Eating and Drinking not being to satisfie Hunger but for Sacred Ends 't is fit we come to it with a suitable and a Sacred Carriage and in that consists the Worthiness of the Usage Were it onely a Feast on Common Food we should behave our selves worthily at it by thanking God for it and being Temperate But being a Feast wherein Religion is concerned and whereat we are to remember the Death of our Lord and to Seal the New Covenant with God and a League of Love with all the Christian World to the doing this worthily and as 't is fit we should there is more required For we deal very unworthily in remembring the Death of our Lord if we are not thankful for it and in ratifying the New Covenant with God if we are not sincere in it and in promising Love to all the Christian World if we are in enmity and hatred These Religious Ends must be answered with a Religious Temper and a Devout Carriage and then they are treated as they ought and as their Worth requires This is signified by several Copies which in 1 Cor. 11.27 read not barely Whosoever shall eat this Bread and drink this Cup OF THE LORD VNWORTHILY but whosoever shall eat this Bread and drink this Cup of the Lord VNWORTHILY OF THE LORD i. e. in a way unworthy of him which clearly shews the Unworthiness to consist in the want of those Tempers wherewith 't is sit our Blessed Lord who is commemorated in it should be treated And this the Apostle plainly intimates when he places the unworthiness of Eating in not Discerning or rather Discriminating the Lords Body and putting a difference between it and Common Food by a different Carriage and Behaviour at it He that eats and drinks unworthily says he eats and drinks Damnation to himself for such unworthy usage which lies in his not discerning or rather not discriminating the Lords Body 1 Cor. 11.29 Thus doth a worthy Eating of the Sacrament consist in answering its Sacred Ends with Sacred and suitable Carriage and Dispositions And therefore that we may see what Behaviour is worthy of it 't is fit we run over those several Ends and inquire what Tempers every one of them requires of us Those Ends are Three 1 st To Remember Christ our Blessed Lord and Saviour and particularly his Dying for us which call for Love Joy Gratitude Obedient Resolutions and such like Tempers 2 ly To Confirm the New Covenant with Almighty God which is not worthily done by us unless we come to it in Sincerity and Faithfulness and with full Purpose and Performance of that Repentance and Obedience which we profess and promise 3 ly To Confirm a League of Love and Friendship with all our Brethren and Fellow-Christians which requires that we lay aside all Envy Hatred and Malicious Thoughts and come to it in Peace and Forgiveness of all that have any ways offended us If we Believe all these things which Christ our Great Prophet has revealed to us and our Faith shews it self in these Tempers and carries us on to these Performances we are Worthy Communicants and have that Faith which will render us welcom Guests at the Lords Table and acceptable to him at all other times 1 st One End of our Eating Bread and Drinking Wine at the Lords Supper is to remember Christ not onely as our Prophet and Teacher which I do not make a Distinct Head now because the Belief required to that is exercised thro' the whole Action and falls in at all the other but as our Blessed Lord Saviour and Benefactor and above all his Benefits particularly to remember his Dying for us and this to do it worthily calls for Love Joy Gratitude Resolutions of Obedience and other such like Tempers The Remembrance of any thing absent and long since past brings it back into our Minds and gives a sort of Presence to it And therefore when things are brought to our Remembrance they should work upon us and affect us as if they were before us When we remember our Saviour Christ then we must bear the same Mind towards him as we should if we saw him and were conversing with him and that will consist in these Things that follow We must Honour him and resolve to Obey him as he is our Lord and Master and Love him and Delight in him and give Thanks to him as he is our Friend and Benefactor and be humbled under the sense of our own Vnworthiness and abhor our own Sins as they brought him to bleed and die for us and resign up our selves both Souls and Bodies to his Vse as we are bought with his Blood and are thereby become his own Purchase 1 st In Eating and Drinking in the Lords Supper we are to remember Christ as our Lord and Master and to do that worthily we must remember him with Honour and Reverence and with mindfulness of his Commands and Resolutions of Obedience which are Duties we owe and should pay to him were he present with us 1 st We ought to remember him our Lord and Master with Honour and Reverence These Tempers Lordship and Authority always call for whensoever they are lodged in any Persons A Son honoureth his Father saith God and a Servant his Master