Creation because of the necessity of Divine Grace and the power of the Spirit of Christ that Power that made us at first and raised Christ from the Dead 'T is the necessity of that Power unto this Change that is the principal ground of this term Creation The Efficiency of it by the power of victorious Grace making us a willing and holy People in the day of his Power comprehending habitual Sanctification as the root and life of actual holiness The Excellency and Extent of this I might shew as to the inward and outward Man Heart and Life all the Powers of the Soul and Members of the Body and our whole Carriage Course and Behaviour And that this is common unto all the Children of God all that are created again in Christ Jesus all that are born from above If any Man be in Christ he is a new creature To this end III. Let us consider the certain and inseparable connexion between these two That all who are in Christ are and must be new Creatures Every real Christian he is in Christ Jesus his Union to Christ doth constitute him a living Member and his being a New Creature doth prove it The one is the Essence the other his Property but they are inseparable What makes a Man but the Union of Soul and Body What makes a Christian but the Union of the Soul with Christ How know we that a Man hath a Soul but by the Motions Actions Operations of a Reasonable Soul How know you that such a Professing Christian is United to Christ by his Spirit but by the Effects and Operations of this Spirit making such a Change in Heart and Life from which they may be denominated New Creatures Therefore they are said to walk in the Spirit and after the Spirit And at other times as the Foundation of this to be born of the Spirit and born from above so as the Divine Life and Likeness is introduced But more particularly 1. They who are thus spiritually united to Christ they must be new creatures because they partake of the Divine Spirit the same Spirit that formed Christ in the Womb of the Virgin hath formed the new Creature in all that are in Christ the same Spirit that quickned the dead Body of Christ and raised him from the Dead imploies the exceeding greatness af his Mighty Power towards them that believe and by Faith are united to him the same Spirit that carried out the Soul of Christ to go to God as a Father doth enable Believers to cry Abba Father For the Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of Adoption Gal. 4.6 The same Spirit that led Christ into his Tryals and Temptations and brought him off with Victory doth the like for all the Followers of Christ They are partakers of his Spirit The blood of Christ cannot save those who are destitute of his Spirit The same Spirit of Holiness conforms them to the Image Life of God they are under the conduct of the same Spirit of Humility Meekness Love Charity Prayer Courage Resignation and the like which acted in Christ And this makes them like to him like him in their Judgments and Opinions of things like him in their Affections like him in their Designs and Ends and like him in a course of Actions by which they prosecute those Designs for the Glory of God I might shew their Resemblance and conformity in Graces unto Christ in the Rise of them in the Kinds of them in the Exercise of them All which depends upon their Participation of the same Spirit 2. They must be new Creatures if they are in Christ because the new Creature is an Imitation of Him It is a little Module of Christ in its Birth and a conformity to his Pattern in its Growth and fully so in its Perfection And therefore we read of coming to a perfect man to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ Ephes 4.12 All that are united to Christ are conformed to him Every Branch in him answers to the Root every Member suits to the holy Head in Heaven and in some measure doth resemble him That the Members of Christ should be of a contrary Temper to their Head is utterly impossible I might here urge the Imitation of Christ as becoming those who profess to be in him in several Instances as in the inward Delight which he took to do the will of his Father in his active Zeal for his Father's Glory in a patient submission to the hand of his Father tho' never so heavy in his firm Faith and Dependance on him under all Discouragements and in his Constancy and Perseverance to do good notwithstanding all the Hatred and Malice of the World c. 3. Because the New Creature is Represented in Scripture as a Conformity to the Death and Resurrection of Christ Philip. 3.10 By putting off the old man we dye unto Sin by putting on the new we are alive to God and live to Righteousness We are hereby changed into the Image of Christ and that good work begun which is to be finish'd and consummated in the Day of Christ Phil. 1.6 There is a Conformity to his Death and Sufferings in the mortification of Sin Our old man is crucified with him Rom. 6.6 Gal. 5.24 And a conformity to his Resurrection in Heavenliness of Mind Col. 3.1 and in Newness of Life Rom. 6.4 4. Because nothing else will so prove our Vnion to Christ as to enable us to take Comfort in such a Priviledge no external Advantages whatsoever will do it For neither circumcision nor uncumcision availeth any thing but a new Creature Gal. 6.15 The highest Profession of Religion without such a Change will not save thee Except a man be born again or from above he cannot enter into Heaven John 3.5 Neither can he be accepted of God or have fellowship with him 1 John 3.2 No External Duties or Performances will avail you without this You may Read and Hear and Pray and give Alms and do many other things and yet not be in Christ if you are not Regenerated Renewed and inwardly changed by the Power of the Divine Spirit If you are not made New Creatures you can never prove that you are in Christ You may be Baptized in the Name of the Sacred Trinity you may continue in the Bosom of the Church hear the sound of the glorious Gospel and receive the Bread and Wine in the Lord's Supper and yet not be united unto Christ You may have some lesser change from the grosser Pollutions of the World you may have some partial Reformation which is far short of being new Creatures some outward temporary change in your carriage conversation while the Heart is unrenewed In a word our present Fellowship and Communion with God our after Service and Obedience in the Fruits of Righteousness to the praise of God and our final Blessedness in the enjoyment of him do all depend upon this Change this new Creation And therefore be
