Selected quad for the lemma: soul_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
soul_n	body_n	eternal_a	spiritual_a	4,250	5	6.2137	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B08365	A dialogue between a pastor and parishioner, touching the Lord's Supper. Wherein the most material doubts and scruples about receiving that holy sacrament, are removed, and the way thereto discovered to be both plain and pleasant. Very usefull for private christians in these scrupulous times. With some short prayers fitted for that occasion, and a morning and evening prayer for the use of private families / by Michael Altham, Vicar of Latton in Essex.	Altham, Michael, 1633-1705.	1687 (1687)	Wing A2933AB; ESTC R172247	65,705	236

duty and are at this time very desirous to reduce men to a right understanding of this great Ordinance and a reformation of their practice touching the same is all of it very true But notwithstanding their care and our endeavours in obedience both to God and them yet we find people very averse thereunto mighty unwilling to do their duties though it be their greatest concern so to do And probably this their backwardness may proceed from that very reason which you mention viz. the inconsiderate rashness and intemperate zeal of some who in the times of confusion have usurped the Office of the Ministery and either out of design or for want of understanding or both have put such a frightful character upon this holy Ordinance as hath unsetled and distracted the minds of many well-meaning Christians How much these men have to answer for who by this means have broken the Communion and disturbed the peace of the best reformed and most flourishing Christian Church in the whole World they themselves will one day find But I am glad to find you so well inclined as to desire to have your Judgment better informed that being the only true way to settle your mind and restore it to a calm quiet and peaceable temper again To satisfy therefore this your so just and godly desire I shall endeavour with all plainness to acquaint you with the genuine and true notion of this holy Sacrament but in order thereunto it may be convenient that in the first place I give you some account of Sacraments in general Sacraments are either properly or improperly so called A Sacrament improperly so called is when the word is used in a large sence for any sacred rite or religious duty And thus both the Jewish and Christian Writers use the word for those who have been conversant in the Writings of the former tell us that many of their sacred Rites are by them called by that name And those who have narrowly searched the Records of the ancient Fathers since the Institution of Christianity have observed That all or most Articles which are peculiar to Christian Faith and all or most duties of Religion containing that which sense or natural reason cannot of it self discern are by them commonly called Sacraments And in this sence the Church of Rome instead of her seven Sacraments may reckon seventy or seven-score or more if she please But there are Sacraments properly so called when in a restrained sence we apply the word to some few principal divine Ceremonies and then it imports in every such Ceremony two things viz. The substance of the Ceremony it self which is visible and somewhat else which is more secret in reference whereunto we conceive that Ceremony to be a Sacrament Of this latter sort we now understand the Word and of this kind we meet with two only in the Old Testament viz. Circumcision and the Passover and correspondent thereunto we find two only in the New Testament viz. Baptism and the Lord's Supper The Word Sacrament is variously taken and according to the different acceptations of it diversly defined Sometimes it is taken for the sign only and then it is stiled A visible sign of invisible grace Sometimes it is taken for the thing signified only and then it is called The free mercy of God offered to us in and by Christ Sometimes it is taken for the whole viz. both for the sign and the thing signified and the whole action thereabout and then it is said to be A Testimony confirming by an external sign the wholesome promises of God to Believers and as it were engraving them in their minds All which is compendiously delivered to us in our Church-Catechism in Answer to that Question What meanest thou by this Word Sacrament The Answer whereunto is this I mean an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us ordained by Christ himself as a means whereby we receive the same and a pledge to assure us thereof From all which it appears that there are four Conditions requisite in every Sacrament properly so called the want of any of which will overthrow the whole notion and nature of it 1. It must be of divine Institution For being a Seal of a divine promise of Eternal Life and such spiritual Grace as none can give but only God It cannot be instituted either by the Apostles or holy Angels or any other but only God. And therefore our Church when she defineth a Sacrament of the New Testament maketh this a necessary part of her definition that it is ordained by Christ himself Hence is it that the Evangelists when they relate the History of the Institution of this Sacrament are so careful to mention the Author and Instituter of it And St. Paul perswading the Church of Corinth to a due and orderly Celebration of this Sacrament is careful to acquaint them That what he delivered unto them