if then I be a Father where is mine Honour and if I be a Master where is my Fear Mal. 1.6 Honour the King says St. Peter and Servants be subject to your Masters with all fear 1 Pet. 2.17 18. And Render to all their Dues says St. Paul as Fear or Reverence to whom Fear Honour to whom Honour is due Rom. 13.7 But when this Authority is in the most absolute and full Degrees and is joyned with the highest Excellencies and tempered with the most Endearments and guided by the most surpassing Goodness as it is in Christ Jesus it calls for them most especially For he is every way wonderfully accomplished and has all those Endowments in their greatest Perfection which of right can challenge or are fit to excite them For he is boundless in knowledge he understands all things and infinitely wise in Counsel able to suit Means to every End and bring about every Purpose and surpassing in Might so that he may do what he pleases and holy in all his ways and faithful in all his Promises and just and equitable in all his Dealings and Glorious in his Divine Essence being the very Brightness of his Fathers Glory and the express Image of his Person and Supereminent in Power having all Authority in Heaven Earth put into his hands and yet in the midst of all these Excellencies and the height of all this Greatness which are apt to puff us up with Pride and Contempt of others he is unspeakable in Love and wonderful in Condescensions vouchsafing to leave Heaven where he was Equal to God and be made in fashion of a mean Man for our sakes and unwearied in
doing Services and most prodigiousâ—y free in Bounty and Kindness giving his own Hearts Blood to purchase Heaven and Eternal Life for us for all which Height of Excellencies and Plenitude of Power and Depth of Love he is most profoundly Reverenced and dearly Prized and highly Exalted by Glorified Saints and the pure and immortal Angels All these adorable Excellencies are in their utmost Perfection in our Lord and Master Christ Jesus and their Merit calls for all the Honour and Reverence which he can possibly receive from us And this accordingly God has expresly required of us He hath committed all Judgment to the Son that all should honour the Son even as they honour the Father Joh. 5.22 23 and highly exalting him hath given him a Name above every Name that at the Name of Jesus every Knee should bow of things in Heaven and of things in Earth Phil. 2.9 10. He incomparably deserves our utmost Worship and Reverence and has a most absolute Claim to them so that we must needs treat him with the most submissive and respectful Carriage and should deal most unworthily by him and do what utterly misbecomes us if we should do otherwise Thus must we Remember our Lord and Master Jesus Christ with Honour and Veneration if we would do it in such sort as is worthy of him Nay we must not onely Honour and Reverence him our selves but if we would deal worthily by him seek to make him Honourable and promote his Honour among others We must be ready always to plead his Cause and to vindicate his Precepts and to side with his Servants and express a just Distaste against those who transgress his Commands themselves and much more against those who set up for the Party of Disobedience and seek to draw in others who prophane his Ordinances or lightly and irreverently use his Name or any ways vilifie any Person or Thing which he ought to be Glorified and Honoured in And this we shall be sure to do if we have any high Esteem and Zeal of Love and affectionate Concern for him For when these are strong in them every Servant will perform this Office to his Master and every Man to his Friend they will not sit still and tamely hear his Name abused or see his Commands sleighted his Interest opposed his Children or Dependents injured his Appointments disparaged or his Person any way traduced or disgraced without expressing a Discreet and well-tempered Zeal in his Cause and concerning themselves in a sober and just Vindication This I say they ordinarily will do as I am sure they always ought to do when they have an high Esteem for any Man And if thro' lowness of Spirit or Cowardise of Temper they draw back from the Trouble or Hazard they are like to run in his Vindication they are very much wanting to their Friend or Lord and deal unworthily by him So that if we would deal worthily by our Friend and Master Jesus Christ we must neither dishonour him our selves nor if we can help it at least not without expressing our dislike of it suffer it to be done by others And therefore to make this Sacramental Remembrance worthy of him it must not onely be in shewing Honour and Reverence to him our selves but in a readiness to maintain his Honour and promote his Interest among others also 2 ly We must Remember Christ our Lord and Master with mindfulness of his Commands and Resolutions of Obedience This is another Temper which Lordship and Authority over us callâ— for For the most proper