search for leaven against the Passover Pesach c. 1. S. 1. that they should do it by the light of a Candle We had not need be in the dark when we go about such a work as this is and we had need have a clearer light than that of our own Consciences is The Law of God is an unerring rule by this we must try and search our selves And therefore we had need know this Law or else we shall not be able to judge our selves by it and consequently very unfit to approach unto the Table of our Lord. By this Law we may find out what we have done amiss This glass will discover our spots And though we may think our selves very innocent yet upon our trial we shall find many things amiss For the Commandment is exceeding broad we are very apt to say with the man in the Gospel all these things have we kept from our youth up Matth. 19.20 But we consider not how far the Law of God extends and reaches We are commanded to have no other gods before the Lord our God We perhaps are ready to think that we do not break this Law till we fall down and worship some new Deity But we are much deceived in this For by this precept we are obliged to love God above all things to pray to him fear him trust in him give him thanks and in all things to prefer him above all the things of this present World And therefore if we find our selves devoid of the love of God or which is all one full of the love of this World and of our sins if we find we love or fear or trust in any thing more than in him that we do not give him hearty thanks for his mercies nor yet heartily pray for his grace and assistance we may certainly conclude that we are offenders against the Law of God We are commanded that we should not kill Now not only he that sheds his brothers blood but he that hates him and censures him is guilty of a breach of this Law He that hates his brother is a murderer 1 Joh. 3.15 Again when we are forbidden Adultery we are guilty when we look on a Woman to lust after her For the Law as was said afore is exceeding broad It does not only oblige the outward but the inward man It does not only forbid us to do but also to think any evil When it commands a duty it must be supposed to require all those things which are the means that lead us to it And when it forbids a sin it must be thought to forbid whatever would induce us to it We have reason to think our selves guilty not only when we do directly break the letter of the Law but when we transgress against the inward and spiritual meaning of it We are guilty not only when we commit a sin our selves but when we make others to sin nay when we do not reprove and hinder others when we can There are many wayes by which we become transgressors And there is no better way to find out our iniquity than by comparing our lives with the Law of God If those men did but carefully do this who now pride themselves as better than their neighbours they might find very foul spots where as now they think all their wayes clean This would shew them those faults which their pride and lust will not now let them see Our Conscience is many times but an imperfect light and is always so when 't is not enlightned from the Law of God 'T is that Rule by which we are to measure our selves And therefore if we would find our sin let us take this light to direct and guide us in our search 3. We must be very particular in this search That we are sinners we may easily find but we must not satisfie our selves in this but must find out our particular sins which we are guilty of For if in order to our pardon we must confess and forsake our sins we had need find them out if we do not do this it is not like we should confess them and forsake them For how can we be thought to confess and forsake those sins which we are ignorant of And if we do not this what hopes can we have of pardon Indeed where we cannot by our utmost search find out every sin we may yet hope for pardon if we humbly and penitently beg it with the Psalmist who prays to God to cleanse him from his secret faults Psal 19.12 But this we may hope when we cannot find out our particular sin when we can do that we must know it is our duty to do it in order to our confession and our parton In which the Reader may be assisted by the heads of self-examination at the close of the Book called the Whole duty of Man And a thing very advisable it is that we should have ready by us at such times as this a most particular Catalogue of our sins and that we do in our private prayers as particularly confess them to God It is very easie and common to confess our selves sinners to God but there is a great cheat in that general confession and if we would have pardon we must be more particular 4. We must not only make a particular search after our sins but we must also well consider of the degrees and aggravations of them For all sins are not alike There are many circumstances that do encrease our guilt and therefore if we would not hide our fault we must search after these things Now there are several things which do greatly enhance our guilt and make our sins more exceeding sinful that give them a deeper dye and stain Now every sin is a transgression against the Law of God but yet there are some sins which are more hainous than others 1. As for example when our sin is such as is not only against the Law of God but against our own Conscience also when we know the Law and our Conscience does make a faithful report of it and yet we will commit it He that knows his Masters will and doth it not shall be beaten with many stripes This is no small aggravation of our guilt when we rebel against the light This rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft We have no manner of excuse left us in this case and therefore ought to humble our selves greatly under such sins as these are 2. Again when we are vincibly and culpably ignorant and bribe or blind our Consciences our guilt is also greatly aggravated Perhaps we will not know our duty that we may not be though obliged to do it Or we have certain arts to bribe our Consciences or have found out ways to stop their sentence This is a most hainous aggravation of our guilt and comes up very near to that which was named last He is not only a very wicked servant that refuses to do what he hears his Master command him but he
