Self-denyal which is the principle of Christianity Self-preservation has been set up and Interest made our Idol when we have been so far discontented at our present condition that we have over-run all orders to mend our private fortunes have ruin'd the publick when we walk disorderly and are immoderate in the use of our pleasures and are taken up with the love of the world and impure affections and cannot rellish the things of God when we cannot indure one another and require that of others we would not allow them and set our selves at irreconcileable distances when we indulge our selves in carnal joyes and have no compassion for our suffering Brethren when our hopes depended on an arm of flesh and the fear of man deterred us from our duty so that we would not trust God for our delivery in the performance of our duty when every small thing puts us into passion and in our zeal we design a revenge on the person more then a reformation of his vice when we follow the guidance of a deluded conscience and mistake both covetousness and ambition for zeal when we prefer publick mischief before our own disappointments and had rather Church State should be indanger'd then our design should miscarry when we hug temptations and make much of our lusts and lull them on the pillows of ease and security when we wish for things unlawful and take unlawful courses to get them when all our desires are let out for carnal satisfactions and we make it the great business of our lives to provide for our content and yet can never be contented When by our covetousness and evil concupiscences we have thus broken not only this but all Gods Laws and Commandements we may very well desire God's pardon for what is past and his assistance for the time to come in the Churches form Lord have mercy upon us and write all these thy Laws in our hearts we beseech thee FINIS AN EXPLANATION Of the SACRAMENTS The II. SACRAMENTS Baptism GOe ye and teach all Nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Ghost Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every ereature He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned The Lords SUPPER THe Lord Iesus the same night in which he was betraid took bread And when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said Take eat this is my body which is broken given for you this do in remembrance of me Likewise also he took the cup after supper and when he had given thanks he gave it to them saying Drink ye all of it For this is my bloud of the New Testament which is shed for you for many for the remission of sinnes This doe ye as â—ft as ye drink it in remembrance of me Of the SACRAMENTS THe Sacraments That is to say Holy Rites or Ceremonies or mysteries used in the Church appointed by Christ himself Now Sacrament is a military term and signifyes that oath whereby souldiers were wont to engage to be true and faithfull to their General in the War against the enemyes of their countrey And thus it is with us Christians who have vow'd obedience to Christ the Captain of our Salvation and sworn to fight under his Banner that we may by his strength overcome the world the flesh and the Divel The Sacraments are but two Holy Baptisme and the Holy Supper which come in the place of Circumcision and the Iewish Passeover By Baptism we are admitted into the bosom of the Church and as it were entred into God's family being by nature aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel and of the children of wrath become heirs of the promise The Supper affords us a spiritual repast and by it we grow up and are intimately united to Christ and are preserved and fed to life everlasting There are two things to be considered in a Sacrament an outward Sign and an inward Grace signified Sign in Baptisme is Water which washeth the filth of our body the Thing signified is the Blood of Christ whereby our souls are cleansed from the filth of sin The outward Elements in the Supper are Bread and Wine by which the strength of nature is repair'd and maintain'd The Things signified are the Body of Iesus crucified and his Blood shed which being partaken by Faith doe heighten our graces and nourish the souls of believers Baptisme then is the laver of regeneration and the Supper is the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ. In a word the Sacraments are annexed to the Word of God as the seals of the promise conveyances of grace and evidences of the Spirit by which he doth effectually apply to believers the love of the Father and the merits of the Son assuring their hearts confirming their Faith fastning their Hope and enlarging their Charity Of BAPTISM THe Institution of Baptisme was after this manner When Christ had with his Blood sealed the truth of his Doctrine and purchased to himself a Church i.e. a peculiar people the chosen ones of God whom he fore knew from all eternitie for he was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world was laid and had made good this his purchase by his resurrection in that the bands of death sell off and he was released out of the prison of the grave having paid the debt for which he as our surety suffered it was then convenient that this Church thus purchased should be gathered and the chosen ones be called and converted to the saith by the preaching of the Word and distinguished from the rest of the world by a profession of the Gospel and the use of holy ordinances Wherefore being himself to depart hence to ascend to Heaven he leaves his Disciples with instructions how to propagate the faith and to order the affairs of his spiritual Kingdom to the end of the world and to proclaim throughout all quarters of the world the good tidings of peace and pardon to all such as should by faith and repentance come in and give up their names to Christ It being God's will that all should be say'd and come to the knowledge of the truth Whereupon he sends the Apostles to preach and by Baptisme i.e. by a solemn rite of washing with water receive into the bosom of the Church as many as should profess faith in him giving them this commission before his departue as it is set down by the Evangelist Goe ye and teach all Nations baptizing them c. Baptism having bin formerly us'd by Iohn the forerunner of our Saviour and honour'd by the example of our Saviour himself who at his Baptism was signally own'd from Heaven for the Son of God the Spirit also in the shape of a Dove lighting upon him Our Saviour in these words wherein he appoints the form and use of Baptism partly
