has an Vnion with Him as being the Head of it so I believe there is a Common Vnion among the Members both those that are glorified in Heaven and those that in some degree are sanctified on Earth And this is called the Communion of Saints and is the first Priviledge of the Christian Church And by vertue of this all true Christians communicate in all Offices of Piety and Charity in doing good to one anothers Bodies and Souls And this they do upon the account that they have in common One God one Christ one Spirit one Lord one Faith one Baptism one Hope ARTICLE X. The Forgiveness of Sins As the Communion of Saints genuinely ariseth from the Nature of the Vniversal Church so Pardon of Sins follows from both For none shall have their Sins forgiven but those who live and die in the Communion of the Church For unless I abide in this Ark I shall certainly perish Now Sin as I have been instructed is of two sorts the one Original which is the sin of my Nature the other Actual which is the sin of my Conversation The former I brought with me into the World the latter I commit while I live therein And both these sorts of sin deserve Eternal Death and can only be pardon'd by the Merits of Christ For sin being a Transgression of the Law of God it can only be forgiven by him whose Law it transgresseth For Remission of sins is the second Priviledge of the Church which is preached to all in the Name of Christ and sealed in Baptism wherein I believe my Original Sin is presently pardon'd and that my Actual Sins committed after Baptism shall be pardon'd if I truly repent me of the same Now this my Belief of the Forgiveness of Sins supposes that I believe That God graciously and freely without any Desert on Man's part gave his Son to die for the World and That for the sake of his meritorious Death he remits the Fault absolves from the Guilt and acquits from Punishment all truly penitent and believing Sinners And I do further believe That he imputes to them the Obedience of his own Son and his Righteousness and by means thereof accounts them just in his sight I believe That all who are justified and thus acquitted have Holiness in some degree according to the Condition of this Life Which Holiness tho' it cannot altogether discharge them from sin yet it doth not suffer it to reign over them So that a justified Person is not under its Dominion nor yields himself a Vassal to it but resists its Commands and makes it die daily And for the greater security of the Forgiveness of sins God hath committed to his Ministers an indispensible Power and Charge to preach Faith and Repentance as the Condition of this Forgiveness He hath likewise appointed them to pray and intercede and also to baptize for the Forgiveness of sins and to administer the Lord's Supper in memory of that Blood which was shed for the Remission of Sins And indeed all that God hath left in the Hand and Power of his Ministers especially tends to make Men capable of receiving what they believe namely the Remission of sins ARTICLE XI The Resurrection of the Body It was the Hope of the Fathers under the Old Testament as well as it is of Christians under the New That there shall be a Resurrection both of the Just and Unjust And if it were otherwise Christians of all Men would be most miserable and all that I have learn'd and you have taught me concerning Christianity would be in vain But I firmly and truly believe That my Mortal Body shall be raised from the Corruption of the Grave by Vertue of the Resurrection of Christ And this my Belief is founded upon the Power and good Pleasure of God who both can and will raise from the dead the very same Body that died ARTICLE XII The Life everlasting The Enjoyment of Everlasting Life is the last Christian Privilege and that which crowns the rest And I have learned to understand by this Life the Enjoyment of all true Happiness in Soul and Body For I believe that the Faculties of the Souls of just Persons shall be perfectly enlightned and sanctified and that their Bodies shall live after the manner of Spirits and be exceedingly glorified And opposite to this Life everlasting I believe there is an everlasting Death which is the Portion of the Wicked And that as Life everlasting consists in the Fruition so I believe everlasting Death consists in the Loss of God's Presence and all other Comforts and is the enduring of the sting of Conscience and Torments of Hell for ever But as my believing all the Articles of the Christian Faith as they are summ'd up in that which is called the Apostles Creed supposes that I am to learn not only the Words but likewise the Sense of the Creed so it also implies that I should live like them that do believe for otherwise my consenting to the Truth of the Articles will stand me in no stead And therefore not medling with remote and learned Inferences I will draw such from each Article as are near and familiar short and edifying As for Example From my believing that God created me I infer I am bound to be obedient and subject to him By my believing that Christ redeemed me I think it my Duty to yield up my self to him as his Purchase and to be wholly disposed by him and employed only in his Service My believing Christ's Conception by the Holy Ghost and his Birth of the Virgin should make me diligent to fit my Heart for the Holy Ghost to overshadow and for Christ to be born in it My belief of Christ's Crucifixion should teach me to crucifie the Flesh with the Affections and Lusts and to destroy the Body of sin My belief of his Death and Burial should make me content to die for the sake of Truth being assured that if I suffer for Christ I shall also reign with him It should also keep me from being disheartned by Death seeing that Christ by dying hath taken away the Stinâ— of Death which is Sin and maâ— it an Entrance into Life My bâ—lieving the Resurrection of Chrisâ— should make me actually rise froâ— Sin to a New Life and utterlâ— to forsake my Sins as Christ diâ— the Grave to which after â— was once risen from it he returned no more My believinâ— Christ's Ascension and sitting â— the Right-hand of God shoulâ— teach me to set my Affections oâ— things above and not on thing on the Earth The believing Judgment to come should makâ— me careful so to walk as that may not be condemned in iâ— My believing the Holy Catholick Church and Communion oâ— Saints should render me mightâ— circumspect to preserve Charity which is the Bond of Peace and to avoid all things destructive oâ— Catholick Unity The Remission of sins which I believe should make me highly to esteem all those Ways and Means which
your behalf to enquire into the Duties you are to discharge when you come to the Holy Sacrament before I deâ—cend to a distinct handling â—hereof give me leave first to â—ind you of the end of your â—oming thither which I take 〈◊〉 be none other than chiefly to renew the Covenant yoâ— made with God in Baptism who is pleased in great mercy to admit you to the Lords Table in order to repair youâ— Vow of Baptism after that by numerous ways you have broken it And when it shall bâ— your care worthily to Commâ—nicate God will vouchsafe graciously to accept you and iâ— the Lords Supper to restore yoâ— to all the forfeited benefits oâ— your Baptism II. Seeing then that the renewing of your Covenant is the greaâ— business of your coming to thâ— Blessed Communion it is highly reasonable that you have a fuâ—â— and clear understanding of thâ— nature of that Covenant whicâ— you are to renew And in oâ—der hereunto you are to knoâ— iâ— general that the Covenant to â—e renewed by you is that into â—hich you enter'd at Baptism â—here the Covenant God at first â—ade with Mankind which is â—e foundation of all Christiaâ—â—ty is applied to every parâ—â—cular person who at Baptism â—â—lemnly give up their Names â—â—to Christ and enter upon â—â—e profession of his most Holy â—eligion And to the end you â—ay more clearly comprehend â—is important Truth it is conâ—enient that you a little reflect â—pon that double Covenant God â—ade with Adam as he was â—ot only the Patriarch but â—â—presentative of all Mankind III. Where you may find that the â—â—â—st Covenant was made with â—dam immediately upon his â—eation when he was in his flourishing Integrity and indue not barely with a perfect knoâ—ledge of his Duty but with sufficient power of performinâ— it When Adam I say was in most excellent State and Câ—â—dition God made an Agreemeâ—â— with him to this purpose vâ— That if he took care to conâ—â—nue in Obedience to his Makâ— then his Knowledge and Strengâ— should remain and after a loâ—â— and pleasant life upon Earth last he should either put off Body or have it together wâ— his Soul taken up into Heaveâ— and therein both be happy aâ— glorious to all Eternity â— if he disobeyed and so brâ— this Covenant he was to the perfect knowledge of Duty and his strength of â—â—fectly discharging it and â— also to be subject to tempâ— death which is a separatioâ— the Soul from the Body â— time and to death eternal which is a banishment from God's gracious presence for eâ—er And as upon his breach â—f Covenant Adam was liable 〈◊〉 the first sort of Death and 〈◊〉 the appointed time suffer'd 〈◊〉 so had he likewise underâ—one the second kind of Death God in his unspeakable merâ—â— had not come to new Agreeâ—ent with him Now all that â—u need to know concerning â—e first Covenant is 1. That â—e Condition thereof was wonâ—â—rful easie for Adam to have served seeing no more was â—â—uired of him than an abstiâ—â—â—ce from one Tree only in 〈◊〉 Garden where God had â—ced him which Restraint â—ld not be grievous seeing was allowed a freedom of the rest 2. That Aâ— at his Wife's instigation of the forbidden Tree and by eating thereof broke 〈◊〉 first Covenant the effeâ—â— whereof were no milder thâ— the loss both of the Knowledâ— and Ability of doing what Gâ—â— required of him For immeâ—ately upon his transgressâ— God's Commandment the liâ—â— that was in Adam became dâ— and his Strength like Saâ—sons upon the cutting off of Locks was extreamly weâ—ned so that he became feeble and defective and â—â—serably crippled both in his â—â—derstanding and Will that could neither clearly disceâ— nor exactly execute his Dâ—â— 3. You are to know tâ—â— all men being in the loins Adam were infected with sin and like him became â—â—â—stitute of a right understaâ—â—ing of their Duty and Abiâ— to discharge it backward Good and prone to Evil â—â—mane Nature upon Adam 's Fall becoming like a sick Stomach which doth not only loath what is wholsome but lust after that which â—s quite otherwise IV. But when Adam by Disobediâ—nce had forfeited the benefits â—f the first God was pleased to make with him a second Coveâ—ant and therein to accept of â—nother to pay the Debts and â—erform the Duties in his stead â—or which he had made himself â—together unable and insolvent â—nd this is that Covenant â—hich only now concerns you â—nd which at the Communion â—ou are to renew and whereof â—ou ought to have a full and â—ear understanding for it â—ould sound very oddly for a â—an to pretend a most solemn â—newing of he knows not what V. Now in tracing out the â—â—ture of this Covenant you wâ— find it was made with all Maâ—kind in Adam immediately 〈◊〉 on his Fall I say immediatâ—â— upon his Fall for considerâ— the great love God ever bâ— Man you may imagine 〈◊〉 would not suffer our Great â— rent to lie long under the â—â—â—turing reflections and hellish paâ—â— with which his Conscienceâ— loaden by the consideration his sin and which have eâ— been found to be the most â—â—tural effects of doing vitiousâ— but that he presently relieâ— his afflicted mind by entrâ— into a gracious Compact wâ— him and shewing him how and his Off-spring were to saved from that destruction had brought upon both â— the first revelation of this Covenant is met with in Gen. 3.15 which with greater plainness is repeated Gen. 22.17 18. compared with Gen. 12.3 and Gen. 18.18 The contents of which Texts the Son of Sirach calls the Blessing of all Men and the Covenant Ecclesiasticus 44.22 VI. And seeing as has been said that the great business of your coming to the Lords Table is to renew the Covenant of your Baptism which you have broken which Covenant of Baptism is no other than the second Covenant made with Mankind in general applied to you in particular you are to understand that a Covenant as we now consider it is a mutual Agreement betwixt God and Man consisting of Mercies â— God 's part made over to Maâ— and of Duties or Conditions on Man's part required by Goâ— So that it is necessary for yoâ— to know 1. What the Mercies are which on God's part are madâ— over to Man 2. What the Conditions are which on Man's part are required by God VII And first as to the Mercies which on God's part are made over to Man in the second Covenant the sum thereof is the Seed of the Woman or the sending Christ to take upon him the nature of Man and to be as a second Adam to supply what was wanting in the first and to perform that sinless Obedience which was the Condition of the first Covenant he being both in Birth and Conversation absolutely innocent And though the thus sending of Christ the second Person of the ineffable Trinity be the abridgement of all the Mercies of the second Covenant yet under this Title many Benefits are contain'd For you
