A PREPARATIVE SERMON TO THE LORDS TABLE preached by the Reverend Mr. Iohn Forbes Pastour to the Companie of Marchant Adventurers residing in Delff 1. Cor. 11.28 But let a man examine himselfe and so let him eate of that bread and drinke of that Cup. Printed at Delff 1632. A PREPARATIVE SERMON TO THE LORDS TABLE Iohn 6. Vers 27. Labour not for the meat vvhich perisheth but for that meat vvhich endureth vnto euerlasting life which the Sonne of man shall giue vnto you for him hath God the Father sealed AMonge our manifold enormities there is not any one which more grieues the Lord Iesus and vvhich doth make him more to be offended vvith vs then vvhen vve abuse either himselfe or his blessed ordinances to peruerse ends therfore of all things vvherevnto vvee are to looke to in our selues this is one of the chiefest least in shevve of seeking after Christ in comming to his holy ordinances vve thereby increase our guiltines prouoke the Lord to vvrath and indignation against vs. VVe knovv vvhat fearefull iudgments the Corinthians did bring vpon themselues for not eating the Lords supper as they ought For vvhich abuse of that holy ordinance the Lord plagued them vvith sundry diseases and sicknesses and diuerse kinds of deaths so zealous is the Lord of keeping his holy ordinances from the abuse contempt of men See 1. Cor chap. 11. VVee are not ignorant also of the seueritie vsed by God against Nadab and Abihu the Sonnes of Aaron for offring of strang fire before the Lord in consuming them both vvith fire that came out from the Lord see Leuit. 10. The like example haue vvee of the testimonie of Gods anger against Vzzah as example to all them that vse not the holy things of God aright nor respectfully vvho presuming cōtrarie to the ordinance of God to touch the Arke Though vpō a good zeale to stay it vvhen he did see it like to fall vvas strucken to death by the Lord. Let vs remember vvhat the Lord did to king Vziah for attempting to enter in to the sanctuary to offer incense before the Lord vvhich belonged only to the Priest to doe in striking him vvith a leaprosie all the daies of his life 2. Chro. cap. 26. Annanias and Saphirah are documents to this day of the Lords sore displeasure against all those vvho pretending faith loue and zeale and liberalitie to Christ and his Church dealt hipocriticallie vvith counterfeit shevve and not trulie vvith God in any thing concerning his vvorship his glory his ordinances and his obedience vvho both of them vvere punished by death for dealing falselie vvith the Lord in their prophane counterfeite shevve of imitating the charitable liberalitie of the Primitiue Churches in selling their possessions and bringing the price thereof to the Apostles feet for the support of those that did vvant See Act. 5. All these do let vs see that the Lord can not abide that any man should prophane any of his holy ordināces or for any by-pretēce to make shevv of zeale to his glorie or desire of his holy things it is not possible that hee should suffer vs to goe long vnpunished if vve doe not serue him in all his ordinances vvith sinceere vpright hearts The truth vvhereof is confirmed by this Historie For these Ievves comming vnto Christ did make a great shevve and desire to enjoy the blessed fellovvship and communion of the Sonne of God yet Christ is displeased vvith them because they sought him not vvith vpright hearts therfore hauing checked and reproued them in manifesting and opening the poyson of hypocrisie which was in their hearts in the preceding verse of this chapter In this verse vvhich vve haue novv read hee laboureth to cure by vvholesome medecine the sicknes of their soule if possible the peruerse disposition of their hearts could be reformed The euill that he reproues in them is this that they sought not after Christ aright because they did not set before themselues the right vse of Christ in comming vnto him They should haue sought after him first and principallie for spirituall things tending to the vvelfare of their soules but they sought after him for nothing but the foode of their bodies and the vvelfare of this their tansitorie life therefore Christ is offended at them so hee is vvith all others vvho follovving their footsteps come vnto him or his ordinances in the like manner Novv to remedie this euill the Sonne of God labours to giue them some vvholesome instruction in which these points are to be marked First VVhat it is that he enioynes them to vvhich is to labour Secondly For vvhat he vvill haue them to labour that is for spirituall things namely the meate of their soules and the food of eternall life Thirdly vvee haue to consider the preparation vnto this by remouing the hindrances hereof in repressing the loue of the vvorld in mens hearts Commanding them not to labour for that meate which perisheth Fourthly vve haue heere set downe by Christ an information an instruction vvhere to finde this bread of life since