interrogation to the Conscience that so the major and minor being contriv'd the light of reason in the soule may make up a practicall syllogisme and so conclude either its fitnesse or indisposition towards these holy mysteries First for the causes of faith not to meddle with that extraordinary cause I meane miracles the ordinary are the word of God and the Spirit of God the Word as the Seed the Spirit as the formative and seminall virtue making it active and effectuall for the Letter profiteth nothing it is the Spirit which quickneth What the formality of that particular action is whereby the Word and Spirit doe implant this heavenly branch of faith in the soule Faith it selfe having in its nature severall distinct degrees some intellectuall of assent some fiduciall of relyance and confidence some of abnegation renouncing and flying out of our selves as insufficient for the contriuance of our owne salvation and so in congruity of reason requiring in the causes producing them severall manners of causalities as I take it not necessary so neither am I able to determine I shall therefore touch upon some pâ—incipall properties of either all which if they concurre not unto the originall production doe certainely to the raduation and establishing of that divine virtue and therefore may justly come within the compasse of those premises from the evidences of which assumed and applied the Conscience is to conclude the truth of its faith in Christ. And first for the word to let passe those properties which are onely the inherent attributes and not any transient operations thereof as its sufficiency perspicuity majesty selfe-Authority and the like let us touch upon those which it carrieth along with it into the Conscience and I shall observe but two Its Light and its Power Even as the Sunne where ever it goes doth still carry with it that brightnesse whereby it discovereth and that Influence whereby it quickneth inferiour bodies First for the Word the properties thereof are first to make manifest and to discover the hidden things of darknesse for whatsoever doth make manifest is light The heart of man naturally is a labyrinth of darknesse his workes workes of darknesse his Prince a Prince of darkenesse whose projects are full of darknesse they are depths devices craftinesse methods The Word of God alone is that light which maketh manifest the secrets of the heart that glasse wherein wee may see both our selves and all the devices of Satan against us discovered And secondly by this act of manifesting doth light distinguish one thing from another In the darke we make no difference of faire or foule of right or wrong waies but all are alike unto us and so while wee continue in the blindnes of our naturall estate wee are not able to perceive the distinction betweene Divine and naturall objects but the Word of God like a touchstone discovereth the differences of truth and falshood good and evill and like fire seperateth the pretious from the vile Secondly light is quickning and a comforting thing The glory of the Saints is an inheritance of light and they are children of light who shall shine as the Sunne in the Firament whereas darknes is both the Title and the Portion of the wicked The times of darknes men make to be the times of their sleeping which is an Image of Death t is in the light onely that men worke And so the Word of GOD is a comforting Word It was Davids delight his hony-Combe And it is a quickning Word too for it is the Word of Life Lastly light doth assist direct and guide us in our waies and so doth the Word of GOD it is a Lanterne to our feete and a light unto our pathes Secondly for the power of the Word it is two fold even as all power is a governing power in respect of that which is under it and a subduing power in respect of that which is against it First the Word hath a governing power in respect of those which are subject to it for which cause it is every where called a Law and a royall that is a commanding Soveraigne Law It beares Dominion in the soule conforming each faculty to it selfe directeth the righteous furnisheth unto good workes raiseth the drooping bindeth the broken comforteth the afflicted reclaimeth the straggling Secondly it subdueth all emnity and opposition discomfiteth Satan beateth downe the strong holdes of sinne t is a Sword to cut off a weapon to subdue a Hammer to breake in peeces whatsoever thought riseth up against it Now then let a mans conscience make but these few demands unto it selfe Hath the light and power of Gods Word discovered it selfe unto mee Have the Scriptures made me knowne unto my selfe have they unlocked those crooked windings of my perverse heart have they manifested unto my soule not onely those sinnes which the light of reason could have discerved but even those privy corruptions which I could not otherwise have knowne have they acquainted me with the devices of Satan wherewith he lieth in waite to deceive have they taught me to distinguish betweene truth and appearances betweene goodnes and shaddowes to finde out the better part the one necessary thing and to adhere unto it am I sensible of the sweetnes and benefits of his holy Word doth it refresh my soule and revive me unto every good worke Is it unto my soule like the hony Combe like pleasant pastures like springs of water like d the Tree of life doe I take it along with me wheresoever I goe to preserve me from stumbling and straggling in this valley of darknes and shaddow of death Againe doe I feele the power of it like a Royall commanding Law bearing rule in my soule Am I willing to submit and resigne my selfe unto the obedience of it doe I not against the cleere and convincing evidence thereof entertaine in my bosome any the least rebellious thought Doe I spare noe Agag noe ruling sinne withdraw noe wedge or babilonish Garment noe gainefull sin make a league with noe Gibeonite noe pretending sinne But doe I suffer it like Ioshua to destroy every Cananite even the sinne which for sweetnes I roled under my tongue doth it batter the Towers of Ierico breake downe the Bul-warkes of the flesh lead into captivity the corruptions of nature mortifie and crucifie the old man in me doth it minister comforts unto me in all the ebbs and droopings of my spirit even above the confluence of all earthly happines and against the combination of all outward discontents and doe I set up a resolution thus alwayes to submit my selfe unto the Regiment thereof In one word doth it convince me of sin in my selfe and so humble me to repent of it of Righteousnes in CHRIST and so raise me to beleeve in it of his spirituall judgment in governing the soules of true beleevers by the power of love and
beauty of his graces and so constraine and perswade me to be obedient unto it These are those good premises out of which I may infallibly conclude that I have had the beginnings the seeds of Faith shed a abroad in my heart which will certainly be further quickned by that holy spirit who is the next and principall producer of it The operations of this holy spirit being as numberlesse as all the holy actions of the Faithfull cannot therefore all possibly be set downe I shall touch at some few which are of principall and obvious observation First of all the spirit is a spirit of liberty and a spirit of prayer It takes away the bondage and feare wherein we naturally are for feare makes us runne from God as from a punishing and revenging Iudge never any man in danger fledde thither for succour whence the danger issued feare is so farre from this that it betrayeth and suspecteth those very assistances which reason offereth and it enableth us to have accesse and recourse unto God himselfe whom our sins had provoked and in our prayers like Aron and Hurr it supporteth our hands that they doe not faint nor fall It raiseth the soule unto divine and unutterable petitions and it melteth the heart into sights and groanes that cannot be expressed Secondly the holy Ghost is compared unto a witnesse whose proper worke it is to reveale and affirme some truth which is called in question There is in a mans bosome by reason of that enmity and rebellion betwixt the flesh and the spirit and by meanes of Satans suggestions sundry dialogues and conflicts wherein Satan questioneth the title wee pretend to salvation In this case the Spirit of a man as one cannot choose but do when his whole estate is made ambiguous staggereth