sinful Body may be made clean by his Body and my Soul washed through his most precious Blood At the receiving of the Bread LOrd I am not worthy thaâ— thou shouldest come undeâ— my Roof but speak the Word and my Soul shall be healed Adding with the Priest THE Body of our Lord Jesuâ— Christ which was given foâ— me preserve my Body and Soâ— unto everlasting Life Amen At the receiving of the Cup. WHat Reward shall I give unto the Lord for all the Benefits that he hath done unto me I will take the Cup of Salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord. Adding with the Priest THE Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ which was shed for me preserve my Body and Soul unto Everlasting Life Amen Immediately after your receiving of the Sacrament say OH my God thou art true and holy Oh my Soul thou art blessed and happy Oh the depth of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God! how incomprehensible are his Judgments and his ways past finding out Praise the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me praise his holy Name which saveth thy Life from Destruction and feedeth thee with the Bread of Heaven Glory be to God on high and in Earth Peace good Will towards men I praise thee I worship thee O Lord and I magnifie thy Name for ever who hast vouchsafed to fill my Soul with Gladness and to feed me with the heavenly Mysteries of Christs sacred Body and Blood I humbly beseech thee that from henceforth I may walk in all good Works and serve thee in holiness and pureness of living to the Honour of thy Name Amen Meditations whilst others are Communicating HAppy are those Servants whom when their Lord cometh he shall find thus doing Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you If any one defile the Temple of God him will God destroy Behold thou art made whole sin no more lest a worse thing happen unto thee Be ye followers of God as dear Children and walk in love even as Christ loved us and gave himself an Offering and a Sacrifice of a sweet savour unto God for us As you go from before the Communion Table this Doxology TO thee O King eternal the immortal invisible and only wise God be all Honour and Glory now and for evermore Amen A Thanksgiving after the receiving of the Communion to be said at Home THou O my God hast comforted my Soul thou hast strengthned and refreshed me with thy Blessings and rejoyced my Heart with the tokens of thy Love O how sweet are thy comforts how ravishing are the Effects of thy Goodness toward them that fear thee Wonderfuâ— vouchsafement Thou hast treated a vile wretched Sinner at thâ— own Table and fed me with thâ— Bread that came down from Heaven Wherein am I better than those to whom thou dost not grant this Favour It is not it is not for my Merits but because thou wilt be glorified in doing good to the most unworthy thou hast this day made me a happy Example of this thy free Grace and Bounty Vouchsafe me this favour also O my God that through the whole course of my Life I may give thee Praise and Glory and that the due sense of thy Mercies may make me unfeignedly thankful and that my thankfulness may appear in my care to walk before thee in Holiness Sobriety and Righteousness all the days of my Life Amen FINIS Books Printed for W. Crooke at the Sign of the Green Dragon without Temple-Bar near Devereux Court HISTORY 1. AN Institution of general History or the History of the World being a compleat Body thereof in two Volumes by W. Howel late Chancellour of Lincoln in folio price 2 l. 10 s. 6 d. 2. Clelia the whole Work in five parts written in French now put into English in folio price 1 l. 5 s. 6 d. 3. Scarron's Comical Romance being an Historical account of a company of Stage-Players full of variety of Novels rare Adventures amorous Intreagues c. being both witty and pleasant in fol. price 6 s. 4. Popish Cruelties being an account of the Treasons of Dr. Parry against Qu. Elizabeth with his Confession of it at his Tryal and his Denial at his Execution Folio price 1 s. 5. The Life of Thomas Hobbs of Malmsbury written by himself in Latin since translated into English in folio price 6 d. 6. An Historical Narration of Heresie with an account of the Punishments thereof by Thomas Hobbs of Malmsbury in folio price 6 d. 7. Megalopsichy being a particular and exact account of the last 17 years of Qu. Elizabeths Reign both Military and Civil the first written by Sir W. Monson one of the said Queens Admirals the second written by H. Townsend Esq a Member of her last Parliament Wherein is a true and faithful Relation of all the Expeditions Attempts Designs Successes and Errors both of the English and Spanish in the Wars from the year 1585 to the said Queens Death With a full account of the eminent Speeches and Debates c. in the said time To which is added Dr. Parry's Tryal in the year 1584. All written at the time of the Actions by Persons that were eminently acting therein folio price bound 10 s. 8. A Description of Candia with an exact account of the last Seige and Surrender of it to the Turks in octavo price bound 1 s. 9. A Discourse of the Dukedom of Modena containing the Original Antiquity c. of that Dukedom in 40. price 6 d. 10. The Travels of Vlysses how he went to Hell and came back again c. by Tho. Hobbs price 1 s. 11. The present state of London containing the Antiquity Fame Walls Rivers Gates Churches Bridge with the Customs and Infranchizements by J. Bridal Esq price 1 s. 12. The Life and Death of Mahomet being the first estate of Mahometism shewing all the Designs that that Impostor Mahomet had to carry on and settle the Turkish Religion Written by L. Addison D. D. and Dean of Lichfield price 1 s. 6 d. The Primitive Institution OR A Seasonable DISCOURSE OF CATECHIZING Wherein is shewn The ANTIQUITY BENEFITS and NECESSITY thereof TOGETHER With its Suitableness to heal the Present Distempers of this National CHURCH By LANCELOT ADDISON D. D. Dean of Litchfield The Second Edition LONDON Printed for William Crook at the Green Dragon without Temple-Bar near Devereux-Court 1690. TO THE Right Reverend Father in God SETH Lord Bishop of SARUM My LORD YOur Name is here prefixed to the Ensuing Discourse neither for Charm nor Amuâ— to save it from the Rude and Censorious for it doth not at all â—gard what Entertainment it meets â—ith at such hands But it assumes â—is Honour upon the Account of â—s Author who having the Happiâ—ess to be one of your Diocesan Clergy thinks all he can perform in that Relation ought to be devoted to your Lordship as a sincere Testimony of his bounden acknowledging your Paternal
other Appointed means but by a due receiving the Holy Communion The Young Persons Devotions upon his first Admission to the LORD'S TABLE Expostulation WIlt thou then O God vouchsafe me to partake of that which my Soul has so long thirsted after Shall I this day be admitted a Guest at that Divine Banquet from which my own unworthiness ought for ever to exclude me Wilt thou be so gracious to a miserable sinner as to accept of a renewing of the Covenant I made in Baptism after that by numerous ways I have violated and broken it Then Lord I will not absent my self but draw near hoping to be found in the number of those whom thou dost invite even of those who truly and earnestly repent of their sins who are in Love and Charity with their Neighbours who intend to lead a New Life to follow thy Commandments and to walk from henceforth in thy Holy Ways For upon these and no Terms else do I come to the Holy Sacrament which yet I dare not receive till with all Humility of Soul and Body I have prostrated my self and made Confession of my sins The Confession ALmighty God Father oâ— our Lord Jesus Christ Maker of all things Judge of alâ— Men I acknowledge and bewail my manifold Sins and Wickedness which I from time to time most grievously have committed by Thought Word and Deed against thy Divine Majesty provoking most justly thy Wrath and Indignation against me I do earnestly repent and am heartily sorry for these my Misdoings the Remembrance of them is grievous to me the burden of them is intolerable Have mercy upon me have mercy upon me most merciful Father for thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ's sake forgive me all that is past and grant that I may ever hereafter serve and please thee in Newness of Life to the Honour and Glory of thy Name through Jesus Christ our Lord. Prayer for Pardon FOrgive me O Lord whatsoever I have transgrest against thee from the time of my Baptism even to this very Moment whether against Knowledge or through Ignorance at home or abroad sleeping or waking in Thoughts Words or Deeds Whether occasion'd through the fiery Darts of my Ghostly Enemy or by the unclean Desires of my own Heart Have Mercy upon me and grant me pardon through Jesus Christ Amen Remember not the sins of my Youth nor my Transgressions According to thy Mercy remember me for thy goodness sake O Lord. Lord the sins of these my Younger Days are many the Breaches innumerable wherewiâ—â— I have ignorantly or foolishlâ— for want of Knowledge or Coâ—sideration offended against thee Lay them not I beseech thee tâ— my Charge but of thy owâ— free Mercy and Compassion to 〈◊〉 wretched sinner be thou pleased to be reconciled unto me anâ— seal the same to my Soul by thiâ— blessed Sacrament For thy Name sake O Lord pardon my iniquity for it is great I have many ways greatly sinn'd against thee and have no ground of hope for Mercy but only from thy free abundant Pardon which I know exceedeth my Sins and for which I am the more abundantly qualified by how much my state is more truly Miserable On the account therefore of thy Free Pardon to the greatest sinners so they be truly penitent I beseech thee be reconciled unto me who this day unfeignedly repent and turn to thee For Purifying the Heart ALmighty God unto whom all Hearts be open all Desires known and from whom no Secrets are hid Cleanse the Thoughts of my Heart by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit that I may sincerely love thee and worthily magnifie thy Holy Name through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen O Lord give me Grace this day to receive the blessed Body and Blood of thy Son my most blessed Saviour into a Clean Charitable and Thankful Heart that it may perfectly cleanse me from all Dregs of sin that being made clean it may nourish me in Faith Hope Charity and Obedience with all other Fruits of spiritual life and growth in thee That in all the future Course of my Life I may shew my self such an engrafted Member into the Body of thy Son that I may nevâ—â— be drawn to do any â—hing thâ— may dishonour his Name Granâ— this O Lord I beseech theâ— eveâ— for his Merit and Mercy sake Amen For Self-Examination ALmighty God and most merciful Father give me I beseech thee that Grace that I may duly examine the inmost of my heart and my most secret thoughts that I may know how I stand before thee Lord I confess all my sins and my unworthiness to present my self at thine Altar But thou and thou only canst forgive sin and give true Repentance do both gracious Father and them behold I am clean to come unto thee Lord make me a worthy Receiver of that for which I come even Christ and Forgiveness of sin in Christ and that for his own Mercy-sake and thine Amen For belief of Christ's Presence without disputing the manner O Lord God hear my Prayers And while others dispute grant that I may stedfastly believe behold I quarrel not the Words of thy Son my Saviour's blessed Institution I know his Words are no gross unnatural Conceit but they are Spirit and Life and supernatural He hath promised me if I come worthily that I shall receive his most precious Body and Blood with all the benefits of his Passion without amusing my self then about the manner of receiving Him Lord make me able make me worthy to receive Him For grant me this Favour and I know I can no more die Eternally then his Body and Blood can again die and be shed Lord so wash and cleanse my Soul that I may now and at all times else come prepared by hearty Prayers and Devotion and be made worthy by thâ— Grace of this blessed Sacramenâ— the Pledge and Earnest of Eternâ—â— Life in the Merits of the same Holy Jesus who gave his Body anâ— Blood for me Amen Immediately before the sight of tâ—â— Bread O Lord God how I receive thâ— Body and Blood of my moâ— blessed Saviour the price of mâ— Redemption is the very wondeâ— of my Soul Yet that I do receivâ— them is my firm and constant belief At this time they are graciously tender'd to me and my Faith Lord make me a worthy Receiveâ— and be it unto me according to mâ— Saviour's Word Amen Looking upon the Bread and Winâ— say O Thou that sittest on high with the Father and art here invisibly present with us come and sanctifie these thy Creatures of Bread â—nd Wine and those by whom â—hey are to be received Amen As the Bread is coming to you say LEt thy Body I beseech thee O Lord Jesu Christ which was given for me preserve my Boâ—y and Soul unto Everlasting Life â—nd grant that I may take and eat â—n Remembrance that thou hast died for me and feed on thee in my Heart by Faith with Thanksgiving Amen As the Wine is brought say LEt thy
