so eat and drink unworthily And indeed besides these Qualifications of a worthy Communicant there are others without which if we come to the Sacrament we eat and drink unworthily such as Faith and Thankfulness to our Saviour for the Pledges of his Love But these being Graces that are chiefly exercised at the Lords Supper I shall speak of them under the second way which I instanced whereby men receive the Sacrament of the Lords Supper unworthily viz. 2d Way When they behave themselves disorderly or unsuitably at it Now men may be said to behave themselves disorderly or unsuitably when they don't shew a due respect to what they are doing but either allow their Hearts to hanker as well as their thoughts to wander after the World or Sin or are prophane in their behaviour at it Nay I may safely say they don't deal with it very worthily that either look upon their Receiving it to be little more than a common or ordinary Eating or Drinking or else undervalue the Bread and Wine as but of little use and purpose It 's true the Bread and Wine are but Creatures as our Church terms them they are but Bread and Wine in their Nature but yet as they are instituted by Christ to be received in remembrance of hiâ— Death and Passion the taking of them according to Christ's Institution is a Symbol or Sacrament of our taking and eating the Body and Blood of Christ and therefore as they are appointed by Christ we are not to undervalue them by thinking we may as well receive Christ and the benefits of the New Covenant without them as with them when yet we have opportunity and invitations thereto which indeed to undervalue is not only to undervalue the Elements but the Wisdom and Authority of the Instituter 2. Those Men may be said to behave themselves disorderly and unsuitably at the Sacrament and so receive it unworthily that receive it without Faith This Sacrament being such an Ordinance that without Faith it cannot be received and therefore it is the Apostles Advice that we should draw nigh it with full assurance of Faith Heb. 10.22 for indeed Faith is not only the hand to lead us unto Christ Heb. 11.6 7. but of applying Christ unto us and making that which was done for many Mat. 26.28 to be effectually conveyed unto us for what doth it signifie for me to Commemorate the snfferings of a dying Saviour by receiving Bread and Wine according to Christ's Appointment If I have not Faith that the benefits thereof belong to me or cannot spiritually feed upon his Body and Blood by Faith it being by Faith that we feed upon him for as to the Corporeal eating of his Body and Blood it is such a thing that could the Papists quit their Avowance of and yet keep up the Authority and pretended Infallibility of their Church many Learned Men think they could easily part with their Opinion or Belief thereof However if it is the Doctrine of the Church of Rome it is not the Doctrine of Christ such being not only contrary to Sense and Reason but to Faith also for as to Faith we are told in Heb. 11. v. 1. it is the Evidence of things not seen Now if Christ be Corporeally present if the Bread that we eat be the very substantial Body of Christ it is then seen and so our Faith being an Evidence of what is seen it is not the true Faith in that it is contrary to the definition of it Nay further this Sacrament ceaseth to be a Sacrament which is to be an outward and a Visible Sign of some Inward and Spiritual thing if so be that after Consecration the Bread and Wine become the Body and Blood of Christ in a Corporeal sence there then remaining no outward Sign or Sacrament But however the Papists are so quick-sighted to see such a Corporeal Presence of our Saviour it is more than we can or more than I read that the Apostles saw in the Bread and Wine of which he speaks when he saith This is my Body this is my Blood when at the same time they saw his Body separate from the Bread he gave them and they plainly discerned that when the Cup of Wine was given them his Blood was not then shed It 's true That Faith sees that in the Sacrament which Reason doth not but yet tho' Reason submits to Faith yet Faith doth not put out our Senses from being Judges where they may as they may be in discerning what is Flesh and Blood and what is Bread and Wine But if any Man will say that our Senses are not to be used in Matters of Faith I think he speaks very rash when even Christ appeal'd to the Senses of his Apostles to confirm their Belief of what he said that he was the same Christ tho risen again that was Crucified Luk. 24.39 Since therefore the eating of Christ's Body and Blood tho real is Spiritual and Sacramental it remains that what we see and taste of him at the Sacrament is by Faith which Faith considers not so much how the Elements feed the Body as how the things represented sealed and apply'd in this Ordinance feed and nourish the Soul And indeed it is by this that we not