it vvere in vaine to labour for it if vve knew not vvhere to find it Therefore hee tells them the Sonne of man shall giue it vnto them Fifthly Here is set downe an argument or reason of confirmation to make this good and to secure the soule of him that seeks this bread of life from Christ that Christ is able yea not only able but also vvilling and ready to giue it vnto them and that is set dovvne in these vvords for him hath God the Father sealed First then let vs speake of the exhortation vvhich is to labour for that meat vvhich endureth to eternall life By this exhortation vve see manifestly that it neuer vvas the purpose nor mind of God since the vvorld beganne that men should feede on any meat either corporall or spirituall vvithout labour and pains taking for it you knovv that lavve of the Apostle to the Thes the second Epist. 3. chap. vers 10. If there be any that vvill not vvorke the same man shall not eate that man therefore shall neuer be vvorthie of heauen that vvill take no paines for it for if it be Gods vvill that vvee should labour if vve vvould enioy the food of our bodies it must needs be much more his vvill that vvee should labour for the food of our soules It is therefore in vaine for men euer to looke to be made pertakers of the supper of the lambe and bread of heauen if they vvill take no paines for it there is an necessitie layd vpon vs to labour for the food both of soule and bodie it is no slothfull nor careles man that God vvill feed such men therefore as thinke to goe to heauen sleeping vvithout seeking after heauen and doe hope to haue Christ brought vnto them vvhile they rest in their beds and vvill not doe so much as to rise and let him in vvhen he calles and knocks
is a vvretched and a miserable thing to see a Christian maÌ„s heart disposed noe better then the heart of a prophane heatheÌ„ that his labour trauaile should be employed for no higher end for no greater nor better things then a blind ignorant pagan labours for It must needs argue a mind not truly enlightned as yet vvith the sauing knowledge of spiritual things vvhen as it can mind nothing else but earthly things And this is the cause vvhy so fevv professing Christianitie doe manifest any strong desires or carefull sollicitude For things eternall euen because they lye yet in darkenesse and ignorance of them Not hauing the eyes of their vnderstanding opened to see the spiritual Ioy glory fellecitie of Gods chosen In Christ for if they did once see them it vvere impossible that they could esteeme so much of earthly or transitory pleasures but that their hearts vvould be rauished tovvards heauen and all things in this vvorld vvould be as dung in their eyes for vvhat man is there vvho getting a sight of a princely pallace full of inestimable treasures and pleasures vnto the vvhich he is invited vvhen hee himselfe dvvells in a poore miserable cottage in the mids of a barren wildernes that vvould not gladlie forsake this poore cottage enioy this princely pallace and yet there is much more difference betvveene heauen and earth the things of this life and the things of the life to come the foode of our bodies and the foode of our soules VVhat vvretched and miserable fooles are these vvhich knovving that Heauen is infinitlie aboue this earth and that to liue vvith God is vnspeakeablie better then any estate can be in this life that still their thoughts should be drovvned in the cares of this life and neuer lifted vp to those vnspeakable ioyes vvhich are at the right hand of God vvhere Christ is The point then is this Christ vvill haue vs to knovv that our hearts must be freed from the cares of this vvorld before vve can set our selues to seeke things that are spirituall and heauenly Euen as a man if he vvill transplant a tree and set it in a better ground he must first loose it from the earth vvhere in it groweth and in vvhich it is rooted for othervvise he may vvell breake it or destroy it but transplant it he cannot euen so mans heart that is rooted in the things of this life and naturally set vpon them it is in vaine to thinke that it can be set vpon things that are aboue vntill this stronge hold it hath on earth be first loosed for no tree is so fast rooted in earth as mans heart is in earthlie things and it is a greater difficultie to plucke the thoughts of mans heart from the care of earthlie things then to â—ayse the deepest tree that euer vvas in the earth let men therefore take this vvarning from Iesus Christ that if they vvill seeke the bread of eternall life they must first haue their hearts free from the careful seeking of the bread of this life Novv let vs come to speake of that for vvhich vve should labour The discription vvhereof is set dovvne in these vvorlds Labour not for the meat that perisheth but for that meat vvhich endureth vnto eternal life In this description is set dovvn not only that for vvhich vve should labour but a forcible argument to