Duty of Subjects towards their Sovereigns and of Servants towards their Masters is Obedience or a Carefulness to perform whatsoever they injoyn and require of them Put them in mind says the Apostle to be subject to Principalities and Powers and to obey Magistrates Tit. 3.1 And Servants obey your Masters in all things not with eye-service but in singleness of heart fearing God Col. 3.22 And Why call ye me Lord Lord says our Saviour and do not the things which I say Luc. 6.46 Thus is Obedience the great Duty which we owe to all Masters and Governours that have Authority over us We must neither forget the Commands they have left with us nor knowingly transgress them but carefully call them into our Minds and conscientiously practise them when we do And this we are then especially bound to if they are not onely our Masters but our Dearest Friends and Noblest Benefactors also For these are Names that add new Bonds and higher Obligations which will have a great force so long as there is any thing of Ingenuity left in us And therefore since our Blessed Master Jesus is not onely our Rightful Lord and Governour but withal our most surpassing kind Friend and Benefactor we ought in all Duty and Gratitude to be mindful of what he desires and to do any thing that he would have us and we deal most undutifully and unworthily by him if we do otherwise So that this also is another Instance of the Worthiness of this Remembrance to be mindful of the Laws which he has given us and to think of them with a Readiness and firm Resolution to obey These are the things then which must render our Remembrance worthy of him under this Relation When we Eat and Drink in Commemoration of Christ our Lord and King we must Honour and Reverence him our selves and be concerned to maintain his Honour and promote his Interests among others and be mindful of the Commands he has left with us and ready and resolved to obey them 2 ly In Eating Bread and Drinking Wine at the Lords Supper we are to remember Christ as our most kind Friend and Benefactor and to do this worthily we must remember him with Love of him and Delight in him and grateful Resentments and hearty Thanks for all the Kindnesses which we have received from him 1 st We must remember him our most kind Friend and Benefactor with Love and an hearty Affection for him This is due to him as he is our Gracious Lord and indeed in every Relation that he stands in since in all he is most wonderfully winning and obliging For even there he seeks our own Good in every thing he commands us and treats us with much gentleness and encourages every thing that is well in us and pities our unavoidable Infirmities and bears our many and high Provocations with invincible Patience and sends Messengers of Peace to entreat and sue for a Reconciliation with us upon any Difference tho 't is not his Interest but ours and tho' not he but we are the Offenders and when he is forced to punish doth it always with the greatest reluctance but when he can take an occasion to reward doth that with the greatest Joy and Chearfulness all which are strangely ingaging and must needs constrain all ingenuous Tempers to be heartily in Love with him But our Love is due to him more especially as he is our most kind Friend
Duty is requir'd in us at this Feast but if our Hearts go along with it it puts in act and makes a place for it It exercises our humble sense of our own unworthiness in the Prayer before Consecration in these words We do not presume to come to this thy Table O merciful Lord trusting in our own Righteousness but in thy manifold and great Mercies We are not worthy so much as to gather up the Crumbs under thy Table And so again in the Prayer after receiving in these Though we be unworthy through our manifold sins to offer up unto thee any Sacrifice yet humbly we beseech thee accept this our bounden Duty and Service not weighing our Merits but pardoning our Offences through Jesus Christ our Lord. It exercises our hatred and abhorrence of our Sins which caused Christs Sufferings in the Confession of Repentance in these The remembrance of our mis-doings is grievous unto us the burden of them is intolerable And it exercises our Love and Reverence and Honour to Christ either in words that express it or in things that imply it being real proofs and effects of it in every thing that is done through the whole Service If every Receiver therefore that has these Tempers doth but go along heartily and affectionately with the Churches Prayers and joyn with the Minister and the Congregation in the Communion Service he acts them over as he ought and doth Honour to his Saviour and is a worthy Communicant He shews all those qualifications which God has required and receives as a worthy Guest if he can do nothing more than go along and strike in heartily at every part of the Publick Worship Which I speak not for the ease of those who either by their own invention or the help of Books can set