one we are of one kind and 〈◊〉 just as Bread and Wine though they be made up of several grains and grapes yet are made up together into one similar body all whose parts are homogeneous and of the same sort or kind so we that are Christians tho as men we differ from one another and have our several affections and designs distinct from each other yet for all this by the death of our Saviour and by the participation of the Sacrament of our Lords Supper we are made one we are reconciled to the same designs and interests acted by the same Spirit and by this Sacrament united into one Spiritual body However we are other wise divided it is the intention of this Sacrament to make us One. And therefore the Ancients called the Eucharist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. a Collection or gathering together into one those who were otherwise divided The partaking of this Feast makes the partakers of one mind and heart where they do receive it worthily What is said of Pilate and Herod when our Saviour was about to suffer That they were the same day made friends together who before had been at enmity between themselves Luke 23.12 The same is true of all true Christians that do aright partake of this Sacrament of the death of Christ they are now united and reconciled and made of one heart and mind And this seems to be the great design of the Eucharist to unite Christians together in the closest bond of unity and
are about We had need use our utmost care that we may attend upon God without distraction else will our hearts before we are aware slide into vain or impertinent entertainments And when they are once let loose we shall not so very easily recollect them and bring them back They will soon run into the ends of the earth and if we be not watchful and resolute they will leave nothing but our bodies for so great a service as this Our hearts are treacherous and our thoughts are like the servant of the Prophet who secretly run after the Syrian for a talent of Silver and two changes of raiment without the leave of his master and if we call them not in they 'l contract a more dismal leprosie than that servant did We cannot let them gad abroad without a great loss at such a time as this We may be assured they will fare as Dinah did they will return defiled home And therefore let us be sure to set a strict watch upon our selves lest our spiritual enemies steal away our hearts at such a time as this Let us lift them up to God and there let them be kept whiles we worship his holy name 2. When you approach to the Table of the Lord endeavour to raise up your heart to the greatest thankfulness to Almighty God for his undeserved love to thee O consider how gracious thy Lord is unto thee a wretched sinner That he should not only give thee his Son to die but also give thee his flesh to eat Not only receive thee to pardon but also entertain thee at his own Table as his guest and friend Say within thy self Lord what am I that thou shouldest not only shew me pity but do me so great a favour to receive me as thy friend What a love is this that thou art pleased to shew to my Soul when there are so many that have not heard of these thy mercies so many that have foregone them I may well wonder that thy mercy lets me live that I have bread to eat or thy air to breathe in and yet thou art pleased to give me Angels food and to feed me with bread from Heaven I am not worthy of the least of thy mercies but then this miracle of love may well overwhelm me Who has ever heard of such a love of so great a condescension Bless the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me bless his holy name Let me never forget so great a mercy never be ungrateful after such a condescension of Heaven What shall I render unto the Lord for such an unspeakable love as this that he should spread me a Table and fill my Cup who am unworthy of the crumbs that fall from his Table Oh the height and depth the length and breadth of this love which passeth knowledge It well becomes us thus to raise up our hearts to all thankfulness to God when we do approach to this Feast For we do here commemorate the greatest mercy that was ever shewed to Mankind And it requires of us the greatest praise and thanksgiving This is a service of praise and therefore it is called the Eucharist And certainly if we think our selves obliged to commemorate our Benefactors and Friends which we frequently do we must think our selves much more obliged with all thankfulness to remember the love of our dearest Lord who dyed that we might live 3. VVhen we see the Bread broken and the Wine poured out let us meditate at once upon the Passion of our Lord and the hainous nature of our sins that put him to that pain Think you saw your dearest Saviour hang upon the Cross that you were eye-witnesses of the shame and sorrow that he underwent O think you saw the blood that he shed running down his Body that you saw the Spear and the Nails that pierced his Hands his Feet and Side Call to mind the Agony that he was in the sorrowes that he underwent Have some pity and regard to thy bleeding Lord pass not by but see and behold that there is no sorrow like to his sorrow Thy heart is very hard sure if thou dost not now relent Thou art very devoid of pity if thou hast no compassion for thy bleeding Lord. But then remember what it was that brought upon him all this sorrow and shame that thou seest him in Not any fault of his own but thy sins were the cause of it They nailed him to his Cross they pierced his Side they Crowned him with Thorns and gave him Gall and Vinegar to drink they did him the despight and the affronts which he endured They were the Judas the Pilate the false Witnesses the chief Priests that contrived and accomplished his sorrowes 'T was thy Covetousness that betraid him thy unbelief and wickedness that brought him to his Cross and caused him to cry out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Raise up then a great indignation against thy sins as thou hast any love or pity for thy dying Lord. Say thus to thine own heart Shall I not be ashamed of those sins which put my Lord to so much shame shall I not mourn for those sins which put him to so much pain may not they well break my heart which have so deeply wounded and pierced my blessed Saviour If he dyed for sin well may I be ashamed to live in it If my sins made him cry out and bow the head how shall I then give them any entertainment Well may they be heavy on me which were so great a burden to my Lord. How have I made a sport of that vile wretch as I am which made my Saviour sweat drops of blood Did my Saviour suffer such pains that he might destroy sin and have not I harboured it I have taken part with the most implacable enemies of my dying Lord. Alass I have not considered the sorrowes of my Saviour but like a vile wretch I have Crucified him afresh I have trampled on his Blood and done him open despight and shame Methinks I see him hang on the Cross and methinks I hear him cry out to me and bid me see whether there were ever such a sorrow and also that I should not be ungrateful to forget his love What an hard heart have I had that have had no more regard to him Oh that mine eyes were a fountain of tears that I might mourn for my sins that have Crucified my Lord. Sure my heart is very hard if I do not mourn now for mine iniquities when I behold my bleeding and dying Saviour I have tears for other things have I none for my sins none for my Lord I have sometimes wept when I have thought of a dying Friend Have I no tears for my dying Saviour who dies that I may live O my God smite this rocky heart of mine that I may weep when I look upon him whom I have Crucified Look upon me my Lord as thou didst once upon thy Disciple who denied thee
