Messiah suffer without rending their Cloaths and what is more tearing themselves for the crime they had been guilty of The Graves burst their Bands as if they were concern'd to see Men harden'd against all impressions of Compassion The Angels we may without danger of Heresie believe stopt in the midst of their Hallelujahs and if ever there was sadness in Heaven we may suppose it was at this time The upper and the nether World seem'd to go into Mourning because their Lord and Master gave up the Ghost Thus much we are told by the inspired Writer Matth. 27. 51 52. And this makes the Death of Christ Jesus surprizing beyond comparison and surely such a Death ought to be remembred 4. It is a Death whereby the Person suffering merited Eternal Life not only for himself but all his Followers too A mighty Blessing but such as was a just reward of so deep an Humiliation It was for this Death that the Everlasting Father exalted Christ's Humane Nature above Powers Angels Principalities and Spiritual Creatures and in doing so declar'd what those whose Nature he had assumed if they did follow him in the Regeneration might come to after Death viz. Eternal Life and Glory And what greater Blessing can be thought of to enjoy all Blessings at once and to all Eternity To see God and to be ravish'd with his Sight for ever to enjoy Riches Honour Glory Power Dominion Pleasure Recreation Houses Lands in a most eminent manner or to enjoy that which is beyond all these in inexpressible degrees and without interruption without ceasing without disturbance without envy without fear without danger of losing it What can be greater What can be more satisfactory What can be more comfortable This the Son of God hath purchased by his Death That Death is the Messenger of all these Glories In that Death all these Treasures are amass'd and heap'd and piled up together and then it must be worth remembring nay it is impossible not to remember it where all this is believ'd II. How this Death is to be remembred at the Table of the Lord will deserve our next consideration And most certainly a slight transient Remembrance such as we pay to our friends and acquaintance which are absent at our common Meals or at other times as we have occasion to discourse of them is not sufficient here for that 's not at all agreeable to the Greatness and Profitableness of this wondeful Death It must be such a remembrance as 1. Refreshes our Memories with that marvellous Love that shines in this Death This Love must be called to mind even the Love of God the Love that mov'd him to the Kindnesses we see and taste and feel and have experience of The Love that mov'd him to give us a Saviour the Love that mov'd him to take pity of us when we lay in our Blood when we lay in Darkness and in the shadow of Death Love Love Love must here be the Motto the Watch-word and the dear Expression And as the Martyr in Eusebius being ask'd divers Questions about his Name Kindred Relations Family Country Parents c. still answer'd That he was a Christian so if here we should be ask'd what we think what we speak what we mind what we come for what we design what our business is or what we delight in Love must be the Answer to all these Questions Love must be the burden of our Song even the Love of the Holy Trinity a Love in which our Life our Happiness and all our Hopes are wrapt up a Love which nothing above and nothing below can give us any tolerable Image of There is nothing among all the Angels in Heaven nothing in the Sun or Moon or Stars nothing among Men or Beasts or Roots or Herbs or Stons or Minerals that can be said to be truly like it all comparisons are feeble all resemblances faint no Language can reach it no Rhetorick express it no Oratory describe it no Pencil draw it it surpases our Reason transcends the brightest Understanding puzzels the very Angels in Heaven and perplexes the Spirits of Light and Glory It is all Sea all Ocean all Light it hath no Bounds no Shores no Limits and the greatest that ever was said of it or can be said of it is St. John's Expression 1 Joh. 4. 16. God is Love Love it self all Love all Charity all Goodness and nothing but such perfection could have loved such poor pitiful Worms as we are God looks upon our giving a cup of cold Water to a Righteous Man as an Act of Love O then what an Act of Love must it be in him to give us himself to give us the dearest thing he had even his own Son Jesus wept over Lazarus Joh. 11. 35 36. and the Jews said See how he loved him But these Tears were but drops of Water Here the Lord Jesus is seen to weep drops of Blood for us O then see how he loved us We were blinder than Bartimaeus lamer than Mephibosheth fuller of Sores than Lazarus poorer than Job no Comliness no Beauty no Form no Excellency appear'd in us Adam's Fall had disfigurred us defaced us ruin'd us in this lamentable condition God loved us and gave his Son to die for us and shall not this Love be remembred in his Death 2. This remembrance requires calling to mind our Sins which were the cause of that Death It 's true the Love of God was the impulsive cause but our Sins were the instrumental cause these brought him to the Cross and whoever remembers his Death must necessarily remember that whereby this Death was effected and procured this was our Sin and the Infection that attended it But then if I remember my Sins in the remembrance of his Death how can I remember them without detestation How can I remember them without abhorrency How can I remember them without arming my Soul with resolution and arguments to fight against them Can I look on my neglects and not charge them with this Death Can I remember my Love to the World and not accuse it of having had a hand in buffeting and reproaching of him Can I think of my Pride and Wrath and not bid them look on the Wounds they made in that Holy Flesh Can I reflect on my wantonness and lustful Thoughts Desires Words and Gestures and Actions and not be angry with them for having struck Nails into his Hands and Feet And what is said of these particular Sins must be applied to the rest that we are either guilty of or most inclined to they must be so remembred as to be represented to our Minds in their odious shapes as having been accessory to his Death and if this be done we cannot but proclaim War against them and maintain that War all our days 3. With this there must needs be remembred the mighty Redemption procured and accomplished by this Death even our Redemption from Slavery a Slavery so much the worse because we were not
Life for the better looks as it were for a new Sacrifice for Sin and since he will not be purged from his known Sins by the Blood of Jesus which hath been already spilt if he hath any hopes of being purified from his Sin in order to the obtaining of Eternal Happiness seems to desire a more effectual Death of that great Mediator which may against his Will drag him away from his sinful courses and thereby would have Christ suffer and be kill'd again and consequently makes himself guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. 4. He that Eats and Drinks unworthily kills the Lord Jesus You will say This is impossible Christ being in Heaven and incapable of any such Act of Violence No more could Saul if you understand it according to the Letter persecute him after he was glorified yet the voice that came to him in his way to Damascus said Saul Saul why persecutest thou me Act. â— 4. The same may be said of an unworthy Receiver he cannot strictly speaking kill the Lord Jesus yet being unwilling to venture upon a change of Life under all the Abjurations of a bleeding Redeemer that stubborness is Death to Christ as God said to the Jews Ezek. 6. 9. I am broken with your whorssh Heart So may the Saviour of the World cry to the Communicant that comes to remember his Death and will not die to his known Sins Thou piercest thou woundest thou killest me by thy obstinate and refractory temper as we say of a tender Father that the ill course his disobedient Son takes is death to him because it is as grievous to him as if one should attempt to take away his Life The unworthy Receiver by being loth to conform to the Rules of the Gospel in his Practices even while he beholds as it were Christ Crucified for his Sins does an Act so unworthy so disrespectful so injurious that it is as much as if he made attempts upon his Life nay he kills the preventing Grace Christ affords him and slays the good motions whereby Christ lives in him Christ is said to be in us as we are Christians and the unworthy Receiver being desirous and willing to maintain and keep his darling Sins doth thereby drive Christ out of his Heart and kill him in his own Soul for Christ and Love to a sinful Life are inconsistent and incompatible things These destroy his Life in the Soul and therefore in this Sense also the unworthy Receiver makes himself guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. 5. He that eats and drinks unworthily consents to the Murther the Jews were guilty of when they killed the Lord of Life and approves of that barbarous and inhumane Act and therefore is guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. He is supposed to consent to that Murther that is not sorry for if And how can he be sorry for it that is not sorry for his Sins which were the principal Cause of it The unworthy Receiver being supposed to be one that doth not heartily shake hands with a sinful Life and is loth so to renounce his known Sins as to tear them from his Heart we cannot imagine that he is heartily sorry for them for his Sorrow hath not those Effects which Godly Sorrow is said to have 2 Cor. 7. 