their own Minds on work and employ their own Thoughts in meditating and acting over all these Tempers whilst the Minister is distributing the Sacrament I speak it not I say for the ease of these Persons as if beside what they do in the Churches Prayers they should not moreover do what they can otherwise But for the sake of others who have not these abilities that they may not be discouraged and to let them know that if they are good men and have these Tempers there is exercise of them sufficient in the Publick Prayers were there nothing else from the help of Books or their own invention to make them worthy Communicants And thus we see wherein lies the worthiness of receiving and what Virtues are fit for him to exercise who would be a welcome Guest at the Holy Communion When he remembers the Death of Christ and confirms the New Covenant with God and a League of Love and Friendship with all the Christian World by eating Bread and drinking Wine according to Christs appointment he must exercise himself in joyful Praise and affectionate Thanks and Resignation of his whole man both Soul and Body to Christs Service and in Repentance of all his Sins making God faithful Promises of New Obedience and in Charity towards all Persons all which he may express in joyning heartily with the Churches Prayers besides what he doth whilst the Bread and Wine are in preparing or whilst others are Communicating in his own Meditations And if he believes these things and is carryed on by such belief to these Performances he is welcome to the Table of his Lord and may justly esteem himself a worthy Partaker of this Blessed Sacrament CHAP. IV. Worthy Receiving not extraordinary difficult and of unworthiness to Communicate The Contents To silence the Complaint of extraordinary difficulty in coming worthily to this Sacrament three things noted 1. All the particulars of worthy Receiving are necessary parts of Duty and of a good Man so that no more is required to fit us for receiving than is required to fit us to dye or to go to Heaven 2. They are all necessary Qualifications of an acceptable Prayer Vow or Thanksgiving so that no more is required to it than to a worthy discharge of all other Acts of Religion 3. However they may be commended yet are they not necessarily required in more intense and transporting degrees in it than in other instances of Devotion The only unworthiness which can put us by this Ordinance is Impenitence if Repentance will â—o down with any man nothing else need stick with him This Point of Worthy Communicating summ'd up HAving hitherto shewn wherein lies the worthiness of receiving and what those Qualifications are which fit us for this Holy Feast I shall now only note some things that may silence all good mens Complaints about the hardship of it and shew plainly who are unworthy to join in it and what they must do to fit and prepare themselves for it and so conclude this Point 1 st I shall Note some things that may reconcile all good minds to this Feast and silence their Complaints of the hardship and extraordinary difficulty of coming worthily to partake in it And this had need to be done and may prove of great use when once it is because one chief thing which causes even good People to come so seldome is the apprehended difficulty and extraordinary solemnity of the worthy receiving Now to satisfy all good Souls in this point and to remove these hard thoughâ—s of it I would suggest to them these three things 1st That all these Tempers which are required to a worthy Communion are necessary parts of Duty and of a good Man so that no more is required of us to sit our selves for receiving than is required to fit us to dye or to go to Heaven 2 ly That they are all required to a worthy Prayer Vow or Thanksgiving so that no more Duties are required to our worthiness in it than to our worthiness in all other Acts of Religion 3 ly That however they may be commended yet are they not necessarily required as some have imagined in more intense and transporting degrees in it than in other instances of Devotion 1 st I say all the Tempers which I have mentioned as necessary to a worthy Communion are necessary parts of Duty and of a good Man so that no more is required of us to sit our selves for a worthy receiving than is required to sit us to Dye or to go to Heaven They are all necessary parts of Duty and of a good Man It is necessarily required of every good Man who would serve God and be accepted with him that he honour his Lord and Master Jesus Christ and be careful to obey him that he be affectionately sensible of all the kindnesses he has done particularly in dying for him and most heartily thank him for them that he be humbled under the sense of his own sins and utterly abhor them and resign up himself both Soul and Body to his Saviours use who by his own hearts blood has bought him that having first Believed in Christ he