only view him hanging upon the Cross and shedding his Blood but Feast our selves of him that we may dwell in him and he in us If therefore we come withour Faith we are unworthy of this Ordinance yea we Evacuate it as to our selves But then here let us not be mistaken in our Notion of Faith or think that a bare and true belief of Christ's Presence and Blessings in this Ordinance is the right Belief for it No but the Faith of a good Communicant is a Gospel Faith such a Faith as receives Christ according to the Terms propos'd to us in the Gospel and the Sacrament also Now that which is so receives him not only as one shedding his Blood and giving his Body to save Men from the Guilt and Punishment of Sin but from Sin it self it is such as receives him as a King to rule us as well as pardon and save us yea it receives Christ's Body and Blood that our Bodies may be made clean and our Souls wash'd thereby yea in Christ Jesus the Faith that avails is a working Faith it works by Love Gal. 5.6 and it works by Thankfulness too And therefore in the third place 3. Those Men may be said to behave themselves disorderly and unsuitably at the Sacrament and so receive it unworthily that receive it without Thankfulness The very Business and Nature of it declares that it is a Thankful Memorial of the dying Love of Christ or a shewing forth of his Death 1 Cor. 11.26 So that by no means can they receive it worthily that do not receive it thankfully And how indeed can we but be thankful if we consider what we do and receive in this Ordinance we feast upon the Memorials of his laying down
or believe to be in others To whom I Answer That the want thereof doth not make Men Unworthy Communicants it being not necessary that all Christians should be so enliven'd God neither having made a Promise nor commanded it as a Duty that all Communicants should be so endowed I do not deny but God may give sometimes to some Persons these Extraordinary Impulses and Consolation and I do believe that many there are who are able to speak great things of their Faith in and Communion with Christ yea such Complacency as well as Extraordinary Acts of Love and Adoration do they shew therein that one would imagine that their Souls were carry'd up to Heaven and that with St. Stephen they were not only viewing their Saviour by Faith in Figure and Sacrament but by personal sight yea by their Gestures and by their Words which most sweetly set forth Christ's Love to them and theirs to Christ we may be apt to believe that if they had not been in Heaven yet they minded nothing else and were going up to be for ever with the Lord. But however we may admire this in others we are not to judge those as unworthy that can't reach thereto for if we should so judge we should not only condemn a great part of the Generation of God's Children but shou'd cast a stumbling-block before them and render their Case worse than it is For as the saving Influences and Operations of God's Spirit may be where there wants these Extraordinary Impulses and Consolations so a Man may receive the Sacrament to very good purposes without them there being many good Men that by Means of the blessings of the Sacrament are strengthen'd more in the Spirit that are more consirm'd in their Faith in their Love to Christ and hearty desire of Thankfulness and Obedience that yet do not arrive to those passionate heats and flights as others do I think I need not tell you that with many if not most good Christians it is in Holy Duties as it was with the Disciples of Christ in the time of his Agony tho' their Spirits may be willing to serve and adore Christ in the highest manner yet their flesh is weak Mat. 26.40 41. and tho' they don't allow themselves therein yet they find them selves apt to start aside or tyre when their Hearts are lifted up to God and they can hardly watch and pray one hour but something or other either from themselves or the presence of some Worldly Object is apt to give some diversion or distraction to them in their most solemn Acts of Devotion and Worship And yet after all these very Persons may not only have an high esteem of Christ and a real Love to him and his Service but would be glâ—d that they could serve him better And now 〈◊〉 to be suppos'd that God will judge them unworthy who serve him in Sincerity of Heart and are sorry that they can't Worship him so much as they shou'd No surely Christ that bore with the Infirmities of his Disciples that knows our Frame and Constitution that remembers we are but Men will not be extream to mark what we unwillingly do amiss but as a Father pitiâ—th his Children so doth he pity them that fear him Psal 103.13 that set their Hearts to wait upon their Saviour in Ways of his own Appointment tho' they can't Worship him in that perfect and cheerful way as some do sincerity of Heart going a great way to God's Acceptance of our Endeavours as well as to