droopeth and is much distressed till at last the Spirit of God by the light of the Word the Testimonie of Conscience and the sensible motions of inward grace layeth open our title and helpeth us to reade the evidence of it and thus recomposeth our troubled thoughts Thirdly the Spirit of God is compared to a Seale the worke of a Seale is first to make a siampe and impression in some other matter secondly by that means to difference and distinguish it from all other things And so the Spirit of God doth fashion the hearts of his people unto a conformity with Christ framing in it holy impressions and renewing the decayed Image of God therein and thereby separateth them from sinners maketh them of a distinct common-wealth under a distinct governement that whereas before they were subject to the same Prince Lawes and desires with the world being now called out they are new men and have another character upon them Secondly a Seale doth obsignate and ratifie some Covenant Grant or conveyance to the person unto whom it belongeth It is used amongst men for confirming their mutuall trust in each other And so certainely doth the Spirit of God pre-affect the soule with an evident taste of that glory which in the Day of Redemption shall be actually conferd upon it and therefore it is called an hansell earnest and first fruit of life Fourthly the Spirit of God is compared to an oyntment now the properties of oyntments are first to supple to asswage tumors in the body and so doth the Spirit of God mollifie the hardnesse of mans heart and worke it to a sensible tendernes and quicke apprehension of every sinne Secondly oyntments doe open and penetrate those places unto which they are applied and so the Unction which the faithfull have teacheth them all things and openeth their eyes to see the wonders of Gods Law and the beauty of his graces In vaine are all outward sounds or Sermons unlesse this Spirit be within to teach us Thirdly oyntments doe refresh and lighten nature because as they make way for the emission of all noxious humours so likewise for the free passage and translation of all vitall spirits which doe enliven and comfort And so the Spirit of God is a Spirit of consolation and a spirit of life hee is the comforter of his Church Lastly oyntments in the Leviticall Law and in the state of the Iewes were for consecration and sequestration of things unto some holy use As Christ is said to bee annoynted by his Father unto the oeconomy of that great worke the redemption of the world and thus doth the holy-Ghost annoint us to be a Royall Priest-hood a holy Nation a people set at liberty Fifthly and lastly I finde the holy Ghost compared unto fire whose properties are first to bee of a very active and working nature which stands never still but is ever doing something and so the Spirit of God and his graces are all operative in the hearts of the faithfull they set all where they come on worke Secondly the nature and proper motion of fire is to ascend other motions whatever it hath arise from some outward and accidentall restraint limiting the nature of it and so the Spirit of God ever raiseth up the affections from earth fastneth the eye of Faith upon Eternity ravisheth the soule with a servent longing to bee with the Lord and to bee admitted unto the fruition of those pretious joyes which heere it suspireth after as soone as ever men have chosen Christ to bee their Head then presently ascendunt de Terra they goe up out of the Land Hos. 1. 11. and have their conversation above where Christ is Thirdly fire doth inflame and transforme every thing that is combustible into the nature of it selfe and so the Spirit of God filleth the soule with a divine fervour and zeale which purgeth away the corruptions and drosse of the flesh with the spirit of judgment and with the Spirit of burning Fourthly fire hath a purifying and cleansing property to draw away all noxious or infectious vapors out of the Ayre to separate all soyle and drosse from mettalls and the like and so doth the Spirit of God clense the heart and in heavenly sighes and repentant teares cause to expire all those steemes of corruptions those noysome and infectious lusts which fight against the soule Fifthly fire hath a penetrating and insinuating quallity whereby it creepeth into all the pores of a combustible body and in like manner the holy Spirit of God doth penetrate the heart though full of insensible and inscrutible windings doth search the reines doth pry into the closest nookes and inmost corners of the soule there discovering and working out those secret corruptions which did deceive and defile us Lastly fire doth illighten and by that meanes communicates the comforts of it selfe unto others and so the Spirit being a Spirit of truth doth illuminate the understanding and doth dispose it likewise to discover its light unto others who stand in need of it for this is the nature of Gods grace that when Christ hath manifested himselfe to the soule of one
there the heart be also that we groan after the revelation of the sonnes of God when the vayl of our mortallity shall be rent the mud-wall of the flesh made spirituall and transparant the shadows and resemblances of the Sacraments abolished the glasse of the creature removed the riddle of our salvation unfolded the vapours of corruption dispelled the patience of our expectation rewarded and from the power of the spirit within and the presence of Christ without shall be diffused on the whole man a double lustre of exceeding abundant glory The hope and assurance of this is it which in those holy mysteries of Christs Supper we receive which if received without dependance and relation on that glory which they foreshadow and on that body which withall the merits of it they obsignate doth no more good than the seal of a king without any grant or patent whereunto it should be joyned in which there is no profit beyond the bare wax and much danger in triflin with so sacred a thing CHAP. IIII. Whence Sacraments derive their value and being namely from the Author that instituted them BUt why are not the instruments more glorious where the effects are so admirable whence is it that there should lie so much power in the narrow roome of so small and common elements It had been worth the creating of a new creature to be made the pledge of a new covenant the first fruits are of the same nature with their crop and earnest useth to be paid in coine of the same quality with the whole after-summe If then Sacraments are the earnests of our glory why are not the faithfull instead of eating a morsell of bread taken up with S t Paul into the third heavens why are they not in stead of drinking a sip of wine transformed with their Saviour and have with Steven a vision of him at the right hand of the father how discursive is foolish pride when it would prescribe unto God vaine man who undertakest to instruct thy maker in stead of praysing him to censure his benefits when thou shouldst enjoy them wilt thou not receive salvation without thine owne counsell or art thou so foolish as to conceive nothing precious without pompe and to judge of the things conveighed by the value and quality of the instrument that conveighs it tell me then why it is that water a vulgar element is held in a Cisterne of lead and thy wine a more costly liquor but in a vessell of wood Tell me the reason why that wax which in the shop haply was not priz'd at a penny should by cleaving unto a small parcell of parchment be valuable unto a million of money Tell me why should that clay which while it lay under foot was vile and dishonourable dirt when it was applyed by Christ unto the eye of a blind man be advanc'd unto the condition of a precious and supernaturall salve Is not even in works of Art the skill of the workman more eminent in the narrowest and unfittest Subjects Are not the Iliads of Homer more admirable in a Nutshell than in a volume doe not Limmers set the highest value on their smallest draughts and is there not matter of admiration and astonishment in the meanest and most vulgar objects And what madnesse is it then by those reasons to undervalue faith which are the arguments to confirme it as if the power of an Agent were not there greatest where the subject on which hee worketh doth conferre least as if the weaknesse of the element did not adde unto the wonder of the Sacrament If it were an argument of Christs