by the Death of a Redeemer as Justification or actual Pardon of our Sins the reinstating us in God's Favour and assuring us that he is reconciled to us and that we are accounted righteous before him as well as Sanctification or actual Strength and Grace to conquer our Sins and to obey his Commands 'T is true the beginnings of these are conferred in Baptism we are so far regenerate therein as to be grafted into the Body of Christs Church and to partake of its Privileges by the operation of his Holy Spirit within us who will never be wanting to us or forsake us unless we our selves do put a Bar to the Divine Assistance by confirm'd ill Habits and by a wicked Life But since the Divine Image which we there recovered is very often obscured again by the Temptations of the World and the Devil and the remains of Sin within us there is need enough of our being renewed again by Repentance nor has God here left us without Hope or Comfort but notwithstanding the Dream of the old Novatians has appointed a Remedy even for those who sin after Baptism and that is this other Sacrament of the Body and Blood of the Lord wherein as we renew our Covenant with him we receive new Strength to obey his Commands as hath been the constant Faith of all good Christians in all Ages we therein obtain not only the strengthning but likewise the refreshing of our Souls as the Catechism expresses it which includes Divine Consolation and Ioy in believing and such Peace as passes all Understanding § XXVIII But may some here object Where is this Blessedness you speak of Where are these Promises in Holy Scripture of such wonderful assistance in this Sacrament In answer This Holy Communion is the Substance of all other Christian Duties to which so many Blessings are promised throughout the whole Gospel or else why do we perform them of Faith and Repentance and Thanksgiving and Holy Vows and Prayer and Praise and Confession and Adoration and consequently it must share in all their Blessings and Benefits 'T is a Memorial or Commemoration of our Saviour's Love and Sufferings and if God has promised in the old Law that in every place where there is a Memorial of his Name he will meet and bless his People * Exod. 20. 24. much more may we expect it under the Gospel If our Saviour has so solemnly promised that where two or three are gathered together in his Name there he will be in the midst of 'em and bless 'em much more will he be so at this great Synaxis this more general and solemn Assembly of Christians to celebrate his Name and record his Praises †Thus Ignatius in Epist. ad Ephes. If the Prayer of one or two be of so great force that it brings Christ among them how much more will the unanimous Prayers of the Bishop and the whole Church ascending to God prevail with him to grant all they desire He has not commanded us to seek his Face in vain nor is it in vain to do this in Remembrance of him The shewing forth the Lord's Death cannot be without exceeding Comfort to those who have reason to hope they have a share in it 'T is a big Expression The Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ 't is surely far more than an empty Figure 'T is not a little matter to eat the Lords Supper to partake of the Table of the Lord wherein if he that eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks Damnation surely he that does it worthily must eat and drink Salvation No less can be intended in our Communion of Christ's Body and Blood than the eternal Son of God's uniting himself by his Spirit to our Souls in this Holy Sacrament and even by his own Divine Nature whereby he in a sense and in some degree makes us Partakers thereof and communicates unto us all the Blessings he has obtained for us by this Heavenly Food nourishing up our Souls to everlasting Life Giving us herein the Earnest and Pledge of our Immortality as well as the means of it and assuring us that because he lives we shall live also which is the meaning of those Expressions Dwelling in Christ and Christ in us and being one with Christ and Christ with us and of the Ministers praying in the very delivery of the Elements That the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ may preserve our Bodies and Souls to Everlasting Life according to our Saviour's own Words He that eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood dwelleth in me and I in him he shall live by me he shall never die he hath Eternal Life and I will raise him up at the last day And whether or no these Expressions were then precisely meant of the Sacrament which they might well be by Anticipation and Prophesie though it were not then actually instituted for he speaks in the same place of his Death in the same manner they are yet certainly true of the partaking of Christs Sacramental Body and Blood and feeding on him in our Hearts by Faith with Thanksgiving § XXIX Which brings to the close of our Description that all these Benefits are conferred in the Sacrament only on the faithful Receiver For none but such are properly Partakers of the Body and Blood of the Lord. If Iudas did outwardly partake of this Sacrament as our Church seems to have thought he did †See the Exhortation Lest after the taking of the Holy Sacrament the Devil enter into you as he entred into Judas Satan did but the sooner enter into him because he received with a Heart full of Treachery Covetousness and Malice I take Faith here in the largest Sense for a practical assent to the whole Scheme of the Gospel and consequently a ready and firm Belief of its Revelations Threatnings and Promises accompanied with sincere Resolutions and Endeavours to obey its Commands Tho' the more peculiar object of Faith in this Sacrament must be the Merits of our Saviour and that Pardon which he purchased for us by his own Blood But of these hereafter more at large under those Qualifications which are requisite to those who would partake worthily and profitably of this Holy Communion CHAP. II. Of the perpetual Obligation that lies upon adult Christians to communicate and even to frequent Communion § I. WHerein I shall first prove in general the indispensible Obligation which our Saviour has laid upon us to receive this Sacrament 2. The Extent of it it reaches all adult Christians 3. It s Duration 't is perpetual it lasts till the End of the World 4. That we ought to receive it frequently And in the 5th and last place I shall answer those Objections which are brought either against receiving the Communion in general or against frequently receiving it § II. 1st Of the Obligation in general to receive And one would wonder how any who are called Christians and do but remember the Reason of
ridiculous Consequences That our Saviour did eat his own Body and gave it to his Disciples to eat making Christians the worst of Cannibals to eat their God a thousand times over * Eoquem tam amentem esse putas qui illud quo vescatur credat Deum esse Tully de natura Deorum implying penetration of dimensions contradicting the very Nature of a Body which cannot be in two places at the same time †Rubrick after Communion much less in Earth and Heaven contradicting our Saviour's own Words that we should not have him always ‖ St. Mat. 26. 11. that is his Body with us tho' in his Divinity his Spirit his Power his Graces he 's with the Church to the End of the World * St. Mat. 28. 20. contrary to the End of the Institution which was to be a Memorial of his Body broken and Blood shed for us contrary to the Words of the Apostle †1 Cor. 11. 26 27 28. who calls it Bread and Wine after Consecration thrice in one Chapter ‖ Vide supra For which Reasons and many others that might be alledged our Church declares in her Twenty Eighth Article of the Lord's Supper That Transubstantiation or the Change of the Substance of the Bread and Wine in the Supper of the Lord cannot be proved in Holy Writ but it is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture overthroweth the Nature of a Sacrament and hath given occasion to many Superstitions § XIV But how is it then called the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ and in what Sense is he present there and how are the faithful said therein to eat his Body and drink his Blood both by the antient Fathers and by our own Church and most other Protestants of all denominations * Lutherans Calvin Beza Assemb Catechism great and less Cranmer Ridley Communion Service English Tigur Liturg. c. That this is true in some Sense is evident from Holy Scripture it self as well as from the Consent of all Christian Churches Our Saviour said This is my Body and this is my Blood And the Apostle * 1 Cor. 10. 16. The Cup of Blessing is it not the Communion of the Blood of Christ the Bread of the Body of Christ And to the same purpose in the next Chapter Thus our fore-mentioned Article That the Bread which we break is a partaking of the Body of Christ and the Cup of Blessing a partaking of the Blood of Christ. And in the Catechism that the inward part or thing signified in the sacrament is The Body and Blood of Christ which are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper And the like in several places in the Communion-Office From all which it appears how little Reason our Adversaries have to brand us for Sacramentarians or such as deny the Body and Blood of Christ in a sound Sense to be received in the Lord's Supper § XV. But what Sense that is we come now to enquire First The Symbols the very Bread and Wine are in a figurative typical and sacramental Sense the Body and Blood of our Saviour They are more than a bare or ordinary Figure they do really and actually from their Institution represent and exhibit Christ's Death unto us as did the Paschal Lamb the delivery of the Iews out of Egypt This our Church affirms in her Homily of the Sacrament Part I. That we must be sure to hold that in the Supper of the Lord there is no vain Ceremony no untrue Figure of a thing absent but the Bread and Cup of the Lord the Memory of Christ the Annunciation of his Death c. § XVI But there 's yet more in it for 2. There is in the Blessed Sacrament a real spiritual presence of the Body and Blood of our Saviour to every faithful Receiver Christ as to his Divinity is every where and more effectually and graciously present to his own Institutions and will make his Promise good to be with his Church to the End of the World * St. Mat. 28. 