Gospel And if they are in any sence such Believers as are entituled to Salvation they are such Believers as have a right to Baptism If the Estate belongs to a Child in the Cradle the Indentures and Seals of that Estate belong to him likewise The Child of a Believer may as well be called a Believer as the Child of a Proselite was called a Proselite If God gives Children but the Denomination of Believers it is sufficient to entitle them to Baptism 5. Those that consider the Case of the Anabaptists must needs be of another Opinion This in conjunction with the former Arguments must needs be of great force to those that are serious and considerate and not conceited and resolute in a case which they have espoused As the condition of the Jews is a living Argument of the Truth of Christianity and the badness of their case So I may say that the Condition of the Anabaptists and their Unsuccessfulness in all their attempts to establish their Opinions doth shew that God doth not nor ever did shew any such Favour to them as might give any sober person cause to think that they were Gods Church and People however they plead his Word to be their Rule but that Infant-Baptism is an Ordinance which God allows of and hath countenanced ever since there was any opposition made to it There is a Writer yet alive who gives a large and strange account of the mischievous Practices of the Anabaptists in Germany and other places what Disturbers and not Promoters of Religion they have been wheresoever they have come But I wave all that can be said against them either in this Nation or beyond the Seas and will only say That if I had the highest Opinion of them for their Morals that I have for any sort of men in the World yet I could never believe That all the Primitive Christians who owned and practised Infant-Baptism and the Martyrs in all Ages were not Members rightly admitted into the Church of Christ That not only the Papists but all the Reformed Churches in the World are mistaken in this point and that the Anabaptists are the only True and Rightful Members of Christs Body He must be very weak and notorously partial who considers these things and doth not conclude that they are a Sect that Separate from the True Church which God hath owned in all Ages and not the True Visible Church of Christ This I thought fit to mention in Conjunction with other Arguments by which many wavering minds have been established in the Truth and God grant there may be the like success to those in the like case who shall read them V. Those Excuses which men generally make for their not Receiving are so far from Justifying their Neglect that they do not so much as extenuate it Nay they exceedingly aggravate the Guilt of most Non-Communicants The Truth is no Excuses must be made in such a weighty matter as the Sacrament is There may be Interruptions but there must be no Excuses An Interruption is when a man really intends to receive the Sacrament but somewhat happens by which he is prevented and it is a great trouble to his mind that he is so It is with Christians in this case as it was with those Israelites which we read of Num. 9.6 7. who being hindred from eating the Passover by the legal defilement of a Dead Corps were extremely troubled and came to Moses to know what they should do There were certain men who were defiled by the dead body of a man that they could not keep the Passover on that day and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day And those men said unto him we are defiled by the dead body of a man wherefore are we kept back that we may not offer an offering of the Lord in his appointed Season among the Children of Israel Observe how farr those men were from making Excuses for neglecting Gods Ordinance in that they were extreamly troubled at an interruption which probably they could not help for he that was in a Tent in which a man dyed or came into it was unclean chap. 19.14 and continued so Seven-days This being of great moment Moses said unto them stand still and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you And we read that God in that Case appointed that they should keep the Passover the next Month. God allowed of the Interruption for that time but there must be no Excuse We read Num. 9.13 that the man who was not thus hindered if he did not keep the Passover at the time appointed The same soul shall be cut off from his people because he brought not the Offering of the Lord on his appointed Season A place of Scripture very fit for Non-Communicants to consider who if they have no Impediments will make Excuses instead of them they will pretend somewhat to be the cause of their Neglect which is not really the cause but the little regard which they have for the Ordinances of their Religion is the cause of their Neglect I shall first consider what the General Excuses are and then consider some more special Cases 1. Some pretend that the Solemninity of the Ordinance is the cause of their Neglect It is a very great Ordinance and they durst not adventure to make their approach to it I know that there are some very good Christians to whom this is not an excuse but is a real Cause of their absenting from the Sacrament They think that it is too great an Adventure for such as they are to come to