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
and Feet and Gestures and Behaviour thy Reason Memory and Passion should all be at his beck move by his prescription act according to his appointment be seasoned with his Grace and conducted by his Wisdom If thou art content that all shall go rather than his Favour if his Love or a share in it be dearer to thee than the dearest of all outward enjoyments be of good cheer it 's a good sign and thou mayst rationally infer that thou art in Covenant with thy Lord and hast a right to all the priviledges that are annex'd to it for thy encouragement V. And here we may justly reflect what a mercy it is to be in Covenant with God a mercy indeed which no Tongue can express nay no Apollos neither as eloquent as he was can describe no Tertullus no Cicero no Demosthenes represent according to its worth a mercy which no Man knows save he who receives it a mercy weich fills the Tongues of departed Saints with praises a mercy which unhappy Souls that groan among Devils would give Millions for if they had them a mercy which sweetens all Conditions makes Sickness easie and Iron Chains sit soft mitigates pain and tempers grief and anguish A mercy which made the penitent Publican stand confounded amaz'd the humble Magdalen caused St. Paul to go chearfully through Stripes and Imprisonment and encouraged the Believers of old to defie death and torments He that is in Covenant with God enjoys all that Son of God enjoys though not as yet in fruition and possession yet in title and reversion God the Father carries him on his Wings as the Eagle doth her young the Eternal Son of God is his faithful Friend The Holy Spirit of God speaks to him in the still voice of peace and comfort He that is in this Covenant is safe in the midst of Spears and Arrows safe when he goes through the Water safe when he passes through the Fire safe when the Waves do roar safe when Hell gapes upon him safe in a Storm safe at Sea safe on the Shore safe in his Life safe in his Death God is concern'd for him in all his afflictions He is afflicted The Lord Jesus is touch'd with his infirmities and the Spirit of God makes intercessions for him with groans that cannot be utter'd In a word there is no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus to them that walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit Rom. 8. 1. The PRAYER O God! whose pity is infinite whose compassion knows no bounds How shall I extol thy Humiliation How shall I admire thy condescension to this poor Worm Will God the Great the omnipotent God look upon such an one as I Wilt thou enter into a Covenant with this lump of Clay wilt thou tye and oblige thy self to do me good The Favour is wonderful I could not have thought it possible but that thou hast most graciously revealed it to me I believe Lord help my unbelief Behold I am Servant the Son the Daughter of thine Handmaid Be it unto me according unto thy Word I accept of thy offer I count my self happy that I may be admitted into Covenant with thee I renounce the Devil and all his Works Thou shalt be my Master my Father my Guide my Director my King and my God my Master to command me my Father to counsel me my Guide to lead me my Director to conduct me my King to rule me my God to dispose of me as thou pleasest I will know no Will but thy Will By the Blood of the Covenant unite my Will to thy Will Grant me to desire what thou delightest in desiring to search after it searching to know it and knowing it to fulfil it Make me O Lord for thou alone canst do it make me Obedient without contradiction Holy without defection Chast without corruption Patient without murmuring Humble without dissimulation Chearful without licentiousness Sorrowful without dejection Grave without affectation nimble in Religion without lightness Fearful without despair Upright without Hypocrisie and fruitful in good Works without presumption Give me a watchful Heart a Heart not easily drawn away by vain imaginations a Heart unbroken by afflictions unaffected with the vanities of the World that may not swell with prosperity nor sink in adversity Grant me understanding to know thee diligence to seek thee wisdom to find thee a readiness to please thee perseverance to wait for thee and confidence at last to embrace thee O Holy and Eternal Spirit I depend upon thy assistance Make me faithful to my God faithful to my Neighbour faithful to mine own Soul faithful in my Calling faithful in the discharge of my Duty faithful in my Promises faithful in my Conversation faithful in my Love faithful in my Obedience faithful in thy House faithful in mine own faithful unto Death that I may obtain a Crown of Life through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen CHAP. XV. Of frequent receiving the