begotten Son as the most powerful Argument and all indeed that we have to prevail with him for Pardon and Grace and Glory offering our Persons and our Services to the Father as acceptable unto him in the Vertue of this Sacrifice only 3. The Benefits of this Sacrament must needs be many seeing herein our blessed IESUS giveth himself unto us to be the food of our Souls His Body which was broken for us he here bids us take and eat His Blood which was shed for us he here bids us drink The Cup of Blessing which we bless is it not the Communion or Communication of the Blood of Christ The Bread which we break is it not the Communication of the Body of Christ Christ and all the Benefits of his Passion are freely communicated to the worthy Partakers of this Bread and this Cup. The Cup of which we drink is the New Testament in his Blood Covenants were of old made and confirmed with Sacrificings and Feastings the new Covenant of Grace and Salvation was established with us through the bloody Sacrifice of Iesus Christ and is renew'd and confirm'd by our feasting before God on this Sacrifice 1. This Blood was shed for the Remission of Sins and by our worthy drinking of it we receive an Assurance That our Sins and our Iniquities God will remember no more Hebrews 8. 12. 2. God by admitting us to his Table to feast on this Sacrifice owns us as Members of his proper Family and will accordingly provide for us and protect us He will be to us a God and we shall be to him a People Hebrews 8. 10. 3. The Promise of the Covenant was this I will put my Laws saith God into their Minds and write them in their Hearts God will give the light of Knowledge and the life of Grace not only teach us but incline our Hearts to love and delight in his Laws Here is Life and strength of Grace promised but all through Iesus Christ he is the bread of God which giveth Life unto the World and this bread is his Flesh which he gave for the Life of the World and he that eateth this bread shall never hunger nor die John 6. 33. 51. 35. 4. The Bond of Vnion betwixt Christ our Head and us his Members is hereby strengthned He saith he that eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood dwelleth in me and I in him Joh. 6. 56. 5. The Communion of Saints is hereby preserved and maintain'd by this we declare that we being many are one Bread and one Body for we are all Partakers of that one Bread 1 Corinth 10. 17. 6. Our Faith of the Resurrection is hereby confirm'd Whoso eateth my Flesh saith Christ and drinketh my Blood hath eternal Life and I will raise him up at the last day John 6. 54. So many and inestimable are the Benefits of the New Testament in Christ's Blood by this Sacrament confirmed unto every worthy Communicant CHAP. VII What Affections of Soul are suitable to this Sacrament HE eateth and drinketh unworthily who discerneth not the Lord's Body To discern the Lord's Body is to put a sufficient Difference between this Divine Feast and other common Feasts both in our Iudgment Affection and Behaviour How we are to judge of it hath been already shewn We are next to see what Affections it calls for We come not here to feast with Men only but with God nor to feed our Bodies with a little Bread and Wine but our Souls on the Body and Blood of Christ. Let us then enquire 1. Are we deeply sensible of our spiritual Wants and our great need of this divine Food Except we eat the Flesh and drink the Blood of the Son of Man we have no Life in us John 6. 53. 2. Are we highly sensible of God's wonderful Goodness in providing so graciously for our Wants God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever belâ—eveth on him should not perish but have everlasting Life All things saith he are now ready come ye to the Marriage John 3. 16. Mat. 22. 4. 3. Do we verily believe that whosoever cometh preparedly shall be kindly welcome Him that cometh to me saith Christ I will in no wise cast out John 6. 37. 4. Have we longing Appetites and ardent Desires to this food of our Souls Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after Righteousness for they shall be filled Matt. 5. 6. 5. Do we empty our Souls of carnal and worldly Thoughts and Cares and Desires Labour not for the Meat which perisheth but for that Meat which endureth unto everlasting Life which the Son of Man shall give unto you for him hath God the Father sealed John 6. 27. 6. Are we not ready to lay hold on vain Excuses borrow'd from our worldly Businesses of Pleasures None of those Men saith God shall taste of my Supper Luke 14. 24. 7. Do we labour to put our selves into a fit habit and posture of Soul for so divine a Feast He that came without his Wedding-garment was bound hand and foot and cast into outer Darkness Matt. 22. 13. Now therefore we are as it were to new trim up all our Graces and appear with them before God in their greatest Brightness having our Souls adorned and adorning the Gospel of Christ. 