Blood I beseech thee O Lord Jesus Christ which was shed for me preserve my Body and Soul unto Everlasting life And grant I may drink this in Remembrance thy Blood was shed for me and be Thankful Amen FINIS Advertisement THe Author of this Discoâ—â— being certified that mâ— Young Persons have made choice The Introduction to the Sacâ—â—ment Written by the Reverend Dâ— Addison Dean of Litchfield 〈◊〉 now Published with Devotions their Guide to the Communion-Talâ— as being best suited to their Capâ—cities He thought it conveniâ— that this small Piece be Printed a Volume fit to be bound up with 〈◊〉 said Introduction because it mâ— serve as a Prelude or Preparateâ— Discourse to the same And I haâ—â— taken care to Print it accordingly Farewel W. C. The Introduction to the Sacrament London Printed for W Crook at the Green Dragon without Temple Barre F. H. Van. Houe Saâ— An Introduction TO THE SACRAMENT OR A Short Plain and Safe way to the Communion-Table BEING An Instruction for the worthy receiving of the Lords Supper Collected for and familiarly addressed to every particular Communicant By L. Addison D. D. Dean of Lichfield To which is added The Communicants Assistant BEING A Collection of Devotions to that purpose LONDON Printed for William Crooke at the Green Dragon without Temple-Bar near Devereux-Court 1686. IMPRIMATUR Jo. Battely Reverendissimo P. ac D no. D no. Willielmo Archi-Ep Cantuar. à sacris domesticis Ex aedib Lambeth Apr. 1. 1686. TO THE Right Worshipful ROB. HYDE Esq My Truly Worthy And much Honoured Patron SIR THE following Papers were at first only designed for the Help and Service of my own Parishioners your Tenants and being resolved to expose them to publick Censure I needed not deliberate to whom they were due nor did any Thought interpose but this one That they were not worth your eye or owning However I conceived they might serve as a Witness of my deep apprehension of your Generous and Friendly Patronage And therefore with all heartiness and height of Gratitude I put these Papers into your hands hoping that when you read them over you may meet with something besides my Frailties even those Truths which will make you for ever happy And now Sir being no great Friend to the common Vanity of Letters Dedicatory pardon me that for making Court to you I humbly apply my self to your gracious Maker That you may enjoy Health and Prosperity and be long long happy in the inviolable Affection of that Honourable Lady your truly Noble and Pious Consort and that the God of Blessings may daily bless you both Your most obliged and most humble Servant An Advertisement OF THE BOOK-SELLER TO THE READER HAving twice printed the following Introduction with Success I now purely for the Publick Good commit it the third time to the Press In which Edition I have earnestly sollicited the Author for Enlargements but found him wholly deaf to any such Proposal Assuring himself he had in this small Book made good its Title and he hopes God will make good the Design However I have prevailed with him to add a Collection of Devotions inferiour perhaps to none of this kind which with the Reader he humbly recommends to Gods blessing As it was before without the Devotions it was so well liked by a great many Ministers that they gave them by dozens at aâ— time to their poor Parishioners being found to be the fittest and the most plain to the meanest Capacities yet very useful to all who desire worthily to be partakers of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper I hope it will now prove more beneficial to thee W. C. Books Printed for W. Crooke at the Sign of the Green Dragon without Temple-Bar near Devereux Court DIVINITY 1. SIxty one Sermons preached mostly upon publick occasions by Adam Littleton D. D. Folio Price 16 s. 2. Brevis demonstratio being the truth of the Christian Religion proved by Reason 12o. price bd 10. d. 3. The Primitive Institution shewing the antiquity and usefulness of Catechizing together with its suitableness to heal the distempers of the Church by L. Addison D. D. price 1 s. 6 d. 4. A Sermon preached at the Funeral of a sober religious man found drown'd in a Pit in octavo price bound 1 s. 5. Mr. Howel's Visitation Sermon before the Bishop of Chichester 4o. price 6 d. 6. Dr. Hascard's three Sermons in quarto 7. Mr. Manningams four Sermons in quarto 8. A Sermon preached at the Savoy in French and since printed iâ— French and English twelves price bound 8 d. 9. A modest Plea for the Clergy wherein is considered the reason why the Clergy are so contemned and neglected by L. A. D. D. and Dean of Lichfeild price 1 s. 6 d. 10. Hugo Grotius his Catechism Greek Latin and English with a Praxis of all the Greek words therein contained in 8o. price bd 2 s. 11 The Spirit of Prophecy proving that Christ and his Apostle were Prophets written by the directions of and recommended to the Press by the right reverend Father in God Peter Lord Bishop oâ— Ely in 8o. price 3 s. 12. The King-killing Doctrine oâ— the Jesuites in a sincere Discourse to the French King written by a Roman Catholick in 40. price 1 s. 13. Justifying Faith or the Faith by which the Just do live together with the excellency of the Common Prayer Book in 8o. price bound 1 s. 14. Mercy Triumphant or the Kingdom of Christ enlarged beyond the narrow bounds which have been wont to be set to it By Ed. Lane 15. Du Moulin's Reflections reverberated being a full Answer to the damning Doctrine of Dr. Lewis Du Moulin also a Confutation of Edmund Hickeringill's railing against the Ecclesiastical Courts By E. Lane in quarto 1 s. 6 d. 16. Responsio Valedictoria ad secundam Sandii Epistolam c. per Sam. Gardiner S. T. D. in 8o price 1 s. 6 d. 17. An Introduction to the Sacrament or a most plain and easie way to the Communion Table in 24. by L. A. D. D. Dean of Lichfeild price bound 6 d. 18. Chillingworth's Protestant Religion a safe way to Salvation Fol. 19. A Discourse about Conscience relating to the present Differences among us in opposition to both extreams of Popery and Fanatism in quarto price 6 d. 20. The Doctrine of Passive Obedience delivered on the 30. of January by Jo. Ellesby Vicar of Chiswick quarto 21. Praise and Adoration a Sermon preached on Trinity Sunday 4o. 22. A short view of the most gracious Providence of God in the Restoration and Succession May 29. 4o. 23. A solemn Humiliation for the Murther of King Charles the First January 30. quarto 24. A Sermon preached at Hantshire Feast on Shrove Tuesday 4o. 25. Two Discourses the one of Truth the other shewing Popery the Cause of Atheism In 8o. All these five last by Mr. Thomas Maningham late Fellow of New Colledge Oxford now Preacher at the Rolls AN Introduction TO THE. SACRAMENT I. BEing in
ought to be able to recite the Words of the Creed to have a competent Knowledge of their meaning and of the influence each Article ought to have upon my Coversation I will therefore first rehearse the Words thereof and then give you such an Account of their Sense and Influence as I have been taught by you I Believe in God the Father Almighty Maker of Heaven and Earth And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried He descended into Hell The third day he rose again from the dead He ascended into Heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty From thence he shall come to judge both the quick and the dead I believe in the Holy Ghost the Holy Catholick Church the Communion of Saints the Forgiveness of Sins the Resurrection of the Body and the Life everlasting Amen Having thus rehearsed the worâ— of the Creed my next Task is â— give a short plain Declaration â— what I believe in every Article ARTICLE I. I believe in God the Father Aâ—mighty Maker of Heaven anâ— Earth In this Article I have beeâ— taught to believe that there is God and that he is an Eternaâ— Spirit whose Being is of himself and not from any other and thaâ— from him all things have their Being And I further believe Thaâ— this God is but One because he is the Infinite Independent and Omnipotent Cause which can be but One. I believe also That this God is the Eternal Father of Christ and that for his sake he is also my Heavenly Father and that being Almighty he can do for me whatsoever he will I likewise believe That in Six days this God created all things of Nothing by his Word for his Glory and that he still preserveth all things by the same Word of his Power ARTICLE II. And in Iesus Christ his only Son our Lord. In this Second Article of the Creed I have been taught to believe in Jesus Christ and that he is the only Son of God and of the same Divine Essence with him That he is called Jesus because he is the only Saviour of Mankind and that he is called Christ or Messiah which signifies Anointed because he was anointed to the Three Offices of a Prophet Priest and King which Three under the Law were in an especial manner Anointed And I believe That all these Three met in Christ and that as a Prophet he doth instruct his Church outwardly by his Word and inwardly by his Spirit And I believe That as a Priest he made satisfaction unto God for the Sins of Mankind when he once offered up himself upon the Cross and that by the Sacrifice of himself he reconciled God and Man And further I believe That as a Priest he continually makes Intercession for me and all true Christians at the right Hand of his Father in Heaven and doth bless me in turning me from my Iniquities In like manner I believe That Jesus was not only Christ that is Anointed to be a Prophet and a Priest in the sense now declared but that he was also Anointed to be a King And that as such he doth govern and preserve his Church he erects and sets up his Throne in the Hearts of Believers He gives them Grace to subdue every rebellious Lust and habit of Sin that it reign not in them He conquers Satan and restrains his Power He overcomes Death and having received all Authority in Heaven and Earth he rules over all Men and all Creatures and that of his Kingdom there shall be no end So that to him belongs absolute Dominion over all and Obedience is due to him from all ARTICLE III. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary In this Article I profess to believe That when Christ was made of the Seed of David according to the Flesh he was made in all things like to my self excepting Sin For that could affect neither his Humane Soul nor Body because in both he was most Holy as being conceived only by the Operation of the Holy Ghost and born of a spotless Virgin For Christ that he might be our Kinsman and capable to redeem us by paying our Debts in the same Humane Nature in which they were contracted it was necessasary he should be the Seed of the Woman And that he might plainly appear to be that Seed of the Woman which was promised it was likewise necessary he should be born of a Virgin who was of the Lineage and House of David All which I believe from God's Word was accomplished in the Blessed Mother of Christ ARTICLE IV. Suffered under Pontius Pilate c. This is an Article that you have often told me I ought well to understand for it respects Christ's Death upon which the whole Hinge of my Salvation turns I find the History of it to be clearly and fully set forth by the Evangelists and as to the knowledge of it St. Paul valued it so highly that he desired to know nothing else but Jesus Christ crucified Now by my believing of the Crucifixion I confess that according to the Prophecies Christ suffered in his Humane Nature both in Soul and Body his Divine Nature being uncapable of suffering And that this hapned at the time when Pontius Pilate was the Roman Governour of Judaea who being addicted to Cruelty and sinful compliance condemned Christ to be crucified And as Moses lifted up the Serpent on the Pole in the Wilderness so was Christ lifted up on the Cross and by a painful ignominious and accursed Death did expiate my sin and redeemed me from all vain Conversation and from the Curse of the Law and gave me an Entrance into Heaven All which unspeakable Benefits are justly to be ascribed to the Blood of Christ because it was of infinite value as being the Blood of that Person who was God as well as Man And as I believe Christ voluntarily laid down his Life and that his Soul was really separated from his Body so I likewise believe that as a dead Man he was buried after the manner of the Jewish Nation namely that he was bound in Grave-clothes with Spices and laid the Grave with an heavy Stone rolled to the mouth of the Sepulcher All which were certain Tokens of his Death as being the usual known Rites of a Jewish Funeral I also believe That Christ being dead his Soul and Body remain'd in a separate condition under the Power of Death and that his Soul was reunited to the Body before it did putrifie in the Grave But as to the various Opinions about his Descent into Hell I think them either too high or too unprofitable for my research And as you have taught me so I believe that Christ's Birth Death and Burial or being under the Dominion of Death were the Three Degrees of his Humiliation answerable to which were the Three Degrees of his
