stedfast and unmoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord. And I beseech thee give me constant and continual supplies of thy Grace that I may be able to perform whatsoever I have promised and let not forgetfulness or indevotion seize upon me hereafter Let me hold fast that which I have and daily strive to gain more and finally make me faithful to the Death so shall I receive the Crown of Life for he that endureth to the end shall be saved Amen § 8. Through Iesus Christ our Lord to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory World without end Amen There is a mighty efficacy in the name of Jesus used by a devout Soul that hath lately beheld the Commemoration of his great Attonement Through him we beg this Grace therefore And to him together with the Father and the blessed Spirit we offer up all honour and glory for the favours imparted to us in this Communion which but just now we did acknowledge and these Prayers and Praises we have cause to sign with an unfeigned Amen For we need the grace desired and the blessed Trinity deserves the glory ascribed wherefore we say Amen So be it But of this we have spoken before The Paraphrase of the second Prayer O Lord who art ever able and always ready to help thy servants being an Almighty and everliving God whose power and mercy can never fail We thy poor Creatures according to our bounden duty do most heartily thank and most unfeignedly praise thee for that of thy infinite pitty and bounty thou dost vouchsafe at this thy holy Table to feed us who have with penitence and Faith devoutly and duly received these holy Mysteries For therein thou hast refreshed our Souls with the spiritual and most desirable food of life thou hast made us Partakers by Faith of the most precious Body and of the most holy blood of thy Son our Saviour Iesus Christ which was offered for the Redemption of the whole World We acknowledge O Lord that besides the present comfort of this inestimable gift thou hast convinced us And dost assure us thereby of that which though we do not deserve yet we esteem above all things even thy favour thy gracious designs and goodness towards us poor Sinners And further by this holy Rite thou hast declared us thy Children and that we are very certainly living Members incorporate in and united unto the mystical Body of thy Son even thy Holy Church which is the blessed Company which are redeemed reconciled and sanctifyed by Jesus consisting of all faithful People in whose Prayers Priviledges and hopes we have now a happy interest And are also together with those thy servants by this Seal of thy Covenant made Heirs through hope already of thy Everlasting Kingdom which was purchased by the Merits of the most precious Death and Passion of thy Dear Son whose sufferings are set forth and the benefits of them conveyed to us in this Sacrament And now lest we should lose these blessings again by relapsing to folly as we have formerly done We most humbly and earnestly beseech thee O Heavenly Father for thy mercy sake so constantly and powerfully to assist us with thy grace in all our endeavours to perform our Obligations and our Vows that we may continue for ever in that holy fellowship with thy Son and thy Saints to which thou hast admitted us And do all such good works of Mercy Piety and Vertue as thou hast by the direction of thy holy Word prepared for us to walk in who have professed our selves to be thy Servants All which we beg through the most powerful intercession of Iesus Christ our Lord by whom we have received these and all other Mercies To whom therefore with thee O Father Almighty and the Holy Ghost three Persons and one God let there be all honour and glory ascribed both now and World without end Amen Be it so SECT IV. Of the Gloria in Excelsis or the Angelick Hymn § 1. TO conclude this Office with an Hymn is so direct an imitation of our Saviours practice Math. 26.30 that it is observed in all Churches and hath been used in all Ages And although the forms may differ yet this is as Antient as any now Extant The former part of it is of an Heavenly Original and was sung by the Angels at our Lords Nativity Luke 2.14 and it seems from thence it was transcribed into the Oriental Liturgies for it is thrice repeated in that of St. James The latter part is by Hug. de S. Victor l. 2. said to be composed by St. Hilary Bishop of Poictiers but by Rabanus Maurus who lived 200. years before the said Hugo it is ascribed to Telesphorus about the year of Christ 139. Certain it is that it was added by the Ecclesiastical Doctors as we are informed by the fourth Council of Toledo a Concil Tolet. IV. Can. XII celebrated about 1000. years ago and yet those are accursed by that Council who shall reject this or the Gloria Patri or other Hymns because they are not verbatim in the Scripture for as is there well noted upon that pretence we might reject the most part of the Church Offices It is also to be noted that with very little difference we find this Hymn in Clement's Constitutions l. 17. cap. 48. so that it is likely to have been of very antient use in the Western Church And whereas in the present Roman Missal it stands in the beginning of this Office it is much more properly placed by our Liturgy here in the end of the Communion for every devout Communicant is now even full of gratitude and longeth for an opportunity to pour out his Soul in the praises of God and how fit this Hymn is for that purpose the Analysis and following discourse will shew The Analysis of the Angelick Hymn or Gloria in Excelsis § 2. The Angelick Hymn hath Two Parts 1. The Angels Song acknowledging 1. The Effect of Christs Death 1. Above Glory be to God on High and 2. Below in Earth Peace 2. The moving Cause of it good will towards Men. 2. A Descant upon it by 1. A Glorification of the Father expressing 1. The Manner how we offer this Praise We praise thee we bless thee we worship thee we glorifie thee we give thanks unto thee 2. The Reason why for thy great Glory 3. The Person to whom O Lord God Heavenly King God the Father Almighty 2. A Supplication to the Son who is 1. Confessed in his Titles O Lord the only begotten Son Iesu Christ O Lord God Lamb of God Son of the Father 2. Invocated by his 1. Office to 1. Pardon that takest away the sins of the World have mercy upon us Thou that takest away c. have mercy c. 2. Hear us Thou that takest away the sins of the World receive our Prayer 2. By his Glory also to pardon us Thou that sittest at the right hand of the Father
doth acknowledge himself to be thy Servant even CHARLES our King and Soveraign Liege Help him so to defend Religion execute Justice and subdue his Enemies that under him we and all his Subjects may be religiously and godly peaceably and quietly Governed and accordingly be obedient unto as well as happy in so gracious a Prince And that his excellent Laws may not be perverted in their Administration O Lord Grant such grace unto his whole Council with whom he adviseth in making Laws and to all Magistrates and Officers that are put in Authority to execute them under him That they may deliberately weigh every cause and truly and indifferently determine it so as to make it appear they do minister Iustice and imploy their Power To the punishment of wickedness and greater Crimes the correction of lesser enormities and Vice And the maintenancâ— and defence of the Profession of thy true Religion together with the Practice of all Equity and Vertue which is the endeavour of all Righteous Magistrates But that Piety and Justice may be taught by the Ministers as well as outwardly incouraged â—iâ—e grace O Heavenly Father for the same thy Son Jesus Christs sake to all whom thou hast made Bishops and Governours or Pastors and Curates over thy Flock Assist them so in those sacred offices that they may both by the holiness of their life and the purity of their Doctrine declare and set forth the excellencies of thy true quickening and lively Wâ—rd so that many may be won to live according to it And grant that they may also orderly and rightly frequently and duly Administer both Baptism and the Lords Supper which are thy Holy Sacraments And let them be particularly assisted in the Celebration of the present mystery And that all their labours be not in vain Do thou to all thy People throughout the Christian World â—ive thy Heavenly Grace to dispose their hearts rightly to receive divine things Especially grant to this Congregation and every person here present before thee that with meek hearts from a sense of their own ignorance and due reverence from the apprehension of thy Authority they may hear attentively and receive by Faith the directions of thy Holy Word O Lord let them be converted by it and become real Christians truly serving thee in all the duties of Piety and Holiness Charity and Righteousness and continue in this Obedience all the days of their life especially after this solemn renewing of their Covenant with thee And further reflecting upon thy pitty towards all afflicted persons for the sufferings-sake of thy dear Son We that yet are spared do most humbly beseech thee that though we and our Brethren deserve to suffer yet of thy goodness thou wilt be pleased O Lord effectually at present to comfort and speedily to deliver and succour not those distressed Creatures alone which we particularly love or know but all them who are capable of the benefit of our Prayers even all who in this transitory life the Scene of sorrows are in trouble and fear of some approaching Evil or in sorrow for some Calamity already sustained All that are in need and want as to their outward Estate or in pain and sickness as to their body Or who are visited with some or all of these or any other Adversity Oh pitty and relieve them all And Finally as we praise thee for all the Mercies which thou minglest with the Miseries of this life so we also bless and chiefly praise thy holy Name for those who have no mixtures of sin or sorrow in their Cup of pure and perfect joy even for all thy Saints and holy Servants who were once as frail as we but by thy grace are now departed out of this life but who did live in thy Faith and die in thy fear never forsaking Religion nor a good Conscience We rejoice in their happiness and though we need not pray for them yet we cannot forbear beseeching thee for our selves who are yet upon the Waves that thou wilt please to give us also the same grace which thou gavest them That we may be able so to follow their good Examples in all Piety and Charity while we live that with them and in that glorious Society we may when we die be Partakers by the like Mercy of thy Heavenly Kingdom and its unspeakable felicities Hear us we beseech thee and Grant this and all the rest O Father to thy poor Children who make not our Requests in our own Name or trusting in our own merits but for Iesus Christ his sake and through the most prevailing Sacrifice of his Death here Commemorated Nor do we need or desire to use any other name since he is Our only Mediator to make our peace and Advocate to plead our cause who also joins with us in these Petitions and therefore we hope thou wilt say to him and to us Amen and then it shall be so SECT VIII Of the warning before the Communion § 1. IT is fit that great Mysteries should be ushered in with the solemnities of a great preparation for which cause God gave the Israelites three days warning of his design to publish the Law Exod. 19.15 and ordered their Festivals to be proclaimed by the sound of a Trumpet some time before Levit. 25.9 Numb 10.2 The Paschal Lamb the Type of Christ in this Sacrament was to be chosen and kept by them four days to mind them to prepare for the Celebration of the Passover Exod. 12.3.6 And Christians having more and higher duties in order to this Holy Feast must not have less time or shorter warning whereupon as good Hezekiah published by particular expresses his intended Passover long before 2 Chron. 30. so hath our Church prudently ordered this timely notice to be given that none might pretend to stay away out of ignorance of the time or unfitness for the duty but that all might come and come prepared also It is needless to expect a President for this in the antient Church their daily or Weekly Communions made it known that there was then no solemn Assembly of Christians without it and every one not under censure was expected to Communicate But now when the time is somewhat uncertain and our long omissions have made some of us ignorant and others forgetful of this duty most of us unwilling and all of us more or less indisposed for it it was both prudent and necessary to provide these large Warnings and Exhortations Cautions and Instructions For the Composures themselves they are exact and rarely fitted to be the Harbingers to this blessed Sacâ—ament and if we duly weigh and carefully improve them they will exceedingly help towards our Preparation as will be evident enough without a Paraphrase in the succeeding Analysis and Discourse The Analysis of the Warning before the Communion § 2. This Warning consisteth of three principal Parts 1. Information concerning 1. The Time Dearly beloved on next I purpose c. 2. The Persons to administer to all
may go with boldness to the Throne of Grace Thirdly He is the Maker of all things and of us among the rest Now he hateth nothing that he hath made for his mercy is over all his Works wherefore we may have good hopes that he will pity and help the work of his own hands Lastly He is the Judge of all men Let us therefore now make our supplication to him for it is yet the time of mercy Job 9.15 and he is now willing to help them whom he hath redeemed with his precious blood Being thus prepared by meditating on these Attributes we may fitly begin to confess as followeth § 4. We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness which we from time to time most grievously have Committed These two words to acknowledge and bewail are taken out of Psal 38.18 For I will confess my wickedness and be sorry for my sin And if as St. Augustine notes Davids bare resolution to do this before the words were in his mouth did obtain his pardon f Nondum pronunciat sed promittit se pronunciaturum ille dimittit Vox nondum in ore erat sed auris Dei in Corde erat August in Psal 36. how much more shall we be admitted to forgiveness who do actually perform them both They are indeed the proper parts of Repentance to be exercised in Confession and are both of them most reasonable and fit to be done just now 1. What impudence were it to deny our sins before him from whom we cannot hide them and what folly to conceal them from him that would heal us and forgive them g Quis non invitaretur illi ad praemium confiteri cui non possis negare quod feceris Cassiodor in Psal 118. Are we ashamed to acknowledge them in the Church and are we not afraid to be charged with them before all the World h Hoc in Ecclesiâ facere fastidis ubi nihil est quod pudori esse debeat nisi non fateri cùm omnes simus peccatores ubi ille justior qui humilior Ambr. de poen 2. 10. Alas we are all Sinners and he that confesseth it most humbly shall soonest become innocent 2. And there is as great reason that we should bewail them also because here we see the wounds which they have made in the Lord Jesus When David saw his people dying by thousands for his sin immediately he cryes out i As Nisus in Virg. Aen. 9. seeing Euryalus his friend like to be slain No longer could he hide himself nor see So sad a sight but cries at me at me Behold my self who did the fact am by Against me turn your steel ye Rutuli I have sinned I have done wickedly but these sheep what have they done 2 Sam. 24.17 And can we behold the innocent and immaculate Lamb of God bleeding and dying for our offences and not cry out with tears Lord what hadst thou done to be thus used thou hadst acted no evil nor was guile found in thy mouth sweetest Jesus my sins were thy murtherers and thou sufferdest for my wretchedness If I may not weep for thee Luke 23.28 yet let me weep for my self who have brought all this upon thee Now when your heart thus begins to bleed with sorrow and your mouth is opened to confess behold what excellent matter is here prepared First You are taught what you must acknowledge viz. All your Sins and Wickedness your lesser as well as greater iniquities k Omne enim malum etiam mediocre magnum est Cicer. Tuscul qu. l. 3. for though they are many and manifold of several kinds and qualities yet they all agree in this that they are all odious to God and will be damnable to you without repentance Consider also 1. How often 2. How grievously they have been committed First You have been raising this heap and running on this score all your life from time to time l Hebr. de Die in Diem Psal 96. ver 2. that is both continually as to duration and frequently as to the repetition You have long been disobedient and renewed these offences every day and every hour if not every moment so that it is next to impossible to compute them they are compared to the hairs of your head and the Sands of the Sea both which exceed humane Arithmetick yet God that numbers our hairs and reckons the sands can particularly accuse you for every one of these sins and have you not great reason then to acknowledge and bewail them And the rather Secondly Because they are not only many but very heinous and committed in a most grievous m Lam. 1.8 Heb. peccando peccavimus Angl. grievously sinned quam phrasin nostri reddunt Exod. 32.31 A great sin Jer. 6.8 grievous revolters ubi Vulg. C. Par. principes declinantium Jun. Trem. contumacium contumacissimi and provoking manner in despite of mercies and the means of grace in defiance of your own knowledge and your Consciences with so much ingratitude and baseness that it cannot but be grievous to your Heavenly Father to bear it and I hope it will also be grievous to you to consider it and that when you think thereon you will weep unfeignedly § 5. By thought word and deed against thy divine Majesty provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us Although it is impossible to recite here all the particulars in which we have sinned yet we should run into the suspicion of Hypocrisie if we did wholly rest in generals wherefore the Church sees fit to put our thoughts into some method for the furtherance of our penitential recollections and how could that be better done than by that brief yet full division so often found in the Antient Liturgies n Peccavi nimis cogitatione locutione opere Miss Rom. and so much used among the Fathers directing us to consider of the several sins of our Thoughts our Words and our Deeds For the Heart in which Jesus should lodge the Mouth by which he should enter and the Hand with which we should receive him all of them are defiled And Solomon tells us that for every secret thought Eccles 12.14 Christ that for every idle word Math. 12.36 St. Paul that for every evil deed 2 Cor. 5.10 God will bring us into judgment Let us therefore now prevent that by considering and judging our selves First For the sins of our Thoughts for our Cogitations are always vain and roving often haughty wanton or envious sometimes revengeful mischievous or Atheistical and because these sins of the heart require no determinate time or place to their Commission and are acted without either pains or assistants o Animi motus citra temporis moram fiunt citra lassitudinem perficiuntur citra negotium consistunt omnem temporis occasionem idoneam habent S. Basil Conc. 3. they are almost every where and always done and we may all cry out Lord who can tell how oft he