he had received from the Lord 1 Cor. 11.23 2. It must have some visible sign For Sacraments are therefore used that by visible signs we may know and comprehend Heavenly and invisible things and therefore our Church in her definition of a Sacrament calleth it An outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace 3. It must have a divine Promise added to the sign that so the thing signified may be united therewith The promise must import spiritual grace here and Eternal Life hereafter Which Promise is as it were the Soul of the Sacrament for as man consists of Body and Soul so a Sacrament consists of a sign and thing signified And this is the inward and spiritual grace mentioned in the Definition 4. It must be given to the whole Church as a perpetual sign viz. as long as the outward form of the Church instituted by God shall continue For the Law concerning the form of outward Worship being changed the use of those Sacraments which were instituted during the continuance of that form is also changed So the Sacraments of the Old Testament are not now used in the New because the external Form of God's Worship is now changed So likewise Anointing the gift of Miracles c. though they were given to the Church of the New Testament yet because they were neither given to the whole Church nor for perpetuity they cannot properly be called Sacraments These are those four Conditions which ought jointly to meet in every Sacrament properly so called For Whatsoever wants a divine Institution a visible sign a divine promise added to that sign and a coaeval duration with the external Form of God's Worship in that Church to which it is given cannot properly be called a Sacrament This short account of Sacraments in general I thought fit to premise looking upon it as a good preparative for the better understanding of the true notion of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper in particular Parishioner I heartily thank you Mr. Pastor for the pains you have taken in thus clearing

I beg your Prayers and shall not fail to join my own that it may please God to pardon both me and them who have led me into it I am so well satisfied that I hope I shall not hereafter omit any opportunity of doing what I am commanded Sir I have given you a very great trouble though you are pleased not to think it so You have taken a great deal of pains and to good purpose for I am very well satisfied that all my scruples have been idle and ungrounded Cavils and that I had no just cause to separate my self from the Communion of the Church as I have hitherto done But Sir may I presume to give you a little more trouble You have removed my scruples and now I desire to be admitted into Communion with the Church and am resolved by the blessing of God to walk orderly and peaceably therein If therefore you will please to furnish me with some short rules which may direct me in my preparation for this holy Ordinance and instruct me how to behave my self both then and afterwards you will greatly oblige me and I shall make it my business to observe them Pastor I shall very readily and willingly comply with your desire and think it no trouble at all I am so far from thinking it so that I look upon it as my duty and am mighty well pleased when I meet with an opportunity of doing it so well that I could heartily wish that those whom God hath committed to my charge would often give me this occasion And to satisfy you that these are my real thoughts I shall now apply my self to answer your desire by giving you the best rules and directions that I can in this Case And to render them the more effectual I shall observe the method propounded by your self and endeavour to show you 1. What is required of those who come to the Lord's Supper 2. How they ought to demean and behave themselves when there 3. What will be expected from them afterwards 1. What is required of them who come to the Lord's Supper Ans Our Church hath given a short but very full Answer to this Question which is this They are required to examine themselves Ch. Catech. whether they truly repent them of their former sins stedfastly purposing to lead a new Life have a lively Faith in God's mercy through Christ with a thankful remembrance of his Death and be in Charity with all men Which Answer is founded upon that excellent Rule laid down by St. Paul in this Case Let a man examine himself and so let him eat of this bread and drink of this Cup 1 Cor. 11.28 To examine ones self imports a serious diligent and impartial Tryal in order to amendment and reformation A transitory glance upon the several Occurrences of our lives or a general survey of what we do or have done will not serve the turn but we must make a particular search and scrutiny into our several actions and the several circumstances wherewith they have been attended We must consider from what principle and by what rule we have acted and to what end our actions have tended and apply these to those several and respective duties we have been about For without the due consideration of these things an action though materially good may be formally evil This is to examine but whom are we to examine Not others but our selves Let a man examine himself God Almighty having endued man with reason and consideration having made him sensible of his duty and apprehensive of those hopes and fears that advantage and danger which usually attend the performance or non-performance thereof leaveth him to be