service Now before I proceed to shew what we are to do towards the preparing our selves I shall shew the necessity of a preparation in general or the danger of coming unprepared And that I shall do in the following particulars 1. He that cometh unprepared loseth all those benefits which are annexed to a worthy partaking of this Sacrament Certainly the blessings which we receive when we come prepared are very many and very great We receive the pardon of our sins and power against them we have here a sense and experiment of the love of Christ to us and increase of our charity and love to one another We receive here the joys of pure Religion and the foretasts of Heaven an increase of our love to God and a demonstration also of the love of God to us This is a most excellent instrument and very available to the killing of our sins and the reviving of our graces It makes us more fit to live and both more ready and more willing to die We are here reconciled to God and also perfectly reconciled to one another 'T is the great instrument of pardon and peace of love and joy of faith and holiness He that comes prepared finds it both food and physick It nourishes his graces and it purges away his sins But whatever blessings he finds the unprepared finds none He receives no pardon of his sin nor yet any power against it And it were well for the unprepared if this were all for he does not only not receive a blessing but 2. He that comes unprepared receives a very great curse he contracts a very great guilt and condemnation to himself And if he would know how great a curse it is let him consider the words of the Apostle who tells him that he is guilty of the body and blood of Christ 1 Cor. 11.27 That he eateth and drinketh damnation to himself v. 29 Nor is this all neither but he brings upon himself bodily distempers aye and death it self The Apostle adds for this cause many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep ver 30. We have enough said to awaken us in these words if any thing be enough Sickness and death are the greatest plagues that we dread in the World and these are consequents of unworthy receiving but these are the least still He that comes unprepared as he is guilty of the greatest sin in that he is guilty of the Body and Blood of Christ so is he liable to the greatest severity and wrath of God in that he eats and drinks damnation to himself If we would avoid sickness or an untimely death if we would not be guilty of the Body and Blood of Christ and not be liable to damnation we must prepare our selves for this service We think Judas a wretched sinner that betrayed his Lord and Pilate that delivered him to death and the Jews that crucified him we esteem most miserable sinners what are we then if we do all this over again if we crucifie our Lord afresh and tread under foot the Son of God and count the blood of the Covenant an unholy thing and all this we do if we come unprepared and in our sins And are so far from being less sinners than the Jews who crucified our Lord that we are indeed therefore greater than they in that we do this despite to him whom we know but they though they crucified him yet they did not know him to be the Lord of Glory The receiving of this Sacrament serves to some great purpose or other it does set us forward either to Heaven or Hell it conveys a great blessing or else it brings upon us a great curse And as the blessings it brings are great to them that are prepared so are the curses to him that comes unfit We either receive Christ or else Satan enters into us And all this is as we come fitted and prepared Nor is it to be wondred that it should be so for it is not the work done but the manner of the doing of it that turns to our account God deals with us not as with stocks and stones but as with reasonable Creatures We receive his blessings as we are sitted for them God waits that he may be gracious He waits on us till we sit our selves to receive his mercy The Soul that is unprepared is not sit for the blessings that are here bestowed 'T is our unfitness to receive that makes us miss of the blessing 'T is so in all our religious services We receive no benefit because we are not fitted for them nay instead of a blessing we receive a curse We do not profit by the preaching of the Word we say The cause is because we are not prepared hearers Do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly Micah 2.7 We are worse after the Word we hear and the Sacrament we partake of because we are unprepared And that is the true cause of it We have an Axiom in Logick That every cause does act according to the disposition of the subject 't is true in Spirituals I am sure That which is to one a great blessing turns to the mischief of another One man receives life when he eats of this bread and drinks of this cup another man through his own default eats and drinks damnation to himself The same heat of the Sun that dissolves the ice and melts the wax yet hardens the clay The same herb or flower may afford honey to the Bee and poyson to the Spider The Red Sea that gave a passage to the Israelites did for all that drown the Egyptians Obruitur Pharaoh patuit via libera Moysi Prudent It was the same seed was sown Matth. 13. but not the same ground which received it Semen Sator culpa vacant terra damnanda est We know the Ark of God was the glory of Israel and a great blessing to the House of Obed Edom but yet the Philistines found it an intolerable scourge to them Nay Christ himself that unspeakable gift who is to them that believe the power of God and the wisdom of God yet was he to the unbelieving Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness 1 Cor. 1.23 24. Signum caventi non caventi scandalum Hunc sternit illum dirigit So that it concerns us greatly to fit and prepare our selves for so great a service It will be unto us as we are prepared for it Our unfitness will turn life into death and the greatest blessing that God hath to bestow into the greatest curse There is a great danger before us as well as a great benefit And the effect of this consideration should be that we be very diligent in fitting and preparing our selves We are apt to make an ill use of it and that is this that because there is danger in coming unworthily therefore it is the safest course not to come at all But certainly we never learnt this from the Apostle for he after he had told
search for leaven against the Passover Pesach c. 1. S. 1. that they should do it by the light of a Candle We had not need be in the dark when we go about such a work as this is and we had need have a clearer light than that of our own Consciences is The Law of God is an unerring rule by this we must try and search our selves And therefore we had need know this Law or else we shall not be able to judge our selves by it and consequently very unfit to approach unto the Table of our Lord. By this Law we may find out what we have done amiss This glass will discover our spots And though we may think our selves very innocent yet upon our trial we shall find many things amiss For the Commandment is exceeding broad we are very apt to say with the man in the Gospel all these things have we kept from our youth up Matth. 19.20 But we consider not how far the Law of God extends and reaches We are commanded to have no other gods before the Lord our God We perhaps are ready to think that we do not break this Law till we fall down and worship some new Deity But we are much deceived in this For by this precept we are obliged to love God above all things to pray to him fear him trust in him give him thanks and in all things to prefer him above all the things of this present World And therefore if we find our selves devoid of the love of God or which is all one full of the love of this World and of our sins if we find we love or fear or trust in any thing more than in him that we do not give him hearty thanks for his mercies nor yet heartily pray for his grace and assistance we may certainly conclude that we are offenders against the Law of God We are commanded that we should not kill Now not only he that sheds his brothers blood but he that hates him and censures him is guilty of a breach of this Law He that hates his brother is a murderer 1 Joh. 3.15 Again when we are forbidden Adultery we are guilty when we look on a Woman to lust after her For the Law as was said afore is exceeding broad It does not only oblige the outward but the inward man It does not only forbid us to do but also