miraculous power to feed five thousand with so few loaves why should not the miracle of his Sacrament be equall which feeds the whole Church with so slender elements certainly they who any way dis esteeme the seeming meanesse and emptinesse of the Sacrament entertaining but low and vulgar conceits thereof stumble at that same stone of foolishnesse by which the Gentiles fell from their salvation But wilt thou needs know both the reason why we use no other Sacraments and why these carry with them so much vertue one answer resolves both It is the Majestie of the same King that coynes his mony and that values it he that frames a private mint or imposeth another rate is in both equally a traitor in the former by stealing the Kings authority in the other by altering iâ— the same Author did both institute the Sacrament and value it from the same power did it receive the necessity of its being and the efficacie of its working In covenants or conveyances the articles and instruments may be haply drawne by some Lawyer but the confirmation of them by hand and seale are ordinarily performed by the men themselves who are interessed in them A Secretary may write the letter but his Lord will himselfe subscribe and seale it Thus the pattent of Gods covenant hath been drawn out for the benefit of Gods Church by many selected and inspired instruments unto whom God did dictate so much of his will by divine suggestion as his pleasure was to acquaint and edifie his Church withall But when hee comes to confirme this his gift by hand and seale behold then an immediate presence of his owne then comes Gods owne finger that is in the phrase of Scripture his spirit to write as a witnesse in the soule and then doth God stretch out his owne hand and reach unto us that Supper which is the seale to obsignate unto the senses the infallible truth of those covenants and our evident interest in those benefits which were before proclaimed in the pattent of his word The Apostle delivered nothing as it were by a second hand to the Corinthians but what hee had formerly received from the Lord. Divine things are unto us deposited we must first be receivers before deliverers CHAP. V. Inferences of practice from the Author of this Sacrament HEre then we see first both the absurdity and the wickednesse of a wil-worship when the same man who is to performe the obedience shall dare to appoint the lawes implying a peremptory purpose of no farther observance than may consist with the allowance of his own judgement Whereas true obedience must be grounded on the majesty of that power that commands not on the judgement of the subject or benefit of the precept impos'd divine laws require obedience not so much from the quality of the things commanded though they be ever holy and good as from the authority of him that institutes them We are all the servants of God and servants are but living instruments whose property it is to be governed by the will of those in whose possession they are Wil-worship and services of superstition well they may flatter God they do not please him He that requires us to denie our selves in his service doth therein teach us that his commands stand ratherin feare than in
Vision fruition and possession heere darkly by stooping and captivating our understandings unto those divine Reports which are made in Scripture which is a knowledge of Faith distance and expectation wee doe I say heere bend our understandings to assent unto such truths as doe not transmit any immediate species or irradiation of their owne upon them but there our understandings shall be raised unto a greater capacity and bee made able without a secondary report and conveyance to apprehend clearely those glorious Truths the evidence whereof it did heere submit unto for the infallible credit of God who in his Word had revealed and by his Spirit obsignated the same unto them as the Samaritans knew Christ at first onely by the report of the Woman which was an assent of Faith but after when they saw his Wonders and heard his Words they knew him by himselfe which was an assent of vision Secondly as the Church is heere but a travelling Church therfore cannot possibly have any farther knowledge of that Countrey whither it goes but onely by the Mappes which describe it the Word of God and these few fruites which are sent unto them from it the fruits of the Spirit whereby they have some taste and relish of the World to come so moreover is it even in this estate by being enclosed in a body of sinne which hath a darkning property in it and addes unto the naturall limitednesse of the understanding an accidentall defect and sorenesse much disabled from this very imperfect assent unto Christ the Object of its Faith for as sinne when it wastes the Conscience and beares Rule in the Soule hath a power like Dalila and the Philistines to put out our eyes as Vlysses the eye of his Cyclops with his sweet wine a power to e corrupt Principles to pervert and make crooked the very Rule by which we worke conveying all morall truths to the Soule as some concave glasses use to represent the species of things to the eye not according to their naturall rectitude or beauty but with those wrestings inversions and deformities which by the indisposition thereof they are framed unto so even the least corruptions unto which the best are subject having a naturall antipathy to the evidence and power of divine Truth doe necessarily in some manner distemper our understandings and make such a degree of sorenesse in the faculty as that it cannot but so farre forth bee impatient and unable to beare that glorious lustre which shines immediately in the Lord Christ. So then we see what a great disproportion there is betweene us and Christ immediately presented and from thence wee may observe our necessity and Gods mercy in affoording us the refreshment of a Type and Shadow These Shadowes were to the Church of the Iewes many because their weaknesse in the knowledge of Christ was of necessity more than ours in as much as they were but an infant wee an adult and growne Church and they looked on Christ at a distance wee neare at hand hee being already incarnate unto us they are the Sacraments of his Body and Bloud in the which wee see and receive Christ as weake eies doe the light of the Sunne through some darke Cloud or thicke Grove so then one maine and principall end of this Sacrament is to bee an instrument fitted unto the measure of our present estate for the exhibition or conveyance of Christ with the benefits of his Passion unto the faithfull Soule an end not proper to this mystery alone but common to it with all those Legall Sacraments which were the more thicke shadowes of the Jewish Church for even they in the red Sea did passe through Christ who was their Way in the Manna and Rocke did eate and drinke Christ who was their Life in the Brasen Serpent did behold Christ who was their Saviour in their daily Sacrifices did prefigure Christ who was their Truth in their Passeover did eate Christ by whose Bloud they were sprinkled for howsoever betweene the Legall and Euangelicall Covenant there may be sundry Circumstantiall differences as first in the manner of their Evidence that being obscure this perspicuous to them a Promise onely to us a Gospell Secondly in their extent and compasse that being confined to Iudea this universall to all Creatures Thirdly in the meanes of Ministration that by Priests and Prophets this by the Sonne himselfe and those delegates who were by him enabled and authorised by a solemne Commission and by many excellent endowments for the same service Lastly in the quality of its durance that being mutable and abrogated this to continue untill the consummation of all things yet notwithstanding in substance they agree and though by sundry wayes doe all at last meet in one and the same Christ who like the heart in the middest of the body comming himselfe in person betweene the Legall and Evangelicall Church doth equally convey life and motion to them both even as that light which I see in a starre and that which I receive by the immediate beame of the Sunne doth originally issue from the same Fountaine though conveyed with a different lustre and by a severall meanes So then wee see the end of all Sacraments made after the second Covenant for Sacraments there were even in Paradise before the Fall namely to exhibite Christ with those benefits which hee