11. For this same thing when ye sorrowed after a Godly sort what Carefulness it wrought in you Yea what clearing of your selves Yea what Indignation against Sin Yea what Fear i. e. of offending God! Yea what vehement Desire Yea what Zeal Yea what Revenge The Tree is known by its Fruits And if Sorrow for Sin must be discovered by such Effects and these Effects appear not in the Communicant as he cannot be thought to eat and drink worthily so in not being sorry for his Sins he doth not appear sorry for the Murther the Jews committed upon the Body of our Saviour his Sins being the Cause of that Murther And doth not this look like Consent or Approbation of that Murther You will say How can any Man be sorry for Christ's Death when that Death is our greatest Comfort and what Consolations the pious Soul feels it feels by virtue of that Death Shall a Man be sorry for that which God had ordain'd appointed and design'd for the Relief and Redress of our Misery If Christ had not died we had been ever wretched and unhappy and must have looked for no Friendship from above and therefore to charge Men with being guilty of his Death because they are not sorry for it seems to be both against Scripture and Reason Is any Man sorry for a Treasure he finds in the Field Or sorry for an Estate that falls to him by the Decease of a Relation Or sorry for an Act of Oblivion which a gracious Prince imparts to Offenders whereof himself is the Principal But to this the Answer is very easie for the Benefit of Christ's Death and the Mercy God intended Mankind by it must be carefully distinguished from the Instrumental Causes whereby Christ was brought to his Death which were partly our Sins and the barbarous Cruelty of the Jews The Benefit that came by the Death of Christ a Christian most certainly ought not to be sorry for but hath reason to rejoyce in Day and Night But that he was so inhumanely murther'd by the Jews and that our Sins were such abominable things in the Sight of God that to expiate them God was moved to give up his own Son to the lawless Rage of those cruel Enemies this requires our Grief and Sorrow That the Jews did commit a very heinous Sin in crucifying Christ is evident from St. Peter's Discourse or Sermon to the Murtherers Act. 3. 17 18 19. For though God hath decreed that Death as an Expedient to reconcile Man to himself and decreed not to hinder the Jews in pursuing their wicked Designs and Purposes but to make that Death an Antidote against Everlasting Death yet that doth not excuse the Jews from the Guilt of Sin in killing of him whose Cruelty God was resolved to turn to the Good of all true Penitents and sincere Believers nor a Christian from an hearty Sorrow that his Sins were the deserving Cause of it So that a Christian may at once rejoyce in Christ's Death and be sorry for it rejoyce in the unspeakable Mercies procured by it and be sorry that those stubborn Wretches did with that Cruelty dispatch him or rather that his Sins did arm those desperate Sinners to put the Lord of Life to death for the Jews could have had no power to murther him but that the Sins of Mankind crying aloud for Vengeance enabled them and gave them Strength and ministred Occasion to do it So that he that is not heartily sorry for his Sins is not heartily sorry that the Jews did murther him and therefore the unworthy Receiver not being heartily sorry for the Sins he hath lived in consents to that Murther of the Jews and upon
singular Mercy A Prince may send two Persons one whom he hates another whom he loves to Prison with very different Intents the one with an Intent to have him executed according to Law the other to preserve him from the Rage of his Enemies And the same may be said of Sickness which we see lights indifferently upon Good and Bad. 2. Though Sicknesses and Untimely Death are govern'd by Second Causes by Colds and Heats by hard Labour and Straining by excessive Passion and Grief and Joy by tedious Journeys and dangerous Voyages by Fevers in the Blood and Contrariety of pugnant Humours by Winds and Storms by Fire and Water by a Pestilential Breath and going to infected Places c. yet he that sits at the Stern of the great Vessel must not be supposed to look on carelesly or to be nothing but a Spectator of the Conspiration of the Second Causes These Second Causes are constantly govern'd by a Power supream and by his Order and Influence they move He directs and bids them concur to produce such Effects and while they seem to act by Chance and in the dark he himself hath pregnant Reasons why he causes such a Concourse of inferior Causes and these Reasons he hath thought fit to reveal in his Word where we are to seek them So that though an unworthy Receiver may get his Sickness and Death by Quarrelling by Gluttony by Drunkenness and Intemperance by being wounded and bruised by rude and insolent Men yet Providence is not asleep all this while and though he doth not command or approve the Sins which are the Occasion or the immediate Causes of the ensuing Sickness yet he wisely permits them resolves not to hinder them from producing such Effects for Reasons his Eternal and infinite Wisdom hath pitched upon so that they may very well be intended as Punishments and Judgments even while they are the natural Effects of Second Causes And God in punishing the unworthy Receiver with Sickness and untimely Death lays Righteousness to the Line and Justice to the Plummet there being nothing more just than that he should fall sick that hath been sick of God's Service and he come to an untimely Death that hath disregarded the Death of Christ Jesus and counted it an unworthy thing And what if some unworthy Receivers live as long as other Men and perhaps to a very great Age yet that doth not make the Apostle's Words less true nor is it any Security to the Offenders that therefore they shall go scot-free The Threatnings of God that concern this present Life if they are not executed in this Life shew however what the Sinner hath deserved and not being executed here if that which should have been inflicted here is added to the Punishment hereafter he hath no great reason to brag of his escaping here Sometimes the Sinner bethinks himself and repents and turns from his Errour and by that means escapes the sad Effects of his Threatning for all Threatnings have this implicite Condition included In case the Offender doth not make his Peace with God Add to all this That if the Threatnings of God be executed upon some Persons guilty of the Sin to which the Threatning is made it is enough to vindicate the Veracity of God And if any Sinner of the same Size and Degree do escape still the Threatning shews what they may expect if they turn not The Preceding Considerations reduced to Practice I. THE Wise Man's Advice surely is very reasonahle Eccles. 7. 14. In the Day of Adversity consider Times of Affliction are considering Times Affliction is sent on purpose to teach and to instruct us 'T is intended to put us in mind of the Sins we have forgotten or been wilfully ignorant of the Sins of our Childhood the Sins of our Youth the Sins of our riper Age and the various Neglects and Defects of our holy Services And therefore in the Old Testament the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jasar which stands for Affliction imports not only Correction and Chastisement but Instruction too It is an excellent School-master and he that submits to its Teachings will become wiser than a Multitude of Books will make him Therefore my Son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord nor faint when thou art rebuked of him Heb. 12. 5. Consider who it is that sends the Rod and what the Design of the unwelcome Messenger is Consider how much thou needest it and how justly thou hast deserved it Consider how it is intended for thy Good and how thou shouldest have forgotten why thou camest into the World but for this Remembrancer Consider how little Reason thou hast to take it ill when the dearest Servants of God have passed through this Fire and how without it thou wouldst have continued a Stranger to thy self Consider its Mercy that he will call home the straying Sheep and will not let thee wander in the Wilderness of Sin And that when he strikes his Intent only is to beat the Dust out of thy Clothes not to hurt the better part This Consideration will go near to produce that excellent Temper in thee which David speaks of Surely I have behaved and quieted my self as a Child that is weaned of his Mother My Soul is even as a weaned Child Psal. 131. 2. II. Let not him that is weak in Faith yet loves the Lord Jesus Christ in Sincerity makes Conscience of his Laws and would not willingly offend him to gain the World let him not be frighted when Sickness or any outward Disaster and sad Accident befals him as if that were a certain Argument that therefore he hath received unworthily The Enemy may suggest such a Thought but Christian explode it as boldly as it comes They are other Reasons that make thy Heavenly Father lay his chastening Hand upon thee His Design is to make thee entirely conformable to his own Son to that Son who for the Glory set before him endured the Cross. He was made perfect through Suffering so would God make thee perfect through Affliction If a Person be never so holy yet if he hath not passed through the Furnace of Affliction he wants Perfection Afflictions gave the Son of God as he was Man a Title to his Father's Kingdom and they are Items to thee that thou shalt reign with Christ for ever These Troubles that encompass thee are to make thy future Joys the greater and thy Crown more bright and shining Fear not that thou hast received unworthily while thy Conscience bears witness that thine Eyes thy Heart thy Affections were toward him in the holy Sacrament and are so still If thy Treasure and thy Heart was in Heaven then and thou still endeavourest to preserve that Frame thy Eating and Drinking hath done thee good and thou hast been refreshed by it and the Lines did fall to thee in pleasant places These present Afflictions are thy Security that God loves thee and as they tell thee that thou hast no continuing City here so