moue vs to labour for it and to dissuade vs froÌ„ labouring for the other this argument is taken from the nature of the meat For vvhich vve should not labour and from the nature of that meat for vvhich vve should labour vvhich shevves then to be in nature contrarie the one to the other and it stands in this that the one perisheth and the other endureth so that Christs reason is after this manner labour not for temporal meat because it perisheth but labour for spirituall meat because it endureth Let vs novv briefly consider these reasons Touching the first it cannot be but a sore vexation to a mans heart vvhen God giues him eyes to see it that of all hee labours for vnder the sunne during all the dayes of his life ther is nothing of it that vvill remaine vvith him but it vvill perish and decay but this is one of the greatest vanities argues the most miserable corruption of mans heart vnder the sunne that either they cannot or they vvil not see this that all things of this vvorld are perishing vanities men naturallie are giuen to think that both themselues their substance shall endure long and continue for euer euen as the â—ich glutton that pulld dovvne his barnes and built them bigger said vnto his soule take thine ease thou hast goods laid vp for manie yeares he neither dreamed of dying himselfe nor of the decaying of his transitorie substance yet poore vvretch it vvas told him that to morrovv he should dye if vvee could therefore thinke vpon this that euerie moment vvee stand in danger either to be taken from the things of this vvorld or to haue them taken from vs it were impossible that we should take such care for vvhat vve should eate or vvhat vve should drinke c. yea if vvee vvould but marke that vvhich the Apostle speaks to the Col. concerning the food of our bodies it vvould be an argument to make vs lay aside the solicitude and care for them seing as the Apostle saith they perish euen in the very vsing of theÌ„ and therfore the same Apostle in the 1. Cor. 7. vvills them that marry to be as if they married not and them that possessed as if they possessed not Because saith hee the fashion or shape of this vvorld passeth a vvay and all shall once come to an end therfore it vvere happy for vs if vve could know thus much that vve are but Pilgrims in this vvorld therfore must vse all things in it as Pilgrims vse their lodgings that is not setling vpon them nor resting in them as though vvee could dvvel heer for euer for our habitation is prepared for vs in heauen therefore vvee should passe through this earth as the Pilgrims doe their iourney vsing all things in this vvorld as trauellers doe to make them serue to further our iourney to heauen and not as clogs to hinder vs seing all that is heere vvill perish And yet further to consider this point mark hovv the Apostle makes it a strong reason in the 1. Cor. chap. 6. vers 13. vvhy men should not eate of any meat vvith offence of their brethren saying meat is ordained for the belly and the belly for meat and God shall destroy them both if men had hearts to consider this what reason could they haue to be carefull for meat which serues to satisfie their bellie vvhen both meat and bellie shall perish It is an ydle dreame for men to thinke that these parts of our bodies vvhich are only giuen for temporall vse in this life That I say vvee shall
at their doores and looke to be fed vvith the food of Angels and yet vvill not stir hand nor foote to labour for it I say such men can neuer expect to haue it from God VVe knovv it sufficiently rhat it is Gods vvill and ordinance that touching this temporall life a man should eate his bread in the svveat of his brovves vve doe vvillingly vndergoe paine labour for it But here is all our fault that hovvsoeuer vve be busied and pained for temporall things belonging to this life yet vve haue neither heart nor mind to take any paines for spirituall things And this is one of the greatest sinnes of this miserable age vvhere in men are so diligent laborious for the things of this life and yet so careles miserablie negligent in things concerning eternall life VVell this vve say that truly the greater diligence men vse the more paines they take about vvorldly businesses the greater shal be there conviction and their iudgment the more terrible in the daie of Christ his appearing If they haue not beene much more painfull about spirituall things vvhich do concerne eternall life VVe shall heare here after vvhat need vve haue to vveane our selues from the cares of this vvorld and of earthly things because it is the maine hinderance and let of our care and solicitude for heauenly things and therefore it must be first rooted out of the heart before the heart can be set as it ought vpon spirituall things But novv let vs consider vvhat is coÌ„prehended vnder this word Labour and vvhat are the things that the Son of God requires of vs to be done for the attaining to this bread of