bestoweth on his Church unto each beleeving Soule but after a more especiall manner is Christ exhibited in the Lords Supper because his pretence is there more notable for as by Faith wee have the evidence so by the Sacrament wee have the presence of things farthest distant and absent from us A man that looketh on the light through a shadow doth truely and really receive the selfe same light which would in the openest and clearest Sun-shine appeare unto him though after a different manner there shall wee see him as Iob speakes with these selfe same eyes here with a spirituall eye after a mysticall manner so then in this Sacrament wee doe most willingly acknowledge a Reall True and Perfect Presence of Christ not in with or under the Elements considered absolutely in themselves but with that relative habitude and respect which they have unto the immediate use whereunto they are consecrated nor yet so doe wee acknowledge any such carnall transelementation of the materials in this Sacrament as if the Body or Bloud of Christ were by the vertue of Consecration and by way of a locall substitution in the place of the Bread and Wine in but are truly and really by them though in nature different conveyed into the Soules of those who by Faith receive Him And therefore Christ first said Take Eate and then This is my Body to intimate unto us as learned Hooker observeth that the Sacrament however by Consecration it be changed from common unto holy Bread and separated from common unto a divine use is
onely in holy Scriptures but even in prophane Writers also to call the instrumentall Elements by the name of that Covenant of which they are onely the Sacrifices seales and visible confirmations because of that relation and neere resemblance that is betweene them The second End or Effect of this Sacrament which in order of Nature immediately followeth the former is to obsignate and to encrease the mysticall union of the Church unto Christ their Head for as the same operation which infuseth the reasonable soule which is the first act or principle of life naturall doth also unite it unto the body to the making up of one man so the same Sacrament which doth exhibite Christ unto us who is the first act and originall of life divine doth also unite us together unto the making up of one Church In naturall nourishment the vitall heate being stronger than the resistance of the meat doth macerate concoct and convert that into the substance of the Body but in this spirituall nourishment the vitall Spirit of Christ having a heate invincible by the coldnesse of Nature doth turne us into the same image and quality with it selfe working a fellowship of affections and confederacy of wills and as the body doth from the union of the soule unto it receive strength beauty motion and the like active qualities so also Christ being united unto us by these holy mysteries doth comfort refresh strengthen rule and direct us in all our waies Wee all in the vertue of that Covenant made by God unto the faithfull and to their seed in the first instant of our being doe belong unto Christ that bought us after in the Laver of Regeneration the Sacrament of Baptisme we are farther admitted and united to him our right unto Christ before was generall from the benefit of the common Covenant but in this Sacrament of Baptisme my right is made personall and I now lay claime unto Christ not onely in the right of his common Promise but by the efficacy of this particular Washing which sealeth and ratifieth the Covenant unto mee Thus is our first union unto Christ wrought by the grace of the Covenant effectively and by the grace of Baptisme where it may bee had Instrumentally the one giving unto Christ the other obsignating and exhibiting that right by a farther admission of us into his Body But now wee must conceive that as there is a union unto Christ so there must as in naturall bodies be after that union a growing up till wee come to our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the measure of the fulnesse of Christ. This growth being an effect of the vitall faculty is more or lesse perfected in us as that is either more or lesse stifled or cherished for as in the soule and body so in Christ and the Church We are not to conceive the union without any latitude but capable of augmentation and liable to sundry diminutions according as are the severall meanes which for either purpose wee apply unto our selves The union of the soule and body though not dissolved is yet by every the least distemper slackned by some violent diseases almost rended asunder so that the body hath sometimes more sometimes lesse hold-fast of the soule so heere wee are in the Covenant and in Baptisme united unto Christ but wee must not forget that in men there is by Nature a roote of bitternesse whence issue those fruites of the flesh a spawne and wombe of actuall corruptions where sinne is daily conceived and brought forth a mare mortuum a lake of death whence continually arise all manner of noysome and infectious lusts by meanes of which our Union to Christ though not dissolved is yet daily weakened and stands in need of continuall confirmation for every sinne doth more or lesse smother and stoppe the principle of life in us so that it cannot worke our growth which we must rise unto with so free and interrupted a course as otherwise it might The Principle of life in a Christian is the very same from whence Christ himselfe according to his created Graces receiveth life and that is the Spirit of Christ a quickning Spirit and a strengthening Spirit Now as that great sinne which is incompatible with faith doth bidde defiance to the good Spirit of God and therefore is more especially called The sinne against the holy Ghost so every sinne doth in its owne manner and measure quench the Spirit that it cannot quicken and grieve the Spirit that it cannot strengthen us in that perfection of degrees as it might otherwise and thus is our union unto Christ daily loosened and slackened by the distempers of sinne for the reestablishing whereof God hath appointed these sacred Mysteries as effectuall instruments where they meet with a qualified subject to produce a more firme and close union of the Soule to Christ and to strengthen our Faith which is the joynt and sinew by which that union is preserved to cure those i wounds and purge those iniquities whose property it is to separate betwixt Christ and us to make us submit our services to knit our wils to conforme our affections and to incorporate our persons into him that so by constant though slow proceedings we might be changed from glory to glory and attaine unto the measure of Christ there where our Faith can no way bee impaired our bodies and soules subject to no decay and by consequence stand in no need of any such viaticums as wee heere use to strengthen us in a journey so much both above the Perfection and against the corruption of our present Nature CHAP. XIV Of three other Ends of the holy Sacrament the fellowship or union of the faithfull the obsignation of the Covenant of Grace and the abrogation of the Passeover NOW as the same nourishment which preserveth the Union betweene the Soule and Body or head and members doth in like manner preserve the Union betweene the members themselves even so this Sacrament is as it were the sinew of the Church whereby the faithfull being all animated by the same Spirit that makes them one with Christ are knit together in a bond of Peace conspiring all in a unity of thoughts and desires having the same common Enemies to withstand the same common Prince to obey the same common rule to direct them the same common way to passe the same common Faith to vindicate and therefore the same mutuall engagements to further and advance the good of each other so that the next immediate effect of this Sacrament is to confirme the Union of all the members of the Church each to other in a Communion of Saints whereby their prayers are the more strengthened and their adversaries the more resisted for as in naturall things Union strengtheneth motions naturall and weakeneth violent so in the Church Union strengtheneth all spirituall motions whether upward as meditations and prayers to God or downeward as