whatever the sinner may plead for himself Certain it is a man may as easily bless God as take his name in vain To speak well of our neighbour is as soon done as to speak amiss A good word costs us no more pains than a bad one And what wretched sinners are we who chuse to do amiss when it is as easie for us to do well and certainly so it is in many cases 9. Another aggravation of our sin is when we have not only sinned our selves but caused others to sin too This brand was upon Jeroboam that he did not only sin himself but also caused Israel to sin Certainly our own scores will be great enough we shall not need have the sins of others to account for besides It will well become us to consider of this when we search into our hearts and lives whether we have not by our counsel or example by our neglect and unfaithfulness caused others to go astray who might have been preserved from the errour of their way had we been faithful to them in our reproofs and exhortations 10. Lastly another degree of our sin is when it is come to an habit or custom And this does still make our sin the greater for now our sin is grown up to a full measure and to the highest stature and pitch and then we may well reckon our selves to be not only sinners but workers of iniquity It is very advisable that we should consider of these Agrravations of our sins in order to the more full humiliation of our Souls before God It is very needful that those things which do greatly encrease our guilt should be particularly confessed and lamented in the sight of God Now it is very evident that the particular above-named do very much heighten and increase our guilt Indeed every sinner does transgress the Law of God that Law which is holy just and good for sin is the Transgression of the Law But then he that sins against the clear dictates of his own Conscience also contracts a double guilt he that sins after his solemn vows of obedience adds treachery to his other guilt and he that sins after many mercies adds ingratitude to his other sins every sin makes us obnoxious to Gods displeasure but yet are there many degrees in our sins which do greatly aggravate our fault and introduce a new and greater guilt upon us And certainly to abound in sin under the greatest means of grace to continue in our folly when the rod of God lies heavy upon us to commit the sin which it is so very easie to avoid to repeat our sin when we have confessed and bewailed it to sin and to cause others to sin also to contract habits and customs of evil doing these are things which are by no means to be forgotten in our search because they do import so much of guilt and so great a degree of wickedness But all that hath been said is but relative to something else we are not fit to receive the Sacrament as soon as we have found out our sins The Jews were not only obliged to search for their Leaven at the Passover but also to purge it out And their search was in order to their putting it away They might not leave it where they found it but were obliged to put it from them we must do so by our sins too and therefore we must now consider what we are obliged to do in the next place CHAP. VI. WHen we are gone thus far and have found out our sins we must then put them away by a true and hearty Repentance Unless we do this we shall eat and drink Damnation to our selves Now because though Repentance be very commonly pretended to yet we do often mistake our selves in it and take that for it which comes far short of it therefore it is very necessary we should examine our Repentance and very carefully try whether it be such as is never to be repented of For as it is very common with men to think they have not sinned when they have so it is very common with men to think they have not sinned when they have so it is also as usual a thing with them to conceit that they have repented when indeed they have not For we are too apt to think Repentance no more but a calling to God for mercy or a general confession that we are sinners or some sudden purposes of amendment of Life or at most the actual abstaining from our sin Therefore it will be worth our while that we examine our Repentance and that we may do by the following Rules 1. He that Repents is greatly sorrowful for his sin He is inwardly grieved that he should offend God by his sins and would rather chuse any loss or trouble than commit his sin again His sorrow is very hearty and unfained he is grieved in earnest and his grief is great according to the measure and proportion of his sin and folly He is vile and base in his own eyes and is greatly afflicted for his wickedness Indeed the sincerity of his sorrow is not altogether to be measured by his tears which he sheds For though tears be reputed the expression of our grief yet are they but the expression of it Grief does many times break out this way But yet a man may be greatly