Holy Communion and the necessity of it The ONTENTS Frequent coming to the Lord's Table the Practise of the Primitive Christians Receiving every Lord's Day an universal observance Different Customs in different Churches Decay of a good life the cause of Communicating seldom The necessity of frequent Communicating shewn in four particulars as the Eucharist is a great preservative against Sin an engagement to emulate Christ's Virtues a Motive to Charity and the frequent coming a thing very pleasing to God Inquiry made how often a conscientious Christian is bound to Communicate The measures of that Obligation to be taken partly from the Orders of the Church we live in and partly from the fervency of our love to Christ. An Objection drawn from the danger of contempt and disesteem of the Ordinance if we come often answered Arguments to prove that lawful business in the World is no just impediment of Communicating frequently An Expostulation pressing frequent Receiving The frequent Communicant an Object of Divine Mercy The Prayer I. THough the Example of the Primitive Believers is not properly a Law yet we may have leave to infer so much from it that being well acquainted with the Will of Christ and his Apostles in those Practises especially which were universal we ought not without very urgent reasons to depart from that Pattern and if this Rule hold frequent communicating at the Lords Table will become if not absolutely necessary yet highly useful and expedient since it was the practise of the best of Men in the best of Ages and of this the Acts of the Holy Apostles give us a very large account particularly Ch. 2. 42. 46. which place being generally understood of the Eucharist it must follow that the Believers did daily participate of it But this seems to have been a custom peculiar to the Church of Jerusalem for though St. â—yprian St. Chrysostom and St. Austin speak of some places in their time where the daily Sacrifice was celebrated yet even in the Apostles days we find other Churches did
persons and that to all Eternity All this is represented to us in this Sacrament a Saviour groaning and weeping and sighing under the burthen of our Sins and thereby giving notice that if we grow not weary of Sin we shall weep and groan and sigh for ever and shall not the dreadful Spectacle fill my Soul with abhorrency and detestation of what I see so signally punished Shall not I run away from it and say to it Get thee hence thou evil and unclean Spirit touch me not what agreement hath the Temple of God with Idols And if this Holy Sacrament be so great a preservative against Sin surely we cannot too often make use of it especially since we see how easily Sin doth beset us how often we are tempted to it and how we are daily encompassed with suggestions and provocations to it 2. This frequent Communicating cannot but be a mighty engagement to a pious emulation of the Virtuous and Gracious Life of the Ever-Blessed Jesus There is none but knows how frequent going into company that is of such a Temper and seeing their Manners and way of Acting is apt to produce assimulation of Disposition in the persons that frequent it That Society a Man frequently resorts to gives a tincture to his Nature and Inclination and consequently the frequent seeing and conversing with the Holy and Gracious Jesus in this Sacrament is very likely to have the same effect For in this Ordinance we do not only come to see him Bleeding and Dying for his Enemies but to look upon his eminent Virtues too his wonderful Meekness his deep Humility his unparalell'd Patience his chearful Submission to the Will of God his admirable Self-resignation his unshaken Contentedness his generous contempt of the World and his steady living in the thoughts of future Bliss and Glory Can I see these Virtues shine in his noble Soul and remember that they are set before me to raise my desires of being like him and believe that God expects and requires of me to transcribe them on my Temper Can I see how lovely how amiable and how beautiful these Graces are how in the midst of all his troubles they proclaim him to be the Son of God and in despight of all the contempt and scorn of Men and Devils speak him to be a favourite of Heaven Can I see how in the midst of all the Affronts and Derisions and Indignities he endured these Graces still made him amiable glorious in a Storm bright in that dismal Night-dress Illustrious in Misery Magnificent in Poverty Can I see how these Diamonds glister in the black Jet in which they are placed and notwithstanding the dull matter that doth encompass them are Diamonds still of an infinite value prized by God esteemed by Angels magnified by all good Men agreeable to Reason conformable to Gods Nature Can I see all this and continue stubborn