would to God it might be as surprizing to see one Christian fall out with the other 5. He broke the Bread to hint to us with what Hearts we ought to come to the Table of our Lord and to the Altar of the Cross even with humble broken contrite Hearts Such Hearts we might get if it were not for our Pride It was therefore prohibited in the Old Law to use Leaven in God's Sacrifices and Offerings Leaven was the Emblem of Pride which makes us unfit to appear before the humble Jesus I am broken with their whorish Heart which hath departed from me saith God Ezech. 9. 6. This was literally fulfilled in Christ And shall not we share in the Depth of that Sorrow Shall we see him bow his Head under the Weight of our Offences and shall not the Burthen appear heavy and insupportable to our Spirits Shall we see the innocent Lamb weep for our Stubbornness and be unconcerned at the Spectacle 6. He broke the Bread to let us see how ready he is to comfort the Contrite and Broken Heart Christian as great as the Agonies were thy Sins did put him to as great as the Torments were he felt upon thy Account as bitter as the Death was he suffered and tasted for thee yet if thy Soul relents and if that which made him die becomes loathsome and abominable in thy Sight if a deep Sense of thy Unworthiness fills the Chanels of thy Heart if the Fountain of thy Head runs with Water if thine Eyes gush out in Tears if the Weight of thy Sins presses thy Soul into an holy Self-abhorrency if his Passion can fright thy Sins into a languishing Condition abate their Courage and break their sturdy Necks and his broken Body proves a Motive strong enough and obliges thee to break loose from the Government of Hell behold those very Wounds thou madest shall be thy Balsam and the Blood thy Sinns did spill shall turn into Oyl to supple thy broken Bones with that precious Liquor thy Soul shall be washed and that which was his Death shall be thy Life and Antidote with that Offering of himself once made he will expiate thy Filth and perfume thy Services render them acceptable to God give thee a Right to Heaven comfort thee in all thy Tribulations and call to thy Soul Be of good chear thy Sins are forgiven thee 7. He broke the Bread to let us know that his Death would break the Wrath of God allay his Anger pacifie his Justice and satisfie for the Affront his Holiness had suffered from the Sins of Men and make way for the Penitent's Admission to God's Bosom This is St. Bernard's Observation and the Mystery is rational for by his Death he broke the Power of him who had the Power of Death Heb. 2. 14. This was the Devil who got that Power by Man's Apostacy which provoked the Almighty's Wrath and moved him to permit the Enemy to exercise that Power over Mankind who was therefore not only the Cause of Adam's Death but of all the Deaths that followed that for which Cause Christ called him a Murtherer from the Beginning Joh. 8. 44. And the Jews stile him the Angel of Death and if any extraordinary Judgments were inflicted on Men at any time he was still the Executioner Besides all this he had Power given him to fright Men with Death either violent or natural and the dreadful Consequences of it of all which Man's Apostacy was the Cause This Power given him by the Justice and Wrath of God against the Sins of Man was broken by the Death of Jesus who thereby gave all true Believers Power and Courage to undervalue these Fears and Terrours to look upon them as Bugbears and Things to fright Slaves withal since this wonderful Death brings Life and Pardon and Salvation to their Souls and makes their own Death a Passage to the full Possession of the Joys to come 8. He broke the Bread prophetically to fore-tell what Miracles would happen at his Death how the Veil of the Temple would rend the Rocks break and the Graves burst their Bonds and open even then when Men's Hearts would be harder than Flints more impenetrable than Stones more insensible than Adamants less tractable than the Earth more rigid than the Grave and less relenting than inanimate Creatures 9. He broke the Bread Why may not we think that hereby he signified the Breaches and Divisions that through the Passions and various Interests of Men would happen in future Ages in the Church upon the Account of this Sacrament What Strife what Bitterness what Contentions hath this Ordinance occasion'd betwixt the Eastern and Western Churches and in the Western betwixt the Papists and Protestants and among the Protestants betwixt the Lutherans and those that call themselves of the Reformed Religion Upon which Account I cannot but think of the bitter Language that both Luther and his Followers have given to the Zwinglians and Calvinists that differ'd from them in Opinion about the Supper of the Lord. Nor did the Fury stop here but in many Places where any of the Zwinglians were they were turned out imprisoned harrassed expelled driven into Exile and forced away to Sea in a severe Winter in Frost and Snow when the Winds blew hard and the Weather was exceeding tempestuous and all because they would not abjure these Six Propositions 1. That these Words Take eat this is my Body and Take drink this is my Blood must not be understood literally but typically and figuratively 2. That the Elements in the Lord's Supper are only Signs and Symbols and that Christ's Body is as far removed from the Bread in the Sacrament as Heaven is from Earth 3. That Christ is present in this Sacrament by his Virtue and Power and not with his Body as the Sun with his Light and Operation assists and refreshes the Creatures of God in this lower World 4. That the Bread in the Sacrament is the Emblem and Figure of Christ's Body and signifies and represents only 5. That Christ's Body is eaten only by Faith mounting up into Heaven not with the Mouth 6. That only true Believers do properly eat Christ's Body but wicked Men who have no lively Faith receive nothing but the bare Bread and Wine Those that would not abjure these Doctrines were used like Hereticks Fanaticks and Vagabonds By their usage one would have taken them to have been guilty of Sacrilege Murther Robbery Sedition Rebellion c. but the chief Crime it seems was because having imbibed Zwinglius and Calvin's Doctrine about the Eucharist they could not conform to the Lutheran Persuasion in that Point Wonderful Barbarity which one would scarce have expected from Heathens much less from Christians and Fellow-Protestants who together with them protested against the Corruptions of the Church of Rome Into such an unseemly Behaviour do Men precipitate themselves when they let loose the Reins of their Passions instead of becoming Repairers of Breaches they make them wider and
remembred in this Sacrament What kind of Death it was shewn in four Particulars How this Death is to be remembred The Benefits of this Remembrance laid down Though the Death of Christ be the principal thing that is to be remembred in this Sacrament yet that puts no stop to other Remembrances Christ's Example makes it lawful to preserve the memory of any signal Mercy or Providence we meet with Those that do not remember Christ's Death in this Sacrament do very much forget themselves The remembrance of his Death a Motive to forget the World and the Vanities of it This Remembrance the best Defensative against Sin The Prayer I. AS these words Do this in remembrance of me do necessarily import the Bread in this Sacrament to be a Memorial of Christ's Crucified Body or that which is to put us in mind of it and consequently suppose that Christ's real Body is absent so how Christ is to be remembred here must needs be worth our serious enquiry What Christ calls Doing in remembrance of him the Apostle the best Interpreter of his words stiles Shewing forth his Death 1 Cor. 11. 26. So that his Death is the thing that is to be remembred here by all the Communicants And that this Death is worth our serious remembrance will easily appear if we consider what Death the Death of Christ Jesus was For 1. It was the Death of God According to the Quality of the Person dying so his Death is more or less surprizing hence the Death of a King makes a greater noise in the World than that of a Peasant The Death remembred here is the Death of the King of Kings and though as God he could not dye yet it may truly be said that he that was God did die not in his Godhead but in his Humanity not as dwelling in a Light inaccessible but as dwelling in a Tabernacle of Flesh. Plutarch relates that he had heard his Master Epitherses tells this Story How in the Emperor Tiberius's time under whom Christ suffered intending to Sail into Italy he went aboard of a Ship laden with many Goods and Passengers One Evening coming near certain Islands call'd the Echinades the Wind slackening and the Ship being becalm'd with a slow pace they arriv'd at last at the Isle of Paxae Several of the Seamen and Passengers sitting up that Night and drinking on a suddain from off the Island came a Voice calling to Thamus the Master of the Ship thrice When you are come as far as the Palodes proclaim that the Great PAN is dead The Master and his Company doubtful what to do whether they should do according to the import of the Voice or no resolved at last if the Wind favour'd them to pass by the Palodes and say nothing but if they were becalm'd about that place then to cry as they were directed So sailing on and coming to the place they found themselves strangely becalm'd whereupon Thamus call'd aloud That the Great PAN was dead which words he had no sooner spoken but great Howlings and Sighings and Lamentations were heard By PAN the Heathens meant the God of the Universe or him that rul'd govern'd and influenced all and it 's probable this Voice had relation to Christ Jesus who suffered about that time at Jerusalem and that upon the news of this Death Howlings were heard it 's very likely this noise was made by Fiends and Devils whom the Death of the Son of God filling all in all put into those excesses of consternation and sorrow And lest any Man should object That the Furies of Hell had no reason to mourn at his Death but might rejoyce rather that their great Antagonist was gone it must be noted That they feared the Power and Virtue of that Death such Virtue as in a short time would make all the Powers of Darkness tremble and destroy their Empire When Abner Saul's General was carried to his Grave King David follow'd the Herse and said Know ye not that there is a Prince and a great Man fallen this day in Israel 2 Sam. 3. 