that lead them to it but at last happen to forget themselves and break it in some Instance yet doth not that null their former Repentance or make their Case desperate thereupon but they have still the benefit of Repentance afterwards and by amending what they have done amiss may be perfectly râ—stored and made whole again For God will pardon us upon our Repentance not only Once or a Second time but as often as there is occasion So that if after we have promised in the Sacrament that we will never more be guilty of any particular sin we yield to it at length and are a-new overcome let us but Repent of that Breach and fully resolve against it a second time and then we are made whole as we were in our former station As for this Hindrance then whereby some are kept back from the Sacrament viz. Their promising therein concerning every Fault that they will no more commit it which promise they dâ—â—e not make because they are afraid they shall not keep it it need not stick with them nor ought to hinder any man that pretends to Religion For let them promise this Amendment and keep it and then the Doubt is answered Or if after they have kept it for some time they happen to fail upon some occasion let them Repent of that Breach and make new Promises and Resolutions and then they are whole again And all this has nothing in it that can be avoided or ought to be feared but is all necessary and desirable to be done for it is their Duty thus to promise and their Duty to perform and their great Priviledge that if they fail in any instance afterwards upon repeating their Repentance they shall receive a Pardon It is what every man must do not only to be a worthy Communicant but to be a Christian. For the same things are promised in Prayer and in Holy Baptism so that if any man draw back from them and sticks to promise them he must not pray to God nor pretend to Religion nor were he to chuse again be baptized into the Christian Profession 4. A Fourth thing which keeps back several from the Sacrament Is the great difficulty they apprehend to be in a worthy Receiving of it and their want of time and leisure to prepare for it They fancy it is a very hard thing for any man worthily to Communicate and since 't is hard in must needs require much time and application to prepare themselves for it and as for their parts they have little leisure from their business and are not made to master Difficulties so that they must be content and hope they shall be excused if they abstain from it This objection many are ready to make against coming to the Communion But every Christian will be much ashamed of it and slow to urge it a second time when once he considers that it lies not more against it than against an Hâ—ly Life and all Religion For all the particulars of worthy Communicating as I have shewn are equally parts of indispensable Duty and a good man God has required no more Virtues in us at the time of Receiving than he requires at all other times to render us acceptable Christians to fit us to say our Prayers or to give us any hopes of Eternal Happiness So that if any man says the work of the Sacrament is over-hard and therefore he is not willing or wants time to fit himself for Receiving he may as well say he is not willing or wants time to be a Christian or to go to Heaven and upon that Plea may with equal Reason bid adieu to all Religion But to answer this more particularly I must observe to them 1. That if it did really require all this time and pains to prepare for it yet would that be no sufficient Reason or Excuse for any of us to Neglect it 2. That to all true Penitents it is not so difficult nor requires so much time as is imagined so that they have not so much as this Discouragement to make them backward in it 3. That all even the poorest and most employed have time sufficient if they will use it to that end and that of those who have less leisure and abilities so as that they cannot fit themselves in great Degrees God expects the less preparation and accepts it at their hands 1. I say If it did really require all this time and pains to prepare for it which is supposed yet would that be no sufficient Reason or Excuse for any of us to neglâ—ct it For when God bids us do a thing can any man think it a good excuse to say I would if it were not troublesome or long a doing Must we perform those things only at his Command which are easie and soon over but neglect all others which imploy more care and pains and require to be attended longer How we may like such Masters I will not say but I am sure God will entertain no such Servants as will pick and chuse with his Commands and obey them no further than their own ease and occasions will suffer them No he expects we should do him Service though it be with difficulty and loss to our own selves And this in all Reason he may very well require of us because we our selves who can plead no such Deserts nor make any such Recompences as he propose do all look for it from our Servants in any business they