1. Let the Consideration of the Odiousness of Sin to God which he would not pardon without the Death of his only begotten Son and of the astonishing Love of God to Sinners Souls so that he would send his Son to die rather than they should perish give Life to our Repentance 2. Let this Consideration that Christ hath not only left us the History of his Life Death and Resurrection in his Gospel confirmed by many Miracles but hath also instituted a solemn festival Commemoration of himself which hath been constantly celebrated in his Church in all Ages wherein what by the Word is preached to our Ears is lively represented to our Eyes even Iesus Christ evidently set forth crucified among us set our Faith on work 3. Let the wonderful Love of the Father in giving his only Son of the Son in shedding his precious Blood for us ungodly Sinners rebellious Enemies hopeless Wretches demonstrated in this Feast of Love enflame our Hearts with the Love of God in Iesus Christ. 4. Let the Promises of God that cannot lie first sealed in the Blood of the everlasting Covenant now renewed and confirmed in this Sacrament feed and nourish our Hope 5. Let the numerous Benefits of Christ's Death thus signally exhibited and assured unto us fill our Hearts with Thankfulness remembring that this Sacrament is the Eucharist a thankful Commemoration of Christ and this Cup the Cup of Blessing Praise or Thanksgiving 6. Let our Deliverance from the Vassalage of Sin and Torments of Hell and our new Title to the Kingdom of Heaven fill our Hearts with spiritual Joy Let us take the Cup of Sâ—lvation and call upon the Name of the Lord
our Repentance be unfeigned and rest neither in confessing our Sins nor sorrowing for them nor begging Pardon nor in any thing else till it come up to a hatred of Sin and a full Resolution to forsake it When it is come to this we will be very angry at our own Folly that we have so long continued in it very thankful to God for any Chastisement thinking our selves mercifully dealt with whatever our Condition be so long as we are not in Hell use cheerfully all helps and means how hard or sharp soever to mortifie our Lusts thank any man that will reprove us and shew us our Faults watch diligently against all Temptations avoid carefully all occasions of Sin observe jealously our Thoughts Words and Actions pray devoutly for more Grace and Strength abridge our selves of many things lawful and punish our selves by crossing our own Wills not be ashamed to make publick satisfaction to the Church where it is required nor to open our Breasts freely to the Guide of our Souls for our own Satisfaction We will do any thing or suffer any thing to prevent sinning against God These helps to Self-examination might here have been omitted had I cause enough to believe that they for whose Ease and Benefit they are chiefly design'd had made as good use of my little Book called Christianity in short as I could wish they had made Those Summaries of Faith and Duty which there they have might have served them for this purpose And here I think fit to give my Readers notice that I suppose it would be very beneficial to their Souls once a Week or Fortnight or at least when they have examined themselves in order to this Sacrament with the greatest Seriousness and Devotion to use that form of Resigning themselves to God and renewing their Covenant with him which they have at the end of that small Book CHAP. VI. How to examine whether we be rightly disposed for the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper IF we be Christians we have a right to this Sacrament yet that we may profit the more by it we are more particularly to examine our selves both how we understand it and how suitable our Affections are unto it I. We are to try how we understand the Nature Ends and Benefits of this divine Ordinance To which end we are duely to consider the Institution of it as it is recorded in Scripture St. Matthew tells us that as they were eating Iesus took Bread and blessed it St. Luke saith he gave Thanks and brake it and gave it to the Disciples and said Take eat this is my Body St. Luke addeth Which is given for you this do in Remembrance of me and St. Paul saith which is broken for you c. And he took the Cup and gave Thanks and gave it to them saying Drink ye all of it for this is my Blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the Remission of Sins St. Luke saith This Cup is the New Testament in my Blood which is shed for you And St. Paul saith This Cup is the New Testament in my Blood This do ye as oft as ye drink it in remembrance of me For as often as ye eat this Bread and drink this Cup ye do shew or shew ye the Lord's Death till he come By these Words of the Evangelists and St. Paul we may understand what the meaning and use of this Sacrament is 1. It is a holy Christian Feast not much unlike the Feast