IMPRIMATUR Jan. 21. 1673 4 C. Smith R. P. D. Episc Lond. à sacris domesticis A COMPANION TO THE ALTAR Or an HELP To the worthy receiving of the LORDS SVPPER By Discourses and Meditations upon the whole COMMUNION OFFICE To which is added An ESSAY upon the OFFICES OF Baptism and Confirmation By THO. COMBER M. A. LONDON Printed by J. Macock for John Martyn at the Bell in St Pauls Church-Yard and Richard Lambert at York MDCLXXV TO THE MOST REVEREND Father in GOD RICHARD By the Divine Providence Lord ARCHBISHOP OF YORK Primate of ENGLAND and METROPOLITAN May it please your Grace I Have often with much pleasure and admiration observed how rarely every part of Divine Service is suited to its proper Subject whereof there needs no better instance than that which is under our present Consideration The Communion is the most sublime Duty of Christianity the Compendium of Religion the best opportunity for Repentance the highest exercise of Faith and the strongest engagement to our Charity and accordingly it is fitted with an Office agreeable to its usefulness and grandeur wherein the Directions are full and perspicuous the Exhortations vigorous and importunate the Devotions fervent and expressive of more than ordinary affections an Office wherein equal regard is had to the Majesty of the Ordinance and the advantage of the Receivers to the Custom of the Antient and the benefit of the present times So that the illustration of this one Part of Liturgy will contain Arguments to convince the Negligent Instructions to teach the Ignorant and be the properest method to prepare us for this Sacrament to assist us in Receiving and to confirm us in all Holiness and Vertue afterwards yea I dare affirm that he who will conscientiously practise by these measures can neither be an Ill Man an Vnworthy Receiver or an Enemy to that Church which affords him such excellent means of Salvation Wherefore that these endeavours may be made publick with more Advantage I have been bold to recommend them to your Graces Patronage and that with great reason For their subject being of the highest Mystery and their design to adorn the most eminent Office of the Church could no where be more justly presented than to your Grace who beside the Dignity of your Primacy and the honour of so High a Station in this Church are so known a Lover and Patron of all its Primitive Administrations Besides your Grace hath a peculiar title to the Author as well as a Right in the subject of this Discourse for he first received the Holy Order of Priesthood and the Power of Dispensing this Sacrament a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ignat. ep ad Smyr Apost Can. 39. Concil Laodic Can. 57. from your Graces Hands to whom therefore he will ever pay the Reverence and Observance due to a Spiritual Father b Esto subjectus Pontifici tuo quasi animae parentem suscipe Hieron ad Nepot Ep. 2. In fine I am obliged to make this Tender by my Condition and my Duty by Gratitude and Affection And your Graces fair Approbation of my first Essay encourageth this to hope for a Candid acceptance both as it is a Testimony of my Respect and as it may minister to the Devotion of those who approach to Gods Altar My Lord There is nothing more useful to the friends of this Church nor more convincing to the dissenters from it than to present her pure and Primitive Order of Worship in its natural and lovely splendor whereof by the Divine mercy I have seen some Experiments from my former attempt and if this may prevail also to undeceive the seduced to amend the prophane and to elevate the devotion of Pious Men I shall have all I aimed at in this Work only I most gladly comply with this Opportunity to testifie my self Your Graces Most dutiful Son and most humble Servant Tho. Comber THE INTRODVCTION Of the Communion Service in general with the reason and use of this Vndertaking § 1. WHatsoever benefits we now enjoy or hope hereafter to receive from Almighty God are all purchased by the Death and must be obtained through the Intercession of the Holy Jesus And for a perpetual memorial hereof we are not only taught to mention his name in our daily Prayers John 14.13 15.16 but are also commanded by visible signs to Commemorate and set forth his Passion in the Lords Supper 1 Cor. 11.26 wherein by a more forcible rite of Intercession a Fideles etiam inter orandum Christum afferunt Deo Patri victimam dum scilicet mente affectuque ad sacrificium ejus unicum feruntur ut Deum sibi habeant faciantque propitium Anon. apud Med. Chris Sacrif Sect. 3. we beg the Divine Acceptance That which is more compendiously expressed in the Conclusion of our Prayers through Iesus Christ our Lord is more fully and more vigorously set out in this most holy Sacrament Wherein we Interceed on Earth in Imitation of and Conjunction with the great Intercession of our High Priest in Heaven Pleading here in the Vertue and Merits of the same Sacrifice which he doth urge there for us And because of this Sympathy and near Alliance between these two Offices of Praying and Communicating we find the Eucharist in the purest Ages of the Church was a daily b Act. 2.42 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Companion of their Common-Prayer So that there is no Ancient Liturgy but doth suppose and direct the Celebration of this Sacrament as constantly as the use of Publick Prayers they being never separated but in the Case of Novices or offending secluded Christians who only had the benefit of the Petitions but were shut out before the Mysteries were begun And though the iniquity of our Age hath made the Imitation of this sublime Example rather to be wished for than expected Yet the Consideration thereof may both humble us for the sad decay of Christian Devotion and also shew us what Excellent reason our Church had to annex so much of this Communion Office to the usual Prayers of all our more solemn Assemblies § 2. As to the particular Form of this part of the Divine Service Our Church hath taken the same liberty therein which others had done before them For since our great Master who did Institute this Sacrament haâ—h not prescribed any particular Form for the Administration thereof in holy Writ there have been in all the first Ages many Liturgies composed suitable to the places and times for which they were designed Such are those which now bear the names of St. Peter and St. Barnabas but especially the Liturgy of Hierusalem called from St. James and that of Alexandria named St. Marks and that of the famous Clemens Most of which though with some Corruptions are still extant And yet notwithstanding St. Basil St. Chrysostom and St. Ambrose did every one of them compile a several Liturgy for their several Churches and yet all different from the Roman Missal
reports of my Neighbour § Have I not incouraged such ill-reports nor published the faults of another to his disgrace § Have I not undervalued good or flattered bad men and given a false Character to please a friend § Have I not suffered an innocent persons good name to be traduced when I had opportunity or power to clear it § Have I not by pride conceived or by boasting uttered false things concerning my self § Have I neither sought unjustly to uphold or wilfully to blast my own Credit Lord have mercy c. And encline c. X. Commandment § Have I not secretly murmured at the Providence of God as if others had too much and my self too little § Have I not greedily coveted the Estate honours o◠comforts of my neighbours nor sought by evil means to procure them to my self § Have I not envyed any so as to be grieved at their prosperity or to wish or rejoice in their losses and calamities § Have I not been apt to undervalue all my own things and neglected to give God thanks for them § Have I not too passionately pursued riches and honours so as to neglect my Soul and Religion upon these accounts § 7. Whosoever hath particularly and seriously asked his own Soul the foregoing Questions will be far from the vanity of the young Man in the Gospel nor is it likely that he will now have the confidence to say as he Matth. 19.20 All these have I kept from my youth For his own Conscience will tell him in most inquiries that He is the Man And accordingly the Church hath provided the Publican Confession Luke 18.12 Lord have mercy upon us Which now may be fitly used First As an humble and dolorous Confession that we are Guilty very Guilty For when the Prisoner falls down and craves Mercy It shews he is convinced of his fault and in that phrase is supposed to acknowledge it Secondly As a passionate and earnest Exclamation for Pardon which now appears infinitely needful when this black and dreadful Bill is set before us Yet lest all this should not be sufficient to produce that sorrow and shame which is necessary for this solemn Confession but our hearts remain still obdurate and unrelenting Let every one lay before himself these Considerations First Meditate of the nature of all these Sins of which thou art guilty They are the Actions of a poor helpless depending Creature done against the holy Will and most gentle and reasonable Commands of that Majesty who could destroy thee in a Moment and whom Angels and all the World besides exactly do obey And besides thou maist upbraid thy self with the folly of Anger the fury of Revenge the filthiness of Lust and the shame of Lying the beastliness of Drunkenness and the misery of Covetousness the unreasonableness of Pride and the vanity of seeking humane Praise the restlesness of Ambition and the vexation of a discontented mind Consider the malignity of all Sin and the baseness of every particular and surely it will appear it was impudence and ingratitude simplicity and madness in thee ever to commit them Secondly Meditate of the number of them And think that if there be so much evil in one Sin How deplorable is thy Case who hast offended in so many kinds Oh how often hast thou acted or designed the greater and more notorious wickednesses And for those which we account the lesser What is wanting in the odiousness of the single Acts thou hast supplyed by frequent repetitions Few days nay minutes passing in thy whole life in which thou dost not sin in these instances I doubt not but thy memory now presents a vast number to thee but alas those that were never observed are far more and those that are forgotten are much more numerous than both Yet these are all noted in the Records of Heaven So that if thou couldest apprehend this formidable Army it would lay thy confidence in the dust and strike thee with amazement to consider how many times thou hast deserved Condemnation Thirdly Meditate of the Desert of these Sins viz. that the wages of any the least unobserved or forgotten sin is death Rom. 6.23 And then how many times hast thou deserved to be cut off Consider how thou art by these transgressions exposed to the wrath of God and to suffer all those Temporal Spiritual and Eternal miseries which the Righteous Judge of all the World hath threatned in his holy word And if thy heart be apt to excuse its faults on pretence of a corrupt Nature a violent Temptation or a sudden surprize and will not believe or fear that God is so highly displeased then tell thy own Soul that for one offence the Angels were cast out of Heaven and Adam out of Paradise and He that is the lover of Men for lighter or fewer Crimes doth lay dreadful Plagues and Miseries upon thy Brethren And God is no respecter of Persons He spared not his own Son when he stood in the place of Sinners and shall He spare thee Oh look up to the Cross of Jesus and behold his Agonies and his Sorrow hear his groans and cryes observe his anguish and his pains Is not God highly displeased with Sin when he makes his own Son the Example of his wrath to his offending Servants In short know that if Repentance do not now procure thy Pardon thou shalt have God and all Creatures thy Enemies and maist justly expect Losses and Crosses Poverty and Reproach Diseases and an evil Death and which is more horrid to be deprived of the aids of Gods Spirit and the offers of Grace and to be left in thy own hardness and impenitency as one that refuseth to be reclaimed And if any or all these have not yet faln upon thee it is only because the Lord will try whether at this time thou wilt seriously Repent but thou art not acquitted though he do awhile forbear Fourthly Meditate of those Aggravations which make thy Sins worse than those of other Men and that will convince thee that thou deservest no less For First Have not many of them been committed against thy knowledge and reason and in despite of all the checks and reluctancies of thy Conscience Secondly And although thou hast made so many vows and taken so many resolutions never to act them more yea and engaged this upon the holy Sacrament of Christs body and blood Yet hast thou not entertained them again Thirdly Have not all those mercies and favours spiritual and temporal wherewith thy Heavenly Father hath courted thy Love been abused by thee and cast away upon thee when all this could not prevail to make thee leave one lust or perswade thee to give over piercing him that hath died for thee Fourthly Hast thou not proceeded in thy evil Courses after all those Examples of divine vengeance on others and all those Calamities which Sin hath brought upon thy own self Hast thou feared any longer than the smart remained Hast thou not made the