forrowful when the greatness of his grief cannot be gathered from the multitude of his tears Some there are who do easily weep a very trifling matter will draw forth plenty of tears But there are others who grieve more and yet weep less But then it is still an ill sign if when we have tears for every little trouble we have none for ouâ— sins We read of one Alexander Pheraeus that he was ready to weep at the acting a Tragedy Plutarch Pelopidas and that he left the Stage that the Spectators might not behold his tears But then we also read of the same man that he shed the blood of many Thessalian Nobles with dry cheeks Such false tears had that Tyrant at his command Certainly we may well suspect our selves when we can find none at all for our hainous offences against God For it may be reasonably thought that if our grief were hearty and pungent which we have for our sins it would break out at the same vent which it is wont to find upon all other occasions Certain it is however that the true Penitent is a very sorrowful man and though his temper may not give way to plenty of tears yet his real grief is not the less Though he do not weep so plentifully yet he grieves as heartily as he that doth He does afflict himself for his sin he judges and condemns himself and feels as much pain in his Soul and as cordial a sorrow as he that weeps bitterly 2. He that truly repents does confess his sins unto God And this he must do in order to his pardon If we confess our sins he is faithful
thanks to God that he is pleased to make that our duty which is so much our interest and for our advantage He obliges us to renew our Covenant with himself which it is our greatest interest to do He obliges us to that which tends to our own happiness and welfare and without which we could not but be miserable He will have us remember the death of our Saviour and his love he shewed us He will have us partake of a Sacrament that does not only bring us nearer to himself but also unites us faster in the bond of love to one another He would that we should partake of these Mysteries which are the seal of his Covenant and give us great assurance of his readiness to pardon our sins That is in one word God would have us be happy and he does oblige us to be so 'T is our advantage that he designs in all this His love is without any interest but that of ours Who would not enter into Covenant with so good a God who would not remember the love of so dear a Lord Who would not be knit fast to his brother in closest bond of love Who would not have assurance of the pardon of his sins These are the greatest blessings that we are capable of receiving the greatest that Heaven can bestow upon us What can be more desireable than to be at peace with God and at unity among our selves What more reasonable or more to be wished for than that we should remember the love of our Saviour and receive a good assurance of the pardon of our sins And this is the design as you have heard of this blessed Sacrament It is appointed for such blessed purposes as these How suspicious or shy soever we be of it this is the errand it comes about It hath a design to make us more holy and more happy than we were This is all the plot which it hath upon us God hath not only been pleased to give us his Son to die for our ransom but he gives him again in this Sacrament for our food and nourishment O the unspeakableness of Gods kindness to us Methinks every man should break forth into his praises methinks he should say Bless the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his benefits who forgiveth all thine iniquities who healeth all thy diseases who redeemeth thy life from destruction who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies who satisfieth thy mouth with good things Psal 103.2 3 4 5. Methinks our mouth should be filled with praise and thanksgiving to God for these his kindnesses to our Souls 4. Hence we may learn what great reason we have to embrace so blessed an opportunity of becoming better Great are the benefits which would redound to us from â— frequent and a devout Communion And certainly this service must needs be welcome to that Soul that is weary of his sins and heartily and earnestly desires to be rid of them For it lays a most severe obligation upon us to search our hearts and amend our ways and set things straight between God and our own Souls This service obligeth us to that which every pious Soul would chuse of it self It binds us to be faithful servants of God to be hearty lovers of our brother to be grateful acknowledgers of the love of Christ and diligent seekers after the pardon of our sins Who would not welcome such a blessed opportunity that loves his God and is weary of his sins Who is it that desires to lead a new life that would not be glad of so excellent a service 'T is to be feared we are too much wedded to our sins when we refuse this service which would divorce them from us 'T is much to be feared we have no great sense of the love of our dying Saviour when we will not upon his command Do this in remembrance of him Or that our sins are no burden to us when we despise the evidence of our pardon If we did but worthily partake of this Sacrament we should be more fit to live and more prepar'd to die We should be more fervent in our services to God and more sincere in our love to our brother the love of Christ would constrain us to obedience and his Commandements would not be grievous to us This would put an end to our unnatural differences and quarrels it would restore love and charity it would deliver us from our