of the Passover among the Iews at which this was instituted by Christ. When they were in Bondage in Egypt God in order to their Deliverance destroyed all the first-born in Egypt commanding them to kill in each Family a Lamb and to strike the Blood thereof upon the Door-posts of their Houses and so to feast upon it promising that when he saw the Blood he would pass over their Houses and not destroy their first-born In thankful Remembrance whereof they yearly kept the like Feast called therefore the Lord 's Passover Thus by the Sin of Adam we being all brought into Bondage and Slavery under Satan it pleased God to destroy the Power of the Devil and deliver us by the Death of JESUS CHRIST the Lamb of God which taketh away the Sins of the World to redeem us by his precious Blood as of a Lamb without Blemish and without Spot so that Christ is our Passover sacrificed for us Therefore are we to keep the Feast eating our Passover the Body and Blood of Christ in a thankful Remembrance of this our Redemption and Deliverance by his once offering himself to God a Sacrifice for our Sins In like manner when according to the Law Men sacrificed Peace-offerings unto God they were allowed to feast before God on part of the same to signifie that God now admitted them to an intimate Communion and Friendship with himself feasting them at his own Table of that meat which by their Oblation was now in a special manner his So Christ whom all the Sacrifices of the Law did shadow forth and typifie being offered once for all a Sacrifice of Atonement for our Sins calleth us Christians to feast upon this Sacrifice though it was a Sin-offering and even upon the Blood of it as the Iews were not allowed to do in their Feasts in token of a more intimate Communion and Friendship with God through him who hath made our Peace This Sacrament then is a sacred Feast and that upon the sacrificed Body and Blood of Christ and as bodily we eat and drink the broken Bread and poured-out Wine the Symbols of his Body and Blood so spiritually we eat his crucified Body and drink his poured-out Blood 2. The great end of this Feast is to keep up in the Christian Church a fresh and joyful Remembrance of Iesus Christ and of all that he did and suffered in the Flesh for us This do saith he in remembrance of me It is his Pleasure that we more signally and solemnly commemorate thus the Sacrifice of his Death by a lively Representation of it at this Feast of Love and so shew his Death till he come 1. We shew it hereby to our own Hearts for the stirring them up to an holy rejoycing in Christ praising him believing in him loving him and obeying him and to bring them to true Repentance and a perfect hatred of Sin which crucified the Lord of Glory 2. We shew it to the World declaring to the Honour of our holy Iesus what great things he hath done for our Souls that we are not ashamed of a crucified Saviour that we glory before the World and rejoyce in him that he is the Food and Gladness of our Souls that we are resolved to be faithful unto him whilst we live and are ready to dye a bloody Death for him if he shall call us to it 3. We shew it unto God laying before him in our Prayers the Death of his only
sprinkled from an evil Conscience and resolving by thy Grace to hold fast the Profession of my Faith without wavering I do here O Lord in all Humility offer up my self to be a living Sacrifice holy and acceptable unto thee in vertue of the Sacrifice of thy dear Son desiring to glorifie thee with my Body and Spirit which are thine Confirm I beseech thee now unto my Soul and to all here present the Covenant sealed in his Blood Enable us to continue stedfast therein for â—ver Lord make all that profess thy Name zealous of good Works unite us in the same Faith and Love and let us keep the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace Let us never forsake the assembling of our selves together to celebrate the Memorial of thy loving-Kindness and shew thy Death till thou come Put thy Laws into our Hearts and write them in our Minds and enable us to cleanse our selves from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit and to perfect Holiness in the fear of God ¶ When the Distribution is ended joyn heartily in the Thansgiving and following Hymn of Praise Being return'd home give hearty Thanks for this Mercy afforded you pray for Grace to perform your Vows and return not too soon to your common Business Strive by Meditation to keep a warm sense of God's Goodness in your Heart and labour to strengthen your Resolutions of a Holy and Christian Life Watch especially against the Sins you have been lateliest guilty of or 〈◊〉 most inclined to and sin no more lest a worse thing come unto you CHAP. IX The pretended Reasons for neglecting this Sacrament briefly answered NO good man will seek an Excuse no wicked man can find one for not endeavouring to do his Duty and