20. and doubtless is so in this Sacrament as well as in the other of Baptism and herein he conveys all the real Benefits obtained by his Sufferings to every faithful Receiver His Natural Body is in Heaven where it will remain till he comes to Iudgment He is spiritually present in the Sacrament present by Faith to our Spirits The fore-mentioned Homily tells us that in the Supper of the Lord we are not only to hold that there is a Memory of Christ's Death but that there is likewise the Communion of his Body and Blood in a marvellous Incorporation wrought in the Souls of the faithful And again If God hath purified our hearts by Faith we do at this Table receive not only the outward Sacrament but the spiritual thing also not the Figure but the Truth not the Shadow only but the Body And to the same purpose our Learned Bishop Iewell That not the naked Figure and bare Sign and Token only but Christ's Body and Blood are verily and indeed given unto us in the Sacrament we verily eat it and drink it and live by it and thereby Christ dwells in us and we in him Yet he goes on ' We say not that the Substance of Bread and Wine is done away or that Christ's Body is fleshly present in the Sacrament but we lift up our hearts to Heaven there to feed on him Tho' by the way What need would there have been of the Sursum Corda or Invitation to the People in the Primitive Church to lift up their Hearts to Christ in Heaven if whole Christ God and Man were actually present upon the Altar § XVII But neither the Apostles nor the Primitive Church nor our Church of England ever held that the Sacrament was so much as in this latter Sense the Body and Blood of Christ to all that received but only to the faithful Receivers For those who received unworthily the Apostle tells us they were guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord therefore surely they did not properly communicate of his Body and Blood which he that does has eternal Life nay they did eat and drink their own Iudgment or Condemnation not discerning the Lords Body And to the same purpose is that famous saying of one of the Fathers That the Wicked do only press with their Teeth the Sacrament or outward Sign of the Lords Body but do not really communicate in it Neither did the Fathers ever think that we were to eat the Flesh of Christ in a gross carnal Capernaitical sense whatever high Expressions they may have sometime used concerning this Mystery wherein they may have been followed by devout modern Writers Hear one for all 'T is St. Augustine de Doctrinâ Christianâ Lib. 3. Cap. 16. where in his Rules for interpreting Scripture he instances in that Text which has been so much controverted of late years the 6th of
Cannot the Blood of Jesus soften it and cleanse it that Blood of sprinkling which speaks better things than that of Abel Shall I not now at least detest abhor forsake all those Sins which cost my Saviour so dear shall I again commit them shall I any more favour those Iudas's which betrayed those Herods which mocked those Pilates which crucified the Lord of Glory O Lord my Heart is deceitful and desperately wicked and has often already deceived me and my Goodness is as the morning Cloud and early Dew which soon passeth away and without thy Grace I shall again fall into those very Sins which I now detest and abhor which that I may never more do imprint I beseech thee in my Mind so lively a Sense of my Saviour's Sufferings and let me receive and carry away so lasting an Impression of them from this Sacrament that I may henceforth die unto Sin and live unto Righteousness that I may subdue and mortifie more and more all criminal Desires and the whole Body of Death thro' Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen! An Act of Faith I Desire to believe Lord help my Unbelief I believe that thou canst do all things and if thou wilt canst make me clean I chuse thee for my chief Good I depend upon thee as my only Happiness I believe all thy Promises are Yea and Amen faithful and true in thy Son Jesus and that those who come unto thee by him thou wilt in no wise cast off He is able to save to the uttermost he is mighty to save and to forgive In him alone thou art well pleased thro' him O God art thou reconciled to Mankind and hast made them capable of everlasting Happiness from whence none shall be excluded who believe in the Name of the Lord Jesus and obey his Commands On him therefore do I cast my self and on his Merits is all my hope for Time and for Eternity believing that there is no other Name given under Heaven by whom I may receive Health and Salvation In this perswasion do I now approach to thy Holy Table humbly believing and expecting that my Saviour will be known unto me there and will meet me and bless me that his Body and Blood shall preserve my Body and Soul to everlasting Life that he will pardon my Sins and strengthen me in Grace guide me by his Counsel and bring me to his Glory Amen! An Act of Humility immediately before Receiving WHence is it O Lord that such a Wretch as I so loathsome and deformed with Sin should once more be admitted to thy presence to taste the Bread of Life Whence is it that my Saviour should be Guest to one that is such a Sinner O Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under my Roof nor that I should come under thine I desire to humble my self before thee with the utmost prostration and adoration I cast my self at the Feet of Jesus and will not let him go except he bless me I am nothing I have nothing I desire nothing but Jesus and to be with him in Peace in the heavenly Ierusalem The lowest place in Heaven will be infinitely above what I can deserve who wonder why thou shouldst cast thine Eyes on such a nothing A Covenant and League uses to be made between those that are equals but there is an infinite distance between God and me by Nature and if possible a yet greater distance by my Sins Yet has that God who dwells in the High and Holy Place vouchsafed to promise that he will also dwell with the humble and contrite Spirit that trembles at his Word Come therefore O Lover of Souls O ever blessed Jesus who tho' thou fillest Heaven and Earth with the Majesty of thy Glory didst yet humble thy self when thou camest into the World to the inconveniences of a Cave a Stable and a Manger My Heart is yet meaner than any of these but thou canst purifie and cleanse it and make it a Temple fit for thy self to dwell in Come and meet me in thy own comfortable Ordinance who hast promised tho' thou wilt resist the proud to give Grace to the humble I beg this O Father for the sake of Jesus Christ my Saviour who humbled himself to the Death upon the Cross for me a miserable Sinner to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost Three and One be all Honour and Glory now and for ever Amen! An Act of Praise after Receiving ALL Glory and Honour and Praise to him who sits upon the Throne and to the Lamb for ever To him who has loved us and washed us from our Sins in his own Blood and has now entertained us with that heavenly Food which those who taste with Faith shall never die I have tasted that God is Good and that blessed are all those that trust in him he is not a barren Land or a dry Wilderness He has given me Meat to eat at his own Table which the World knows not of such Joy as no Man can give or take from me He has assured me of his Favour and Goodness towards me and given me the Seals of his Pardon and the Pledges of Everlasting Happiness Alas how poor am I of Thanks for such inestimable Benefits what have I to render to the Lord of Life and Glory for these and all his Favours I devote and dedicate all my little all unto him my Soul and Body for Time and Eternity without Exception and without Reserve 'T is but a mite but 't is my All O give me more that I may restore it to the Giver Accept O gracious God this my poor Sacrifice of Praise and help me also to order my Conversation aright that I may see thy Salvation that in Heaven the place of Eternal Praises I may with Angels and Arch-angels and all the glorious Company there adore and magnifie and bless thee and sing Hallelujabs and Hymns of Praise unto thee for ever and ever Amen! An Act of Love O Infinite Goodness O amiable Jesu O bleeding dying agonizing Love What Man what Angel in Heaven durst have ever thought of such a way to appease God's Anger against Sinners as the Death of thee the Only begotten Son of God had not thy Father freely sent thee hadst not thou thy self as freely descended to Earth and taken our mortal Clay upon thee to do and to suffer the Will of God Who could have believed this hadst not thou thy self revealed it and confirmed it by so many Miracles Nay as if it had not been sufficient to die for us thou hast also given us the heavenly Food of thy blessed Body and Blood to be our spiritual Nourishment in this Holy Sacrament Thou hast made me partaker of those venerable Mysteries Thou hast renewed that Covenant with me which I trust shall never be broken O! was there no other way to save Mankind but the Death of him that lives for ever were all the Souls of the lost Sons of Adam worth one Groan one
