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B20902
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Mensalia sacra, or, Meditations on the Lord's Supper wherein the nature of the holy sacrament is explain'd and the most weighty cases of conscience about it are resolv'd / by the reverend Mr. Francis Crow, late minister of the Gospel at Clare in Suffolk ; to which is prefixt a brief account of the author's life and death.
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Crow, Francis, d. 1692.
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1693
(1693)
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Wing C7365
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75,143
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146
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becomes a means of fortifying and fixing the heart 2. Renewing Covenants are of great use to recover us out of backslidings after which we are to put forth the same acts again in Covenant way by closing with Christ which we acted and put forth at first conversion 3. It 's of great use to revive our declining delight in God And certainly if we make a covenant with all our heart as Asa and Israel did 2 Chr. 15.5 It 's almost impossible not to rejoice in it considering the great ends and purposes it 's made for and the Noble Person Christ that Plant of Renown we make it with a Marriage covenant with the King's Son a new Wedding-day in bringing back the Soul from its sinful wandrings unto its first Husband with whom it's much better than with any elsewhere 21. We come hither professing our selves Christ's Disciples sitting at his Table as they did that night he was betrayed whereby we say we are his sheep who hear his Voice receive his Grace and follow him yea that we are his Spiritual House to offer up spiritual Sacrifice acceptable to God through Jesus Christ But yet Grace received had need to be strengthened and quickened and therefore are we come Had not Repentance and Humbling work need to be quickned and renewed by considering our sins and miseries Faith by Meditating on the Promises Love by the sense of his mercies even his tender-mercies in Christ we come to taste of to day and to pay the Tribute of Praise for bestowing such special favour upon us O! let us magnify that Mercy that hath Redeemed us at so dear a rate that all his humblings were to raise thee to Honour his Sufferings to keep thee from Perishing All this tends to bring home our Hearts to him that hath bought them so dear Now Love hath no such incentive in all the World as the Cross of Christ it grows out of it it lives in it and we are Crucified by it to all other Lovers that would seduce us from the Loyalty we owe to our own Lord Alas what can these silly pretenders say Were they Crucified for us Hereby perceive we the Love of God or else we are very Blind for he hath writ his Love in capital letters on his cross laying down his Life for us when we were â—nemies seek the world over for such Love and it cannot be found Now the very Publicans love those that love them and will ye be worse And shall our love be so faint and luke-warm when his is so flaming and passionate Look up to him that can warm thy heart at his own Table with his sacred Fire And now when Love to your Lord begins to revive think what Lust you harboured last and this is the time to get above it yea to Kill and Crucify it tho it hath been rampant and raging hitherto despising all opposition offer it now as a Sacrifice to him who was a burnt Offering for thee Shall ever sin that slew the dear Husband becomes the Wises Darling If ever you think of dwelling with Christ give it a Divorce and that the rather your Lord hath drawn the Bill with his own hand All ye that Love the Lord hate evil Love Christ and hate Sin are the two great lessons this Ordinance teacheth Love Christ that suffered for you and here sin that flew him Now here he is who descended the same also who asended follow him thither but while here look to the Grave where he lay and then to the higher House he was taken into above and leave not off looking for him till he come again 22. Here are we come to our great Physitian of Souls And among our many Diseases we had need to seek cure of these two viz. Christians faint-heartedness in sufferings and dead-heartedness in Duties Now a look of Christ would cure both What is the reason Christians faint under Sufferings but because they mind not their suffering Lord who endured all so patiently overcame all so powerfully and hath Sanctified all so comfortably to us Consider him lest you grow weary and faint in your mind that is the Remedy prescribed and so we are dead hearted and formal in Duties because we consider not Christ that is to come with Salvation at the last It 's his first coming to suffer must sweeten our Sufferings and his last coming with Salvation that must quicken us to Duties look more to the recompence of reward for ginding your Loins to the word of God Isa 35.3 4. And that you may meet with something that may do you good amidst the waverings of an unsetled mind labour to fix something on thy thoughts that may help to stay thy mind on God such a principle as this men cannot make me miserable not the world make me happy my true misery is my sin bound up and a hard unbroken Heart for it My happiness is not my thriving in Health and Wealth but my interest in the Covenant and partaking of the Divine Nature Let thy heart be breathing how happy should I go home if I might be but more Holy and live more to the honour of my Lord and be in some better condition for his blessed Service Hath not God said Behold I will make a new thing on the Earth How many such new things hath he done on the earth as to give us all new hearts and new thoughts of the things of God to Day Our Lord is saving to sinners Mind your Souls and make much of my Salvation Your Souls are precious and my Salvation is great and if ever your Souls enjoy my Salvation hereafter they must be set a longing after it now Psal 119.81 Neglect it not for it cost him dear and if you miss of it it will cost you dear For how shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation 23. There be three things that commend Christ most unto any viz. His personal excellencies his usefulness and his love As for the last love lies at the bottom of the whole work of our Redemption The midst thereof paved with love for the daughters of Jerusalem Song 3.10 We have the Father loving his Son for laying down his life for us Job 10.17 and and shall not we love him for it And as the Father loves the Son for this love to us so he loveth us for loving his Son John 16.27 the first pleads for our love to the Father in loving the Son for our sake in the undertaking of our Redemption the other pleads for our love to Christ since our loving of the Son commends us to the Fathers love O unheard of wonders of divine love That as the Father loveth the Elect in Christ and for Christ so he should seem to love him for our sake being so forward in our cause to suffer for us and save us from our sins It 's this love that this ordinance brings to remembrance you see it is a feast of love and love must keep the feast or all
