Selected quad for the lemma: conscience_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A39250
|
The communicant's guide, shewing a safe and easie way to the Lord's table in compassion to the poorer and weaker sort of Christians / by Clem. Elis ...
|
Ellis, Clement, 1630-1700.
|
1685
(1685)
|
Wing E554; ESTC R3546
|
46,503
|
143
|
sprinkled from an evil Conscience and resolving by thy Grace to hold fast the Profession of my Faith without wavering I do here O Lord in all Humility offer up my self to be a living Sacrifice holy and acceptable unto thee in vertue of the Sacrifice of thy dear Son desiring to glorifie thee with my Body and Spirit which are thine Confirm I beseech thee now unto my Soul and to all here present the Covenant sealed in his Blood Enable us to continue stedfast therein for â—ver Lord make all that profess thy Name zealous of good Works unite us in the same Faith and Love and let us keep the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace Let us never forsake the assembling of our selves together to celebrate the Memorial of thy loving-Kindness and shew thy Death till thou come Put thy Laws into our Hearts and write them in our Minds and enable us to cleanse our selves from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit and to perfect Holiness in the fear of God ¶ When the Distribution is ended joyn heartily in the Thansgiving and following Hymn of Praise Being return'd home give hearty Thanks for this Mercy afforded you pray for Grace to perform your Vows and return not too soon to your common Business Strive by Meditation to keep a warm sense of God's Goodness in your Heart and labour to strengthen your Resolutions of a Holy and Christian Life Watch especially against the Sins you have been lateliest guilty of or 〈◊〉 most inclined to and sin no more lest a worse thing come unto you CHAP. IX The pretended Reasons for neglecting this Sacrament briefly answered NO good man will seek an Excuse no wicked man can find one for not endeavouring to do his Duty and a Duty it is to do this in Remembrance of Christ. The Benefits are such as cannot be slighted by a wise man the Necessity is such as cannot be dispensed with by any man Yet because men are too apt to deceive themselves out of their Duty and Happiness at once by something that they call Reason and where they have no good Excuse are ready to make a bad one in charity to their Souls their Vanity herein is to be shew'n them Obj. 1. We eat the Flesh and drink the Blood of Christ spiritually by Faith out of this Sacrament what need therefore can there be of this Sacrament seeing therein we are but to do the same Ans. This is all one as to say We do some part of our Duty what need is therefore of doing the rest Or We believe in Christ what need iâ— there to obey his Commandments It is enough to a Christian that Christ hath commanded it That Faith whereby we eat the Flesh and drink the Blood of Christ spiritually implieth Obedience to the Gospel of Christ and it is an especial Command of the Gospel to do this He then that neglects the doing of this neglects to obey the Gospel and therefore falsly pretends that he eats and drinks spiritually the Flesh and Blood of Christ. Whatever therefore the Christian doth more in this Sacrament than out of it the willful Neglecter of it is inexcusable for he is no Christian or true Believer Obj. 2. he that receiveth unworthily receiveth Damnation to himself therefore 't is safer to forbear Ans. So you may say He that eateth may if he be not careful eat Poison or choak himself or surfeit and die and therefore 't is safest to forbear eating Will you fast for this reason Willful neglect is certain Damnaâ—â—â—â— receiving is not so Will you prevent an uncertain danger of Death by killing your self If a man receive without Faith and Repentance he receiveth Damnation and so he doth if he do not believe and repent tho' he receive not this Sacrament What better is he then for not receiving it He perisheth either way receiving or not receiving it A Communicant that being a penitent Believer comes to the Lord's Table without due Preparation and sutable Affections may receive thereby Iudgment so the Word translated Damnation may be englished that is some Chastisement such as Weakness Sickness or Death 1 Cor. 11. 30. and he is thus chastened that he may not be condemned v. 32. But even this may be prevented by judging our selves or duely examining our selves v. 31. And now which is safer to judge our selves and eat or to neglect our Duty and perish Obj. 3. But I am afraid I am unworthy and therefore dare not come to this Sacrament Ans. In a strict sense we are all unworthy even so much as to eat or live being Sinners and deserving Damnation In another sense he is unworthy that is ignorant an Unbeliever and wicked or no good Christian and must not come But say Are you a sincere Christian or a dissembling Hypocrite If the former prepare your self and come if the latter be ashamed of it and repent for otherwise you perish Obj. 4. I doubt of my Sincerity and he that doubteth is damned if he eateth Rom. 14. 23. Ans. To do a thing doubting that it is an unlawful thing or a Sin is that which deserveth Damnation according to that Text. But you cannot fear that the receiving of this Sacrament is a Sin it being a necessary Duty That which you doubt of is your own Sincerity If you be indeed unsincere that is a Hypocrite and a Dissembler you are not to receive it if you be sincere you may there can be no doubt of this But you doubt whether you be a sincere Christian. And if this Doubt be so prevalent that you rather judge you are not I shall not advise you to come to this Sacrament till you be better satisfied of your Sincerity But then consider Will you contentedly rest in this doubtful Condition Can you be quiet in your Mind till you find cause to hope you are a Christian and shall be saved If you find no cause to hope this why should you not forbear all other Christian Duties as well as this Why do you not lay open your condition freely and impartially to your spiritual Guide and take his Judgment of your Sincerity If you use not this or any other means of knowing your self but rest contentedly under your Doubts and plead them as an Excuse for not doing your Duty you are certainly no sincere Christian. But if you are troubled that you know your self no better and are above all things desirous to be a good Christian and endeavour by all means to be so and to know that you are so and give your self no rest but mourn and pray and examine your self and crave Advice and set your self in earnest about the Duties of Christianity these are good signs of Sincerity and you ought to receive this Sacrament and wait upon God for a farther Blessing Obj. 5. I fear I have not a saving Faith I have no Assurance of my Salvation Ans. Though such Assurance may be had yet I verily think that the far greater number of