our Dissenting Brethren are so far convinced of their former miscarriages in this matter that they have now generally monthly Communions and if we have followed them in their Errors ought we not much more to do so in their Reformation § XXI The Advantages of frequent Communion to the great Ends of Christianity and Reformation to all the parts of a good Life shall be the last Argument to engage to the practice of it How far the Sacrament it self conduces to those Ends has been already declared and the more frequently we receive it as we ought the greater Benefit shall we obtain by it The oftner the Vows of God are renewed upon us the stronger will the Cord be and with more difficulty to be broken The oftner we come to these Waters of Life the more will our Souls be refresht by them the more frequently we partake of this Bread of Life the greater Strength shall we receive in the inward Man and higher Degrees of Grace and assistance in God's Service And as the great Zeal and Piety of the Primitive Christians already mention'd was very much owing to their daily Communion so if we impartially consider those amongst us who do most frequently communicate I 'm persuaded we should find them the most devout and rational Christians and generally the best of Men whilst those are the most profligate Wretches who have no regard at all to this blessed Feast and thro' the whole course of their Lives scarce ever receive it § XXII But 't will now be time to consider those Objections which are brought against receiving this Sacrament or at least against frequent Communion For the First Against receiving in General the most common Objections may be reduc'd to the following Heads Either a bad Life or multiplicity of Business or want of preparation or the danger of receiving unworthily or else the manner of receiving and the ill Characters perhaps of some of the Communicants The four former being usually brought by Persons of all Persuasions the two latter principally by those who are dissatisfied with our way of Worship § XXIII As for the first and more common rank of Excuses before we come to the particular Consideration of them it may deserve a Remark that our Church has already fully answered them and all Persons have heard as much as often as they have heard the Minister read the Exhortations at the warning for the Celebration before the Communion and therefore 't is neither fair nor modest it argues neither Ingenuity nor Conscience still to insist upon them without any addition to their Strength or taking notice of what has been said to satisfy them The two former Objections Business and a bad Life are answer'd in the second Exhortation in these words It 's an easie matter for a Man to say I will not communicate because I am otherwise hinder'd by worldly Business But such Excuses are not so easily accepted and allowed before God They that refus'd the Feast in the Gospel because they had bought a Farm c were not so excused but counted unworthy of the Heavenly Feast And as to that which is taken from a bad Life 't is added If any Man say I am a grievous Sinner and therefore am afraid to come wherefore then do ye not repent and a mend The two latter Unpreparedness and the Fear of eating and drinking unworthily are also fairly hinted at in the End of the first Exhortation and a Remedy appointed for them If any Man cannot quiet his Conscience but requires farther Comfort or Counsel he is directed to go to the Minister of his Parish or such is the Church's Caution and Indulgence in so tender an Affair to any other Discreet and Learned Minister of God's Word and open his Grief that he may receive Ghostly Counsel or Spiritual Advice suitable to his Condition And he who neglects to take this Method it 's evident that he either does not understand or does not regard the Churches Direction in these Matters § XXIV But to come to the more particular Examination of these Objections The first of which is taken from a wicked Life a Man's being a most grievous Sinner and therefore he comes not to the Holy Table This is indeed a most inexcusable Excuse for tho' some have thought that a Duty may attone for a Sin yet one would think none should be so wild to persuade themselves that one Sin could ever attone for another But in answer to it we must say of this Sacrament as Ananias did to St. Paul of that of Baptism * Act. 22. 16. Why tarriest thou arise and be baptised and wash away thy Sins The Sacraments are doubtless Means to confer Grace on those that are truly penitent truly sensible of their Sins and afflicted for them as well as to confirm and strengthen it in those who already lead a holy Life It 's true that the Lord's Table is no place for a wicked Man who resolves to continue in his wickedness who does not heartily resolve by God's Grace to strive against it and actually and immediately forsake it For it is not meet to cast the Children's Bread to Dogs and the Holy Sacrament is a Token and Pledge of Pardon and Reconciliation the Seal of a Covenant between God and Man But what has any to do with the Sign who has not the Substance What has a stubborn Rebel to do with his Prince's Pardon Yet after all we know that Christ came into the World to save Sinners tho' he saves them no other way but by Repentance nor is it while they remain so but upon a change of their minds that he actually justifies the ungodly 'T is not the repenting Sinner but the obstinate Sinner that is excluded from the Lord s Table who is also if he lives and dyes such as certainly as God is true excluded out of Heaven But for those who are indeed desirous to do better tho' their Faith be yet but as a Grain of Mustard-Seed they shall not be rejected by that merciful Redeemer who will not break the bruised Reed nor quench the smoaking Flax and surely the Sacrament cannot but have that good effect on all who are not quite harden'd as to make them think on their ways and amend their Lives when they approach unto it And 't is well if the great Reason which keeps many from it be not lest they should be thereby obliged to forsake their Sins which they are not yet willing to do and to the Exercise of an exact Examination and severe Repentance § XXV And as some have raised Objections against Receiving because of Sins that are past or of which they may be at that very time guilty so there are others who say they dare not come to the Sacrament for fear of falling into Sin after they have received as if that were unpardonable an Error much of the same Nature with that which some Persons ran into in the Primitive Church who deferr'd their Baptism till
for no pretended necessity can excuse their Sin and they have no other way to escape God's Anger but Repentance and Amendment § XXXII A superstitious Fear and mistaken Reverence for this Ordinance and terrible apprehensions concerning it chiefly grounded on some misapplied Texts of Scripture do very frequently keep Persons from the Lord's Table But if we are but as willing to know and to do our Duty as to make Excuses for the neglecting it such a full Answer may be brought to these Objections as would scarce fail to give Satisfaction § XXXIII The first and chiefest Text and which many have so often in their Mouths as if Do this in remembrance of me were never to be taken notice of is that in the 1 Cor. 11. 29. He that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself And there are several Expressions sounding much the same way in the first Exhortation before the Communion that we ought to be very careful when we come thither Lest it encrease our damnation and lest Satan enter into us as he did into Iudas and fill us full of all Iniquity and bring us to destruction both of Body and Soul which very severe Sentences are here made use of to perswade Men to true Repentance before they come to the Sacrament but they can mean no more than that of St. Paul whereon they are grounded and therefore must be interpreted by it And to understand that aright we must enquire into the meaning of those two Phrases Receiving unworthily and that Damnation which is threaten'd upon it § XXXIV And the context evidently shews that the Receiving unworthily for which the Corinthians are here blamed was receiving with that inexcusable Disorder whereof they were guilty at the Sacrament One was hungry and another drunken at their Feasts of Charity which then accompanied that Ordinance There were Schisms and Divisions among them even at that Feast one great End whereof was to promote Christian Unity and Love One came before another and the Rich despised the Poor They did not discern the Lord's Body They made no difference between that and common Food at least consider'd it not as the Spiritual Body of the Lord or as some think * Lightfoot not as a Christian Sacrament but as a Heathen Feast or a Iewish Passover § XXXV Whereby they did eat and drink Damnation to themselves By which cannot be immediately intended eternal Damnation but temporal Iudgment as the word here undoubtedly signifies which we translate more harshly by Damnation For the following words explain it For this cause many are sick and weak and many are faln asleep that is God's heavy Iudgments fell upon them in this Life some think a Plague or some contagious Disease in order to bring them to Repentance which Sense is confirm'd by the two following Verses If we would judge our selves or consider of our Faults and repent and amend we should not be judged that is afflicted with these temporal evils Tho' even those were in order to amendment and such Punishments as were proper to a State of probation for it follows When we are judged we are chasten'd of the Lord that we should not be condemn'd with the world namely at Gods last dreadful Tribunal § XXXVI But it may be askt is there no other unworthy receiving and no other damnation as a consequent thereon but what have been now describ'd Yes doubtless for we then receive unworthily when we continue in our Sins notwithstanding our Obligations to leave them when we come to the Sacrament And if we do not repent of this very hainous Sin and that in some proportion to the high Aggravations of it the consequence of such