Exaltation namely Resurrection Ascension and Glorification in Heaven ARTICLE V. The third day he rose again from the dead Tho' being a Christian I need no Proof of Christ's rising from the Dead yet to confirm my belief of so eminent an Article God has given me the Testimony of Angels of the Men that guarded the Sepulcher the many Apparitions of Christ after he was risen the Effusion of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles the Miracles done by them in his Name So that I have just ground to believe and profess That the Body of Christ saw no Corruption as did the Bodies of the Patriarchs And because it was impossible he should be holden of the Power of Death I do believe that he did really rise again and that the very same Body and Soul of our Saviour which were separated by Death were by his own Divine Power reunited in his Resurrection And as to the time when he arose I have been taught and do believe That it was the Third day after his Death which hapned to be the First day of the Week Which Day we celebrate in memory of his Resurrection and which has immemorially been called The Lord's Day ARTICLE VI. He ascended into Heaven and sitteth c. I believe That Christ ascended by the same Power he rose And that this was no other Power than that of his own Divinity by which as an High-Priest of good things to come he once ascended visibly and locally into the Heaven of Heavens as the High-Priest once every Year entred into the Holy of Holies And the End of his Ascension was I believe to prepare a place for Believers and to receive them to it that where he is they might be also After Christ's Ascension into Heaven he took his Place at the Right-Hand of God Not that I think God who is a most absolute Spirit hath either Right or Left Hand but that this is spoken after the manner of Men who place those whom they will most honour upon their Right-hand And from Christ's being thus placed in Heaven I collect That he there took up his Abode in a State of Majesty and Power to shew that he was above all Creatures in Heaven and Earth and that he is exalted to be the King of Saints and Judge of Sinners the Prince of our Salvation and High-Priest of our Profession and that in him there was an Union of the Regal Power and Priestly Office when he sat down at the Right-hand of the Father Almighty So that by the former he is perfectly able to subdue all his Enemies and by the latter he doth ever intercede for and eternally save those that are his ARTICLE VII From thence he shall come to judge c. As I believe that Christ redeemed me by his death and passion and that by his Ascension he is become my Advocate and Intercessor with God so I believe that he shall come the second time from Heaven with great Glory to judge the World For besides the particular Judgment that passeth upon every Man immediately upon his Death when the departed Soul is set at God's Tribunal and examined of all its Thoughts Words and Actions I say besides this particular Judgment I believe their shall be a general Judgment when all shall be judged as well the Quick that shall be alive at that day as the Dead who shall then be raised up And that this last Judgment Christ himself as a Supream Judge shall pass the final Sentence and that the Saints as Assessors shall pass their Sentence of Approbation I believe too That I and all Men shall be judged of all things done in the Body whether Good or Evil And that upon the pronouncing of the Sentence the truly penitent shall pass to an Estate of Eternal Happiness and finally the Impenitent to an Estate of Eternal Misery ARTICLE VIII I believe in the Holy Ghost Having briefly declared what my Faith is in God the Father and God the Son I am next to declare what I believe concerning God the Holy Ghost And first I believe That without Faith in the Holy Ghost I cannot believe in God the Father nor in his Son as my Lord. For no Man can call God Father but by the Holy Ghost nor can any Man say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost Whom I believe to be the Third Person in the Divine Being and therefore True God And that as he proceedeth from the Father and the Son which I believe he doth he is a Person distinct from both The Spirit in whom I believe is called Holy because in himself he is without all Pollution and sin and because he is the Author of all Holiness in me and all who truly believe in him So that all my Holiness is but a Ray or Effusion of the Holy Ghost which doth furnish my Heart with spiritual and saving Graces by the Work of Sanctification ARTICLE IX I believe the Holy Catholick Church the Communion of Saints After this plain Account given by me of the Articles which concern the Blessed Trinity I will now give the like Account of those that follow which respect such only as truly believe in and obey and Worship the Trinity in Unity and who are here called the Church Which I plainly take to signifie all those whom Christ hath called out of the World to be his peculiar People Over whom he hath a Sovereign Authority in regard of which they willingly and chearfully pay him Homage and obey his Law and Ordinances For by Church I have been taught to understand the Corporation and General Family of all true Believers which Family truly deserves to be called Holy in respect of its Head which is Christ who is Holy in himself and whose Holiness is imputed to all sincere Believers And who through the Grace given to them do labour study and endeavour to be Holy And the Church in this familiar acception I believe is Universal as well as Holy and that there are in all the Quarters of the World those who by Baptism are admitted into it and so made Members of Christ's Mystical Body who are guided by his Spirit nourished by the Word and Sacrament and who are obedient to the Rule and Government of the Bishops and Pastors lawfully called to their Offices And of this Society of Believers which constitute the Church some are in a state of War continually fighting against their own and Christ's Enemies but yet in daily expectation of Triumph and a Crown And these are called the Church Militant which is on Earth And some are in a state of Peace for having fought the good Fight of Faith and finished their Warfare they are entred into their Master's Joy And these make the Church Triumphant which is crowned in Heaven Now these I hold are not two divers Churches but the same Church under a different State and Condition For I believe the Church to be essentially but one And as Christ's Mystical Body the Church
God hath ordained in his Church to convey unto me this Remission and to perform the Condition on which it is promised My believing the Rising again of my Body should make me watchful against all things that may keep it from being in a fit condition to rise to Glory and to practice all such Vertues as may prepare it for that Heavenly Condition to which I expect it should be raised And my believing the Life Everlasting should make me diligent to employ my short moment of Time here that my Everlasting Life hereafter may be a Life of Joy and not of Misery And thus from all the Articles of the Creed I am to draw Motives to strengthen me in all Christian Practice to which end my learning and believing of them is designed And till I do this I cannot rationally pretend to make good what I promised when I was baptized namely To believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith And without this I think my self unfit to partake of the Lord's Supper I now proceed to Obedience which you have frequently taught me is the second Head of my Christian Profession and that it has the Ten Commandments for its Rule and of these as well as of the Creed I ought to have a convenient Knowledge both as to the Words and Meaning before I come to the Lord's Table Because the keeping of God's Commandments is one part of that Vow which I have broken and come thither to renew And first I have been Catechised That in eaâ—h Commandment there is something required and something forbidden so that I may be guilty of transgressing it either by doing what I ought not to do or by leaving undone what I ought to do As to the things forbidden by the First Commandment I have learned that they are chiefly Atheism or the Denial of God's Being and the multiplying and serving of false Gods as also the not serving the only true God aright And of this last I look upon my self to become egregiously guilty when I suffer any thing to share with God in my Worship of him and when I am guilty of Hypocrisie Irreligion Indevotion Lukewarmness Heresie Schism Apostasie Infidelity Presumption Despair Carnal Security Pride Disobedience Impatience and Murmuring and wilful Ignorance of his Word And I have been taught That by this same Commandment it is required of me to acknowledge but One God and to have him for my God and to love fear obey and trust in him above all others and to serve him truly all the days of my life And as to the things forbidden in the Second Commandment I doubt not but they are The appointing of any kind of Image for Religious Worship the representing of God by a visible likeness of any thing the worshipping of Creatures the neglect of the Worship of the True God or the worshipping him after a false manner And the Duties enjoined in this Commandment are to worship the only True God according to his own Prescription to worship him both in my Body and Spirit to bear a due regard to all the Parts of his Worship as Prayer the Word and Sacraments to come to them with suitable Preparation and to yield a due Veneration to all Places Times Persons and Things rightly set apart for God's Worship And to such as thus worship him he hath promised Mercy and Kindness but has threatned to be a severe Punisher of them that do otherwise In the Third Commandment I am forbidden all irreverent Thoughts of God all Blasphemy or dishonourable mention of his Name all Perjury or Breach of lawful Oaths all occasioning the Name of God and True Religion to be blasphemed And on the other side I am enjoyned to think and speak reverently of God's Name and Attributes to glorifie him in his Holy Word and Ordinances to use his Name with Reverence in taking Religious Oaths to obâ—â—â—â—â— such Oaths with an holy Care and Conscience and to glorifie his Name by a pious Conversation The Fourth Commandment requires me to keep holy or to sanctifie all such days which are separated from a Common to a Religious use After God had in six days finished the Works of the first Creation he sanctified the Seventh Day and commanded his People to sanctifie it But after the Resurrection of Christ instead of the Seventh Day from the beginning of the Creation the First Day of the Week was hallowed and called emphatically the Lords-day And the Observation of it has been the universal practice of the Christian Church And I think my self bound to spend this day in an especial attendance on God's Service such as Prayer Preaching Participation of the Sacrament Relieving the Poor Meditating upon the Works of Creation and Redemption c. And on this day I have been taught that I am forbidden all Worldly Undertakings and Employments vain Sports and Recreations and all actions but those of Piety Mercy Necessity and Decency Now these four first Commandments respect my Duty toward God and the six that follow regard my Neighbour and my self And the first of these six which is the Fift of the Ten Commandments may be called the Commandment of Relations For it teaches me first my Duty to my Natural Parents and that I am to honour them Which implieth that I am to fear reverence succour and obey them It secondly teacheth me my Duty to my Political Parents namely the King and all in lawful Authoritâ— under him Whom also I am to honour and obey It thirdly teaches me my Duty to my Ecclesiastical Parents Spiritual Pastor and Teachers And it likewise binds me to carry my self lowly and reverently to all my betters In short I have been taught that this Commandment doth concern all the mutual Duties among all sorts and degrees of Inferiours and Superiours from the King to the Master of a Cottage And there is an especial Promise annexed to this Precept to encourage all to obey it in performing their respective Duties one to another In the Sixth Commandment which concerns Man's life all those things are forbidden me which any way tend to the injury of the same as Hatred causless and revengeful Anger contrivance of Man's Death occasions of and actual and wilful Murder And at the same time this Commandment requires me as far as I am able to preserve the life of Man and that I sustain it with Food and Raiment that I prudently avoid all Dangers and conscientiously fly from all such Vices whereby Humane Life is hazarded and which are destructive both of the Body and Soul of him that commits them Such as Drunkenness Uncleanness c. In the Seventh Commandment which concerns a chaste Conservation I am forbidden all acts of Adultery and Fornication together with unlawful Marriage And likewise all such Thoughts Looks Attire and Words as prompt and inveigle to Uncleanness I have further been taught that by this Commandment all such things are forbidden as may occasion any of these as Idleness Excess in Eating and Drinking