such a God to ask it of and such a Prince to ask it for whose endeavours are a great incouragement to this Petition What is further requisite the following Analysis and Paraphrase will supply The Analysis of the second Collect. Sect. 9. This Collect hath four Parts 1. The Compellation Almighty and Everlasting God 2. The ground of this Petition being Godâ— word concerning 1. His power over Kings Wâ— are taught by thy Holy Word that the hearts of Kings â—re â—n thy hands 2. His Providence about them and that thou dost dispose and turn them as it seemeth best to the godly Wisdom 3. The Petition it self and in it 1. For what is made We humbly beseech thee so to dispose and govern the heart 2. In behalf of whom of CHARLES thy Servant our King and Governour 3. To what end viz. 1. Gods glory that in all his thoughts words and works he may ever seek thy honour and glory 2. The Nations good And study to preserve thy People committed to his charge in Wealth Peace and Godliness 4. The Motives to make it effectual taken 1. From Gods mercy Grant this O merciful Father 2. Christs merits for thy dear Sons sake Iesus Christ our Lord Amen The Paraphrase of the second Collect. § 10. O Almighty Lord and everlasting God who art infinitely powerful and ever the same We chearfully call upon thee for our gracious Prince because we are taught by thy Spirit in thy Holy Word that the hearts of all men yea even the Counsels and purposes of Kings which seem of all other the most unsearchable and unalterable yet are in thy hands and at thy Command So that thou canst direct them to any good or restrain them from any evil and that thou dost by thy over-ruling Providence dispose and turn them as the Rivers of Waters Giving such event to every design as it seemeth best to thy divine and godly wisdom by which thou dost manage all the World Wherefore we humbly beseech thee thou great Moderator of Heaven and Earth so to dispose the Counsels and govern the heart of our gracious Soveraign CHARLES thy Servant our just and rightful King and Governour as may best conduce to his and our mutual comfort To which end let thy mighty power cause that in all his purposes and thoughts words and works he may most religiously and earnestly ever seek to advance thy honour and glory by defending thy Gospel administring Justice and making it his constant care and study to preserve all his Subjects who are thy people and by thee committed to his charge in a most flourishing prosperity that they may increase in wealth and abound in plenty continue in peace and dwell safely in the profession of Religion and in the practice of vertue and godliness throughout all Generations Grant this we beseech thee O merciful Father of thine own gracious nature especially now we plead in this Sacrament for thy dear Sons sake and in remembrance of the Death of Iesus Christ our Lord and our Redeemer Amen SECT V. Of the Epistle the Gospel and the Creed § 1. WHen to these Prayers for outward Prosperity we have added the Collect of the Day of which see Comp. to the Temple as a Petition for internal grace and a fit preparation for the following Portions of Scripture out of which it is taken and to which it commonly doth refer Then followeth the Reading of the Epistle and Gospel And it is evident that long before the dividing of the Bible into Chapters and Verses it was the Custom both of the Greek and Latin Church to read some select portions of the plainest and most practical parts of the New Testament at the Celebration of the Eucharist in imitation of the Jewish Mode of reading the History of the Passover before the eating of the Paschal Lamb. Buxtorf Lexic Chald. So that we find mention of reading the Apostolical and Evangelical Writings in this Office not only in the Liturgies of St. James St. Clemens St. Basil c. but in Just Martyr Tertullian St. Augustine and others of the Fathers who most of them have their Homilies still extant upon them And Strabo affirms they were appointed by the first Successors of the Apostles p Walafrid Strabo de reb Eccl. c. 22. For the Counsel of Valentia q Sacrosancta Evangelia ante munerum illationem in Missâ Catechumenorum in ordine lectionum post Apostolum legantur Concil Val. Can. 1. Anno circa 500. post Christum did only fix them to that place wherein now they stand before the Offertory that so the Catechumens might have the benefit to hear them For the particular choice of them they are the very Quintessence of the New Testament And first The Epistles are either plain and pressing Exhortations to some necessary Christian Duties or rare discoveries of Gods mercy or gracious promises of Pardon and Assistance And they are first read in remembrance of that first Mission of the Apostles when they went before their Masters face to every City whither Christ would come Luke 10.1 that the Epistle may be as the Harbinger for the Gospel And sure it is fit these being the words of the Servants that the last place and greatest honour be reserved to the words of their and our Master Secondly For the Gospel it is either some remarkable History of Christs Life or Death some Eminent Miracle or some curious Parable and part of his Divine Sermons which is therefore last read because the Epistles do usually contain instruction in the Mysteries of Salvation but the Gospel presents the Example of Jesus to the imitation whereof all our knowledge is but subservient Eph. 4.13 And to this may be referred surely that ancient custom of standing up at the reading of the Holy Gospel so frequently enjoined by the forementioned Liturgies r Legitur Evangelium stantibus omnibus cum timore reverentiâ Liturg St. Basil Stantes audiamus S. Evangelium Lit. St. Chrys Vide etiam Sozom hist l. 9. c. 19. Constit Clem. l. 2. Canon Apostol 61. and so universally practised among Christians both to express an extraordinary reverence to our Lords own words and also that we may shew our selves ready to obey by standing in a posture fit presently to execute his commands and to follow him whithersoever he calls us The Gospel hath such affinity to Christ that it is properly the word of God and bears the name of our Lord. Heb. 4.12 13. 1 Cor. 1.24 To receive Christ and to entertain his word with Faith is all one Finally to believe the Gospel is called eating Christs flesh and drinking his blood John 6. and is a kind of spiritual Communion Wherefore it is fitly read before this Sacrament and at the Altar even when there is no Celebration because we must hearken to it with the like reverence receive it with the like joy and return it with the like gratitude as if Jesus himself was sacramentally or visibly
relief to the poor And glad when u Temporalia mihi das restituam tibi aeterna Aug. de Verb. Dom. God whose Stewards they are affords them an opportunity to distribute some of their Riches to the needy This is the best use their Wealth can be put to being the laying up in store for them and theirs great blessings and thus they prudently make a good foundation on which they may build firm hopes of their being secured against the time to come and when the rich and uncharitable man is forsaken of his Wealth and Condemned this will so prevail that they who have been bountiful may attain through Gods mercy eternal life which is more worth than if they had purchased 10000. Worlds § 14. Hebrews 6.10 To give Alms is a sure foundation for Eternal Life which if any doubt because so small a gift alas cannot merit such a reward the Apostle proves it is sure to be rewarded in the persevering becaule of Gods Justice and the Truth of his promise Paraphrase You need not fear a sure reward for God hath obliged himself by his promise richly to requite it and sure you believe that God is not nor cannot be either so unrighteous to deny or so mindless that he will forget his promise Wherefore he will repay all your works of Charity and all the cost and labour which you have bestowed He cannot but with great delight accept this and all that proceedeth from that excellent principle of Love to God and your Neighbour which love to your Brethren he accounts you have shewed out of love to him and purely for his Names sake because they belonged to him They were relieved by you who have ministred necessaries to the Saints that were in need formerly and yet you are not weary of well-doing but finding it pleaseth him upon every Communion or Lords day you still â—o miniâ—ter to their supply § 15. Hebr. 13.16 This is to shew further that the Sacrifice of praise even in the Eucharist being not alone sufficient we must add the Sacrifice of Charity ver 15. and to assure us it shall be rewarded not only because of the promise but because it is so pleasing and agreeable to the very nature of God Paraphrase Though the legal Sacrifices be ceased and Christ hath expiated our sins by that one Offering of himself yet to do good to the Souls and to distribute of your wealth to relieve the bodily needs of your Brethren forget not especially in your solemn Addresses for with such Sacrifices of Charity under the Gospel also God is infinitely delighted and well-pleased because therein we imitate his mercy so that they will recommend all the rest of our services unto him § 16. 1 John 3.17 As our Duties are not so acceptable so neither can our love to God be so real without Charity to his Children and our Brethren in need whom he hath left poor on purpose to try our love to him Paraphrase He that pretends to Religion and yet is uncharitable is but an Hypocrite for whoso hath Mony Food or Raiment or any of this Worlds good things which he can spare from his own necessities and is not moved to pitty though he knoweth and seeth a poor Christian his Brother hungry destitute and naked if he have need and this unmerciful wretch cruelly refuseth to help him and shutteth out all thoughts that might breed commiseration or stir up his bowels of Compassion and so turn his Eyes from him How can such an one pretend or think there dwelleth any sparks of the love of God who is gracious to all in him that is so unlike the divine goodness and so little regards the poor whom God loves § 17. Tobit 4.7 Having now sufficiently pressed this Duty we do ex abundanti as the Antient Church use to do add two Exhortations out of the Apocrypha x Apocrypha pertinent ad ubertatem cognitionis Canonica ad Religionis Authoritatem Aug. de Civ dei l. 18. yet containing nothing in them but that to which the Canonical Scripture beareth witness Here is first An Exhortation almost the same with Deuter. 15.7 and Prov. 28.27 Secondly A motive which is grounded upon Acts 10.4 Paraphrase I counsel thee frequently and liberally to Give Alms to the poor out of thy goods which God hath given thee And never be so cruel to hide thine Eyes or turn thy face from the miseries or complaints of any poor Man But look with pitty hear with patience and relieve him with speed And then the face and favour of the Lord to whom thou must seek in all thy wants shall not be turned in anger away from thee But he will pitty and help thee in all thy distresses § 18. Tobit 4.8 9. This is also an Exhortation to Charity and is added to shew it is indispensably the duty of all to give somewhat more or less ver 8. agreeing with 1 Cor. 9.6 7. before and Mark 12.43 44. Secondly To assure us it shall be rewarded bountifully by God as above was said 1 Tim. 6.18 19. Paraphrase No Man can be excused from this Duty for all that God requireth is to Be merciful and Charitable after thy Power and according to thy Ability and the Estate that he hath given thee If thou hast much wealth therefore he expects thou shouldst Give plenteously for a very small gift is as nothing from a rich man But if thou hast little or no more than sufficeth thy self Do thy endeavour by labour and diligence to get somewhat and then trusting in God resolve chearfully and gladly to give Ephes 4.28 something out of that little which will be as acceptable from thee as greater gifts from others Ver. 9. And this is no unprofitable course for rich nor poor For so dispersing thine Alms gathered thou the surest riches for thy self Even the love of God and the Prayers of the poor which are a good reward for a small gift and will do thee more good in the Day of necessity and at the hour of Death than all the riches of the World § 19. Proverbs 19.17 If there remain yet the least scruple touching the reward of Charity because it is bestowed on a poor man who himself cannot make requital Here God doth first acknowledge the Debt and Secondly promise to pay it Paraphrase The mony given in Alms is surer laid up and better bestowed than that which we have in our hands for He that by liberal gifts sheweth that he hath pitty on the poor whom God hath left unprovided though they cannot repay him yet he is sure to be well requited because He lendeth it to him from whom we receive all even to the Lord whose peculiar care the poor are so that he accounts it done to himself Math. 25.40 He owns y Patrimonium tuum Deo foenera D. Cypr. Habuisti me largitorem fac me debitorem habeam te foeneratorem Aug. de Verb. Dom. the Debt And look what he layeth out upon
sociis pro aegrotis pro afflictis in summo pro omnibus iis qui egent Auxilio Cyril Catech. 5. exactly agreeing with this of our Church St. Chrysostome also saith That the Priest standing at the Altar did offer Prayers and Praises for all the World for those that are absent and those that are present for those that were before us and those that shall be after us while that Sacrifice is set forth Hom. 26. in Math. For which cause our Communion Office in the Rubrick before this Prayer appoints the Bread and Wine to be set upon the Table first and then stirs us all up with that solemn Let us pray for the whole Estate of Christs Church c. And if as we are worshipping without we remember him that is praying within the Vail and by imitating his general Charity do unite our supplications to his all-poweriul Intercession we may no doubt obtain the Iargest and the choicest blessings in the Treasures of Heaven §. 2. The Analysis of the Prayer for the Whole Church § 2. This Prayer as the beginning intimateth consisteth of Three main Parts with a Preface and Conclusion 1. The Preface shewing 1. To whom it is made Almighty and Everliving God 2. On what ground we make it Who by thy Holy Apostle hast taught us to make Prayers and Supplications and to give Thanks for all Men 2. Prayers for the Acceptance of 1. Our Alms We humbly beseech thee most mercifully to accept our Alms and Oblations 2. Our Petitions and to receive these our Prayers which we offer to thy Divine Majesty 3. Supplications and Intercessions made 1. Generally for 1. The whole Church together Beseeching thee to inspire continually the Vniversal Church with the Spirit of Truth Vnity and Concord 2. All its Members And grant that all they that do confess thy Holy Name may agree in the truth of thy Holy Word and live in Vnity and godly Love 3. Especially its Temporal Governours We beseech thee also to save and defend all Christian Kings Princes and Governours 2. Particularly for this Church viz. 1. The Governours of it 1. Temporal 1. The King Especially thy servant CHARLES our King that under him we may be godly and quietly governed 2. The Magistrates And grant unto his whole Council and to all that are put in Authority under him that c. 2. Spiritual Give grace O heavenly Father to all Bishops 2. Ministers and Curates that they may both by their Life and Doctrine set forth c. 3. The People 1. For the spiritual good of all 1. In these Duties And to all thy People give thy heavenly grace especially to this Congregation c. 2. In the rest of their lives truly serving thee in Righteousness and true c. 2. For the Afflicted Temporal Relief And we most humbly beseech thee of thy goodness O Lord to comfort and succour c. 4. Giving Thanks by 1. Praising God for the Saints departed And we also bless thy Holy Name for all thy Servants departed thâ—s Life in thy faith and fear 2. Applying it to our selves Beseeching thee to give us grace so to follow their good Examples that with them we may be Partakers of thy Heavenly Kingdom 5. The Conclusion of the Whole Grant this O Father for Iesus Christ his sake our onely Mediator and Advocate Amen A Practical Discourse upon the Prayer for the whole Church Sect. 3. Almighty and Everliving God who by thy Holy Apostle hast taught us to make Prayers and Supplications and to give thanks for all men These two glorious Attributes of Omnipotence and Eternity so clearly distinguish God from all Creatures and are so properly the Character of an infinite Majesty that he is sometimes called the Almighty Psal 91.1 Job 21.15 and sometimes He that liveth for ever Dan. 4.34 Rev. 4.9 without any other denomination wherefore they are placed here to strike a Religious reverence into us because of his infinite perfections to whom we make this Address and yet also to confirm our Faith and excite our hope that though we petition for so many persons and so great Blessings we shall be heard by him who is mod mighty in Power and who hath through all times preserved his Church and though one Generation goeth and another cometh yet he ever liveth and is always the same But that which may still encrease our hope is that this Almighty and Everliving God is not only able to grant these Prayers but hath expresly commanded us by his Apostle St. Paul to make them 1 Ep. Timothy 2.1 I exhort therefore that first of all Supplications Prayers Intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all Men Now had he not intended to grant them he would not have enjoined us to make them shall Esther fear to speak or to speed when the King commands her to ask Chap. 5.3 or will the Lord reject that Petition which is drawn up by his own Direction Behold how closely the Church hath followed the Apostles Directory for here in this form we have as the Analysis doth manifest first Prayers that is Petitions for Good d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophil in 1 Tim. 2. then Supplications or deprecations of evil in which are comprehended Intercessions and so not named here that is desiring some good or some deliverance from evil for others and lastly giving of thanks for mercies already received And surely all the Liturgies in the World ought to be composed by this Rule as ours most plainly is for the Morning and Evening offices do chiefly consist of Prayer The Letany is in the first part Supplication in the second Intercession and this Communion office may well be accounted Eucharistical being full of Hymns of Thanksgiving This for the kinds of our Requests now the Persons for whom we are to pray are all men which surely God commands in pursuance of those Precepts of Universal Charity of which this universal intercession is an excellent indication For no man can pray for all the World if he hates any one person he that prays for all must be in Charity with all and it is also an effectual means to oblige all people to us and tame the furies of our Enemies it being barbarous and highly infamous to prosecute those that heartily pray for our good And now if our hearts be filled with true Christian Charity such as is necessary for this holy Communion we cannot but rejoice to meet so excellent an opportunity to express our desire of the welfare of all Mankind Let us then with all possible Devotion offer up this Sacrifice Love this pious and prudent intercession which is enjoined by him that purposes to grant it and printed by Charitable Souls who will infinitely rejoice in the success thereof viz. the prosperity of the whole Church § 4. We humbly beseech thee most mercifully to accept our Alms and Oblations and to receive these our Prayers which we offer unto thy Divine Majesty It seems to have been