faith applyes that purchase So then we are sav'd by the mercy of the Father by the merit of the Son and by the efficacy of the Spirit This form of Baptism is one of the clearest proofs of Trinity in all Scripture and indeed when our Saviour was Baptiz'd of Iohn all Three did shew themselves present Christ himself whom Iohn did Baptize was the second Person the Spirit descended upon him in the shape of a Dove and the Father spoke out of the Cloud saying This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased In the Command is set down the rite or outward action i.e. the washing with water The Promise delivers the grace signified and conveyed by the action to wit remission of sins The analogie betwixt the outward sign and the inward grace lyes in this that as Water being powred or sprinkled on the body washes off the filth so the Blood of Christ which was the Fountain open'd for the cleansing of iniquity doth purge the conscience and doe away sin whether original or actual and present us clean without spot in the sight of the Father by the virtue of the Spirit HE THAT BELIEVES AND IS BAPTIZED SHALL BE SAVED Faith is the soul's hand by which a man receives and applyes to himself the benefits purchased by Christ. By Faith we are justified Baptism is the laver of regeneration the seal of the Covenant the conveyance of Grace They are both necessary neither can either of them serve turn by it self There must be an Ordinance to ground Faith upon and there must be a Faith to make the Ordinance effectual For every appointment as the just man doth lives by Faith Faith without Baptism were a bucket without water and Baptism void of Faith were but a well without a bucket to draw up the waters of life He that believes by confessing his sins and professing Faith resolves upon amendment of life and gives himself up to Christ's discipline and then is baptiz'd obliges himself by vow enters into Covenant of strict walking with God He shall be sav'd from his sins the punishments due to them being free as well from the power as from the guilt His nature shall be renewed and by the continual supplyes of grace if he make good use of it he shall be enabled more and more to withstand temptations get ground of his lusts he shall be put into a state of salvation and every day set forward on his way to bliss through the paths of holiness till with Christ at last he arrive at perfection have his grace changed into glory HE THAT BELIEVETH NOT SHALL BE DAMNED This is a threat annexed to the promise which holds good by the law of contraries for if those that believe shall be saved then those that believe not must expect nothing but damnation We must observe that there is not added here any mention of Baptism because unbelief it self is enough to shut the gates of Heaven against any one and send him to Hell wherefore it is not said he that believes not and is not Baptiz'd for the unbeliever whether he be baptiz'd or no is lyable to this sentence If he hath been baptiz'd it will be look'd upon as a formal cheat a cloak to disguise his hypocrisy And if he hath not the very neglect of Baptism serves for an open discovery of his unbelief so that either way he aggravates his sin by being on one side hypocrite on the other profane The meaning of these words then is this But on the contrary whosoever doth not with true Faith entertain my Doctrine and with sure purpose of mind resolve on the keeping my Commands but doth either so far disbelieve Christian Truth that he will not so much as take upon him the outward profession of it or having been baptiz'd is of loose opinions and practises and disparages his profession with foul errors or wicked manners such an one will have no benefit by Christ no share in the salvation wrought by him but brings upon himself the guilt of his own sins and continues still in a state of wrath and perishing in his unbelief will assuredly be cast into everlasting torments If the One Sacrament may be termed the Bosom of the Church by which we are entred and have admittance into the fellowship of the Saints The Other may not without reason be call'd the Churches Breast by which we are nourished to a spiritual growth and are refreshed and fed to life everlasting Of the Lord's SUPPER AFter that our Saviour had sufficiently made known by his Doctrine the will of God concerning man's salvation and proved by many miracles that he was the Son of God that came down from Heaven to the end that having put on our nature he might in our stead satisfy the Law and undergoe the punishments due to us for our sins that we through Faith in him might live It pleased him that he might leave with us the Symbols of his presence for ever and preserve the memory of his sufferings afresh in the mind of the faithful to prefigure his Death by a Sacrament appointing Bread Wine the usual supplyes of life for the representing of his sacred Body which was broken on the Cross and torn with the nails and the spear and his Blood which trickled from his sacred Head by the pricking of the thorns gush'd out of his hands feet when he was nail'd to the tree and brake forth of his side when he was wounded with the launce and plentifully stream'd forth out of every vein of his sacred Body when he was cruelly scourged with whips Now his Body thus broken and his Blood thus shed doe no less feed a believers soul and improve the force of grace then the body is nourished and natures strength repaired by Bread and Wine But this hath a spiritual meaning not that any one doth eat the very flesh of Christ and drink his very blood in a gross manner for that will be as absured to think as 't is savage to doe or that Christ can be receiv'd any other way then by Faith for 't is a point of Faith that the Body of Christ did goe up to Heaven and there is to remain till the last day and 't is contrary to very reason to say that the same Body can at the same time be in several places and to bring to pass contradictions is a thing out of the power of omnipotence it self not to say that it is plain even to our outward senses that the elements of bread and wine doe still remain after consecration the same in substance as well as in colour and accidents as they were before In fine it would indeed be no Sacrament if the signs should change their nature and the thing signified be it self really there for a Sacrament is nothing else but a figure and representation of some thing that is absent exhibiting to the understanding that which cannot be seen with the eye and by
that in the old Law there was no attonement for sin without blood for in the blood lay the life the life of the sinner was to answer for his sin wherefore 't was not so much the flesh of the sacrifice which was partly burnt into ashes partly eaten by the Priest or congregation that appeas'd God's wrath as the blood which was sprinkled round the Altar Nor did the eating of the Passeover which was the type of this Supper secure the Israelites from the destroying Angel but the blood which was struck upon the lintell of the door Nor can the Papists plead the no necessity of administring the Cup because the children of Israel in the celebration of their Passeover and the Priests and people in their sacrifices onely eat of the flesh of the lamb or bullock and not drank the blood but either spilt it or sprinkled it up down For first we have here Christ's express command Drink ye all of it whereas they were bid to the contrary And then which is the main thing Christ's merit as was said before lay most in his blood so that to give our selves an interest in his sufferings we must partake of his blood as well as of his body But why is the Symbol of his precious Blood call'd a Cup whereas that by which his holy Body is represented is plainly termed Bread now bread and cup are not direct opposites nor answer one another but bread and wine This by the Papists own confession must be allowed to be a figure call'd Metonymie of the vessel containing for the liquor contained the Cup for the wine in the cup. Now therefore if the Cup