are to do for us For if we set them to any work we shall think it a very odd Answer if they tell us they would do it for us but that they are unwilling to be at so much pains or to spare so much time as it requires Although a worthy Communicating then would require much time and pains to prepare for it yet would not that be a just excuse for any Person to Neglect it For since God Commands it nay Commands it urgently and lays a great weight upon it we are bound in all Duty to perform it though it cost us both time and pains so to do But 2. To all true Penitents it is not so difficult nor requires so much time as is imagined so that they have not so much as this Discouragement to make them backward in it The Difficulty of worthy Receiving lies not in giving Christ Thanks or believing the Scripture and all its Promises as I have shewn but only in Repenting of all our Sins And this indeed has more difficulty in it and requires more time to ill men who are held Captives by them but not very much to good who are already set free and have broke off from them 1. I say Repentance of all their Sins and amendment of their Lives has more difficulty in it and requires more time to ill men For they have many Lusts to pare off which are very dear to them and many things to set straight which cannot all be done upon the sudden When they come to
them to erect among themselves standing Courts by consent when the Power being in Heathens hands they could not otherwise be supplied in their own Body with Seats of Judgment 2. It appears also from another Place in St. James wherein he makes mention of them And that is Jam. 2.2 3 4. If there come into your Assembly or Synagogue a man with a Gold Ring c. Into your Assembly i. e. your Judicial Court where the respect of Persons was not to be permitted That the word here rendered Assembly or Synagogue signifies sometimes more particularly Court Assemblies and Judicial Consistories appears from Mat. 10.17 where our Saviour tells his Disciples of being delivered up to Consistories and scourged in their Synagogues i. e. in their Judgment Halls And so also Mat. 23.34 And that it ought to signifie such Consistories and Court Assemblies which were then used both in Ecclesiastical and Civil Affairs in this place appears both from the thing it self and from several particulars here spoken of these Assemblies which seem so to determine it The thing it self I say seems so to require it For in these Assemblies St. James condemns all Respect of Persons and discrimination of Rich and Poor by giving Honour according to Peoples Qualities which was unlawful only in Judicatures but is a Duty in Conversation and Common Carriage For it is an Apostolical Precept to give Honour to whom Honour is due Rom. 13.7 And those Servants who have believing Masters are forbid to with-draw any thing of their Respect presuming upon their Spiritual Kindred or to Honour them the less because they are become their Brethren in being Believers 1 Tim. 6.2 So that although in Judgment-Seats not mens Qualities but Causes only ought to be respected yet in other Assemblies a regard may be given to their Persons and 't is commendable so to do And several Particulars here spoken of these Assemblies seem so to determine it For the Offenders here taxed with Respecting Persons in them are said to have a Foot-stool which belongs to Chairs of State and Judicatures to give Evil Judgment to pass Sentence against the poor Mâ—ns Cause without deliberating on it or debating it and to transgress the Law in making a difference according to mens Qualities particularly in bidding the Rich to sit and the poor to stand which was expresly forbid by a Canon of the Jews to all that sate in Judgment all which shew that Courts of Judicature are the Assemblies here specified The Offenders here taxed I say for respecting Persons in these Assemblies are said to have a Foot-stool For so the Apostle expresses himself v. 3. Ye have respect to him that wears the gay clothing and say unto him sit thou here in a good Place and say to the Poor stand thou there or sit here under my Footstool And this is a probable intimation of their Dignity and Authority in the place where they sate for Foot-stools ordinarily are Appendages only of the Chairs of Great Persons who have Power and Superiority over others as of Princes on their Thrones and Judges upon Tribunals They are said to give Evil Judgment i. e. to pass Sentence on the wrong side as he is like to do who tries not Things but Persons and determines from By-respects not from the merits of the Cause which is to be decided By this respect of Persons says he ye are become Judges of Evil Thoughts i. e. you give Evil and Perverse Judgments v. 4. They are said to pass Sentence on the Poor mans Cause without deliberating on it or debating it Ye say to the Rich saith he sit thou here and to the Poor stand that at a distance there and ye are not doubtful or debate his Cause