and Mountains of difficulties before he can reach that blissful Crown it is little less than Miracle that all men do not sooner or latter fall and fall from the faith and fear of God What prospect in the World can ravish us with greater pleasuâ—es or raise in us higher admirations of the divine goodness than to behold those that were once as frail and sinful as we are now advanced above Satans malice or Deaths Power and placed in the Regions of Joy and the Bosom of Jesus that we might not tremble or think it impossible to come thither also Doth not their felicity give life to our hopes and become a pledge of our own future glory why should we not then rejoice with them and delight our selves with the very news of our Brethrens happiness what other Communion is there between us and those blessed Spirits but that they in general pitty and wish well to us and we praise God with and for them And by thus meditating of their most desirable estate we shall learn to despise Death and long to be with such inviting Company nay languishing after the happy enjoyment of such noble Society for ever and ever Who can look up to these Mansions and not enquire for the path that leads thither and be strongly attracted to follow the steps of those who have so successfully trodden this way before This makes the pious Soul so passionately beg the divine grace that it may do as they have done live as they lived and die as they died so that what they are now it may be hereafter The Scythians as Lucian relates kept the memorials of their brave Men with great joy that so many might strive to become like unto them d Simus inter exempla quare deficimus quare desperamus quicquid fieri potuit potest Sen. ep 98. Magnorum virorum non minus quam praesentia utilis est memoria idem ep 102. And St. Augustine saith when any duty seemed difficult he was wont to think of the Saints of former times and he imagined they derided his sloath saying Tu non poteris c. Canst not thou do what those Men nay those Women once did that which hath been effected is not impossible Would we make this use of our faithful Brethren departed their memory and example would be as profitable as if we had their bodily presence with us and the remembrance of their glory would strongly excite us to follow their good example till we came with them to partake of that Heavenly Kingdom in the mean time we shall never want matter for to praise God in their behalf since his truth and mercy to them is the confirmation of our Faith the encouragement of our duty and gives us in contemplation an antepast of our happiness before we come to the full enjoyment of it § 13. Grant this O Father for Iesus Christ his sake our only Mediator and Advocate Amen This general Conclusion of all our Prayers we should not remark particularly here but that the Mass hath thrust in the names of the B. Virgin and other Saints e Et omnium Sanctorum tuorum quorum meritis precibusque concedas in Canone Missae Rom. into the Supplications through whose Merits and Prayers they intercede even in this place where there is a lively Commemoration of the Death of Christ our only Mediator which is not only the holding a Candle to the Sun but seems to intimate that to plead in the Virtue of our Lords Passion is not sufficient that that intercession by which the Holy Virgin and all other Saints became accepted by God was not alone forceable enough But we desire no other Mediator nor need no other Advocate 1 Tim. 2.5 but our Lord Jesus Christ who is here represented nor do we doubt to ask all these Mercies for all these Persons since we approach our Heavenly Father with his dear and only beloved Son in our Arms wherefore let us bless the name of God who hath chosen such a Master of Requests to present our Prayers and put such an Argument in our Mouths when we approach unto him Let us look to the holy Symbols and remember our great High Priest while we offer up the Intercessions with a great humility and a sprightly devotion because our God will not nay cannot deny those that thus come unto him The Paraphrase of the Prayer for the whole Church § 14. O Almighty and Everliving God who art able to help all Persons always and in all things We are unworthy to ask for our selves and yet we are incouraged to intercede for others since by thy holy Apostle Saint Paul thou hast taught us in our daily Assemblies to make Prayers to obtain good Intercessions and Supplications to remove evil in behalf of all the World And to give thanks for the Mercies received by all men Believing therefore thy willingness to grant these things which thou commandest us to ask We humbly disclaim our own Merits beseech thee for Jesus sake and by the Vertue of his Passion here set forth most mercifully ** This to be omitted when there is no Collection ** to accept this poor acknowledgment of thy bounty and testimony of our love in these our Alms to the Poor and Oblations to thy Ministers intreating thee also to hear and ** This to be omitted when there is no Collection ** to receive all our former Petitions especially these our Prayers for all People which we offer as the evidence of our Universal Charity most heartily to thy Divine Majesty who art all-sufficient to supply the whole World To thy goodness therefore we come Beseeching thee though miraculous gifts are ceased yet to inspire continually with such grace the whole body of the Vniversal Church spread over all the Earth that it may be quickened with the most holy Spirit which teacheth the Principles of truth and produceth Vnity in the Faith and Concord in the affections of thy people And grant that all the Members of thy Church that do profess thy true Religion and confess to believe in thy holy Name laying aside their animosities may agree all their differences and so fully rest in the infallible truth of thy Holy Word and its determinations of all necessary things that notwithstanding some lesser varieties they may have mutual peace And live as Children of the same Father in Vnity without Schism or Heresie in Charity and godly love without Malice or Envy among them And because thy Church cannot well subsist on Earth without temporal Guardians We beseech thee also in order to the common good to save the Souls and defend the Persons and Rights of all Christian Magistrates who in their several Dominions have or ought to have supream governance of the Church whether they be absolute Kings or free Princes or else Rulers and Governours in popular States But as our duty interest and affection do peculiarly oblige us We pray thee Especially to save and defend Him who
of our Lips can be sufficient we are here prescribed another way to make our thanks to be continual viz. by glorifying God in our Lives And this we may effectually do 1. By resigning up our selves to the disposal of his providence 2. By yielding obedience to all his holy Commandments 1. By our submission to his will we glorifie him by declaring that through these tokens of his favour we are so satisfied of his Wisdom and his Love that we can be confident that whatsoever he shall appoint is good for us We tell all the World that whatsoever comes from God is just and holy wisely ordered graciously designed and full of mercy 2. By our serving him in Holiness we express how highly we are obliged to him how sure we are of the excellency of his Laws and how fully we are Conquered by his amazing love and thus the praises of God are writ in plain and real Characters in the lives of contented and righteous men so that all the World may read them The Eucharist is but for one hour the Hymns will soon be over but by Submission and Obedience we may glorifie our God continually and every moment Amen SECT II. Of the immediate Invitation § 1. THE Guests being come and the provisions ready it was the office of the Governour of the Feast 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 John 2.9 to make them sit down which place the Disciples sustained in that miraculous feeding of the 5000. John 6.10 as an Emblem that they and their Successors should do it ever after in this Coelestial Banquet Thus our Church according to the Custom of the Primitive Christians orders the Priest to invite the Communicants to draw near So in that antient Book which bears the name of Dionysius the Areop we read the holy Man used to say Come my Brethren unto this holy Communion a Dionys Eccles Hier. cap. 3. And in the Liturgies of St. Chrysostome and St. James Come near with fear and Faith b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Liturg S. Chrys And in the Constitutions Coming in Order with reverence and holy fear c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Constit Apost l. 2. c. 57. Yet we do not only call men to this holy Feast but withal we mind them again of those qualifications without which God will not accept and receive them We do not saith St. Chrysost d Chrysost hom 24. in 1. ad Corinth exhort men to destroy themselves by impudent and rude approaches but that they may come with fear and purity unto the Lord We tell them all that unless they have truly repented and are in perfect Charity and have intire purposes of amendment they can neither come with Faith receive with Comfort nor depart with a blessing In the Olympick Games the Cryer by Proclamation enquired If any could accuse the Agonist to have been a Slave a Thief or of Evil Conversation for no such were allowed to strive there But our Herald saith the aforesaid Author makes his appeal to our own Consciences and makes us our own Accusers e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys ad Heb. 9. Eth. for every man best knows his own heart and each one is most concerned for his own safety therefore let us be ingenuous and deal truly between God and our Souls in this affair if our own hearts tell us we are not thus qualified in any measure we ought to forbear if we be in any tolerable degrees thus disposed I may say as they once to the blind man Mark 10.49 Arise be of good Comfort he calleth you When the Servant calls you in the name and by the rules of his great Master you are to repute it as the very words of Christ himself and to believe that he invites you It is recorded as the great honour of the famous Pindar f Scholias Graec. in ejus vitâ Lil. Greg. Giraldus Dialog 9. that the Priest of Apollo did by order from the God invite him frequently to Feast upon the remainders of his Sacrifices But how much more honour and Comfort hath the true Christian in being thus lovingly called by Jesus himself Come ye blessed of the Lord draw near with Faith and Feast with holy Joy and Comfort Let not the sense of former sins which you have repented of keep you back but bring you hither more humbly for the very next duty you are to perform is to ease your Soul of those sad remembrances by a meek and hearty Confession concerning which the Church gives you a full direction in two words 1. For the temper of your Souls that you make it with humility and Contrition 2. For the posture of your Bodies that you do it upon your bended knees as Shimei confest his Treason to King David 2 Sam. 19.18 and as all Criminals Petition mortal Princes for their Pardon Put therefore your outward and inward man into this posture so shall you be fit to repeat the adjoining Confession to which we shall turn our discourse when we have given you the Analysis and Paraphrase of this Invitation and so made it sufficiently plain to all The Analysis of the Invitation Sect. 2. This Invitation consists of three parts The Qualifications required in those that are invited viz. 1. Repentance Ye that do truly and earnestly repent you of your sins 2. Charity And art in Love and Charity with your Neighbours 3. Holy purposes And intend to lead a new life following the Commandments of God and walking from henceforth in his holy ways 2. The Invitation it self Draw near with Faith and take this Holy Sacrament to your Comfort 3. A direction as to 1. The duty next to be done And make your humble Confession to Almighty God 2. The manner of doing it Meekly kneeling upon your knees The Paraphrase of the Invitation § 3. O all Ye that do sincerely and truly passionately and earnestly repent you of all your former iniquities and your sins which ye have committed And ye that have cast away all malice and are in a perfect state of Love and Charity with every one of your Neighbours And ye that condemning your by-past folly do resolve and intend to lead a new life taking Jesus for your guide following the Commandments of God fully and walking from henceforth unblameably in his holy ways in the name of Christ I bid you that are so qualified to draw near to this holy Table with Faith in your Saviours mercy and take this Holy Sacrament the pledge of his love to your great and endless Comfort only because you must have no secret accusations of Conscience to disturb your joy in this blessed Feast Open your heart to the Lord once more And make your humble Confession with great sorrow and contrition to Almighty God and that in the lowlyest posture meekly kneeling upon your knees to beg your Pardon from the King of Kings SECT III. Of the Confession § 1. BEsides those publick Confessions in the reconciliation of notorious Offenders
now raised up again by the mercies of God and the merits of Jesus walk after a new manner in all religious and holy Conversation so should our deliverance be for the glory of his holy name through Christ Jesus for whatsoever Lusts we shall conquer or whatsoever good we shall perform the praise must wholly redound to him who did revive and restore us And surely we shall find it a most happy change from the slavery of sin the bondage of Satan and the fear of Hell to be acquainted with the pleasures of holiness the peace of a good Conscience and the love of God wherefore though this be the last let it not be thought the least of these Petitions but let us beg it with such Devotion as may attest our sincerity in all the other parts of this Confession so will our Heavenly Father grant them all to us through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen The Paraphrase of the Confession § 9. O Almighty God we thy poor sinful Creatures full of anguish and confusion for our offences against thy Majesty do make bold to come unto thee because thou art the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ and for his sake inclinable to shew us mercy Thou art the Maker of us and all things and thou hatest nothing which thou hast made but hast pity on all the works of thy hands so that we are encouraged to make our supplication unto thee O thou judge of all men for it is in thy power for ever to acquit or to condemn us We tremble and blush to be found Sinners against so infinite a power and goodness but we must not add Hypocrisie to our disobedience Wherefore We acknowledge freely and bewail most bitterly our manifold offences of all kinds from the least of our Sins to the greatest of our Crimes and wickedness All and every one of which we long and frequently from time to time with many provoking aggravations most grievously have committed O Lord who can tell how oft we have offended * Here call to mind some of the greatest of thy particular sins in thoughts words or actions By thought in vain and evil imaginations by word in false uncharitable or blasphemous speeches and by Deed in ungodly unjust or intemperate actions For alas by all and every one of these ways we have daily sinned against thy Divine Majesty turning thereby thy loving kindness into displeasure and provoking thee to anger we have given thee cause most justly to let loose thy wrath and indignation against us to our utter ruine if thy mercy do not help us Our guilt is evident our danger apparent and our estate is most deplorable wherefore We do most passionately and earnestly repent us that ever we did commit them And are heartily sorry with all our Souls for these our so many and so abominable misdoings When we look upon the baseness and presumption of these vile offences The remembrance of them doth pierce our hearts with shame and sorrow and is most