as unto men floating upon the Sea or unto distempered braines the land and house though immoveable seeme to reele and totter or as unto weake eyes every thing seemes double so the promises of God however built on a sure foundation his Counsell and Fore-knowledge yet unto men prepossest with their owne private distempers doe they seeme unstable and fraile unto a weake eye of faith Gods Covenant to bee if I may so speake double to have a tongue and a tongue a promise and a promise that is a various and uncertaine promise And for this cause notwithstanding diffident and distrustfull men doe indeed deserve what they suspect and are worthy to suffer what they unworthily doe feare doth God yet in compassion towards our fraitly condescend to confirme his promises by an Oath to engage the truth of his own essence for performance to seale the Patent which he hath given with his own blood and to exhibite that seale unto us so often as with faith wee approach unto the Communion of these holy mysteries And who can sufficiently admire the riches of this mercy which makes the very weakenesses and imperfections of his Church occasions of redoubling his promises unto it Secondly in that this Sacrament is the instrumentall cause of confirming our faith from this possibility yea facility of obtaining we must conclude the necessity of using so great a benefit wherein wee procure the strengthning of our graces the calmeing of our consciences and the experience of Gods favour in the naturall body there being a continuall activity and conflict betweene the heate and the moisture of the body and by that meanes a wasting depassion and decay of nature it is kept in a perpetuall necessity of succouring it selfe by food so in the spirituall man there being in this present estate an unreconcileable enmity betweene the spirit and the flesh there is in either part a propension towards such outward food whereby each in its distresses may be releeved The flesh pursues all such objects as may content and cherish the desires thereof which the Apostle calleth the provisions of lust The Spirit of the contrary side strengthens it selfe by those divine helps which the wisedome of God had appointed to conferre grace and to settle the heart in a firme perswasion of its owne peace And amongst these instruments this holy Sacrament is one of the principall which is indeed nothing else but a visible oath wherein Christ giveth us a tast of his benefits and engageth his owne sacred body for the accomplishing of them which supporteth our tottering faith and reduceth the soule unto a more setled tranquility Fifthly In that in this one all other Types were abrogated and nullified wee learne to admire and glorifie the love of God who hath set us at liberty from the thraldome of Ceremonies from the costlinesse and difficulty of his Service with which his owne chosen people were held in bondage under the Pedagogie and governement of Schoole-masters the ceremoniall and judiciall Law as so many notes of distinctions charactristicall differences or wall of separation betweene Iew and Gentile untill the comming of the Messias which was the time of the reformation of all things wherein the Gentiles were by his death to bee ingrafted into the same stocke and made partakers of the same juyce and fatnesse the shadowes to bee removed the ordinances to bee canceld the Law to bee abolished for The Law came by Moses but Grace and Truth by Iesus Christ Grace in opposition to the Curse of the Morall Law Truth in opposition to the figures and resemblances of the Ceremoniall Law The Iewes in Gods service were bound unto one place and unto one forme no Temple or ministration of Sacrifices without Ierusalem nor without expresse prescription no use of Creatures without difference of common and uncleane wheras unto us all places are lawfull and pure all things lawfull and pure every Country a Canaan and every City a Ierusalem and every Oratory a Temple It is not an ordinance but a Prayer which sanctifieth and maketh good unto our use every creature of God But yet though we under the Gospell are thus set at liberty from all manner ordinances which are not of intrinsecall eternall and unvariable necessity yet may this liberty in regard of the nature of things indifferent bee made a necessity in respect of the use of them We may not thinke that our liberty is a licentious and unbounded liberty as if CHRIST had been the Author of confusion to leave every man in the externall carriages of his worship unto the conduct of his private fancy This were to have our liberty for a cloake of naughtines and as an occasion to the flesh but we must alwayes limite it by those generall and morall rules of piety loyalty charity and sobriety Use all things we may indifferently without subjection or bondage unto the thing but not without subjection unto GOD and superiors Use them we may but with temperatnes and moderation use them we may but with respect to Gods glory use them we may but with submission to authority use them we may but with avoyding of scandall Christian liberty consisteth in the inward freedome of the conscience whose onely bond is a necessity of Doctrine not in outward conformity or observances onely whose bond is a necessity of obedience and subordination unto higher powers which obeying though wee become thereby subject unto some humane or Ecclesiasticall ordinances the conscience yet remaines uncurbed and at liberty Secondly we have hereby a great encouragement to serve our God in spirit and in truth being delivered from all those burdensome accessions which unto the inward worship were added in the legall observances In spirit in opposition unto the Carnall in truth in opposition unto the Typicall ceremonies The services of the Iewes were celebrated in the bloud and smoake of unreasonable creatures but ours in the Gospell must be a spirituall a reasonable service of him for as in the Word of God the letter profiteth nothing it is the spirit that quickneth so in the worship of God likewise the Knee the Lip the Eye the Hand alone profiteth not at all it is the spirit that worshippeth It is not a macerated body but a contrite soule which he respecteth if there be palenes in the face but bloud in the heart if whitenes in the Eye but blacknes in the soule if a drooping countenance but an unbended conscience if a knee bowing downe in the Temple of God and thoughts rising up against the grace of God the head like a Bul-rush and the heart like an Adamant in a word if there bee but a bodily and unquickned service a schisme in the same worshipper betweene his outward and his inward man he that is not a God of the dead but of the living hee that accompteth in the leviticall Law carcases as
excellency and holines of it that the naturall man whose faculties are vitiated by originall and contracted corruption cannot by the strength of his owne naked principles be able to understand it For notwithstanding the gramaticall sense of the words and the logicall coherence and connexion of consequenses may be discerned by the common light of ordinary reason yet our Saviours 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 conviction and the Apostles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 demonstration and manifestation of the spirit is a thing surpassing the discovery and comprehension of naturall men And therefore it is called a knowledge which passeth knowledge And this doth plainly appeare upon this ground One principall end we know of the Gospell is To cast downe every high thing that exalteth it selfe against the knowledge of GOD and to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. So that untill such time as the light of Evangelicall truth have thus farre prevailed over the conscience certaine it is that the practicall Judgment is not yet fully convinced of it or acquainted with it It is an excellent speech of the Phylosopher that according as every man is himselfe in the Habit of his owne nature such likewise doth the end appeare unto him And therefore naturall men whose inclinations and habit of soule are altogether sensuall and worldly never have a supernaturall good appeare unto them under the formall conceite of an ultimate and most eligible end and therefore their knowledge thereof must needs be imperfect and defective Againe the Scripture every where besides the externall proposing of the object and the materiall and remote disposition of the subject which must be ever a reasonable creature doth require a speciall helpe of the grace of CHRIST to open and molifie and illighten the heart and to proportion the