the pardon of our unwilling and repented of Infirmities And indeed herein is matter of Comfort thâ—â— God accepts of men according to the sincerity oâ— their Hearts and Endeavours rather than by the Tyde or heat of Mens Affections which is higher in some than in others even upon Natural as 〈◊〉 as Religions Agitations nay is higher in 〈◊〉 same men at one time than at another And therefore tho' we can't approach to or come 〈◊〉 from the Sacrament with those passionate Trâ—â—â—ports of Love and Consolation as some Mâ—n 〈◊〉 or as we could wish yet if what we 〈…〉 sensible Joys we make up in Truth and 〈◊〉 let us not distrust but God will have 〈…〉 on us and deal with us according to 〈…〉 would and endeavour to be and not by what 〈◊〉 are viz. Persons of Infirmities 〈…〉 were Angels Go◠〈◊〉 expect 〈…〉 Angels from us but as he knows we are but Men so he requires no more than the service of Men who do they what they can have their Infirmities and Failures sometimes and whose Flesh hath its weaknesses be their Spirits never so willing And tho' indeed where God gives it to Men to be fill'd with such Extraordinary Consolation and Efforts of Devotion they are not to hinder or restrain the flowings thereof yet where God is not pleas'd to bestow them as Men ought not to murmur against God so not to condemn themselves as unworthy because they are without them These being Arbitrarious Gifts which God giveth as he seeth good and therefore it being not for us to choose our places and parts at this Heavenly Feast we may reckon it sufficient for us that he gives us his Cup to drink and that we are qualify'd and enabled to partake thereof with the sincerity of a Christian and other necessary Qualifications If therefore I say out of a sense of our Duty to God we come to the Sacrament and endeavour to prepare our selves for and behave our selves at it according to the best of our Capacities and Opportunities and are sorry for our failures we are not to stay away from it though we cannot thereby satisfie all the Desires of our Souls to be and do as others God making it our Duty to receive and that as well as we can but not to forbear it because we attain not to those sensible Joys and Exaltations of Spirit as God for Reasons known to himself may impart to others it being enough for us to make us Communicants and that with his Blessing too when he bestows upon us the Graces of his Spirit and enables us live as Christians But yet if after all I have said in this Matter the Good the Religious Soul is yet afraid of the Sacrament I must leave him to the Grace and Mercy of God which tho' I do not deny him in his Absence from the Lord's Supper yet I must tell him that his sear hinders him the enjoyment of a very comfortable Ordinance to Pious Souls Nay his fear if it is only a snare to keep him from coming to but doth not put him upon a serious and hearty endeavour of sitting him for this Duty as well as seeking for Advice how to remove such fear doth give too shrewd a sign of his decay in Grace However let his fears be as unwilling as can be suppos'd yet they hinder him of an Ordinance which is not only a great Means and Reason for living better when to all other Helps he hath that
say the words in the Original and the Custom of the Countrey And in complying with the Gesture of the Jews then in use he allow'd thereby the Authority of the Church in altering and determining of Gestures For it is plain that however the Gesture at the Passeover was sitting or leaning yet this was not the posture at first us'd and prescrib'd by Moses Exod. 2. ch The Gesture that was at first appointed was with their Loyns girt with their Shooes on their Feet in haste with a Staff in their hands which way of eating it being but a Temporary Law after they were in Canaan they kept it in the leaning posture thereby to shew that now they were free from the fears of Egypt and therefore did not eat it in haste but in a posture of Rest and Security And now if Christ comply'd with the alteration of the posture to what it was at first it shews that in matters of Gesture undetermin'd by God we ought to submit to the Customs and Usage of the Church wherein we live Nor doth it make Men the more unworthy Receivers of the Sacrament that they Kneel at the Receiving of it because as some say the Sacrament is a Feast and is call'd the Lord's Supper and therefore ought to be receiv'd in a Table Gesture which to be sure is not Kneeling for tho' it be a Feast as it is indeed for the Souls of Men it doth not therefore follow that all things are to be done at it in a Feast way for if so then we may talk and laugh or the like But surely upon Consideration Men will be more wise than to assert That because the Sacrament is call'd a Supper or Feast therefore the Circumstances of a Natural Feast or Supper are appropriate unto it And therefore some of our Brethren urge against this Argument