38. If such a death as Abner's deserv'd to be taken notice of what must we think of the Death of the Lord Jesus Not a Great Man only but one of whom it was said Thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the Earth and the Heavens are the work of thy Hands Heb. 1. 10. How justly is this death remembred by his Followers And what a mixture of Passions Amazement as well as Gladness Trembling as well as rejoycing ought it to cause in all Christian Hearts to think that our God died for us A Captain hath his like a General his Fellow a Prince may be parallel'd with others a King may meet with others of his Rank and Quality but God hath no equal 2. It was the Death of a Person higher than the highest for his Enemies Regulus Codrus Mutius and among the Jews Moses had courage to die for their Country and the good of the People they were related to but still they were their Friends but here a Person ador'd by Angels worshipp'd by all the Host of Heaven the Comfort of Paradise the Joy of Seraphim the Terror of Devils the Lord of Life the Eternal Son of God the Brightness of his Father's Glory and the express Image of his Person dies for Men for Men miserable and wretched for Men that were Sinners for Men that were proper Objects of his Justice for Men that were haters of God acted like Enemies had affronted their Maker Crucified their Redeemer came out against him as against a Thief who took pleasure in trampling on his Laws rejoyced in their Disobedience had made a Covenant with Hell conspired against him who had given them their Being laugh'd on the brink of Destruction were Heirs of Hell and had no other Inheritance but Damnation for such this wonderful Person dies and this makes his death miraculous and astonishing Rom. 5. 8. 3. It 's Death that Nature and all the Elements were confounded at and Heaven and Earth seem'd to be at strife which of them should be most concern'd at it insomuch that we are told of Dionysius the Areopagite the Person mention'd Acts 17. 34. when he was yet under the Clouds of Paganism that beholding the stupendous Eclipse of the Sun which happen'd about the time that the Saviour of the World died brake forth into this memorable saying That certainly either Nature was going to be dissolv'd or the God of Nature suffer'd If ever Nature endur'd a Convulsion-Fit it did now The Sun disdain'd to look upon the barbarity of the Murther and hid his Face that he might not see his Creator die The Earth trembl'd as if it were asham'd to see Men stupid at the dreadful Spectacle The Rocks broke as if they would testifie against the Sinners that could stand under the Cross without broken Hearts The Vail of the Temple was rent as if it would chide the Wretches that could see the
the Church of Rome at this day is nothing else for they keep it in Boxes or Chests that they may carry it about and promote the Adoration of it in the Circumgestation and when any great Fire or Wind or Tempest happens this is pretended to have great Virtue either to lessen or avert those evils It is pleaded commonly that the Laity may with greater convenience receive only in one kind and with as much profit to as if they received in both but that this is false appears from hence 1. Because nothing can be convenient for the Laity that is against Christ's Institution and Command and as the Bread is to lead them to the contemplation of Christ's Crucified Body so the Cup is to direct them to fix their Thoughts on the Blood he spilt for them And if this way of reasoning were just why should it not be as convenient for the Priest to receive in one kind as for the Laity 2. Because the Profit that is to be received by the Communion must be received in that method and order that Christ hath thought fit to dispense it and since Christ thought it most proper that this Profit should be received by communicating in both kinds to expect Profit contrary to Christ's design and intention is to deceive our selves Some of the Papists themselves grant and it was asserted by several in the Council of Trent That greater Grace and Comfort was to be received by Communion in both kinds than by Communion in one only and there were some of the Primitive Fathers that thought that the Bread extended its Virtue to the Body only but the Wine to the Soul and if this were to be allow'd of the Laity in the Church of Rome must be either supposed to have no Souls or that their Souls receive no Profit by the Sacrament since they are denied the Wine But however if Communion in one kind be so profitable for the Laity why should it not be as profitable for the Clergy V. Why Christ made use of Wine in the Institution of this Sacrament several Reasons may be given As 1. One great property of Wine is to give Man a chearful countenance and to make glad the Heart Psal. 104. 15. And surely this was to let us see what joy our Souls are to express at the remembrance of God's Compassion and Charity a joy which will appear very rational if we frame right apprehensions of our natural condition for let me take a view of the state of my Soul abstractedly from Christ's mediation and God's Love I shall appear to my self a creature forsaken of God destitute of Mercy deprived of hopes of Pardon an object of Wrath a scorn of Angels the sport of Devils a companion of Reprobates a prey to ravenous Birds an heir of the burning Lake a subject of Damnation a slave to the worst of Masters hated by Heaven condemned by mine own Conscience and in a worse condition than the Beasts that perish and let me suppose that I were surrounded by Wolves and Lions in a barren Wilderness Vipers and Serpents crawling about my heels every moment in danger of being torn to pieces and in danger of a cruel lingring and barbarous death and in these sad circumstances should some kind Deliverer leap from behind a Thicket or come riding toward from afar to rescue me from this impendent ruin how should I rejoyce at the unexpected and unlook'd for Providence My case by nature is much worse for wild Beasts may devour me and make an end of my pain but here I find my self beset with hellish furies so far from being willing to make an end of my life and pain together that they seem resolved to increase it daily and no Angel no Lazarus no Messenger out of the Clouds vouchsafes a drop of Water and therefore in so deplorable an estate to see the Son of God spriging in and flying to my rescue and crying I will heal thy backslidings and unto my Enemies round about me O death I will be thy Plague O grave I will be thy destruction what joy what gladness what comfort must this cause 2. By Wine he represented the everlasting joys he intended to purchase for his followers by his bitter death and passion he himself gives us a hint of this Matth. 26. 29. I will not drink henceforth of the fruit of this Vine until the day that I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom i. e. Of this material Wine I shall after this drink no more in your company but when you are advanced to the Joys and Glories of my Father's Kingdom then I 'll Drink and Feast with you again and the Wine I will then give you to drink of shall be new Wine infinitely different from this Wine which shall have others effects and other operations Wine which the dull World is a stranger to Wine which Glutâ—ons and Drunkards shall never taste of Wine that shall fill your Souls with the purest Joy's with Delights purely Spiritual and Celestial so that these everlasting Joys may be called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wine fulfilled as St. Luke speaks of the Bread Luke 22. 16. And then the Wine may be said to be compleated and fulfilled when that which is represented by it is actually fulfilled and conferred on the person who are counted worthy of it The Joys above are the Wine of Angels this Wine is the clear vision of God or the Glorious sight of the Fountain of Light and Beatitude this inebriates their Understandings irrigates the Spirits of Men made perfect makes them drunk with Joy and their Reason is lost in Raptures and Extasies and therefore justly styled Joy which Eye hath not seen and Ear hath not heard and Heart cannot conceive The Souls of Men it seems are channels too narrow to hold those joys they over-run the Banks and as the flame of a Candle is lost in the brighter Sun-shine so the Divine Light in Heaven shining upon Souls they are as it were lost in that Glorious splendor 3. Wine is the Emblem of Wisdom too so much we may guess from what we read Prov. 9. 1 5. Wisdom hath built her a bouse she hath hewen out her seven Pillars she hath kill'd her Beasts she hath mingled her Wine she cries Come eat of my Bread and drink of the Wine that I have mingled So that we have reason to conclude that our Saviour in using Wine in this Sacrament would express the necessity of a vigorous application of our Minds to spiritual Wisdom even to that Wisdom which drives out sensuality expels the Wisdom of the Flesh despises the Wisdom of the World and values Christian simplicity above all words which human Wisdom teaches Wisdom which seems folly in the eyes of the World but is really an effect of the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding Wisdom which concludes If Christ hath done for me what the Scripture saith he hath laid down his life spilt his blood sacrificed himself given himself