grievous unto us When we behold thy Favour which we have forfeited and Eternal Damnation which we have deserved thereby the burden of them presseth down our Souls with a load of terror and amazement that is intolerable Yet since thou callest all that are heavy laden we must not despair of thy pity but in this great distress we do beseech thee to Have mercy upon us and since our necessity forceth us to be importunate we will cry again Have mercy upon us We know thou art a most merciful Father though by sin we are unworthy to be called thy Children yet we hope thy bowels will yern upon us We lie prostrate and helpless begging of thee for thy dearly beloved Son our Lord Iesus Christ his sake and by the merits of his Cross and Passion to forgive us freely and fully for all that is past from the beginning of our life until this very moment Lord make us instances of thy mercy And grant when we have received so excellent and undeserved a favour that we may be so engaged thereby as that for ever hereafter we may beware of falling back into the like sin and misery Convert us we beseech thee as well as pardon us and enable us most obediently to serve and most intirely to please thee by spending the rest of our time in newness of life and all holy conversation Which through the help of thy grace we do here vow and resolve upon that this mighty change may tend to the honour and glory of thy Name who hast so wonderfully delivered us All which we most heartily beg through Iesus Christ our Lord to whose intercession for us do thou say Amen and it shall be to us according to thy word Amen SECT IV. Of the Absolution § 1. HE must be wholly a stranger to the Discipline of the Antient Church who knows not how great a care was taken that no publick offender might partake of these mysteries until by a long tryal and a great humiliation he had received an Absolution as publick as his crime had been so that it was a mighty and scandalous irregularity in S. Cyprians time a Nondum poenitentiâ actâ nondum exomologesi factâ nondum manu eis ab Episcopo Clero impositâ Eucharistia iis datur Cypr. de laps that lapsed persons by the favour of the Confessors and Martyrs were in some places suffered to Communicate without the solemn Absolution which yet was rectified afterwards b Vbique mysterii ordo servatur ut prius per remissionem vulneribus medicina tribuatur postea alimonia mensae coelestis exuberet Ambr. in Luc. But this godly Discipline being now every where laid aside it is so much the more necessary to supply it by this general Confession and Absolution Concerning which in general the Reader may consult what is said before Compan to the Temp. SECT IV. § 1. And as to this particular form it shall suffice to note that it is in imitation of that antient form of blessing c Benedictio ista pronuncianda est à sacerdote stante facie ad populum versâ manibus elevatis altâ voce in nomine Dei proprio RR. ap Fag Numb 6.24 c. being expressed by way of Prayer as there The Lord bless thee c. And since it is certain there is such a Power vested in the Ministers of the Gospel to support the spirits of a dejected Penitent by antedating his pardon in the name of God there can be no fitter opportunity to exercise this power than now when so many poor humbled Sinners are kneeling before God and begging forgiveness at his hands Then it becomes the Priest in Confidence of his Masters Mercy to give them his best wishes and with more than an ordinary Prayer to signifie as well as ask their pardon You have said with David We have sinned wherefore God hath sent his Minister like another Nathan to assure you that He hath also put away the iniquity of your
sin 2 Sam. 12 13. And though David might by his Faith in the Promises have found some Comfort yet neither so sure nor so sweet a consolation as when he receives it from the mouth of a special Messenger So likewise if we would chuse to believe rather than dispute it would be a powerful Cordial to every troubled Spirit by a particular Officer from the King of Heaven to be thus saluted and he that cannot value this Absolution from the Priest can no other way receive satisfaction to his doubts and fears unless he expect to be assured of his Remission by an immediate Revelation or can be content to stay till the day of Judgment for the Resolution of this great enquiry Only let us but be careful that our Repentance be sincere and then we may with much joy hear the following Absolution which very briefly we shall now explain The Analysis of the Absolution Sect. 2. The Absolution hath three parts 1. The Original from whom it springs Almighty God our Heavenly Father 2. The ground on which it depends His promise 1. The motive to it who of his great mercy hath promised 2. The matter of it forgiveness of sins 3. The conditions annexed to it to all them that with hearty repentance and true Faith turn unto him 3. The Petitionary blessing or Absolution it self for 1. The Averting the Evil of 1. Sin Have mercy upon you 2. Punishment Pardon and deliver you from all your sins 2. The obtaining of good both 1. Present Confirm and strengthen you in all goodness 2. Future and bring you to everlasting life through Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Practical Discourse of the Absolution § 3. Almighty God our Heavenly Father who of his great mercy hath promised forgiveness of sins to all them that with hearty Repentance and true Faith turn unto him The Spiritual Physician doth here proceed most regularly in the Cure of poor Sinners that labour under a burden of guilt and sorrow for he first premises such Considerations as may dispose them to believe that the following Blessing shall be ratified and the Absolution confirmed by a higher Power For first He minds them that he who is Almighty and only can forgive Mar. 2.7 is also their Heavenly Father and full of Compassion toward them yea like as a Father pittyeth his own Children even so is the Lord merciful unto them that fear him Psal 103.13 But of this before Secondly therefore that he is not only engaged by his affections but by his truth also to deliver them for he hath solemnly promised Isai 55.7 Ezek. 18.30 John 3.16 c. that he would freely forgive and fully be reconciled to all such as unfeignedly grieved for their sins and wholly cast themselves upon his mercy so that they cannot doubt of a pardon if they believe him to be faithful that promised d Qui credidit promittenti fidentèr promissum repetit promissum quidem ex misericordiâ sed jam ex justitiâ persolvendum Bern. de gr lib. It was indeed only his great mercy which moved him to promise this because he might most righteously have taken the first forfeiture made to his justice but now this gracious Promise is made by him that cannot lie there is a certainty of the performance He knew that as the stroke of his Vengeance was intolerable so the expectation thereof was terrible and amazing wherefore he promised forgiveness on purpose to prevent the despair of such as were willing to amend that by so great a favour he might engage them to obedience and encourage them in all the parts of duty Yet because it almost exceeds belief that ever God should receive such grievous Sinners and they that are most truly humble are most apt to Question this therefore is all this premised to prepare them with faith and hope to entertain that which follows § 4. Have mercy upon you pardon and deliver you from all your sins confirm and strengthen you in all goodness and bring you to everlasting life through Iesus Christ our Lord Amen When Jesus was to raise up Lazarus from the dead he commanded the men who stood by to remove the stone from the Grave and afterwards to unloose the Grave-Cloâ—hs even so though he only do give life to Sinners e Absolutio hominis in Dei miseratione non in hominis potestate est Ambr. in Job l. 1. c 6. yet he is pleased to use the Ministry of his Servants in the Dispensation of their Pardon f Nostrûm est onera removere illius exuere de sepulchro exutos vinculis idem de poen l. 2. cap. 7. The Prayer is made by the Priest but then it is directed to the Divine Majesty and though according to the antient manner g Misereatur vestri omnipotens Deus dimittat vobis omnia peccata vestra Missal it be put into the form of a request yet being grounded on the promise and agreeable both to the nature and design of God it hath a mighty force and ascends Heaven Cum privilegio it is like the Fathers Blessing which hath always been believed to convey as well as crave the Benediction thus Isaac blessed Jacob Gen. 27.28 29. in the Imperative Mood God give thee c. Let the people c. Be thou Lord c. And thus Jacob blessed Josephs Sons Gen. 48.15 16. and the Lord accomplished all the particulars Let it therefore chear your hearts ye contrite ones to hear this Blessing from your spiritual Father for behold it contains all that you do need or can desire Are you miserable here is mercy are you sinful here is pardon are you liable to punishment here is deliverance are you desirous but unable to do good here is strength and confirmation are you fearful of Death and Hell here is Heaven and Everlasting Life And all this asked of God by one that he hath Commissionated to make this Prayer so that your only care is that your Repentance be such as your Minister believes it to be and then this Absolution shall certainly be confirmed in the High Court of Heaven and not one word thereof shall fall to the ground The Paraphrase of the Absolution § 5. Let not the multitude of your sins discourage any of you who are truly grieved for them for I am bound to speak peace to you in the name of Almighty God against whom you have offended because he is our Heavenly Father infinite in mercy and loving kindness And you may believe this the more firmly since it is he who of his great mercy and pity to poor Sinners so freely and frequently hath promised to grant forgiveness of sins and a gracious Pardon to all them that with hearty Repentance for their grievous offences and true Faith in his mercy and the merits of Jesus do turn unto him to seek remission and obtain his favour I his Substitute believing you to be such do according to mine office beseech and require
thy mercy These are thy words O Christ for thou hast spoken them and they are mine because thou hast spoken them for my Salvation O sweet and amiable words in the Ears of a poor Sinner by which thou invitest an indigent starved wretch to partake of thy holy body But who am I O Lord that I should dare to come the Angels and Archangels reverence thee thy Saints and holy ones fear before thee and yet thou sayst unto me Come c. unless thou hadst said it who could have believed it to be true unless thou hadst commanded it who durst have attempted this approach T. à Kempis de imitat Chris l. 4. c. 1. The Paraphrase O ye of contrite hearts Hear with joy and wonder what comfortable words he whose love you so much long for even our Saviour Christ himself saith to all such as you that truly grieving for your sins do turn to him to find mercy Lo he pities you and most affectionately calls upon you saying Come unto me with a perswasion that I am able and desirous to help you O all ye that travel with much grief and pains for your sins and are heavy laden with the apprehensions of my anger against you for them be not discouraged for I will bear this burden my self and I will by my sufferings make your peace with my Father and so refresh you according to your hearts desire § 3. So God loved the World that he gave his only-begotten Son to the end that all that believe in him should not perish but have Everlasting Life S. John 3.16 The second Assertion in the Absolution is confirmed by this Sentence viz. that Almighty God will forgive all that with true Faith turn unto him If he were willing to grant pardon on easier terms yet a man void of Faith could not receive it It was an absurd practice in some places of old to give the Sacrament to the Dead who had been surprized by mortal sickness and prevented to receive it living but an antient Council condemned this h Placuit ut corporibus defunctorum Eucharistia non detur Dictum est enim à Domino Accipite c. Conc. 3. Carthag Can. 6. because the Dead could not as Christ commands Take and eat it And for the same reason a Man without Faith cannot receive Absolution because he is dead i Vnde mors in animâ quia non est fides unde mors in corpore quia non est anima ergo animae tuae anima fides est Aug. in Johan void of all spiritual life and power to apprehend the benefit thereof Therefore if our sins and sorrows have wrapt us in such mists that we can scarce discern the light of Gods countenance let us throughly meditate of this one Sentence and the glories of it will dispel them all For here it doth appear that he first loved us and gave the noblest testimony of the biggest affection to us for he gave not a Creature nor a Servant a Prophet nor an Angel for us but he gave up his Son his only Son to a cruel Death for the World his Enemies and liable to his justice and all this for no other end but that we and the rest of this miserable World might be freed from the Damnation which we had deserved and be advanced to that glory which we could never have expected And do we still question his willingness to save us Did he give such a price to purchase our Salvation when we were Enemies and shall we think he will cast us into those flames out of which we were so dearly rescued now when we beg his mercy Did he send his Son on purpose to preserve us and will he lose his end in so glorious a work Away ye misgiving thoughts dishonour not the incomparable goodness of God hath he not given more when he gave his own Son for all than to grant life to a few for his sake Oh do not question that Love which is sealed with such an Evidence but believe admire embrace it and be thankful The Paraphrase Dost thou fear O my Soul that God will not have mercy on thee behold he that best knew his Fathers mind affirms that So wonderfully God loved his miserable Enemies even all the Sinners in the World that he when none else could help them freely gave up not some of his noblest Servants but his only-begotten and intirely beloved Son to die for them And this he did to the end that we and such like poor Sinners even all that believe this Jesus is able and willing to save them and so trust in him might be delivered from the wrath to come for all this was done on purpose that we should not perish in endless Torments but have everlasting life in his Heavenly Kingdom Doubt not then but this design shall be accomplished in thy Salvation § 4. This is a true saying and worthy of all men to be received that Iesus Christ came into the World to save Sinners 1 Timoth. 1.15 Although there needs nothing to confirm what Jesus saith yet since he himself was pleased to take his Apostles for his Witnesses we have here brought in two of the principal of them to avouch this excellent truth viz. That there is mercy for Penitent Sinners And first the certainty thereof is averred by Saint Paul who had found the experience of it and was himself so great an instance thereof that he thinks ver 16. no sinner will ever despair that can but consider how great an offender he was and yet that he found mercy whereupon he doth with great confidence assert this as a tried and infallible Maxim and because all men have sinned he propounds it as a Truth which every man is concerned to receive as unquestionably and believe as firmly as the Cabala l Cabala fig. receptam doctrinam qui docet enim apud Judaeos tradere dicitur qui discit recipere Vid. Ham. annot in 1 Tim. 1. Drus praeterit l. 8. was amongst the Scholars of Jewish Rabbins And he urgeth this the more vigorously because we are so apt to object what such as we shall we ever partake of such a happiness Yes such as you for our Lord Jesus had no other errand into this World no other design in putting on our nature no other end in dying than to save Sinners He came not to call the Righteous Math. 9.13 but to seek and save those which were lost Chap. 18.11 and he assures us there is more joy in Heaven at the difficult and unexpected Salvation of a Sinner than at the more likely and more looked for glorification of many righteous Luke 15.7 But you say you are grievous Sinners Are not all the World so if there had been no Sinners there had needed no Saviour if Sinners cannot be saved no man did ever enter Heaven if sin be unpardonable Jesus hath died in vain Do not argue against your own felicity but be assured if you