Palate of the practicall Judgment unto the sweetnes and goodnes of supernaturall truthes He it is who openeth the eye to see wonders in the Law giveth an heart to understand and to know GOD teacheth all those which come unto Christ without which teaching they doe not come giveth us an understanding to know him illightneth the understanding to know what is the hope of our calling enableth us to call Iesus Lord and draweth away the Vaile from before our eyes that we may see with open face the Glory of God Againe there is a vast distance and disproportion betweene a supernaturall light and a naturall faculty the one being spirituall the other sensuall and spirituall things must bee spiritually discerned Two great impediments there are whereby the minds of meere naturall men are bound up and disabled from receiving full impressions and passing a right sentence upon spirituall things First the native and originall blindnes of them which is not able to apprehend 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the heighth and majesty of the things which are taught Secondly That which the Apostle calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the wisdome of the flesh which is enmitie against God For as the appetite of the flesh lusteth against the Spirit so the wisdome of the flesh reasoneth and rebelleth against the Spirit For such ever as are the wayes and Wills of men whereby they worke such likewise would they have the light and the Law to bee which ruleth them in their working And therefore where there is a meeke Spirit and a heart devoted unto the obedience of Christ and a purpose to doe the things which the Gospell requireth there is never any swelling nor resistance against supernaturall truths for as the cleanenesse of the window doth much conduce to the admission of light so doth the cleanenesse of the Conscience to the admission of Truth If any man will doe his will hee shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God and hee will reveale his secrets to them that feare him And yet by all this which hath been spoken wee doe not goe about so to disable Naturall Reason as to leave it no roome at all in matters of supernaturall Assent For though Nature alone bee not able to comprehend Grace yet Grace is able to use Nature and being it selfe a spirituall Eye-salve when it hath healed and rectified Reason it then applyeth it as an Instrument more exactly to discover the connexion and mutuall consequences and joynings of spirituall Doctrines together Besides thus much vigour wee may safely attribute to Naturall Reason alone that by the force of such premises as it selfe can frame the falsenesse vanity and insufficiency unto humane happinesse of all other Religions or Doctrines which are not Christian may by a wise man bee evidently discovered neither have there beene wanting amongst Infidels and Idolaters men of more generous piercing and impartiall judgments who have made bold to confesse the vanity of that polutheisme and corrupt worship which was amongst them Naturall Reason then being notwithstanding any remainders of strength or vigour in it too impotent to discover the certainty of Gods Word and unable alone to present the Gospell as objectum credibile and as the infallible Oracle of God It remaineth that wee consider by what further meanes this may bee effected And in one word there is a three-fold different but subordinate causality requisite to the founding of this Assent The first is ministeriall dispositive and introductory by Ecclesiasticall dispensation which is likewise two-fold First to those that are bred in her bosome and matriculated by Baptisme and so from their infancie trained up to have a reverend and due esteeme of her authority there is her act of Tradition delivering to her children in this age as shee her selfe by a continued succession hath also received this as an indubitate principle to bee rested on that holy Scriptures are the Word of God Secondly If the Church meete with such as are without her bosome and so will not ascribe any thing to her maternall Authority in Testification and Tradition except shee can by strength of argument evince what shee affirmeth shee is not in that case destitute of her Arma praelusoria valid and sufficient arguments to make preparation in mindes not extreamely possessed with prejudice and perversenesse for the entertaining of this principle As first that all Sciences have their Hypotheses and Postulata Certaine principles which are to bee granted and not disputed and that even in lower Sciences and more commensurate to humane reason yet Oportet discentem credere hee must first Beleeve principles for granted and then after some progresse and better proficiency in the study he shall not faile more clearly to perceive the infallibility of them by their owne light That therefore which is granted unto all other Sciences more descending to the reach of humane judgment than Divinity doth cannot without unreasonable pertinacy be denied unto it Especially considering that of all so many millions of men who in all ages have thus been contented to beleeve first upon Ecclesiasticall
some few clusters of Grapes and other Fruits of the Land I meane by the earnest first fruits and pledges of the spirit Secondly by the free promise of Christ who cannot deceive Thus then at last we have discovered the proper ultimate and complete object of faith which is all Divine truth and goodnes unto which there is a right and propriety given to all such as are Christs though not in actuall possession yet in an infallible promise and the Acts by which they entertaine that object assenting adhearing and delighting in it as particularly good By these two to wit the object and the Act. as all other habits of the minde so is this of faith to bee defined So that from these observations I take it wee may conclude that the nature of saving faith admits of some such explications as this Faith is a particular personall applicative and experimentall assent unto all Divine Revelations as true and good not in general onely but unto me arising out of that sweete correspondency which is betweene the soule and from that relish and experience of sweetnes which the soule being raised and illightned by Gods Spirit doth finde in them I have been over teadious in finding out this definition of the nature of faith and therefore brieflie from these grounds let the conscience impartially examine it selfe in such demands as these Doe I finde in my selfe a most willing assent unto the whole compasse of Divine truths not out of constraint nor with griefe reluctancie and trembling of spirit doth Gods Word shine on me not like lightning which pierceth the Eye-lids though they shut themselves against it but doth this finde in my heart a welcome and a willing admittance Am I glad when I finde any Divine truth discovered of which formerly I had been ignorant doe I not of purpose close mine eyes forbeare the meanes of true information stifle and smother Divine principles quench the motions and dictats of Gods Spirit in me am I not ignorant willingly of such things the mention whereof would disquiet me in my bosome sin and the inquiry whereunto would crosse the reserved resolutions and unwarrantable projects which I am peremptory to prosecute am I not so in league with mine owne corruptions that I could hartily wish some Divine truths were not revealed rather then being so they should sting my conscience and disable me from secure enjoying some beloved sinne doe I assent unto all Divine truths as a like pretious and with equall adherence am I as little displeased with the truth of GODS threats as of his promises doe they as powerfully worke upon me to reforme as the other to refresh me doe I beleeve them all not onely in the Thesis or generall but in the Hypothesis and respectively to mine owne particular againe doe I finde my heart fitted unto the goodnes of Divine truth am I forward to embrace with much affection and loving delight whatsoever promises are made unto me doe I finde a spirituall taste and relish in the food of life which having once tasted of I finde my selfe weaned from the love of the World from admiring the honours pursuing the preferments hunting after the applause adoring the glories and selling my soule and liberty for the smiles thereof doe the sweetnes of those promises like the fruits brought by the spies from Canaan so much