his own Judge and remits him to his own Examination So that if men will flatter and deceive themselves in that which is their greatest concern they may blame themselves and none but themselves if danger ensue thereupon God would not have men either impertinently to meddle in the concerns of others or carelesly to trust others with what concerns themselves he would have every one do his own duty and take care of his own concern It may reasonably be supposed that every man either is or at least ought to be best known to himself and that he will be most just to himself And therefore God trusts man with himself and St. Paul in this very case refers man to himself saying Let a man examine himself But if after all this Men will be unfaithful to themselves and deceive their own Souls whom have they to blame but themselves Thus have I shown you both the importance of the word and the Subjects of the Duty what it is to Examine and who they be that are to undergo that Discipline There only remaineth to consider the end for which we are to examine our selves and that is In order to amendment and reformation God would not have us to ravel into our by-past lives on purpose to take pleasure in our former sins or from our impunity to take encouragement to go on still in the like iniquities but he would have us to understand wherein we have formerly transgressed our rule and done amiss to correct and amend it for the present and to resolve upon a more renewed course of living for the future This in the general is or ought to be the design of self-examination but to be more particular and bring it nearer to our present Case I shall endeavour to do these five things 1. To show you the reasonableness of this advice Let a man c. 2. The necessity of the thing we are advised to viz. Self-examination in order to a due participation of this holy Feast 3. What we are to examine our selves about 4. By what rules we are to proceed in examining our selves 5. For what end we ought to examine our selves 1. The reasonableness of this advice Let a man examine himself St. Pauls advice and counsel in this case will appear to be very reasonable if we consider either the excellency of the Feast we are invited to or the unworthiness of the persons who are invited It is no common and usual entertainment but a great and extraordinary Feast that we are invited to Nor is it only a bare Feast but a solemn Feast upon a Sacrifice and that Sacrifice no other than the offering up of the Son of God and our Saviour Christ our Passeover is sacrificed for us therefore let us keep the Feast saith St. Paul 1 Cor. 5.7 The Master of this Feast or he who makes this great entertainment for us is none other save only the holy Jesus It was he who as a Priest offered himself as a Sacrifice unto God the Father who hath instituted this holy Feast in memorial of his Death and Passion and therein prepared for us not only common food for the refreshment and sustentation of our decaying Bodies but such as may suffice to nourish both our Bodies and Souls unto Eternal Life not only the food

is not only our duty but our greatest interest For thereby know we that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren 1 John 3.14 The remembrance therefore of the dying love of the blessed Jesus ought to stir up in us at this time a love to God and to the Brethren 7. The consideration of the whole should create in us an humble and thankful frame and temper of mind It should put us upon offering the Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving unto God not only in word but in every action of our life for Christ and all his benefits and to testify the reality of that gratitude by renewed acts of Faith Repentance and Obedience all our days Thus ought we to receive this Sacrament in remembrance of Christ 2. What it is to shew forth the Lord's Death till he come Ans An Historical Narrative of the Sufferings and Death of Jesus Christ to be able to tell that he died at Jerusalem in the Eighteenth Year of Tiberius the Emperour Pontius Pilate being the Roman Deputy in Judea and Josephus Caiphas the High Priest that same year This is not to shew forth the Lord's Death in the Apostles sense But such a serious Meditation thereof as may inhanse our hatred of sin our love to God and our thankfulness to Jesus Christ if it be constant and continued will best declare our sense of our Saviour's Sufferings and shew forth his Death till he come 1. When therefore we are at God's Table and there see all things prepared for us when we consider that Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us and that we are now invited to a Feast upon that Sacrifice We cannot but reflect upon the just anger and indignation of God against sin We cannot but observe that such was the severity of Divine Justice and the heinousness of sin that no reconciliation could be made between God and Sinners till the punishment due to sin was suffered So highly was God incensed so great was his wrath justly conceived against sin that he was not to be pacified by any thing but only the deprecation and Death of his own Son. These ought to be our thoughts especially at this time and if thus we employ our selves when we are at this holy Feast and in pursuance of these thoughts do for the time to come loath and abhor hate and avoid all manner of sin then and thereby shall we truly shew forth the Lords Death till he come 2. When we are at God's Table and there see the dainties