the good things I want and have the good things I enjoy and that by his Blessings the Creatures aare sanctified to my moderate and thankful use I likewise under the term of daily Bread pray That God would give me that continual supply of his Grace which may sustain and nourish my Soul unto Eternal life PETITION V. And forgive us our Trespases c. By Trespasses or Debts anâ— meant my Sins for which I aâ— daily to beg Pardon and to be seech God not to exact of mâ— the Penalty of them but to accept of Christ's satisfaction foâ—me and for his sake to discharge me from the Debt which I owe to his Justice And that I may not forfeit God's Pardon by denying mine to my Brethren â— pray for those Bowels of Compassion to others which I stand in so much need of from God My forgiving others their Trespasses being here used as an Argument to move God to forgive me mine And if I who am prone to revenge can by God's Grace forgive others How much more will God who is infinite in Mercy forgive me But if I â—o not forgive I shall not be forâ—iven PETITION VI. And lead us not into Tempâ—â—tion but deliver us from Eâ—â—ll As in the former Petition I â—m taught to pray for deliveâ—ance from the guilt and condemâ—ation of sin so in this I pray â—o be delivered from the power â—f sin And seeing I am unable â—o withstand those multitudes of Temptations that daily assault me â— beg of God either to restrain â—hem or in his faithfulness not to â—ffer me to be tempted above â—hat I am able but in all my Temptations to make me a way â—o escape that I be not overâ—ome by them And because â—â—tan is that Evil One which alway tempting me to sin I beseech God to deliver me froâ— him and from being taken his Snâ—â—es The CONCLUSION For thine is the Kingdom Power and the Glory for eâ— and ever Amen Some tell me that these Woâ— are no Essential Part of Prayer but an addition whâ— I may use or omit without a Injury to this Sacred Form But for my own part I thâ— these words ought to conclaâ— this and all my Prayers â—â—cause they contain an Acknoledgment of God's Majesty Poâ—er Glory and Eternity whâ— are chief Motives to pray a which give life and spirit the Duty For these Excellâ—â—cies being all in Him to whâ— I pray they are as so many proâ— to my Faith and assurances tâ— I shall be heard For it is a principal Reason for my Praying to God That his is the Kingdom and that he Rules over all the World and that as a good and loving King he is easie to be intreated by his Subjects ready to protect and supply them amidst all their Wants and Adventures And by my acknowledgment of God's Kingdom I oblige my self to obey his Laws and submit to his Government So that while I retain any one Rebel-lust out of his Obedience I cannot be thought to be in earnest when I say Thy Kingdom come and Thine is the Kingdom The Power The Belief of God's Power and All-sufficiency is a second Reason to pray unto him It were to no purpose to make a Petition to One who is not able to bestow what I desire For be the Will never so ready yoâ— where Ability is wanting thâ— Petitioner is never the nearer tâ— obtain his Request But seeinâ— God is my Father he cannoâ— want Will and seeing he is a so my King he cannot wanâ— Power to give what I ask him Now seeing that the Bowels of Father and the Arm of a Kinâ— are both in him to whom my Supplication is directed I not onlâ— may but justly ought to relâ— upon him for all things necessarâ— for this Life and the Life tâ— come And when I fail tâ— place my whole and final Dependance on God instead oâ— honouring I reproach him when I acknowledge his Power The Glory The Glory of God as it encourageth my Prayers to him so it is that of which himself is most tender My Glory I will not give to another This is the aim of all his own Dispensations and ought to be the end of all my Faith and Practice And when I tell God that his granting my Prayers is for his Glory I lay so strong an Obligation upon him as methinks he cannot resist But if the Honour of all I have or am be not as it ought to be ascribed unto God from whom I receive all If I impute any thing to my self or my own Procurement I cannot say as I should Thine is the Glory For Ever and Ever This is my acknowledgment of God's Eternity that he is the same yesterday to day and for Ever His Kingdom shall have no End and his Power and Glory is not like that of Earthly Princes fading and transitory but Eternal without Beginning and End Were I to make my Requests to a mutable and a mortal God one subject to Change or Ending I should want one of the most concluding Arguments for Prayer But seeing he whom I Petition is for Ever and Ever the same merciful God who hath always heard and doth still hear the Prayers of Poor Penitent Sinners For ever a King and so obliged to help his Subjects for ever a Potentate and so able to do them good and one for whose Glory it is to grant my Requests I may with comfort conclude that this Almighty most Merciful and Everlasting Father will hear and do for me though not always according to my wish and desire yet always as he shall see most convenient for me Amen With this I am told the Jews used to close all their Prayers and that the Christian Church injoyned the People in their Liturgies to conclude all their Prayers with this also And it was thought of so great importance that it was called the Seal of Prayer And by my hearty and zealous saying Amen to what is prayed for I express 1. My faithful assurance and reliance upon God that he will hear me as he has promis'd Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will hear thee Ask and ye shall have 2. I express by my saying Amen with the Congregation that I agree with them and that we all do present but one common Vote that with one Heart and one Voice we all petition God And I have this to encourage me in this Harmony and Consent That if God will grant the Requests of Two or Three gather'd together in his Name he will much more lend his Ear to a pious Multitude to a whole Congregation 3. My humble and zealous saying Amen doth testifie my Attention to the Prayers that I am not asleep or have my Thoughts wandring And indeed one way to keep out drowsiness and distracted idle and impertinent Thoughts at the hearing of Prayers is the Consideration that at the end thereof I am to say Amen that is I am as it were to set my Seal to what has
been prayed for and that by so doing I challenge a share therein And indeed if I neglect this I can scarce expect any part or interest in the Prayers that are made To conclude In this word Amen all the Prayer is summ'd up and abridg'd and it was as I have been taught of such singular importance with the Primitive Christians that they spoke it with so great Zeal as that he who heard their Voice would have thought it had been a roaring Sea or Thunder which should awaken my drowsiness and move me with Vigour and Warmth to declare my fervent desires to have those Prayers heard of God to which I say such an earnest hearty humble and zealous Amen The Doctrine of the Sacraments In the Creed I have been taught that God by his Son hath redeemed me and all Mankind and in the Doctrine of the Sacraments which makes the last part of my Catechism I have been taught how that by them God doth exhibit and seal unto Believers that Redemption which Christ purchased for them And as to the Number of these Sacraments I have learned they are but Two and only Two namely Baptism and the Lord's Supper And I am convinced that all Men ought to receive these Two who desired to be saved Which I do not so understand as if God could not save without them but that they are the Instrumental Means and ordinary Seals by which God hath promised to convey and assure Christ's Merits to me and commanded me this way to receive them so that wilfully to neglect or to want the Sacraments when they may be had is to cast aside God's Ordinance which every Christian is bound to obey And as I have been taught so I look upon the Sacraments as the Conditional Means which God requires to be observed of them unto whom he imparts his Grace Not as if this Grace whereof a Worthy Receiver partakes were a Natural or Supernatural Quality in the Sacrament but that it is from God himself which is the Author of the Sacrament so that Grace is receiv'd from God by means of the Sacraments And this I have learned not only from you who are our Parish-Divine but also from Mr. Hooker whose Judgment I have heard much praised by many of our best Clergy This saith he is the Necessity of Sacraments That saving Grace which Christ Originally is or hath for the General Good of his whole Church by Sacraments he severally derives into every Member thereof Sacraments serve as the Instruments of God to that End and Purpose Moral Instruments the Use whereof is in our Hands the Effect in his For the Use we have his express Commandment for the Effect his Conditional Promise So that without our Obedience to the one there is no apparent assurance of the other As contrariwise where the Signs and Sacrament of his Grace are not eitheâ— through Contempt unreceiv'd or not receiv'd with Contempt We are not to doubt but they really give what they promise and are what they signifie I fully acquiesce as to this Point in the Judgment of this Considerable Author The Sacraments of the Christian Church are as I said Two namely Baptism and the Lord's Supper By Baptism I have my Admission and Entrance into the Church and it is the washing of Regeneration by which I am new born And by the Lord's Supper to which I now earnestly desire to be admitted I believe I shall be nourished preserved and grow up in Christ And these Two Sacraments I am sure were of Christ's own appointment And seeing that by the one I am entred into the Christian Profession and by the other I am therein strengthned and made perfect I see no neep of any more And not to trouble my self with the secular use of the Word Sacrament it serves my turn to understand it in the Sense of the Church which tells me it is an outward and visible Sign of an inward and spiritual Grace Ordain'd by Christ himself and a means whereby we receive the same Grace and a Pledge to assure us thereof Now this Description of a Sacrament I have been often told is the uneasiest Point in all my Catechism I will therefore in order to be better inform'd set down my sence of this Description And first By an Outward and Visible Sign I understand that which presents its self to my Eye and represents somewhat else to my Understanding As for Example in Baptism the Outward and Visible Sign is Water wherein the Person is dipped or sprinkled And the inward and spiritual Grace which is thereby signified is a Death unto Sin and a New-birth unto Righteousness both which by the means of Baptism are convey'd to the Baptized I have heard you Catechizing upon this Point declare that it was the ancient manner of Baptism to put the Person baptiz'd under Water and then to take him out again and that this was done to signifie his dying unto Sin and rising again to Newness of Life The first declared the weakning the deading and putting off of sin The latter shewed the performance of those Actions of Men who being quickned by the Spirit endeavour to serve God all their days in Righteousness and true Holiness And in the Lord's Supper there is also an Outward and Visible sign namely Bread and Wine and an inward Part or Thing signified to wit the Body and Blood of Christ which are spiritually received by all Worthy Communicants and which being so received their Souls are strengthned and refreshed and the same Effect is wrought in the Inner Man by the Holy Mysteries which is in the Outward by these Elements And as strength is from Bread and chearfulness from Wine so I hope and expect that when I am admitted to the Lord's Supper my Heart will be established by Grace and my Soul strengthned and my Conscience made chearful and light with the Blessings and Benefits that the Sacrament will exhibit seal and convey unto me still supposing that I am in some competent measure fit to communicate And in order to be so I have learned from my Catechism that these following Duties are required of me namely Self-Examination Repentance Faith Thankfulness and Charity And for my assistance in the Knowledge and Examination of these Graces I have chosen The Introduction to the Sacrament written by Doctor Addison Dean of Litâ—â—field on purpose for such if Capacities as my own And after this familiar account of my knowledge in Religion you to whom I commit the care of my Soul shall judge me competent to be admitted to the Lord's Table I shall esteem my Condition happy as being perswaded that I have no other means to repair my Vow of Baptism which by numerous ways I have broken and to renew the Covenant I made with God when I was Christen'd and to be restored to all the Benefits of Baptism forfeited by the sins I have committed since I was baptized I say I am perswaded that I cannot obtain these things by any