sight to see servants riding and Princes beside them walking on foot Eccles 10.7 But how much more abominable is it to see such evil and base servants as we are with proud hearts pretending to celebrate the memorial of the greatest and best Master who humbled himself to the death of the Cross if we are righteous why did he suffer if we be sinners why are we bold and puffed up be assured that this sin alone if there were no other would turn this Banquet into Poison or make us at least incapable to receive any benefit from it 2. Consider the great dignity of these terrible mysteries had we the purity of an Angel and the affections of a Seraphin we could scarce be worthy to come so near to a most holy and All-seeing God to lay such claim to the blessed Jesus and all his Merits and to be so wholly united to him as we are designing in this admirable Communion But thirdly We are so far from such excellencies that our late Confession is yet fresh in our memories wherein we did most truly accuse our selves of many and grievous offences and our own Conscience will check the vanity of all proud imaginations of our own merit by discovering to us that we have done very little good and that very imperfectly yet even that also by the grace of God and not by our own Power d Debetur enim merces si fiant sed gratia quae non debetur praecedit ut fiant Aug. in Julian How then can we fancy our selves worthy to make this approach Especially if we remember Fourthly That our preparation it self the only remaining suppletory hath been very imperfect if not deficient and who is there that can shew such a tender heart such strong desires so lively affections and so vigorous a Faith as this Ordinance doth require Upon all which accounts we have no reason to come presumptuously trusting in our own Righteousness We should be more likely to fly from this holy Table with shame and fear but only that we hear our God is merciful 1 King 20.31 and that Jesus will in no wise cast out those who come unto him John 6.37 We have manifold and great miseries and he hath manifold and great mercies and by these we are invited Our own righteousness is nothing the merits of others are insufficient for themselves but the compassions of God can never fail to these we fly for refuge and oh happy venture to take sanctuary in the divine mercy where there is no hazard e Pulchrum periculum confugere ad Deum D. Bern. but that he who is mercy it self should not pity us Wherefore behold O Lord we come unto thee thou mightest indeed justly censure this approach of such wretched Creatures to be the most daring presumption but we beseech thee condemn not the action but behold the motives that drew us hither even our own miseries and thy mercies and help us to supply in humility what we want in worthiness let our mean and just opinion of our selves our bended knees and broken hearts shew that we durst not have adventured so nigh if thy mercy had not held out the golden Scepter to us § 4. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the Crumbs under thy Table but thou art the same Lord whose property is always to have mercy Our Saviour adviseth us even at an ordinary Feast to take the lowest room Luke 14.10 and Solomon warneth us not to put our selves too forward in the presence of a King Prov. 25.6 How much more then is it our duty to think the meanest place too good for us at this Heavenly Feast of the King of Kings How scornfully do the great ones of this World sometimes look upon their poor Brethren thinking their footstool f Jam. 2.3 Populus terrae scabellum pedûm Pharisaeorum Proverb Hebr. or a place among their Dogs good enough for them Job 30.1 and is there not a much greater distance between God and us When Mephibosheth was admitted to King Davids Table he in great humility compares himself to a dead Dog 2 Sam. 9.7 8. but we have much more reason to esteem our selves as such before the Majesty of Heaven Had we always been dutiful and obedient Children we might then have expected to have been fed at our Fathers Table but we have been Rebels and therefore with Adonibezeks Captives might justly be made to gather up the Crumbs Jud. 1.7 under the feet of our great Lord Nay by our Anger Luxury Intemperance and especially by falling back into our old sins g Canis ad vomitum rediens Prov. 26.11 2 Pet. 2.22 we have behaved our selves like unto Dogs and therefore how dare we challenge the Childrens Bread We may well confess with the poor Canaanitish Woman that the Crumbs and Reliques h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eurip Cress 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist 2. de gen which are the part of Dogs are too good for us That is the common mercies of food and raiment health and habitations and the least measures of grace and comfort which are but small i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophyl in Math. 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nazianz ep 45. considering the Power of God and his bounty to his own Children but very great considering our unworthiness If the Lord will please but to give us these necessary things and to bestow so much grace and comfort on us as will support us and encourage us in our Repentance we will be very thankful although we be not filled with extasies and assurance It is true this Heavenly bread is too good for us but only that our merciful Father is admirable in his condescensions he looks at our necessities but weigheth not our merits and doth most graciously receive us wherefore we will lie down in the dust and be as vile as may be before so good a God our acknowledgments shall lay us as low as ever our sins have done we will profess we are unworthy of the least favours that so we may the better set out the divine goodness which vouchsafeth to give us the greatest And no doubt they that thus humble themselves sincerely shall certainly be exalted Luke 14.11 For our God is always gracious and ever the same whose property it is to have mercy upon humble and contrite ones § 5. Grant us therefore gracious Lord so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Iesus Christ and to drink his blood that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body and our Souls washed through his most precious blood and that we may evermore dwell in him and be in us Amen In the midst of these our acknowledgments of our own unworthiness we are seasonably minded that we have a gracious Lord who is apt to pitty us even when we are justly miserable He sees our bodies are defiled and our Souls polluted and both empty and void of Christ and he hath appointed this
so afterwards that we may retain the benefits which we have received as the more particular consideration thereof will shew The Analysis of the First Prayer in the Post-Communion § 2. This First Prayer consisteth of Three Parts 1. A Supplication to the Father 1. For the Acceptance of our Sacrifice of Praise O Lord our heavenly Father we thy humble Servants entirely desire thy Fatherly Goodness mercifully to accept this our Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving 2. For the Benefits of the Oblation made by Jesus Christ Most humbly beseeching thee to grant that by the Merits and Death of thy Son Iesus Christ and through Faith in his Blood we and all thy whole Church may receive remission of our Sins and all other benefits of his Passion 2. An Oblation of our selves by 1. A solemn Dedication 1. The thing dedicated And here we offer and present unto thee O Lord our selves our souls and bodies 2. The end of the Dedication to be a reasonable holy and lively Sacrifice unto thee 2. A Petition for Grace to make good this Vow Humbly beseeching thee that all we who are Partakers of this Holy Communion may be full filled with thy Grace and heavenly Benediction 3. An Act of Humility expressed in 1. Acknowledging our unworthiness And although we be unworthy through our manifold Sins to offer unto thee any Sacrifice 2. Petitioning to be mercifully accepted yet we beseech thee to accept this our bounden Duty and Service not weighing our Merits but pardoning our Offences 3. A Doxology to the whole Blessed Trinity Through Iesus Christ our Lord by whom and with whom in the Vnity of the Holy Ghost all Honour and Glory be unto thee O Father Almighty world without end Amen A Practical Discourse upon the first Prayer with Meditations after the Communion § 3. O Lord our Heavenly Father we thy humble Servants entirely desire thy Fatherly goodness mercifully to accept this our Sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving The devout Soul being newly refreshed with these Heavenly Comforts and even ravished with joy to find him whom she loved and longed after desires now an opportunity to express her gratitude But alas what have we to return we can make no requital only we must acknowledge the favour and offer up a Sacrifice of Praise for it and since this is all we can do we had need do this very well but if we reflect upon the manner even of this Oblation we shall easily perceive there have been many defects so that without a merciful acceptance it could never avail us in the sight of God how apparent is it that we have not praised God so affectionately and unfeignedly as so infinite a mercy doth deserve Wherefore if we be really his humble Servants the first thought in our hearts and the first word in our mouths will be the confession of our failings even in the whole office from the beginning to the end for the Ancients called the whole Communion the Sacrifice of Praise c Ecclesia immolat in Corpore Christi sacrificium laudis Aug. l. 1. in advers legis cap. 20. as our Church here doth whereas the Romanists only call it a Sacrifice d Praesta ut hoc sacrificium quod oculis tuae Majestatis indignus obtuli Missal Rom. without any other addition but it is not the Sacrifice of Christ which we here speak of for that is always pleasing to God and was absolutely perfect but it is our own Peace-offering in Commemoration thereof in which there have bâ—en many failings and therefore we desire and beg that it may be accepted in mercy so that our infirmities may not deprive us of the benefit and the comfort thereof to which purpose let us thus Meditate When I compare thy acts with mine Holy Jesus I am exceedingly ashamed to behold so vast a disproportion thou givest me thy merits and graces thy life and thy love at present and hast promised thy Kingdom to me in reversion and I have scarce returned this with the intire devotion of one half hour Oh how little is my obdurate heart affected with the sense of my own guilt the fears of the divine wrath or the apprehensions of thy sufferings Yet Lord I do desire and did endeavour to praise thee so that I hope thou wilt consider my infirmities with much compassion and measure my services not by the exactnâ—ss of the performance but by the sincerity of my wishes so shall I be accepted before thy Heavenly Father and by the mercy of that acceptance be obliged unto thee for ever § 4. Most humbly beseeching thee to grant that by the merits and death of thy Son Iesus Christ and through Faith in his Blood we and all thy whole Church may obtain remission of our sins and all other benefits of his Passion Our Heavenly Father doth not at any time require our praises meerly for the advancement of his own glory but that we may thereby be the more fit to receive greater benefits from him e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ch. in Gen. hom 52. thus in the design of this holy Sacrament he doth not only intend it as a Sacrifice of Praise for the Death of Christ but as a means to convey the blessings thereof to us Wherefore we must in the next place petition that we may find the happy effects of our Lords Passion and then we shall have good grounds to turn this memorial thereof into Eucharist and Thanksgiving We have beheld that sacred body broken and that precious blood spilt in a mystery which is sufficient to attone our sins and the sins of the whole Church and we have now perceived our own need of mercy and we are in perfect Charity with all Christian people so that it is now most proper for us to pray that that so excellent a price may not be paid in vain so glorious an offering may not want its due effects But that by this Sacrifice as the meritorious and moving cause and by our Faith therein as the instrumental we and the whole Church may find remission at the hands of God This is the great end of our Communicating and if we would most earnestly intreat for it we may thus enlarge our selves Gracious Lord we have beheld the efficacious and all-saving Sacrifice which thy Son hath offered for us we have remembred it and blessed thy name for it as well as we were able though not so highly as we are obliged to do f Gratias agimus Deus omnipotens non quantum debemus sed quantum possumus Liturg. S. Clement For the benefits thereof are inestimable Oh let them not all be lost unto us for want of Faith to believe and receive them There is no want of merit in Jesus to deserve no want of mercy in thee to bestow remission Oh let there not want in us or in any of those for whom Christ died grace to accept this Pardon Behold Lord how we struggle under a load of guilt
back again to thy self better than I received thee There needs no application but that every Communicant do as sincerely make oblation of their Souls and Bodies to God for this the poorest may give and yet this is more acceptable than thousands of Gold and Silver If these reasons do convince us of the justice and the necessity of our making this Oblation we may learn in the next place from the very form in this Prayer how and in what manner it may be done for we are taught therein I. What it is which we must offer viz. our whole selves not only our Bodies but our Souls also n Quodâ—si corpus quo inferiore tanquam famulo utitur anima sacrificium est quanto magis anima ipsa cum se refert ad Deum August Deinde cum plena resignatione integrâ voluntate offer teipsum in honorem nominis mei corpus tuum scil animam mihi fidelitèr câ—mmittendo Tho. à Kemp. de imit Christi l. 4. c. 6. for we consist of both these God hath created and redeemed both and each of them in their capacity can do him service wherefore we must give him both or he will accept neither o Pectora vestra duanon admittentia curas Juven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Macrob. Saturn because he hath no equal he will have no Rival All the members of our Bodies and all the powers of our Souls our Limbs and Senses our Will and Affections our Reason and Understanding must be dedicated to him for so long as any of these are under the bondage of sin the rest cannot be intirely the Servants of God Math. 6.24 II. To what end we make this Oblation of our selves First To be a reasonable Sacrifice The offering up of our Souls and Bodies since we are rational Creatures is not like the Sacrifices of brute Beasts by dying but by living agreeable to the will of God and the rules of right reason p 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epicharmus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Socrat. ap Stobaeum for reason as it is inlightned in us Christians doth direct us to approve of all things that are good and doth attest and confirm the Duties which God requires He therefore makes himself a reasonable Sacrifice who doth live prudently and piously and walk according to the dictates of the best reason he that is religious and just sober and humble meek and patient compassionate and charitable q Qui innocentiam colit Deo supplicat qui justitiam Deo libat qui hominem periculo subtrahit optimam victimam caedit Min. Foelix Vis Deos propitiare bonus esto satis illos coluit quisquis imitatus est Sen. ep 95. for these things are in themselves the most rational and we have the greatest reason and the highest obligations to perform them Secondly We offer our selves to be an Holy Sacrifice that is to be pure and spotless as all those offerings were appointed to be r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 · Athenaeus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 · Suidas which were offer'd to the Divine Majesty And as all such offerings were set apart and sanctified never to be accounted the owners Å¿ Nullius autem scil hominis sunt res sacrae religiosae quod enim Divini juris est id nullius in bonis est Justinian instit l. 2. tit 1. Sect. 7. or to be used to any common or prophane use afterwards so when we are purified by the blood of Christ and dedicated to God it is with intent never to use our faculties as the servants of sin nor our members as the instruments of unrighteousness any more Our Eyes must not look towards wantonness our Ears must not hearken to vanity our tongues must not speak lies or slanders our hands must not wrong nor oppress nor our feet spurn the poor neither may our wit or reason our passions or our will be the slaves of Sin hereafter For we are Holy 1 Cor. 3.16 17. and if we unhallow our selves again it is a crime equal to Belshazzers sacrilegious drinking in the holy Vessels of the Temple Thirdly That we may be a Living Sacrifice for we do not vow to kill or destroy our selves as some of the Heathens did in honour to their less-deserving Deities but we resolve to Sacrifice our Lusts t Non enim sicut tunc corpora pro corporibus immolanda sed vitia corporis perimenda sunt S. Ambros in 12. ad Rom. by mortification because so long as they live we are dead to the service of God We engage to be living u Aqua viva Hebr. Dialecto est aqua fontana ebulliens perennis jugitèr manans that is lively and strong vigorous and persevering in all religious duties and that we will perform all kind of good works with such an alacrity as may express life and spirit so that although we do not or cannot return the love of Jesus by dying for him as he hath done for us yet we will live to him and desire our life no longer nor for no other end than to advance his glory and do his blessed pleasure And now if we do so far understand our own interest and are so really weary of the bondage of Satan as to desire and long for a better Master and do wish unfeignedly that we may be accepted as the servants of God let us resign up and dedicate our selves to him in this or the like form An Act of Oblation of our selves or the form of a Vow after the Holy Communion O most merciful Lord God I am amazed at the mighty faâ—â—â—â—s which thou hast shewed to me a sinful wretched Creature I cannot but acknowledge thy goodness although I can make no retribution had I all the World at my disposal I could freely give it all to thee as a testimony of my unfeigned gratitude but I hear thy gracious voice saying My Son give me thy heart It is not mine dearest Lord but me thou seekest sinful and miserable though I am yet I am that purchase for which Jesus hath left his glory laid down his life done and suffered all these things O marvellous condescension I am nothing I have nothing I am void of all good full of evil and deserving thy wrath so that I abhor my self and canst thou delight in me Be it so then for I will dispute no more with unsearchable mercy I believe O my God and wonder I can no longer resist thy condescending and Almighty Love I will with all the joy imaginable give my se f to thee for thou hast but lately restored me to my self Alas I have been a Prisoner to Satan a Slave to Sin and marked for destruction but thou hast procured my Pardon my Liberty and my Life requiring no more for so unexpressible bounty but only that I will intirely become thine Had I the life of an Angel the understanding of a Cherubin or the powers of one of the Heavenly Host