be not really turn'd into the blood of Christ neither is the bread changed into flesh For just as it 's said of the bread This is my Body so he sayes of the Cup This is my Blood And if there be a figure in one place why not in both or can we suppose that our Saviour in a thing of so great concernment would not have spoke properly here too as he did before But the truth on 't is we should on all hands run our selves into a world of absurdities should we take words strictly as they sound and not allow them a fair meaning according to popular use and custom of speaking For by this means we should have cities with wals up to heaven Christ would be turn'd into one rock Peter into another Herod would be Metamorphosed into a fox and Ovid's fables would hardly seem more strange then Scripture But Rhetorick teacheth us the convenience and vulgar custom the necessity of using figures no question but our Saviour made use of the liberty in this sacred Institution Now the ground of this figure whereby the Cup is put for the wine whereas the other part of the Sacrament is properly express'd by the name of bread may be this because bread being of a solid substance is of it self easily laid hold on and taken up with the hands but wine is of a fluid liquid nature so that it cannot be meddled with to any use unless it be first put into some vessel as a cup c. Likewise also These two particles imply partly that Christ did as well appoint the use of wine as of bread to make this holy Supper an entire Sacrament in so much that if either should be taken away the mystery would be maimed and imperfect partly that he did in like manner and after the self same fashion consecrate the Symbol of his precious Blood as he did that of his holy Body using the same actions and almost words for as he took the bread and gave thanks and gave it to his Disciples bidding them eat and telling them that is was his Body which was broken for them and charging them to doe it in remembrance of him Iust so he took the Cup too and gave thanks and gave it amongst them and bid them drink and told them withal that it was his Blood which was shed for them and charged them to do it in remembrance of him Some little difference we may meet with both in the actions and in the words either by adding or leaving out First here is added a more special note of the time when the cup was appointed to wit after Supper which is but generally expressed in the other part to be the night in which he was betrayed And a more punctual command when he sayes Drink ye all of it contenting himself of the bread to have said onely Eat it with a particular declaration of the nature of this Sacrament where he tells them 't was the Blood of the New Testament which he sayes not of his Body and of the use and end for which it was appointed for the remission of sins i.e. for sealing that pardon which he purchased by his blood Besides a precept at least an advice of frequent receiving implyed in those words As oft as ye drink it Then here is left out the action of powring out of the wine which answers the breaking of bread for he broke the breaa but it is not said that he powred out the wine So that it may be supposed the cup was full of wine when he took it Yet the words of consecration doe make out this action also for as he said This is my Body which is broken for you so he saith This is my Blood which is shed for you And lastly he sayes of the bread Take eat but of the wine onely Drink which yet they could not do without taking it Now herein perhaps lay the difference that of the bread being broken into small pieces every one could at once take his part and all partake together at the same time but the cup being not capable of such a partition they handed it to one another the second staying till the first had drunk and so on to the last The Cup to wit being full of wine for so himself sayes afterward that he would drink no more of the fruit of the vine till he drank it new with them in the kingdom of his Father Now wine was the fittest to express the nature and use of the Blood of Christ it being the noblest liquour that which most refreshes the heart of man Give wine as the Proverb saith to the sad in heart that they may forget their misery Wine was used also in the curing of wounds as 't is said of the good Samaritan that taking the man â—hat had lighted amongst thieves into his care he powred wine and oyl into his wounds the wine to search and cleanse as well as the oyl to heal and skin them Christ's Blood hath the same virtue and efficacy to quench the spiritual thirst of a sinner who being scorch'd with his guilt longs for Christ's righteousness as the hart panteth after the water-brooks to cheer the spirits which lye drooping under the sense of sin to supply new strength to a Christian believer that he shall rejoyce
outward actions resembling the inward virtue and efficacy of that thing of which it is a sign This sacred Rite is called the Holy Supper either by the way of Metaphor to denote the communion and fellowship which the Saints have with one another for which reason we also usually term it with the Apostle Paul the Communion The whole family meeting together at that time when all the business of the day is over to refresh themselves and take their repast Nor is it otherwise with the houshold of Faith who though imployed in several dwellings and dutyes of life yet as members of one and the same body whereof Christ is the Head are united to one another by the same spirit fed with the same spiritual food So that the Mystical body of the Church is made up of many Saints just as the bread it self of many corns and the wine of drops whence 't is frequently by the Greek Fathers called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. the gathering together of the Saints whither as some Interpreters would have it that place hath allusion where the car case is that is the crucified Body of Christ thither shall the eagles the quick-sighted high-flown believers be gathered together Or out of a more particular respect to the Passeover into the place and stead whereof this Sacrament came as the other succeeded circumcision for the Iews were wont by God's appointment yearly to celebrate a Feast whereon at evening in each houshold they slew a Lamb dressed it and eat it together in remembrance of the deliverance from the Egyptian slavery and from the Angel who striking all the first born of Egypt pass'd over the houses of the Israelites who for that purpose had according to that command dash'd the Blood of the Lamb upon the lintel of the door Now Christ being the substance was to put an end to all ceremonies came to make one perfect sacrifice once for all who in that he dyed dyed but once being the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world and his death we are to remember in these pledges of his love whereby he hath delivered us from a spiritual slavery and wrought salvation for us And indeed in that very nick of time when our Saviour had finisht the Paschal Supper with his Disciples he appointed this as to abide for ever in the room of the other The Lord's Supper it is styled because appointed by the Lord Jesus and represents him to be fed on by Faith The words of the Scripture wherein the Institution is set