impenitence will be no less than eternal misery But still it 's evident from the foregoing Considerations that neither of these are here in the Text immediately intended and I think all sober Divines are agreed herein § XXXVII Add to this that there is not the least Ground in the Words or in the whole Chapter or indeed in any other Scripture to excuse any Person for not receiving or to deter them from doing it but rather quite the contrary Because the Man who had not the Wedding Garment was bound Hand and Foot and cast into utter darkness did this excuse those who would not come to the marriage No 't was so far from it that the King sent forth his Armies and destroyed those Murderers and burnt up their City Christ commands us to come his Ministers invite us 't is our own Faults if we come unprepared but nothing can excuse our Neglect and Refusal Let a man examine himself and so let him not stay away and refuse to receive but eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup. § XXXVIII There 's another Text which has been widely mistaken in the same manner and on the same occasion 'T is that of St. Paul to the Romans He that doubteth is damned if he eat But nothing can be plainer than that this place has no manner of relation to the Sacrament any more than to any other Food for it 's to be understood of eating meats sacrificed to Idols or of any of those Meats which the Iews from the ceremonial Law accounted an abomination whereof the Apostle says that he who did it with a doubting Conscience without being satisfied of the Lawfulness of it he was damned or condemned namely by his own Conscience which accused and judged him for it And this appears to be the immediate Sense of the words by comparing them with the 14. v. I know and am perswaded by the Lord Jesus that is either by Christ's words that nothing which enters into the mouth defiles the man or else by immediate Inspiration as he received many other things I know says he that there 's nothing unclean of it self but to him that esteemeth any thing unclean to him it is unclean which evidently refers to those distinctions of Meats which at that time made so great a disturbance in the Church of God § XXXIX But since it may be urged that acting with a doubting Conscience is a Sin in what case soever and therefore much more in relation to the Sacrament we must in the last place consider the different degrees of doubting which compared with our Obligation to Duty will quite remove this Objection We may reckon three Degrees of Doubting 1. When Men have some small remaining scruples and unreasonable unaccountable Fears after the strictest Examination into the Rules of their Duty and all moral Satisfaction therein concerning their Obligation unto it or of the Lawfulness of any Action 2. When the mind is as it were in a Ballance unresolved whether a thing be lawful or unlawful a Duty or otherwise and the Reasons on neither side do sensibly and visibly preponderate so as to incline to acting or not acting and this is the most true and proper doubt Or else 3. When Men are absolutely dissatisfied by reason of some
disesteeming or ridiculing God's Word or not profiting by it contemning abusing causless grieving his Ministers 4. Adding to his Word making any thing necessary to Salvation which he has not made necessary coining and imposing New Articles of Faith not contained in Scripture Superstitious scrupling what is lawful without endeavouring to have the Conscience better informed Irreverence or Undecency in God's Worship refusing to glorifie God with our Bodies as well as Souls when both are his 5. Want of inward spiritual Worship without which the outward is but like a dead Carcass tho' this may be referred also to the first Command The Breaches of the third Command are 1. Taking God's Name in vain which those who do are particularly branded as God's Enemies * Psal. 139. 20. either by false or rash Oaths or rash or impossible Vows or by breaking lawful or possible Oaths or Vows the Vow in Baptism or at the other Sacrament or by mentioning that glorious and fearful Name the Lord our God without an act of Reverence and Devotion 2. Swearing by any Creature 3. Want of a just Concern for God's Honour encouraging or not discouraging or reproving or punishing where 't is possible and practicable those Monsters of Men who blaspheme or prosane God's Holy Name †Levit. 5. 1. or discouraging or not assisting to our Power those who would do it and who have more Zeal for God's Glory Or not heartily lamenting those Sins if we are where the Tide of wickedness runs so high that we cannot have them punished The Breaches of the fourth Command are 1. The taking it quite away and mocking God in desiâ—ing him to have mercy upon us for our Offences against it and to incline our Hearts to keep it when we believe it as some do purely Typical and Iudaical whereas a seventh part of Time is evidently of moral-positive Obligation being enjoyned before the Fall and there 's little doubt was observed by the Patriarchs before the Law for 't is not reasonable to suppose that Religion could continue Sixteen Hundred Years in the World without a stated time of publick Worship * So St. Athanasius St. Chrysost. Bede many old Councils in England and other places our Book of Homilies Mr. Hooker Archbishop Usher Bishop Stillingfleet Bp. Patrick Bp. Hopkins c. as by all Christians since our Saviour tho the precise seventh Day of the Week was indeed peculiar to the Iews 2. All Profanation of it by weekly or work day Labour or any Works but of Necessity or Charity Unnecessary worldly or vain Discourse or Visits much more by Playing Dancing or the like which make it indeed a Iewish not a Christian Sabbath 3. Neglecting to imploy the whole Day as far as our Strength and Necessities permit in publick or private Acts of Religios Worship 4. Suffering any to profane it who are under our Charge and whom we can binder from doing it or not giving them time for God's Service 5. Not permitting our Servants or very Beasts to rest on that Day or any manner of Cruelty towards them 6. Refusing to observe any other Days appointed by lawful Authority for God's publick Worship either Fasts or Feasts if our Occasions and Circumstances will permit § XI As for the second Table containing our Duty to our Neighbour as the first does our Duty to God We offend against the first Command of it the fifth in the Decalogue by any ways dishonouring our Parents whether Natural our Father and Mother or Civil the Magistrates the King and those that are in Authority under him or Ecclesiastical our Ministers and lawful Pastors or any other Superiors as Masters or Mistresses or our betters and Elders By being undutiful stubborn or unnatural to those to whom we are indebted for our Birth and Education By rebelling against our Prince or being unthankful to him or reviling him or lightly believing ill of him or of those commissioned by him or opposing them in the exercise of that lawful Authority he has deputed unto them By contemning or defrauding our lawful Ministers or forsaking them or discouraging them by neglecting publick Worship of which also under the third By being unfaithful to Masters or careless of their Concerns or stubborn and refractory and disobedient to their lawful Commands By incivility and rudeness and want of due Respect to our Superiors rising up before the hoary Head Or in the reciprocal Duties want of Kindness Watchfulness Support Instruction Provision from Superiors and doing what in them lies for the Souls and Bodies of those committed to their Charge For the sixth 1. The direct Breach of it is Murder the old Version Thou shalt do no Murder being better than the New thou shalt not Kill for all know that all killing is not murder nor is it unlawful as in a just War or the like But murder is killing without or against Law or by a wrested pretence of Law worse than all the rest And under Murder are doubtless included Duels for such the Laws have justly made them and 't is little better to fight in an unjust War or without enquiring into the Justice of it meerly for Pay or Plunder * Bishop Sanderson's Cases of Conscience 2. The next Breach of this Command is by Wounding or Hurting our Neighbour or procuring others to do it 3. Procuring Abortion or Onan's Sin †Gen. 38. 9. 4. Malice or Envy or Revenge against our Neighbour with which none must come to this Feast of Love 5. Causless rash immoderate or implacable Anger and any expressions of it by Word or Action 7. Murthering the Souls of any by ill Advice or Command or Temptation or Example 6 Self-murder the highest and most unnatural Breach of this Command which argues the heighth of Discontent and Despair and where it once proceeds to Action cuts off all Repentance and therefore the least Inclinations to it are to be abhorred and repelled as a most dangerous Temptation of the Devil and to be as severely repented of where they have found any admission 8. Want of Meekness and Forgiveness and Charity and Compassion towards our Neighbour In the seventh are forbidden 1. Expresly Adultery 2. Fornication and all actual Impurity 3. All incentives to this odious Sin Unchast Looks Dresses Books Plays Songs Poetry Pictures Conversation Idleness Pampering the Body and lastly Drunkenness which is so often the occasion of this and almost all other Sins The direct Breach of the eighth Command is Stealing either open and forcibly which is Robbery or private which is These and Pilfering and so is injuring our Neighbour by pretence of Law by Extortion by Oppression by unequal laying of Taxes or otherwise 3. Cheating in Trade false Lights Weights Coin Measures Imposing on our Neighbour in Buying or Selling Lying to raise the Price of Goods 4. Denying detaining or delaying the Hire of the Labourer or lessening or raising it beyond a just proportion 5. Living extravagantly not proportioning Expences to Incoms thence running