a Duty it is to do this in Remembrance of Christ. The Benefits are such as cannot be slighted by a wise man the Necessity is such as cannot be dispensed with by any man Yet because men are too apt to deceive themselves out of their Duty and Happiness at once by something that they call Reason and where they have no good Excuse are ready to make a bad one in charity to their Souls their Vanity herein is to be shew'n them Obj. 1. We eat the Flesh and drink the Blood of Christ spiritually by Faith out of this Sacrament what need therefore can there be of this Sacrament seeing therein we are but to do the same Ans. This is all one as to say We do some part of our Duty what need is therefore of doing the rest Or We believe in Christ what need iâ— there to obey his Commandments It is enough to a Christian that Christ hath commanded it That Faith whereby we eat the Flesh and drink the Blood of Christ spiritually implieth Obedience to the Gospel of Christ and it is an especial Command of the Gospel to do this He then that neglects the doing of this neglects to obey the Gospel and therefore falsly pretends that he eats and drinks spiritually the Flesh and Blood of Christ. Whatever therefore the Christian doth more in this Sacrament than out of it the willful Neglecter of it is inexcusable for he is no Christian or true Believer Obj. 2. he that receiveth unworthily receiveth Damnation to himself therefore 't is safer to forbear Ans. So you may say He that eateth may if he be not careful eat Poison or choak himself or surfeit and die and therefore 't is safest to forbear eating Will you fast for this reason Willful neglect is certain Damnaâ—â—â—â— receiving is not so Will you prevent an uncertain danger of Death by killing your self If a man receive without Faith and Repentance he receiveth Damnation and so he doth if he do not believe and repent tho' he receive not this Sacrament What better is he then for not receiving it He perisheth either way receiving or not receiving it A Communicant that being a penitent Believer comes to the Lord's Table without due Preparation and sutable Affections may receive thereby Iudgment so the Word translated Damnation may be englished that is some Chastisement such as Weakness Sickness or Death 1 Cor. 11. 30. and he is thus chastened that he may not be condemned v. 32. But even this may be prevented by judging our selves or duely examining our selves v. 31. And now which is safer to judge our selves and eat or to neglect our Duty and perish Obj. 3. But I am afraid I am unworthy and therefore dare not come to this Sacrament Ans. In a strict sense we are all unworthy even so much as to eat or live being Sinners and deserving Damnation In another sense he is unworthy that is ignorant an Unbeliever and wicked or no good Christian and must not come But say Are you a sincere Christian or a dissembling Hypocrite If the former prepare your self and come if the latter be ashamed of it and repent for otherwise you perish Obj. 4. I doubt of my Sincerity and he that doubteth is damned if he eateth Rom. 14. 23. Ans. To do a thing doubting that it is an unlawful thing or a Sin is that which deserveth Damnation according to that Text. But you cannot fear that the receiving of this Sacrament is a Sin it being a necessary Duty That which you doubt of is your own Sincerity If you be indeed unsincere that is a Hypocrite and a Dissembler you are not to receive it if you be sincere you may there can be no doubt of this But you doubt whether you be a sincere Christian. And if this Doubt be so prevalent that you rather judge you are not I shall not advise you to come to this Sacrament till you be better satisfied of your Sincerity But then consider Will you contentedly rest in this doubtful Condition Can you be quiet in your Mind till you find cause to hope you are a Christian and shall be saved If you find no cause to hope this why should you not forbear all other Christian Duties as well as this Why do you not lay open your condition freely and impartially to your spiritual Guide and take his Judgment of your Sincerity If you use not this or any other means of knowing your self but rest contentedly under your Doubts and plead them as an Excuse for not doing your Duty you are certainly no sincere Christian. But if you are troubled that you know your self no better and are above all things desirous to be a good Christian and endeavour by all means to be so and to know that you are so and give your self no rest but mourn and pray and examine your self and crave Advice and set your self in earnest about the Duties of Christianity these are good signs of Sincerity and you ought to receive this Sacrament and wait upon God for a farther Blessing Obj. 5. I fear I have not a saving Faith I have no Assurance of my Salvation Ans. Though such Assurance may be had yet I verily think that the far greater number of