Repentance What Danger in doing the Will of God What Danger in performing our Duty What Danger in serious Endeavours to cleanse our selves that we may be pure even as God is pure What Danger in eating and drinking with a Lively Faith in the Promises of the Gospel What Danger in making the Love of God and the serious Contemplation of it a Motive and Occasion to grow in Grace If there be any Danger it is in the Unworthy Eating and Drinking at this holy Table and in that indeed there is as much Danger as there is in cutting our selves with Knives and Lances or in running a Sword into our Bowels And who but a Mad-man will do so There is nothing so good nothing so safe nothing so sound nothing so innocent but Men may corrupt it by their evil Inclinations So they may abuse God's Name and Day and Word and Ordinances and the Duty of Prayer and the Ministry and what not Unworthy Eating and Drinking is a sinful Eating and Drinking Let Men separate the Sinfulness from the Duty let them pare away that poysonous Rind and there is no Danger and you may eat and drink at this Table with as little Danger as you eat and drink at home there is no Danger here but what you make your selves The Danger rises not from the Eucharist but from your Hearts That which makes it dangerous is your Love to Forbidden Fruit while you eat and drink here This you harbour this you cherish and that makes your feeding dangerous But cast out that old Leaven and you may feed as peaceably as contentedly as securely as Children under their Father's Wings as People that sit under their own Vine and under their own Fig-tree The PRAYER O Jesu whom I see coming toward me in this Sacrament not with Balm and Myrrhe and Spices hut with that which is infinitely better even with the Balsom of thy Blood to anoint me to wash me and to make me whole to make this blind Creature see and this lame Man to walk this Dumb to speak this Deaf to hear and to dignifie this Beggar even me the weakest in thy Flock the poorest in thy House the meanest person in thy Spiritual Kingdom What shall I say of this Mercy What can I think of it Thou art both the Giver and the Gift the Feeder and the Food the Guest and the Feast the Offerer and the Oblation O deal with me after thine infinite Goodness I have deserved to be left to be forsaken to be rejected to be cast away from thy Presence But O! let not this miserable Beggar go away from thy Door without an Alms scatter thy Bounty and let me gather it The poorer I am the greater Object I am of thy Pity I bring my Heart to thee to reform it I come to offer my Soul to thee be thou intreated to renew it by thy Holy Spirit Bring me to a more lively and nearer conjunction with thy self that I may become a living Member incorporated into thy Mystical Body and may live not longer by mine own Spirit but by Thine which is the Spirit of my Spirit the Soul of my Soul and the very Life of my Life Thou art my Sun from whose Beams I must receive the Light of Grace Thou art my Fountain from which I must draw Living Water Thou art the Root from which I must receive Sap of increase Thou art my Head from which I must receive Life and Being O! let me feel the force of this Sacrament in my Soul Power against Sin and Satan and ability to serve thee Corroborate my Spirit that I may obtain Victory put off the anxious Cares of the World and put on Joy flowing from Remission and pardon of my Sins I am sensible that Thy Table is the strength of my Soul the Sinews of my Mind the Band of my Confidence my Health my Light and my Recovery Being sprinkled with thy Blood I shall be able to turn to fight the Armies of Aliens the Armies of my Spiritual Enemies and prevail against them and go on from Virtue to Virtue till I shall Hunger and Thirst no more in thy Everlasting Kingdom Amen Amen CHAP. XIX Of Bodily Sickness Weakness and untimely Death which is sometimes by way of Judgment inflicted on Unworthy Receivers of this Blessed Sacrament The CONTENTS Sickness and Weakness and Death are either Corporal or Spiritual Some Reasons laid down why God makes use of Sickness and Weakness of Body to Chastize the Unworthy Receiver How a Person may know whether the Sickness and Weakness of Body that is upon him comes upon him for his Unworthy Receiving How Sickness and Weakness of Body and an untimely Death can be said to be inflicted for Unworthy Receiving when we see that even the most worthy Receivers sicken and dye and sometimes suddenly and before their time and when it is evident that these are effects of Natural Causes The time of Adversity a time of serious Consideration The Soul that loves the Lord Jesus in sincerity hath no reason to be troubled when Sickness or Affliction comes as if it came for Unworthy Receiving Worthy Receiving the best Preparative for Death Those that neglect coming have reason to fear that all the Miseries which befal them come upon them for their neglect The Prayer I. HAving told you in the foregoing Chapter that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Judgment doth import both Temporal Judgment and Damnation and shewn how the unworthy Receiver makes himself liable to exemplary Temporal Judgments in general it 's fit I should in the next place in imitation of St. Paul speak of the particular Temporal Judgments the unworthy Communicant pulls upon himself whereof one is Bodily Sicckness Weakness and untimely Death for thus we read 1 Cor. 11. 30. For this cause i.e. upon the account of this unworthy Eating and Drinking many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep as if he had said This your unworthy Receiving brings Sickness Weakness and a preternatural and unusual Sleep upon you This must needs be meant here for ordinary Sleep or the usual Rest of the Body can be no punishment and to tell you that by Sleep in Scripture is frequently understood Death or separation of the Soul from the Body or dissolution of this natural Life were to tell you what all Men know that have but look'd into the Bible nor can any be ignorant that these Phrases are often used in a Spiritual Sense for Spiritual Weakness and Sickness and Death which will oblige me to take both significations into consideration And that God did in the Primitive Ages of Christianity inflict and visit unworthy Communicants with weakness and sickness of Body and with an untimely Death sometimes especially if they continued impenitent thereby to put them in mind of their Offences and to exhort them to amendment of Life all Interpreters agree and the same Temporal Judgments an unworthy Receiver hath reason to fear and look for at this
be conveyed to us in this Ordinance without a due Contrition and Endeavours to tread in our Master's Steps we may easily infer that we were unworthy Receivers and that among other Causes of our Sickness this is one and the principal too even our unworthy and irreverent Feeding at the Lord's Table 2. Is any sick among you Let him send for the Elders of the Church saith St. James Chap. 5. Vers. 14. In the Primitive Church the sick Person especially he that was doubtful of his Spiritual Condition sent for Seven Ministers or Presbyters of the Church as so many Physicians to consult about the State of his Soul before whom he faithfully spread his Case giving them as candid an Account of himself as he could and so left it to them to judge and give Sentence in his Cause And this also is a very rational Way to come to a satisfactory Knowledge whether the present Sickness proceed from unworthy Communicating or not And therefore he that falls sick after he hath been at the Lord's Table let him send for a faithful Guide and Director and impartially signifie and reveal to him the Constitution of his Soul what it hath been and what it is and the Actions of his Life the manner of his Worship in publick and private and how and which way he used to address himself to God what his Thoughts and Preparations were when he used to go to the Table of the Lord what he felt after Receiving whether it left an Awe upon his Spirit a Fear desiring his own Soul what his Design was in Receiving and how far he closed with God And a pious judicious Divine may be very helpful to the sick Person to direct instruct and inform him whether the Sickness be an Effect of his unworthy Receiving or not And lest any should cavil here and object What matter is it whether a Man know the Occasion of his Sickness and what it was that brought it upon him I shall offer by way of Answer these few Particulars 1. If there were nothing but Curiosity in the Case something might be said for a Man's being so inquisitive In Natural Causes of Distempers Men think no Curiosity great enough and if either we our selves or Children or Relations fall sick common Curiosity tempts us to ask the Physician what he thinks the Cause of our Illness is nay if the Cause be unknown both to our selves and others we have very often the Curiosity to have the Body of a Friend or Child open'd to know the Cause And why People should not be as curious in Spiritual Things as they are in Natural I know no Reason The Providences of God and his Designs in the various Accidents that befall us certainly deserve our Curiosity and Inquisitiveness much more than things of an inferior Nature Nor is it impossible to find out the particular Cause why God sends such a Sickness upon certain Persons when himself hath declared in his Word in what Cases and upon what Provocations he will send it 2. If the Sickness be found to be a Consequence or Effect of unworthy Receiving this helps to strengthen our Faith in the Promises and Threatnings of God and finding that what the Apostle hath said so many Hundred Years agone comes to pass still this is a very strong Argument that he spake by the Spirit of God and a Motive to admire the Veracity of God and Encouragement to believe the other Promises and Threatnings of the Word of God Nothing is a greater Confirmation of Faith than Experience and he that hath seen the things the Scripture speaks very frequently accomplished hath enough to turn his Faith into a full Assurance 3. If the unworthy Receiver knows that it is his Sin committed in the holy Sacrament that hath brought the present Sickness upon him if after that he recovers and escapes it will be an Obligation upon him to come to it with greater Circumspection For he that hath suffered in the Flesh saith St. Peter hath ceased from Sin 1 Pet. 4. 