down expresse both time when and manner how it was performed the manner again delilivers partly what he did partly what he said in consecrating the bread first and then the cup. The Institution of this Sacrament is described by the authour time and manner The Authour the Lord Iesus The Time the night wherein he was betrayed the Manner consists of two parts shewing partly what he did partly what he said and that severally of these two several signs by which he would represent his Body and Blood For this Holy Supper was to consist of spiritual meat and drink as men use both to eat and drink in their other ordinary meals The Bread is the sign of his Body the Cup of his Blood First as to the Bread what did he He took it he bless'd it he broke it he gave it What said he Take eat this is my Body Again for the Cup what did he he took it he bless'd it he gave it What said he Drink ye all of it for this is my Blood c. Now let us goe over each part again and explain it more fully THE LORD JESUS Who by the merit of his Passion and at the price of his Blood purchased for us Salvation and for himself glory and a Name above every Name that he might become Head of the Church and to him might be given all power from the Father He alone has authority to appoint Sacraments and order the affairs of his Church by his word and spirit whereby he hath impowerd his Ministers to act in his Name to dispense his ordinances even to the end of the world IN THE NIGHT. For it was a Supper which he intended and 't was at supper or rather after supper when he had with his Disciples about him eaten the Passeover the type of himself who was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world when he said at the Table One of you shall betray me and discovered his betrayer by giving him a sop which some think was no other then a piece of consecrated bread Nay the self-same night IN WHICH HE WAS BETRAID by Iudas with a kiss bringing a multitude along with him arm'd with swords and staves the rage of the rulers and the curses of the priests to lay wicked hands on him after he had sweat drops of blood in his agony and powred out his Soul in Prayer being sad even to death in a garden where he made the praeludium to his Passion BREAD by which the heart of man is strengthned which is therefore called the staff of life is made use of to represent the Body of Christ who was the bread which came down from Heaven by which souls are fed to life everlasting HE TOOK IT That he might by his example shew the Ministers of his word what they are to doe when they invite their people to the holy Table himself doth in a solemn manner begin the ceremonies taking the bread i.e. lifting it up and holding it in his hand which amongst the Iews was then the fashion observ'd by the master of the house AND GIVING THANKS We doe not read anywhere that Christ ever sate down to meat without Thanksgiving which especially before the Holy Supper is necessary it being for that reason call'd the Eucharist And surely the death of Christ which is here set forth was the greatest blessing that ever befell mankind Or Blessing it The meaning may be that by consecrating it he did set it aside from common use and praying for a special blessing upon it that it may become an effectual means of grace he stamp'd upon it a kind of reverence which was not due to it before HE BROKE IT Whence this mystery is also call'd the breaking of bread he divided it into several pieces that there might be the better distribution of it amongst the company at table AND GAVE IT i.e. reaching out his hand he set to every one his part and bestowed it amongst them TO THE DISCIPLES Who did then represent the whole Church of Christ and society of the faithful both men and women who should give up themselves to the discipline of Christ and take upon them the profession of the Gospel not so much as Iudas excepted though Christ well knew what was in his heart Wherefore by Christ's own example Ministers might learn that none should be excluded and kept from the table where Christ
himself entertained the Traitour the Thief and the Apostate Iudas All are invited to this heavenly banquet and if any one crowd in having not on his wedding garment he does it at his own peril 'T is the Apostle's rule in this case that a man examine himself and so come He that shall censure his brother as unworthy to share in this divine worship to be sure by his want of charity makes himself unfit to be there and uncapable of the blessing charity being as necessary a qualification as repentance and we are out of charity to suppose that any scandalous liver or notorious offender would venture upon these sacred mysteries without having repented him of his sins since he is told aforehand that by coming unworthily he will but eat and drink damnation to himself delivering himself into Satan's power filling up the measure of his sins and hastning his own destruction as it far'd with Iudas AND SAID Here follow the words of consecration for this too as wel as the common food is sanctified by the word and Prayer It was not enough to have broken and given it unless he had also said Take eat God is wont to instruct all our senses as he requires to have them all exercised in holy things The outward Sign is propos'd to the eye the Word to the ear so that what the eagle-sighted Evangelist saith of the Incarnation of Christ may have here a peculiar place That which we have seen That which we have heard and our hands have handled of the word of life declare we unto you and accordingly it follows TAKE Stretching out the hand of Faith lay hold on life embrace salvation offer'd Take for ye have it not by nature in your selves it is the gift of God through Christ who took upon him the Humane nature that he through it might convey to men the power virtue of the Divine nature He took that he might give we take to enjoy Take it not snatch it take it with reverence and such devotion of mind and body as becomes so great a mystery and this indeed has alwayes been the custom of the Church to use an humble posture upon this occasion and receive kneeling EAT Apply to your souls the benefit of my death feed upon me and be transformed into my likeness that ye may be united to me and I may live in you no otherwise then the meat which we dayly eat is turn'd into juice and blood and intimately adhering to us becomes part of us THIS IS MY BODY This i.e. this bread for though they disagree in gender yet who is so unskil'd in Grammar as not to know that the Relative this may agree either with the former Antecedent bread or with the later body or This mystery and Sacrament This action of my breaking and giving of your taking and eating IS MY BODY Is the representation of my death the assurance of salvation to those that believe as we commonly say of a writing in Law This is my estate i.e. this gives me a title to such a house and land and by a sure conveyance makes me right owner of it as if the house and fields and meadows were really included in the parchment Such a manner of speech is frequently us'd in Scripture as where 't is said the rock was Christ which to take properly and strictly as the words sound were absurd there being no more meant by it then this that the rock was the type and emblem of Christ. So here