from those heavy Punishments that are due unto them but from their Power and prevailing Influence on my Mind from all my Sins even those which have been most dear unto me and am willing to cut off my Right Hand or pluck out my Right Eye so I may but enter into the Kingdom of Heaven My Saviour came to take away the Sins of the World He has born all our Griefs he has carried our Sorrows he was wounded for our Transgressions he was grieved for our Iniquities he has excepted none out of that General Pardon which he has purchased for Mankind and offered to all those who are qualified for receiving it I present the Merits of his inestimable Sacrifice before thee O offended Majesty of Heaven I have no Merits of my own I have nothing I am nothing but vile Dust and Sin But he is worthy for whose sake I beg Mercy of thee which I most humbly implore and expect only in that way which thou hast appointed and on those Conditions which thy Son has revealed in his Holy Gospel by an unfeigned Repentance a firm Faith a sincere and an impartial Obedience O therefore take away all mine Iniquities and receive me graciously who like the Prodigal desire to return to my Father's House And since 't is thou alone who dost both put into our Minds good Desires and canst also give us Grace to perform the same assist me now and ever in those Holy Resolves which I make of new and better Obedience Vouchsafe me thy Grace to avoid all those Occasions and Temptations whereby I have been too often drawn to Evil. Let thy Blessed Spirit evermore comfort and guide me and lead me into all Truth and all Goodness Let me henceforth Evidence my unfeigned Love to my Saviour by keeping his Commandments and let that and all other Graces be excited and encreased in me at this Time in my approaches to his Holy Table Pardon the frivolous and sinful Excuses which I have too often made for my Absence from it my want of Preparation for it the Deadness and Indevotion of my Soul in receiving it and my shameful Unprofitableness by it O that I may now sit under my Saviour's shadow with great Delight and that his Fruit may be sweet unto my Taste That I may in this Sacrament receive greater Strength than ever against my Sins and be thereby nourished up unto Everlasting Life that so after this painful Life is ended I may sit down with Abraham Isaac and Iacob in the Kingdom of Heaven for the sake of Jesus Christ who ever lives to make Intercession for us in whose most perfect Form of Word I conclude my unworthy and imperfect Prayers saying Our Father c. Collect for Perseverance O GOD of all Power and all Love who art the same yesterday to day and for ever and hast assured us in thy Holy Word that thou wilt not break the bruised Reed nor quench the smoaking Flax. Accept I beseech thee for the sake of thy Dear Son any weak beginnings of Goodness which thou mayst have wrought in me by thy Holy Spirit Despise not the Day of small things Help me to continue to the End that I may be saved And now that I have put my Hand to the Plough grant I may never look back lest I be accounted unworthy of the Kingdom of Heaven My Strength O Lord I ascribe unto thee for my own Heart has often deceived me and I know that all my Strength is weakness and my Wisdom folly Assist me therefore by the mighty Aids of thy Holy Spirit and while I am to wrestle not only against Flesh and Blood but against Principalites and Powers let the strong Man be bound by a stronger than he and the God of Love bruise Satan under my Feet Let me be content to suffer shame for thy sake and never be drawn away by the Number or Greatness of bad Examples Lead me not into Temptation and let me never be so hardy and presumptuous as to rush into it Keep me always sober and vigilant temperate and humble ever upon my Guard watching and praying that the Enemy may obtain no advantage against me Accept and confirm all my Vows and Resolutions of Obedience Let me have a constant Respect unto the blessed Recompence of Reward and by patient continuance in well doing seek for and at length obtain Glory Immortality and Eternal Life thro' thy Mercies in Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen! Amen For Faith O LORD who hast said that he who has but Faith as a Grain of Mustard-seed may remove Mountains and that without Faith it is impossible to please thee Increase my Faith and let me thereby overcome the World and the Flesh and quench all the fiery Darts of the Devil Let me firmly believe all thy Promises to the Penitent and Obedient and all thy Threatnings against impenitent Sinners Let me not rest in a dead Faith a presumptuous Opinion that I shall be pardoned or saved without performing all those good Works which thou hast prepared for me to walk in Give me that Faith which worketh by Love and by an impartial Obedience to thy Commands Let me firmly believe in the Lord Jesus that I may be saved and not trust in my own Righteousness but in his Merits who is the Way the Truth and the Life Let me always hope in him for Pardon of what 's past and Grace to serve thee better for the future Let me have a lively and stedfast Faith in him when I approach to his Table that I may draw near and take the Holy Sacrament to my Comsort and that it may powerfully help me forward in the right way which leads unto Everlasting Life To the unfading Glories of that happy State where Faith shall be changed into sight where with Holy Souls who are departed this Life in the true Faith and Fear of thy Holy Name I may enjoy the End of my Faith the Salvation of my Soul and see and love thee to all Eternity thro' Jesus Amen A Thanksgiving before the Sacrament WHAT shall I render to thee O God of all Grace for the Riches of thy Goodness towards me a miserable Sinner How utterly unworthy am I even of the common Blessings of Life And yet art thou pleased out of thy infinite Mercies once more to permit me to invite me to tread thy Courts to sit at thy Table and to Feast on Angels Food O that my Heart could be fully possest with Thoughts of Gratitude and Love O let my Mouth be filled with Thanks and my Lips with Praise for those inestimable Benefits God will in very deed dwell with Man tho' the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain him My Saviour will fulfil his gracious Promise and be present with his Church in his own Institutions till the End of the World I have now one happy Opportunity more offered me to renew that Covenant which I have so often broken to obtain greater Strength against my Sins and to sacrifice
them all before God at his Holy Altar even after I have either frequently slighted the like Invitations or been present at thy Holy Table without due Preparation and Devotion or have soon forgotten those Promises which I there made and those Vows of God which have been upon me But O Lord as my utter unworthiness does more magnifie thy infinite Goodness so let the Sense of the one produce in my Mind more lively and lasting acknowledgements of the other For which help me to magnifie thee O God my King and to praise thy Name for ever and ever and grant that I may now approach thy Table with such devout Praises such true Gratitude such humble Love as may there be accepted of thee and being increased and confirmed by the renewed Pledges of thy Favours I may continue to shew forth thy Praise in the steddy Course of a fruitful thankful and obedient Life thro' Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen! A Collect for Charity O LORD who hast told us that all our doings without Charity are nothing worth pour into my Heart I beseech thee the most excellent Gift of Charity that I may love thee above all things and love my Neighbour as my self I am now approaching once more to that Feast of Love which my Saviour has provided for me O that my Heart may be entirely penetrated with his Love and that the endearing Thoughts of what he has done and suffered for me even while I was an Enemy may wholly subdue in me all Hatred and Wrath and Malice and Revenge and criminal Self-love and Peevishness and immoderate Anger and may render it as delightful to me as 't is necessary to forgive all that have offended me as I expect that God for Christ's sake should forgive me Give me a constant Disposition to love my Enemies to bless them that curse me do good to them that hate me and pray for them that despightfully use me and persecute me Here if you have any Enemies 't would be well in particular to name them and ask Pardon for them and then add Forgive O Lord my Trespasses as I desire from the bottom of my Heart to forgive all those that trespass against me and help me by a wise a gentle and a peaceable behaviour and by all good Offices towards them to heap Coals of Fire upon their Heads and melt them down into a better Temper Grant that I may more and more covet that best Gift of Charity and may feel it daily encrease in my Heart towards all my Christian Brethren Let my Love unto them be advanced in proportion to their Excellency in Piety and nearer Resemblance to God Especially unite me in the most fervent and tender Affection to all those with whom by thy Grace I shall partake of the Bread of Life at the approaching Communion Let us be all one Body and one Bread and grant that I may heartily seek the Welfare both of their Souls and Bodies Bless thy Holy Catholick Church especially that part of it planted in these Kingdoms Reform her Professors heal her Breaches disappoint and convert her Enemies Pity all that suffer for Righteousness sake Here add any particular Church that is persecuted as suppose in France Scotland c. Comfort the afflicted support the miserable help those that have no helper and in thy due time deliver thine Israel out of all their Trouble for Christ his sake Amen! § XVIII Having thus finished the Directions concerning such a stated Examination and Preparation as is necessary or