1. And therefore having suffered for his unworthy Receiving that Suffering will make him weary of his Sin which he cannot be except he comes for the future and draws near with a pure Heart holding fast the Profession of the Faith without wavering as it is said Heb. 10. 22 23. But IV. While we are discoursing of this particular Judgment another Doubt arises viz. How Sickness of the Body and an untimely Death can be said to be inflicted for unworthy Receiving when we see even the most worthy Receivers sicken and grow weak and die young many times in the Prime and Flower of their Age And nothing is more vulgarly known than that Sickness and Death are nothiâ—g but the Product of Natural Causes I answer 1. Though even very excellent Christians who may be supposed to have been very penitent and worthy Receivers ever since they frequented the Ordinances of God with any Sense and Understanding though even such do sicken and many times die suddenly and in the midst of their Race yet that proceeds from other Causes And these Accidents are either Trials of their Faith and Patience or Preparatives for Heaven or Preservatives from Sin or Occasions to glorifie God or Opportunities to promote the Honour of Religion or Chastisements for some rash and imprudent Actions to prevent their being condemned with the World According to which Rule we are to judge of the untimely Death of that Prophet 1 Reg. 13. 24. who cried against the Altar of Bethel A good Man no doubt but being persuaded by the crafty old Prophet who pretended a Counter-Inspiration he went back and ate Bread in the place against which he was warned for which imprudent Act a Lion found him and slew him And such was the Death of Uzzah 2 Sam. 6. 7. who out of a good intent put forth his Hand to uphold the Ark that was in danger of falling the Oxen that drew the Cart shaking it For which God struck him dead upon the place And this was the Case of Josiah a Man noted for his singular Piety yet going up rashly against Pharaoh Necho was killed in Battel though according to the Course of Nature he might have lived many Years longer Thus God chastised the impremeditated Errours of his Servants in this Life that they might not fall a Prey to the greater Condemnation hereafter One and the same Effect may have very different Causes and the Reasons of Things that happen in the World are various The same thing may be a Mercy to one which is a Judgment to another as the Pillar of a Cloud Exod. 14. 19 20. was Darkness to the Egyptians and Light to the Israelites And the Meat sent to Elijah was a Character of God's Love whereas that sent to the Israelites upon their murmuring was a Fore-runner of his Wrath and Anger And this may be applied to Sickness and Untimely Death In the unworthy Receiver it is a Punishment in the Worthy a
they help to prepare thy Soul for the Possession of that Inheritance which shall last for ever III. Worthy Receiving of the Lord's Supper is the best Preparative for Death No Man can die uncomfortably that makes it his Business as often as he comes to this Table to receive worthily Death cannot hurt him let it be natural or violent untimely or orderly for by this worthy Receiving he hath laid up a good Foundation against the Time to come Death may destroy his Body but cannot kill the Soul Death may fright him but it cannot undo him It may dis-lodge his Spirit but it drives it to a nobler Habitation It may expel the Guest but it gives him a Title to a better Building His worthy Receiving gives him an Interest in Christ's Death and because Christ lives he shall live also Death may come blustering and make a Noise but in that Whirlwind his Soul rides to Heaven Let his Death come by Sword or Famine or Torment or Fire or Water it makes no Alteration in his Happiness To him to live is Christ and die Gain And he knows who hath said I am the Resurrection and the Life The worthy Receiver never dies for he lives in Christ who abides for ever Christ will not suffer that Soul to perish in which he hath been pleased to make his Habitation He is concern'd to secure her Happiness and his Eyes are open upon her to do her good Her worthy Receiving arms her against the Fears of Death and scatters the Mists which Death doth cast before her Eyes Receiving worthily makes the Soul a sit Habitation for the Spirit of God and If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal Bodies by his Spirit that dwells in you Rom. 8. 11. IV. As the unworthy Receiver when Sickness or some other heavy Judgment lights upon him hath reason to believe that it is for his unworthy Receiving so he that wilfully neglects coming to this holy Sacrament may very justly conclude that all the Troubles and Miseries that befall him do in a great measure befall him for that Neglect 'T is hard to determine which is the greater Sin whether Receiving unworthily or not Receiving at all both will admit of great Aggravations And as these Sins are in a manner equal so it is not irrational to conclude that the Judgments threatned to the one may be inflicted for the other too As the Jews say of the Golden Calf that an Ounce of that Sin is an Ingredient into all the Calamities that came upon them so there is not a Cross that the wilful Neglecter of this Sacrament feels or endures but he hath reason to think that this Neglect contributes towards it and all his Miseries call to him though he will not hear the Voice not to neglect so great Salvation and if all these Calls cannot awaken him into a Sense of his Duty how must his Reckoning swell and how inexcusable must he be whom neither the still Voice of Prosperity nor the shriller Sound of Adversity can convince Take eat this is my Body and Drink ye all of this is a Duty as much as doing by others the same that we would have others to do us It will appear and be made out one Day that this was not an Evangelical Counsel only which the more Religious Sort that are ambitious of the highest Place in Heaven need only mind if they please It was said to all the Disciples that represented the Church-Militant And if thou professest thy self a Member of that Church thou art no more excused from the Performance of it than thou art from coming to Church and attending the other Ordinances of God But if these Motives cannot prevail God hath Enforcives which shall but from these Good Lord deliver us The PRAYER O God! When thou with Rebukes dost chasten Man for Iniquity thou makest his Beauty to consume away like a Moth Hear my Prayer O Lord and give ear unto my Cry hold not thy Peace at my Tears Oh let the Afflictions which have befallen me and which thou shalt hereafter think fit to send upon me help towards the strengthening of my Faith in Christ Jesus Thou hast sometimes laid thy Hand upon me thy Afflicting Hand and I have taken no notice of it Thou hast smitten me and I have not looked up to Heaven from whence the Stroak did come Thou hast corrected me and I have not been the better for it I have been like a Beast before thee so foolish was I and ignorant Oh teach thou me Let me read my Duty in my Crosses And whatever Trouble comes upon me let that Trouble direct me to the Cross of my dear Master the Lord Jesus Enlarge my Contemplations of the Cross of Christ by the Crosses that knock at my Door Let these make me more zealous to participate of the Benefits of the Cross of Christ. In these Crosses and Troubles let me find Motives to come with greater Seriousness to the Table of my crucified Redeemer Let these prompt me to run to the Tree which yields the Fruit of Righteousness Let not these discourage me from loving thee but rather inflame my Affections to make thee my Hope and Fortress my Light and my Salvation Let me look upon the Joy that all my Troubles will at last end in and take Comfort in all my Tribulations Imprint this Belief upon my Soul that thou knowest better what is good for me than my Carnal Heart I am apt to hanker after the Flesh-pots of Egypt but let me see the richer Table in thy Kingdom I am apt to be fond of these outward Comforts Oh quench my Thrist after them Let me see clearly that to feed on thy Love is better Diet than this Earth affords Give me thy Peace not as the World gives but as thou usest to give thine own People Oh! give me what I want Thou knowest my Necessities better than I. Give me better things than my Flesh desires even those which may preâ—erve me by thy Power through Faith unto Salvation through Jesus Cheist our Lord. Amen CHAP. XX. Of Spiritual Weakness Sickness and Death the Second Temporal Judgment inflicted sometime on the Unworthy Receivers of this holy Sacrament The CONTENTS The Eucharist a Cure for all Diseases yet many continue weak and sick after it The Cause shewn to be in themselves The Signs of Spiritual Weakness Sickness and Death God inflicts these Spiritual Judgments upon Unworthy Receivers by degrees The Justice of it vindicated in four Particulars Spiritual Weakness and Sickness proved to be a greater Judgment than the Corporal Of the End of our Eating and Drinking worthily at this Table which is Spiritual Health and wherein that consists Spiritual Judgments more common than Men think or suspect Our Souls are capable of Diseases as well as our Bodies Several Instances and Proofs given of it The Cure of Spiritual Weakness