slavish and dreadful fear of death In a word it would change this Earth into a kind of Heaven and him that is now a cold professor of Religion it would make this Sinner become a Saint and a zealous doer of the will of God Such a mighty change would a frequent and a worthy participation of these mysteries introduce into the world It would bring back the primitive spirit into the hearts of Christians when Communions were frequent and devout then did every holy and good thing obtain And were they again restored the Devils Kingdom which hath now gotten ground would not only shake but fall to the ground This would overturn his strong-holds as the barly-cake of Gideon did the Tents of the men of Midian And therefore no wonder that he labours so greatly by his instruments to prevent this which would subvert his Kingdom And this is so effectually done that now the professors of Christianity either partake amiss or not at all This is the case of many I wish I could not say of the most of Christians Nay and those that do not receive at all are grown witty too they think they can defend themselves from being guilty of a default I shall not here examine what they have to say for themselves but yet this I shall say that the command of our Saviour for our Communicating is so plain and the reason of it so great that nothing can discharge us from it but either the impossibility of doing it for want of opportunity which we cannot plead or a countermand from him that gave us the law which we must never expect Nothing else can discharge us not our common excuses not our mistaken and scrupulous Consciences which cannot evacuate the Law of God for hereafter we shall be judged not according to what we ween or are of opinion in the case but by a more sure and unerring rule the VVord of God I conclude this particular only adding that if we diminish or take from the Word of God and deny that to be our duty which the Word of God requires we have too much reason to fear that God will take away our part out of the book of life Rev. 22.19 CHAP. III. I Shall now proceed to shew how we may become worthy partakers of this Sacrament of our Lords Supper which was ordained for such great ends and conveys so great a blessing to all those that partake of it as they ought For there is something to be done by us before we can be prepared for so great a
is also very wicked that stops his ears and will give no heed to what he does command him The one rebells against the light and the other shuts it out The one will not admit the truth when the other will not obey it but detains it in unrighteousness There are no men so deplorably blind as they that will not see 'T is to be feared there is too much of this abroad in the World Men are afraid of the light and therefore they run away from it And are therefore like the old Turk we read of who being conscious that by his Law he ought not to drink any Wine was yet resolved to drink it and so he did but before he drank he gave some great shouts which he did as he said to give his Conscience warning that it might stand away Busbequii Legat. Turc Ep. 1. and not behold his wickedness nor be guilty of it Certainly too many men take this course or else they could never do what now they do They dismiss their Consciences when they would interpose And find out ways either to keep them from speaking or else from being heard But whoever hath used these arts hath contracted a great guilt 3. Another great aggravation of our guilt is that we have sinned after Vows of better obedience And there is something of this to be found in every sin we commit for it is committed against our Baptismal Vow when we did most solemnly devote our selves to the service of God in opposition to the Devil the World and the Flesh And many of us have made the same Vow again upon a bed of sickness in times of danger or when we did partake of the Supper of our Lord. And to relapse after all this does greatly increase our guilt We are very wretched sinners if we break these bands asunder and cast away these cords from us 4. But still our sins are again the greater when they are committed and continued in after the singular and eminent mercies of God towards us which lead us to Repentance Rom. 2.4 For now we add the greatest ingratitude to our other guilt and do by that fill up the measure of our iniquity And there is no man living but may easily find this aggravation in his sins For certain it is however we complain of our miseries and needs we are encompassed about with the mercies of Heaven And there is no man living so miserable or wretched but if he would but consider and reflect would easily find this to be a truth Certainly the hopes that we still have of Heaven and the means of grace are most unspeakable mercies But besides if we look back we may find many other singular mercies of God towards us which do upbraid us for our great unthankfulness He hath many times kept our Souls from death our eyes from tears and our feet from falling He hath long waited for our return who might long ago have placed us among the dead and damned which is a plain demonstration that God hath been greatly kind unto us and so far from desiring our death that he shewed himself when we did chuse the paths that lead to death desirous that we should turn and live 5. That our sins are committed under the means of grace is still a farther aggravation of our guilt The Gospel hath provided us sufficient help and assistance to do the will of God If we do amiss it is because we will not use the means which God hath offered us that we might