are not to imagine that the Son of God came only to gaze upon the Miseries and to condole the Wretchedness of that Nature he had taken or to pass by us as the Priest and Levite did the wounded Traveller but with the good Samaritan he bound up our Sores and provided us of all those means of recovery whereof we were utterly destitute and put us in a right way of being and continuing healthy And this he did VIII First By making known unto you and as many as believe on him the whole Will of God assuring all such as fail not to do it that they shall meet with â— most gracious acceptance and bountiful reward During the time of Christ's troublesome Pilgrimage upon Earth you know it was one chief part of his Employment to give such Commands and Counsels as by their own inward goodness were sufficient to approve themselves to mans rational nature His Doctrine wore no Veil nor was it wrapt up in Types and Shadows but both in its Perspicuity and Justice Christ shew'd himself to be the Son of Righteousness Mal. 4.2 He would not suffer his Gospel like Moses Law to consist in Carnal but Spiritual Observances not in cleansing the Pollutions of the Body but in purifying the Affections of the Soul And by giving a Law proper to this end he proved himself to be a true Prophet whose work is not only to foretel what shall be hereafter though in this strictest sense of the word Christ was so far forth a Prophet as was needful for his Church but to instruct what men are to do to expound signifie and make known the mind and good pleasure of God And this he did in his Sermons especially in that on the Mount wherein he hath shewn upon what terms eternal Blessedness is to be had under the Gospel He also revealed some Commands of God which were not before so expresly revealed and expounding such as were so obscurely revealed in the Old Testament that men thought not themselves fully obliged to obey them IX And as a Prophet too or soveraign Institutor of the Church Christ appointed Ceremonies and Discipline or Sacraments and Ecclesiastical Censures All which he delivered either in Parables or plain Propositions To which you are to give a willing and full Assent a chearful and ready Obedience not despising or neglecting the use of whatever he hath thought fit to prescribe And if you cannot at first sight so clearly comprehend some Mysteries of the Gospel your Reason which in it self is proud and carnal must be subject to Faith which can easily wade through those depths which to Reason are unpassable Above all give diligent attention to Christ as your great Prophet being ready and desirous to be duly inform'd of that Will of God which he came to reveal X. And as the first Mercy of the second Covenant was to have Christ to be a Prophet in the sense now mentioned so another benefit therof was to have him to be your Priest You meet in Scripture with two Orders of Priesthood viz. one of Aaron and another of Melchizedeck The Office of the Aaronical Priesthood consisted chiefly in Sacrificing not Excluding Blessing of the People Gen. 14.18 But the Office of the Melchizedechian Priesthood was principally to bless not denying but that it had also a liberty to sacrifice Christ was a Priest according to both these Orders XI And first he was a Priest according to the Order of Aaron by virtue whereof he offer'd up himself upon the Cross and by that Sacrifice of himself once offer'd he compleated the whole Work of Satisfaction for Sin and put an end to all the old legal Sacrifices which had indeed an Eye to this Satisfaction but were not able to accomplish it To satisfie God for our sins not only that one of Adam but all the sins of all Mankind that truly repent and amend and by this means to obtain for man Forgiveness of sins the Favour of God and Redemption from Hell and eternal Damnation which was the punishment due to sin And all this he did by his death So that if you truly and heartily repent of and forsake your sins you shall receive the benefits of that Sacrifice of Christ which he offer'd as a Priest and your sins though never so many and heinous shall be forgiven you and you shall be saved from those everlasting Punishments which are due for them XII Secondly Christ is a Priest according to the Order of Melchizedeck and though he did not enter upon this till after he was risen from the dead yet it shall not end until the Consummation of all things His Aaronical Preisthood expired with himself upon the Cross but he remains a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchizedeck And as the Office of this Priesthood consisted in Blessing and praying for the People as you may collect from Gen. 14.18 it belongs also unto Christ God having sent him to bless you as St. Peter speaks Acts 3.26 And the following words declare that this Blessing consists in turning every one from his iniquity And those excellent means used by Christ for this end which ought to be reckon'd for the greatest Blessings are 1. A Succession of Priests an Holy Order of men whom he continually employs by their Ministry to work in mens hearts a sincere Obedience to the Gospel 2. A giving to all humble Christians strength to enable them to overcome sin 3. His interceding with God for his Servants that they may continue in well doing And as he did this last while he was upon Earth praying that his Disciples Faith might not fail so he still pursues the same Office of praying for the Church now that he is ascended up into Heaven where sitting at the right hand of God he makes request for us Rom. 8.34 And it is your duty as a Christian to comply with Christ herein and to be willing to be thus blessed by him in being turned from your sins and not to resist his Prayers and Intercessions not to render all his Blessings the means of Repentance void and fruitless by your wilful continuance in iniquity But when you shall use these Blessings to the end they are designed by your Saviour and shall cease to do evil and learn to do good not expecting Forgiveness or Salvation upon other terms than Christ has propounded them when you shall be careful to run diligently the Race Jesus has set before you then may you expect to receive rhe Prize even a Crown that fades not which God the righteous Judge shall set upon your Temples not for your own but the Merits of your High-Priest who according to the Order of Aaron offer'd himself a Sacrifice and according to the Order of Melchizedeck blesses and prays for you XIII And as the second Mercy of the second Covenant is thus to have Christ for your Priest so the third is to have him for your King And he exerciseth this Supream Office by reigning in
your heart by his Holy Spirit if you do not resist and quench it which gives you strength to overcome Temptations to sin and enables you to do what God requires of you And that you might have no pretence to refuse the Kingly Government of Christ as too heavy and difficult he has made his Yoke easie and Burden light having taken off from the hardness of the Law first given to Adam and instead of that sinless Obedience or the never committing the least sin upon pain of death which was required of him he now looks for no more than your honest and hearty Endeavour to do what you are able and accepts of sincere Repentance where you fail or miscarry And it being the gracious nature of Christs Kingly Office thus to govern and rule you and to subdue your Enemies it would be something worse if possible than disingenuity and ingratitude to disobey and hold out any disloyal passion or rebel-lust against him not to vow and pay unto him perfect Loyalty and entire Allegiance not to entrust him with your Protection not to have Peace or War with any but his Friends and Enemies not to pay him your Homage and Reverence not to give him a tribute of your Substance by Relieving his necessitous Members c. Now to keep you from flattering in these particulars and to oblige you to a cheerful discharge thereof Christ as your King hath promised and will not fail to prefer you in his Celestial Court to an eternal weight of Glory and to make you co-heir with himself of that Kingdom of Heaven which he went to take possession of at his Ascention and which he will give to all who by their impenitent continuance in iniâ—uity make not themselves unfit â—o receive it Your duty herein â—s to be exceeding careful not â—o forfeit your share in that â—ingdom which Christ has purâ—hased for all that faithfully oâ—ey him which certainly you â—o if you continue impenitent â—n any sin XIV And when you have thus â—lainly consider'd the Mercies â—hich in the second Covenant â—re on Gods part made over to Man you are next to consider that those Conditions are â—hich on Mans part are requiâ—ed by God and which you â—re to observe if ever you hope â—o be partaker of the Benefits of â—e second Covenant And â—ese you will find to be not â—1 a perfect absolute exact Obedience so as never to â—â—fend in any kind this was tâ— Condition of the first Covenanâ— Nor 2. never to have foâ—merly committed any delibâ—rate sin Nor 3. never 〈◊〉 have gone on in any habituâ— or customary sin for the timâ— past though this be be moâ— heinous and provoking anâ— may justly throw you into thâ— fearful apprehension of the Dâ—vine displeasure But it is thâ— New Creature or a reneweâ— sincere honest faithful Obâ—dience to the whole Gospeâ— giving up the whole heart unâ— Christ the ready performinâ— of that which God enables yoâ— to perform and bewailing yoâ— frailties and cordially sorrowinâ— for the iniquity both of yoâ— past and present life and beseching Gods pardon in Christ iâ— all that you have done amisâ— sincerely labouring to mortiâ— every sin and perform Uniform Obedience unto God and from every Fall rising again by Repentance and Reformation In short the Condition required to make you capable of the Benefits of the second Covenant is first by Faith to accept of Christ as your Priest to Save your Prophet to Teach and your King to Rule you Next to have all those Graces Faith Hope Charity Self-denial Repentance c. mentioned in the Gospel united and truly and sincerely rooted in your heart though mixed with much weakness and imperfection and perhaps with many sins which if not wilfully and impenitently lived and died in cannot debar you of the Benefits of the second Covenant But if you neglect these things your condition will be worse than if no second Covenant had been made for you shall theâ— be to answer not for the breach of the Law only but for the abuse of Mercy which is of all sins the most provoking XV. Now if your guilty mind tells you that you have broken these Conditions and therefore forfeited the Mercies of the second Covenant then know that it cannot be renewed but by a worthy receiving of the Secrament and worthily you cannot recieve it till you repent oâ— your sins and all those thing are to be accounted sins anâ— transgressions of the Covenant which are disagreeable to you Vow of Baptism in which thâ— general parts of your Duty anâ— contained and it is a competent Rule by which all you actions ought to be measur'â— Knowing then what in Baptism you have vowed to do by applying your actions unto that Vow you may easily conclude wherein you have done amiss Only take heed you deal not partially with your Soul by looking upon your sins in gross but do your utmost endeavour to discover the particulars Recal as far as you can all the passages of your life Consider all the instances wherein your Vow has been transgressed as wherein you have yielded to the Temptations of Satan and the World to gratifie the sinful lusts of the flesh How you have failed of that holy Conversation to which you solemnly bound your self when you promised to believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith every one of which Articles is a Pledge of good living And how you have wandred from those Commandments in which you vowd to walk all the days of your life XVI And you will find this partâ—cular search of your sins botâ— proper and necessary in ordeâ— to their Forgiveness which cannot be expected withouâ— confessing and forsaking them But how either of those can bâ— done without a distinct knowledge of your sins or how yoâ— can distinctly know them without this particular search I aâ— not yet so far under the poweâ— of Fancy as to imagine Anâ— albeit that by no possible diâ—â—gence you can discover or caâ— to mind every sin committeâ— since Baptism and albeit toâ— there is no particular confeâ—sion requir'd of the sins when of you are insuperably ignoranâ— yet ignorance of your sins will be no Plea when it is supine and occasioned through neglect and proceeds from a want of timely considering what you have done XVII In drawing up a List of your sins take heed of setting down such only as hang scandalously in the Eye of the World and â—re so notorious as that the Sun bears witness of their commission But you are to search your Soul to the bottom to â—ifle every corner of your heart as knowing you have â—o deal with God whose Law â—n nothing more declares its peâ—uliar excellency than in reachâ—ng mans thoughts and desires â—nd forbidding him no less to â—ovet than to steal his Neighâ—ours goods and no less to lust after another mans Wife than to commit adultery with her And this consideration is argument enough to inclineâ— you to an accurate search anâ— enquiry first