is nothingâ— for the unparralleled pattern and spring of all love is here represented to the life believe his love and let him have love again you may well believe it for he that loved us so as to lay down his life for us when enemies how will he delight in us when washed in his blood and renewed to his likeness and if Christ have his due he will have love again And if true love it longs to see him and can deny it self to please him it will desire to know his will and delight to do it We must prove our love as our Lord did his John 14. â—1 A soul in love with Christ reckons him chiefly worthy of his love endeavours the nearest Union with him and is still going out after him Hence spring Langour and melting to enjoy him and receive his impressions resignment of will to him and a concern for his interests Love the Lord all his Saints for he keepeth their souls Love him once and all he saith and doth will be more acceptable to you and all that you do in love will be pleasing to him Love him and you will be loath to offend him â—esirous to please him and satisfied in his love Love God and you are sure of love again Prov. 8.17 Now that you may love him contemplate his goodness and see him in the face of Christ and behold his love in the design of our Redemption in the person of our Redeemer in the promises of grace and in all the benefits of Râ—demption Yea if you would love him look to the sin he hath pardoned Luk. 7.47 the spots he hath washed the Covenant he hath made the Adoption he hath bestowed the Hell he hath redeemed you from the Heaven he hath appointed and prepared for you And now get some further preparations for him and it too by loving him better and loathing your selves more We might all love God more 〈◊〉 we could love our selves less Could holy Mr. Pradford sit and weep at dinner till the â—â—â—rs â—â—ll on his trencher because he could love Christ no more and we sit dry here at his own table with hearts void of Love to him 24. Here have we our gracious Redeemer with died garments glorious in his apparel travelling in the greatness of his strength staining his raiment with the blood of his enemies and ours trading the wine press of Gods wrath alone mighty to save ready to pardon This ordinance of the supper â—ives us the best occasion of airing our selves in the sweet and spacious field of our Lords sufferings And we cannot be good Christians if we do not hartily imbrace the opportunities the Gospel gives us of calling his Cross to remembrance The bent of every believers mind stands this way else how can we be said to live by the faith of the son of God who gave himself for us And if we be not led by a natural complacency to converse with a crucified Saviour how dwelleth the Love of God in us Or how can we clear an interest in his Death for us Hath he the heart of a Christian that cares not to meditate on the death of Christ Did the Apostle bear always about the dying of the Lord in his body and should not we do the same in our hearts Now since our great business here is about Christ crucified let us enquire a little what doth the Lord require of us The sum of all is in three words Behold me Receive me and Walk in me First observe how that great Gospel-invitation of the Gentiles Isa 65.1 15. is doubled Behold me Behold me 1. To shew how serious a suiter Christ is for our souls 2. to shew our natural aversness from looking unto Christ 3. To shew how much of a Christians work lies in looking unto Christ 4. To take in and comprehend all kinds of people and sorts of sinners 5. To hold out the delectably variety of sweet Sights a soul may have of Christ in his Natures Person Offices and Excel encies and Usefulness 6. To teach that tho' the first look of Christ should not please yet to look again and not to leave looking till we can find something in Christ to aâ—lure us Secondly Receive me rest in me and build upon me Receive him that is come so far to you and suffered so much for you When I was abundantly well with my Father always rejoycing before him and was daily his delight yet my delights were with the sons of men And down came I to be cloathed with your flesh a course garment for the Lord of Glory to go in â—â—at in your nature I might bear your curse and dy the death you deserved to dy and to redeem you from that misery you must have groaned under for ever And should such a Comer not be welcome Be summoning up all the powers of your souls to give him the hastiest Reception Lastly as you have received him so walk in him by a constant depending on him drawing vertue from him and keeping Communion with him yea farther we are to walk in Christ as we have received him i. e. with the same freshness of affections bent of will satisfaction in him and obsequiousness to him daily repeating that consent and renewing that Covenant we made at first with him Thus are we to behold him with an eye of faith receive him with a hand of faith and walk in him by a life of faith and so shall we have the blessed end of our faith the salvation of our souls 25. The sanctuary of the Lord may be profaned by us when we little think of it The truest notion of profaneness is a contempt of sacred things Heb. 12.16 Now we shew our contempt of them not only in keeping far from the things of Christ and salvation but by setting about them with an ordinary and common frame careless in preparing to meet our God in them with a broken heart becoming best an ordinance that shâ—ws forth a broken Christ for us In common providences we cannot know love or hatred by all that is before us But here is something before us whereby we may see Gods love to our souls and his hatred to our sins If we could by this Sight be stirred up to hate our vile lusts and love our dear Saviour more then were we fit guests for the table of the Lord. Let us not look off this precious attonment here represented till our hearts be turned against the sins that put our Lord to all the pain and shame he suffered for them Let never any of us love our selves till we can heartily loath our selves for sin and then Christ will love us and delight in us Next to our considering what sights shall we have of Christ our thoughts should be taken up with what a sight is he like to have of us We come hither to see Christ And be sure the King comes in to see his guests if there be ever a one that wants the wedding