become better There is a sufficient aid at hand if we will make use of it The Gospel does not only require our obedience but also enables us to obey If we do but humbly beg the holy Spirit of God and do it but as earnestly as the hungry child will beg bread of his Father we shall as certainly receive this heavenly aid Luk. 11.13 This Spirit will help our infirmities Rom. 8.26 And if he dwell in our hearts we shall find him that is in us greater than he that is in the world 1 Joh. 4.4 Now certainly we are very fond of our sins if we will not do our utmost to get rid of them The way is easie and plain before us we may be better if we will not make light of the aid and assistance of Heaven Our freedom from sin is purchased by our Lord and offered us in the Gospel if we accept it not upon such easie terms we deserve to be slaves for ever 'T will be but just we should be used as the servant under the Law who might have his liberty and refused it he was made a publick shame for his great folly in refusing to go free when his freedom was offered him For that is thought to be the meaning of what followed upon his refusal for his Master carried him away to the Judges and at the gate of the house or court of Justice he bored through his ear with an awl and he was at once marked and condemned to be a servant for ever Exod. 21.6 It is no little aggravation of our crime that we do amiss when we have such advantages of being and doing better 6. That we continue in our sins notwithstanding the very severe afflictions which God hath sent upon us to wean us from them is another consideration that does heighten our guilt Nay we many times commit our sin when Gods hand is striking us we little regard the discipline of Heaven when his judgements are upon us yet we will not learn Righteousness There is a mark set upon Ahaz for this In the time of his distress did he yet trespass more against the Lord. This is that King Ahaz 2 Chron. 28.22 This was a most hainous impiety and that which very greatly increased his crimes 7. Again another thing which adds a weight to our guilt is this when we relapse frequently into those very sins which we have formerly confessed to God and begged his pardon for When we do confess and sin again and keep in this black circle of the Devil In this we do mock Almighty God and may well be ashamed to lift up our eyes to Heaven if we well consider it In our dealings with one another we esteem that man void of all ingenuity that begs our pardon that he hath offended us and yet holds on to do us the same despites and injuries How horribly disingenuous are we then when we daily put affronts these upon God himself when we do often confess but never forsake our sins 8. Another aggravation of our guilt is when we continue in those sins which we have no temptation to commit and might most easily avoid Such are generally the sins of the tongue there is no natural desire that is gratified by swearing or by evil speaking and slandering one another These are indeed most hainous offences against Almighty God and their guilt is the greater because there is nothing of temptation to commit them and they are most easily avoided
the true Penitent forbears his sin because he finds in his Soul an antipathy against it and not only because it is forbidden Such a Repentance as this must we find in our Souls before we can be fit to partake of these holy Mysteries And well it will become us to be greatly humbled for our sins and to abhor them when we do commemorate the death of our Lord and Saviour For he died for sin and endured the shame and sorrow of the Cross that he might no longer abide in us And if we come with our sins to this holy Table we do crucifie our Lord afresh we do trample upon his precious blood and count it a common and unholy thing 5. To what hath been said this must be added that when by our sin we have not only offended God but also injured and wronged our neighbour we are strictly and indispensably obliged to make him restitution as well as to beg the forgiveness of God We can expect no pardon from God if we do not make amends to our neighbour whom we have wronged If the wicked restore the pledge and give again that he had robbed c he shall surely live and not die Ezek. 33.15 But then if he do not this or sincerely resolve to do it assoon as he is able to do it he shall surely die and not live And his partaking of this holy Table shall be so far from saving him from the anger of God that it will encrease his guilt and add to his sin Let no man think that God will hear him if he do not make his brother amends for the wrong he hath done him Herodot Clio. We have a story in our Books of one Halyattes that his Soldiers did set on fire the Corn of the Milesians and that the fire by the violence of the wind caught hold of the Temple of Minerva and burnt it down It happened sometime after this that Halyattes falls sick and sends to the Oracle to know what would be the success of his disease but the Messengers were told by the Oracle that they must not expect any answer till the Temple which they had burnt were first repaired Most certain it is that we shall have no return of our prayers from Heaven when we confess and beg the pardon of our sin unless we do first make restitution where we have wronged our brother It cannot be thought we have repented if we do not restore There is no sacrifice will expiate our crime if we do not also make restitution Under the Law of Moses he that had wronged his brother was obliged indeed to bring a sacrifice for his atonement but then at the same time he was obliged to make a full restitution to his neighbour whom he had wrong'd and to add also a fifth part to the principal before he could be forgiven Levit. 