sins of the World receive our Prayer Thou that sittest at the right hand of the Father have mercy upon us As the Father is the Object so the Son is the Subject of the Angelick Praises wherefore in the next place we are to glorifie him who is remembred and represented given by God and received by us in this Mystery It is usual at the Entertainment of great Princes by a Herauld to proclaim their Names Stile and Titles with great solemnity Even so the pious Soul which hath now received her dearest Lord doth with a mighty pleasure repeat all the names belonging to his Person to his Nature and his Offices and thereby declare the Majesty and Glory the Mercy and Goodness of him whom she hath now accepted for her Lord and King And whilst we are setting out his glories we do also invocate him by all these honourable and endearing Names that he will imploy his Power his Interest and Merits to make our Persons and our Prayers acceptable We behold him dying for the sins of all the World and we cannot but beseech him to grant our Pardon We discern him sitting at the right hand of the Father interceeding for us and thereby we are encouraged to beseech him to pitty our miseries and accomplish our desires His glory and our necessity makes us beg this with ingeminated cries and a redoubled importunity saying as he once in his Agony did the very same words And thus we do at once provide for our own relief and do honour to the Blessed Jesus for this part is so contrived that it is a Confession of our Faith an acknowledgment of his Glory a Prayer and a Tanksgiving all in one and thus we may reduce it to a practical Meditation How shall we express thy welcom into our Souls Blessed Jesus or how shall we celebrate thy praise We will remember what thou art in thy self and what thou hast done for us for thou art glorious enough in thy own perfections O thou Eternal and only begotten Son of God equal to the Father who art thy self both Lord and God How lovely art thou O thou innocent Lamb of God encircled with millions of redeemed Souls whom thou hast washed in thy blood O how illustrious a brightness shines round about thee whilst thou art in the midst of all thy happiness interceding for poor Sinners I adore thee and long to do thee honour and I delight to see all the Angels of Heaven worshipping thee my Lord and my God Hast thou merited so much on Earth and hast thou so much glory in Heaven sweetest Saviour then sure I cannot perish Behold how many poor Souls are prostrate before thee admiring and publishing the merits of thy Death and the power of thy intercession hear our importunate Supplications and help us all therefore O Lord that we may be able by experience to proclaim thy goodness Amen § 6. For thou only art holy thou only art the Lord thou only O Christ with the Holy Ghost art most high in the glory of God the Father Amen This Phrase thou only art holy with some others in this Hymn are taken out of the Song of Moses and of the Lamb Revel 15.4 as that thou only art the Lord is from the first Ep. Tim. 6.15 g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apoc. 15.4 Vulg. Solus Pius es 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Timoth. 6.15 Non quod non aliis is titulus aliquo sensu tribuatur sed quia hoc quicquid est à Deo venit Grot. in 1 Tim. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Responsor ad Quaest Graec. There are indeed holy Angels and Saints and there are Lords many 1 Cor. 8.5 Yet none of these have a propriety in this Title because their holiness is imperfect and derived Only Jesus is Holy in and of himself and of his holiness all others do receive He is Holy and Hallowed because he halloweth and sanctifieth us as the Liturgy of St. James paraphraseth it h Solus tu sanctus es qui sanctificas sanctificaris Liturg. S. Jacob. He only is that Lord saith St. Augustine i Solus verus Dominus es qui Dominum non habes Aug. Confes l. 10. c. 36. who hath no other Lord above him For he only with the Holy Ghost is equal to the Father God blessed for ever And this is the reason why we exalt him so highly and pass by the Mediation of Saints and Angels because none is so holy none so mighty none so high in the favour of God nor none so gracious and loving to us as Jesus is This we do acknowledge therefore with all possible joy and triumph and it is a mighty rejoicing to our Spirits that he who hath given himself for us and is come to dwell with us is so High and so Magnificent And while it doth chear our hearts to set forth his glory our Enemies are confounded For while the Church triumphs the powers of darkness tremble at the mention of his perfections Let us then refresh our selves with some such Meditation We have exalted thee O Lord as high as we can and yet scarcely so high as really thou art We will apply our selves to thee only for Holiness for thou only art most Holy we will seek for succour and protection from thee for thou art the supream Lord of Lords and we will not doubt of acceptance with our Heavenly Father because thou art a Partner in his Divinity the highest Favourite of the Coelestial Court Thou art the greatest and the best in Heaven and Earth and to my endless comfort whatsoever thou art thou hast made thy self mine so that the greater thy glory is the greater is my happiness now by Faith hereafter by enjoyment 'T is true I cannot see thee with my bodily Eyes but I admire and bless thee I love thee with ecstasies of affection for thou art my Lord and I am thy servant I feel thy influence and I believe thy excellencies so that I can rejoice in thee with joy unspeakable and full of glory Thou art the highest in thy Fathers favour and in my esteem also to thee therefore with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory now and for ever Amen The Paraphrase of the Angelick Hymn § 7. O come let us join with the Heavenly Host and sing Praises for the Redemption wrought by Jesus which bringeth so much Glory to God who dwells on high from all the Saints and Angels and which makes on Earth such a blessed Peace by reconciling us all to God and to one another and which also declares so great good will in the Almighty towards Men who had perished eternally without his Mercy Holy Father it is we that receive the benefit of this thy goodness wherefore We praise thee for the Power and we bless thee for the mercy of this great Salvation We worship thee with our Bodies and we glorifie thee with our Souls for thou hast redeemed them both We give
may fitly be used when we fear or feel any Temptation to Sin as the other when we apprehended any danger For so long as our hearts and bodies are kept in the ways of Righteousness we may be assured of universal and continual safety The Paraphrase of the Second Prayer O Almighty Lord Eternal and Everlasting God whose Power is infinite and always the same Remember the frailty of us thy finite Creatures and vouchsafe we beseech thee to keep us wholly and throughout h 1 Thessal 5.23 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophyl Direct by thy Wisdom sanctifie by thy grace and govern by thy Providence both the affections of our hearts where sin is wont to begin i Spiritus enim dominatur caro famulatur Tertul. de Bapt. and the members of our Bodies by which it is too often accomplished Keeping them both in the right and pleasant ways of thy Laws assisting them in the duties and in the holy and good works of thy Commandments Let us never stray from thy sure paths so that through thy most mighty Protection which is always over those that are exercised in well-doing Both here in this present life and ever hereafter We may be preserved from all sin and danger and kept safe both in Body and Soul until we come to thy Kingdom Which we beg through his merits who is our Lord to govern us and our Saviour to deliver us even for Iesus Christ his sake Amen III. A Prayer for a Blessing upon the Word of God § 4. This short Collect is of excellent use after the Sermon or Lessons in publick as also when the Scripture hath been read in private And because it is not the hearing of Gods word with our Ears but the engrafting it in our hearts James 1.21 which makes it powerful to our Salvation we ought always after it to pray as here 1. That it may take root in our hearts 2. That it may spring forth in our lives The Paraphrase of the third Prayer O Lord we have brought forth little fruit of all the excellent things which we have hitherto heard Grant we beseech thee therefore O Almighty God who only givest increase to this spiritual Seed k 1 Corinth 3.6 Cathedram in coelo habet qui corda docet Aug. in Ep. Johan That the words which we have heard this day Preached or read out of holy Scripture with our outward Ears which are so apt to let good things slip l Nec retinent patulae commissa fidelitèr aures Pauci illam quam conceperunt mentem domum perferre potuerunt Sen. ep 108. even that they may through the working of thy Grace which quickens all things be so grafted and planted m James 1.23 Graec. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Syriac plantatum benè nam Verbum Dei saepe confertur semini Math. 13. c. inwardly in our very hearts and affections that they may never be forgotten but take root there and bring forth in us so plentifully that our whole Conversation may abound in the fruit n Coloss 1.6 James 1.22 of good works Which blessed effect of thy Word we pray for because it will not only tend to our benefit but to the spreading of the Honour and setting forth the Praise of thy Name who hast so happily reformed our ways Do thou therefore thus teach us through the merits and for the sake of Iesus Christ our Lord be it so Amen IV. A Prayer for Success in all our actions § 5. If we acknowledge Gods Providence we must undertake nothing till we have first asked his Counsel to direct us o Ita Scipio referente Plutar. Et ap Platon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Timae and as we go on we must call for his assistance to further us and when we have done we must wait for his blessing to Crown all with success All which we are taught to do in this compendious and pious form which is never unseasonable but very fit to be used especially in the Morning before we begin our work The Paraphrase of the fourth Prayer O God our ways are not in our own Power p Jer. 10.23 wherefore we commit them to thee who art able to bring them to pass q Psal 37.5 And be thou pleased to Prevent r Prevent vex media Psal 88.13 in malo sensu Psal 18.18 in bono 21.3 Psal 59.10 Bonitas tua O Deus meus antevertat Vulg. praeveniet me Vatabl. Psal 79.10 Vulg. Antevertat nos Misericordia tua Vide item Hammond Psal 21. ver 3. Annot. b. us O Lord before we expect it in the beginning of all our doings and come early to meet us before hand with thy most gracious savour so that we may begin things pleasing and then as we go on further us all the way with thy continual help And leave us not till we have accomplished them by thy prospering our endeavours Å¿ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Demosthen Olynth 2. So that in the performance of all our works since they are Begun by thee and thy direction continued through thee and thy assistance and ended t Hinc omne principium huc refer exitum Horat. Carm. l. 3. Od. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plato in thee and with thy blessing We may have continual cause to glorifie and speak good of thy holy Name when we find how we prosper by trusting in thee And finally having advanced thy Glory in this short life let us though unworthy and without any merit in our selves yet by thy mercy obtain that everlasting life where we may praise thee for ever through Iesus Christ our Lord for whose sake we beseech thee to hear us Amen V. A Prayer to supply the defects of our other Devotions § 6. When St. Paul had asked all he could for his Ephesians he commits them to him that was able to do more for them than he could ask or think u Ephes 3.20 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophyl And from thence we have taken this suppletory Prayer being very proper for the beginning or ending of publick or private Supplications because it sets before us 1. The incomparable Wisdom of God 2. Our own Imperfections And thence deduceth 1. A general Petition for Compassion as to all the defects of our Prayers 2. A particular request for the adding of that which we omitted The Paraphrase of the fifth Prayer x Note this Prayer is very proper to be said to our selves when we kneel down at our first coming into the Church to Prayers O Almighty God the Original of all Power and the fountain of all Wâ—sâ—om y Proverbs 2.6 We make not our Prayers to instruct thee z Math. 6.32 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophyl who knowest our necessities and all our wants before we ask of thee to supply them And who discernest our Ignorance and folly in asking hurtful things because we do not well know what is good for ourselves
