love of Christ The love of God the Father in sending Christ into the World is unconceivably great God so loved the world so infinitly so transcendently so beyond all that Tongues can express or Hearts conceive And Christs giving his Body to be broken and his Blood to be shed is such an expression of Love as is only fit to put us into an Extasy of Admiration The Apostle tells us that it hath length and breadth and depth and heighth and that it is a love which passeth Knowledg A love which can not be described and therefore God allows us an Eternity to admire it in That God should become Man that He should Die to whom it belongs to give Life that he should Die for Enemies that He should Die such an ignominious Death as the Death of the Cross c. Now we must know that this Sacrament is an Ordinance which Christ appointed on purpose to give us a lively Remembrance and a symbolical representation of that unconceivable Love And although the Unworthy Communicant is Unworthy indeed in that it hath not such an influence upon his Life as it ought to have yet in regard that he comes to the Sacrament and by his outward reverence doth acknowledge Christs Love to Sinners and it may be hath grief in his heart at that time to think that that love hath not obliged him to better Obedience he is not so much to blame as the Non-Communicant who turns his back upon the Ordinance as if Christs love Exhibited and represented by it were not worthy of his notice 3. They cast great contempt upon the Wisdom of Christ who frequent not the Blessed Sacrament Their Neglect of it supposeth that they think there is no great need of it or no great good to be received by it There are a sort of People amongst us who upon all occasions declare that they hope to be saved who yet think they need not Receive the Sacrament And what do these men less than charge Christ that this Ordinance which he appointed as a means to Salvation might as well have been let alone It is through their own great Folly that they call the Wisdom of him who is the Wisdom of God into question their not considering that the good that is to be Received is only from the Blessing of Heaven upon that Ordinance which Christ appointed The Non-Communicant in this case is like Naaman the Leper 2 Kings 5.10.11 who was willing to go to the man of God to be recovered of his Leprosy but he was desirous that it might be done without his using any Means for it especially such as he could not understand should afford him any benefit Elisha sent a Messenger unto him saying Go and Wash in Jordan seven times and thy flesh shall come again unto thee and thou shalt be clean But Naaman was Wroth and went away and said Behold I thought he will surely come out to me and stand and call on the Name of the Lord his God and strike his hand over the place and recover the Leper Are not Abana and Pharpar Rivers of Damascus better than all the waters of Israel May I not wash in them and be clean So he turned and went away in a Rage In like manner the Non-Communicant knows no reason why he should go to the Sacrament to be cured of his Leprosy It is enough he thinks that Christ died for Sinners and that he believes it and that he is sorry for his Sins and asks God Pardon or intends to do so He knows no need of the Sacrament or to what purpose it was appointed But as Naaman kept his Leprosy till he was perswaded to wash in Jordan so Sinners have all the reason in the world to expect that the Leprosy of their Souls should continue till they frequent the Sacrament it being an Ordinance which Christ appointed and therefore they have no reason to expect the cure of their Souls without it The Unworthy Communicant acknowledges by his devout Receiving of it that it is an Ordinance of Heaven worthy of all Reverence though he fails in examining himself before he comes to partake of it and that from which great benefit is to be expected but the Unworthy Non-Communicant slights it as inconsiderable and unnecessary to be observed And every one knows that in so doing he calls into question the Wisdom of our Blessed Saviour 4. Non-Communicants are worse than Unworthy Receivers in that they cast away the profession of Christianity and that Publick Declaration of the benefit of the Death and Sufferings of Christ for which this Ordinance was appointed When our Saviour said Do this in remembrance of Me And the Apostle As oft as ye Eat this Bread and Drink this Cup ye do shew the Lords Death until He come or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 declare ye the Lords Death It is very plain that the Sacrament was not only intended for the private good and benefit of the Receiver but to bear up the honour of God and the Christian Religion in the World That it should be used for a publick Declaration that Christ is the Saviour of the World and that there is no other Name under Heaven by which a man can be Saved That his Death and Sufferings was the expiatory Sacrifice for the Sin