provided for us that there is not only food for our bodies but for our Souls also not only such as may sustain our frail Bodies or support and maintain the union between our Souls and Bodies here but such as will nourish us up in grace here and fit us for Glory hereafter When we consider that such was the love of God to Mankind that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believed on him should not perish but have everlasting life John 3.16 have we not the greatest Specimen of God's mercy and goodness towards us that we can desire and is not this love writ in Characters so legible in this holy Sacrament that he that runneth may read them and if so what cause have we with grateful acknowledgments to own and declare the goodness and mercy of God to praise and thank him for it to love him again and to testify that our love by keeping his Commandments Which if we do and persevere in so doing then shall we truly declare and shew forth the Lord's Death till he come 3. When we are at God's Table and there under those symbolical Elements of Bread and Wine can clearly discover the Body and Blood of Christ really though not corporally offered to us how lively is the dying love of our blessed Saviour therein represented to us May we not therein plainly read those dreadful pangs those dying groans and those unspeakable sufferings which the blessed Jesus did willingly undergo for our sakes and ought we not with all possible expressions of love and gratitude to commemorate this his kindness This is all i. e. this with the dependencies thereupon that he requireth of us for all that he hath done and suffered for us viz. to celebrate this Feast in remembrance of him which if we rightly do and continue so doing then do we truly declare or shew forth the Lord's Death till he come For this Meditation cannot fail of filling our hearts with grateful sentiments of our Saviours Love and those sentiments will certainly imploy our tongues in thankful acknowledgments and engage our whole lives in dutiful returns unto him for it Thus have I shown you in the first place how you ought to demean and behave your self when you are at God's Table viz. you ought to do this in remembrance of Jesus Christ But there is one thing more yet required of you viz. 2. In the doing of this there ought to be a Discerning of the Lord's Body This expression hath been mightily strain'd by some who have racked their inventions to find out such notions of it as I am apt to believe were never intended by St. Paul but I shall not now either trouble my self or you with the Examination of them My design is only to instruct you plainly and make things as intelligible to you as I can In order whereunto all that I shall do at present shall be only to acquaint you with the full importance of the word Discerning and by that means to show you the true and genuine sense of the Apostle in this expression The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here used and rendred Discerning imports only a discretional act whereby we do exempt some one thing from the common order of others and set a more honourable value and esteem upon it This sense of the word is warranted by the usage of it in other places St. Jude v. 22. adviseth us to have compassion of some making a difference 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. between such Sinners as are treatable and willing to be instructed and such as are intractable obstinate and disobedient And St. Paul putteth the question saying 1 Cor. 4.7 Who hath made thee to differ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. who hath separated thee from the rest of Mankind and placed thee in an higher Form than them from both which places the importance of the word is very plain that it implies only a discretional act whereby one thing is distinguished from another and more honour and respect paid thereunto than to the other To discern the Lord's Body therefore in St. Pauls sense is to look upon the sacred Elements of Bread and Wine in this holy Feast as the most precious symbols of the Body and Blood of Christ to put a difference between them and all other common meats and drinks to use them with a religious reverence and not to approach this holy Table without a lively Faith in

Christ Jesus a serious and unfeigned repentance of all our sins a stedfast purpose of leading a new life and being in Charity with all men This I take to be St. Pauls meaning in this expression and if you thus discern the Lord's Body you will certainly find the blessed effect of it in the spiritual nourishment of your Soul unto Eternal Life And thus have I performed the second part of my Promise to you by showing you how you ought to demean and behave your self at God's Table Pashioner Sir You have infinitely obliged me by the pains you have taken to furnish me with such good rules and directions I pray God to give me grace to observe and follow them I shall God willing do my endeavour and I beg your Prayers for my assistance But there is one thing more yet which you were pleased to promise me viz. some Directions how to behave my self after I have received this holy Sacrament And these also I would willingly take along with me when I go from hence Pastor I confess I am your Debter by Promise as to this also and shall endeavour to discharge my self of that Debt by giving you some short and plain rules how to carry your self afterwards 1. When you go away from this holy