that the bread is Christ's Body is not to be understood in a gross sense as if that the substance of the bread were changed into the very flesh of Christ but that whosoever doth with faith receive these sacred Symbols doth truly and to all intents partake of the benefits which Christ hath purchas'd for us by his death and is closely united to Christ and grows in grace even as our bodily food being taken in does pass into our nature and give nourishment and increase to all the parts of our body WHICH IS BROKEN or Given The present Tense here is put for the future which shortly shall be broken for Christ was yet not crucified but spoke these words before his Passion Or the whole life of Christ having been nothing else but an enduring of hardship it may be understood not onely of the cross and the nails the scourges and the thorns wherewith his sacred Body was rent and torn but also of hunger and cold fasting and watching grief and pains which he underwent all along from the Cradle to the Cross or in a mystical and Sacramental sense which by this breaking giving of the bread is represented shown forth as broken and given for them For the very actions us'd by our Saviour at this Supper have a spiritual meaning and doe allude to some mystery He took bread and so he took to himself a body that he might become bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh and suffer in the flesh the punishment due to us as it is written Burnt offerings and sacrifices thou wouldst not but a body thou hast prepared for me He blessed it i.e. he set it aside from common use in like manner the mass of flesh and blood which he would put on he separated from the defilement of our nature that he might after an extraordinary manner be born of the Blessed Virgin without sin He broke it Iust so was that his body used cut and mangled with cruel whips bruised with blowes and buffets gash'd with a spear pricked with the thorns and bored with nails that we by his stripes might be healed He gave it hanging on the Cross with stretched armes bowed head he seem'd to invite all men to the well of salvation which was open'd in his side for the cleansing of iniquity and the quenching of spiritual thirst laying down his life like the good shepheard for the ransom of souls And his Father gave him so loving the world that he gave his only begotten Son to the death that whosoever believes in him might have everlasting life FOR YOU For your sake upon your account to your benefit for the appeasing God's wrath satisfying his Iustice and obtaining his mercy for the redemption of your souls the purchase of pardon and grace and the assurance of salvation that you by my death may live by my wounds you may be cured and by receiving me thus offered unto you may be received into favour Or in your stead Behold I suffer what you should have suffered I as your Mediator stand betwixt you and God betwixt your sins and his wrath and undergoe the penalty which was due to you my body is torn and mangled and my soul powred out to death not for any thing that I have done amiss for there hath bin no iniquity found in my hand nor guil in my mouth but I am that Lamb of God slain from the beginning of the world I am
should be there withall content and not grudge at those who have greater variety afforded them For we are not worthy to feed upon the crumbs that fall from the table of his bounty and if he please to allow us a portion in the childrens bread we ought to accept it with thanks from a fathers hand and that providence is never wanting to supply us with bread David's experience hath taught us who never saw the righteous forsaken nor his seed though begging their bread Again we may learn hence a thrifty bestowing of God's gifts not to lavish them out in riot or spend them on our pride as the rich glutton that wore gorgeous apparell and far'd sumptuously every day but rather to communicate God's goodness and to distribute it amongst the poor and let others share in our superfluities which are the true Christian sacrifices wherewith God is well pleased seeing that all that we ask or can challenge for our selves is but bread and if God give more he does it to that intent that there may be occasions of doing good and exercising of charity that he that abounds may impart to him that wants Who would grudge God if he rightly consider'd it the tenth sheaf who hath so freely given him the other nine Who would not chearfully feed the poor with a scant almes and make a dole of pence when God has inrich'd him with pounds and bless'd him with a fair estate But such is the perversness of worldly men that they consider none but themselves and the more bountifully God deals with them the more niggardly they deal with others not fearing to cheat God himself of his due and defraud the Priest and the poor whom God hath appointed his receivers of those small returns he expects from them for his large kindness to them The covetous miser that pinches his own belly is a thief to himself and turns his bread into stone He that hoards his corn in a time of dearth is a thief to society and inherits the curses of the people He that spends all on himself and considers not the poor and robs the Church of her due is sacrilegious and profane and either saith not this prayer at all or else sayes it not as he should for it teaches us to say our Bread OUR The covetous and ambitious person is all for himself He sayes in his heart give me my Bread and cares not what becomes of others But this Prayer requires another kind of spirit that we take notice of the wants of our brethren God is not for monopolies that any one hand should ingross the whole stock of his blessings He will not have one go away with all and the rest have nothing left them If he give any one more then is enough to serve his private turn what 's over and above is a trust to be laid out for the good of the community for estates honours and parts and all the other advantages of life are talents and will be call'd for back again with usury we are then to have a mutual compassion as fellow members of the same body which though they differ very much in place and condition and use yet are they all helpfull to one another and conspire together to the good of the whole body Nor is this all which is gathered from this word but it teacheth us industry too in some honest way of life for the getting of our bread It must not be the bread of idleness for that would prove a temptation to lust and if we should pray here for that e're we come to the end of the prayer we should unpray it again It must be ours before it will be given us that which was Adam's curse proves a blessing In the sweat of thy brows thou shalt eat thy bread so the Psalmist construes it Blessed is every one saith he that feareth the Lord that walketh in his wayes For thou shalt eat the labour of thy hands No man hath a priviledge of being idle every one 's to earn his living make his sweat his sauce for the bread as well as the sleep of a labouring man is sweet The gentleman himself hath a calling and though he be born to an estate yet Iob tels him that man is born to labour too The heathen could observe that though the Gods be bountifull yet they set their gifts to sale and will have them purchas'd with sweat The Apostle's