of the whole World And that those who have not the Gospel Preached but have only the guide of their own Consciences and of natural Religion are saved by vertue of his Death though they do not know him because that it is by him that Gods Anger is appeased to wards Mankind By this we shew forth the Lords Death what a great and mighty Saviour he made himself by dying for Mankind The Unworthy Receiver is exceedingly to blame because he failes in the Practice of Religion But the Non-Communicant is more Unworthy for he failes not only in the Practice but in the very Profession likewise It were not improper to ask him when he turns his back upon the Sacrament what Religion he is of that we may give an account to them that ask us If he saith a Christian why doth he not own it by his solemn Approach to that Ordinance which Christ appointed for that very end If he saith he goes to Church so may and sometimes do Jews and Mahometans men of other Religions 5. Non-Communicating is of more dangerous and pernicious Consequence than Unworthy Receiving It is not onely in many respects more offensive to God but likewise more destructive to the Souls of men This may appear by a more general or a more particular and special Consideration Non-Communicating is the great Inlet both of dreadful Divisions and horrid Debaucheries which with sorrowful hearts we have great cause to complain of It hath been the great Inlet to all manner of Divisions by which the Church of Christ which is his Body is torn Limb from Limb and we fear is never like to be healed in our daies The case is plain though
The Danger of Neglecting it p. 40. Those that neglect the Sacrament contemn their Baptism p. 83. Infant-Baptism Vindicated p. 87. The Pretences of Non-Communicants frivolous and dangerous p. 94. The Pretence from the Solemnity of the Ordinance p. 96. The Pretence from Unpreparedness p. 100. The Pretence from the Danger of Relapsing p. 123. THE Unworthy Non-Communicant THE great Contempt that is cast upon Religion in this Age in which we live especially upon this great ORDINANCE of the Blessed Sacrament of the LORDS SVPPER hath made all undertakings of this nature very seasonable I question whether there was ever any people of what Religion soever they were that ever slighted any Institution which they called Divine as many thousands of Christians slight the Sacrament If there were no other Argument to convince Christians of their duty to Receive and the danger of Neglecting the Cunning and Subtilty of the Devil the great Enemy of our Salvation by which he Cheats men in reference to this Ordinance might be of great force If we had lived with our Saviour in the World or with his Apostles after his Ascention into Heaven we could not have imagin'd considering the plain words of the Institution and the obliging Circumstances that accompanied it and likewise the care and constancy of the first Christians to observe it according to that plain Institution that ever there should be a generation of Christians in the World who should make any Disputes concerning it Who could have thought that there should have been any Priests or Ministers who should have kept back half the Sacrament from the People since we find that our Saviour gave the Cup to all those to whom he gave the Bread And the Apostle tells the Corinthians 1 Cor. 11. ver 27 28 29. in three Verses together of their Receiving the Cup as well as the Bread and in one of them expresly requires that they should Eat of that Bread and Drink of that Cup ver 28. And yet none will say that the Corinthians were Priests or Ministers Who could have imagined that ever there should have been such a non-sensical Conceit as Transubstantiation which is contrary to the very nature of a Sacrament It was very happy for the Primitive Christians that there was no such Conceit known in their dayes for if it had it would exceedingly have hindred the propagating of the GOSPEL If a Christian had come to a Heathen and told him that a peice of bread after a few Prayers is no longer Bread but the very Body of Christ his Saviour and the Heathen had tasted of it and found that it was nothing but Bread still surely he would have tryed to laugh that Christian to death and to hiss him out of the World If the Heathens had heard any such thing they would have concluded That Christians were a sort of men who were deprived of their Senses and that all they said concerning Christ's Miracles and his Resurrection his Ascention and the power of the Holy Ghost which followed it was as true as Transubstantiation And if they had said that they eat their God they would have concluded That they deserved to be hated of all men and to be devoured by wild Beasts one of their Cruelties to the Christians who devoured their God Or else they would have desired that they might eat with them for they could be contented to tear him with their Teeth to shew their Hatred against him and his Doctrine Besides it is an