word is truth Accordingly we find Sanctification is ascribed unto Faith in Christ as the true Messiah or a sound Belief of the Revelation he hath made Act. 15.9 Purifying the heart by Faith So that we are washed and sanctified through the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ or by Christ known and beleived on as one means of it and by the Efficiency of the Spirit of God as the other whâ—ch I shall afterwards speak of In the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God In discoursing of these words I shall therefore First Give some brief account of the Nature of this Change here exprest by being Washed Sanctified and Justified Secondly Of the two great Means whereby it is brought about the Name of the Lord Jesus and the Spirit of our God Thirdly Make some Improvement by Application especially to assist you in examining your selves in order to the Lord's Table that we may know whether we are in the number of such upon whom this Change is passed Whether we are Washed Sanctified and Justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God 1. Concerning the nature of this Change It is evident that the defiling nature of Sin is here supposed there could not otherwise be any need of Washing And we find it represented in Scripture by Spots and Blemishes by Mire and Vomit by the Blood and Pollution of a New-born Child by the most filthy dung and Excrements and whatsoever is reckoned the most vile and abominable Therefore whatsoever Excellencies and Ornaments whatsoever Priviledges and Advantages an Unsanctified Person may partake of to recommend him to the eyes of the World he is yet a Vile Person loathed and abominable in the sight of God 2. Consider that by Nature we are All as an Unclean thing That which is born of the Flesh is Flesh and Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean John 3.6 Rom. 3.10 Job 14.4 All the Purifications and Washings under the Law did suppose our inward Defilement and represent our need of Cleansing Whatever was injoyned by the Mosaick Institution of this kind which we find was very strictly charged and earnestly prest and indispensably required and the neglect of it most severely punished yet did but signifie and represent this Which proves our Sanctification necessary Tit. 3.5 He saved us by the washing of Regeneration and by the renewing of the Holy Ghost All Men are Defiled and Unclean by Nature and need to be Washed 3. We are all over Unclean from the Crown of the Head to the Sole of the Foot Universally diseased and polluted and so need to be Sanctified in Soul Body and Spirit Ephes 5.26 1 Thes 5.23 Isa 1.6 we read of the filthiness of the Flesh and Spirit from which we are to be cleansed 2 Cor. 7.1 All the Powers of the Soul and all the Members of the Body are tainted Heart and Hand must be Cleansed the inward and outward Man Sanctified Cleanse your hands ye sinners and purifie your hearts ye double minded Jam. 4 8. 4. The Change therefore by Sanctification must be Universal in heart and life By the knowledge of God and affection to him of whom we were Ignorant and to whom before we were Disaffected by the Image of God recovered by participation of the Divine Nature and Life by the Law of God written on the Heart and expressed in the Conversation Holiness and Love to God must be the frame and temper of our Souls so that the Actings of it become easie pleasant and delightful The Old Man must be put off the New put on Old things be done away and all things become new New Principles new Ends new Motives new Rules new Comforts which will make an unspeakable difference between this Change and that Negative Religion and common Honesty which many may pretend to who are strangers to Regeneration There were many Philosophers and Sophists among these Corinthians who boasted of Purity and Reformation which came unexpressibly short of this Sanctification which I am now speaking of as owing to some other cause than the Spirit of Christ unto whom the production continuance and progress of this Sanctification is alone to be ascribed 5. It may farther be considered in its Begining or Progress or Consummation As begun by the Spirit of Life and Power from Christ as maintained and carried on by a continual influence from the same Spirit and the diligent use of God's appointed means Whereby the Lineaments of the Divine Nature are rendred more clear holy impressions more powerful and efficacious Whereby we go from strength to strength and are inabled to perfect holiness in the fear of God pressing on towards perfection to the fulness of the stature of the Man Christ Jesus till it be consummate in Heaven when by seeing Christ as he is we shall be made like him and be presented to the Father without spot or wrinkle or any such thing 6. For the sake of those who intend to come to the Lord's Table let me add That such Washing and Sanctification is requisite to our Communion with Christ in the special Ordinances of the Gospel