and obstinate and an enemy to these Virtues Is not this enough to make me enamour'd with them to oblige me to long for them and to cause a disquiet in my Soul till it be possess'd of these inestimable Treasures And if this Sacrament be such an engagement to this pious Emulation and endeavour after the same gracious Qualifications is it not fit is it not expedient is it not reasonable is it not necessary that I should communicate frequently and Eat often and Drink often at this Table except I am afraid of being too lively too good or too serious 3. This Sacrament is a mighty promoter of fervent Charity and since the frequent exercise of this Charity is necessary frequent Comunicating must be so too this being the cause or incentive to the other That in an eminent manner it promotes and encourages Charity and Love to our Fellow Christians Concord and Unity Peace and Amity readiness of Mind to do good and bowels of Kindness to our Brethren none can doubt that 's sensible what Charity is represented in this Ordinance Here I see how the Great Commander of Heaven and Earth offers Reconciliation to a desperate Offender and whereas the Offender should be the first that should seek and implore God's Pardon God prevents him and with his Royal hands unask'd bestows upon him a Patent of Grace and Mercy Here I see how the Supream Judge who hath absolute power over our Life and Death is willing to be friends with a wretch that owes him Ten thousand Talents and willing frankly to forgive him all to discharge him of all his Debts and to supersede all Actions against him Here I see how the Everlasting Father is ready to receive the Prodigal into his House again to admit him to his Table who had spent all his Substance in riotous living ready to kill the fatted Calfe for him to put a Ring on his Finger and to betroth him to himself in Righteousness Here I see how he before whom all Nations are as Grashoppers offers to embrace the Worm that hath resisted him spoken ill of him prostituted his Glory expos'd Religion and studied and contrived ways to dishonour him Here I see the Son of God ready with the Balsom of his Blood to anoint the Wretch that made the Wounds and dying for the Men the multitude of whose Offences hath seemed to vye with the number of God's Mercies Here I see how infinite Light offers to twist its Rays with loathsome Darkness and how the greatest Prince proceeds to those excesses of Humility as to give the greatest Sinners room and entertainment in his Banqueting-House to call them Brethren and Friends and sheep of his Flock than which there are scarce more endearing Titles All this I behold here and shall not such a wonderful Scene of Charity blow those little sparks of Affection I find within into greater flames Can I see here what God hath done for me who have acted more treacherously against him than my greatest Enemy ever did against me and shall not this raise Compassion in me to my Fellow-servants and move me to lay down all Wrath and Enmity to them whose Injuries are but Fleabites in comparison of those I have offered to the Best of Beings And if this Sacrament be so strong an engagement to this Charity it stands to reason that frequent Communicating must be necessary too the rather because we are so often in danger of breaking the bond of Peace and dissolving the cement which must hold and knit Christians together So that 4. This frequent Cammunicating cannot but be acceptable to God and this he declared in the example of the Primitive Believers whose frequent receiving did so incline the Favour of God toward them that the Evangelist takes notice Acts 2. 47. The Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved In this the Divine Bounty expressed its liking of their frequent repairing to the Table of the Lord This was not only a reward of their frequent Communion but God made that frequency a motive to others to embrace the true Religion Nothing
Ordinance in thy Church and ordained it as a means whereby thy loving Members may come in the unity of the Faith unto a perfect Man It shall be established for ever as the Moon and as a faithful witness in Heaven Give me O give me perseverance in the use of it O Jesu Thou art the promised Seed the promised Messiah the promised desire of all Nations Thou art the fruitful Vine and by the precious Liquor that drops from thee innumerable Souls are cherished and refreshed Thy Sacred Name is as Ointment poured out I smell the rich composition My Soul doth gather strength and life from that perfume I am the wounded Man that 's fallen among Thieves O let thy Blood heal me of my Plagues Thou hast been lifted up to the Cross that the Enemy of Mankind might be troden down O let me participate of the Virtue of that exaltation that I may trample upon his