6. He that wronged his neighbour was by that Law sometimes liable to restore double v. Maimon Hal. Shevuoth c. 8. Exod. 22.4.9 Sometimes times four and five fold ver 1. where the Trespasser was convicted But then where the offender became penitent and confessed his sin v. L' empereur in Bava Kam C. 7. S. 1. yet in this case he was obliged to make restitution to add a fifth part v. Jomd c. 8. Mishn 9. Shulchan Aruch H. Jom Kippu and to bring his offering Numb 5.7 His Repentance nor his offering would not serve his turn unless he also made amends to his neighbour whom he had wronged Nay the day of expiation as the Jews teach us would not avail to take away the guilt which we contracted by doing wrong to our brother And we must remember that we are obliged to make restitution not only where we have done an open and forcible injury As the robber and thief and violent oppressor are bound to restore what they have wrong'd their brother of by their violent injustice But we are also obliged to restore what we have by any means unjustly got the possession of And there are more ways than one by which we may become guilty of injustice He that overreaches and out-wits his brother in a bargain he that in his trading deals fraudulently and insincerely he that hides and conceals from his neighbour his just rights and dues such men as these are obliged to make restitution as well as open the robber and the thief There are indeed very many things which the Laws of the Land do not take notice of which yet we are obliged to in the Court of Conscience And we are before we do receive this Sacrament very severely to examine our own Consciences Whether in our dealings with men we have done as we would be done by and have not detained and with-held our neighbours due from him Indeed we are come to that pass that we are not afraid of doing an unjust action if we can but do it cautelously and slily Nay we are ready to rejoyce when we have cunningly circumvented our brother and men look upon it as but a little fault if any at all when they do craftily circumvent even him that attends upon holy things But certain it is whoever does wrong his brother and him that Ministers at Gods Altar he deceives himself most and must never look for pardon from God till he have repented of his sin and made restitution for the wrong he hath done And what hath been said hitherto of the necessity of making restitution must not only be understood of the wrong we have done to our neighbour as to his goods and estate but of all other wrongs whatsoever And particularly of that wrong we have done to his name and credit We ought to judge the best of all men and to make the most charitable construction of all the actions of our neighbour And therefore if we have done otherwise we are obliged to Repentance and to restitution for the wrong which we have done If we have openly slandered our brother or more closely and slily undermined his credit and good name we are obliged in this case to make as far as we are able a reparation That is we are obliged to unsay what we have said and by our words do him honour as we have endeavoured before to do him a discredit In a word we are bound to make him such an amends as we are able or such as may satisfie him to whom we have done the wrong And when we have done this we must humble our selves greatly in the sight of God for this sin and be very careful that we sin no more Thus must we cleanse and purge our Souls before we dare to come to this holy Table We must purge out our old leaven that we may be a new lump Otherwise we shall meet with death there where we might else have found Life And we ought therefore to be very careful and solicitous lest we should by our remisness and hypocrisie expose our selves to the greatest curse As we love our
a reprobate sense and a seared Conscience These are indeed deaf strokes and such as make not a noise and strike not our senses but yet if we consider the effect and consequence of them they are more formidable and dismal than the raging pestilence or the loudest claps of thunder Let us then resolve as we love our Souls or fear the wrath of God to sin no more lest the worst of things come upon us But let us thus judge that Christ died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which died for them and rose again 2 Cor. 5.15 The Body and Blood of Christ will not save us whiles we continue in our sins Nor may we think that this Sacrament will secure us if we return to our follies I shall end this particular with the words of Syracides He that washeth himself after the touching of a dead body if he touch it again what availeth his washing So is it with a man that fasteth for his sins and goeth again and doth the same who will hear his prayer or what doth his humbling profit him Ecclus. 