affect me as that to come to the full possession thereof I am at a point with all other things ready to encounter any Cananite or sinfull lust that shall oppose me to adventure on any difficulties that might deterre me to passe thorow a Sea a Wildernes through fiery Serpents the darts of Satan yea if neede were by the gates of Hell briefly doe I finde in my heart however in it selfe froward and wayward from any good a more then naturall livelinesse and vigor which disposeth me to approve of the word promises and purchases of my salvation as of an unvaluable Jewell so pretious as that all the things in this World are but as dung in comparison to a most fervent expectation and longing after them to a heavenly perswation of my happines by them and Lastly to a sweete delight in them working peace of conscience and joy in the holy Ghost a love of CHRISTS appearing an endeavour to bee like unto him and a desire above all things to be with him and enjoy him which are all so many secret and pure issues of the spirit of adoption I may from these premises infallibly conclude that I am possessed of a lively faith and thereby of those first fruits which bring with them an assurance of that great harvest of glory in the day of redemption And in the meane time having this wedding garment I may with much confidence approach Gods Table to receive there the renewall of my Patent unto life CHAP. XX. Of the third and last meanes for the triall and demonstration of Faith namely from effects or properties thereof THE last Medium which was assigned for the examination of Faith was the properties or effects of it by which as by stepps we raise our thoughts to the apprehension of Faith it selfe To assigne all the consequences or effects of Faith is a labour as difficult as it would be tedious I decline both and shall therefore touch upon some speciall ones which if present all the rest in there order follow with a voluntary traine And now as in the soule of man there are two kinde of operations one primitive and substantiall which we call the act of information others secondary and subsequent as to understand to will to desire and the like so Faith being as hath been formerly observed in some sort the Actus primus or forme of a Christian I meane that very medium unionis whereby the soule of man is really united to CHRIST hath therefore in it two kinds of operations The first as it were substantiall the other secondary The former of these is that act of vivisication or quickning by which Faith doth make a man to live the life of Christ by knitting him unto Christ as it were with Joynts and Sinews and ingrafting him into the unity of that Vine whose Fruit is Life That which doth quicken is ever of a more excellent nature then that which is quickned now the soule being a spirit and therefore within the compasse of highest created perfection cannot possibly be quickned by any but him who is above all perfection which the Heathen themselves have acknowledged to be God For S. Paul hath observed it out of them that in him we live and move and have our being Now unto life necessary it is that there bee a vnion unto the principall or originall of life which to the soule is God In regard of the essence of God nothing can be seperated from him he being immense and filling all things but yet in regard of his voluntary communication and dispensing of himselfe unto the creature the manner of his
speciall presence doth much vary unto this speciall union of the creature unto God in vertue whereof the creature is quickned and doth in some sort live the Life of God There is necessarily presupposed some sinew or ligament which may be therefore called the medium and instrument of life This knot in the estate of mans Creation was the obedience of the Law or the covenant of workes which while man did maintaine firme and unshaken he had an evident Communion with God in all those vitall influences which his mercy was pleased to shed downe upon him but once untying this knot and cutting asunder that bond there did immediately ensue a seperation betweene GOD and man and by an infallible consequence death likewise But God being rich in mercy and not willing to plunge his creature into eternall misery found a new meanes to communicate himselfe unto him by appointing a more easie Covenant which should be the second knot of our union unto him onely to beleeve in Christ incarnate who had done that for us which we our selves had formerly undone And this new Covenant is the covenant of faith by which the just doe live But here a man may object that it is harder for one to discerne that hee doth live in Christ then that he beleeves in him and therefore this can be noe good meane by which we may finde out the truth of our Faith To this wee answer that life must be discerned by those tokens which are inseperable from it and they are first a desire of nourishment without which it cannot continue for nature hath imprinted in all things a love of its owne being and preservation and by consequence a prosecution of all such meanes as may preserve and a removeall of all such as may endanger or oppresse it Secondly a conversion of nourishment into the nature of the body Thirdly augmentation growth till we come unto that Stature which our life requires Fourthly participation of influences from the vitall parts the Head the Heart and others with conformity unto the principall mover amongst them for a dead part is ever withered immoveable and disobedient to the other faculties Fiftly a sympathy and communion in paines or delights with the fellow members Lastly a free use of our senses and other faculties by all which we may infallibly conclude that a creature liveth And so it is in Faith It frameth the heart to delight in all such spirituall food as is requisite thereunto Disposing it upon the view at lest upon the taste of any poysonous thing to be pained with it and cast it up The food that nourisheth Faith is as in little Infants of the same quality with that which begat it even the word of life wherein there is sincere Milke and strong meate The poyson which endangereth it is heresie which tainteth the roote of Faith and goeth about to prevert the assent and impiety which blasteth and corrupteth the branches All which the soule of a Faithfull man abhorreth Secondly in Faith there is a conversion likewise the vertue whereof ever there resides where the vitall power is In naturall life the power of altering is in the man and not in the meate and therefore the meate is assimilated to our flesh but in spirituall life the quickning faculty is in the meate and therefore the man is assimilated and transformed into the quality of the meate And indeed the word is not cast into the heart of man as meate into the stomacke to be converted into the corrupt quality of nature but rather as seed into the ground to convert that Earth which is about it into the quality of it selfe Thirdly where Faith is there is some growth in grace wee grow neerer unto Heaven then when we first beleeved an improvement of our knowledge in the mysteries of godlines which like the Sunne shines brighter and brighter unto the perfect day An increase of willingnes to obey God in all things and as in the growth of naturall bodies if they be sound and healthy so in this of Faith likewise it is universall and uniforme one part doth not grow and another shrivell neyther doth one part grow too bigge and disproportioned for another the Head doth not increase in knowledge and the Heart decay in love the Heart doth not swell in zeale and the Hand wither in charity but in the nourishment of Faith every grace receives proportionably its habituall confirmation Fourthly by the spirituall life of Faith the faithfull doe partake of such heavenly influences as are from the head shed downe upon the members The influences of Christ in his Church are many and peradventure in many things imperceptible Some principall I conceive to be the influence of his truth and the influence of his power His truth is exhibited in teaching the Church which is illumination his power partly in guiding the Church and partly in defending it that is direction this protection Now in all these doe they who are in Christ according to the measure and proportion of his Spirit certainely communicate They have their eyes more or lesse opened like Paul to see the terrours of God the fearefulnesse of sinne the rottennesse