Temptations Thou hast been lifted up to draw me after Thee and to withdraw my Heart from worldly Desires and Affections O lift me up from the Earth that I may relish the comfort of thy Exaltation Thou wast lifted up that thou mightest be beheld by all O let me look upon Thee whom I have pierced by my Sins that I may mourn for them bitterly Thy Holy Arms were stretched out that thou mightest embrace all that come unto Thee I come Lord Take me into thy Arms and love me O let thy Cross be my security against all my Enemies Let thy Wounds be my refuge in the hour of Temptation Let that innocent Blood that dropt from thy Hands and Feet and Side wash away the spots and stains of my abominable Actions Henceforward my Hands and my Heart shall be lifted up in Prayer and Praise and Love and Devotion O direct me and give me grace to obey thy Directions and leave me not till I am past all danger O see me safe through the wilderness of this World that I may for ever Admire and Adore Thee in thy Everlasting Kingdom Amen CHAP. XVII Of Eating and Drinking unworthyly in this Ordinance and the Guilt the unworthy Receiver incurs thereby The CONTENTS Both good and bad Men frighted witb the thoughts of Eating and Drinking unworthily but the good without just cause Wherein unworthy Eating and Drinking doth not consist shewn in Thirteen particulars with the reasons of the assertion and wherein it doth consist The danger of unworthy Eating and Drinking proved to lie in making our selves guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. How Men involve themselves in that guilt discovered A great difference betwixt Receiving unworthily and being not worthy to Receive The great imprudence and Weakness of those that are loath to depart with their Sins and therefore are unwilling to come for fear they should make themselves guilty of the Death of Christ and of Damnation The impudence and boldness of others who come to this Sacrament receive unworthily and are not concerned at their danger The Joys and Comforts which arise from Receiving worthyly The Prayer I. THough from the Premises the Reader may easily guess what is it to Eat and Drink unworthyly and though in Ch. 4. some general notions concerning it have been laid down yet since it is a point which frights not only bad Men but even some of those who are otherwise piously inclin'd from coming to the Lord's Table it will be necessary to give a distinct explication it that neither the bad may think they gain any thing by abstaining nor the good be discouraged from coming As bad Men have no sense of Spiritual things which makes them live merrily in neglect of commanded Duties so not a few of those whose hearts are tender are apt to discompose their minds with needless scruples whereby they too often deprive themselves of the comforts they might reap from God's Ordinances and besides expose themselves to strong Temptations of the Devil who takes pleasure to see good Men in confusion hoping that one time or other they may fall into his net and when they know not how to extricate themselves out of their Labyrinths will shake of the Yoak of all Religion and become his Votaries run into the the other extream and turn either careless or Prophane To prevent these and other dangers it will be convenient to discourse of this Eating and Drinking unworthily first Negatively what it is not and secondly what it is and wherein the sin consists And therefore II. To Eat and Drink unworthily is not 1. To Eat and Drink at this Table with a weak Faith By a weak Faith I mean such a belief of the truth and necessity of the things commanded in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ as makes the Soul ready and willing to do the things required of her but is attended with great fears and doubts with wavering and inconstancy and this weakness proceeds not so much from want of will to submit to Christ as from want of understanding either the extent of the Grace of God or the nature of the Gospel of peace or the design of God in his Providences or the Latitude of true Christian Liberty which defect must needs cause great mistrusts of our safety danger of being scandaliz'd with little things and unsteddiness in Holy Duties as we see Rom. 14. 1 2. c. yet this weakness of Faith doth not make a Man an unworthy receiver 1. Because Christ is willing to receive such into favour and he express'd this willingness in his kind behaviour to the Man we read of Mark 9. 