so will I compass thine Altar O God I come O my God I come for whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon Earth that I desire besides thee O hide not thy comfortable Presence from me ¶ Then humbly joyn in the Confession of Sins saying after the Minister and receive in the humblest Posture the Absolution as from Christ himself interceding for you at God's right hand and blessing you Draw Comfort from the Sentences of Scripture read unto you and lift up your Hearts with joyful Praises unto God as you are called upon to do heartily joyning in the following Devotions When the Minister consecrateth the Elements fix your Eye upon the whole Action and your Heart upon your crucified Jesus considering with what Pains and Tortures on the Cross he finished your Redemption When the Minister draweth near you with the Bread say Create in me a clean Heart O God and renew a right Spirit within me ¶ When you take the Bread say With all Humility and Thankfulness of heart I take this sacred Pledge of thy Love O dearest Saviour Be it according to thy Word with thy crucified Body feed my Soul to Life eternal ¶ Then eating the Bread say O Father Son and Holy Ghost one God blessed for ever I am wholly thine and not my own reign in me rule over me O blessed Iesus now and for ever By thee I live through thee let me grow in Grace and Goodness Keep me from hungring any more after Sin and Vanity Lord evermore give me this Bread till thou bring me to thy eternal Supper in thy Kingdom of Glory ¶ Receiving the Cup say I will receive the Cup of Salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord. ¶ Having drunk of it say My Soul was a-thirst for the living God let thy Blood O holy Lamb of God cleanse me and this whole Congregation from all Sin Let thy holy Spirit be in us a Well of living Water springing up into everlasting Life I have confessed my Sin and thou art faithful and just to forgive my Sin and to cleanse me from all Unrighteousness Take now my blessed Lord a full and everlasting possession of thy dear Purchase As I believe we have Redemption through thy Blood even the Forgiveness of Sins so do I here deny my self and resolve by thy Assistance to follow thee even unto Death And O thou God of Peace that brought'st again from the dead our Lord Iesus Christ that great Shepherd of the Sheep through the Blood of the everlasting Covenant feed govern and protect thy whole Flock the Universal Church make us perfect in every good Work to do thy Will working in us that which is well-pleasing in thy Sight through Iesus Christ to whom be Glory for ever and ever Amen ¶ During the time of the Distribution if no Psalm be sung or if a Psalm be sung then during the Oblation or at any other vacant times employ your selves in such Meditations as these following O how wonderful is the Love of God! How doth the Lord triumph in his Goodness and rejoyce in his Mercy We that have a thousand times over deserved to be weeping and wailing and gnashing of Teeth in everlasting Fire are here admitted to feast and rejoyce at the Table of the Lord. O astonishing Love of the blessed Iesus O abominable Sins of us rebellious Wretches Was thy holy Body my dearest Lord and God thus broken and torn they precious Blood thus shed and poured out for our sinful Souls And shall we not abhor those cursed Sins of ours and with all due Hatred and Indignation cast them off for ever Shall we not renounce all Kindness to our beastly Lusts loath our selves for our Iniquities and give our selves entirely to thy Service which is perfect Freedom for evermore O ravishing Love that moved the eternal Son of God to rescue us from everlasting Torments by the sharpest Pains and Tortures of his spotless Body and the bitterest Agonies of his purest Soul That moved the blessed and only Potentate the King of Kings and Lord of Lords to condescend unto Sufferings Shame and Death and to be made a Curse for us that we might be made the Righteousness of God in him Wast thou O blessed Saviour content for our sake to be despised and rejected of men to become a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with Grief and have we so long hid as it were our Faces from thee Hast thou been despised and yet have not we esteemed thee Surely thou hast born ou◠Griefs and carried our Sorrows thou wast wounded for our Transgressions and bruised for our Iniquities the Chastisement of our Peace was upon thee and with thy Stripes we are healed All we like Sheep have gone astray we have turned every one to his own way and the Lord hath laid on thee the Iniquity of us all Thou wast oppressed and afflicted yet did'st thou not open thy Mouth thou wast brought as a Lamb dumb to the Slaughter thou wast cut off out of the Land of the Living for the Transgression of thy People wast thou stricken O holy Iesus I do most stedfastly believe that thou art the Lamb of God that takest away the Sins of the World that thou hast in thine own Body born our Sins upon the Tree and that in the Body of thy Flesh through Death thou hast reconciled us who were Enemies to present us holy and unblameable in God's sight Thou wast not ashamed to call us Brethren and because the Children are Partakers of Flesh and Blood thou 〈◊〉 thy self tookest part of the same and through Death hast destroy'd him that had the power of Death the Devil We have not an High-priest which cannot be touch'd with a feeling of our Infirmities but was in all Points tempted as we are yet without Sin Therefore may we come boldly unto the Throne of Grace that we may obtain Mercy and find Grace to help in time of need Thou O blessed Iesus being made perfect through Sufferings art become the Author of Salvation unto all that obey thee O Lord I poor Sinner fly for Refuge to lay hold on the Hope now set before us Thou art able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by thee seeing thou ever livest to make Intercession for us By thine own Blood hast thou entered in once into the holy place having obtained eternal Redemption for us Thou art entered into Heaven it self now to appear in the Presence of God for us Thou art our Advocate with the Father the Propitiation for our Sins and we look for thee to appear the second time without Sin unto Salvation O Lord seeing thou hast given us Boldness to enter into the holiest by the Blood of Iesus by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the Vail that is to say his Flesh and having such an High-priest over thine House I here draw near with a true Heart in full Assurance of Faith having my Heart