of a spirituall death the pretiousnesse of Christ and his promises the glimpses and rayes of that glory which shall be revealed they have their feete loosned with Lazarus that they can now rise and walke and leape and praise God Lastly they are strengthned and cloathed with the whole armes of God which secureth them against all the malice or force of Satan Fiftly where faith is there is a naturall compassion in all the members of Christ towards each other If sinne be by one member committed the other members are troubled for it because they are all partakers of that Spirit which is grieved with the sinnes of his people If one part bee afflicted the other are interested in the paine because all are united together in one head which is the Fountaine and originall of Sense The members of the Church are not like paralyticke and unjoynted members which cannot move towards the succour of each other Lastly where Faith is there all the faculties are expedite and free in their operations The eye open to see the wonders of Gods Law the eare open to heare his voyce the mouth open to praise his name the arme enlarged towards the reliefe of his servants the whole man tenderly sensible of all pressures and repugnant qualities The secondary effects of faith are amongst sundry others such as these First a love and liking of those spirituall truths which by faith I assent unto For saving Faith being an assent with adherence and delight contrary to that of Divils which is with trembling and horror which delight is a kinde of relish and experience of the goodnesse of those objects wee assent unto It necessarily followes even from the dicate of Nature which instructeth a man to love that which worketh in him delight and comfort that from this
supererogation as I conceive and over performance of such duties as are not so visibly repugnant to my personall corruptions Doe the beames of the Sunne of righteousnesse shining on my soule illighten me with his truth and with his power sway me unto all good Am I heartily affected with all the conditions of Gods Church to mourne or to rejoyce with it even at such times when mine owne particular estate would frame me unto affections of a contrary temper Have I free use of all my spirituall senses to see the light of God to heare his Word to taste his mercies to feele with much tendernes all the wounds and pressures of sinne Doe I love all divine truth not so much because proportionable unto my desires but because conformable unto God Am I resolv'd in all estates to relie on Gods mercy and providence though He should kill me to trust in him Doe I wholy renounce all trust in mine owne worthines or in any concurrences of mine owne naturally towards God Doe I not build eyther my hopes or feares upon the faces of men nor make eyther them or my selfe the rule or end of my desires finally doe I endeavour a universall obedience unto Gods Law in all the whole latitude and extent of it not indulging to my selfe liberty in any knowne sinne Is not my obedience mercenary and hypocriticall but spirituall and sincere Do I not swallow gnats nor stumble at straws not dispense with my selfe for the least of sinns for irregular thoughts for occasions of offence for appearances of evill for the motions of concupiscence for idle words and vaine conversation and whatsover is in the lowest degree forbidden And though in any or all these I may be sometimes overtaken as who is it that can say I have washed my hands in innocency I am cleane from my sinnes Doe I yet relent for it strive and resolue against it in a word doth not mine owne heart condemne me of selfe-deceite of hypocrisie of halting and dissembling in Gods service Then may I safely conclude that I have partaked of the saving efficacy of Faith and am fitly qualified to partake of these holy mysteries whereby this good worke of Faith begun in me may bee strengthned and more perfected against the day of the Lord Jesus In the receiving of which we must use all both inward and outward reverence secret elevations of spirit and comfortable thoughts touching the mercies of God in Christ touching the qualities and benefits of his passion and of our sinnes that caused it and Lastly for the course of our life after wee must pitch upon a constant resolution to abandon all sinne and to keepe a strict hand over all our wayes least turning againe with the Swine to the mire that which should bee the badge of our honor prove the Character of our shame The Persians had a festivall time one day in the yeere which they cald Vitiorum interitum wherein they slew all Serpents and venemous creatures and after that till the revolution of that same day suffred them to swarme againe as fast as ever If we thinke in that manner to destroy our sins and onely one day in the yeere when we celebrate this holy Festivall the evill spirit may hapily depart for a day in policie but surely he will turne againe with seven other spirits make the end of that man worse then his beginning But that ground which drinketh in the raine which commeth of upon it and what raine comparable to a showre of Christs bloud in the Sacrament and bringeth forth herbs meete for the use of him that dressed it receiveth blessings from God A Cup of Blessing heere but Rivers of Blessednesse hereafter in that Paradise which is above where Hee who is in this life the Obiect of our Faith and Hope shall bee the End and Reward of them both for ever FINIS A Summary of the severall Chapters contained in this Booke Chap. 1. MAns Being to be imployed in working that working is directed unto some good which is God that good a free and voluntary reward which we here enjoy onely in the right of a promise the scale of which promise is a Sacrament pag. 1. Chap. 2. Sacraments are earnests and shadowes of our expected glory made unto the senses p. 6. Chap. 3. Inferences of practise from the former observations p. 10. Chap. 4. Whence Sacraments derive their valew and being namely from the Author that instituted them p. 15. Chap. 5. Inferences of practise from the Authour of this Sacrament p. 19. Chap. 6. Of the Circumstances of the institution namely the time and place p. 24. Chap. 7. Of the matter of the Lords Supper Bread and Wine with their Analogy unto Christ. pag. 32. Chap. 8. Practicall inferences from the materialls of the Lords Supper p. 40. Ch. 9. Of the Analogy and proportion betweene the holy actions used by Christ in this Sacrament and Christ himselfe who is the substance of it p. 45. Ch. 10. Of the fourth action with the reasons why the Sacrament is to be eaten and drunken p. 53. Chap. 11. Of other reasons why the Sacrament is eaten and drunken and of the manner of our union and incorporation into Christ. p. 60. Chap. 12. Inferences of Practise from the consideration of the former actions p. 72 Chap. 13. Of the two first ends or effects of the Sacrament namely the exhibition of Christ to the Church and the union of the Church to Christ. Of the reall Presence p. 81. Chap. 14. Of three other ends of this holy Sacrament the fellowship or union of the faithfull the obsignation of the Covenant of Grace and the abrogation of the Passeover p. 102. Chap. 15. The last end of this holy Sacrament namely the Celebration and memory of Christs death A briefe collection of all the benâ—fits which are by his death conveyed on the Church The question touching the quallity of temporall punishments stated p. 116. Chap. 16. Of the manner after which wee are to celebrate the memory of Christs passion p. 137. Chap. 17. Inferences of practise from the severall ends of this holy Sacrament p. 148 Chap. 18. Of the subject who may with best benefit receive the holy Sacrament with the necessary qualification thereunto of the necessity of due preparation p. 170. Chap. 19. Of the forme or manner of examination required which is touching the maine qualification of a worthy receiver faith The demonstration whereof is made first from the causes secondly from the nature of it p. 185. Chap. 20. Of the third and last meanes for the triall and demonstration of Faith namely from effects or properties thereof p. 224. FINIS Perlegi eruditum hunc de S. Eucharistiâ Tractatum dignumquè judico qui typis mandetur R. P. Episâ— Lond. Capell domest April 7. 1638. Tho. Wykes Errata PAg 3. Lin. 18. for naucals r. naturalls p. 21. l. 9. for confounders r. cofounders p. 55. l. 18. for concerne r. preserve p. 82. for poted r.