22. Who believed indeed but waveringly and soon after cryed out and said with Tears in his Eyes Lord I believe help thou my unbelief The Disciples of our Lord upon their first adhering to him were at the best but weak in Faith and therefore Christ calls to them so often O ye of little Faith yet he doth not therefore reject them He cherishes the very Seeds of Faith and when it is no bigger than a grain of Muster-Seed he makes much of it Though the Branches of it be but tender yet he doth not Root up the Tree or Command the Husbandman to cut it down lest it should cumber the Ground or throw it into the Fire To which purpose there is an Excellent Character given of him Esa. 40. 11. He shall feed his Flock like a Shepherd and gather the Lambs with his Arms and carry them in his Bosom and shall gently lead those that are with young There are Lambs in his Flock as well as Sheep and as these two require various management so both may be confident of his tenderness All Stars do not shine alike yet even those that give not so great a brightness shall be preserved as well as the greater Luminaries Love is an acceptable present to him and though in some like fire under green Wood it burns but dimly yet he 'll quench it no more than he will the more blazing Flames But then when I say he will
not frown on those that are weak in Faith I do not mean such as have no saving no working Faith and as refuse to work the work of God such are Infidels not Men weak in Faith Weakness of Faith supposes readiness to good works but the various doubts which attend it cause this weakness That there are such Persons as Children in Grace St. John assures us 1 John 2. 12. Yet even their Sins he is willing to forgive for his Names sake 2. Because this Sacrament was instituted for the strengthening of our Faith The weak in Faith are called and invited to it that they may grow more robust and lively and to this end Christ offers himself in this Ordinance as Spiritual Meat and Drink that living upon him and feeding upon him we may be brought up to greater perfection that our Souls may follow him with greater alacrity Grace may become more active and Faith more solid and more defecated from Hypocrisie And as here we contemplate Christ so we behold his extraordinary Faith in God that seeing it it may give us courage to tread in his steps His Father's promises to him as Man and Mediator were great and large and extensive God had promis'd that he should be King of Heaven and Earth that all Power should be put into his hand and that he should be as it were his Lieutenant-General Ask of me saith he Psal. 2. 8. And I shall give thee the Heathen for thine Inheritance and the uttermost parts of the Earth for thy possession thou shalt break them with a rod of Iron thou shalt dash them in pieces like a Potter's Vessel There was little probability of the performance of these promises when he was mocked derided scourged beaten bruis'd and crucified when he was made liker a Worm than a Man the reproach of Men and despised of the People when all that saw him laugh'd him to scorn and did shoot out their Lips and shook their Heads saying He trusted in the Lord that he would deliver him let him deliver him seeing he delighted in him when many Bulls compass'd him and strong Bulls of Basan did beset him round when they gaped upon him with their Mouths as ravening and roaring Lions when he was poured out like Water and all his Bones were out of joynt when his Heart was like Wax and melted in the midst of his Bowels when his strength was dried up like a Pot-sherd and his Tongue cleav'd to his Jaws and he was brought into the dust of Death when Dogs compass'd him and the Assemblies of the wicked did enclose them when they pierc'd his hands and his Feet as David describes his misery yet in the midst of all these disasters he believ'd the promise of his Father would be punctually fulfill'd which makes the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews say that for the Glory set before him the promis'd Glory He endured the Cross and despised the shame Heb. 12. 2. His Faith bore him up under all these Floods of ungodliness so that he is not only the Author and Finisher but also the example of our Faith an Example set before us in this Holy Sacrament that we may light our Candle by his Fire strengthen our Faith by his Plerophory and Confidence and if this be the end of his being represented in this Ordinance the weak in Faith cannot be excluded nor can weakness of Faith make a Person an unworthy Receiver Nor Is it want of a total purity or of freedom from all Sin that makes a Person an unworthy Receiver It 's true the Gospel commands those who mean to receive worthily to purge out the old leaven 1 Cor. 5. 7. And putting off the old Man with all his deceitful Lusts Eph. 4. 