command is express He that will not work let him not eat And when we have thus made it ours we cannot yet call it ours or promise our selves it will doe us any good till God give it us GIVE If it be given how is it ours If it be ours how does he give it Till God assign it we have no propriety his blessing must accompany our labour to make it ours It is in vain else to rise early and sit up late and eat the bread of carefulness What reason is there that a piece of dry bread should do any more to my nourishment then a chip of wood or a clod of earth or how comes it to pass that the meat which was e're while upon my trencher is now turn'd into my substance and become part of my flesh and blood and wonderfully spreads it self over my whole body to the relief of every part but that God conveys a blessing along with it and hath put a strength into these creatures to nourish us and give us suitable refreshments and hath indued our nature with faculties and forces by a strange kind of Chymick to draw out that strength from them to digest and ferment their substance to distill and fetch from them their virtue to throw of the refuse to retain what 's usefull and bestow it into so many little vessels to be carried up and down through the whole fabrick and make up every defect Man sayes our Saviour doth not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God 'T is God's fiat that does thus virtuate and commission his creatures to serve us and doe us good 'T is a giving a particular assignment of every ones allowance out of God's exchequer 't is not a scramble catch that catch can We must not snatch his gifts but stay till he give them The oppressor the extortioner the griping usurer the couzning trades man and every one that takes an ill course of life hath not what he hath given him he will not let providence be his pourveyour but makes his own craft caterer for his bread he will not stay for God's allowance but breaks open the exchequer and plunders divine bounty But such will find the bread turn gravell in their mouths and those stoln waters bitter in the end What God does not give comes without a blessing and 't will be found at last that those are worst serv'd who serve themselves Nor must beggers be choosers or pass censure upon God's gifts
the same nature and essence with the Father begotten of his substance before all time God of God Light of Light very God of very God equal to him in all things as to the God-head Christ as the Son of God had no Mother as the Son of the Virgin no Father who became Man that he might in the flesh satisfy for the sins of the flesh yet continued God that he might appeas the anger of an offended God Man that he might suffer death God that he might overcome it God and Man that he might be a perfect Mediator and might reconcile God to Man by atoning wrath and man to God by destroying sin wherefore he took up humane nature put not of the divine But these two natures were united and as it were married in the one Person of Christ. OUR LORD In respect of God Christ is called the Son which shews his essence in respect of us a Lord which shews his dignitie Now he is our Lord both by right of creation because he made us and by right of redemption because he hath bought us with a price and purchased us with his blood to be a peculiar people We are no longer then our own that we should fulfill the lusts of the flesh But we are Christ's the Lord's to doe his Will and keep his Commands The several Steps by which Christ humbled himself and Divine Love moved towards us are his Conception Birth Passion Crucifixion Death Burial and Descent to Hell The infinite is conceiv'd the everlasting is born the Blessed suffers the King of Heaven is nailed to a Cross the immortal dyes the Immense is buried and the King of Glory goes down to Hell What strange contradictions have our sins put the Son of God upon who to procure our Salvation denyed himself and put on the form of a servant Which was conceived of the holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary CONCEIVED That is cloathed with flesh formed and fashioned into bodily parts indued with sense motion and a reasonable soul inlivened cherished produced preserved increased and in one word made man Humane nature being taken up and joyn'd to the Divine OF THE HOLY GHOST Not begotten of his substance for then the third Person should be Father too which is contrary to Faith but by the operation of the holy Spirit the power of the Highest overshadowing her the Virgin without the help of man conceived which is a miracle foretold by the Prophets and fulfill'd in our Messias Behold a Virgin shall conceiv and bring forth a Son now the holy Ghost did separate that most pure mass of flesh blood of which the Body of Christ was to be formed from all corruption of our nature and the stain of sin to which all other the Virgin her self not excepted are lyable who are born after the ordinary way of generation Behold saith David a man after God's own heart I was conceived in sin and in iniquity hath my mother brought me forth Moreover 't was necessary that he should be born without sin who came to die for other's sins and the Lamb of God which was to take away the sins of the world should himself be spotless He could not have been our surety had he been himself a debtour nor satisfied justice for us could the law have charged him with any guilt of his own BORN Having taken upon him a true body being in all things made like unto us sin only excepted flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone that he might truely become the Son of Man he observed the lawes and customs of humane nature and after he had continued in the womb the usual time he was at length brought forth into light laid in a manger wrap't in swadling cloaths and attended by the Virgin and bred up passed his child hood in performing obedience to his parents and grew in stature and wisdome OF THE VIRGIN It became God thus to be born not without a miracle Our Faith is full of miracles a Three-One God a God-Man Christ a Virgin-Mother Mary A Virgin she was before her delivery in her delivery and after her delivery for they who are called the brethren of the Lord are after the manner of the Hebrew speech to be understood as Kinsmen She was indeed espoused to Ioseph but she knew no man Her Virginitie dignifies a single life her betrothing justifies the married state It pleased God to choose a woman without the help of man in the business of our salvation for the honour and comfort of that sex that as by the disobedience of the first woman mankind fell so it might be recovered by the birth of the Virgin and Mary might make amends for the miscarriage of Eve MARY For the greater certainty the name of the Royal Maid is expressed she being of the tribe of Iudah of the linage of David the King according to the Prophecies concerning the Messias Yet the Mother of the Lord this Blessed Virgin was very poor to shew that Christ's Kingdom was not of this world and in this were the blind Jewes offended that they looked for outward pomp the glory of an earthly crown little heeding the foretellings of the Prophets wherein Christ is described a man of sorrows to suffer all the punishment due to our sins to wit death and all the miseries of an