particularly that of the Lord's Supper This is intimated by our Lord in the 13th of John v. 7 8. in his words to Peter If I wash thee not thou hast no part with me It must have a Spiritual meaning because notwithstanding the external Washing Christ says All of them were not clean And soon after this he instituted his Supper to the due participation whereof it is necessary we be Washed and Sanctified For we cannot otherwise have a Right to the Benefits purchased by his Blood which are Sealed to us in that Ordinance and we can have no Communion with him there till partakers of the Spirit of Christ Unless we are Sanctified by that Spirit we have no interest in him no Right to his Supper and so we can have no Communion with him if we are not cleansed from our Filthiness if we have spots upon us that are not the spots of God's Children unto whom this Feast doth particularly belong And therefore I may say as Peter to Simon Magus Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter for thy heart is not right with God neither can it be if this Change do not precede The Enquiry therefore is highly seasonable whether we are thus Washed and Sanctified or not But before I give the Characters of such Persons it will be expected I should speak somewhat concerning the double means of this Change In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God II. The double Means of this Change by the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God First We are Purified and Washed By the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ or by Faith in him To this purpose Consider First That all the Arguments laid down in Scripture to press Sanctification and Holiness of Heart and Life have influence
are so only by Baptism and a visible profession others by a living union Such a difference our Saviour makes John 15. v. 6. where he tells us there are some Branches of a Tree that have only Influence enough to bring forth Leaves and no Fruit and are cast off as Branches 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They seemed to be Branches in Christ they appeared as Branches they profest union to him but were not what they seemed to be In this sense I understand the being in Christ spoken of Gal. 1.22 I was known by face to the Churches that are in Judea that are in Christ Jesus That is to the Body of professing Christians there as distinguished from the Jews though there were many rotten Members amongst them that were not in Christ by a lively Faith Therefore 3. The great Bonds of Vnion between Christ and real Christians or true Believers are the Spirit on his part and Faith and Love on ours On which account Christ is said to dwell in us by his Spirit and we are said to dwell in him by Faith By the Spirit he comes down to us by Faith we ascend up to him It is by Faith we are joyned to Christ as our Foundation 1 Pet. 2.6 And by the Spirit we are built together for an habitation of God Ephes 2 v. 22. And he that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit with him 1 Cor. 6.17 Our Union unto Christ immediately ariseth from the Communication of his Spirit to us and our Participation of the same Spirit with him by which Spirit the Divine Nature as the Image of Christ is formed in us 2 Pet. 1.4 Gal. 4.19 And the Introduction this new spiritual form gives denomination to the Person Christ enters into us by Faith and inhabits in us by his holy Spirit And of these two Bonds the Spirit is the primary one as being the Author of the other And therefore Believers are said to live in the Spirit of Christ and to walk in the Spirit and after the Spirit and to be led by the Spirit Hereby says the Apostle We know that we dwel in him and he in us because he has give us of his Spirit 1 John 4.13 2 Corinth 13 14. I confess it is hard to conceive any Vnion nearer than that between God and every creature For God as Creator is as near to every Creature as that Creature is to it self and yet distinct from that Creature for that Creature is not God But the different sort of Vnion must be distinguished by different Operations God is nearer to Creatures in their Natural State worketh on them as the God of Nature Christ is nearer to the Souls of Believers by his Spirit worketh on them as an Head of holy gracious Influences The different Operations make the great difference Though we shall not fully understand this till we come to that Place and State where that which is imperfect shall be done away However we are said to be built on him as on a Foundation to be inserted into him as Branches into a Vine to be incorporated with him as an Head and what words can be used more significant of an Intimate Vnion Therefore 4. We may add That it is more than a Relative and Political Vnion such as is between King and Subjects It exceeds it in the Intimacy of the Union as well as the Benefits of it The Similitude between Head and Members making one Natural Body amounts to more Besides his Kingdom is not of the same sort and he rules his Subjects after another manner And the Mystery of the Trinity in Vnity to which it hath some Resemblance carries it yet higher and further It is therefore a most near and immediate Spiritual Vnion whereby every particular Believer is joyned to the Lord. This is a Great Mystery Ephes 5.32 Oh how †Mr. How 's Funeral Sermon of Mrs. Baxter p. 10. mysterious and ineffable is this Vnion of the Lord and the Soul Who would not admire at their proud disdainful Folly that while they cannot explain the Union between Soul and Body are ready to jeer at their just humble and modest Ignorance who call this other a Mystical Vnion Or because they know not what to make of it would make nothing and will not allow there should be any such Thing at all or