in or among your selves but are Judges of evil Thoughts or give perverse Judgments for so the words are most naturally rendred and not as we do are ye not partial in your selves and Judges of Evil Thoughts v. 3 4. And this shews plainly that their respect of Persons was expressed in Judicial Process in giving rash Sentence in favour of the Rich without ever staying to hear the Plea or weigh the Reasons of the Poors Cause They are said to transgress the Law in this regarding Persons and treating them differently according to the difference of their outward State and Condition when in this different carriage towards Rich and Poor ye have respect of Persons says he ye commit sin and are convinced of the Law which plainly forbids such practice as Transgressours v. 3.9 And this seems clearly to restrain it to their Court-Assemblies For in Judgment there is a Law forbidding all respect of Persons Ye shall not respect Persons in Judgment but you shall hear the small as well as the great Deut. 1.17 and Levit. 19.15 But there is no Law that forbids it yea rather since St. Paul injoins us to give Honour where Honour is due and directs Servants to pay never the less but rather more Reverence to their Masters because they are Believers and would not have Confusion introduced but Order kept in the Church as well as in other places there may seem enough not only to warrant but to recommend it in all other Cases Besides what is still a further Evidence of this point they are said particularly to transgress the Law in bidding the Rich to sit and the Poor to stand v. 3 9 which as a great man observes was a thing expresly forbid by a Canon of the Jews to all that sate in Judgment For that required in all Suits and Judicial Tryals betwixt Rich and Poor that either both should stand or both should sit which is a thing as he adds that the Jews observe at this day in hearing Causes for then if one presuming upon his quality take a Seat the Judge presently says to the other sit thou down also And thus I think it appears that the Assemblies which in this intricate place St. James mentions are Court-Assemblies and Judicial Consistories both because the Nature of the thing seems to require it since in them he forbids all respect of Persons which elsewhere is not prohibited and also because several particulars here spoken of them seem so to determine it For they are said to be such Assemblies wherein is a Foot-stool the usual Appendant to Chairs of State and Seats of Judgment wherein men were Judges of Evil Thoughts i. e. judged wrong and gave perverse Seeâ—tnce wherein they Condemned the Poor mans Cause without deliberating on it and debating it wherein to respect Persons was against a plain Law forbidding it as we find there is a very express one in Judicial Proceedings but none at all nay rather the contrary in all other Cases and lastly such wherein to bid a Rich man sit and a Poor man stand was a transgression of a Precept as in Court Assemblies it plainly is being against an express Canon of the Jews in Judgment By all which I suppose it
Tale-bearing Not satisfying for Injuries Contentiousness Division and Faction Heresie Schism Tumult Sins against our Brethren in Particular Relations Sins against Sovereign Princes as Dishonour Irreverence Speaking Evil of Dignities Refusing Tribute and Taxes Traitorousness Neglecting to pray for Kings Disobedience to them Resistance and Rebellion Sins against Bishops and Ministers as Dishonour of them especially for their Works sake Irreverence Not providing for them Sacrilege or taking away either by Force or Fraud those Just Dues which are given to God for their Support Not Praying for them Disobedience Sins of Married Persons as Vnconcernedness in each others Condition Not bearing each others Infirmities Provoking each other Estrangedness Publishing each others Faults Not praying for each other Jealousie Of the Husband against the Wife as Not maintaining her with convenient Supplies Not protecting her from outward Annoyances Imperiousness or a harsh and magisterial exercise of Commands Vncompliance with her Reasonable Desires and Vncondescention to her Pitiable Weaknesses Of the Wife against the Husband as Dishonour in inward Esteem and Opinions Irreverence in outward Carriage Vnobservance in not forecasting to do what may please him Disobedience to his just Commands Casting off his Yoke or Unsubjection Sins of Parents and Children as Want of Natural Affection Not praying for each other Imprecation Of the Parents against the Children as Not providing for them Irreligious and Evil Education Provoking them to Anger by Imperious Harshness and needless Severity in Governing Of the Children against the Parents as Dishonour in their Minds Irreverence in their Behaviour Being ashamed of them Mocking them Speaking Evil of them Stealing from them Disobedience to their Lawful Commands Contumacy or Casting off Subjection to them Sins of Brothers and Sisters