their Lords Supper although they are such as love him and do sincerely desire and endeavour to keep his Commandments What I have already said may give satisfaction in this Case viz. That Humility and a Sense of Unworthyness is a good qualification for a Communicant and that as the Sacrament is a great and Solemn Ordinance so it is a very great Duty to partake of it and therefore Christians must take care that they do not complement our Saviour but that the examine themselves and reverently observe his Institution Great men do sometimes allow of such excuses when they make Invitations but the Great God commands when he invites and there can be no Neglect but it is a great sin as I have already shewed But this is not the Case I have now in hand My design is to speak of those who make this a Pretence for their Non-Communicating They say the Sacrament is a solemne Ordinance and therefore they dare not come to it But I would have such persons to consider whither they go when they turn away from this Solemn Ordinance If it be to their Lusts and a continuance in a sinful course of Life their condition is unspeakably miserable What an Affront is this to the Great God and our Blessed Saviour I may say to them as the Apostle to the Galatians Be not deceived God is not mocked The best that can be
them though he knows that he Acts contrary to the Command of Christ either trying to satisfy himself with Atheistical hopes that there is no World but this or else with the hopes of an after Repentance which is the common snare of the Devil This Person can not be a Worthy Communicant for he is at enmity with God in his mind He is a Rebel against the Law of Christ which his intention to repent afterwards doth suppose He is one who cannot not think himself welcome to Christ because he will not suffer him to be his Lord to Rule over him There is Unworthyness likewise as to the manner of Receiving and that is when a man doth not Receive with Reverence as becomes him in that solemn Approach to God This was a great fault which the Corinthians were guilty of they came Unreverently and disorderly to the Sacrament from their love-Feasts forgetting that they were not in their own Houses but in Gods House and that they were not eating at their own Tables but at the Lords Table This is the proper meaning of the Apostles expression in the next words Not discerning the Lords Body an expression which I have heard some Papists make use of for their whimsey of Transubstantiation as if they Eat and Drank Unworthily who did not discern by Faith that it was the very Body of our Saviour but most certain it is that the Apostle had another meaning The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies both to discriminate and to sanctify and so the properest Account that can be given of it is that he who doth not Receive after a devout and religious manner is Unworthy I hope I have said enough to take off the unnecessary and causeless fears of those who are humble Christians that they will not any longer give the Enemy of their Salvation this advanvantage against them but that they will take right Measures and be so far from keeping from the Sacrament because they think themselves Unworthy that they will account it a good qualification for their Welcome at the Lords Table Let such persons look into the Holy Gospel and they will find that such persons as they are were not only accepted of Christ but highly commended by him and therefore are the most Welcome Guests at the Lords Table The next thing to be considered is what the Apostle means by eating and drinking Damnation which is the affrighting expression that makes thousands afraid to Receive the Sacrament The trembling sinner is affraid that this brings men into the condition of those who were guilty of the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost that they have committed a sin which shall never be forgiven them That they having received Unworthily are irrecoverably Lost and Ruin'd That they have swallowed down Poison to their Souls and can never vomit it up again And if these be the interpretations that sinners make of those Expressions that it is very hard to say who is worthy to Receive and yet if a man be an Unworthy Receiver he is from thenceforth in a state of Damnation It is no wonder that there are so few Communicants That I may therefore rectify these mistakes I desire these things may be considered 1. It was not the design of the Apostle by this Expression to scare the wickedest men amongst Christians from the Sacrament but only that they might Repent and come to it He did not suppose that what he said he would make any afraid to perform their Duty in observing this Ordinance nor had it any such effect upon those to whom he wrote this Epistle He was a more faithful steward and Servant of Christ than to do any thing with design to discourage those from coming to his Masters Table who were invited to prepare to come to it If he had he had been as Unworthy a Minister as the worst sinner can be an Unworthy Communicant It is of great moment and may exceedingly tend to the satisfaction of the scrupulous when they read the Scriptures to consider well what the design of the Pen-man is for by this meanes they will prevent misapplications which are