to think any evil When it commands a duty it must be supposed to require all those things which are the means that lead us to it And when it forbids a sin it must be thought to forbid whatever would induce us to it We have reason to think our selves guilty not only when we do directly break the letter of the Law but when we transgress against the inward and spiritual meaning of it We are guilty not only when we commit a sin our selves but when we make others to sin nay when we do not reprove and hinder others when we can There are many wayes by which we become transgressors And there is no better way to find out our iniquity than by comparing our lives with the Law of God If those men did but carefully do this who now pride themselves as better than their neighbours they might find very foul spots where as now they think all their wayes clean This would shew them those faults which their pride and lust will not now let them see Our Conscience is many times but an imperfect light and is always so when 't is not enlightned from the Law of God 'T is that Rule by which we are to measure our selves And therefore if we would find our sin let us take this light to direct and guide us in our search 3. We must be very particular in this search That we are sinners we may easily find but we must not satisfie our selves in this but must find out our particular sins which we are guilty of For if in order to our pardon we must confess and forsake our sins we had need find them out if we do not do this it is not like we should confess them and forsake them For how can we be thought to confess and forsake those sins which we are ignorant of And if we do not this what hopes can we have of pardon Indeed where we cannot by our utmost search find out every sin we may yet hope for pardon if we humbly and penitently beg it with the Psalmist who prays to God to cleanse him from his secret faults Psal 19.12 But this we may hope when we cannot find out our particular sin when we can do that we must know it is our duty to do it in order to our confession and our parton In which the Reader may be assisted by the heads of self-examination at the close of the Book called the Whole duty of Man And a thing very advisable it is that we should have ready by us at such times as this a most particular Catalogue of our sins and that we do in our private prayers as particularly confess them to God It is very easie and common to confess our selves sinners to God but there is a great cheat in that general confession and if we would have pardon we must be more particular 4. We must not only make a particular search after our sins but we must also well consider of the degrees and aggravations of them For all sins are not alike There are many circumstances that do encrease our guilt and therefore if we would not hide our fault we must search after these things Now there are several things which do greatly enhance our guilt and make our sins more exceeding sinful that give them a deeper dye and stain Now every sin is a transgression against the Law of God but yet there are some sins which are more hainous than others 1. As for example when our sin is such as is not only against the Law of God but against our own Conscience also when we know the Law and our Conscience does make a faithful report of it and yet we will commit it He that knows his Masters will and doth it not shall be beaten with many stripes This is no small aggravation of our guilt when we rebel against the light This rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft We have no manner of excuse left us in this case and therefore ought to humble our selves greatly under such sins as these are 2. Again when we are vincibly and culpably ignorant and bribe or blind our Consciences our guilt is also greatly aggravated Perhaps we will not know our duty that we may not be though obliged to do it Or we have certain arts to bribe our Consciences or have found out ways to stop their sentence This is a most hainous aggravation of our guilt and comes up very near to that which was named last He is not only a very wicked servant that refuses to do what he hears his Master command him but he
and just to forgive us our sins c 1 Joh. 1.9 But then this confession alone does not bring us nearer our pardon we must confess them with shame and sorrow we must judge and condemn our selves and after the most humble manner debase our selves and beg pardon from God Our confession must be very humble and very full We must be particular in it and not content our selves that we confess our selves to be sinners in general but we must confess our particular sins unto God We must confess all the sins we can find all that we can remember And then for those which we cannot find or do not remember it will be needful that we should pray also for the pardon of them as the Psalmist does Cleanse thou me from secret faults Psal 19.12 And as we must confess our sins so we must also confess the degrees and the aggravations of them for these do greatly inhance our guilt and swell our sins into a very great measure But all this while we must be very greatly careful that our confession be the result of our real sorrow and trouble of heart God will not be put off with a parcel of good words If we do not abhor our sins it will not avail us that we do confess them God knows our sins already nor is he pleased to hear us repeat them to him unless we hate them and be really pressed with the burden of them 'T is the burdened sinner whom God hath a respect unto He that is full of his sorrow for his sin 't is he that confesses his sin as he ought such a man finds the advantage of an humble confession of his sin unto God For this gives a great ease to his Soul which would have been overcharged if he should have kept silence This the Psalmist tells us When I kept silence says he my bones waxed old and my mosture is turned into the drought of summer But then he adds I acknowledged my sin unto thee and mine iniquity have I not hid I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin And then we find him greatly at ease and quiet Psal 32.3 4 5 6 7. 3. He that truly repents does forsake his sins and lead a new life He does not only purpose but he really does that good which he did intend to do He does not lead such a life as he did before He abstains from the sin which he formerly loved and followed Nor does he only abstain from it but he does abhor it and so he does every sin whatever and gives up himself to an universal obedience to all the Laws of God We have no reason to think we have repented till we lead a new and an holy Life 'T is this which compleats our Repentance and nothing short of this can give us any assurance that we have Repented and that we are in the state of Grace It is a vain thing to think that we are the better for purposes of amendment when we do not amend If we purpose never so much to do well and yet continue in our evil doing we shall be reputed amongst the workers of iniquity Repentance imports a change both of heart and life It requires a new life and conversation and where there is this grace there is this change to be found The Holy Scriptures annex our pardon to our Repentance but then they require such a Repentance as does import no less than a new life and conversation Thus we find in the Prophet how the Repentance of a Sinner is expressed If he turn from his sin and do that which is lawful and right if the wicked restore the pledg give again that he had robbed walk in the statutes of life without committing iniquity he shall surely live he shall not die Ezek. 33.14 15. Again If the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed and keep all my statutes and do that which is lawful and right he shall surely live and not die Chap. 18. ver 21. And when the sinner is called upon to repent we find it thus expressed Seek the Lord while he may 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 Isa 55.6 7. By which it is evident that Repentance implies a change of Life and so indeed it does That man that resolves to do well and does not do it does at once mock God and cheat