you may here do wisely to call to mind by what occasions and with what baits you have been â—nd still are apt to be drawn away and enticed to the end you may with greater vigilance and courage avoid and resist them For common Prudence will teach you to strengthen the Fence where the Beast useth to break in and to re-inforce that Avenue where the Enemy is wont to make and prevail in his Attack XLVIII The last thing I shall mention concerning your Religious Resolutions is their speedy execution for delay therein has ever been thought dangerous aâ— having a throat wide enough tâ— swallow the biggest opportunâ—ty And you cannot be suâ—â— till you practise what you puâ—pose for seeing your life coâ—tinually walks to and fro â— a breath and that you have 〈◊〉 warrant of being able to do thâ— the next hour which this yoâ— neglect and put off this througâ—ly concludes for the present dâ—ing of what you purpose Anâ— if holy Resolutions might safeâ—â— be delay'd yet they can be delay'd no longer than your comâ—ing to the Scarament becauâ— you cannot safely approach thâ— Ordinance without stedfastâ— purposing to lead a new lifâ— for till you are a new Creaturâ— or begin to lead a new life yoâ— are in sense of Scripture deaâ— And how absurd a thing is it 〈◊〉 put Bread and Wine into a deaâ— mans mouth none so stupid aâ— not to imagine You may indeed naturally eat and drink the Bread and Wine receive into your stomach the elements of the Sacrament but if you live in the liking much more in the commission of any thing you know to be sin you can receive no more spiritual nourishment in the Sacrament than a dead Carcass at the best Entertainment XLIX And this is another consideration that lays upon you a necessity presently to renounce your sins to give them a Bill of Divorce and to withdraw from them all degrees of kindness and respect For without this you can be in no fit disposition to be married to Christ and to embrace all the Graces flowing from him In short that Resolution which I call a branch of Repentance and which is indispensible required of you when you come to the Lords Table is made up of these two things First Renouncing of all sin Secondly Embracing of all Christian Vertues The first without the second is but sweeping the house without furnishing it And therefore when you have cleansed your Soul of the nastiness and dirt of sin you are not to let it lye empty but to furnish it with all those Graces commanded you in the Gospel such especially as are required in every one coming to the Supper of the Lord. And those are chiefly three namely Faith Charity and Devotion L. The necessity of Faith is expresly taught you by your first Catechism where it saith That a lively Faith in Gods Mercies through Christ is required of every Communicant and that the Body and Blood of Christ are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lords Supper For it is by Faith that you there look upon him whom God hath set forth to be the Propitiation for your Sins even Jesus Christ the Lamb of God that taketh away the Sins of the World Rom. 3.25 John 1.29 You easily perceive the necessity of Faith when you mind that in receiving the Holy Sacrament you are to believe that Jesus is the true Seed of the Woman which was promised in the beginning and was sent in the fulness of time that in hiâ— all the Nations of the Earth iâ— they will may be blessed he being the Universal and Mighty Saviour who both will and can save all that come unto him there being no other in whom Salvation is to be expected Yoâ— are likewise to believe that he was crucified or died an ignominious or cursed death and that the Merits of his death are sufficient to save all Sinners and that all those Merits are convey'd to you in the Sacrament when it is worthily received LI. But as to the clear Nature oâ— that Faith now required of you the Church fairly intimates whaâ— it is when she calls it a lively Faith in Gods Mercy through Christ LII And Faith is said to be lively when it works through Love shewing it self in well doing for where Life is there will be Action And the Life of Faith like that of Nature will shew it self in the Heart Tongue and Hands In the first by sincereness of Devotion and holy Thoughts in the second by wholsome and gracious Communication And in the last by works of Justice and Charity LIII The Object of this lively Faith is God's Mercy upon which it reflects as the Fountain whence the Scriptures have proceeded in which Gods Covenant for Mans Redemption is established and his Promises to believing penitent Sinners are contained And if you shall inquire into the reason of all this you will find that nothing but his meer Mercy moved God to make known his Will and in the Holy Scriptures to reveal the Means of Salvation and make the way to Heaven plain and easie It was onely to shew the great love wherewith he loved you and the exceeding Riches of his Grace that prevailed with God to be thus kind unto you LIV. But all this is through Christ he is the Conduit of all these Blessings being of God made unto all Believers Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification Redemption He is the Author oâ— all true Knowledge the cause oâ— your Justification your Sanctification and will be also of your Deliverance and rescue from all Calamities that you are subject to in this Life and at last from Death it self by raising you again 1 Cor. 1.30 And as by a voice from Heaven God declaed with Solemnity that he was well pleased with Christ so he hath likewise declared that he is well pleased with Believers only for his sake By Christ you are predestinated adopted accepted and pardon'd and shall be glorified So that in your own Person you may speak as the Apostle did in the Name of all Christians Ephes 1.3 4 5 c. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed me with all spiritual Blessings in heavenly things in Christ according as he hath chosen me in him that I should be holy and without blame before him in Love LV. In whom I have Redemption through his Blood the forgiveness of Sins according to the riches of his Grace c. It is impossible in any Duty without Faith to please God or to be accepted of him because whatsoever is not of Faith is Sin But in the matter of the Holy Sacrament Faith hath a more appropriate Office for by it as by a Hand Mouth and Stomach you receive eat and digest the spiritual Food and heavenly Sustenance by which your Soul is nourished to eternal Life And in the sense of the Spirit to eat and drink the Body and Blood of Christ is properly to believe on him
After the Sacrament was celebrated there was one common Table for Rich and Poor whereat they did eat promiscuously and what was left was given to those in want And this I take was the Agape or Feast of Love mentioned by St. Jude and described by Tertullian Apol. c. 38. LX. And in proportion to this Custom when you come to the Sacrament you are to bestow something on the Poor that you appear not before the Lord empty and serve him of that which cost you nothing And though you are as to the quantity of your Alms left at liberty yet you had best to be merciful according to your Power If you have much give plenteously if you have little do your diligence gladly to give of that little for so you gather your self a good Reward in the day of Necessity In the Sacrament by a joynt communicating in the same divine Mysteries you attest to the World your being united to Christ your Head and to every true Christian as a fellow-member of the same Body And as Faith unites you to Christ so Charity also to his Members and by virtue of these two Graces the Sacrament seals the Communion of the Members with the Head and of the Members one with another But when you come to the Sacrament with Malice in your Soul you can have no true Communion with either but are guilty of the vilest Hypocrisie by making profession of that Christian or Brotherly Charity whereof your Heart is void and empty In this case I refer you once more to the counsel of our Saviour St. Matth. 5.23 24. where two things appear for your Instruction viz. 1. That though the Gift be already at the Altar it must be left there rather unoffer'd than be offer'd by one who is not at perfect Peace with his Neighbour 2. That he is not to neglect or quite put off the Offering of his Gift Tobit 4.8 but presently to remove the occasion of his not offering it aright LXI And when you find your Heart duly furnished with Faith toward God and the proper effect thereof Charity toward man you must once more go down into your Soul to see if it have that holy and heavenly temper called Devotion which is a Grace so sutable to the receiving of the Sacrament that it seems to make up the whole Office And if Devotion be not so warm and vigorous in your Soul as it ought and you would have it to be you must enquire into the Impediments thereof in order to their speedy removal Now amongst the fatal hindrances of Devotion the Cares of the World are with too great Justice chiefly to be reckon'd for they naturally fasten your Thoughts to the Earth and set your Affections on things below and are as so many depressing weights upon the Soul which unluckily keep her from those Transports of Devotion by which the would soar to Heaven And therefore upon your coming to the Sacrament you had need to allow your self some time wherein to withdraw from worldly Business and to cast off earthly Thoughts and by holy Meditation to lift up your Heart unto the Lord and to give your self unto Prayer which is indeed the principal instance of that Devotion now spoken of And your Prayer must at this time be chiefly for Pardon of by-past Sins for strength against them for the future and that God would grant you all those Graces which he now requires at your hands when you come to the Sacrament Be sure then to be diligent in this Duty for should your other Endeavours be never so vigorous and constant regular and uniform yet without Prayer for Gods blessing and assistance you appear to trust to your own arm and to rely upon your own strength not considering that all your sufficiency is from God that he gives you the Will and Power to do well and therefore unto him direct your Prayer with Humility Sincerity and Zeal to assist you with his Spirit that you may come so prepared to the Holy Table as that you may partake of the Benefits there reacht out to every worthy Receiver LXII Thus you see with what Graces your Soul must be furnished when you come to the Communion And if you find them to be but weak and feeble and in a low degree it must be your care to quicken and stir them up begging the assistance of Gods Spirit to that end And you may much quicken your Faith by due meditation on the many gracious Promises God has been pleased to make to the truly Penitent You may likewise instance your Love to God by considering his manifold Mercies those especially whose remembrance you celebrate in the Sacrament sum'd up in the death of his Son for your sake even when you in the Loyns of your Forefathers were his Enemy And this last consideration is both proper and powerful to move you to that Charity we have above treated of For coming to the Lords Supper you are in a more especial manner to follow the Example of Christ first in a perfect forgiveness of all that have done you wrong and next in manifesting your kindness to them in all Offices of Christian Love and Friendship And when you thus labour to stir up and increase these Graces in your Soul they become her Wedding-garment wherein she is fit to appear at this great Feast But if this be wanting she cannot expect to be otherwise entertain'd than an Intruder And what this is you have it illustrated in the Parable of him who coming to the Marriage without a Wedding Garment was cast out into a place of extream misery And though this Judgment may not fall suddenly nor straight upon your communicating yet you know not how soon that he that will come may come and who may abide the day of his coming For who can dwell with everlasting burning Ep. 33.14 Who can endure an unquenchable Fire LXIII But if after all your care in the Duties already mentioned you still doubt of your Condition and suspect the insufficiency of your Preparation for so holy a Performance if you find that notwithstanding your Resolution and Labour to the contrary you are ready to fall back into those Sins which you have confessed and lamented and abjur'd then you must confess Sorrow and resolve afresh resist and fight against both your Sins and their Occasions And if they still return you must still strive they get not the Victory which be sure they cannot while you labour in good earnest to have them subdued and mortified But if you still find the Law of your Members continually to war and often to prevail against the Law of your Mind and the Affections to prove too strong for your Reason and that this causeth you to be jealous you are not worthy to communicate Then be pleased to consider LXIV First That the end of your coming to the Lords Table is not to make protestation of your Righteousness and Perfection but to seek for both