would have it to be next to nothing But have those words no sense belonging to them or not a Great Sense 1 Cor. 6.17 He that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit This is a Mystery saith the Apostle that hath Riches of Glory in it 1 Col. 27. And that Vnion is the Foundation of Fellowship and Communion with him as the Apostle speaks 1 John 1.3 That he may have Fellowship with us and truly our Fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ That is That you may have like Fellowship with God and Christ as we have Not that our Union and Communion is first with the Church and then with Christ as some of late have Argued though therein they contradict a Learned Man whose Opinions in other Instances they are very fond of I mean Episcopius For upon that place he says That this sense is carefully to be avoided That we are first united to the Apostles and then to God and Christ It is both absurd in it self and of very ill consequence It is in it self absurd because we and the Apostles themselves are but Brethren in respect of Union unto Christ They are united to him in the same manner with us And there are very ill consequences would follow from that Opinion For then there must be Union and Communion with some Men and Company of Men before we can have Union and Communion with Christ which Error by degrees was serviceable to introduce the Papacy Let me add 5. This Union is not to be supposed without Regeneration without the Renovation of our corrupt Nature by the Spirit of Christ in order to Communion with him The Union otherwise between Christ and us would be like Nebuchadnezzar's Image the Head of gold and the Arms of silver and the Feet of clay If there be not Spiritual Life from Christ by the quickening Spirit the Body of Christ would be partly dead And who would ever indure a dead Body to be joined to him though it were the Carkase of one he never so dearly loved 6. This must also be remembred That this Union between Christ and us is to be brought about by mutual consent and therefore often set forth by the Conjugal Union to which Consent is necessary Our Lord has laid the Foundation and declared his readiness to receive us into Union with him by the publication of his Gospel And it is the work of his Spirit to make us willing to yield our selves to the Lord that we may enter into Union with him and be brought under the Bond of the Covenant We must know him chuse him and accept him for our Teacher Saviour
How is Christ's Body and Blood present in this Ordinance Our Lord is Ascended into Heaven with his Human Body and the Heavens are to contain him till the Restitution of all things And therefore as the Bread and Wine are not annihilated or not destroyed nor changed into the Flesh and Blood of Christ according to the Romanists So nor present with in and under the Bread and Wine according to the Lutherans So that we need not say that the Body and Blood of Christ are at all present there for they are in Heaven But the Bread and Wine are the Signs and Memorials of the Sacrifice and Sufferings of Christ The Death of Christ and his Sacrifice upon the Cross with the Fruits and Effects thereof unto us are especially to be understood by his Body and Blood And it is in these that we have Communion in the Ordinance of the Supper The Expressions therefore which some Protestant Writers have used about the Real Presence of Christ's Body and Blood in this Sacrament are very * See a Tract on the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper by Mr. John Hales of Eaton Colledge in Oct. unwary For thereby they seem to make Mysteries where there is no need at all of any It is true in the next Chapter it is said of the Bread This is my Body that is the Sign and the Memorial of it Yet here the Bread broken is said to be the Communion or the Communication of his Body that is A Solemn Rite instituted by God to communicate to us the Fruits and Benefits of Christ's broken Body or of his Sacrifice and Sufferings Represented by it That as verily as we are Treated at the Table with Bread and Wine so the worthy Receiver shall share in the Benefits of Christ's Death This is Intelligible and Plain 3. This will help us to understand what is meant by the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ By this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Communication as it may as well be rendred that we have in the Body and Blood of Christ in the Ordinance of the Supper Two Things may this Import 1. Our Participation of the Fruits of Christ's Death and Sacrifice That we share in the Priviledges of Reconciliation to God Forgiveness of Sin Peace of Conscience and the Promise of Eternal Life by Vertue of Christ's Death 2. That Others share with us therein or that we Partake of these Benefits with others For so it follows in the next Verse That though many Members we are all one Body and one Bread for we are all Partakers of that one Bread That is We are all one Church and one Body of Christ by Covenant Union unto him And of him we do all Sacramentally and Spiritually partake in this Ordinance As many Grains of Corn make one Loaf and many Members one Body We being many are one Bread and one Body The Church of Rome from that Expression might have as well argue That all Christians are substantially changed first into the Bread and then into the natural Body of Christ by partaking of this Sacrament As well as that the Bread is changed into the Body of Christ for all Christians are said to be but one Bread and one Body by vertue of their Communion in this Ordinance 4. Hereby also we understand how we have Communion in the Body and Blood of Christ by the Lord's Supper How we and others partake in the Benefits of his Death and Passion And that