highly convenient to those who have Opportunities for it in the Week before the Communion I should here add a Summary of them for the use of such as have not Time or Convenience for such a larger Preparation But think it more proper to remit that to the End of this Tract and shall add a word or two in the Conclusion of this Chapter concerning our Behaviour betwixt this forementioned Preparation and our actual approach to the Sacrament especially in the Morning of the Communion § XIX For the former as for the Time that passes between our Preparation and Reception he who desires to be a Worthy Communicant can hardly be too careful or too much upon his Guard lest he should build again the things he had destroyed and fall from his stedfastness He cannot therefore do better than to repeat his Examen not only every Evening which has been the Custom even of Heathens and every Evening and Morning as many serious Christians but even oftner in the day if there be Opportunity according to the practice of devout Persons of other Communions * Marquis de Renti Father Paul the Venetian c. for why should we not follow a good Example whoever it be that gives it And hereby we shall preserve that good Frame which 't is to be hoped we have already acquired by our solemn Preparation and if any criminal Thought Word or Action should escape us may immediately wash it off again by a speedy recollection and Repentance that our Wedding Garment may be clean and unspotted when we enter into the Marriage In order whereunto 't would be advisable to avoid mingling with worldly Business as much as possible however to shun such Conversation and Diversion as would be apt to efface or lessen those good Impressions which with so much Pains may have lately been fixed on our Minds § XIX In the Morning which immediately precedes the Communion shake off Sloth betimes remember who 't is that calls rise early to meet your Redeemer And with the Royal Psalmist Psal. 5. 3. in the morning direct your Prayer unto him and look up for his Grace and Assistance contrary to the very ill Custom of too many who make the Lord's Day as short as they can and indulge their Sloth and Idleness on the Day more than on any other But so will not the pious Christian especially when he designs and desires to be a Worthy Communicant but considers the great Advantages of being early at his Devotions before his Mind be filled or diverted by any other Object and that wonderful Spirit and Life which it adds to his Meditations and Prayers when his Mind is thus fresh and vigorous his Body refresht by rest and sleep and his Spirits recreated and révived when he sees and hears all the Creation round him praising God with whom he may joyn and make it his first happy Employment to sing his Praises either in the Lxiii Psalm O God my gracious God c. the five first Verses Or if he pleases in the Sacramental morning Hymn Awake my heart c. annexed among others to this Treatise Then after his Examen he may repeat the Devotions used at the Preparation or any other from the Whole Duty of Man or other pious Books or of his own Composing As for eating or not eating any thing the Morning before we receive 't is a thing in it self indifferent and therefore must be determined according to the
To acknowledge them and to bewail our manifold Sins and Wickedness since we can by no means hide them from the Eye of Heaven and they are the truest and justest Causes of Lamentation and Sorrow Nor are we to rest in generals but here again to call to mind the greatest and most hainous Sins whereof on our former Examination we have found our selves guilty whether in Thought Word or outward Action These we are to acknowledge we have most grievously committed which may imply the hainous aggravation of them for which we must own that we have provoked most justly God's Wrath and Indignation against us that we have deserved his Anger and all the dreadful Consequences thereof in the Punishments both of this and another World § V. And having thus confest and acknowledged our Sins their number continuance extent and aggravation we are directed to proceed to the formal Act of Repentance for them to profess that we do earnestly repent and are heartily sorry for these our misdoings and woe to him who tho' he joyns in this solemn protestation with all good Christians yet does not truly and earnestly repent of his Sins nor is heartily sorry for them which how can he be thought to be when he falls into them again on the next Temptation whereas if we do truly repent of them the Remembrance of them will be indeed grievous unto us and their Burthen intolerable We shall know how evil and bitter a thing it is to depart from the Living God and be weary and heavy laden and fly to Christ to give us rest Which Repentance and abhorrence of our Sins ought to be raised to the greatest heighth at the time of Consecration when we see Christ's Sacramental Body broken and his Blood poured out for us and just at the time of receiving when we ought with an Holy Indignation to bring our Sins and nail them to the Cross of Christ to kill those Murderers as Benaiah did Ioab at the Horns of the Altar to sacrifice them there and hew them in pieces before the Lord in short to be deeply afflicted for them and to make firm Resolves to forsake them § VI. In order to which we must in the third place ask mercy for Christ's sake and pardon for all our Sins as the Church teaches us in those moving and tender Expressions Have mercy upon us Have mercy upon us most merciful Father For thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ's sake forgive us all that is past And this we have need to pray for since without Forgiveness the past Guilt remains as well as the Punishment due for our Sins tho' we should no more commit them But both are remitted in this Sacrament to the worthy Receiver not by Virtue of our own Merits or any Preparation Examination or Repentance or even of the very Act of outward receiving but merely for Christ's sake on account of his Merits and Intercession and by the Virtue which flows from his wounded Side his spiritual Flesh and Blood inwardly received by the Faithful in this Ordinance § VII Now we are taught to conclude this Confession with praying that God would grant us that we may ever hereafter serve and please him in newness of Life without which all that 's past is in vain nor is there any that 's so perfectly renewed that he has not still need to purge out something of the old Leaven And tho' God will give such Grace to those who worthily partake of this Sacrament yet has he appointed Prayer as the means to obtain it and of our perseverance in well-doing and daily encreasing in Goodness which Prayer does virtually contain a Promise to use our own utmost endeavors to amend our Lives that Resolution of better Obedience which seems to be the very Act wherein we renew our Covenant with God and engage to fulfil our part of it which if we do faithfully perform he will never be wanting to his § VIII Thus much for Repentance The second Grace to be exercised at the Sacrament is Faith which we are to reduce into Act when the Minister declares in the Absolution That Almighty God has promised forgivenness of Sins to all them that with hearty Repentance and true Faith turn unto him further praying ' That God would have mercy upon us pardon and deliver us from all our Sins confirm and strengthen us in all Goodness and bring us to Everlasting Life Which Absolution we are humbly to receive upon our Knees as an authoritative Declaration from one commissioned by Christ himself to bind and loose and to remit and retain Sins to which we are to add a hearty and faithful Amen as being fully assured that God will perform what he has promised by his Son if we neglect not our parts in the Covenant Faith is here more eminently necessary as well with respect to all the Promises of the Gospel as to the particular Benefits of this Sacrament and the application of them to our selves For our Lord has said He that eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood hath eternal Life and I will raise him up at the last Day The faithful Receiver eats and drinks Salvation this Sacrament shall eminently conduce unto it He is thereby united to Christ one with Christ and Christ with him and by virtue of that indissoluble union sealed in this Holy Ordinance he receives a Principle of Immortality whereby he shall be not only raised from the Death of sin in this World but at length raised from the Grave and live in endless Happiness which also seems to be the meaning of the Prayer in the very delivery of the Elements The Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve the Body and Soul to Everlasting Life to which most devout Christians add their private Amen as being fully perswaded that it shall have that happy efficacy to every worthy Receiver And the same Act of Faith they are to exert when they hear the Minister read those comfortable Words which our Saviour saith by himself and his Apostles to all that truly turn unto him Come unto me all that travel and are heavy laden and I will refresh you c. To which the devout Soul will be ready to answer Draw me and we will run after thee or with St. Peter To whom should we go but to thee thou hast the Words of eternal Life And so in the rest of the Sentences applying them to himself by a particular Act of Faith and saying Lord I believe help my unbelief And this Faith will be mightily advanced by our actual advertence to Christ's spiritual presence in this Holy Ordinance more eminently graciously and peculiarly than in any other And the highest Act of it is to be exercised at the very instant of receiving § IX Devotion is in the third place highly necessary to a Worthy Communicant at the time of Celebration and in all the parts of that Holy Office By which Devotion is meant the intense abstraction or withdrawing of