34.25 26. CHAP. XIII HAving shewed you how you must fit your selves for this Sacrament I shall now also let you know the necessity that lies upon us after this Preparation to partake of it And that I shall do in the following severals 1. This duty stands upon the same authority which the other precepts of Christianity do He that commands us to Pray to search the Scriptures to hear Gods Word and to take heed how we hear hath as plainly commanded us to do this We are no more left at liberty here than we are in the other precepts of Christianity And certainly it is an argument of great insincerity to pick and chuse which of Christs commands we will obey Besides by breaking one command we make our selves guilty of all because we do despise the authority on which the rest stand For whosoever shall keep the whole Law and yet offend in one point is guilty of all For he that said do not commit Adultery said also do not kill Now if thou commit no Adultery yet if thou kill thou art become a transgressor of the Law Jam. 2.10 11. I am sure the command is very plain and evident Do this Luk. 22.19 1 Cor. 11.24 25. and verse 28. Let a man examine himself and so let him eat of this bread and drink of this cup. To examine our selves is a confest duty and therefore by a just consequence so it is to eat of this Bread and Drink of this Cup. That duty is relative to this If we do that we are bound to do this also And though we should neglect that yet will not that excuse our neglect of this any more than one fault is a just excuse for the committing of another I doubt not but that we do divers things and think our selves obliged to do them also from the Laws of Christ for which we have no such clear command from the Laws of Christ as we have for this And therefore certainly if we do not this it is not for want of plain Scripture that requires it but for some other cause best known to God and our own Consciences But in the mean time we may be ashamed to call Christ Lord Lord and he may justly upbraid us for it when we refuse to do whatsoever he commands us Luk. 6.46 Let us not for shame call our selves Christians when we will not obey the Laws of Christ Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you Joh. 15.14 It is not a partial obedience to the Laws of Christ will be sufficient to make us the genuine Disciples of our Lord and Saviour If we would be thought to belong to him we must obey him in all his commands Unless we do so we cannot be secure For though we do some of those duties which Christ hath commanded yet if we do neglect him in others we are not such Christians as we ought to be There are those indeed who think themselves obliged by the Moral precepts of the Gospel and are in great measure careful that they transgress not those Laws which are indeed the Laws of Nature as well as the Laws of Christ but yet these men neglect this institution of Christ and are not much concerned in the mean time and that because they do not transgress the Law of Nature though they do transgress the positive Law of Christ But these men ought to consider that the Law of Nature is not the adaequate and full rule of their Conscience They must also attend to the Divine Revelation and to the institutions of Christ This precept of partaking of the Communion is peculiarly the Law of Christ And to do this is the mark and badg of Christians By doing it we shew whose followers we are And we are particularly obliged to do it as we do profess our selves Christians And the same Authority that obliges us to the observance of any other Law of Christ does oblige us to do this also And therefore if we think our selves bound to any Christian duties we judge very much amiss if we think our selves unconcerned in this 2. This duty is built upon as great a reason if we consider the end of its institution as any other of the same nature is I say as great a reason I shall not need to say a greater It was appointed in remembrance of the death of Christ that miracle of mercy and love As often as ye eat this bread and drink this Cup ye do shew the Lords death till he come 1 Cor. 11.26 It is to keep in mind our Lords death for which this Sacrament was appointed this methinks we should be ready to do who expect such benefits from his death and know that he died that we might live We easily fulfil the desires of a dying friend But if our friend died in our quarrel and defence we know not how to forget him and he that does forget such a friend is reputed justly a most ungrateful wretch How then can we forget the dear love of our dying Lord We keep in memory our Temporal victories and deliverances and we think we do well in it also How much greater reason have we to keep in mind this deliverance from eternal death and slavery This is never to be forgotten certainly but ought to be kept in memory as long as this world endures But then our dying Saviour who might have required of us some more burdensome service if he had pleased hath commanded us to do this to do it in remembrance of him he would have us remember his love to us and he lets us know how he would have us remember his love Do this in remembrance of me 3. 'T is a duty the practice whereof is as advantageous to our Souls if we consider our own necessities as any whatsoever We have need of such helps and viands in our
one says well that they who never repent till they dye If we love our Lord greatly and have upon our minds a great sense of his kindness we shall be glad to pay him our acknowledgments of Praise and Thanksgiving But if we do this as seldom as we can it is a sign that we do it rather out of fear than love that we do it rather because 't is the custom of the Country than because it was the command of our dearest Lord. For it is most certain that if we loved our Saviour much we should delight to remember him frequently It is so I am sure in all things else which we love We take a pleasure in remembring our dearest Friends and Relatives we frequently mention those things which have given us a pleasure or profit But doubtless we might be perswaded to do this frequently if we were once wrought upon to do it an all and as we should For the very same reason that moves the devout Soul to