two ways As this Sacrament is a Sign and a Symbol of it and as it is a Means 1. It is a Sign of it All that eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup do thereby Commemorate the Death and Passion of Jesus Christ and profess to own that the Body and Blood of Christ offered upon the Cross is the Food and Nourishment of their Souls to Eternal Life That Christ is their Saviour and Redeemer That they hope for all their Acceptance with God in both Worlds only upon the account of the Sacrifice of Christ They professedly declare that living and dying they are and will be his They hope for Victory over Death and the Devil by the Cross of Christ and for a Glorious Resurrection from Death as the Fruit of his Death and Resurrection 2. These Words do import further That the eating of this Bread and drinking of this Cup are the Means appointed by Christ for our Communion in his Body and Blood We share in the Benefits of his Death and Sacrifice and by due Attendance upon this Ordinance the precious Fruits of his Death and the Gifts and Graces of his Spirit are augmented and encreased in us in order to our full and final Blessednes in the other World which this is preparatory to and fits us for As the partaking of things sacrificed to Idols was a Fellowship with Devilss 1 Cor. 10.20 So the partaking of that which was sacrific'd to God is a Fellowship with him * See Mr. Charnock 's 2d Vol. p. 759. And of the Divine Attributes p. 638. Prayer is an Act of Homage and Praise of Gratitude but we have not so near a Communion with a Person either by Petitioning for somewhat we want or by returning him Thanks for a Favour received as we have by sitting with him at his Table partaking of the same Bread and the same Cup. In all Nations the nearest Fellowship consists in things of this nature Take Eat manifests a Communion It would be an empty Mystery and unworthy of an Institution by Divine Goodness if there were not some Communion with God and Christ in it There would be some kind of Deceit in the Precept Take Eat and Drink this is my Body and Blood If there were not a Conveyance of Spiritual Vital Influences to our Souls For the narural end of Eating and Drinking is the Nourishment and encrease of the Body and Preservation of Life by that which we Ea and Drink I might consider this Ordinance as a Sign and Means of our Communion in the Body and Blood of Christ or of our sharing in the Fruits of his Death And amplifie it several ways 1. By considering on what Accounts this is a likely Means of such a Communion And 2. How Faith must be acted that it may be so as to us As to the former 1. As this Ordinance is Commemorative of the Sacrifice of Christ and being to be observed in Remembrance of him 2. As it is an open Profession of the Cross of Christ that we glory in it and therefore shew forth the Lord's Death that way professing our selves not to be ashamed of our Character as the Followers of a crucified Jesus 3. As it is a Renewal and Confirmation of the Covenant between God and Us through Jesus Christ Renewing our Engagements and Obligations to be the Lord 's for ever In the Celebration of this Ordinance we have a Special Opportunity for this it is a principal part of our Work at this Table 4. As it
Forgiveness of Others If we have not had Love to our Fellow-Christians more excited in us to all that are Members of the same Body though they err and mistake though they diner from us though they be angry with us though they think hardly of us and speak hardly against us Yet if we have not had our Spirits brought to a Temper able to forgive them to pray for them and be ready to do them good c. We cannot say we have had Communion with Christ in his Ordinance For such Effects as these wiâ—l follow upon it Or rather it is in these things wherein a great part of our Spiritual Communion doth consist 2. If there have been any thing of this kind bless God for such a merciful Season For this is the Real Advantage and Good of any such Ordinance when it Rectifies our Spirits and betters our frame and subdues our Corruptions and recovers us from our back-slidings and gives us any thing more of the Divine Image and Likeness and makes us hate Sin more and love God and one another better This is the Real Advantage of such Seasons These are gainful Opportunities indeed where these Things are Attained where in any measure there are such Consequences of Approaching to the Lord's Table 3. Let us endeavour hence-forward to walk worthy of such a Priviledge and long for the Repetition of it Let us watch our Spirits this Evening and to Morrow and the following Week and Month that we may not presently lose the Savour of these things by secular and common Discourse and vain Converse When we go away from the Publick Worship let us spend the Remainder of the Day in such Offices and Exercises of Religion as may Assist us to prosecute our Great Design and may strengthen the Vows of God into which we have newly entred And let us shew we like his Fare and are pleased with the Entertainments of his House by desiring more such Opportunities and by Improving them when-ever they return One thing have I desired of the Lord says the Psalmist and that will I seek after that I may dwell in the House of the Lord for ever By this means we should endeavour to become growing thriving fruitful humble self-denying heavenly exemplary Christians walking worthy of our High and Holy Calling purifying our selves more and more from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit That our Hearts may be more fixed for God and Christ against all Competitors and under all Discouragements That Christ Jesus may have the more intire Possession of our Souls and the Service of our Lives That his Love