the Mind from all wordly things till it acquires a contrary bent and inclination and mounts freely and vigorously towards Heaven despising and trampling all the ridiculous trifles of this perishing World and counting all things but Dung and Dross for the Knowledge for the Love of a crucified Redeemer which every very good Man experiences in some happier moments of his Life Now the way to obtain this is the vigorous acting of Faith Repentance Humility and Divine Love and the Energy and inward free motion of the Mind towards Heaven And to this the Church invites in those Words which were used on this occasion in the Primitive times The sursum corda or Life up your Hearts to which the Congregation replys We lift them up unto the Lord which we have the highest reason to do when he confers such inestimable Favours upon us and when Christ instituted this Feast as has been said principally for this Reason that we should think upon him our absent Friend give our selves a little ease and breathing from the amusements and care of Life escape from this World and fix our Hearts upon a better upon that happy place where Christ sits at the right Hand of God and whither if we are faithful to him we shall at length also arrive seeing he has prayed to his Father That all those whom he has given him may be with him where he is that they may behold his Glory St. Iohn 17. 24. § X. A fourth Grace is Humility This is indeed included in Repentance for a true Penitent must be humble But we must be more explicite in it and are directed by the Church to form a particular Act thereof immediately before the Consecration when the Priest kneeling at the Lord's Table says in the name of all that communicate We do not presume to come to this thy Table O merciful Lord trusting in our own Righteousness but only in thy manifold and great Mercies We are not worthy so much as to gather up the Crumbs under thy Table And indeed one would wonder that any Christian should think he could express too great Humility either of Body or Mind when he comes before the Throne of God to receive his Pardon 'T is this most humble prostration of Soul this abasement and annihilation of our selves and utterly disclaiming our own merits which seems to be the bottom of that seraphical Divinity which has made so much noise in the World If they make it more than this 't is dangerous Enthusiasm as has appeared both in the Church of Rome and others If they rest it here as is done in some part at least of Sancta Sophia it is accountable and rational and may be of great Advantage in the course of a Christian Life especially in the Sacrament where the lower we abase our selves the higher will God raise us And this we ought particularly to exercise when we see the Minister approaching to us with the Bread or Wine and firmly to believe that we shall receive our Saviour together with them § XI But yet fifthly this ought not to hinder but rather to encrease our Thankfulness because as has been said the Sense of God's Goodness must needs be advanced by the consideration of our own unworthiness To this the Church especially directs us Above all things ye must render most humble and hearty Thanks to God the Father Son and Holy Ghost for the Redemption of the World by the Death and Passion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And again after the Sursum Corda we are invited To give Thanks to our Lord God to which the Congregation answers 'T is meet and right so to do On which follows that solemn Act of Thanks and Praise which the Priest alone pronounces as 't is said our Saviour did in St. Luk. 22. 19. and in 1 Cor. 11. 24. He took Bread and when he had given Thanks he broke it From which Actions the whole Sacrament obtained two Names the Eucharist from giving Thanks as 't is expresly called in two or three places of the New Testament in the Syriac Version and breaking of Bread as 't is stiled in the Acts of the Apostles Now this praising God and acknowledging and adoring his infinite Goodness ought to spread it self thro' every part of the Office And even our Repentance and Humility would be so managed as to encrease our Praises But we should more especially exercise our Thankfulness when the Minister says It is meet right and our bounden Duty that we should at all times * 1 Thess. 5. 16. and in all places give Thanks unto God on which follows that Seraphical Anthem repeated by Saints here below and Angels above Therefore with Angels and Arch-angels c. In which the pious Communicant joins both in Heart and Voice as well as in the particular Prefaces before it wherein we are directed to praise God either for the Birth of Christ or his Resurrection or Ascension or for his sending the Holy Ghost or else we adore the Divine Trinity in the Unity of the Godhead which Prefaces seem to have been added because the Church does not doubt but that so often at least as these greater Festivals return there will be a Communion And after we have received We entirely desire our heavenly Father mercifully to accept our Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving and we most heartily thank him that he has vouchsafed to feed us who have duly received these Holy Mysteries with the spiritual Food of the most precious Body and Blood of his dear Son and assured us thereby of his Favour and Goodness towards us And then we again break out into that Hymn of Praise to the whole Blessed Trinity part of which is the same that was sung by the Angels at the Birth of our Saviour Glory to God on High on Earth Peace Good-will toward Men. But more especially are we to have our Hearts filled with the most exalted Praises in the very Act of Receiving to which the Minister exhorts us in the delivery both of the Bread and Wine Nothing but Faith and Holy Ioy and humble Praise are then to be admitted Then when the Holy Soul is in the Mount with God and says 't is good for her to be here and if any thing of disturbance can find Entrance 't is because she must so soon return again to a sordid vexatious impertinent World when she is now already on the Wing for Heaven is advanced so far upward in that glorious Road and would so gladly fly away and be at rest in the Bosom of her Redeemer § XII The last Grace is Charity taken in the largest Sense for Love to God and to our Neighbour 1. Love to God the Soul of all Piety which quickens and enlivens every Christian Duty This is here encreased by remembring God's Love to us in sending his Son and our Saviour's Love in giving himself to die for us This Sacrament is the dearest Token of his Love and the
Church accordingly tells us That to the End we should always remember the exceeding great Love of our Master and only Saviour Jesus Christ in dying for us he has instituted and ordained Holy Mysteries as Pledges of it And the actual and lively Consideration hereof of Christ's wonderful Love towards us miserable Sinners so ungrateful so unworthy so often guilty of broken Faith and broken Vows who have loved the World and our own Lusts more than him who have grieved him who have wounded him who have crucified him by our Sins and who continue to do so for there is no Man that lives and sins not and all this to him who still loves us and still offers us Peace and Pardon and Grace and Heaven and even his own blessed Body and Blood in this heavenly Feast Shall not all this prevail with us to give him our worthless Love again for the rest of our Lives To give it him without exception and without reserve It must it will it cannot fail of having this happy effect if we carefully regard every part of this sacred Action and intently consider our Saviour's Death as represented therein especially while the Minister is consecrating the Elements the whole Prayer of Consecration being made up of a lively and thankful Recognition of our Saviour's sufferings and of his instituting the Sacrament in memory of them We are therefore in order to the exercising and encreasing of our Love to Christ diligently at that time to regard the Minister with our Eye and Christ with our Hearts When we see the Bread broken and the Wine poured out then to consider with all the Agonies of our Souls and with Hearts pierced and melted with the Love of Jesus what Agonies he himself endured for us both in his Body and Mind Then to look on him whom we have pierced and mourn for him and delight in him and hate those Sins which were the cause of this and which can only divide us from his Love and especially when we actually receive Then are our Souls to be intimately united to his Divine Person Then are we to embrace him as the chiefest of Ten Thousands and fairer than all the Children of Men to adore his infinite Perfections to be lost in the contemplation and admiration of them and to be wholly ravished with his Love § XIII Which will mightily assist us in the exercise of the other branch of Charity Love to our Neighbour for this cannot but be easie to us when our Minds are raised to this happy Temper The Love of Christ will subdue the Enmity of our Natures towards each other that Pride which is the cause of almost all Quarrels that bitterness of Spirit and Rancor and Malice and Revenge and Anger Those obscene Birds will all fly away before the Beams of the blessed Sun of Righteousness as did the Devils of old from their Oracles All our Hatred will be against our Sins all our Indignation our Resentments our Revenge for neither were those in vain implanted in our Minds will be turned quite another way O how happy would the World be did but the Body of Christians frequently and worthily receive the Communion I am confident nothing could sooner heal the wide Wounds of Christendom as I believe the neglect of it has been the great Original of them as well as of all our own Factions and Divisions All good Men must love one another if they often met at this Holy Table They could not they dared not