his own Soul 4. He that truly repents his Repentance does arise from his love to God and an hatred to his sins because they are an offence to God This is the root from whence Repentance does spring The love of God constrains the Sinner to Repentance and his love to God it is that makes his Repentance of the right kind and stamp It is very possible that a man may be greatly sorrowful upon the account of his sins and that he may make a particular confession of them to God and when he hath done that he may forsake his sins too and yet not have the grace of true Repentance all this while And that because this change does not arise from a love to God and an hatred of his sin as it is an offence against God A man may be very sorrowful for his sins because they have brought a great misery upon him and do besides expose him to the justice of God Such a man is sorrowful for the ill consequence of his sin rather than for its obliquity and immorality And perhaps he forsakes his sin too and yet is no true Penitent For he may leave his sin for many reasons and yet not repent of it A bare abstaining from sin is no sufficient argument that he hath repented of it A man may forbear his sin and abstain from it because he cannot follow it or hath not the liberty to enjoy it any longer and yet his mind remains unchanged still or else perhaps he exchanges one sin for another and chuses a sin which he judges most expedient But the true Penitent abtains from his sin because he loves his God Nay he does not only abstain from his sin but he hates it also The reason why he leaves his sin is because he is himself changed in his mind and affections He now hates what he loved before and flies from that which before he did pursue He sees his folly as well as his misery and leaves his sin not only because God is just and will severely punish the wicked but because he is good and holy and cannot endure to behold iniquity He abstains from his sin not only because it is forbidden fruit but because it is contrary to his nature He that is not in the state of Grace may abstain from his sin as a sick man does from salt meats which yet he greatly loves because his Physician and his interest severely forbid him But
Souls then we must not only find out our sin but we must put it away also and before we presume to eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup we must find in our Souls such a repentance as is never to be repented of CHAP. VII BUT as we must come to this Sacrament with a sincere and hearty Repentance for our past sins so we must also come with full purposes and resolutions of Amendment of Life for the time to come Now because our Resolution like our Repentance is many times weak and insignificant it will therefore well become us to examine these purposes and resolutions of newness of life which we so frequently pretend when we make our approaches to this holy Table For it is very evident that there are very many men that give good words and make fair promises of Amendment of Life upon the bed of sickness or at the approach of this Sacrament who yet are so far from making their words good that they do sometimes run into a greater excess of folly and wickedness than they were guilty of before We shall therefore do well to try our purposes and resolutions and narrowly to examine them whether they be such as are like to hold or not and to that purpose we may consider the following Severals 1. We have little reason to give credit to rash and sudden purposes of Amendment of Life The sinner does now and then resolve vehemently against his sin but it is when he hath newly surfeited upon his folly and defiled himself with his sin then indeed he is sick of it for a while and resolves to lay it aside Or perhaps some great and amazing affliction falls upon him and this brings his sin to remembrance and he suddenly resolves he will put away his sin and lead a new life but when this tempest of sorrow is over and his appetite returns anew upon him he does easily embrace his folly again and is as much the child of Satan as he was before Such a man is troubled at the mischief which his folly hath betray'd him to and is sick of his sin for a while because he hath tasted of the bitterness which did attend it But when he hath forgotten the trouble and the pain his sin hath put him to then he returns to it again There are those in the world that do frequently resolve against their sins and yet do as constantly commit those very sins which they so passionately resolve against and that because it was not their sins which gave them so much trouble but the evil effects and consequents which did follow upon them For when their sin courts them and smiles upon them when it follows them officiously and pleads for a reconcilement they readily yield themselves up to their slavery again 2. We have little reason to trust to that resolution which we have formerly found so very ineffectual If we find that we have often resolved as much as now we do against our sins and yet that for all that when the solemnity hath been over we have forfeited our good promises we have very little reason to trust our selves That man who hath been often a partaker of this Sacrament and hath as often made his resolves to become better and as often broken them hath no reason to believe himself nor to communicate again till he find a change in himself For it is to be suspected that such a man's resolutions of Amendment are but formal and of course and that he is only over-awed with the greatness of the approaching Solemnity and not truly out of love with his sins which he pretends at this time a defiance to The best evidence of the sincerity of our Resolutions is this that we do as we have resolved Unless we do this there can be nothing more insignificant than our Resolutions are And sure it is in every thing else we judge thus Not he that resolves but he that fights couragiously gets the victory Our resolving does not alone set forward any work 't is the putting our Resolutions into practice which does avail us 3. He that resolves as he ought to do must resolve not only upon the end but also upon the means which lead to it We are forward to resolve for Heaven at large but consider not of the way and means which will bring us thither We are generally willing to be happy but yet we do readily excuse our selves from the difficulties and severities of an holy life He that resolves to be temperate must also resolve to avoid his evil Company that drew him to that excess to pass by the door where he is wont to be drawn in He that resolves to be chast must also resolve to decline the house of a whorish Woman and to set a watch upon himself that he be not ensnared with her enticements He that resolves against his sin must resolve also against every thing which leads him to it and he will shew himself sincere in his Resolutions by his use of such means as would gain his end There is nothing more ridiculous than our Resolution if we resolve upon the end and not upon the means also which lead unto it We think so in other things we do not think we shall ever be rich by a resolving only to be so We must be provident and frugal as well as resolute before we can attain our end 'T is not Resolution makes a man learned unless he add endeavours to his Resolution We may resolve what we will but we shall be never the nearer to our end unless we use the means as well as resolve upon the end We never heard of any man that gained his end by resolving upon it unless he used means for the accomplishing his intention Resolution does us no good when it is alone It sets us forward greatly when we use proper means but unless we do that we are not at all advanced by it 4. He that resolves as he should do places before his eyes the difficulties and inconveniences which he is like to meet with in his way Like a wise builder he does forecast his charge before he begin his work or like a prudent Commander he does well consider his number and strength before he fall upon the army of his adversaries Luk. 14.28 He that resolves to part with his sin must resolve to be for ever deaf to its allurements for the time to come to subdue all his affections to it to bid it an eternal farewell And he may do well to think before-hand what difficulties and labours this will expose him to He will do well to think that he cannot do it unless he be always upon his watch and denying the cravings of the sensual life He must be content to cross his own impetuous desires to displease his companions and familiars to be houted and laughed at as fool and coward He must resolve to persevere in an holy life although he displease his greatest friends although