being shed abroad in our Hearts nothing may ever be able to separate us from it That whether we live or dye Christ may be All in All to us Who hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood To Him be Glory throughout all the Churches for ever Amen The Fifth Discourse Before The LORD's SUPPER THE Sin and Danger OF Unworthy Receiving From 1 COR. XI xxix He that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself SO deep and General is the Corruption of Mankind that it may truly be said of very Many whose Carriage and Conversation is fair and unspotted that they are rather restrained by the Fear of Punishment than of Guilt of being Sufferers rather than of being Criminal Such an Errour it is true is injurious to the Dignity of the Divine Law and to the Honour and Authority of God's Government Nevertheless God doth so far Accommodate himself to our State as to Rule us by Moral Arguments that are proper to Influence our Hopes and Fears and therefore employs Threatnings as well as Promises and punishes some as Examples of Severity to warn others from the like Transgressions This Method the Apostle makes use of in this and the foregoing Chapter when he designed to Reform the scandalous Abuse of the Lord's Supper which these Corinthians were guilty of After he had Explained the Nature of the Institution and opened the Design and End of it he had Represented it as the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ He tells them what most manifestly follows from thence viz. The Greatness of the Sin to eat of that Bread and drink of that Cup unworthily that if they do it without Self Examination they are guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord They offend against the Lord Redeemer who hath appointed this Sacred Rite and even against his Body and Blood which are Signified and Represented by the Bread and Wine as the Memorial and Sign of it This to those that have any due Regard to the Authority and Love of a dying Saviour one would think should be Argument enough But least it should not besides the Declaration of their Sin he Denounces the Punishment of it in these Words That such do eat and drink Damnation to themselves Wherein we have First The Description of their Punishment who do unworthily partake of the Lord's Supper That they eat and drink Damnation to themselves Secondly the Reason of that Punishment intimated in the Nature and kind of their Sin That they discern not the Lord's Body Before I consider the Punishment of Vnworthy Receivers it will be proper to open a little the Nature of their Sin mentioned in the latter part of the Verse Not discerning the Lord's Body This may refer to the foregoing Expression of being Guilty of his body and blood and the one Phrase will give light to the other Such as receive Unworthily are Guilty of the body and blood of Christ because they do not discern and distinguish it aright They do not think of it as they ought They do not carry it suitable to its Excellent Nature and Vse and so they eat and drink Judgment to themselves by not discerning the Lord's body And thereby are Criminal against the Person of the Redeemer as cloathed with Human Nature and as giving the Memorials of his body and blood separated to betoken his Death and Sufferings For so we remember a crucified Saviour in this Ordinance It is therefore no wonder if such a Fault be severely punished That which we Translate Discern it is well known signifies to make a difference between one thing and another as Acts 15.19 So not to discern the Lord's body is not to difference and distinguish concerning it to look no further than the outward sense not to make a difference between common and sacramental bread not to eye the body and blood of Christ as signified by the Sacramental Elements not to remember or consider his cruel Sufferings which this should put us in Mind of This be sure is not to discern his body But few can be supposed so ignorant as not speculatively to discern and distinguish in this case But practically to do so is a greater mattâ—r it Imports to mind to attend to to esteem to honour to apply to use the body and blood of Christ and the sign and the Memorial
of it according to its Dignity and Excellency And thereupon to compose the outward and inward Man in partaking of this Ordinance as those that know we have to do with Christ himself and that the body and blood of Jesus Christ is Refer'd to by the Bread and Wine Such a discerning of his body would help to compose us to serious Reverence would awaken suitable Affections would excite the Exercise of Repentance Faith Love Thankfulness and Joy answerable to the Nature of this Feast of Love upon the Sacrifice of Christ This would Regulate the Behaviour of our Bodies and the Temper of our Spirits the Government of our Thoughts and the Motions of our Affections and make us Worthy Receivers The Neglect of this the not thus discerning the Lord's body is the Sin here mentioned and thereby they are Guilty of the body and blood of the Redeemer i. e. They are Profanely Injurious to the very Person of Christ they treat his sacred body and precious blood unworthily and with Contempt It is a Guilt like theirs that abused and crucified the Lord himself when he was upon Earth It is a Sin againâ—â— the body of Jesus Christ against his Humanity which of all Creatures that ever were upon Earth or that are now in Heaven is the most Sacred The Affront Contempt and Injury Redounds to the blessed Redeemer as God Incarnate as having our Nature now in Heaven 't is an Injury to the body of Christ That Body wherein he bore our Sins upon the Cross wherein as a Sacrifice for Sin he offered himself to God That Body that was prepared for him and formed by the Holy Ghost in