of very ill Consequence 2. The word which is translated Damnation is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies Judgment and doth as well signifie any temporal evil which befalls men in this world as the punishment in the hellish State And so the meaning is this and no more He that Eateth and Drinketh Unworthily offends God and provokes the Judgment of God against himself 3. The case of the Corinthians is to be considered and that may tend exceedingly to the satisfaction of those that are thus affrighted 1. They had received Unworthily but yet the Apostle doth not tell them that they are Damned or that they are in a lost condition and must now perrish for ever but Admonishes them to be more careful for the time to come that they might come with better Preparation than they had before 2. In eating and drinking Unworthily they had eat and drank Damnation to themselves in the Apostles sense They had eat and drank Judgment as appears in the next Verse For this cause many are weak and sickly amongst you and many sleep From which it is concluded that God sent a Plague at Corinth for their Unworthy Receiving 3. It must be consider'd that the Apostle only blames the Corinthians for that Fault which they were then guilty of which was their Unworthy Receiving There were no Christians in those dayes that were Non-Communicants They generally Valued the Sacrament above their lives and an opportunity of receiving though it were Administred every day in the week above all the enjoyments of the World There was therefore no occasion for the Apostle to tell them the Danger of living in the neglect of the Sacrament If there had no Man in his Wits can imagine but that the Apostle would have threatned Damnation as well to Unworthy Neglecters as he did to Unworthy Receivers of the Blessed Sacrament 4. If this which the Apostle saith of Eating and Drinking Damnation be the cause of Mens being afraid to come to the Sacrament they may for the like reason be afraid to perform other Duties of Religion If any Impenitent Sinner Prayes to God without a resolution to avoid the same course of Life he cannot think but his Prayers will provoke God to punish him rather then obtain favour to him that he hath reason to expect that the Judgment of God both in reference to this Life and that which is to come should be the consequent of it he is one who confesseth his sin to God but doth not so much as intend to forsake it for the time to come And this must certainly be a great Provocation of the All-seeing God For a Man to pretend that he is sorry for what he hath done when he is not resolved to amend If an earthly King could know that the Malefactor who beggs his Life intended to do the same wickedness for which
of God destroying their own Souls which lets us see what fools the Devil makes them that forsake Religion Sometimes it is attended with mirth and jollity Laughter and Swearing go together as if to abuse the Holy Name of God were a help to Mirth But the reason of it is this the Devil will not have his servants to have innocent Mirth if they should their Damnation would not be encreased as he would have it upon all occasions Sometimes we observe men swearing in their ordinary Converse as if it were a grace to their speech Of which the truest account that I can give is that their Hearts are so full of Wickedness of contempt of God and of Religion that it continually as a thing in course runs out at their Mouths I may add another Impiety which doth exceedingly encrease and that is Contempt of Religion upon the Lords Day Men of other Religions may call it the Devils Day considering what horrid Wickednesses men are guilty of on that Day He hath more service done him on that day than in all the week besides 'T is become the Ale-house-keepers Market or rather Fair-day If Christians should regard their Souls on that day they could not pay their Rents These Wickednesses and many more have abounded since the days of Non-Communicating If these Ungodly Wretches had not turn'd their backs upon the Sacrament at first when they were of years in which they might have been capable of Receiving it and the Church requir'd it if they had been under a Necessity of receiving it no man can imagine that they could have been guilty of such horrid Sins and have lived such wicked Lives 'T is possible that they might have been in a sinful State and so have been Unworthy Communicants and thereby have eaten and drank Damnation to themselves But now they do most apparently damn their own Souls to the bottomless Pit of Destruction and they damn the souls of others and in a sense they may be said to damn all Religion If these profligate Wretches were strictly required to come to the Sacrament they would be under a Necessity of reforming that they might be admitted to it There would be an Admonition from the Minister There would be trerible Checks from their own Consciences which the Sacrament would rouze and cause to terrify them And if after upon their promise of Amendment they are admitted to the Sacrament they shall return to their former courses Other Communicants would take notice of them and give them friendly and godly Admonitions and if those prevail not they would at length complain to the Church by which they should be