as Want of Natural Affection Not providing for our Brethren Not praying for them Praying against them Sins of Masters against their Servants as Not maintaining them Not Catechising or Instructing them Vnequal Government or Injustice shewn in requiring Unlawful Wantonness in requiring Superfluous and Rigour in requiring Unmerciful things of them Immoderate Threatning Imperiousness or Contemptuous haughty treating of them Defrauding or keeping back the Wages of the Hireling Of Servants against their Masters as Dishonour Irreverence Publishing or aggravating their Master's Faults Not clearing when they can his injured Reputation Vnfaithfulness in what he intrusts with them shewn either by their Wastefulness i. e. Spending it for their Pleasure or Purloyning i. e. Diverting it to their own Profit and secret Enrichment Disobedience Non-observance Answering again Slothfulness Eye-service Resistance Not praying for him Praying against him To all which add two other Sins which are peculiarly so among Christians viz. The Neglect of Baptism and Absenting from the Lord's Supper When we are desirous to discover all our Sins that we may truly repent of them we may examine our own Hearts in all these Particulars trying our selves either by the former Catalogue when we have less or by this latter when we have more Time according to our own Discretion We may ask our selves at every one Whether we ever wittingly yielded to it and if we have Whether since that we have amended it And noting all those whereof we stand guilty before God affect our own Hearts with a sorrowful sense of what we have done from such Considerations as are before laid down and then renew our Vows and make God our humble Confession and Engagements that we will never have more to do with them For which end they who are not otherwise supplied may make use of the Devotion p. 448 which may serve as a Penitential Prayer and Confession A PRAYER Before the SACRAMENT O Father of Mercies who hast once given thy Son to die for me and art now ready in the Holy Sacrament to offer him to me again I humbly adore but am utterly at a loss when I would duely prize so invaluable a Mercy What am I poor wretched Creature that I should sit down to eat with my Blessed Lord when the Glorious Angels at a distance adore and pay him Homage Why should I be call'd to feed upon his Sacred Body and Blood when my Sins had a hand in all he suffered so that I deserve to be ranked among his Murderers who were guilty of that horrid Fact which nothing but the Blood they shed could ever expiate But since it is thy Glorious Excellency O Blessed Jesu to love those that hate thee and to save their Lives who barbarously took away thine and accordingly to call to this Heavenly Feast so unworthy a Wretch as I am I am ready to come at thy Command but would fain come Worthily and leave all my Sins behind me seeing it is no Feast for them Oh! I loath them and would never yield to commit them were they to do again and humbly intreat my Heavenly Father that for thy sake he would freely forgive me what is past and rid me of them for the time to come Slay them Good Lord for they have slain thee and will slay mee too in time if they are suffer'd to reign in me Meet me in this Heavenly Banquet with a full Pardon of all mine Offences and a perfect Cure of all mine Infirmities that I may be cleansed by thy Blood and quickned by thy Spirit and assured of that Eternal Life which for thy sake God has promised to all his Elect ones All this thou art ready to do for me if I come worthily and therefore my humble Request is That thou wouldst assist me acceptably to perform the Duties of this Feast that so I may enjoy all the Blessings of it and feel it a Communion of thy very Body and Blood I would gladly remember thy Dying Love with the most Devout Affections with a Heart that is full of Thanks and intirely devoted to thy Service and quite weary of my Sins and most desirous of thy Grace and throughly prepared to seal a lasting Covenant of Repentance and Reconciliation with thee and all my Neighbours All this I desire to do and to do it fervently But alas I cannot do it as I ought unless thou wilt graciously come and help me My Apprehnsions of this amazing Love are very low O do thou exalt them My Heart is still insensible of what thou hast done for me and my Affections dull and heavy O do thou quicken and inflame them Make me love thee as much as thou deservest and desire thy Grace as highly as I need it and be set against every Sin as irreconcileably as there is cause for it and love all my Brethren as I am beloved that I may be fit to receive the abundant Communications of thy Grace in the approaching Sacrament I earnestly ask and humbly hope for all this O Good God only because I infinitely need it and thy Grace is Infinite which will not suffer thee to see the Necessities of thy poor Servant unsupplied and unworthy as I am I am still the Purchase of thy Sons Blood O