the Womb of the Virgin that was afterwards Gloriously raised from the Dead to a Divine Life and is now in Heaven the Wonder and Admiration of the blessed Angels and Raised to a State of Glory there as the Pledge and Earnest of our Resurrection and Bliss The not discerning the Lord's body has such a Guilt as this Implyed in it 2. The Punishment of this Sin of Vnworthy Receiving expressed by not discerning the Lor'ds body is here set forth by Eating and Drinking Damnation to our our selves or Judgment to our selves That is As sure as he eats and drinks if he do it unworthily So certain it is that Judgment shall follow he eats and drinks Judgment to himself That Addition To himself may denote two Things First That the whole blame should be laid upon our selves If such a Divine Institution designed for the Spiritual Good and Advantage of our Souls do prove to our Detriment and Damage In such a case it is we our selves that are the sole Cause of it Secondly The Expression may Import further That such as Receive Vnworthily they only hurt and defile Themselves but not other Men that communicate with them You may partake worthily and to Edification while Another by unworthy Receiving that sits in the same Pew may Eat and drink Judgment and condemnation but he eats and drinks Judgment to himself only not to You. Ephes 4.5 Every man shall bear his own burden Let every man prove his own work It cannot be thought that our Lord was defiled by coming to the Baptism of John when there were such a Generation of Vipers who came to it as well as Christ Or that our Lord and the Eleven Apostles were defiled by the company of Judas at the Passover-Supper For there be sure he was The Lord's-Supper was at the close of it And for his being present at that also many contend though * See Mr. Charnock Of the Lord's Supper 2d Vol. p. 7â—3 Compared with Mr. Kettlewell Of the Lord's Supper 12º 1687. p. 387 388 c. The one for his being Present the other against it Others think it probable that he went out before But the presence of some unworthy persons is made an Argument by many against their Partaking of the Lord's Supper in such or such a particular Church as if their presence would defile and infect them This therefore I shall consider as one Objection which several are apt to make against the Performance of this Duty Of frequent remembring the Death of Christ at his Table And then Secondly Consider the other Objection from this Text viz. From the Danger of Receiving Vnworthily lest they should Eat and Drink Damnation to themselves And Thirdly What many more are wont to plead That the Danger being so great they durst not Adventure till they know that they are Believers or such as are Invited For it is Children's bread and they durst not come till they are Assured of their Regeneration and Adoption I shall therefore enquire Whether any ought to come to the Lord's Table till they have Assurance or while they want it 1. It is Objected by many That they do not Communicate because there are such and such Admitted who ought not to come to the Table of the Lord Such as walk disorderly who discredit their Profession and are as bad as any of their Neighbours and Acquaintance And the Apostle says 1 Cor. 5.10 That with such we should not so much as eat That we should have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness Ephes 5.11 That we should withdraw and separate and have no free familiarity with such 2 Thes 3.6 2 Tim. 3.5 2 Cor. 6.17 I Answer First That the Separation from Wicked Men required in such Passages of Holy Scripture refers to our intimate Converse and Familiarity with such who live in notorious and scandalous Sins and do not Testifie their Repentance We must avoid their company lest we be Infected And there is much more danger of Infection by Familiarity with them in daily Converse than by joyning with them in Religious Duties But we must be careful not to call those Vngodly whom we cannot prove to be so we should rather hope they are not unless we can prove the contrary What Sins are there that even a good Man by the surprize of a Temptation may not commit who yet mourns in secret and truly Repents It may be you may have heard of the Sins of many of whose Repentance you have not heard And yet they might truly Repent and you might know it if you would enquire But where the mixture of the â—ares and the Wheat is such that the one cannot be pull'd up without the other both must grow together till the Harvest Such a Difference as God will make at the last Day cannot now be made by us We may safer let the Righteous and Wicked go together as if all were Righteous when we cannot prove the contrary And we do not therein make a false Judgment we do not judge that it is certain that such and such are Sincere and truly Godly but that it is probable they may be so And we may have a stronger Confidence concerning the Sincerity of Some while we have only probable Hopes of Others yea with such Hopes there may be some Fear of their Hypocrisie joyned when