forced to live better or be abandoned the society of Christians But when men turn their backs upon the Sacrament they are then strangers to their Neighbours or at least there is no acquaintance with them as they are Christians They are little or nothing concern'd with one another in the things of Religion And if they are reproved they answer to the Reprover that he is nothing concern'd with them which they could not do if they Communicated together at the Blessed Sacrament There is a great complaint of Unworthy Communicants and I hope it is greater than there is Cause for But what a fearful cause is there to complain of the Unworthyness of the horrid and shameful Wickednesses of Non-Communicants The consequence of Non-Communicating may come likewise under a more special Consideration There are Thousands that are not openly scandalous and profane whose condition would not be so bad as it is if they frequented the Sacrament There would not be so much guilt and trouble in their minds when they are in health nor so much fear and disquietment when sickness comes This is a plain case and almost every days Experience proves the truth of it Let every man who lives in any known Sin examine his own Mind whether if he were under a necessity of Receiving the Sacrament he would not be more afraid to commit that Sin whether he would not be more afraid to neglect his Duty to God both in publick and private And when he hath Received after a solemn and devout manner and know that he must shortly renew his engagement to God again He would not be more careful of his wayes I know there are a great many who are afraid to come to the Sacrament but if they Examin themselves and seriously consider the state of their own Minds they will have cause to conclude That it is from a suggestion of the Devil and that he makes them afraid to Receive that they might be the less afraid to sin He may be Unworthy who does Receive he may be one that lives a sinful Life but we have much more cause to think him Unworthy and in a sinful state who Receives not at all There is likewise a more dreadful Consequence in respect of Grief and Sorrow when the Non-Communicant is sick and forc'd to look back upon his former Life which I have had such frequent occasion to take notice of that I visit the Sick with some kind of Fear lest I should find their Neglect of the Sacrament tormenting their Consciences I never yet heard any say that they had damned their Souls by Receiving the Sacrament although I must confess I have heard some lament that they did not come to it so qualified as they might have done I never yet heard any say I wish I had never received the Sacrament although in some cases as I shall shew there may be cause for Persons to wish so But that Men and Women have not received is the Torment of their departing Souls because then their guilty minds tell them that they ought to have received it and might have done it to their great Benefit and Advantage I lately heard this Expression from a Sick bed which I mention because I think very useful As for the Sacrament I was afraid in my health to receive it but I think if I had received it I should have been more careful of my wayes than I have been We do for the most part find that Persons are Comforted or Tormented upon their Sick-Beds according to their Communicating or Non-Communicating in the time of their Healths I know not which is more rare in visiting the Sick to find a Communicant troubled in mind or a Non-communicant that is not There is another dreadfull Evil which is the consequence of Non-Communicating which I might have mentioned under the former head and that is most gross and scandalous Ignorance There never was any Age in which there were Ministers more able to instruct the People and it is well known their way of Preaching the Gospel is most plain and intelligible to the meanest Capacities And yet The People perish for want of Knowledg In many places by reason of the vast number of Inhabitants it is impossible there can be a particular care of their Souls by Converse with them in Private which is of great necessity
who for some additional Advantages would not find time to spare from his necessary occasions There are many who will work harder than ordinary for the sake of a little Liberty Others to gain some Profit and Advantage to themselves Surely such persons if they have a desire to walk in the pleasant wayes of Religion may make hast to dispatch their business that they may have a little time to Examine themselves to bethink themselves of the State of their minds and how the great affaires stand between God and their own Souls They may find time to consider what Sins they have to repent of and heartily to begg Gods grace that they may escape them for the time to come and if they do so they are Worthy Communicants though they have had but little time for the dispatch of these great Concerns I cannot think there is any man so employed but he may find time in the Morning Evening to pray to God if he cannot make it a set Duty be alone and be undisturbed Yet there may be Fervent Ejaculations by which he may lift up his heart to God which God will hear and have a speciall regard to And by the Use of them his mind will be kept in such a Religious Frame and