his lusts he that despises riches and conquers himself does works as pleasing to God and as profitable to himself as he that removed Mountains and cast them into the Sea Nay such works as these are better for us and more acceptable to God than the power of doing the greatest Miracles He that lives well does more than he that wrought Miracles It was not the power of doing Wonders that made men Christians Their Christianity did consist in the obedience of there lives He that obeys the Gospel and our Faith teacheth us to do so receives the grace mercy which it offers If we could do wonders and yet remained void of the love and image of God we would not be in the state of Salvation The lives of the Apostles made them dear to God and not their miracles And St. Luke when he writes the story of what the Apostles did does not give his Book the title of the Miracles of the Apostles but the Acts or Practices of the Apostles is the title which it bears Our Saviour bids the Disciples not to rejoyce that the spirits are subject to them but rather says he rejoyce because your names are written in Heaven Luk. 10.20 Our obedience does intitle us to Gods favour but so does not our power to do wonderful works If we work iniquity it is not the gift of working Miracles that shall stand us in stead Many says Christ will say to me in that day Lord Lord have not we prophesied in thy name And in thy name have cast out Devils And in thy name done many wonderful works And then will I profess unto them I never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity Matth. 7.22 23. That Faith which wrought Miracles endured but for a time but the Faith which works righteousness is to abide for ever If our Faith cleanse and purifie our hearts we shall not need be troubled that it does not remove Mountains If we be condemned at that great day it shall not be because we did not work Miracles but because we did not feed the hungred and cloth the naked c. Matth. 25. Jam. 2.15 16. 'T is our sincere obedience to the Gospel which God requires and will reward hereafter We must shew our Faith by our works as Abraham did or else we shall have no reason to judge Faith saving If it be such a Faith as cleanseth our hearts if it enable us to forgive our enemies if it help us to overcome the World if it make us strong against Temptations patient under Afflictions constant under Trials and careful to obey God then it is such a Faith as God requires of us But if on the other hand it be but a lazy belief of the truth of the Gospel and a confident expectation however of grace and pardon it is not such a Faith that will save our Souls And let us never so much vaunt our selves that we magnifie the free Grace of God when we profess a recumbency upon Christ and a resting upon him for Salvation yet if we remain idle and disobedient this Faith will not avail us He does savingly believe that does assent to the truth of what God hath revealed and is so far in love with it also that he does sincerely and heartily give himself up to the obedience of it And he that does this as he ought is so far from depressing the freeness of Gods Grace and exalting himself that when he hath done all that he can and which is commanded he can say from the bottom of his heart that he is an unprofitable Servant and hath done that which was his duty to do Luk. 17.10 CHAP. IX BUT as we must examine our Faith towards God so we must try our love towards one another For the Eucharist is a feast of love and a Sacrament of Charity And was not only designed for our renewing our most solemn Covenant with God but also for the maintaining a fervent Charity with one another as hath been shewed before Now as we are too forward to profess a Faith which we have not so it is to be feared we do commonly profess a Charity when we are devoid of it And therefore it will very highly concern us to enquire diligently whether or no we have a fervent Charity and Love to one another For the Holy Scriptures commend to us a Love without dissimulation Rom. 12.9 a Love that is fervent and with a pure heart 1 Pet. 1.22 A Love which does not lie in Word and in Tongue but in Deed and in Truth 1 Joh. 3.18 Now though we do make pretences of Love to one another yet it is much to be feared that we do frequently but pretend it and that under this great pretence of kindness there does frequently lurk a secret root of bitterness Now notwithstanding Charity be a most extensive Grace yet I shall consider it at this time as it does import these two things First a readiness to do our Neighbour good Secondly to forgive evil For where there is a true Love we shall be ready to give and forgive to do all the good we can and forgive all the evil which is done against us These two will make our love to one another like the love of God to us who does not only forgive our offences but does also load us daily with his benefits First we shall be ready to do our Neighbour all the good we can if we do love him as we should And if we would make a right judgment of the sincerity of this love which we bear our Neighbour we must judge of it by that love which we bear our selves for we are strictly obliged to Love our Neighbour as we love our selves Mat. 22.39 Now before we can be said to do this we must 1. Wish our Neighbour the same good which we wish to our selves We must have the same sincere affection to our Neighbour which we have to our selves This must be the standard by which we are to measure our love And as it is very easie to discern that we do very sincerely wish well to our selves so must we do by our Neighbour also before we can be said to love him as we love our selves And this must be understood in the greatest latitude Certain it is that we wish well in the general to our own souls to our Bodies our Credit and Estate though we many times use not the means which tend to their welfare we must do thus as sincerely by our Neighbour also And 2. We must in all our actions do by him as we in the like case should or may reasonably desire that he should do by us This we must inviolably observe before we can be said to love our Neighbour as we do love our selves And it is a very plain case that we would not that our Neighbour should invade our just rights and therefore if we love him as we love our selves we shall be as careful not to invade his If
his sorrowes He did not dye for sins that we might live in them but that we might dye to them His Death is a very forcible argument against the life of our lusts and a great motive to obedience We little regard our dying Lord if we at once remember his Death and break his Lawes 2. Again our Lord at his Death gave us a very great example of forgiveness of enemies and therefore when we remember his death we have very great reason to forgive our offending brother Our blessed Lord met with great enemies and such as had the greatest reason to be his friends He that eat of his bread lift up his heel against him He was betrayed by his own Disciple delivered to death by him that pronounced him innocent scourged and mocked by a rude and heady multitude He is numbred among Transgressors who had committed no sin He was hanged on the Tree who had never tasted the forbidden Fruit. He was put to death by those whom he came to seek and to save He had done them many kindnesses whilst he was among them He healed their sick fed their hungry restored their blind dispossessed their Daemoniacks and raised their dead He offended none of their Laws He paid Caesar his Tribute took care the Priest should have his Offering observed their customs went to