insignificant conceit in that no man can imaginet what good it could do him to eat the very Body of his Saviour Who could have Imagined that amongst the men of our own Religion there should be a generation that should throw the Ordinance away as useless and insignificant pretending that they receive Christ in their Hearts and therefore there is no need of the outward Act As if none were to Receive the Sacrament but those that are Unworthy such as receive not Christ in their Hearts Or as if those to whom our Saviour gave it who had forsaken all for his sake did not receive Christ in their Hearts Or as if the Primitive Christians those Holy and Blessed Martyrs who were constant Communicants did not receive Christ in the Hearts But alas these poor deluded Creatures are pufft up with a conceit that they are more holy than those Blessed Martyrs were and that they know the mind and design of Christ better than they did But to come a little nearer to that which is my chief Design Who could have imagin'd that ever there should be men that expect Salvation by Christ such as have none of these Enthusiastick Whimseys who should think it a very indifferent thing whether they observe this Institution of our Blessed Lord or let it alone although Christ commanded that it should be Received There are too many amongst us who are Unworthy Communicants men that do not fear God and walk in his wayes who do not take care to keep their Souls pure and undefiled for which the Blessed Sacrament was appointed But there are a great many more who are Unworthy Non-Communicants who live in the continued Neglect of this great Ordinance such as are so far from crying as the Disciples did Lord evermore give us this Bread that they concern not themselves whether they ever partake of it And that is not all but they think they do very well in it that they consult their own Safety and befriend their own Souls by absenting from such a dangerous Ordinance as the Sacrament is Nay they do not only absent from it themselves but either blame or wonder at least at them that adventure to come to it as those that know not what they do and they account that those Laws which require men to receive the Sacrament are most Tyranical and no more to be obeyed than Edicts which should command men to damn their own Souls Thus thus are men deluded by the Devil and affrighted from that Ordinance which if they rightly understood they would not for all the World live in the neglect of it We are offended at the Church of Rome as well we may and pitty the People of that Religion for being content with half the Sacrament but what shall we say when they tell us that our people are content without any of it Had we heard our Saviours Institution of it with the most endearing and obliging circumstances The same night in which he was Betrayed which shewed that it was his farwel-Gift or Token of his Love Or had we lived in the first and purest Ages of Christianity and seen with what Constancy as well as Ardency the Sacrament was Celebrated amongst them and if any by the censures of the Church were kept back from the Lords Passover what a dreadful condition of Fear and Horrour they were in how they lay prostrate at the Church-door and begg'd with Tears and grievious Bemoanings the Prayers of the Communicants that they might be Admitted
he deserved to dye before he would be so far from granting his Petition that he would hasten his Execution The Almighty God the Great King of Heaven knows this to be the Sinners case that although he stands condemned for his evil deeds yet he beggs pardon onely as a thing in course without any resolution of amendment and can it be imagin'd that any thing less than Damnation should be the end of this Sinner There is one case in which the Sinner doth directly Pray Damnation to himself according to the Apostles Phrase and that is the case of the Malitious and Revengeful Sinner he Prayers to God to forgive him his trespresses as he forgives others That is not at all It is as if he should say Lord be thou revenged on me for I am resolved to be revenged on my Brother Besides there is no more cause of Terrour from this Expression of the Apostle by which Sinners are scared from the Sacrament than there is in that of Solomon by which wicked men may be afraid to Pray Prov. 15.8 The Sacrifice that is the Prayer of the Wicked is an Abomination unto the Lord. He that doth that which God loaths that which is an Abomination to him certainly can expect nothing but Damnation to be the end of it I would fain know of the Non-Communicant whether if the Apostles expression had been He that Eateth and Drinketh Vnworthily is an Abomination unto the Lord and Solomons expression had been The Prayer of the wicked bringeth Damnation to himself that he would have Received the Sacrament but never pray'd to God I may likewise instance in that great Duty of hearing Gods Word Certainly every man will grant that for a man to come to the House