afflicted life Suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried We pass immediately from his birth to his Passion for indeed his whole life from his cradle to the Cross was nothing else but a continual passion being spent in hunger thirst fasting watching and travelling grief reproach and shame and he was therefore sent into the world that he might die and to this end God prepared him a body that he might lay down his life for His. SUFFERED Having undertook our cause he satisfied divine Iustice by undergoing those penalties which God in his word hath threatned to the transgressors of the law He was by the sentence of an earthly Iudge condemned to death that we might be acquitted before the heavenly Father UNDER PONTIUS PILATE In that time wherein Pontius Pilate was Governour of Iudea being set over that Nation by the Roman Emperour when was fulfilled that Prophecie which foretold the coming of the Messias should be when the Scepter was departed from Iudah that is when the Iews should be subject to a forreign power having lost their own government CRUCIFIED Christ being betraid by Iudas forsaken of his disciples apprehended as a malefactor is brought to the judgement hall and having been spit upon and mocked by the souldiers accused by the Priests with the charge of blasphemy persecuted with the hatred of the people crying Crucifie him Crucifie him scourged with whips crowned with thorns and besprinkled with large showers of his innocent blood is at last by Pilate delivered up to the will malice of his enemies who nailing his blessed hands stretched wide open to the Cross
that good shepheard of souls that lay down my life for my sheep Thus broken and given thus delivered for you and to you I seal pardon of sins to your hearts I improve grace supply strength feed your souls to life everlasting Broken or Given as if it were all one for this heavenly Bread was given that it might be broken 't was broken that it might be given Christ could not have suffered for us had he not had a body given him for that purpose nor could that body have done us good or furnisht us with spiritual nourishment had it not bin broken Had not Christ dyed we could not be sure of living As it is with the bread it self which is the Symbol of his Body The corn must be first cut down and threshed and winnowed and grownd and sifted kneaded and baked with a hot oven before it can become bread THIS DOE YE These words either have reference to the actions of the Disciples who took the bread which Christ gave them and eat it and so they belong to all Christians in general to the whole company of believers according as the Church doth in more words deliver it Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for thee feed on him in thy heart with Faith and thanksgiving And so of the Cup afterward 't is said This doe ye as oft as ye drink it i.e. when ever ye drink it drink it in remembrance of me Or to Christ's own actions who broke it and gave it and thus they imply a special charge to the Officers of the Church the Ministers of the Gospel and Preachers of the Word such as also were these Disciples as if he should have said you are Apostles with whom I leave the care of planting Churches and preaching the Gospel whom I trust for the management of the affairs of my Kingdom and duly administring the Sacraments wherefore I charge and require of you that in celebrating this mystery you follow my example and doe no otherwise then you have seen me do before you that it may remain pure to all succeeding ages according to this first institution And hither St. Paul in this case makes his appeal where he discourses of the Holy Supper That which I received that deliver I unto you how the Lord Iesus c. This or Thus This which I have done or thus as I have done now in your company doe ye and all from hence forward that derive authority from you in your several assemblyes take bread and bless it and break it and give it about to those who rightly prepared come to the holy Table and use these words of consecration which I have done to you The Greek is make this hence it is an ordinary phrase amongst the Popish Priests when they perform Mass to say that they doe make the Body of the Lord thinking possibly that the Doctrine of Transsubstantiation is much advantaged by the word of making which in the Greek is indifferently applyed to all manner of actions and the other which signifies to do would have bin very improper and not fit to be us'd in this place THIS DOE YE The word will also in the Latine and Hebrew carry a sense of sacrificing and then 't would intimate that our Saviour's death was our peace-offering whereby God's wrath conceived against sin was atoned and his Iustice satisfied we being cleansed by the sprinkling of his Blood The Papists therefore call the Mass a Sacrifice without Blood and the holy Table strictly and properly without any Metaphor an Altar 'T is true we doe here represent and commemorate the death of Christ and when we come to partake of these Mysteries we may use the Psalmist's words What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits towards me I will take the Cup of Salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord I will Sacrifice unto thee the Sacrifice of thanksgiving and call upon the Name of the Lord I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people But he having offer'd once a perfect Sacrifice for the taking away of sin and cry'd upon the Cross It is finished and in that he dyed dyes no more 't were absurd to think there needed a repetition of that act which in it self was all-sufficient Christ's Blood being of an infinite value as it immediately follows in the same Psalm Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints A word peculiar to Christ as in the fourth Psalm He hath set apart the holy one for himself and in the 16. Thou shalt not suffer thine holy one to see corruption meaning Christ. Besides to what purpose is it to ground an unreasonable doctrine upon the nicety of a word which in ordinary plain meaning signifies but this doe so hereafter as ye now doe or do ye in your companies what ye have seen me now do in mine IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME. For a memorial of me and a monument of my love who have not spar'd my life for your sakes and with a sense of gratitude to keep up the memory of my bitter death which I as your surety upon your account underwent and the benefit whereof you will receive by believing on me by eating my flesh and drinking my Blood and becoming one with me Or for my remembrance appointed by me to be one of my sacred ordinances to be kept up in the practise of the Church till my second coming in the clouds as ye will see me goe away Wherefore in the mean while to leave behind me a remembrance and to bear up your hearts in Faith that what I have suffered hath bin out of love to you and that those who in following ages shall not see me in the flesh yet may have some further assurance then my bare word I have provided this to be a standing ordinance in the Church whereby I may be remembred to the end of the world LIKEWISE ALSO HE TOOK THE CUP Now follows the other part of this Sacrament to wit the consecration of the Cup for it would not be a compleat meal were there not spiritual drink as well as meat the Blood of Christ being as necessary to quench the thirst as his flesh to satisfie the hunger of a believing soul that hungers and thirsts after righteousness But first the Bread and then the Cup. Why because there must be a body broken before there could be blood spilt First bread to strengthen and then wine to refresh the heart Again the Cup last as of great importance for the flesh could have profited nothing without the blood and God is said to have redeem'd his Church with his Blood nor does he onely redeem us with the shedding of his blood but wash us by the sprinkling of it upon our consciences from dead works and preserve his Church spotless till the great day Nay the author to the Hebrews observes