their Festivals and was so far from profaning their Temple that he shewed a great zeal for defending it from common uses There could be nothing said against his Doctrine nothing against his Life His enemies that bare witness against him could not agree and it was infinitely plain that he was innocent And yet his Countrymen thirst after his blood and prefer a Murderer before him They want patience when our Lord wanted none They cry out Crucifie him crucifie him And what does our Lord do he cryes out too but not for Vengeance but for Mercy Father forgive them for they know not what they do Luk. 23.34 Certainly then we should be ashamed to remember these things with malice in our hearts well may we forgive our enemies when our Lord hath forgiven his We must not dare to remember the Death of Christ and to remember our Neighbours unkindness together We may not think of revenge when our Lord shewed so much mercy We cannot rightly remember Christs Death when we do not imitate his example He taught us what we should do by what he did himself We shall look very unlike our Lord if we retain our malice and ill-will 3. If we consider that Christs Death was not only for sins but also for our sins we shall still find a greater obligation upon us to forgive one another God gave his Son to dye than which there cannot be a greater miracle of Love and if God so loved us we also ought to love one another 1 Joh. 4.11 It was for us our Saviour laid down his life and who are we Had we deserved this love were we his friends that he was at this pains and cost No surely but we were sinners and enemies and yet he laid down his life for us Rom. 5.8 10. If then Christ dyed for his enemies we ought to forgive ours and then especially we are obliged to do it when we pretend to remember the Death of Christ How can we now pull our brother by the throat for a few pence when our Lord hath forgiven us so many Talents We are very ungrateful for our Lords kindness if we are unkind to one another Did we but consider Gods mercies to us we should think our selves obliged to be merciful to one another And methinks it should be easie for us to forgive our Neighbour if we did but consider how very much we need Gods forgiveness and how far we are from deserving it If our Lords eye have been so good to us why should ours be evil to one another what miserable wretches should we be if Gods mercies to us had not been greater than ours is to one another He hath forgiven us our great scores let us not retain then our grudges to our brother For shame then let us purge out this leaven of malice when we keep this Feast Let us shew our selves kind to each other when we do remember the kindness of our Blessed Saviour Besides our brothers offences against us are small in respect to ours against God We offend against an infinite Majesty we transgress the Eternal Laws of Reason How coldly do we pray to him for the greatest Blessings How insensible are we of his many mercies How very stupid and incorrigible under his severest judgments How void of the love of him who hath loved us so much If he should mark iniquities how should we be able to stand We are not able to answer for one of a thousand But yet we hope for Mercy upon our Repentance and our Faith We expect pardon from God for all these amisses And had we not this hope we should be of all men the most miserable We have then very great reason to be reconciled to our brother when we stand in so great need that God should be reconciled unto us and when we hope for the pardon of our sins from God which we do from Christs death and at this time when we do commemorate it we have a sufficient motive to forgive our brother Especially our Saviour having said If you forgive men their trespasses your Heavenly Father will aso forgive you But if ye forgive not men their Trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespasses Mat. 6.14 15. 2. Another great end of this Sacrament is that Christians may be knit together in the strictest bond of Love and Charity It is as I shewed you before a Feast of Love It was designed to bring us together and to make us all of one heart And a very effectual instrument it is were it rightly understood and used to that end and purpose It would soon make us one again It would bring together those who now are separated from one another When Communions were frequent in the Church Christians loved one another and kept together But when they became more seldom selemnized then the feuds among the professors of Christianity grew also For indeed this Sacrament was intended to maintain us in Love and Charity And therefore if we do not heartily forgive our brother we do destroy also this end of its Institution It is very indecent to see men at odds that eat and drink at the same common Table But it is a great wickedness to come to this Holy Table with malice and ill-will to our brother in our hearts We must not keep this feast of love with the leaven of malice VVe cannot partake of this Sacrament but we must profess a kindness to our brother and if we mean it not we are like Judas that gave his Master good words when he was ready to betray him and shall be miserable as he was into whom the Devil and the morsel entered at
our offences if we do not from our hearts forgive our brother his Our hearts must be perfectly cleared of all the leaven of malice before we can as we ought keep this Feast CHAP. XII I Come now to shew how we must behave our selves after we have been partakers of this Table of our Lord. And that I shall do in the following Severals 1. Let us out of gratitude for so great a favour from Gods hands shew mercy to the poor This the Jews did upon a festival Jom Toff c. 1 and they give particular rules about it It well becomes us when God hath vouchsafed to entertain us at his Table to entertain the poor at ours We can make no amends to God for his mercy to us but yet we may shew our gratitude by shewing mercy to our poor brethren who bear his image God hath substituted them to receive our grateful acknowledgements This we shall cheerfully do if we have upon our minds a lively sense of the mercies of God to us and of our unworthiness of the least of them We read to this purpose what the first Christians did That they brake their bread i. e. received the Lords Supper from house to house and did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart or liberality praising God and having favour with all the people 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vid. Dr. Hammond in loc or as it hath been thought those words do import exercising mercy and shewing kindness to those that wanted We shall do well to imitate this example and when God shews us so much mercy let us not be without compassion to one another For verily if our hearts be hardened against our poor brother we have great reason to think our selves void of the love of God 2. Let us use an after examination Let us presently reflect and consider what was amiss in us when we were waiting upon our Lord and humble our selves for it forthwith Otherwise it is to be feared we shall soon relapse to our wonts and be so far from being better that we shall be much worse If we do not rebuke our selves quickly we shall soon return to our vain Conversation again 3. Let us by all means sequester our selves from our worldly divertisements and concerns and employ our time in prayer and praises It is very advisable that we should be alone that we should for some time separate our selves from our worldly employments and spend our time in our private devotions Our Saviour after he had kept this Supper with his Disciples and sung an Hymn or Psalm of Praise after it with-draws from his Disciples and betakes himself to prayer unto God And this he does three several times The world will be very ready to thrust in upon us and to make us forget our vows and good resolutions we shall be in great danger if we be not very cautelous And therefore we must pertinaciously resolve to watch over our hearts and when our Souls are clean we must be greatly careful that we be not defiled again We must do here as Physicians advise us to