that thou didst the humble Publican But the Questions no doubt were mean and ridiculous and such as Men put to Fortune-tellers They deserved no Answer By thy Silence O my Lord thou teachest me how to behave my self upon the like Occasions when Men ask impertinent Questions about Religion with an Intent rather to cavil than to be edified In such Cases let me keep my Mouth as with a Bridle but let my Lips be ever open and ready to give an Answer to every Man that doth ask me a Reason of the Hope that is in me with Meekness and Fear 10. And the Chief Priests and Scribes stood and vehemently accused him VVHat could they accuse thee of O thou King of Saints All that they could charge thee with was That thou hadst healed their Sick and cured their Blind and dispossessed their Demoniacs and taught them the Way to Eternal Happiness And was this a Crime which Men of Ingenuity would have thought the greatest Mercy But Envy draws the Goodness it sees in others with a very black and soure Face and because it self springs from Hell derives the sweetest Actions of its Neighbours from the same Original O my Lord do but in my Soul what thou hast done in Judea and I will own thee as the Author and Fountain of my Happiness Let Envy and Strife die in my Soul that Confusion and every Evil Work may die there too and my Heart may become an Habitation of Peace for the Prince of Peace to rest in for ever 11. And Herod with his Men of War set him at nought and mocked him and arrayed him in a gorgeous Robe and sent him again to Pilate GReat Indignity To dress him like a Fool and then to send him with the Noise and Hissings of the People about him through the Streets back again to Pilate What Patience was here Who among the Children of Men that had Power in his Hand to be revenged on such Contempt would have born this with Equanimity For there goes nothing nearer the Heart than Contempt especially in Persons innocent and great But not the least Discontent is seen or heard in thee under all this Mockery my dearest Lord. It was to shew me an Example and to let me see that there is no walking to Heaven on Carpets and a Foot-cloth It was an Act great and heroic and Heaven that judged of thy Patience and Contentedness saw greater Valour in that Act than in all the Martial Enterprizes of Herod and his Soldiers Lord make me ambitious of the same Conquest And let me never think my self to be like thee till my Passions be subdued to Faith and Reason 12. And the same Day Pilate and Herod were made Friends together for before they were at Enmity between themselves A Strange Friendship which is made by dishonouring God and hath Sin and Impiety for its Foundation Such Friendship the World is acquainted with and Men become Friends one to another because they agree in committing Sins much of the same nature and size This makes Drunkards kind And one ill Man takes the other to be his Friend because he wills and nills the same Two Carnal Humours are alike gratified each counts Vertue needless or burthensome but Sin and Extravagance is the Diversion and Business of both O my Soul come not thou into their Secret Unto their Assembly mine Honour be not thou united But thy Friendship sweet Jesu is that my Soul longs for If thou be my Friend I need no more Thou art more than all the Friends I have in the World Where-ever I am be thou my Friend while I live when I die when I leave this World and when my Soul must appear before thy Tribunal and I shall never be confounded 13. And Pilate when he had called together the Chief Priests and the Rulers and the People HE calls both Priests and People together because they were of one Mind Men agree more in Sin than in Goodness and Wickedness unites them more than Religion O Jesu If all Men would tread in thy Steps and follow thy Precepts what an happy World would there be Yet even those that pretend to be of thy Religion hate one another and are divided more than Jews and Infidels Oh when shall that happy Day come that we shall all be of one Heart and of one Soul No Religion gives greater or better Rules for Charity and Union than that which thou hast taught Mankind Oh give me that Charity which bears all things and endureth all things Unite my Heart unto thee that I may fear thy Name Plant thine own sweet Temper in me that I may reign with thee for ever 14. Said unto them Ye have brought this Man unto me as one that perverts the People And behold I have examined him before you and have found no fault in this Man touching those things whereof ye accuse him HOW doth this Man labour to convince the wicked Jews of their Errour O my blessed Master What pains hast thou taken with me to convince me of my Faults and I have notwithstanding been loth to know them What Checks hast thou given me for my Pride and Passion and I have drown'd them and passed them by without taking notice of them When I have neglected a Duty how hast thou by Suggestions and setting the Examples of thy Saints before me endeavoured to withdraw me from my Omission Oh let me frustrate thy Pains no more Let it not be said that I was deaf to thy Admonitions When thou drawest me let me follow thee When thou leadest me let me walk in the Way thou chusest for me that I may come at last to enjoy thee with thy Saints and those who through Patience have inherited thy Promises 15. No nor yet Herod for I sent you to him and lo nothing worthy of Death is done of him O Blessed Saviour Even thine Enemies must justifie thee Thy Innocence was so bright and illustrious that Impiety it self could not charge thee with any Errour And when even thy Foes do vindicate thy Cause I that pretend to be thy Friend must not be backward to assert thy Honour and Glory Let me justifie thee by mine Actions and believe that I cannot honour thee more than by adorning thy Doctrine in all things Let my good Works bear witness that I honour thee and in the midst of a crooked and perverse Generation let me sanctifie thee in my Heart and Life that whereas Men speak evil of me as of an Evil-doer they may be ashamed that falsely accuse my good Conversation in Christ Jesus 16. I will therefore chastise him and release him HE had not deserved so much as Chastisement yet the Judge being desirous to save him from the creator Danger inflicts this upon him for a Shew rather 〈◊〉 out of Malice Even wicked Men sometimes have good Desires and Purposes so had I before I knew thee my dearest Lord but those Purposes came to nothing I purposed often to mend my Life but
this World may'st bid me enter into my Master's Joy 44. And it was about the Sixth Hour and there was a Darkness over all the Earth until the Ninth Hour THE Sun loses his Splendour at Noon The Deed was black and Heaven draws a Curtain over it Yet notwithstanding the Miracle the greatest part of the Spectators continue obstinate When Men's Hearts are set upon Sin and the World how little do even Miracles prevail O my Soul How many strange Providences hast thou seen and yet thou hast not mended thy Life upon it Thou hast seen Miracles of Judgment and Mercy yet thy Heart hath been hard Oh learn to take more notice of God's Dispensations and believe that the strange things that happen to thee and others are Calls from Heaven to the Inhabitants of the World to learn Righteousness 45. And the Sun was darken'd and the Veil of the Temple was rent in the midst WHat a Motive was this to Men to rend their Hearts This was a Sign that God would lay the Inclosure open and that Christ was to break down the Partition-Wall and make both Jews and Gentiles one To this Rent thou art beholden O my Soul Thy Father was an Amorite and thy Mother an Hittite thy Ancestors were Heathens and Idolaters by this Rent they were brought to the Light of the Gospel and upon that Account thou enjoyest the Gospel now Remember how unworthy of this Favour thou hast walked many Years and how thou hast dishonoured this Gospel with thy Life Oh learn to bring forth Fruits as become the Doctrine which is according unto Godliness and let thy Conversation be such as may promote God's Glory and thine Eternal Happiness 46. And when Jesus had cried with a loud Voice he said Father into thy Hands I commend my Spirit And having said thus he gave up the Ghost NOW the Sacrifice is offered and this Death reconciles God to the sinful World This Death which had been so often foretold both by the Prophets and Christ himself is at last accomplished and Pardon of Sin and the Possibility of Men's arriving to Eternal Life by a true Repentance is hereby purchased This Death puts an End to the Curse of the Law And from this Death O my Soul date thy Happiness Though wicked Men who had an Hand in it were the Means whereby it was effected yet the Son of God would die and his voluntary Death is the meritorious Cause of thy Eternal Life Oh look upon it with Wonder and Admiration And while thou standest amazed at it see withal how thou thy self may'st end thy Days If thou livest like a Child of God thy Father in Heaven will receive thee when thou diest Thy Father will not send thee to Hell but being a Father he will stretch forth his Almighty Arms and receive thee to himself like a faithful Creator 47. Now when the Centurion saw what was done he glorified God saying Certainly this was a righteous Man TO make a right Construction of Things is the Way to Spiritual Wisdom This Man justly concluded that Heaven could not possibly shew it self so much concern'd about a Person if he were not an extraordinary Favourite He judged rationally and this brought him to a true Knowledge of Christ and to an open Confession and Declaration of the Sufferer's Innocence O my Soul Consider by what Miracles and Testimonies that Truth thou professest hath been confirmed and conclude it is Divine No Religion hath those Evidences of its Divinity and Celestial Original that the Christian hath and coming from God thou hast the greatest