a Vide Rom. 8.26 Wherefore We beseech thee O merciful Father to have Compasâ—ion upon us because of these our infirmities excusing the failings and supplying the defects of these our Prayers And those things which we have left out being checked by our Consciences for our unworthiness which made us that we dare not pray for them As also those things which for our ignorance and for our spiritual blindness we cannot ask not knowing they were good for us vouchsafe to give them all unto us of thy bounty which is wont to go beyond b Vberior semper est Dei gratia quam nostra precatio Ambr. in Luc. Fides aliquando recipit quod Oratio non praesumit Bernard de grad humil Ex gratiâ 1 Reg. 3.13 Psal 21.4 Luc. 23.42 43. all our Petitions Withold not any good thing because we are unworthy but give us all that we need for the worthiness and merits of thy Son Iesus Christ our Lord who hath deserved this grace for us Amen VI. A Concluding Prayer for the acceptance of the rest § 7. There are three Qualifications of an acceptable Prayer 1. That it be made in Christs name c John 14.13 16.23 2. That it be agreeable to Gods will d 1 Ep. S. John 5.14 3. That it be asked in Faith e Math. 21.22 James 5.15 Now because it were impudent to expect to be heard upon other Terms the Church hath here put them all together in this finishing Prayer which is very properly used after any of our Prayers especially the Common Prayers which if we have said in Faith we are sure the Petitions are according to Gods will and made in the name of Christ The Paraphrase of the sixth Prayer Almighty God who in thy holy Word hast promised graciously to hear and readily to answer the Petitions of them that according to thy direction do ask in thy Sons name the only Mediator and Advocate of his Church Relying on this thy Promise We beseech thee most mercifully to incline thy Ears and most speedily to return an answer to us that have made now in our great necessity these our Prayers and Supplications and presented them unto thee in the name of Jesus Christ And grant us this last request even that those great and excellent things which trusting in thy mercy we have faithfully asked Provided they be according to thy will and such things as thou seest to be good for us that they may effectually be obtained by our Petitions and speedily bestowed on us And this thy mercy in granting our requests will both tend to the relief of us thy servants in all our Necessities And also to the setting forth of thy own infinite glory before all the World who will perceive thy goodness towards us thy unworthy Creatures through Iesus Christ our Lord In whose Name we ask and for whose sake thou givest every good thing by whom therefore all glory be to thee for ever Amen The End of the Communion Office A BRIEF DISCOURSE UPON THE OFFICES OF BAPTISM AND CONFIRMATION LONDON Printed by J. M. for John Martyn at the Bell in St. Pauls Church-Yard MDCLXXIV TO THE REVEREND and WORTHY JOHN TILLOTSON Doctor of DIVINITY DEAN OF CANTERBURY c. SIR I Do not imagine I shall discharge those Obligations which your Goodness hath laid upon me but rather encrease them by the Presenting these little Tracts unto you for it will contribute to their Reputation to be ushered in with so worthy a Name Place this before Page 357. and add to their Authors Character to be reckoned among the number of your Friends So that if this Tender be accepted but as the Testimony of my Gratitude I shall confess my self to be your Debtor still The Discourses are brief that they may be of as general use as they are of Vniversal Concernment The first upon the Office of Baptism shewing as well the Consent of this Church with the best Antiquity therein as the several duties of Parents Sureties and younger Christians in order to the making and keeping the Baptismal Vow The Second being a like Account of the necessary though neglected Office of Confirmation containing the Motives to perswade to it the Method of its Administration and the means to profit by it And I hope they are so done that they may be honoured with your approbation as well as your Name for then they will be effectually recommended to all the judicious and raised above the censures of the less discerning I shall only add That as I wish no others may measure the worth of these Papers barely by their Proportion a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Demosthenes so I will particularly request from your self not to estimate the Respects of the Presenter by the Quantity of the Present b In quo censendum nil nisi Dantis amor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 S. Chrysost hom in Johan for though the Treatises are small yet they are tendered with a great affection by Reverend Sir Your most obliged and most faithful Servant Tho. Comber THE INTRODVCTION Of Baptism in general § 1. WAter hath so naturally a property of cleansing that it hath been made the Symbol of Purification by all Nations and used with that signification a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plut. quaest Roman in the Rites of all Religions The Gentiles washed before their Sacrifices b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 idem Lavabo ut rem divinam faciam Plautus and for the Expiation of their offences c Aquae vero adspersione corporis labem tolli castimoniam praestari putabant Alex. ab Alexandr de Aegyptiis sacerd gen di l. 4. c. 17. yea Satan who delights to counterfeit divine Institutions had taught the Heathens divers kinds of Baptisms as means of remission of their sins d Nationes extraneae viduis aquis sibi mentiuntur nam sacris quibusdam per lavacrum initiantur Isidis alicujus aut Mithrae certè ludis Apollinaribus Pelusiis tinguntur idque se in regenerationem ut impunitatem perjuriorum suorum agere praesumunt Tert. de Bapt. Aug. de Bapt. in Donatist The frequent washings of the Jews are known to all and Baptism is no stranger to them for they Baptize such as are admitted Proselytes at large and when any of those Nations turn Jews who are already Circumcised they receive them by Baptism only with which Ceremony also they purified Heathen Women which were to be married to Jewish Husbands And some of their own Rabbins had said of old That in the days of the Messiah there should be so many Converts that they should be forced to baptize them because it would be impossible to Circumcise them all And this is that universal plain and easie Rite which our Lord Jesus adopted to be a mystery in his Religion and the Sacrament of admission into his Church enjoining his Disciples and all their Successors to use it to this end in all parts
believing Persons thereby 3. And it is the more probable that we shall prevail when we ask this mercy because that Our Lord himself was pleased to honour this Ordinance by causing it to be Administred to himself by St. John in the River Jordan Math. 3.17 And He was Baptized saith St. Ambrose not that he might be cleansed but that he might cleanse the Waters that they themselves being washed by the flesh of Christ which knew no sin might have a right to be used in Baptism ever after Ambr. in Luc. 3. and the grace which it received from him it pours upon us Christians idem Serm. Domin 6. post Pentec Yet we must not fancy as Tertullian and St. Ambrose note that this Sanctification was derived only to that one River whereupon some of old would be baptized no where but in Jordan For the Blessing was communicated say they to all Water that should ever be used to this purpose Now if the great end why Jesus was baptized were to Hallow the Water to this use we may the more chearfully present our Petition that the Party to be baptized may find supernatural effects from this holy Laver. 2. The Petition therefore advanced upon these Premises is First For Gods general Pitty to be expressed towards this infant because it is miserable by nature and liable to his wrath 2. Particularly that he will please to wash and purifie it from all its Natural Pollutions by the living Water John 7.38 even his holy Spirit o 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophyl in Johan 3. which alone can cleanse the Soul and which gives the power of cleansing to this Water We pray that he who gave so many illustrious Types of Baptism before its Institution and at its first Original dignified it with the presence of his own Son that he will now look with Compassion on the original misery of this Child and wash it wholly away by his Spirit 3. And we ask this the more fervently because there will follow so blessed an effect upon our being heard viz. 1. Privative if it please him so to wash away the Sin of this Child it shall be delivered from Gods wrath Math. 3.7 since his wrath doth not remain on those whose Sins are pardoned but when the iniquity the cause is gone the wrath is removed also 2. There will follow also positive effects even the Seeds of Sanctifying Graces which will manifest themselves in due time The sum is that if it be washed with the Spirit it shall not be left to perish in the general deluge but be taken into the Church as Noah into the Ark p Ecclesia est arca figurata Tertul. de bap In illa mirandae capacitatis arca Ecclesia figuratur Ambros de voc gen l. 2. c. 4. and so be saved from the common destruction and although this Child as the Ark q Navicula illa figuram Ecclesiae praeferebat quod in mari id est seculo fluctibus id est persecutionibus tentationibus inquietatur Tert. of old be tossed a while upon the troublesome Waves of this World yet if Faith be the Pilot Hope the Sails and Charity the Lading no boisterous Billows shall be able to overwhelm it but it shall triumphantly and joyfully ride over these Surges until they have conveyed it safe to the Port of Immortality All these Graces are the fruits of that One Spirit so that if here it be received all these happy effects will be the consequents thereof §. 4. The second Collect for the Child Almighty and immortal God the aid of all that need c. To express our earnestness and importunity we do again renew our Address and in this second Prayer we request First That this Child may be pardoned and regenerated Secondly That it may be adopted and accepted by Almighty God both which are enforced with their proper motives 1. The first Petition is ushered in by a solemn Invocation wherein we call upon God by all those Attributes which do express his Power and Mercy we confess him to be Omnipotent and immortal 1 Tim. 6.16 the reliever of the needy Psal 10.16 69.33 the helper of those that fly to his Protection John 6.37 He giveth Eternal Life to Believers and raiseth those that are Dead John 11.25 and therefore he is the fittest to be sollicited in behalf of a weak and helpless infant dead in trespasses and sins Yea we esteem our selves happy that we have so great and so good a God to come unto in its behalf for here we do present him with an object suitable to his Might and his Mercy and since this poor Creature is so miserable but yet can neither apprehend its own misery nor speak in its own behalf we our selves become its spokesmen that it may be born again in this Laver of Regeneration and have all its Sins both pardoned and removed and doubtless so Charitable a Prayer from so many Hands presented to such a God for so deplorable an object cannot return empty 2. The next Petition proceeds further and craves that when the sin is removed and the nature renewed it may be most favourably received by God and adopted for his own Child And herein we seem to imitate that antient custom prescribed by the Roman Law in that kind of Adoption which was called Adrogation r Arrogatio autem dicta quia genus hoc in alienam familiam transitûs per Populi rogationem fit Au◠Gellius noc Att. 5. 19. Et Justinian instit l. 1. titul 11. de Adop Sect. 1. whereby a Child being to be adopted into a better Family was admitted by the approbation of the High Priest and at the Intercession of all the people in a publick Assembly Thus we who are already Citizens of Heaven do all join in requesting there may be one more added to our number and received into the Houshold of God And the motive to this Petition is no less than Gods gracious Promise by Jesus Christ Math. 7.7 that if we ask we shall have which St. Luke applies to the giving of the Holy Spirit Chap. 11.13 and some of the Antients refer this promise to this very mystery Nor can this promise be urged more properly For we have brought this infant to Heaven Gate but we cannot make it the Child of God nor let it in so that all we can do is to ask and seek to him to open the Gate and to receive it who hath promised to hear the Prayers of his Church The External washing is but a temporal priviledge and only makes this Child one of the number of the visible Church But the Heavenly washing of the Soul ſ Aquâ enim corpus abluitur Spiritu animae delicta mundantur Ambros in Luc. 3. Quod incorporale est invisibilitèr abluatur idem is an Everlasting Blessing and doth purifie the Soul and fit it for Eternal Life t Foelix Sacramentum aquae nostrae quâ abluti delictis pristinae caecitatis
in vitam aeternam liberamur Tert. de bap cap. 1. It s natural life is a miserable mortal life a state of Bondage But we pray it may here be adopted to an Eternal life and a glorious Kingdom through Christ his Merits Amen §. 5. The Gospel and Exhortation deduced from it Hear the words of the Gospel Mark 10.13 They brought young Children to Christ c. This portion of Scripture hath been censured by some as improper for this place because the Children here mentioned were not brought to be Baptized but whosoever makes this Objection doth not well understand upon what account this Gospel is placed here and if they would take their measures by the end for which it is made use of they would retract so impertinent a charge Let it be considered therefore that in the making of a Covenant the express Consent of both Parties is required u Pactio est enim duorum pluriumvâ— idem placitum seu consensus L. 1. ff de pactis And this Covenant of Baptism being now to be made between Almighty God and this Child it is requisite that before the Sureties engage in behalf of the Infant they should have some Comfortable assurances that God on his part will be pleased to consent to and make good the Agreement Now though he be in Heaven yet his Ambassador the Priest in his Name doth produce this place out of his Holy Word the Declaration of his Will whereby it doth appear that God is willing to receive Infants into his favour and hath by Jesus Christ declared them capable of that Grace and that Glory which on Gods part are promised in this Baptismal Covenant wherefore the Sureties need not fear to make the stipulations on their side since they have Gods Royal Word his teste meipso and as great assurances as Majesty uses to give that there is no impediment in Children to make them incapable of receiving that which he hath promised and will most surely perform It is very likely it might be a Custom among the Jews to bring their Children to Persons of Eminent Sanctity to obtain their Blessing for St. Hierom relates that when St. Hilarion passed through Syria the Men Women and Children came flocking to him and kneeling before him they cryed Barac i. e Bless us x Hieron in vitâ S. Hilarionis which also is the manner of the East to this day y Drusius quaest Hebr. l. 2. But doubtless those who brought these Infants z Luke 18.15 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Marc. 10.13 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vers 16. cum accepisset eos in ulnas in their Arms did conceive some hope our Saviour was the Messiah and because the Promises belonged to them and to their Children Acts 2.39 they came to Jesus to desire he would pray for them and bless them and thereby own them as Members of the Covenant of Abraham But his Disciples either because they heard their Master require Faith and Repentance from all that he did receive or else esteeming it below their Masters dignity reproved those that brought them Whereupon our Lord checks their folly and taketh this occasion to shew that Children have a right to his Kingdom The Kingdom of Grace the Church consisteth of Children in Age or in Manners of them and such as they are and the Kingdom of Glory or Heaven shall be filled with Infants blessed by Christ and with Men become as little Children He begins saith Epiphanius with Infants but lest the Kingdom of Heaven should be thought only belonging to them be grants to those of every age provided they be like unto them that they shall inherit it together with them But if these that are such as they be admitted to the Kingdom how much more Infants themselves who are the Patterns of those that be compared to them Epiph. Panar L. 2. Tom. 2. haer 67. in Hieracitas Another Antient Author a little otherwise but appositely enough to this Case saith that Christ would not allow Jewish Children to be kept from coming to him because of such i. e. of Christian Children brought by their Sureties to Baptism the Kingdom of Heaven was Author libri Hypognosticon l. 5. And when Jesus hath thus pleaded their Cause who could not speak for themselves and declared that they are capable of the Kingdom of Heaven he establisheth a perpetual Decree that none do presume ever after to keep them from his Grace since they are capacitated for his Glory And then he doth bless them according to the desire of those that brought them and we are to believe that the laying on of our Saviours hands was no empty Ceremony but did effectually convey a Blessing unto them a Deus cum benedicit facit quod dicit Augustinus so that this also testifies they are capable of receiving Grace From all which Premises the Church in the Exhortation doth conclude that the Sureties may chearfully promise that which belongs to their Part since God by his Son Jesus Christ hath given such satisfaction that his Part shall be accomplished It appears both by the Words and Deeds of our Lord in this Case that Infants are beloved by him and by his Father that he will receive them kindly when they are brought to him that he will give them all the Grace and Blessing which is needed by them or desired for them it is evident that they are capable of being adopted into the Church and that the Kingdom of Heaven may be estated on them yea if they die after they have received Christs Blessing and have done nothing to evacuate it there is none more fit or likely to enter into Everlasting Glory whither we our selves cannot come unless we be like unto them b Tantum contingat nos virtutis puritate eidem similes fieri ut integritate morûm eandem cum infantibus in Christo requiem consequamur Basil Ep â—d Nectar 44. de filiolo mortuo ejusdem Nectarii Wherefore since Baptism is the only way now for Infants to be brought to Christ the Godfathers may be assured that God is well pleased with their Charity in bringing so fit an object for his Mercy and they may perceive now how ready our Heavenly Father is on his Part which Mercy they must acknowledge in the following Thanksgiving and so proceed to seal their Part of the Covenant in the Name of the Child as hereafter is directed §. 6. The Thanksgiving Almighty and Everlasting God Heavenly Father we give thee humble thanks The good News which is every where imparted by the Gospel requires that it should always be concluded with Thanksgiving And this foregoing Portion doth peculiarly deserve it for it declares the Humility Mercy and Condescension of Jesus in admitting Infants into a state of Grace and because we our selves were once received in this manner it doth admonish us to renew our acknowledgments for the mercy of our Christianity upon this fresh occasion Plato is said to have