which we must not expect forgiveness and to a new obedience which is the surest sign and evidence that we are forgiven THIS DOE YE AS OFT AS YE DRINK IT IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME. That is this sacred Rite I thought fit to appoint and leave behind with you as a memorial of me and a monument of my love towards you who took upon me your nature that I might dye for you and shall shortly powr out my soul to death even as you have seen the wine which you now drink powred into the cup that your souls may live being refresh'd with the virtue of my blood as your bodyes are strengthned and your hearts cheared by the use of wine This ordinance after my departure from you shall serve to represent my death and my love which is as strong as death and the benefits thereof wherefore I charge you and all others which shall profess my name that if you expect to enjoy those blessings which my death is intended to procure for mankind and which will certainly befall those that doe truly believe in me they would not fail to testify their Faith in the use of this Sacrament and apply to themselves the Salvation wrought by my death this mystery being appointed as a means of conveying assurance and sealing pardon Do you then in your assemblyes hereafter as you have seen me doe now amongst you And let all Christians with reverence and due preparation attend and partake of these holy mysteryes knowing 't is not an ordinary and slight business but a matter of great concernment both to the honour of my name and to their souls health It being appointed for my remembrance their spiritual growth Nor shall it be enough once as in the other Sacrament of Baptism or some few times as a thing at your own choice to partake of this holy Supper but it is a thing must be often done and you are frequently in this to commemorate my death as oft as ever occasion shall be given that so the memory of me may be continually celebrated in the Church and you may be drawing virtue continually from me grow up from grace to grace from strength to strength And accordingly the primitive Saints communicated every day going about from house to house and breaking bread And how can we call our selves Christians that far unlike them neglect so great Salvation and regard not the Blood of the Covenant but to the disparagement of Christianity intermit the use of this sacred mystery as of late we have done in very many congregations for several years through the fondness of some whose ill temper'd zeal had well neer eaten up the house of God 'T is true Baptism needs not indeed ought not to be reiterated it being the laver of regeneration Now it suffices once to be born But the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ is call'd and is a Supper Now he that sups once hungers and thirsts again We cannot if we have a true spiritual hunger and thirst after the righteousness of Christ but come to his Table and present our selves before him often at least at the three great Festivals of the Church wherein the Birth the Passion Resurrection of Christ the Descent of the Holy Ghost are remembred as the Iews custom was at their three great Feasts to come up to Hierusalem if not every month nay every week that every Lord's day the Lord's Supper also might be administred and we considering our frequent relapses into sin might be often renewing our vows Nay it were to be wished that our lives were so pure and our minds so taken up with heavenly things and our feet our affections I mean were so shod with the preparation of the Gospel that we might with the ancient Christians make it our every day-meal and say that Prayer in this sense Give us this day our dayly Bread FINIS Courteous Reader THis whole Treatise having been taken by several al young pens from the Author's mouth He doth not conceive himself oblig'd to maintain the Orthography every where seeing 't would have been an infinite task to have corrected all over to his own judgement Truth is scarce any language has greater variety or indeed irregularity of pronouncing spelling the same syllables then our English hath which is some reason of the difficulty of it to strangers I shall instance in some words diversly written School and Schole Vertue and Virtue Common and Commune c. the one being the Vulgar the other the Scholastic Orthography Again a different meaning sometimes diversifies the letter though pronounc'd alike as to lie down and to tell a lye foul dirty and a fowl a bird c. But of this He shall have occasion to discourse more largely in his Tables of the English Tongue wherein he hopes to give satisfaction to the Critic and the Scholar At present he thinks it his main concern to be Vnderstood and therefore takes no notice of any faults escaped but such as may disturb the sense and scandalize an Ordinanary Reader and for the rest trusts himself to the candour of the Judicious ERRATA Pag. 8. l. 7. Deity r. duty p. 14. l. 3. affection r. effusion p 21. l. 3. master r. maker p. 39. l. 21. r. as much as p. 44. l. 19. signicant r. significant p. 48. l. 12. del up even p. 69. l. 10. r. their designs p. 71. l. 18. r. our destiny p. 97. l. 14. lift r. lighted p. 106. l. 14. use r. use p. 111. l. 5. meeted r. meted p. 118. l. 3. serety r. serenity p. 130. l. 7. doing r. doings p. 135. l. 18. For r. So that p. 157. l. 10. metonymical r. metaphorical p. 182. l. 11. he that r. that he p. 192. l. 10. soul r. soul p. 233. l. 8. government r. garment p. 439. l. 19. yet not r. not yet a Qui singit sacros auro vel marmore vultus Non facit ille Deos qui rogat ille facit Mart. b Non tam praedari quam precari c 1 Thess. 5. 17. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the precept in Cornelius his practise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 10. 2. d Gen. 18. 25. e Matt. 7. 7. f Ioh. 14. 13 14. g Iam. 4. 3. h Psal. 19. 14. i Psal. 5. 5. k Psal. 10. 17. l Gen. 15. 11. m Iam. 1. 6 7. n Psal. 31. 16. o Isa. 28. 16. p Rom. 10. 11. q Heb. 11. 6. r Heb. 11. 6. s Psal. 112. 10. t Psal. 1. 6. v Iam. 5. 16. u Rev. 8. 3. x Iugiter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 y 1 Sam. 1. 13. z Rom. 13. 4. a 1 Tim. 11. 1. b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c Luk. 11. 2 d Thus saith the Lord i.e. 〈…〉 e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hom. f Rev. 1. 4. g Psal. 148. 5. h Longin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 h Deut. 33. 27. i Isa. 49 15. k Ps. 133. l Ps. 44. 4. m Ps. 2◠n 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 o