others and beget a discountenance in your self But there will be no ground left for this surmise when it is duely consider'd that the Person to whom you are thus to reveal your self is a pious and discreet Minister of Gods Word one who will be as faithful to conceal as you are to discover your infirmities and as ready to heal your sores as you are to rip them up one too who will be so far from insulting over your Weaknesses or thinking ill of you for discovering them that he will love and encourage your ingenuous and Christian dealing and restore you in the Spirit of meekness and help to set things at rights between God and your Soul But suppose the discovery of your Scruples should indeed turn to your shame which is the worst you can fear yet to abstain from doing it upon this account is to betray in you a less care of your Soul than of your Body For the foulest and most shameful Diseases of the Body you can without blushing lay open to your Physician and will you then be coy and squeamish to confess the sickness of your Soul of which your care ought to be infinitely greater than of your Body as no less excelling it than the heavenly Manna did the Earthen Pot that contained it So that neither fear of shame nor any thing else ought to keep you from using such means as any way tend to its Salvation LXXV And thus having with what brevity and plainness I was able run through the several Duties to be perform'd at your coming to the Communion and brought you as it were to the Rails of the Holy Table before I leave you I will take the freedom to mind you how you are there to carry your self Where two things are now required of you namely a Devout frame of Mind and a decent gesture of Body LXXVI As to that Devout frame of Mind required of you at the time of receiving it chiefly consists in thoughts of your own unworthiness of being a Guest at so Divine a Banquet And in order to raise in and to humble you under a due sense of this Unworthiness call to mind the sins you have committed since you were last at the Sacrament because you are now come again to repeat and renew that Covenant which thereby you have broken LXXVII Be attentive to the actions of the Minister and when you see him breaking the Bread and pouring out the Wine meditate How Christs Body was broken and his Blood shed upon the Cross And above all think with your self that it was your Sins that drove the Nails into his Hands and Feet and pierced his blessed Side with the Spear That it was your sins with the sins of others occasioned all his Sufferings the pains of his Body and Soul and that if he had not suffered once upon the Cross you had been tormented to everlasting Ages And upon these sober Thoughts you will even abhor your self and with indignation behold your cruel dealing with your Gracious Lord. Consider too how nothing but the Blood of Christ can cleanse your sins and that it doth not like Abel's speak for Vengeance but loudly calls for Mercy upon them who spilt it if they repent and reform and still draws down Blessing upon all who worthily receive it in the Sacrament Consider too how Christ by those Sufferings which are represented and commemorated in the Sacrament has made an Atonement for your sins appeased the Wrath and satisfi'd the Justice of God which you have provoked and incensed against your Soul And this will raise up your hopes and make you come with an humble and religious boldness to the Communion being assured God will not onely there seal unto you but put you in possession of the benefits of Christs Sufferings namely Reconciliation with God and Pardon of your Sins LXXVIII Let your Tongue and Heart joyn with the Minister in that excellent Prayer wherewith he delivers the Bread and Wine The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was given c. The Bloud of our Lord Jesus Christ which was shed c. Lift up your Heart unto the Lord. Let your Thoughts be wholly set upon Christs death and its benefits for the remembrance of Christs death as it was one main end of the Institution so is it of your receiving of the Sacrament And look not upon the Bread and Wine being consecrate and blessed as ordinary things but as they are after a spiritual manner the Body and Bloud of Christ LXXIX And as these and the like considerations may serve to render your Soul devout so will they also make your Body humble For though Humility properly belongs to the Heart yet it cannot be outwardly expressed but by gestures of the Body And you are to manifest your Reverence at the Lords Supper by using such gestures as the custom of the place where you receive it account most decent humble and reverend Kneeling is the posture appointed by our National Church as fittest to signifie your humble and grateful acknowledgment of the benefits of Christ therein sealed to every worthy Receiver and for the avoiding of such profanation and disorder in the Holy Communion as might otherwise ensue LXXX If you look to the first Institution of the Sacrament you will find Christ employing therein such a singular care that nothing low or mean appears about it And in all times where Schism and Faction were excluded nothing but solemnity and expressions of greatest reverence appear'd at the receiving it But to proceed LXXXI Besides Humility and Reverence there is required of them who come to the Lords Supper a thankful remembrance of Christs death And this you cannot want when you reflect upon what he suffer'd for you both in credit and Body when he underwent the most painful and ignominious sort of dying and in those sharp and fearful Agonies of his Soul which forced him to cry out His God had forsaken him And seeing all this was to save you from perishing this must needs awaken you to an holy ambition of making your Thankfulness if possible as unspeakable as his Sufferings And how can you but praise and magnifie his Goodness who hath redeem'd you at so dear a rate especially when you come to the Sacrament to make solemn Commemoration of Gods mercies in sending his Son to die for you and appointing the Sacrament to be a continual Pledge of your Thankfulness for the same With Angels therefore and Arch-angels and all the Company of Heaven laud and magnifie his glorious Name praising him and saying Holy holy holy Lord God of Hosts Heaven and Earth are full of thy Glory Glory be to thee O Lord most high Thanksgiving or praising of God was the devout practice of the first Christians at the receiving of the Lords Supper Acts 2.46 47. And in after-Ages Thanksgiving was thought so necessary at its celebration that the Sacrament it self thence got the name of Eucharist A word though it be not found
kept so long for this speaks it your want of Will and not of Power and that it was not your Weakness but something else that moved you to leave the Road wherein you had walked so long a time with ease and safety XC Use makes hard things easie the chief if not onely difficulty in Holiness is want of practice and a being accustom'd to the contrary The ways of Gods Commandments neither waste the Spirits nor gall the Feet of those who use constantly to walk in them Let the like serious and holy Thoughts possess your Soul for the future that you have the day of receiving and continue to co-operate with that Grace God gives you at the Sacrament and I see not why your whole Life may not be all of the same piece and your Conversation continue as vertuous and well-govern'd after as it was at the time you came to the Holy Communion from which I will no longer stay you than with this hearty Wish That when you come thither to renew your Covenant in Vows and Purposes of better Obedience God may vouchsafe to assist you with his Grace and to strengthen you with his Power that you may pay the Vows you then make unto him and that by Virtue of the heavenly Nourishment you there receive you may grow up in Grace and Holiness till at last you come to be a perfect man in Christ Amen THE Communicants Assistant BEING A COLLECTION OF DEVOTIONS To that purpose A Prayer before communicating WHY should I O God who by innumerable wayes have offended thee why should I dare to come to thy Table which none ought to approach but obedient Children and faithful Servants But seeing thy fatherly Goodness this day doth invite me to receive the blessed Pledges of my Peace and Reconciliation with thee and seeing thy well-beloved Son whose Death I now with all Thankfulness commemorate doth call unto him those and only those who travail and are heavy laden to whom the remembrance of their Sins is grievous and the burthen of them is intolerable Finding my self in this number I know thou wilt not reject me Raise O raise up my Heart and Spirit unto thee Strengthen my Faith and help my Infirmities Grant me power to perform and to persevere in all those good things thou now requirest at my hands and grant that the whole course of my Life may be answerable to the present purposes of my Heart and bring me at last to the enjoyment of those Blessings which at this thy holy Table thou art pleased to propound unto me Amen O My God raise up my Thoughts unto thee increase my Faith Hope and Charity warm my Heart with the divine Fire of thy Love purifie my Conscience with the Spirit of Sanctification Grant this day I may with full affiance in thee receive the Pledges of thy Goodness and the Seals of that Covenant which thou hast graciously contracted with me by the Mediation of thy Son my Saviour O My God save and deliver me from all my Offences and at the end of my Life receive me into thy heavenly Kingdom to the accomplishment of all those things which are represented at thy holy Table Let my future Conversation be as one of thy Sheep living in thy Church an Example of Peaceableness Charity Humility Patience and Justice Give me a firm reliance upon thy Promises a holy zeal for thy Worship and a sincere obedience to all thy Commands Fill my Heart with spiritual Joy keep me from the immoderate Cares of the World and among all disquiets here give me that Peace which the World can neither give nor take away from me For forgiveness of Sins FOrgive me my Sins O Lord forgive me the Sins of my Youth and the Sins of mine Age the Sins of my Soul and the Sins of my Body my secret and my whispering Sins my presumptuous and my crying Sins the Sins that I have done to please my self and the Sins that I have done to please others Forgive me my wanton and idle Sins forgive me my serious and deliberate Sins forgive me those Sins I know and those Sins which I know not the Sins which I have striven so long to hide from others that at last they are even hid from mine own Memory Forgive them O Lord forgive them all and of thy great Goodness let me be absolved from all mine Offences Amen PRAYERS FOR The several things required of those who come to the Lords Supper 1. To repent them truly of their former Sins A Prayer for true Repentance TO thee O God all Hearts are open all desires known and from thee no Secrets are hid so that if I would I cannot conceal my Sins from thee And now that I confess my Sins unto thee it is not to inform thy infinite Knowledge but to obey thy gracious Pleasure and to make me capable of that forgiveness promised to all who confess their Sins With a sorrowfull Heart therefore I confess my Sins unto thee I accuse my self here before thee of innumerable wicked thoughts and desires which I have conceived form'd and foster'd in my Heart of infinite corrupt and evil Words that I have utter'd with my Tongue of many naughty and ungodly Deeds which I have wrought with my Hands by all which I have provoked most justly thy Wrath and Indignation against me but it is thy Nature and Property always to have mercy and to forgive the Sins of them that are penitent Grant me therefore Holy Father the Grace of true repentance create in me a clean Heart O God and renew a right Spirit within me Grant I may truly lament my Sins whose burden is intollerable and whose remembrance is so grievous unto me And for the future inable me to cease from evil and learn to do well to cast away the Works of Darkness and to put on the Armour of Light and to bring forth Fruits of Repentance in amendment of Life to the Praise and Glory of thy Grace in Jesus Christ my blessed Redeemer 2. Stedfastly purposing to lead a new Life A Prayer for Perseverance in good Purposes GRant O God that I may bring the good Purposes with which this day I come to thy Holy Table Grant I may bring them to good effect I know I am light and unconstant turn'd with every blast diverted by every allurement and ready to yield to every Temptation But do thou O God who art the same Yesterday to Day and for ever do thou graciously impart some of thy unchangeableness to establish my Understanding in Truth and to keep it from the Snares of all seducing Spirits that I may not be led away with the Errours of those who are cunning to deceive Fix my irresolute and wavering Will and cause it faithfully to adhere unto that which is good Let neither the Flatteries of the World nor of my own Heart so far work upon my Affections as to draw me from that intire Obedience which I resolve from this day forward to