themselves viz. That we must fit because sitting is a Table Gesture at a Supper or Feast and is a Token of our Freedom and Fellowship with Christ That upon the same Reason say they we may as well put on our Hats when we receive the Sacrament See Reformed Dissenter p. 6. Nor indeed is Kneeling an unsuitable posture at the Sacrament if we consider That when we receive the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper we receive it with a Prayer nay in Receiving of it we by sensible Signs do the Duties and Parts of Prayer in receiving of it for the Remission of Sins we thereby confess our selves Sinners yea we implore the pardon of them upon the Merits of Christ's Sufferings As also in receiving of Christ we do hereby shew that we beg Grace and Assistance of God it being of his fulness that we receive Grace for Grace John 1.16 The like I might shew in other parts of Prayer as we use them viz. Intercession and Thanksgiving yea further than this that the receiving of the Sacrament contains a Virtual praying to and giving Thanks to God We that are Members of the Church of England receive it with a Prayer viz. The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was given for thee preserve thy Body and Soul unto Everlasting Life And then follows Take eat c. The like I might shew is done at the giving of the Cup. And now if this be so which is not to be deny'd it follows that Kneeling is not unsuitable to the Nature and Actions of this Ordinance it being a fit and proper posture of Praise and Thanksgiving And if any Man thinks otherwise let him but consider the practice of Heathens yea of Dissenters in their Domestick Devotions but if these will not bear weight with him let him consider the practice of Christ St. Paul St. Stephen and he 'll find plain Instances of Kneeling in Prayer yea do we but consider our Saviour in his Agonies which we Commemorate at the Sacrament and we shall find that even then he did not reckon it unbecoming him to kneel at his Devotion Luke 22.41 And now since that the principal parts of the Sacramental Actions on our part are Prayer Praise and the like and that either verbally or virtually and that Kneeling is agreeable to these great and Spiritual parts of it it is so far from being unsuitable that it is highly becoming this Ordinance not only as it is a posture agreeable with the Nature and Use of Prayer and Praise but as a posture of Worship to Christ and as our Church expresseth it A signification of an humble and grateful Acknowledgment of the Benefits of Christ therein given to all Worthy Receivers which brings me to the Consideration of the second Reason that some Men urge why the Kneeling at the Sacrament makes Men to receive it unworthily viz. That Kneeling being a posture of Worship and Adoration it too much countenanceth the Adoration of the Host and the Doctrine of Transubstantiation That we use Kneeling as a posture of Worship is what we allow but that thereby we countenance the Adoration of the Host or the Doctrine of Transubstantiation is a thing unreasonably laid to our Charge considering not only what our Church declares in her Rubrick after the Communion Service but with what solidity and strength of Argument they have Confuted the Abettors of such Doctrines as they are and in a time when others that have exclaim'd against our Church for bending towards Popery either durst not or would not write against it Nor indeed are we to be blam'd for worshipping at this Ordinance when by Faith we see Christ present with us yea in as much as we pray to and praise Christ and celebrate his Goodness we do therein Worship Prayer and Thanksgiving being actions of Worship and that by the Confessions of our Dissenting Brethren who allow that Christ may be Worship'd and Ador'd by Communicants in their Hearts And now since Internal Worship belongs to Christ in this Ordinance why may not we use an External sign of what we inwardly prosess to do Nay it upon the sense of what we do and receive at the Sacrament we may lift up our eyes and hands towards Heaven and smite our Breasts why may not we as well kneel at our Worship too It being a convenient Gesture such as was practis'd by Christ and is even now by many good Men in their Worship Surely Gesture is as lawful in one Circumstance as in another and I may as well bow my Knees to the Father of the Lord Jesus as bow my Head or lift up my Eyes a humble posture of Body being not unsuitable to an humble Mind Nor indeed doth kneeling at the Sacrament countenance the Adoration of the Host or the Doctrine of Transubstantiation because tho' we Worship at the Sacrament in this posture yet we do not Worship the Sacrament or make it the Object of our Worship as the Papists do any more than the Dissenters themselves when they pray to and praise God at the receiving of the Sacrament For if by expressing our inward Worship by this posture of outward