life Christ himself here after in the same chapter shevves this in ansvvering the Ievves question vvhen they asked him vvhat shall vve doe that vve maye worke the vvorkes of God Iesus ansvvered and said vnto them this is the vvorke of God that you beleeue in him vvhom he hath sent heere in steed of all vvorkes Christ places but one and that is the vvorke of beleeuing a vvorke not of the hand nor of the body but a vvorke of the heart For as a man must haue a mouing hand a stirring body in the busines that beloÌ„gs to this world so for obtaying of spiritual blessings he must haue a stirring and a beleeuing heart his heart must vvorke by faith if euer he thinke to haue any spirituall blessing from God for it is by faith alone that vve draw all good things from God in heauen and by faith alone it is that vve render to God any thing that can be acceptable vnto him for all though in the Scriptures our actions are attributed to loue yet they are in this life more properlie attributed to faith seing that faith vvorks by loue and so loue being but the instrument of faith and that by vvhich faith vvorketh and this is the reason vvhy all the doings and suffrings of the children of God are attributed vnto faith as you may see in the 11. of the Lev. for the vvhole operation of a spirituall man consists maynly in the vvork of beleeuing vvithout which vve shall neuer receiue ought from God that is able to saue our soules neither shall vve be able to doe so much as to send vp one sound desire or petition vnto God To conclud in a vvord there is no abillitie either to speake or to doe ought acceptablie to God vvithout faith This point is of great moment vve are to Labour aboue all things to attaine vnto this vvorke of beleeuing and to this end vve are care fully to vse all meanes by vvhich it pleaseth God to vvorke faith in our hearts as namely the hearing of the vvord of God preached the participation of the Lords supper instant praier to God vvith dayly meditations in the blessed vvord of God dayly conference talking of the holy things of God That faith by these meanes be both vvrought and nourished and dayly increased in our hearts vvithout vvhich it is impossible that euer vve can come to haue any feeling or sence either of the life or loue of God in our soules much lesse to shevve forth any euidences of them in our practise to the eies of men this is that vvork vvhich must haue place in all our vvorkes season them all before God therefore are vve commanded that vvhatsoeuer vve doe vvhether vve eate or vvhether vvee drinke that vve doe all in the name of the Lord Iesus which is as much as to say that vve doe all in faith for nothing can be done in the name of the Lord Iesus but it must of necessitie be done in faith this is then that which Christ means vvhen he vvills vs to labour Novv let vs goe forvvard here it follovveth that vve should next speake of that for vvhich vve should labour but before vve come vnto it VVe vvill speake first of the preparition vvhich Christ requires in vs for the fitting vs to this labour vvhich stands in the remouing of the lets impediments that hinder vs from labouring for that meat vvhich indures vnto euerlasting life And this is set dovvne in these vvords labour not for the meat vvhich perishes Heere vve see that vvhen Christ wils vs to labour for heauenly things he first restraines vs from the labour for earthly things The reason is because that if the loue and care of earthly things be not rooted out of our mindes the loue and care of heauenly things can take no place in them this is manifest by that speach of Iohn his 1. Epist 2. cap. 15. vers Loue not the vvorld nor the things of the vvorld if any man loue the vvorld the loue of the Father is not in him It is a most certaine truth that man vvhose heart affections is set vpon things belonging to his body must be a senceles man concerning the vvellfare of his soule It is expedient therefore and also necessarie that the care and solicitude of earthly things bee moderated and borne dovvne in our minds if euer vve vvill embrace this â—abour commanded by Christ for spirituall things for no man can serue â—vvo Masters it is impossible to serue God and the vvorld both and it is for this cause that Christ vvills his Disciples Not to care vvhat they should eate nor vvhat they should drinke nor vvhat they should put on put that first they should seeke the kingdome of God and his righteousnes vvith a promise that all these things shall be cast vnto them And to moue them vnto this among manie other reasons he brings this for one to vvit that it is the disposition and custome of the heaâ—hen and men vvithout God to seek after things concerning this life namely vvhat they should eate and vvhat they should drinke and vvhat they should put on and therefore coÌ„cludes that they that knovv God and professe God to be their Father should not set their hearts vpoÌ„ these Temporall thing for it