Temper that he will be a Worthy Communicant and a welcome Guest at the Lords Table 5. Let those who make this Excuse that they want time to prepare consider the ill consequences of Neglecting the Sacrament They that complain they want Time to prepare for the Sacrament find time enough to commit those sins which make them unfit for that or any other Religious Duties Whatever business they have to do they find time to harden their hearts against God and against Religion so that no impressions of Good may be made in them He that at first thought he might not come because he wanted Time to prepare will afterwards refuse to come though he hath more time than he knows what to do with Nay he will rather throw it away and his Soul with it by spending it in the Service of the Devil than in preparing that he may be a Worthy Communicant There is another Pretence for Unpreparedness and that is the Temptations which attend the dispatch of necessary business Men say they are forced to converse with sinful men and are unavoidably betrayed to that which is Evil and therefore it is in Vain for them to think of Preparing for the Sacrament I desire such to consider 1. It may be they complain without a Cause and that in dispatch of their business they are not Tempted to that which is really Evil. It may be this man thinks that he cannot Prepare because his business will unhinge the Devotion of his mind and put it out of that Religious Frame and Temper which he would keep it in if he intended to partake He thinks that a man may not Receive the Sacrament unless he can for some time keep his mind so free from such Incumbrances as not to have a Thought of worldly Business entertain'd by him There is no Reason why this should hinder his Receiving The lawful Dispatch of Worldly business must not hinder men from the Sacrament nor must the Sacrament hinder men from the dispatch of Worldly business We have no such Rule If a man spends that time with his Customers which he intended to spend with God in secret Devotion and there hath been Innocent Mirth this is no Offence to God only it is Adviseable that at his return he reduce his mind to Seriousness and Devotion in order to his Receiving and then he needs not fear but he shall be welcome at the Lords Table 2. If in the Dispatch of business men do that which is really evil If they defraud or if they are guilty of Drunkeness which is become such a Concomitant with Trade that there are a great many whom the Devil will not suffer to dispatch their Business with their Customers unless they dispatch their business with him at the same time and it happens some dayes before the Sacrament Let him repent and humble his soul to God to think that he hath forgotten God and his own Soul at that time when he should have prepared for the Blessed Sacrament And if he be sincerely Penitent he need not omit it Nay he hath the more need to receive it by how much he sees how prone he is to fall into Temptations that he may be kept from them And if this hath happened a little before the Sacrament and so neer to it that he cannot be satisfied of his Repentance so as to come to the Sacrament the next time of Administration let him go to his Minister and bewail the Cause of his not Receiving Let him think how happy they are that are Worthy Communicants and what a sad thing it is that he should do that for the sake of which he dare not appear at the Lords Table But if this be the Case that he hath Neglected to Receive and hopes that this will excuse him if he be not in the snare of the Devil and under the Dominion of Sin I am sure no man in the World is He may as well speak plainly and say I love my sin better than the Sacrament and Sinful Companions better than Pious Communicants And I suppose these are the men as well as others who keep from the Sacrament to avoid Damnation 3. If Worldly Business brings men into ill Company and is the Occasion of Sin let them make hast to dispatch it and tell the company that they are to Communicate Our Saviour said If any shall be ashamed of me before men of him will I be ashamed before my Father He doubtless spake it in reference to the Derision with which Jews and Heathens thought to make men ashamed of Christianity which was the reason of the Cross in Baptism But in Our age we had need make use of it to encourage one Christian whom another derides for observing the Institutions of our Saviour If there be any that are so asham'd of Christ and his Ordinance that they will rather go on to commit sin for Company sake than give such a reason they are Unworthy indeed For it appears plainly that they are ashamed of the Sacrament but not of their Sin The Sacrament was appointed to keep men from sin but if they may not both be entertain'd the Sacrament must keep off 4. Let these Persons consider what manifest Contempt they cast upon all other Ordinances of Christ They can go to Prayers and Sermons all the year long and it signifies nothing but they can go to their sinful Companions all the week after and it may be on the Lords day as soon as the Publick Service is done as if it were in Defiance of those little things of Religion They can confess their sins and instead of forsaking run to them as soon as they have done They can pray to the Great King of