Pardon I now unfeignedly acknowledge own and avow Thee for my Saviour my Lord my God Though he professed his Unbelief in larger Words Except I see the print of the Nails and thrust my Finger c. Yet this Expression of his Repentance is equally significant He only stammers out two or three words My Lord my God But such as prove his Conversion and his Cure As the voice of the Patient will sometimes discover the Cure of a Disease in the Head When the Heart is full the Expressions are many times short and abrupt The Groans Desires and Inward Affections of the Soul are unutterable He had much more to say but he could not bring it out His Penitent shame on the one hand and his Zeal and Admiration on the other stopt his Mouth But the little he doth say is very much to the purpose He calls him Lord and God which upon the Resurrection of Christ every Tongue was to Confess The Truth of his Repentance Love and Zeal he afterwards more abundantly proved by labour and diligence and travelling up and down the World to spread the Gospel into * See Dr. Cave's Life of St. Thomas Parthia and afterwards among the Medes and Persians passing through the Asian Ethiopia says Chrysostom and at last came to India perswading them to Renounce their Idolatry and receive the Faith of Christ Some Remainders of this there are in some parts of India to this day And at last he was thrust through with Lances by the Command of an Indian King If we may believe the Account of some of the Jesuits * Relatione della Cina del P. A. Semedo 12. Parte Prima cap. 31. and other Missionaries of the Roman Church into China and those parts they do Ascribe the Preaching of the Gospel there to this Apostle and his Followers And the Chaldee Books concerning the Indian Christianity Cultivated by his Means are mentioned to this Purpose and Preserved to this Day by an A. Bishop of Granganour or Della Serra and Translated into Latin by a Jesuit One of those Books is a Breviary wherein are these words By the Means of St. Thomas the Errors of the Idolatry of the Indians were scattered By the Means of St. Thomas the Chineses and the Aethiopians were converted to the Truth By the Means of St. Thomas they obtained the Vertue of Baptism and the Adoption of Sons and kept the Faith which they promised to God By Means of St. Thomas the Beams of the Knowledge of Life enlightened all India and the Kingdom of Heaven entred into China And presently there follows an Antiphona which saith The Indians the Chineses the Persians and other Islanders those of Syria Armenia Grecia and Romania in Commemoration of St. Thomas do offer their Adoration unto thy Most Holy Name O Great God 2. Let us Consider the Reality of his Faith in this short Confession of it For upon these Words My Lord my God our Saviour owns in the next Verse the Truth of his Faith Blessed art thou who hast seen and hast believed Though a more ample and abundant Blessing be pronounced on such as did also believe without that help of Sight and Sense But here is an Excellent Faith and all the Essential parts of it comprehended in this Expression My Lord my God 1. An Assent to this Truth that Jesus is the Christ the true Meissah who had Risen again as he foretold 2. An acknowledgment that this Jesus is both Lord and God that absolute Supremacy Power and Dominion belong to him that he is true God 3. An Appropriation of him to himself as his Lord and his God which following upon the former two contain the Essentials of true Faith 4. In this Expression we have an Evidence of the Two Natures of Christ the Reality of his Humane Nature and the Truth of his Divine 1. The Reality of his Humane Nature The Method our Lord uses to prove his Resurrection to this Apostle doth suppose that he was true man Partaker of Human Nature that his Body was of such a kind that our Senses might judge of it for else he would not have bid Thomas behold him and reach hither his Hand This may easily be improved to overthrow the Popish Fancy of Transubstantiation that the Body and Blood of Christ are in the Lord's Supper under the Accidents of Bread and Wine For at that rate Thomas might have still objected That what he saw and touched was not the Body of Christ but the Accidents of it and that he was not obliged to believe on the Testimony of his Senses that the Body of Christ was present But his Obligation so to believe is implyed in our Saviour's Words Reach hither thy Hand and be not faithless but believing And on the same Testimony of Sense we are bound to believe that it is Bread after Consecration and not Flesh that it is Wine and not Blood 2. The truth of his Godhead is also evident that he is really and truly God This Title My God as well as My Lord is very observable because it hath the Article before the Word God And it is commonly granted by the Adversaries of the Deity of Christ that where-ever the Word God is used with the Article before it it there imports the True and Eternal God So is the Expression here which our English Translation does not reach for it may rather be read The Lord mine the God mine My Lord my God From his Office as Lord and Christ he Riseth to his Divine Nature and the Dignity of his Essence He had reason to own him to be Christ the Lord by his Resurrection and other things which he had observed before and from that Dignity he owns him to be true God worthy of the Highest Homage and Adoration Had it been otherwise the Apostle would not have given the Title of God unto Jesus Christ nor would he have received it For the Greater any Person is the greater Danger there is of giving him such Titles as belong not to him As to give to One that is next to the King the Title of King Especially to ascribe Divinity and Godhead to a Creature What can be more provoking to him who is Jealous of his Honour and will not give his Glory to another Isa 42. It cannot well be supposed that (a) See Placaei disput in loc Tom. 3. 4 to Thomas who was brought up in the Jewish Religion could be ignorant of the Doctrine of the Vnity of the Godhead He must needs know what Moses and the Prophets teaâ—h concerning it Hear O Israel the Lord thy God is one Lord Deut. 6.4 This was one of the Sentences written on the Fringes of their Garments and quoted by Christ as a known thing Mark 12.32 Neither can it be imagined that our Saviour would have permitted such a thing without Rebuking him if he had not been true God as well as real Man But so this Apostle does acknowledge him and so must we