do it once will also move him to do it frequently And that we who profess Christianity should not do it at all that we should dare to omit so plain a precept is to me one of the strangest and most unaccountable things Indeed where men have no mind to do their duty they are apt to cavil and dispute and make excuses Thus do those men do who had rather dispute wittily than live well We please our selves with little arguments and great prejudices and are not only content to neglect our duty but which is much worse we go about to justifie our neglect Thus do we slide from one error to another But all this while we do but deceive our selves and others God is not mocked We shall be judged hereafter by the unerring Law of God It is not our mistaken Conscience that shall absolve us if Gods Law condemn us We shall be judged by what is written and not by what we ween and think in the case This consideration if it had but its due weight with us would be of great moment to move us to the most diligent and impartial search after truth And then certainly we should not be so easily prevailed upon by weak arguments and by the carnal and sensual delights of this world to neglect so plain and excellent a duty Whereas now we have some little Objections against our duty or else we have our Farms and Merchandize or Yokes of Oxen that hinder us from doing it I shall end all with the words of a late pious and learned Writer upon this occasion By this time I hope you see that it is good for you to draw near to God at his Holy Table if you have any desire to be good Christians or any savour of spiritual pleasures You must wholâ—â— cast away all remembrance of your duty and be lost to all sence of rational satisfaction or else be strongly inclined considering what hath been said to take the pains to prepare your selves or rather to keep your selves in a constant Preparation for frequent Communion there with our Blessed Saviour An innocent holy and useful life cannot but commend it self to you if it be but on this score that you may be entertained with such a comfort as to know the love of God in Christ to you and be fit to be feasted continually with such delightful pledges of it How is it possible for any considerate persons to despise or neglect such means of their contentment The Table of the Lord methinks should be more acceptable to them than a Stage and they should run more greedily to this Divine Feast than they do to the Theatres He should have more guests and a greater croud to attend upon him than those so much frequented places For what do they see represented there but some of the follies of Mankind the passions and misfortunes of a miserable Lover the wiles and subtle contrivances of some ingenious person or such like things some of which never were But here is represented the great wisdom of Almighty God the manifold wisdom of our Creator into which the Angels desired to look and of which they are gladsom Spectators The incomparable kindness of our Blessed Saviour that ardent love which offered him up to God upon the Cross and which he still continues now that he is in the Heavens as we see by these remembrances which he hath left us of it The rare method of our Salvation The wonderful way which Heaven hath contrived to bring lost Souls again thither the glorious conquest which the Saviour of the World hath made over Sin the Grave and Hell all which we here behold his Captives and our selves the prize which he desires to win by all his labours Do not men then extreamly betray their infidelity is it not plain that Christian piety lies languishing and dying when such numbers will spend a great deal of time to prepare and dress themselves to be seen in the Theater and we cannot prevail in some places with any considerable company to meet us at this glorious representation which we make at the Table of the Lord They that will be at the pains to go to the former every day content themselves nay think it a great trouble to put their Souls into a posture to come to this holy place once in a whole year And God knows how many there are that will not put themselves to that pains neither who rarely appear before God at this Holy Solemnity and whose faces are scarce ever seen in the presence of our Saviour O shameful ingratitude which you that read these things if you are believers can never endure I think to be guilty of If you give any credit to this History of the love of God in Christ Jesus recorded in the Gospel you will spend some time sure to dispose your selves to make frequent acknowledgments to him by receiving these holy Mysteries You will be ashamed that so much time should be consumed in triming up your selves to see and to be seen in other places and little or none that you may come before God and behold the great things that he hath done for your Souls For the love of God consider at what charge he hath furnished this Table for you how often he hath invited you to it how desirous he is that you would shew him so much love as not to refuse him your company there Think how ill he must needs take it if you will not accept of his singular kindness nay that you your selves will not be pleased when you reflect and consider of how much joy you have deprived your Souls by denying him so much of your duty For there is no compare between all the jollities in the world and this one single pleasure of giving hearty thanks to God for his unspeakable mercy to us in Christ Jesus Do but come and see Satisfie your selves by waiting on him at his Table with such thoughts as become his presence If you have the