Sacrament you ought to carry along with you a deep sense of those great obligations which God Almighty hath laid upon you therein You ought to retire not only into your Closet or some private place but into your self and there meditate of the great mercy and goodness of God the Father in sending his Son to be your Mediator and Redeemer and of the great condescension and infinite kindness of God the Son in taking upon him your nature and submitting himself to Death even the Death of the Cross for your sins You ought often to think of that great honour you have received in being admitted not only to feast with God and Christ but to feast upon Christ the true Christian Sacrifice In a word you ought by serious thoughts and meditations of what you have been about to imprint upon your minds a due sense of God's goodness and thereby take a prospect of all that happiness which you either do enjoy or may obtain by complying with and being obedient to the command of the blessed Jesus in this particular 2. Having thus imprinted these things upon your mind you must endeavour thereby to work it into an humble and grateful frame When you reflect upon your former sins and present unworthiness you will find cause sufficient to be humbled for them and when you consider God's greatness in himself and his goodness towards you you will find good reason to be thankful for the favours you have and daily do receive from him Let it be your care therefore always to cherish due sentiments of divine goodness in your mind that so you may be ready upon all occasions to praise and glorify his great and holy name for it Can you remember how kindly you have been invited how courteously received how nobly and friendly entertained by the blessed Jesus and yet be unthankful I cannot believe that any one who pretends to Christianity can so far forfeit his Religion and reason too can be so much lost to all the sentiments of piety and humanity at once as to be guilty of so gross ingratitude Unthankfulness in Divinity is an odious crime and Ingratitude in Morality is no better So much was it abhorred even by the Heathens that it became a Proverb among them Call a man ingrateful and you have said the worst you can of him Be not you therefore guilty of that against God which the Heathen looked upon as so great a reproach among themselves Consider that heavy charge which God draws up against Israel Isa 1.2 3. Hear O Heavens and hearken O Earth saith the Lord for I have nourished and brought up Children but they have rebelled against me The Ox knoweth his owner and the Ass his Master's Crib but Israel doth not know me my people doth not consider Let the consideration of God's so deep resentment of this crime in his own people teach you and me to beware of it Let us recollect our selves and call to mind all those incomparable favours and benefits which God from time to time hath bestowed upon us and the advantages of this holy Feast in particular that so our minds may be always ready to make grateful acknowledgments thereof 3. When by these or the like Meditations you have wrought your mind into such an humble and thankful frame Your next work will be to evidence the truth and reality of that temper by actions sutable thereunto We do not expect to find grapes on thorns nor figs on thistles For as a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit so neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit saith our blessed Saviour Matth. 7.16 17 18. And thence he concludeth Therefore by their fruits ye shall know them v. 20. The best evidence therefore of a worthy Communicant is to be taken from his way of living afterwards If he make Conscience of what he doth if he make it his great care and business to live holily towards God and righteously towards all men it is a good sign of the goodness of his condition But if notwithstanding the obligations which have been laid upon him at this holy Feast he return with the Dog to his Vomit and the Sow that was washed to his wallowing in the Mire if he still adhere to his old sins and take pleasure in his former wickedness it is an evidence that he still remaineth in the gall of bitterness and that without a timely repentance and reformation his portion will be with Hypocrites in Everlasting Burnings It is good counsel which St. Paul giveth us Col. 2.6 As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk ye in him Thereby intimating that our returns ought to be sutable to favours and benefits which we have received The holy and righteous God loveth holiness and righteousness in his people and expects it from them When by our Baptism we were at first admitted into Christianity we entered into Covenant with God That we would renounce the Devil and all his Works the Pomps and Vanities of this wicked World and all the sinful desires of the flesh that we would believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith And that we would keep God's holy Will and Commandments and walk in the same all the days of our life Now our continued profession of that Faith into which we were baptized is indeed a daily repetition of that Promise but as often as we receive this holy Sacrament and feast with God upon this holy Sacrifice we solemnly renew our Covenant and do thereby engage our selves to perform the Conditions thereof To sum up all in a word therefore If you would know what is expected from you after you have been admitted a Guest at God's Table It is briefly this