do when we use their prescriptions we must also take care that we use them cum regimine we must not take cold nor commit any other error which will make their rules become ineffectual When our house is swept and garnished we must take care that an unclean Spirit do not re-enter lest our latter end be worse than our be ginning 4. Let us be very careful that we do not relapse and fall back into an evil course of life Certain it is that it stands us in hand to use our utmost care to this purpose We must do as the Spouse did when she had found him whom her Soul loved she held him and would not let him go Cant. 3.4 We must not only receive our Lord Jesus but we must also walk in him We must for the time to come devote our selves to the service of our Lord. We must set our selves upon the obedience of all his precepts and upon the mortifying all our evil and corrupt affections We must inure our selves to the works of Religion and the labours of a pious life We must use our selves to bear the Cross to forgive injuries to bridle our anger to cross our carnal desires and appetites and contradict the cravings of the Animal life If we presently return to our sins again we shew that we have but played the part of hypocrites and dissemblers and shall pay dear for our hypocrisie Our condition will be very sad if we now return to our vomit Let us therefore renew our purposes of a new life and be greatly careful that we return no more to folly We may reason thus with our selves when we are retired into our Closets I have now once more renewed my Covenant with God I have promised him solemnly that I will be his servant I have to bind my self the faster taken the body and blood of my Lord. I am now fast bound to be constant and faithful to him Sure I am that God with whom I have had to do is a God that will not be mocked I may deceive others him I cannot deceive What a wretched creature shall I be if I should now prove false What cords will hold me if I break this How can I think that God will ever trust me or how can I ever trust my self if I now relapse The blood of Christ will call for vengeance against me if I now run on in my former courses My sins were great before but now they will be aggravated Wo is me if I now run on in my excess of folly Shall I suffer any corrupt speech to proceed out of that mouth which hath received my Lord Shall I abuse my body to intemperance which my Lord hath entered into How shall I ever look my Lord in the face if I should now betray him or deny him Good God look upon thy servant and whatever plagues I meet with in this world suffer me not to forsake thee Have pity upon me O God and let me not start aside from thy precepts Let me die rather than I should deny thee Suffer me not so far to dishonour thy name and wrong my own Soul Let thy grace be sufficient for me do thou give me power that I may keep thy statutes at all times Thus may we reason with our selves when we come to our Closets after we have received the Body and Blood of our Lord. And we shall find it very needful to awaken our selves to a new obedience as we would avoid the greatest indignation of Heaven For certain it is if we willfully return to our follies again we shall bring great wrath upon our selves And though perhaps we may not be punished with sickness and sudden death as the Corinthians were for the abuse of this Sacrament 1 Cor. 11.30 yet are there more dismal plagues than these which will overtake us such are hardness of heart blindness of mind
that he refused to wash and be clean according to the advice which the man of God gave him And his servants spake wisely to him when they said My father if the Prophet had bid thee do some great thing wouldest thou not have done it How much rather then when he saith to thee wash and be clean 2 King 5.13 If there be any thing hard and difficult which our Saviour hath commanded for he tells us that his yoke is easie and his burden is light yet sure I am this is not So far is it from being impossible that it is indeed not difficult to him that is a sincere and diligent Disciple of our Lord and Saviour What hath been said makes it evident that that worthiness which is required in the Communicant does not imply merit or desert but only such a fitness and sincere and holy disposition of Soul as God does require and will accept And we may be worthy partakers of this Table when we are very sensible of our own demerits And indeed to think meanly of our selves does very much dispose us to receive the benefits of this Sacrament And therefore when we say we are not worthy and make this excuse our meaning must be that we are not fit and prepared for this Holy Table Now if this be all we have to say that we are not fit and prepared and therefore we do not approach to this Table we shall find that this is no just excuse For if it were we might with the same case excuse our selves from the practice of the other Laws of Christ Whereas we are commanded to give to the poor we might by the same reason excuse our obedience and say that we cannot do that because we are not charitable and besides that we cannot give alms as we ought because we are proud and love to be seen of men and to receive their praise and therefore rather than do it amiss we will not do it all Thus may we excuse our selves from works of mercy from acts of piety and the services of Religion We may by this method excuse our selves from serving God and doing good to our Neighbour We are not willing our servants should do by us as we do by God We expect they should do as we bid them nor shall it serve their turns to say that they are not disposed to do what we command We justly look that they be ready to obey us and that they do not indulge themselves in their sloth and contumacy We may be ashamed to serve God at that rate which we should not accept from our servants The Jew might easily have avoided the Passover if this slender excuse would have served his turn But God commands him to keep it and he must take care to do it as he ought If he fail in either of them he is liable to be cut off from among his people There was no such excuse to be admitted Again when you say you are not fit let me ask you whether or no you have done all you possibly can to fit your selves I wish you would put this question home to your Consciences and deal sincerely in it Have you laboured greatly to fit your selves have you to that purpose set aside some time in order to the examining of your Consciences Have you earnestly prayed to God for his aid and assistance Have you done it frequently Have you advised with your spiritual guides about this weighty matter Have you used as great a care as men are wont to use in clearing their title to their Estates and worldly Possessions Do you do as much for your Souls as you do for your Bodies and Estates You are not fit to receive the Sacrament you say but have you laboured greatly that you might be fit Have you done all you can possibly do And after all this is it the grief of your heart that you are not fit and do you continue to labour that ye may Consider whether it be thus or no with you Do not dare to mock God nor think that you shall be able to deceive him Have a care how you dissemble with the God of Heaven and Earth If you are not fit nor yet striving to become so you are indeed in a very miserable condition He that commands you to partake of this Table commands you to be fit to do it also We are not only required to eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup but in order to that to examine our selves If we neglect to fit our selves that will not excuse us from neglecting the receiving of this Sacrament unless we think one fault will excuse another Again we shall do well to consider what it is that renders us unfit Have we not some secret sin which we are not willing to part with We know the danger to be great if we bring with us a love to our sins then indeed we eat and drink our own Death Let us then cast our eyes inward and see what that sin is which we are so fond of I doubt not but men may many times easily find where the true reason lies which renders them