Reason to believe that all its Promises and Threatnings will be fulfilled and seeing that all these shall be fulfilled what manner of Person oughtest thou to be in all holy Conversation and Godliness 48. And all the People that came together to that Sight beholding the things which were done smote their Breasts and returned SMiting their Breasts was a Sign of their Grief and Anger of their Grief because so excellent a Person had been so inhumanely butcher'd and of their Anger against those bloody Men that had condemned and executed him See here O my Soul what Entertainment thou art to give thy Sins In looking upon them divide thy Affections betwixt Grief and Anger Grieve that thou hast offered so many Indignities to thy Blessed Master Be angry with thy self for being so base and ungrateful Grieve that thou hast forgotten the End for which thou wast created and be revenged upon the Sins that caused it And the best Revenge is this to see and take care that thy Degrees of Sin be truly answered by thy Degrees of Sanctification and Heavenly-mindedness 49. And all his Acquaintance and the Woman that followed him from Galilee stood afar off beholding these things THough it is some Ages since Christ was crucified yet in imitation of these Religious Women thou may'st stand afar off O my Soul and behold the Spectacle still When the Circumstances of it are left thee in Writing and the doleful Story stands upon Record thou canst ascend Mount Calvary and see those things acted as if thou hadst been present And Oh little dost thou think how much this Sight will edifie thee Look often upon the Cross and thou wilt find what a Damp it will strike upon all thy sinful Pleasures and how little reason thou hast to hancker after those things whereof so many good Men after they have been sensible of their Errours have been ashamed 50. And behold there was a Man named Joseph a Councillor and he was a good Man and a just IN the midst of Temptations God preserves this Man though his Riches Greatness Reputation and Friendship of the Grandes did strongly entice him to consent to the Death of the Lord Jesus yet he would not and was resolved rather to hazard all than have an hand in the Condemnation This was an Argument of a generous Spirit to bear up under the strongest Assaults and Enticements in the World and to keep an uncorrupt Soul in the midst of Dirt and Filthiness Thou livest in a very evil Generation O my Soul Dare to preserve thine Integrity in the midst of all the Floods of Ungodliness that surround thee And the more thou art discouraged from Goodness and Righteousness the more vigorously stand up for it and maintain it and thy God will be with thee 51. The same had not consented to the Counsel and Deed of them He was of Arimathea 4 City of the Jews who also himself waited for the Kingdom of God TO wait for the Kingdom of God is the Way to resist and to overcome Temptations He that is resolved not to lose his Share in God's Kingdom hereafter will not stand upon his Losses and Crosses here for he knows that the future Kingdom will recompense all No Nan will venture so much for Christ as he that firmly believes the Kingdom of God and fixes his Eye of Faith upon it O my Jesus Give me a clearer Sight of
Confessions specifies the particular Acts wherein he hath walk'd contrary to God discovers an earnest desire to grow in Grace and in this St. Paul shews us an example 1 Tim. 1. 13. where he doth not say I have been a great Sinner but a Blasphemer spoke ill of the way to Life a Persecuter afflicted oppressed and made havock of the Churches of God injurious done great injuries to St. Stephen and to abundance of other Christians In a word such a person by his particular Confession deals faithfully with his own Soul and by mentioning the particular Diseases that annoy him manifests his earnest desire of a Cure whereas General Confessions leave the Soul ignorant dull careless and unaffected with the great Concerns of Salvation And tho' a person every time he accuses himself or confesses his Errors is not bound to enumerate all the particular Sins of his Life he can charge his Memory with yet if he never did it before it 's fit he should do it at least when first he receives the Holy Sacrament and at other times confess such fins as he finds himself most inclin'd to and most apt to harbor in his Bosom 2. These Confessions must be accompanied especially the Confessions before the Sacrament with aggravations of our Offences and with shame and confusion of Face I joyn these two together because aggravating of them is the cause of that confusion and he that reflects in his Confessions what light what knowledge what checks of Conscience what motions of God's Spirit what goodness of God what mercy what patience what promises what threatnings he hath sinn'd against what time he hathlost what opportunities he hath neglected what a gracious what a merciful God he hath offended even love it self and sweetness and beauty it self and what blessings what priviledges what advantages what offers he hath slighted will find himself obliged to have very low and mean thoughts of himself This was the Publican's case Luke 18. 13. Who standing afar off would not lift up so much as his Eyes to Heaven but smote upon his Breast saying God be merciful to me a Sinner He was ashamed and confounded His Conscience told him how unworthily he had dealt with his Creator how strangely he had carried himself to God his best and greatest Friend how unthankful and how base he had been to his most gracious Benefactor and how strangely he had carried himself to the best of Beings He was confounded with the thoughts of his vileness and conscious of his guilt he â—ast his eyes to the ground unable to look his offended Father in the Face His Heart was full of grief Sorrow fate heavy on his Soul and though his Tongue could not express his particular acts of injustice oppression pride anger and greediness after the World yet his Mind confess'd them thought of them his Heart was ready to break at the dismal sight and this was a very acceptable Confession 3. These Confessions must be joyned with invincible purposes to endeavour after a better and more Spiritu-Temper So the wise Man tells us He that confesses his Sins and forsakes theâ— shall find mercy Prov. 28. 13. Without this Qualification our Confessions are mere Lip-services and rceive not one gracious Look from above nay are accounted no better than Israel's Devotion Hos. 10. 1. Israel is an empty Vine He brings forth fruit unto himself Why unto himself The reason is because in that fruit he aim'd not so much at God's Glory as his own Profit Nor was any Person the better for it the design was selfish it was just to satisfie the present terror within no love of God lay at the bottom the ground of all was self-love and God had nothing to do with it The same may justly be said of him that confesses but is not concern'd whether his Flesh be subdued to the Spirit or not Such a Confession is his own invention it is not that Confession which God requires If he confesses it must not be to himself for God regards it not and indeed till this actual endeavour to forsake them is added to the Confession our Sins continue still in God's Books of Accompt look still as black as ever not one of them is blotted out for the enmity against God is still maintained and whilst that lasts it naturally follows that God and we cannot be friends III. The second act of judging our selves is upon this Confession to condemn our selves And indeed if the Soul be truly awake and the Heart sincerely sensible of its errors and miscarriages the Penitent cannot but condemn himself and acknowledge that the Judgments threatned in the word of God are due to him and cry Ah! my God and my Lord Who shall deliver me from the Body of this death from this confluence of Misery I have deserv'd with Adam to be thrown out of Paradise and to be for ever forbid eating of the Tree of Life I have deserv'd to drown'd with the first World or to be consumed for ever as Sodom and Gomorrah I have deserved the sudden and unnatural death of Nadab and Abihu to be stoned with Achan to be struck with Leprosie as Miriam to be swallowed up â—live by the Earth as Dathan and Abiram I have deserv'd Manasseh's Prison and Zedekiah's Chains and what is worse the everlasting Chains of Darkness I acknowledge that I have deserved it should be more tolerable for Infidels in the Great Day than for me for I have seen the mighty works of God and continu'd a stranger to Repentance I have deserved to be called upon at Midnight as that careless Man Thou Fool this Night thy Soul shall be required of thee and whose shall be which thou hast provided To this Wretch that is before thee belongs nothing but Wrath and Indignation On this Head of mine thou mightest justly discharge the Ordinance of Justice and pour out the Vials of thy Wrath On me thou mightest justly rain snares and Fire and Brimstone I have deserv'd to be plagued with Diseases tormented with grievous Pain haunted by panick Terrors If any of these Judgments do not fall upon mee it is thy Patience not my Goodness and I may wonder I have escaped them all this while I have deserved to be made a Prey to that Devil whose Temptations I have swallow'd with Greediness Instead of rejoycing over me to build me up thou mightest justly rejoyce over me to destroy me Justly O Lord thou mightest send upon me trembling of Heart and fainting of Eyes and sorrow of Mind I have deserv'd that my Life should hang in doubt before me that I should fear day and night that in the Morning I should say Would God it were Even and at Even Would God it were Morning Mercy Lord I have deserved none The Crums that fall from thy Table are Blessings too good for me if I deserve any thing it is thy Rod thy Scourges thy Waves thy Billows and a horrible Tempest To condemn is the proper act of a