of God to hear what God requires of him without any intent to do it and accordingly comes from hearing Gods Commands with a resolution to break them can expect nothing less than Damnation to be the consequent of it And although this be the case of thousands of Sinners yet they are not afraid to hear Gods Word There is no more cause of Terrour from this expression of the Apostle to Unworthy Communicants than there is from many Expressions of our Saviour and his Apostles concerning Unworthy Hearers of Gods Word I may instance first in that of our Saviour Luk. 8.18 Take heed therefore how you hear whosoever hath to him shall be given and whosoever hath not from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have If our Saviour had onely given the Caution Take heed how you hear it might startle the unprofitable Hearer and give him just cause to expect Judgment if he were not careful But our Saviour adding For whosoever hath to him shall be given and from him that hath not from him shall be taken away even that which he seemeth to have is an expression which signifies the condition of a careless Hearer to be so forlorn that it may make every such sinner afraid to enter into Gods House The meaning of our Saviour by that proverbial saying is He that is an Obedient Hearer shall grow in Grace and Knowledge and be in the case of a Rich man who encreaseth his Riches to a great Estate but the careless Hearer who doth not give diligent Attention and who comes to hear without resolution to Practise is like a man of low Degree who by taking no care to improve his Stock loseth that little that he hath and comes to intolerable Beggary and Misery How dreadful is the Condition of that man who may be said to hear away all that is good Who the longer he Hears the less he Regards and the worse he is I might instance likewise in the comparison which our Saviour makes between a disobedient Hearer and the foolish man who built his House upon the Sand Mat. 7.26 of which he saith great was the fall of it We can not imagine the great fall of a Disobedient Hearer to be any thing less than a fall into Damnation and everlasting Misery And yet men are not therefore afraid to hear Gods Word who refuse to do it I may instance likewise in in the expressions of the Apostles St. James saith Chap. 1. v. 22. Be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only deceiving your own selves How do men deceive themselves but by expecting Salvation from Hearing and Damnation must be their Portion for not doing And yet the sinner doth not say I shall but deceive my self and therefore 't is in vain for me to go to Gods House to Hear his Word There is another expression of the Apostle 2 Cor. 2.16 To the one we are a savour of death unto death The Apostle is speaking concerning the Ministry of the Gospel and the different Effectswhich it hath upon men in reference to another world It is the savour of death unto death an expression alluding to strong perfumes which are pleasant to some but are like poison suddainly destructive to others It is as if the Apostle should have said Though to some our Preaching the Gospel is exceedingly beneficial yet to others who regard it not it is most certainly destructive for it brings eternal Death There is more terrour in this Expression than there is in that of the Apostles eating and drinking Damnation for that as I have shewed signifies any temporal evil as well as the Punishment of another state But this of the Apostle signifies only the Death of the soul in another world And yet for all this men are not afraid to hear the Gospel Preached to them By this I hope it hath appeared that there is no more reason why Christians should be afraid to Receive the Sacrament from that Expression of the Apostle than they should be to perform other Duties of Religion considering what the Scripture saith concerning those that are Unworthy Performers of them 5. I may add in the last place That this Expression of the Apostle how severe soever it may seem to be is no part of revealed Religion properly so called Revealed Religion is that of God which we could not know if it were not told us But this of Unworthy Communicant eating and drinking judgment to themselves is that which the Corinthian and all Christans might know though the Apostle had never said it Every man by the light of natural Reason knows that he who doth not live in obedience to the Laws of his God or comes Unreverently before him is not accepted of him but on the contrary doth provoke him to anger and consequently to punish that offender who doth thus disobey and contemn him If Heathens had been negligent or unreverent in their Sacrifices and a plague had hapned amongst them as it was supposed to be the case of the Corinthians they would doubtless have concluded that the Plague came because of their Neglect of their Duty And therefore it is a hard case that men should be so much afraid of the Sacrament because they are told