unfit Perhaps we are not willing to forgive our Enemy or else we are not ready to make restitution to our neighbour whom we have injured or we live a prophane and ungodly life and are not reconciled to the ways of piety and holiness It may be that we are not willing to part with our sensual and worldly lusts and we are afraid of being too severely and strictly bound up to a life of Religion and Mortification This is much to be suspected for certainly if we loved our Religion and hated our sins we should be very glad of any opportunity that would engage us more strictly to do well and to depart from evil Sure I am that to him that is truly good and labours sincerely to be better the tydings of this Sacrament is welcome news He does gladly embrace this blessed opportunity of becoming good For the truth of what I say I dare appeal to the Conscience of devout and religious persons And therefore it is much to be feared that the cause which makes us unfit is this because we love our sins more than we love our God And if it be thus I would wish such people to consider How unfit they are to dye For in this case that which makes them unfit to receive this Sacrament renders them unfit to dye also Now his condition is very dismally dangerous who dares to live in that state of things in which he would be afraid to dye We may indeed refuse to Communicate when we have an opportunity offered us but we shall not be able to put by the stroke of death When God calls us out of this World and how soon we may be called we cannot tell we must go not only whether we be willing but also whether we be fit to go out or not we shall not find that any of our excuses will be
love When the Passe-over was commanded among the Jews they were most severely commanded to put away leaven when they kept that Feast when we keep this Feast we must be sure to lay aside all malice and hatred to that sense the Apostle expounds that passage to us Purge out therefore the old leaven that ye may be a new lump as ye are unleavened for even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us Therefore let us keep the feast not with old leaven neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth 1 Cor. 5.7 8. He that bears malice in his heart must stand away and not partake of these holy mysteries Such a man will not be welcome to this Table of the Lord. If we like Cain hate our brother God will have no respect unto our offering Gen. 4.5 God is pleased to see us at unity with one another and till then our sacrifice is an abomination unto the Lord. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the Altar and there remembrest that thy brother hath ought against thee leave there thy gift before the Altar and go thy way first be reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift Matth. 5.23 24. God is willing to stay for his offering till we are reconciled to one another And as we ought alwayes to have our hearts clear from the malice and bitterness which we are too apt to bear against our brother so especially when we keep this Feast we ought to see to it that we be purged from the leaven For we do now keep in memory the death of Christ And certainly Christ in his death gave a great proof of his love to Mankind and a great example also of forgiveness of enemies And methinks we should be ashamed to remember the death of Christ who died for sinners and prayed for his enemies when we retain our hatred and ill-will against our brother For if we did but rightly consider it we shall find the death of Christ a very effectual means to destroy out of our hearts all malice and ill-will and hatred to one another Well may we forgive one another when Christ forgave his greatest enemies and prayed for his Crucifiers Father for give them for they know not what they do We may well contain our selves and be quiet when we are reproached and falsly accused when our Saviour Who did no sin neither was guile found in his mouth yet when he was reviled reviled not again when he suffered he threatned not but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously 1 Pet. 2.22 23. Methinks when Christ hath shewn such a love to us it should be no hard matter for us to love one another When Christ hath paid so great a debt for us we should not readily pull our brother by the throat for every trespass If we did but reflect upon the death of Christ as we ought to do it would kill and destroy that malice and hatred which lodges in our hearts We should not find it so hard a matter to forgive our enemy to do good against evil and to pray for our persecuters and slanderers if we did as we ought to do keep in mind the death of our dear Lord and Saviour But then they that eat of the same bread and drink of the same cup that partake together at the Table of their Lord must needs think themselves obliged to love one another For if eating and drinking together have been thought an argument of kindness and friendship certainly then the partaking together of these divine mysteries must needs call for the sincerest amity and the most fervent charity amongst those that do partake Those that seed at the same Table that retain to the same Lord that wear the same badg and livery that shews to whom they do belong and live by the same Laws and must therefore hope for the same reward these men sure must needs think themselves obliged to love one another Their partaking together of these mysteries is a sure pledge of that mutual kindness which is between them When the Psalmist would describe the greatest profession of friendship and intimacy between himself and his professed friends he does it in these words We took sweet counsel together and walked unto the house of God in Company Psal 55.14 We profess our selves Children of the same houshold and family when we do partake together of this holy Feast We declare that we are members of the same body when we eat of the same Bread and drink of the same Cup which is that provision that heavenly aliment which our Lord hath provided for his Church And therefore we ought to be concerned for one another as members of the same body are We ought to care for the good and benefit each of other and to shew by our lives and actions that we do believe these things to be true We ought indeed to be in perfect charity with all men as we have opportunity to do good unto all men too but more especially are we obliged to do good unto the houshold of Faith The ancient Christians surely understood this very well They shewed a great kindness to those who did communicate with them When they received this holy Sacrament they saluted one another with an holy kiss in token of that mutual love and kindness that was betwixt them And as they had their kiss of love so after the Celebration of this Sacrament they had their feast of love where they did eat together in common in testimony of the mutual kindness which was between them And again they had their labour of love also i. e. They made collections for those that were poor among them or in distress they were not only at peace with one another but they had also a very great compassion for all those that were afflicted But alass we are not what they were that which was to them the bond of unity and love we have made a bone of contention and quarrel We dispute now we do not live we are full of questions and void of charity We are not willing to be so good as those Primitive Christians though we desire to seem as wise as they We are greatly declined from that love and unity that then obtained And we are not willing to be restored to that zeal and fervour which was to be seen in them And now we are run into two great extreams for either we receive this Sacrament with the leaven of malice in our hearts and when we are unprepared for it and then this holy Table becomes our snare Or else we will not receive it at all lest we should be obliged severely to be that which we are not willing to become IV. Another great end of this Sacrament is that we might have a full assurance of Gods readiness to bestow upon us a pardon of our sins and the great mercies of the Gospel which God hath declared himself ready to