there retain or nourish any pique against each other They would Love much both Christ and his Members because they so often considered that much was forgiven them And tho' this may seem a Digression yet the Truth and Consequences thereof appear so plain and so considerable that I knew not how to omit it But to return Charity is here to be actually exercised towards all Christ's Members especially towards those with whom we communicate We are to knit our Hearts most closely and intimately to them with the Bands of Holy Love Poor and Rich without exception only loving those most that love God most We are to pray for them all and not only in the Offertory but on other occasions to do them all the Good we can by faithful Counsel by tender and prudent Reproof and by all lawful and possible means promoting the welfare of their Souls and Bodies And lastly by devout Prayer to God for them as we are directed That all who are partakers of this Holy Communion may be filled with his Grace and heavenly Benediction But tho' our Charity is to begin there we are not to confine the Exercise thereof to those only who then actually communicate with us for we are also directed by the excellent Spirit of our Church shewing it self in those Holy Confessors and Martyrs who composed her Liturgy humbly to beseech God to grant by the Merits and Death of his Son Jesus Christ and thro' Faith in his Blood that not only we but also his whole Church may obtain Remission of our Sins and all other Benefits of his Passion Which may he grant who has so dearly purchased it for us to whom with the Father and Holy Ghost be all Glory Honour and Dominion now and to Eternal Ages Amen! If there be any time between the Consecration and actual Receiving the Communicant may make use of these following Devotions An Act of Penitence O Infinite offended Goodness who art a consuming Fire to the obstinate Sinner but infinite to pardon those who confess and forsake their Sins I desire earnestly to repent of all my Misdeeds I will acknowledge my Transgressions before thee and mine Iniquities will I not hide I have sinned I have sinned O Father against Heaven and before thee Against thy Mercies and thy Judgments the Thunder of thy Law and the still small Voice of thy Gospel Against the clearest Manifestations of thy wonderful Love in sending thy Son to shed his Blood as an attonement for the Sins of the whole World which precious Blood of his I have too often trampled under Foot and crucified the Son of God afresh by my repeated Iniquities Not all his bitter Agonies have been so far able to pierce my hard Heart as to make me entirely forsake my Sins which were the Cause of them Tho' he sweat Drops of Blood in the Garden tho' his Soul was exceedingly sorrowful even unto Death tho' he endured the Contradiction of Sinners tho' he was mocked and buffeted and spit on and crowned with Thorns and scourged and fainted under his Cross and was nailed unto it and raised in the Air a spectacle to Men and Angels tho' he there groaned under the weight of our Guilt and of our Sins imputed unto him tho' he thirsted tho' he fainted tho' he cried out as if thou thy self couldst have forsaken him tho' he bowed his Head and gave up the Ghost O! shall all this nothing move me shall my Heart be as hard as the nether Milstone
Manna that Angel's Food of Ioy in Believing the pleasures of God's House and Table the Fruits of the Tree of Life the foretasts of Heaven for which he pants as the thirsty Hart does after the refreshing Streams being fully perswaded by Reason Experience and Scripture that Ioy in the Holy Ghost and Fellowship with the Father and the Son are something more than Enthusiastical Fancies that God can communicate himself to his Creatures in what measure and by what means he pleases and that his own Institutions are those means whereby he does thus communicate himself to prepar'd and holy Minds and therefore he cannot rest in the outward only but prays for the Light of God's Countenance and the Ioy of his Salvation which make up so great a part of the Happiness of Heaven and when he has thus tasted how good the Lord is he cannot but be entirely thankful for it But yet neither does he estimate his Profit in any religious Duty or the presence of God in them by these sensible Ioys only He knows our weak Nature is neither able long to bear them nor is often fit for them He expects not all Canaan while on this side Iordan tho' he cannot but be delighted with a taste sometimes of the Fruits of that happy Country He believes he has then Benefit by any Duty and particularly by this Sacrament and that then God is present with him in it when he finds that he is thereby more settled in his Faith his Hope and his Obedience more rooted and grounded in Holy Love both to God and his Christian Brother when he finds his will more submissive and entirely resigned to God's Sovereign Will and the Duties of Religion growing gradually more easie and as it were natural and delightful to him And consequently he cannot be so well satisfied of his profiting by a Sacrament immediately after he has received for he expects it not all at once as at some distance of time when the Grace he then received is as it were digested in his Mind and spreads it self thro' all the Parts and Offices of an holy Life § IV. After examining the Frame of our Minds at the past Communion we are in the next place exactly to reflect on those Holy Vows and Resolves which we have made at God's Altar whether against Passion Impurity Intemperance immoderate Love to the World neglect of Sacraments or of publick private or Family Devotion or of the Souls of those whom God's Providence has committed to our Charge or any other failure whereof we found our selves guilty in our former Preparation and Examination and which we have anew vowed against at the Communion all which Vows if we did now again solemnly renew and implore and expect the continuance of Divine Strength to perform them and consider the means to obtain and preserve it we should doubtless find great Advantage by it especially if we renewed the same in our daily Examination which must needs preserve both the sense of God's Goodness and of our own Obligations more fresh and lively on our Minds and have a good Influence on our Practice tho' at greater distance from the Communion § V. And indeed this is the main hinge of the whole matter the great means whereby we must gain advantage by the Sacrament and which if we neglect we must at least expect the loss of our Comfort if not our Souls 'T is to remember all is not over as soon as we have received No nor that Day nor Week nor indeed while we live for the Obligation is for ever We do in the Sacrament shew forth the Lord's Death Till he come We engage our selves by this Oath as well as by that at Baptism to be his faithful Soldiers and Servants to our Lives End We are not to think the Oath it self is all since 't is but a Security to our future Faith and true Allegiance 'T is not enough to Vow nay 't is better not to vow at all than to vow and not to pay tho' to do both is still better than either We cannot too often remember that those Graces which we exercise at this Ordinance must also be put in Practice thro' the whole course of our Lives and 't is the reason of its Institution that they may by degrees be reduced into holy Habits We must be inwardly better'd by the Sacrament as well as by other Duties or else indeed we are not better at all for as one well observes Religion is not a Road of Performances but a New Nature evidenced by a New Life § VI. But more especially are we to call to mind these Promises and Obligations when we find our selves again attack'd by any Temptation either to those Sins which we have formerly committed or to any others Wo to him who after he has escaped the Pollutions of the World and tasted the good Word of God and the Powers of the World to come in this Ordinance shall yet fall away again return like a Dog to his Vomit shamefully yield to the same Sin which he has before so solemnly renounced and pretended to forsake and thereby in a great measure trample under foot the Blood of the Covenant crucifie the Son of God afresh and put him to open shame I speak not of lesser unavoidable Infirmities such as wandring Thoughts the first motions of Passion or being ready to give way to the violence of Temptation tho' recovering again but what I here intend is the relapsing into any grosser Sins such as Uncleanness Injustice Drunkenness habitual Carelessness of Duty and neglect of God's Word and Sacraments and our private stated Devotions which last may justly be ranked among greater Sins as being too frequently the beginning of all the rest Not that even these are unpardonable on true Repentance but that the Aggravations of them are so exceedingly heightned by the addition of Ingratitude and Perjury An old Wound may possibly be cured at last even when 't is badly healed but then there 's a necessity of its being laid open again and the Pain will be more exquisite than it was at the first We ought therefore when attack'd by any old Temptation to oppose immediately this powerful Armor against it and whatever pleasure or profit it 's baited with by the great Deceiver with Indignation to reject it To reflect vigorously on our new Obligations to the contrary both of Promises of Interest and of Gratitude To say within our selves I have sworn and am stedfastly purposed to keep God's righteous Judgments And ' Get thee behind me Satan the God of Peace whose I am and who has promised to help me shall bruise thee under my Feet And to this end we must be always upon our Guard we must be temperate and sober or else we can never be vigilant We must avoid ill Company the great Emissaries of Satan as we would Satan himself A great End of the Sacrament is to make us look forward and remember Christ's last coming