22. and whoever hopes to be partaker of the benefits of Christ's death his purpose at least must be serious and unfeigned without partiality and Hypocrisie to renounce all Love and Affection to a sinful Life but still there is a great difference betwixt destroying the Reigning power of Sin and being free from all Sin of the former the aforesaid passages must be understood and the worthy Communicant must in sober sadness mortifie and resolve to mortifie the Imperial Power of Sin in his Soul so as not willingly and wilfully to yield unto the sinful dictates of the Flesh or of the World but to prefer his God and what he requires before his own Temporal advantages But from thence it follows not that the worthy Receiver must not be so much as subject to errors and inadvertencies and falls by surprize and before he can well recollect himself and therefore the want of such spotlesness is not it that makes a Man Eat and Drink unworthily at this Table 1. Because this Feast is not instituted for Angels but for Men. Angels have no need of such encouragements to Virtue they being determin'd to Goodness Were Men free from all Sin they would not stand in need of this Ordinance which is intended to make sinful Men good and good Men better Those that are whole need no Physician but the sick and as Christ is the Physician in this Sacrament so they are the sick he invites to come to him The best Man that is though he labours under no Chronical distemper yet he hath ailings still and infirmities about him which want the Physicians hand and Medicine which is here most Graciously tendr'd to him The Scripture of the Old Testament calls Man Enosh infirm weak sickly and though good Men are arriv'd to a far better state of health than Hypocrites and grosser Sinners yet who even of the strictest mortals can say I have made my heart clean so that no spot shall be seen there This Sacrament therefore being ordained for Men it must be granted that it is ordain'd for sinful Men not to encourage them in Sin but to make them hate it not only the bigger stains but even the relicts of it that remain in the Regenerate To this end Christ's Agonies and exquisite Torments are set before us in this Sacrament the Torments I mean our Sins inflicted and brought upon him that that sight may terrifie us and fill us with abhorrency of that which hath made the Son of God so miserable 2. No Sinners are excluded from this Sacrament that are willing to reform their Hearts and Lives Those that with Ephraim will have no more to do with Idols take with them words and turn unto the Lord saying Take away all our iniquity and receive us Graciously so will we render the Calves of our Lips Ashur shall not save us neither will we say any more to the works of our hands ye are our Gods as it is said Hos. 14. 2 3. Such are call'd by the great Shepherd of the Sheep not stubborn Sinners but penitent Sinners not obstinate Sinners but tractable Sinners not Sinners that will be miserable but Sinners that long to be deliver'd from their misery not Sinners that are resolved to walk
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
day insomuch that if many a Man's sickness and weakness of Body and not living out halfe his days were throughly examin'd and look'd into it would be found to proceed in a great measure from this Cause even his unworthy Receiving of the Holy Symbols II. If we enquire into the Reasons why God makes use of Sickness and weakness of Body to lash the unworthy Receiver in this Life we must conclude that considering how all Afflictions and Judgments of this Life are curative and intended to work a change in the Offender for the better the Reasons why God makes use of Sickness particularly in punishing the unworthy Receiver are these following 1. Sickness weakens the Flesh abates and lessens its violent desires whereby it comes to pass that the Spiritual part gets from under the slavery it lay enthrall'd in while the Flesh prevail'd and puts the Sinner upon serious Thoughts for now it gets leave to exercise its Authority which before was over-aw'd and crush'd and oppress'd by the usurping Tyrant and thereby occasions terror and consternation in the whole Man about his unworthy Receiving While the Flesh is predominant and bears Rule Faith and Reason are mere prisoners and whatever they suggest is not hearken'd to The Flesh still baffles their Arguments and admits of nothing but what pleads in favour of its brutish Appetite Sickness coming and weakning the Flesh and rendring all the delights of the World insipid and unsavoury the Soul recovers her freedom and is now at liberty to think of her former Life to survey the Actions of her past Practices and among other Errors to reflect upon her unworthy Receiving to aggravate this particular Offence and thereby to incline the sinner's Eyes and Heaâ—t to penitential Tears for now the Man having no hurry of business no noise of vain company no external Gayeties no Musick of sensual Pleasures to call him away from minding the things that belong to the happiness of his Soul he is more at leisure to ruminate upon what he hath been doing and the dreadfulness of his Sin viz. feeding irreverently at this Table and not discerning that the Body of the Son of God was offered to his Soul and if any thing will melt or turn him this is very likely to effect it 2. Sickness puts the unworthy Receiver in mind of Death for he that falls sick knows not but his Illness may end in Death and there are few Men but are of this opinion when once they take their Bed fear that they shall or may dye makes them seek out for proper Helps and Remedies send for Physicians if they be able and sometimes for Divines too think of making their Wills set their House in order and after all leave nothing untried whereby they may prevent the stroak of Death Sickness being of that nature and having this influence on men may therefore be suppos'd to put the unworthy Receiver in mind of his Death and as it puts him in mind of Death so if he have any sense of Religion left it minds him also of an approaching Judgment and suggests to him that for ought he knows he will shortly be in another World be summon'd to give an account of his Life to God and appear before the Judge of Quick and Dead even before Christ Jesus the Son of God whose Death hath had no influence upon his Life whose Blood he hath trampled under foot whose Sufferings he hath not much thought of whose Love hath made no great impression upon him whose Charity hath wrought in him no considerable tenderness to his Neighbour whose Presence in the Sacrament he hath undervalued and whose entreaties to become Wise unto Salvation and meek and humble and serious and blameless he hath stopt his Ears against and how little Mercy he must expect of that Judge whom to please he hath not been much concern'd This Kindness Sickness may be supposed to do to the unworthy Communicant viz. to put him in mind of his Death and future account and the Judge whose Body and Blood he hath profan'd and his anger and indignation against such Profanation and what can be supposed more effectual to promote Repentance and Godly Sorrow and new Resolutions to awake from the Dead that Christ may give him Life And therefore God makes use sometimes of Bodily Sickness to afflict the unworthy Communicant But where Death seizes on the unworthy Commnicant either before he can bethink himself or before a previous lingring Sickness hath melted and wrought his Heart into a Spiritual Life there the Man's case is deplorable indeed for to think that God will accept of his Death as a Satisfaction for his Sin and save him however is to make a new Divinity and to erect Principles which the Scripture knows nothing of 'T is true in some Cases where God cuts off a young Man in 〈◊〉 Flower of his Age a young Man I mean whose Liâ—e hath been blameless attended with holy Fears and a Conscientious Behaviour at home and abroad his untimely Death may be said to be a Temporal Affliction for some accidental Miscarriages and single Inadvertencies such as never swelled into an Habit or setled Approbation by which Affliction he is saved and freed from the greater Condemnation according to the Apostle's Rule 1 Cor. 11. 32. But when we are judged i e. with Temporal Judgments such as Sickness Weakness and Untimely Death whereof he had spoken Vers. 30. we are chasten'd of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the World In this Case i.e. in Accidental Miscarriages God may be said to accept of the lesser for the greater Judgment upon his Account who died and rose again for those who hear his Voice But where the Sin is habitual rooted in the Heart hath invaded the Complexion and is allowed of and thought harmless and void of Hurt there an Untimely Death is no Security against Condemnation no Shelter against the Wrath to come How far it may abate or qualifie the future Indignation I am not able to say but it is no Deletory no Fortisication no Charm against that Storm III. But here a Difficulty will arise How a Person may know that the Sickness or Weakness of Body that is upon him comes upon him for his unworthy Receiving To which I answer 1. There is not a more ready Way to know it than by ransacking our Life and particularly our publick Devotions If in our present Sickness we find upon Examination that when we came formerly to the Supper of the Lord we came without any sincere Intent Desire or Resolution to be wrought into Love and Obedience to Christ Jesus by the Sight of his Cross and Death and Charity that we came and went away unconcerned unmoved untouched at this Medicamentum Immortalitatis this Physick of Immortality as St. Dennis calls it or that we thought that the Blessings promised to the Faithful and to those who strive and fight the good Fight would fall to our share and
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